History of Saurashtra’s literature Part-2

This post is in continuation of the previous post on the same subject. Moving on to the other contributors’ to the literature of Saurashtra, we come to the following as written in the book Saurashtra No Itihas -1807-1948 by S.V. Jani. Select excerpts from the book are translated from Gujarati by me.The tranlsated text is in blue.

“...Born in Chavand, later the education officer of the State of Bhavnagar, Manishanker Ratnaji Bhatt is popularly known as ‘Kant’...some of his writings titled ‘Sagar ane Shashi’ (The Sea and The Moon), ‘Vasant Vijay’ (Vasant as per Gujarati lexicon means presents given to the bride by the groom’s family), ‘Uphar’(Gifts/presents), ‘Udgar’ (Outpouring) are unique... Narayan Hemchandra Divecha of Diu wrote a total of 200 books. For half of these, he was awarded by the Bhavnagar State... ‘Hu Pote’ (I Myself),  (by the author) is the first published autobiography in Gujarati...

“Krushnalala. M Zaveri, who studied in Shamaldas College (Bhavnagar), is considered a pioneer in writing the history of Gujarati literature. He has written books titled, ‘Mile Stones in Gujarati Literature’, ‘Present State of Gujarati Literature’, and ‘Development of Gujarati Literature’...

 

Shamaldas College in Bhavnagar is one of the oldest in Western India established in the year 1885 by the then Maharaja of Bhavnagar. Many eminent people have studied here including Mahatma Gandhi. Source of the photo: http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,199400217

 “Junagadh’s Gulam Ahmed Sheikh has written the history of Junagadh titled, ‘Mirat-E-Mustafabad’ in Urdu.  Jagjeevan Kalidas Pathak of Porbander wrote, ‘Jethwa Vansh No Itihas’ (the history of Jethwa clan) and ‘Muslim Mahatmao’ (Muslim Saints)...

The beautiful palace of Porbander right on the sea shore has been built by the then Maharaja Natwarsinghji of the Jethwa dynasty. Source of the photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethwa#/media/

“ Chavand’s Mulshanker Mulani was a popular play writer in the olden days. His plays ‘Rajbij’, ‘Saubhagya Sundari’ (Saubhagya as per Gujarati Lexicon means happy state of wife hood and Sundari means beauty),  ‘Ajabkumari’ (Wonderful Maiden) and ‘Dev Kanya’ (Daughter of God or Virtuous girl) had become very popular...Mahuva’s Manilal Tribhuvandas Trivedi was popularly known as ‘Pagal’, he had written about hundred plays...of these, ‘Ra Mandlik’ and ‘Mayamachendra’ (in Hindi), became very popular. Vedshastri of Jamnagar – Manishanker Govindji...has written books on Ayurveda titled, ‘Chikitshabdhi’, and ‘Arya, Anarya Aushad’...Jamnagar’s Dr. Pranjeevan Mehta did the editing of the book ‘Charak Sanhita’...

“Gijubhai Badheka of Bhavnagar...has written eighty seven books for children...he has written a total of 174 books ( Gijubhai's Diwaswapna , first published in the year 1932 and later translated into many languages, is a must read for parents and educationists.)...Nanabhai Bhatt’s ... ‘Ramayan Na Patro’ and ‘Mahabharat Na Patro’ (books based on the characters of Ramayana and Mahabharata), became very popular among children...

“...Halvad’s Tarachand Popat Adalja has written historical novels like – ‘Veer Ni Vato’ (Stories of the heroic/brave men), ‘Virangana Ni Vato’ (Stories of the heroic/brave women), ...’Saurashtra ni Premkathao’ (Love Stories of Saurashtra), etc...Wadhvan’s Chunilal Vardhman Shah was his contemporary... his novel titled ‘Jigar ane Ami’, became very popular...

“Born in Chotila, Jhaverchand Kalidas Meghani...has contributed significantly to folklore, folktales, folk songs, travelogues, historical stories, plays, poetry, novels, and so on...”

[One of my favorite songs written by Jhaverchand Meghani is ‘Charan Kanya’  (Daughter of a Charan- a caste). It is about how a young girl armed with just a stick drives away a lion in the Gir forest in order to protect her cattle. This song is so popular even today that it has been pictured as follows. Click the link below to listen to the song:]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3TXlzNW0s8

“After Meghani and after independence, those who became popular as folk-artists and writers are- Dula Kag, Merubha Gadhvi,  Pingalshibhai Gadvi, Jaymal Parmar, Hemu Gadhvi, Khodidas Parmar...”

[As a child I used to enjoy folk artists sing folk songs with great fervor. Folk tales were woven into the songs. I recall that many from the nomadic tribes of Saurashtra would even come home and sing. One of my favorite songs sung by nomadic tribes or Gadhvis and Charans is ‘Ranuja Na Raja...’. I tried to look for the same on you tube but could not find a single one that has been sung as beautifully as the folk artists used to sing. The closest I could find is sung by Manna Dey! However it is not like the original. Click the link below to listen to the song. ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM4wZTVsdu4

[People of Saurashtra have been going to far away lands in search of work since the olden days. This could be because Saurashtra is drought prone and at the same time, people were enterprising. Moreover, Saurashtra has a long coastline. Literature has evolved around this social, geographical and economic reality of the region.]

“Hajeevan Somaiya of Jamnagar has written twenty books of which ‘Bhar Dariye’ (In midst of the sea), ‘Dariya na Mamla’ (Matters of the sea), etc are based on the adventures of the seas...The home town of Gunvantrai Acharya who has written ‘Dariyalal’, is Jamnagar. He has written books like ‘Jal Samadhi’ (Jal means water and Samadhi means being one with the supreme), ‘Haji Kasam Tari Vijli’, ...these are stories of adventures of the seas... ‘Hu Bavo ane Mangaldas’ is his famous creation...His historical novels are ‘Girnar Ne Khole’ (In the lap of Girnar),  ‘Ideriyo Gadh’ (Fort of Idar)...”

[It would be interesting to note here that a steamship named Vaitarna popularly called Haji Kasam Ni Vijli drowned way back in the year 1888 off the Saurashtra coast- over two decades before the Titanic. Nearly 800 people died in the tragedy. Many were from among the wedding parties and students traveling by the ship. For details see:]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-saw-a-Titanic-in-1888/articleshow/5895425.cms

and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Vaitarna

Haji Kasam, Captain of the Ship Haji Kasam Ni Vijli. Photos Source: Wikipedia

[This tragic incident captured the imagination of writers and poets of Saurashtra and songs as well as poetry have been written based on the incident. In fact, Jhawerchand Meghani too has written a song based on the incident titled: ‘હાજી કાસમ, તારી વીજળી રે મધદરિયે વેરણ થઈ’.]

“Devshanker Mehta of Gujarwadi, Dhangadhra...his books- ‘Suna Dariya Ni Pale’ (On the solitary banks of the sea) ‘Mehraman No Mobhi’ (Mehraman means the Sea. However I could not fined the meaning of Mobhi either in Gujarati Shabdakosh or Lexicon), ‘Dariya ni Khole’  (In the lap of the sea) are novels based on the sea...”

[Similarly, two popular songs concerning a blind mother's letter to her son who has left home for a living and the son’s reply, clearly depicts the social fabric and emotional upheaval of the times when family members left home for far away places in search of work.]

“Indulal Fulchand Gandhi of Morbi became popular with his poem- ‘Andhli Ma No Kagal (Blind Mother’s letter)...”

અમૃત ભરેલું અંતર જેનું, સાગર જેવડું સત્,
પૂનમચંદના પાનિયા આગળ ડોશી લખાવે ખત,
ગગો એનો મુંબઇ કામે;
ગીગુભાઇ નાગજી નામે.

લખ્ય કે માડી ! પાંચ વરસમાં પ્હોંચી નથી એક પાઇ
કાગળની એક ચબરખી પણ, તને મળી નથી ભાઇ !
સમાચાર સાંભળી તારા,
રોવું મારે કેટલા દ્હાડા ?

ભાણાનો ભાણિયો લખે છે કે, ગગુ રોજ મને ભેળો થાય,
દન આખો જાય દાડિયું ખેંચવા રાતે હોટલમાં ખાય,
નિત નવાં લૂગડાં પ્હેરે
પાણી જેમ પઇસા વેરે.

હોટલનું ઝાઝું ખાઇશ મા, રાખજે ખરચી-ખૂટનું માપ,
દવાદારૂના દોકડા આપણે કાઢશું ક્યાંથી, બાપ !
કાયા તારી રાખજે રૂડી,
ગરીબની ઇ જ છે મૂડી.

ખોરડું વેચ્યું ને ખેતર વેચ્યું, કૂબામાં કર્યો છે વાસ,
જારનો રોટલો જડે નહિ તે દી પીઉં છું એકલી છાશ,
તારે પકવાનનું ભાણું,
મારે નિત જારનું ખાણું.

દેખતી તે દી દળણાં-પાણી કરતી ઠામેઠામ,
આંખ વિનાનાં આંધળાંને હવે કોઇ ન આપે કામ,
તારે ગામ વીજળીદીવા,
મારે આંહીં અંધારાં પીવાં.

લિખિતંગ તારી આંધળી માના વાંચજે ઝાઝા જુહાર
એકે રહ્યું નથી અંગનું ઢાંકણ, ખૂટી છે કોઠીએ જાર.
હવે નથી જીવવા આરો,
આવ્યો ભીખ માગવા વારો.

——————

[The son who had left home for Mumbai, sends a reply back to his blind mother- also written by Indulal Gandhi. This is sung very well by Hemant Chauhan. Clink the link below to hear the song:]

http://tahuko.com/?p=397

[Similarly, Dhumketu’s popular short story titled ‘Post office’, is about an old father named Ali Dosa waiting for his daughter Marium’s letter. This is also one of the best short stories that I have read. Dhumketu belonged to Veerpur.

This story in Gujarati can be read here:]

https://rdgujarati.wordpress.com/2006/04/12/post-office/

[There are other popular writers of Saurashtra listed in the book but have not been covered in these posts such as Ghayal of Rajkot, Kureshi and Majnu of Bhavnagar, Saint Khurshidas of Khambhaliya, and so many others. I plan to bring to light some of the women, Dalit, Jain and Muslim writers of Saurashtra in the next post.]

End

History of Saurashtra’s literature Part-1

I belong to Saurashtra and yet I must admit that I am not very familiar with its rich literature. There must be many like me and so this post to throw some light on the history of literature in Saurashtra from the book Saurashtra No Itihas -1807-1948 by S.V. Jani. Some excerpts from the book are translated from Gujarati by me here:

“...Narsinh Mehta seems to be the first point/dot who contributed to the literature of Saurashtra...someone who can be considered equal to him was poetess Ganga Sati of Samadhiyala near Dhasa. The Pads [sonnets/verses/rhymes] she had written addressing her daughter-in-law Panbai are known as ‘rural Upnishads’. Her poetry is very popular among the Bhajan Mandlis for example:” [one of the popular songs of Ganga Sati is as follows]:

મેરુ તો ડગે જેનાં મન નવ ડગે, પાનબાઈ, મરને ભાંગી પડે બ્રહ્માંડજી;
વિપત્તિ પડે તોય વણસે નહીં; સોઈ હરિજનનાં પ્રમાણજી.
ચિત્તની વૃતિ જેની સદા રહે નિર્મળી, ને કરે નહીં કોઈની આશજી;
દાન દેવે પણ રહે અજાચી, રાખે વચનમાં વિશ્વાસ જી – મેરુ.
હરખ ને શોકની આવે નહી હેડકી, આઠે પહોર રહે આનંદજી,
નિત્ય રહે સત્સંગમાં ને, ડે માયા કેરા ફંદજી – મેરુ.
તન મન ધન જેણે ગુરુને અર્પ્યાં, તેનું નામ નિજારી નર ને નારજી,
એકાંતે બેસીને અલખ આરાધે તો, અલખ પધારે એને દ્વારજી – મેરુ.
સતગુરુ વચનમાં શૂરા થઈ ચાલે, શીશ તો કર્યાં કુરબાન રે,
સંકલ્પ વિકલ્પ એકે નહિ ઉરમાં, જેણે મેલ્યાં અંતરનાં માન રે – મેરુ.
સંગત કરો તો એવાની કરજો, જે ભજનમાં રહે ભરપુરજી,
ગંગા સતી એમ બોલિયાં, પાનબાઈ જેનાં નેણોમાં વરસે ઝાઝાં નૂરજી – મેરુ.
Source: http://www.swargarohan.org/ganga-sati/002

“Similarly, Pipa Bhagat’s poems, composed six hundred years ago had become popular among the people. Pipa Bhagat belonged to Pipavav. Gemal Bhagat of village Kukad in Ghogha Taluka had composed such superior form of Garbis [songs] that these are popular even today...

“In the early nineteenth century, a reformer Sahajanand Swami of Saurashtra through his literature contributed significantly in bringing about good conduct among the people...Earlier known as Lalji Suthar but later known as Sant Nishkulanand composed twenty two volumes of poetry...Similarly in the early nineteenth century... Bhoja Bhagat born in Devkigalol is famous...his creations of poems are known as ‘Chabhka’ [poetry/verses with sharp messages or advise], which  are very popular... As is the case in Gujarati language Akha [famous poet from Gujarat] Na Chappa [poems with six lines], Narsinh Mehta’s Prabhatiyas [songs sung in praise of God in the morning], Dayaram’s Garbi [a form of song], Pritam’s Pads [verses], Dhira’s Kafi [one mode of song and music], Bhoja Bhagat’s Chabkha are very popular. Many critics call Bhoja Bhagat the Kabir of Saurashtra...’

One of his popular verses is as follows:

‘Duniya Bhrmava Bholi Re, Chaliyo Bavo Bhabhuti Choli Re,

Dora Dhaga Ne Chitthi Kare, Bavo Ape Gunkari Goli e,

Chela Cheli Ne Bhega Kari, Bavo Khay Khir Khand Ane Poli Re,

Bhoja Bhagat Kahe Bhavsagarma, Bave [Bavae] Marya Boli Re.'

“Dalpatram Travadi who was born in Wadhwan is considered historically as one of the pioneer poets of modern Gujarati literature. His play Mithyaabhiman, and writings tilted ‘Dalpat Pingal' and 'Kavya Dohan' are his main contributions...he has written ‘Vijayvinod’ and ‘Vijaykashma’ in praise of the Bhavnagar Maharaja Vijaysinhji Gohil and ‘Takthavilas’, in praise of Takhtasinhji...

Dalpatram Travadi Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalpatram#/media/File:Kavi_Dalpatram.JPG

'In the eighteenth century, the ruler of Rajkot, Mehramanji the third, gained popularity by writing a volume titled, ‘Pravinsagar’, in Hindi. Later in the nineteenth century, Lathi’s ruler Sursinhji Takthasinhji Gohil’s poetry...became popular. He preferred to be called Kalapi...he has written 275 poems...his literature in the form of letters is also very rich. Six hundred and seventy-nine of his letters have been published...”

Kalapi Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalapi

One of the popular poems of Kalapi is titled Eak Ghaa:

તે પંખીની ઉપર પથરો ફેંકતા ફેફી દીધો, છૂટ્યો તે ને અરરર! પડી ફાળ હૈયા મહીં તો!
રે રે! લાગ્યો દિલ પર અને શ્વાસ રૂંધાઇ જાતાં, નીચે આવ્યું તરુ ઉપરથી પાંખ ઢીલી થતાંમાં.

મેં પાળ્યું તે તરફડી મરે હસ્ત મ્હારા જ-થી આ, પાણી છાંટ્યું દિલ ધડકતે તોય ઊઠી શક્યું ના;
ક્યાંથી ઊઠે? જખ્મ દિલનો ક્રૂર હસ્તે કરેલો! ક્યાંથી ઊઠે! હ્રદય કુમળું છેક તેનું અહોહો!

આહા! કિંતુ કળ ઊતરી ને આંખ તો ઊઘડી એ, મૃત્યુ થાશે? જીવ ઊગરશે? કોણ જાણી શકે એ?
જીવ્યું, આહા! મધુર ગમતાં ગીત ગાવા ફરીને, આ વાડીનાં મધુર ફલને ચાખવાને ફરીને.

રે રે! કિંતુ ફરી કદી હવે પાસ મ્હારી ન આવે, આવે તોયે ડરી ડરી અને ઇચ્છતું ઊડવાને;
રે રે! શ્રદ્ધા ગત થઇ પછી કોઇ કાળે ન આવે, લાગ્યા ઘાને વીસરી શકવા કાંઇ સામર્થ્ય ના છે.

Source: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ek-ghaa/

‘Kalapi’s uncle and Gondal’s ruler Bhagwatsinhji is generally known for the work of the encyclopaedia titled ‘Bhagwadgomandal’[1 ] and he is praised for the same. But he had maintained a diary of his travels to England and Europe at the age of eighteen. This added to the literature...Moreover to get the degree of MD in England, he had written an essay titled, ‘Brief History of Ayurveda’...

 H.H Bhagwatsinhji. Source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

‘Junagadh’s Diwan, Amarji Nanavati’s son, Diwan Ranchodji, wrote Saurashtra’s history in Persian language titled ‘Tarikh-e-Sorath-v-Halar’, which became famous and he gained popularity...Similarly the Diwan of Bhavnagar Gaga Oza, after taking sanyast [2] wrote ‘Swaroopanusandhan’, based on Vedanta...He had also started a monthly magazine titled, ‘Manoranjan Patra’. The compilation of his poems as ‘Ughadi Rakhjo Bari’ and ‘Mitra’, introduces one to his poetry. ..Moreover his articles have been complied and published as ‘Eak Vrudh ni Vicharpothi’ and ‘Vatona Bodh’. Manishanker Jatashanker Kikani of Rajkot...had written books like, ‘Dharmamala’, ‘Manvi ni Bhasha’, ‘Gayanavli’, etc...

‘Col. J.W.Watson, who was once the political agent based at Rajkot, wrote ‘Kathiawad gazetteer’...which even today is a volume that gives fundamental and diverse information about Saurashtra...he wrote the ‘Statistical Accounts’  of the States of Bhavnagar, Navanagar, Porbandar and Junagadh...all these volumes were written between the years 1880 and 1885.....Political agent of Kathiawad, Wilberforce Bele wrote ‘History of Kathiawad’, which was published from London in the year 1916...Saurashtra’s agent’s judicial assistant C.A.Kinkei’s book, ‘Outlaws of Kathiawad’, was published in the year 1905. He has written about several ‘Baharwatiyas’ [outlaws of Saurashtra]. C.J.Maine who was the principal of Rajkumar College for twenty years wrote ‘History of Dhrangadhra State’. Thus these English administrators have contributed to the diverse history of Saurashtra in English... 

‘Contribution to historical writing by Bhagvanlal Bhatt of Junagadh is very significant...he had written thirty six articles regarding archaeology, inscriptions, coins, etc...his work was recognized and he was awarded honorary PhD by Leiden university of Germany in the year 1884...Girijashanker Vallabhji Acharya who was the curator at Watson Museum [Rajkot] by publishing in three parts, ‘Historical Inscriptions of Gujarat’, contributed significantly to this field... Junagadh’s Bhagvanlal Sampatram Chatrapati, wrote “Saurashtra Desh No Itihas.’

Watson Museum, Rajkot. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Further information will be covered in the Part -2 of this post.

end

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[1] http://www.bhagvadgomandal.com/

[2] Renouncing the world and becoming a Sanyasi.