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In Praise of Kings Rajputs Sultans and Poets in Fifteenth Century Gujarat Aparna Kapadia Full

In Praise of Kings by Aparna Kapadia explores the cultural and political dynamics of fifteenth-century Gujarat, challenging the notion of this period as one of decline. The book emphasizes the interactions between Rajput chieftains and Muzaffarid sultans, revealing a shared warrior ethos and the significance of literary and cultural elements in shaping regional identity. It draws on previously underutilized literary works to argue for a more nuanced understanding of Gujarat's history beyond its commercial reputation.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
25 views113 pages

In Praise of Kings Rajputs Sultans and Poets in Fifteenth Century Gujarat Aparna Kapadia Full

In Praise of Kings by Aparna Kapadia explores the cultural and political dynamics of fifteenth-century Gujarat, challenging the notion of this period as one of decline. The book emphasizes the interactions between Rajput chieftains and Muzaffarid sultans, revealing a shared warrior ethos and the significance of literary and cultural elements in shaping regional identity. It draws on previously underutilized literary works to argue for a more nuanced understanding of Gujarat's history beyond its commercial reputation.

Uploaded by

cwrfdirq2184
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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In Praise of Kings
In Praise of Kings is a study of Gujarat in the long-neglected fifteenth century. The
interregnum between the Delhi sultanate and the Mughal empire has conventionally
been regarded as a period of decline. By contrast, this book shows the cultural and
political dynamism of an important South Asian region at this critical moment in its
history.
This book highlights how, after the fall of the Delhi sultanate, the political landscape
of fifteenth-century Gujarat was dominated by Rajput warrior chieftains and the
Muzaffarid sultans. The interaction between these competing political players have
been traditionally viewed as a clash between two religious groups. Querying this
perspective, the book demonstrates how both the Rajputs and the sultans fashioned a
common warrior ethos that was constructed with diverse literary and cultural elements.
Notably, the study draws on rarely used literary works in Sanskrit and Gujarati
to reconstruct the royal courts of fifteenth-century Gujarat and recasts the fifteenth
century as a period of creative transformations. It also questions the deeply entrenched
perception that Gujarat was predominantly a land of traders and merchants. Through
a close analysis of original primary sources, it shows how Gujarat’s warrior past was
also integral to this region’s history and identity.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of medieval and early modern
South Asian history and literary culture, as well as to those concerned with wider
questions of the formation of regional traditions and identities.
Aparna Kapadia teaches History at Williams College, USA. She writes about the
history of Gujarat and western India, and the cultural and intellectual histories of
early modern and modern South Asia. She is also the co-editor of The Idea of Gujarat:
History, Ethnography and Text published in 2010.
In Praise of Kings
Rajputs, Sultans and Poets in
Fifteenth-century Gujarat

Aparna Kapadia
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia
314 to 321, 3rd Floor, Plot No.3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi 110025, India
79 Anson Road, #06–04/06, Singapore 079906

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.


It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107153318
© Aparna Kapadia 2018
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2018
Printed in India
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-107-15331-8 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Contents

List of Maps vi
Acknowledgements vii
A Note on Transliteration and Usage x
Introduction 1
1. Setting the Stage: Contextualising Fifteenth-century Gujarat 21
2. 5D۬PDOODFKDQGD: A Warrior Imagined 44
3. Gangadhara’s Oeuvre: Cosmopolitan Poetry for Local Kings 76
4. 5ƗMDYLQRGD: The Sultan as Indic King 103
5. 5ƗV0ƗOƗ: Re-Discovering a Warrior Past 129
Conclusion 158
Bibliography 165
Index 177
List of Maps

Map 1 Relative location of the modern state of Gujarat in India. xi


Map 2 The modern state of Gujarat, India, with key cities and towns. xii
Map 3 Locations of historic places mentioned in the book within the
modern state of Gujarat. 43
Acknowledgements

This book has been in the making for nearly a decade. When I began the project
as my doctoral dissertation at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),
I intended to write a history of Gujarat, a region whose pre-colonial past had
received surprisingly little attention despite crucial significance in the political
and economic development of India. Over the years, however, the context for the
research coincided with other significant developments. In recent times, the politics
of India’s medieval past has become more fiercely contested than ever before.
Underpinning this contestation is a political imagination of the subcontinent’s
pre-colonial history as one shaped by conflict between religious communities.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Gujarat and western India. In this imagination,
little space remains for an understanding of interactions between social groups
as driven by multiple and overlapping motivations and affiliations set within
specific historical contexts. Through a focus on a period of transitions in a richly
diverse region, I hope to have broadened the space of discussion and highlighted
the complex fabric of India’s pre-colonial past.
I have accumulated several debts in writing this book. My dissertation advisor,
Daud Ali, helped to shape the project through the example of his own scholarship
and his insightful and constructive comments on the text. I am grateful for
Daud’s continued support and interest in my work. My interest in regional and
cultural history began at the Centre for Historical Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi. Kunal Chakrabarty sparked my initial curiosity about
regional narrative traditions. During the early years of my graduate study, I
was also privileged to learn from scholars like Neeladri Bhattacharya, B. D.
Chattopadhyaya, Vijaya Ramaswamy, Himanshu Prabha Ray and Kum Kum Roy.
Fleur D’Souza and Siddhartha Menon’s engaging history classes at St Xavier’s
College and Rishi Valley School respectively alerted me to the exciting possibilities
of a career in the discipline.
In transforming the dissertation into a book, I have also benefitted from
comments and discussions with several scholars. I am particularly grateful to
viii Acknowledgements

Francesca Orsini for her timely and perceptive suggestions at a crucial stage.
Rosalind O’Hanlon’s mentorship during my postdoctoral years at the Oriental
Institute, Oxford University, helped to sharpen ideas in this monograph.
Christopher Minkowski offered several suggestions for the translation of the
Sanskrit works. Thanks are also due to Faisal Devji, Rachel Dwyer, Douglas
Haynes and Sunil Sharma for always being generous with their scholarship,
time and intellectual support. Interactions with and comments from scholars
working on pre-colonial histories of South Asia – Allison Busch, Whitney Cox,
Sumit Guha, Sunil Kumar, Luther Obrock, Ramya Sreenivasan, Cynthia Talbot,
and Audrey Truschke, in particular – have helped to refine many of the ideas
presented in this book.
Tanuja Kothiyal and Samira Sheikh read several drafts of the manuscript and
offered insightful suggestions and comments. No words can adequately express
my gratitude to them for their unconditional support, expertise and friendship.
Marisha Kirtane and Samir Patil always responded to my unreasonable demands
on their time. They provided the astute non-academic perspectives that helped to
improve clarity and coherence. This book has benefitted from several conversations
with Kaushik Bhaumik. I am also indebted to Prashant Kidambi who mentored
this project from its inception.
I am grateful to the editorial team at Cambridge University Press for their
patience. Katie Van Heest’s developmental inputs and Deborah Jones’s editorial
support have immeasurably improved the outcome. Three anonymous referees
for Cambridge University Press suggested ways to contextualize the ideas and
arguments of this monograph. Their suggestions have sharpened the final product.
Williams College has provided a congenial intellectual environment to complete
this book. My colleagues at the College, and especially the Department of History,
welcomed me warmly in their midst. Their support and encouragement of my
research and teaching as well as their unstinted friendship eased the challenges
that accompanied the writing of this book. Thanks are also owed to friends and
former colleagues at Ambedkar University, Delhi, where I took my first steps into
the world of university teaching.
The initial dissertation project was supported by a fellowship from the Felix
Trust. An Additional Fieldwork Grant from SOAS and an Isobel Thornley
Fellowship from the Institute of Historical Research funded the later stages of
dissertation research. The award of an Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
at the University of Oxford allowed me the time to work on the early drafts of the
manuscript. I also appreciate the support from the Hellman Fellows Fund and the
Oakely Center at Williams College, which facilitated the final stages of research
and writing. Williams College’s generous sabbatical leave policy provided the
uninterrupted time needed to see this book to completion.
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