Hammira Mahakavya (IAST: Hammīra-Mahākāvya) is a 15th-century Indian Sanskrit epic poem written by the Jain scholar Nayachandra Suri. It is a legendary biography of the 13th century Chahamana king Hammira. While not entirely accurate from a historical point-of-view, the text provides valuable information about the medieval history of north-western India.
Much of the text describes Hammira's ancestry and his conquests of the neighbouring Hindu kingdoms. The third last part describes his conflict with Ala-ud-Din Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi. The text attributes Hammira's defeat against Ala-ud-Din to betrayal by his officers.
Authorship and date
Hammira Mahakavya was composed by the Jain scholar Nayachandra Suri. The author's grandfather and teacher Jayasiṃha Sūri was a poet and a scholar. Jayasiṃha knew six languages, and composed three works - Nyāya Sāraṭika, a Sanskrit grammar, and a poem on Kumāra Nṛpati. The author was not a contemporary of the text's hero Hammira. He was possibly a court poet of the Tomara ruler Vīrama, since he states that he wrote the text as a response to a challenge in Virama's court that no contemporary poet was capable of composing a kāvya comparable to the works composed by the ancient poets such as Kalidasa, Bilhana and others. Nayachandra also states that Hammira appeared in his dream urging him to compose Hammira-Mahākāvya.
The author states that Hammira appeared in his dream exactly 100 years after his death (which happened in 1301). This suggests that the composition of the poem must have begun in 1401. However, the exact date and place of the text's origin are not certain. According to scholar Cynthia Talbot, it was probably composed around 1400 CE, possibly to please a Chauhan (Chahamana) ruler. Based on the assertion that the poem was written as a response to a challenge in Virama's court, Phyllis Granoff theorizes that the poem was written at the Tomara court, around 1420 CE.
Nayachandra's disciple Nayahamsa made a copy of the manuscript in 1496 CE, at "Sri Perojpur" (possibly Firozpur, although this is not certain). This manuscript was used by N. J. Kirtane to produce an editio princeps. Nayahamsa also added an appendix, which praises Nayachandra Suri and his spiritual lineage. Kirtane received the manuscript from a person of Nashik, who had received it from someone else.
Content
The Hammīra-Mahākāvya consists of 1500 verses, divided into 14 sargas (cantos). The poem begins with an invocation to Hindu deities and Jain tirthankaras. The poet uses several words with double meanings that can refer to either a Hindu deity or a Jain tirthankara. E.g.:
"Nābhibhū" ("navel-born" or "progeny of Nabhi") can mean Brahma or the first tirthankara Rishabhanatha "Śrī Pārśva" can mean Vishnu or Parshvanatha "Śaṃkara Vīravibhu" can mean Shiva or Mahavira "Bhīsvān Śānti" can mean Surya (the sun) or Shantinatha "Samudra Janman" can refer to Soma (the moon) or Neminatha
The poem then describes the life Hammira, who is compared to the legendary heroes Mandhata, Yudhishthira and Rama.
Cantos 1-4 are devoted to Hammira's ancestors, including kings from the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty. Cantos 5-7 describe Hammira's engagement in various services, sports and festivities. The information contained in this part is of little historical value. The next few cantos describe his reign. The last third part of the text describes Hammira's conflict with Ala-ud-Din Khalji, the Muslim Sultan of Delhi.
Hammira's ancestors
The text gives the following line of succession of the Chahamana kings, which does not match exactly with the historical genealogy of the dynasty:
Much of the information about these ancestors is fanciful in nature. For example, the dynasty's mythical progenitor Chahamana (or Chohan) is described as follows: Once Brahma wandered in search of a holy place for a sacrifice. The lotus held in has hand fell at a spot that later came to be known as Pushkar. Brahma decided to conduct a sacrifice at that place, and invoked Surya (the sun) to protect his sacrifice from the danavas (demons). A hero then sprung from the orb of the sun, and protected Brahma's sacrifice. With Brahma's blessings, this hero became a powerful king.
Even the description of Hammira's historical ancestors does not provide much information of historical value. For example, Chandraraja is described as follows:
The description of the events from the death of Prithviraja III to the reign of Hammira is fairly historical, but still not entirely accurate.
Legend of Prithviraja III
The text describes Prithviraja III's war against Muhammad of Ghor (Shahb-ud-Din) as follows: During the just rule of Prithviraja in the East, the Muslim king Shahab-ud-Din began attempts to subjugate the earth. The kings of the West, led by one Chandraraja, appealed Prithviraja to counter Shahab-ud-Din. Chandraraja told Prithviraja that Shahab-ud-Din had set up his capital at Multan, and had defeated the noblest of the Hindu Rajput kings. The invader had burned their cities, dishonoured their women and reduced them to a sorry state. Chandraraja compared Shahab-ud-Din to Parashurama, who had come to exterminate the warrior caste from the earth.
On hearing this, Prithviraja became angry, and declared that he would force Shahab-ud-Din to beg them for an apology on his knees. After some days, he marched towards Multan and entered Shahab-ud-Din's territory. When the enemy king learned of this, he also set out from Multan, with an army. In the ensuing battle, Prithviraja defeated and captured Shahab-ud-Din. The Muslim king was made to bend on his knees, and seek forgiveness from the Rajput kings he had harassed. Subsequently, Prithviraja presented expensive gifts to all the kings (including Shahab-ud-Din), and asked them to return home.
Despite being well-treated after his defeat, Shahab-ud-Din felt humiliated and sought revenge. He invaded Prithviraja's kingdom seven more times, but each time, he was defeated. Finally, he decided to seek help from the king of the Ghataika country. From this king, he obtained a large infantry and cavalry, and captured Delhi. When Prithviraja heard about this, he had only a small force stationed at his capital Ajmer. He asked his general Udayaraja to gather a larger army, and immediately set out against Shahab-ud-Din with the small force. Although Prithviraja's contingent was small, Shahab-ud-Din was terrified at this news. At night, he sent some men to Prithviraja's camp and bribed the cavalry chief and the royal musicians.
The next morning, Shahab-ud-Din sent a force to attack Prithviraja's camp. Prithviraja asked his men to prepare for war. The disloyal cavalry chief presented him a dancing horse named Natyarambha. As soon as the king mounted this horse, the disloyal musicians started playing music. The horse started dancing to the music, and this performance diverted the king's attention. Meanwhile, the Muslim soldiers managed to kill a number of Rajputs. Prithviraja finally came to his senses, dismounted from the horse, and killed a number of attackers. But then he fell to the ground after an enemy soldier attacked him from behind. He was taken captive just as Udayaraja arrived with a larger army. Fearing Udayaraja's army, Shahab-ud-Din retreated to Delhi but took the captive Prithviraja with him. Udayaraja besieged Yoginipura (Delhi) for a month, in a bid to rescue Prithviraja.
After being captured, Prithviraja refused to eat any food. One of Shahab-ud-Din's advisors remarked that he should release Prithviraja, who had released the Muslim king with honour in past. Shahab-ud-Din became angry at this suggestion, and ordered Prithviraja to be imprisoned in the fortress. Prithviraja died after a few days. When Udayaraja heard about this, he led his entire army to a decisive battle, in which he was defeated and killed.
Prithviraja was succeeded by Hariraja. The new king spent most of his time in company of female dancers, who had been presented to him by the king of Gujarat. Hariraja squandered the state's revenues on dancers and musicians, even as the state's employees were not paid their salaries. Shahab-ud-Din took advantage of these circumstances, and invaded Hariraja's kingdom. Hariraja, who was not prepared for a fight, chose to die by self-immolation (sak), along with his family members.
Legend of the Ranthambore branch
Govindaraja had established a new kingdom with its capital at Ranathambore, after being banished by his father. Following Hariraja's defeat, several of Ajmer's officials sought his asylum. Govindaraja treated them well, and appointed them to suitable offices. After Govindaraja's death, Balhana ascended the throne. Before his death, Balhana appointed his elder son Prahlada as the new king, and his younger son Vagabhata as the prime minister. Prahlada once killed a lion during a hunting expedition. As his party celebrated the killing, another lion severely injured him. On his deathbed, Vagabhata promised to serve his son Viranarayana faithfully.
When Viranarayana became an adult, his marriage was arranged to the Kachhavaha princess of Jayapura. He set out for the Kachhavaha capital Amarapur for the marriage ceremony, but was forced to retreat because of a surprise attack by the Delhi Sultan Jalal-ud-din. Unable to defeat Viranarayana in the battle, Jalal-ud-Din made a plan to subdue him using deceitful means. He sent a flattering message to Viranarayana, stating that he was greatly impressed by his bravery, and wanted to be friends. Viranarayana believed that a friendship with the Delhi Sultan would help him against his rival, Vigraha of Vakshasthalapura. He, therefore, accepted the Jalal-ud-Din's invitation to Delhi. Vagabhata advised him against this move, but the king insultingly rejected his advice. A dejected Vagabhata left for Malwa. Other courtiers also advised Viranarayana against accepting Jalal-ud-din's friendship, but the king didn't heed their advice. He went to Delhi, where he was received warmly, but ended up being poisoned after a few days.
Jalal-ud-Din then captured Ranthambore, and sent a message to the king of Malwa ordering him to kill Vagabhata. But Vagabhata discovered this, and killed the king of Malwa. He then gathered an army of Rajputs, and formed an alliance with the Kharpuras (Mongols), who had rebelled against the Delhi Sultanate. With this army, he recaptured Ranthambore. He safeguarded the kingdom by placing large forces at the various frontier posts, and died after a reign of 12 years.
Vagabhata was succeeded by Jaitrasingh. He fulfilled the desire of his pregnant queen Hira Devi to "bathe herself in the blood of the Sakas (Muslims)". When her son Hammira was born, the astrologers predicted that he would drench the earth with the blood of his Muslim enemies. Hammira grew up to be a handsome man, and his father arranged his marriage to 7 beautiful women. In 1283 CE, Jaitrasingh appointed Hammira as his successor, and retired to forest.
Hammira's early reign
Soon after becoming the king, Hammira waged wars to expand his kingdom. First, he subdued Arjuna, the king of Saraspura. Next, he forced the ruler of Gadhamandala to pay him a tribute. After this, he marched to Malwa, where he defeated Bhoja II. His army marched in a victory procession at Ujjain, where he prayed to Mahakala. On the way back to Ranthambore, he marched to Chitrakuta (Chittor), and sacked Medapata (modern Mewar).
Subsequently, Hammira stayed for some days at the ashram of sage Vasishtha. Although he followed the religion of the Vedas, he also prayed at the temple of the Jain tirthankara Rishabhadeva.