A history of Telugu literature; - Cristo Raul

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26 A HISTORY OF TELUGU LITERATURE varying fortunes, in the course of which Vijayanagar (1509-30) was more than once besieged and sacked. Krishnadevaraya figures as the memorable king of the dynasty. The southern kingdoms submitted to his lordship, and he became the emperor of most of Southern India, from Vengi Nadu down to the modern Trichinopoly District. Krishnadevaraya is known as Andhra Bhoja, for his constant support and encouragement to Telugu literature. At his court there was a circle of eight poets, called the Ashta- Diggajas, who led a new literary movement known as the Prabandha movement. Krishnadevaraya was succeeded by Achyuta Raya, and in his reign the Hindu kingdom began to fall to pieces. After a few years of confusion, Rama Raya came to the throne. It was during his reign that a trio of great poets, Pingali Suranna, Ramaraja Bhushana and Tenali Ramakrishna existed. Rama Raya was defeated by the five kings of the Bahmani kingdom in the battle of Talikota, A.D. 1565, which marks the downfall of Vijayanagar's Empire. Krishnadevaraya was a Vaishnavite, and during his reign and that of his successor, the Vaishnavism of Ramanuja was practically the State religion, and a constant stream of Vaishnava literature (corresponding to the Virasaiva literature of Kakatiya's reign) was kept up. Krishnadevaraya wrote a prabandha called Vishnu Chittiya y celebrating the saints and doctrines of Vaishnavism. The Bahmani kings, on account of dissensions among themselves, were not able to take full advantage of their victory. Ultimately they were absorbed into the Moghul Empire, during the reign of Aurangzeb, in 1687. After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Nizam-ul-Mulk founded a hereditary dynasty, with Hyderabad as capital, which exercised a nominal authority over the entire south. The Carnatic was ruled by a deputy of the Nizam, the Nawab of the Carnatic. In the south, deputies of the Emperor of Vijayanagar declared their independence, and ruled their territories practically as their own. Thus Madura, Tanjore and Pudukkota became independent sovereign states. As in these three territories the deputies were Andhras, we find, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, considerable
HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND 27 literary activity in Telugu. The literature of the period is known as the Southern School of Telugu literature. The eighteenth century was marked by the wars between the French and the English. An event that has left a deep mark on the people and literature of the times is the struggle between the Marquis de Bussey, one of Dupleix's ablest subordinates, and the king of modern Vijayanagar in 1757. The story forms the subject-matter of Dittakavi Narayana's Rangaraya Charitra, A.D. 1790, a popular version of which is still sung by troubadors all through the country. The issue of the struggle with the French was that the British power was finally established in South India. The Moghul Emperor, Shah-Alam, granted them the Dewani of Bengal, Behar, Orissa and the Northern Circars in 1764. In 1858, the Government of India was vested in the British Crown. The latter portion of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century are marked by the absorption of Western culture by the Andhras, and the birth of the modern renaissance in Telugu literature. The position of internal affairs, between the fall of the empire of Vijayanagar and the establishment of the British dominion, deserves notice, as it is with these conditions that Telugu literature is closely associated. The march and counter-march of the Muhammadan armies, the struggles of the French and the British, did not touch the Telugu poet so intimately as the rise and fall of minor principalities. During the rule of the Muhammadans and the British, the country was divided among Zamindars, some of whom were Reddis and others Padmanayaks. These practically held their territory under the sovereigns of the day. Of these, the Rajas of Vehkatagiri, Bobbili, Pithapur and Vijayanagar deserve mention as the special patrons of literature from the seventeenth century up to the present time. Religious Background. In order to follow the religious motive in Telugu literature, it is necessary to have a broad idea of the nature of the original faith of the Telugus, and the subsequent modifications which it underwent. The Supreme Being is regarded as having manifested in a Trinity of Power, Creation (Srishti)^ Maintenance (Sthiti) and Destruction (Laya), personified in
Page 5 and 6: THE HERITAGE OF INDIA SERIES Planne
Page 7: EDITORIAL PREFACE Finally, brethren
Page 10 and 11: ftS& m I'
Page 13 and 14: FOREWORD I HAVE cursorily glanced t
Page 15 and 16: FOREWORD 7 with Telugu literature.
Page 17: PREFACE THIS volume is the first at
Page 21 and 22: I INTRODUCTORY TELUGU is one of the
Page 23 and 24: INTRODUCTORY 15 the Krishna,which w
Page 25 and 26: INTRODUCTORY 17 ruled practically t
Page 27 and 28: INTRODUCTORY 19 been recovered from
Page 29 and 30: HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND
Page 31 and 32: HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND
Page 33: HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND
Page 37 and 38: Ill THE LIFE OF A POET THE poet in
Page 39 and 40: THE LIFE OF A POET 31 life that the
Page 41 and 42: IV LITERARY MODES AND FORMS The Sub
Page 43 and 44: LITERARY MODES AND FORMS 35 is the
Page 45 and 46: AT the outset of Telugu literature,
Page 47 and 48: EARLY BEGINNINGS, THE DEI AND MARGI
Page 49 and 50: VI PURANA YUGA, OR THE AGE OF TRANS
Page 51 and 52: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 43 labour of
Page 53 and 54: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 45 forward t
Page 55 and 56: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 47 Many inte
Page 57 and 58: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 49 Errapraga
Page 59 and 60: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 51 and the t
Page 61 and 62: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 53 has insta
Page 63 and 64: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 55 Though as
Page 65 and 66: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 57 Sataka, s
Page 67 and 68: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 59* Bhima Ka
Page 69 and 70: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 61 light run
Page 71 and 72: lopment of Telugu literature in the
Page 73 and 74: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 65 Potana is
Page 75 and 76: THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 67 whose fav
Page 77 and 78: VII THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS (A
Page 79 and 80: THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS 71 enc
Page 81 and 82: hava. A pious Brahmin of Arunaspada
Page 83 and 84: THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS 75 wro
Page 85 and 86:
THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS 77 emp
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THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS 79 rea
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THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS 81 bey
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THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS 83 Ram
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THE PERIOD OF THE PRABANDHAS 85 The
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THE PERIOD OF STAGNATION 87 2. The
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THE PERIOD OF STAGNATION 89 This ty
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THE PERIOD OF STAGNATION 91 2. Shis
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THE PERIOD OF STAGNATION 93 Purdna
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THE PERIOD OF STAGNATION 95 social
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IX POPULAR LITERATURE THE impulse f
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POPULAR LITERATURE 99 or two sataka
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POPULAR LITERATURE 101 the prayers
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WOMEN POETS 103 not get the right l
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XI CHRISTIAN AND MUHAMMADAN POETS C
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CHRISTIAN AND MUHAMMADAN POETS 107
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THE MODERN PERIOD 109 CRITICAL ACTI
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THE MODERN PERIOD 111 Folklore is b
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THE MODERN PERIOD 113 unchanged thr
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THE MODERN PERIOD 115 Social Satire
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the * high prose ' THE MODERN PERIO
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THE MODERN PERIOD 119 Magazines and
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RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 121 poets a
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RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 123 life, t
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A BBANAMATYA, Kanuparti, f* 90 Abhi
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Fifteenth Century Poets, 62 ff. Fol
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Nalacharitra, 89 Nallanna (= Atharv
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Satya Vadhu Prenanamu, 71 Sdvitrl C
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to CO H o 4 01 *_: ^^ M* rt tj i cd
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A history of Telugu literature; - Cristo Raul

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