18. Sabaji Prataparaja and His Works

18. Sabaji Prataparaja, A Protege of Burhan Nizam Shah Shah of Ahmadnagar, and His Works - - Between A. D. 1500 and 1560* In June 1941 my friend the late Dr. H. D. Sharma visited Poona and during his stay of a month or so carried out a complete analysis of a work on dharmasastra called the Parasuramapratapa at my instance. The results of his elaborate analysis of this compendium represented by some Mss at the B. O. R. Institute have been already published in the Poona Orientalist." Though Dr. Sharma saw through the proofs of this paper he has not lived to see it in a published form! I had promised Dr. Sharma a paper on the author of this work but unfortunately I could not draft it earlier owing to other preoccupations. The author of the Parasuramapratapa ( = P) is Sabaji Prataparaja ( SP). Aufrecht makes the following entries regarding this author and his works:CC I 327-". by Sambajiprataparaja. B. 3., 102. Burnell 131.a Poona 157, 158, 560, II, 233-245. Quoted by Kamalakara Oxf. 278 b Comm. affar by Vopadeva, Poona II, 246. " See CC I,711 (sambaji prataparaja ). " 3- * Annals (B. O. R. Institute, Poona), Vol. XXIV, pp. 156-164. 1. Vide pp. 1-26 of PO, VII (April and July 1942) Dr. Sharma makes the following remarks about this work:- " Parasuramapratapa is a huge work of an encyclopaedic nature. No other library possesses a complete Ms of this work, except the B. O. R. Institute, Poona, Library. But even the Institute Mss of this work have a large number of folia missing. The work is on the general topics of Dharmasastra and contains 16 Sections or Kandas. It has been split up into 17 different codices in the Institute library. Burnell's Catalogue of Tanjore library (p. 131 a) records only 5 Mss of 5 Sections. In the Baroda Oriental Institute there is only one Ms (No. 5887) of one Section (). The stupendous nature of the work can be judged by the total number of leaves which is 2445." (137)

M. M. Prof. P. V. Kane' makes the following remarks about the works of SP :P. 755 - " sambaji or sabaji prataparaja son of pandita padmanabha of jamadagnyavatsagotra . He was a protege of nijamasaha ; a. of parasuramapratapa and bhargavarcanadipika (vide Ms No. 5887 Baroda O. I. for rajavallabhakanda of the parasuramapratapa and danakandaparva a part of it ). '' P. 578-" parasuramapratapa by sabaji or sambaji prataparaja son of pandita padmanabha of jamadagnyavatsagotra and pupil of bhatta kurma and a protege of nijamasaha . Seems to have contained at least ahnika, jativiveka, dana, prayascitta, samskara, rajaniti and sraddha . Vide Visrambag collection ( in Deccan College ) II, No. 243-246 and Burnell's Tanjore Cata. p. 131 4. A huge work. Baroda O. I. 5887 is rajavallabha- kanda which is like manasollasa in subject-matter. C. sraddhakandadipika or sraddhadipakalika of bopadevapandita . Quotes hemadri kaladarsa . " P. 598 --" bhargavarcanadipika by sabaji (or - mba ) alias prataparaja Ulwar Cata. extract 648." Aufrecht makes the following entries regarding bhargavarcana dipikah- CC I, 407 - " bhargavarcanadipika quoted in dravyasuddhidipika Oxf. 2744, in nirnayasindhu and santisara ." 80 d, As Kamalakara, the author of nirnayasindhu ( A. D. 1612 ) quotes Sabaji's parasuramapratapa and bhargavarcana dipika we must infer that SP is earlier than A. D. 1612. The Mss of danakanda and samskarakanda of P noted by Burnell (131 a) belong to about 1650. The author of the dravyasuddhidipika, which quotes SP's bhargavarcanadipika, was born in A. D. 1668 according to Prof. P. V. Kane (HD, I, 566). The santisara, which quotes bha . dipaka, is possibly of dinakarabhatta (HD, I, 636) who is assigned by Kane 'between 1575-1640." All these chronological references indicate that SP is definitely earlier than A. D. 1600. SP appears to have composed a poem called the bhrguvamsamaha- 1. History of Dharmasastra, Vol. I, 1930.

O SABAJI PRATAPARAJA 139 kavya 99 ' a Ms' of which is dated Samvat 1667 (A. D. 1611). This date is very important as it confirms the conclusion regarding SP's date arrived at by me to the effect that SP is earlier than A. D. 1600. Let us now consider the evidence furnished by the works of Sabaji² about his Muslim patron. This evidence is as follows:- (1) Sabaji refers to as follows on folio 2 of Ms No. 233 of Vis II- 66 66 66 - bhucakrasya nijamasahanagari kamaikadogdhri nrnam || 14 || " srimadrajanijamasahunagari samlaksi (ksya ) te bhumipaih || 15 || " yahammadeti puravasibhiruddhatasau samkirtita varagunairabhinamdya kale || 18 || " Both ahammadapura and nijamasahanagari refer to the same capital of Sabaji's patron viz. Ahmadnagar, which was founded by Ahmad Nizam Shah between A. D. 1490 and 1508. (2) Sabaji refers to his relation to his patronas follows (folio 2ª of Ms No. 233 of Vis II ) 1 - " 1. Vide p. 71 of H. P. Sastri's Des. Cata. of History and Geography Mss in the R. A. S. B., Calcutta, 1923 (Vol. IV)- Ms. No. 3101 Post colophon endorsement :- parasuramarpanamastu samvat 1667 varse pausa sudi 1 le budhe likhitamidam pustakam . " S. R. Bhandarkar notes a Ms of dated Samvat 1556 [Vide p. 35 of his Report for 1904- 1906 (Rajputana and Central India ) ] This date of Ms, if correct, comes to A. D. 1500. I am unable to verify it as no details of it are recorded in the Report. If the year belongs to the Saka era, the date would be A. D. 1578, which would be in harmony with the evidence regarding the chronology of Sabaji Prataparaja recorded in this paper. It is difficult to reconcile the date A. D. 1500 for a Ms of with its date of composition which seems to lie between c. A. D 1509 and 1553, the period of the reign of Burhan Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar. 2. One is often mentioned in the Maratha Chronicles. I am unable to penetrate the mist of gossip about this personage, who is supposed by some writers to belong to Nizamshahi and by others to belong to Adilshahi. Another writer says that he flourished towards the close of the Peshwa Period (Vide pp. 355-356 of Madhyayugina Caritra Kosa by Chitrav Shastri, Poona, 1937). The question of the identity or otherwise of our sabaji prataparaja with sabaji anamta catura needs to be examined by students of the Maratha history.

srimatpraudhanijamasaha nrpatih mahan || 19 || tasyanumanyo nrpatih pratapah kulapradipah sukrtaikadhama | rajnamatiprematayabhivamdyo dharmapravrttau harireva saksat || 26 || " In the colophons Sabaji refers to his patron as follows:- 66 iti srimatpraudhapratapanrpatisaranyanijamasahanu ca rajamadagnyavatsa gotro- dbhava sabajiprataparajakrta nibamdhe parasuramapratape etc. " In the colophon of the Ms of the bhrguvamsa mahakavya (dated A. D. 1611 ) Sabaji refers to nijamasaha as follows :- - " iti srimadakhilamahimamdala mamdanayamanagunanikara virajamanasrimadavinasa (si ) - parasuramaprasada paripraptamahabhagyodaya - nijamasahanucara - jamadagnivacchagotrotpanna- dvijadhirajasrimadavinasisrimatsabaji pamditaprataparajaviracite bhrguvamse mahakavye ramacandravarapradanam nama ekavimsatitamah sargah || " The foregoing references leave no doubt that Sabaji Prataparaja was highly favoured by his patron nijamasaha of ahammadapura or Ahmadnagar. We must now try to identify this in the list of the Kings of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar. The Nizam Shahi Kings of Ahmadnagar appear to have been patrons of Hindu writers. Dalapatiraya, 2 the author of the cele - 1. Vide page 389 of Imperial Gazetter of India, Vol. II, (1909 ), Table XI-Nizam Shahi Kings of Ahmadnagar-Nizam-ul-mulk, Bahri, a converted Brahmin. I - Ahmad Shah (d. 1508 ). II Burhan Shah (d. 1553-4 ) ( Patron of sabaji prataparaja ). III - Husain Shah (d. 1565 ). IV Murtaza Shah. ( " the madman " murdered 6 th July 1588 ). V - Husain Shah ( deposed April 30, 1589 ). VI - Ismail Shah (deposed by his father May 26, 1591 ). VII VIII IX - - Burhan Shah ( died April 30, 1595 ). - Ibrahim Shah ( killed in battle Sept. 1595 ). Ahmad Shah ( usurper set aside Feb. 1596 ). X Bahadur Shah (deposed and sent to Gwalior, Capital taken by Akbar, 1600 ). XI - Mutraza Shah (imprisoned and strangled 1631 ), XII Husain Shah (a boy of ten, removed by Mughals and sent to Gwalior, 1635 ). See also p. 320 of Lane-Poole : Mohammedan Dynasties, 1925. 2. Vide my paper on Dalapatiraya in the Proceedings of Indian History Congress (1933) pp. 313-318.

brated dharmasastra work Nrsimhaprasada was not only a high army-officer in the employ of Ahmad Nizam Shah (A.D. 1490-1510) but was also his Keeper of Records. I have already identified this author in the Burhan-i-Masir or the History of the Nizamshahi fairly trustKings of Ahmadnagar, which Lt. Col. Haig regards as worthy so far as it relates to domestic affairs." In this very Burhan-i- Masir its author gives an account of the meeting between Burhan Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar and Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat as follows:- "Some historians have related that the meeting of these two Kings (Burhan Nizamshah and Bahadur) took place in a village near Daulatabad and without the intervention of Shah Tahir but by the advice and intervention of Khwaja Ibrahim, the Councillor and Sabaji and that these two men were rewarded for the service which they had performed, the former with the title of Latif-Khan and the latter with that of Pratap Rai; but the story told here at length is the correct account. After this meeting Burhan Nizam Shah returned to his capital and Sultan Bahadur returned to Gujarat." The author or the Burhan-i-Masir wants to take away the credit of bringing about the meeting of the two Kings from Sabaji Pratap Rai and his colleague Khwaja Ibrahim Latif Khan and to give it to Shah Tahir, the great poet of this period. We are not concerned here with the truth or otherwise of this statement of the author but with the fact of the existence of a Hindu personage of the name Sabaji Pratap Rai during the reign of Burhan Nizam Shah (A. D. 1510-1554) I am inclined to believe that this Sabaji Pratap Rai is none else than our sabaji prataparaja, the author of parasuramapratapa, bhrguvamsa mahakavya and bhargavarcanadipika . Evidently he carried on the tradition of compiling dharmasastra works in the manner of the author of the nrsimhaprasada viz. dalapatiraya highly favoured by Ahmad Nizam Shah² (A. 1490-1510) who was the founder of the " 1. Vide p. 184 of Indian Antiquary XLIX (October 1920) History of the Nizam Shahi Kings of Ahmadnagar by Lt. Col. S. W. Haig. 2. Vide Mr. V. S. Bendre's article on Death of Ahmad Nizam Shah I Bahri" in New Indian Antiquary, Vol. IV, pp. 242.244. "6 All we Mr. Bendre examines the relevant sources and concludes can say for the present with any certainty on the strength of the as Affonso de contemporary evidence of such a realiable source Albuquerque, is that the death of Ahmad Nizam Shah must have occurred some time between the end of April and the middle of October 1510 or in the beginning of 916 A. H. ".

Ahmadnagar line of Nizamshahi Kings. If this position is accepted we may try to determine the approximate period during which Sabaji composed his parasuramapratapa and bhrguvamsa mahakavya etc. Sabaji tells us that he was nijamasaha - anucara or a servant of nijama TIE, whom we have identified with Burhan Nizam Shah. He also refers to his title a constantly in his works as follows:- (1) Colophon of bhrguvamsakavya 66 - sabaji pamditaprataparajaviracite bhrguvamse etc. " (2) Text of parasuramapratapa - 66 - " nrpatih pratapah " ( = prataparaja ); raja pratapah krtapunyanamditah " " kamdeh sodasabhih pratapanrpatih etc. " - " sriramamghriratapratapanrpateh srikurmaadesatah (3) Colophon of parasuramapratapa "6 - sabajiprataparajaracitanibamdhe dw " (B. O. R. I. Ms No. 157 of Vis I, dated A. D. 1784) If was a title of Sabaji it must have been conferred on him by his royal patron Burhan Nizam Shah and the story about the award of this title referred to in the Burhan-i-Masir may be taken to be correct in so far as the fact of the award of this title is concerned. We are not concerned here with the nature of the service specifically rendered by Sabaji to his master Burhan Nizam Shah. If we believe in the story current before the time of Burhan-i-Masir that Sabaji got the title arc as a reward for bringing about the meeting of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat with Burhan Nizam Shah it is easy for us to narrow down the limits for the dates of the pratapa and bhrguvamsakavya for the following reasons :- - (1) Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat ruled for 11 years (July 1526 February 1537 A. D.). In 1527-29 A. D. he forced Burhan Nizam Shah to retreat and acknowledge him as his Suzerain and read Khutbah in his name.' (2) In 1531 A. D. Bahadur Shah granted to Burhan Nizam of Ahmadnagar and also to his nephew, Muhammad of Khandesh permission to affix the title of Shah (Tg) to their names.² 1. Vide p. 80 of Humayun Badshah by S. K. Banerji, 1938. 2. Ibid p. 81.

" SABAJI PRATAPARAJA 143 (3) If the title was a result of the meeting of Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat with Burhan Nizam it must have been conferred on raft between A. D. 1526 and 1537 A. D., which is the period of Bahadur Shah's reign. ( 4 ) If the expression nijama saha used by sabaji contains the title the use of which was permitted for Burhan Nizam by his Suzerain in A. D. 1531 we have to suppose that a composed his works after A. D. 1531 and before A. D. 1553-54, the closing year of Burhan Nizam Shah's reign at Ahmednagar. I have identified Art with his name-sake mentioned in the Burhan-i-Masir. This work was written by Syed Ali Tabataba at the bidding of Burhan Nizam Shah II in A. D. 1591 i. e. a few years before Ferishta. According to Prof. H. K. Sherwani greater reliance may be placed on the simple narration of the Burhan than on the flowery and interesting, though at times inaccurate and exaggerated, description couched in Ferishta's History." In view of this evaluation of the Burhan-i-Masir my identification of aqua in this Persian source of the Nizam Shahi history written in A. D, 1591 is sufficiently reliable and possesses almost a contemporary character. I shall, however, feel thankful to Persian scholars if they succeed in throwing more light on the personality of sabaji prataparaja and his relations with his master Burhan Nizam Shah, so much applauded in the verses of the Parasuramapratapa quoted by Dr. Sharma in extenso.2 The genealogy of as recorded by him in these verses is as follows:- (dvijadhuryavarya ) laksmidhara ( of jamadagnyavatsa gotra ) devotee of purari (c. A. D. 1500) ganadhisa laksmidhara ( Between 1525-1560 ( sabaji ) prataparaja pupil of kurmasuri A. D.) and devotee of parasurama My friend Prof. Dasharath Sharma of Bikaner will be shortly 1. Vide pp. 230-232 of Mahmud Gawan by H. K. Sherwani, 1942. 2. PO, VII, p. 7.

publishing the Bhrgu-vamsa Kavya' of Sabaji Prataparaja on behalf of the Bikaner Darbar. I hope the chronology of Sabaji discussed in this paper would be of some use to him in dealing with the life-history of this author, who flourished at Ahmadnagar court in the first half of the 16 th century. The works of Sabaji on Dharmasastra were used by subsequent writers for their own compilations. I have already referred to them as recorded by Aufrecht. During the course of my studies I have noticed the following references to Sabaji's works not noticed by Aufrecht or M. M. P. V. Kane :- (1) c. A. D. 1675 " taduktam bhargavarcanadipikayam " "...... " iti parasuramajayamtinirnayah " (Vide p. 43 b of Ms of nirnayaratnavali composed by raghunatha mahadeva ate of Hardi near Rajapur (A. D. 1650-1725). This Ms is with the Raiapur Sanskrit Pathashala-Ghate collection:). (2) c. A. D. 1650-1680- the friend of Saint Ramdasa quotes parasuramapratapa in the 2 nd Pariccheda of his bhojanakutuhala (Vide folio 90 of the Ms of this work in the Raddi collection, B. O. R. Institute. The quotation is also found in the Ms of this Pariccheda with my friend Rajavaidya S. A. Jagtap of Kolhapur. In the heat of controversies over the details of political and dynastic history the literary history of the Deccan receives scanty attention at the hands of responsible scholars. We have yet to reconstruct this literary history on the basis of Mss yet unknown to the historians. I have been constantly discovering new sources of this history and publishing papers on them for the use of future historians of our culture as reflected in the provincial 1. Prof. Dasharatha Sharma must have already used the Bikaner Ms of this Kavya ( No. 2897) deposited in the Anup Sanskrit Library, Bikaner. My friend Mr. K. M. K. Sarma, the Curator of this Library has kindly supplied to me some details of this Ms. The 2 nd copy of this Kavya is the Calcutta R. A. S. B. Ms of A. D. 1611 already referred to in this paper. The 3 rd copy (Sargas 1-7) is recorded by Dr. H. Poleman on p. 105 of his Census of Indic Mss in U. S. A. and Canada, 1938 (Harward No. 1238). Prof. D. V. Potdar of Poona possesses the 4 th copy of this poem. He has agreed to keep a microfilm copy of his Ms at the disposal of the Bikaner Darbar for the use of Prof. Dasharatha Sharma.

sources still untapped. The linking up of literary history with political or dynastic history, if successfully attempted, is:bound to clarify our knowledge of the history of our ancestors, who were not merely soldiers or politicians but were persons full of religious zeal coupled with a taste for fine arts, like poetry, music and technical sciences like Silpa Sastra, town planning, dietetics, medicine, cookery etc. By a thorough study of the sources, bearing on these subjects the present partial picture of our history can be put in correct historical relief, which will not fail to create greater interest of the people in our past than what we notice to-day in our schools and colleges. B.I.L.H.10