Poetic Pasts

Patrons, Poets and Lesser Mortals in Bana’s ‘Biography’

Authors

  • Kumkum Roy Jawaharlal Nehru University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.303

Keywords:

biographer, biography, genealogy, kingship, legitimation, patronage, poets

Abstract

The paper sets out to explore the ways in which genealogies, and other literary devices, are used to constitute the identity of Harsavardhana in the Harsacarita authored by Banabhatta. I argue that it is important not only to focus on the avowed subject of the text, but also to examine the ways in which the author represents himself—given that both poet and patron may not have had strong claims to the positions they occupied, this intertwining is possibly significant. Finally, I turn to the ways in which other men (and women) are represented in order to contextualize the depiction of the poet and his patron. I suggest that while viewing the text solely as an instrument of legitimation may seem somewhat reductionist, the ways in which the author deploys a range of aesthetic and other resources (including explicit and implicit parallels and connections with deities and legendary figures) indicate that such texts were integral to complex political and cultural processes.

Author Biography

  • Kumkum Roy, Jawaharlal Nehru University

    Kumkum Roy is Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

References

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Basu, Prasun (ed.). 1987. Harsacarita. Calcutta: Nabapatra Prakashan.

Goyal, Shankar. 2006. Harsha: A Multidisciplinary Political Study. Jaipur: Kusumanjali.

Mirashi, Vasudev V. 1955. ‘Anjaneri Plates (First Set) of Bhogasakti: (Kalachuri) Year 461.’ In Mirashi (ed.), Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era (Corpus Insciptionum Indicarum, vol. 4, part 1): 146–54. Ootacamund: Government Epigraphist for India.

Pollock, Sheldon. 2006. The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India. Delhi: Permanent Black.

Roy, Kumkum. 2010. The Power of Gender and the Gender of Power: Explorations in Early Indian History. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Salomon, Richard. In this volume. ‘The Men who would be King: Reading between the Lines of Dynastic Genealogies in India and Beyond.’

Published

2012-05-23

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Roy, K. (2012). Poetic Pasts: Patrons, Poets and Lesser Mortals in Bana’s ‘Biography’. Religions of South Asia, 5(1-2), 303-317. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.303