Indian Antiquary Vol 50

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 90

80
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
'Ain-ul-Mulk, besides being a fomenter of strife, was also valiant and unscrupulous, his elevation to the throne of Gujarât would have been disastrous to the peace of Ahmadnagar, and Husain Nizâm Shâh therefore resolved to compass his death, for it is certain that he who has been strong enough to draw the sword in his own cause will never be the willing and faithful servant of another. The king therefore sent Hakim Qasim Beg to assure Saif Ain-ul-Mulk that he would be well received in Ahmadnagar, and so well did Qasim Beg perform his task that 'Ain-ul-Mulk was thoroughly reassured and induced to hasten to his death.
[ MARCH, 1921
When Saif 'Ain-ul-Mulk with his troops drew near to the capital, the king went forth with his army as though to receive him with honour, and the army was drawn up in two ranks, facing one another so as to form an avenue., 'Ain-ul-Mulk with a few attendants approached the king between the ranks of the army, and when he drew near to him, prostrated himself in the dust. When the king saw his enemy thus in his power, something whispered to him that the opportunity should not be lost. By the king's command he was instantly slain, and orders were issued that his army should be attacked and plundered. Salabat Khan 35 and a large number of the officers and bravest men of 'Ain-ul-Mulk's army were slain; and Qabûl Khân, one of his amirs, with some others who escaped the avenging swords of the royal army, made his way to the haram of 'Ain-ul-Mulk, and for the sake of gaining a name for themselves, conveyed the ladies, in spite of much opposition and with much fighting, to Telingana. Those of Saif 'Ain-ul-Mulk's army who threw away their arms and surrendered, were kindly treated, and were enrolled in the royal army, but those who persisted in following the path of disobedience became food for ravening beasts and their arms and horses became the spoil of the royal army.
(To be continued.)
AVANTI PRAKRIT OF THE KARPURAMANJARI.
BY SURENDRANATH MAJUMDAR SASTRI, M.A.; PATNA.
2
THE Karpuramañjart is the only drama composed entirely in Prakrit, and as such, it is read by all students of Prakrit philology. It has been critically edited with a learned introduction by Dr. Sten Konow in the Harvard Oriental Series. Commenting on its Prakrits, Dr. Konow notes 1 that Rajasekhara, who calls himself sarva-bhasha-vichakshana, has used two dialects only-the Sauraseni (in the prose portions) and the Mâhârâshtri (in the metri cal portions), that the most striking feature of Rajasekhara's Prakrit is his abundant use of rare and provincial words, of which a list has been given by Dr. Konow; that Narayana Dikshita and Apte have pointed out that for the majority of these provincial or vernacular words, our poet seems to be largely indebted to Marâthi; and that the poet confused his two dialects-Sauraseni and Mâhârâshtrî. Dr. Konow illustrates this confusion with various examples and concludes that the linguistic skill of Rajasekhara was not so remarkable as he would have us believe. From the fact that Rajasekhara "who knew all languages" did not correctly distinguish the different Prâkrits, Dr. Konow infers that the living knowledge of those dialects was, at that time, considerably diminished; possibly there was. an obsolence of the said dialects at that period.
136 This ṣalabat Khan was sister's son to Saif 'Ain-ul-Mulk. He had been severely wounded at the battle of Sholapur.
1 Karpúramanjari (Harvard Oriental Series), Part III, p. 199. 2 Ibid., p. 201.
3 lbid., pp. 201-2.
4 lbid., pp. 202-3.