Bhattoji Diksita On Sphota

Author(s): Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst

Page 20

22
JOHANNES BRONKHORST
praises in his introductory stanzas a certain "king Phirimdā” (phirimdā nrpah; st. 8); this same Phirimdā is further on (st. 10) referred to as caudharī, which means as much as 'village headman' (Hintze, 1997: 70; cp. Richards, 1993: 81). Bhattoji, his brother Rangoji and his nephew Kaunda Bhatta appear to have received patronage from two rulers belonging to the Keladi royal family, Venkatappa Nāyaka I (1592-1629) and his grandson Vīrabhadra (1629-1645);103 these were rulers of the Ikkeri kingdom, one of the fragmented heirs of the Vijayanagara state. 106
In order to understand how and why Sanskrit scholars should be the recipients of patronage at all, we must recall that at the time of Bhattoji Benares was part of the Mughal empire. This empire had been consolidated by Akbar in the sixteenth century by the introduction of a system of government meant to reduce tension between the different components of the population. Akbar himself showed an active interest in ancient Sanskrit literature, and had various old texts - among them the Atharva Veda, the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana and many others - translated into Persian."07 Historians point out that by giving high office to the Rajputs - who were not only concentrated in Rajasthan but also scattered all over north India -, by using them as military commanders and provincial governors, the Hindu community was induced to accept the Mughal government in a way as its own.108 Moreover, rotation of office and resumption of property at death had the effect that Mughal nobles were inclined to ostentation and public spending. 109 Together these features of Mughal government go a long way toward explaining an upswing in the number of possibilities for patronage at that time. There would be more money available for patronage, and the number of potential patrons would be large, and changing. The support which Bhattoji and his family received from the rulers of Ikkeri shows that patronage might even come from near or outside the boundaries of the Mughal empire." All this would then be responsible for the competitive atmosphere in which young scholars had to gain a place and established ones might have to justify the positions they had attained. It is not surprising that both for potential patrons and for potential recipients of patronage Benares was the scene where much of this competitive activity was carried out.
Patronage did not only come from political rulers. We have seen that François Bernier mentions rich merchants in particular. The prosperity of the Mughal empire apparently filtered down to reach traditional Sanskrit scholars also through this channel.