Cosmopolitan Soirées in Eighteenth-Century North India
Reception of early Urdu poetry in Kishangarh
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2634751 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Heidi Pauwels (0000-0002-0919-0774, University of Washington, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Publication date | 2014-10-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1960-6060 • E-ISSN: 1960-6060 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/samaj.3773 |
| OpenAlex | W171218497 |
| Language | FR |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 1 |
This paper looks at poetic dialogues and exchange of ideas in eighteenth-century North India. The focus is on the reception of the new Urdu poetry (then called Rekhtā) in the lesser-known Rajasthani principality, Kishangarh. This small kingdom near Jaipur is known in the art world for its gorgeous paintings, especially the delicate depictions of the love of Rādhā and Krishna that have made the Kishangarhi school famous and give it an air of timelessness. Sometimes the school is also considered ‘provincial’. Yet, there is more to this small principality than is commonly known. This paper shows how it was in fact quite cosmopolitan, very much in the midst of new intellectual and artistic developments at the Mughal court in the first half of the eighteenth century under Mahārājā Rāj Singh (r. 1706-1748). The paper’s point of departure consists of two Kishangarhi paintings that were produced during Rāj Singh’s reign. Both pictures portray mixed Hindu-Muslim gatherings. They show how there was more to the culture of Kishangarh than the world of Braj Bhāṣā poetry about Rādhā and Krishna. I read these paintings in conjunction with literary material that illustrates that in Kishangarh there were also experiments with the then-new style of poetry, later called Urdu. I present evidence of poetic dialogues between what are now regarded as separate poetic traditions, Urdu and Braj. The paper is based on recent manuscript research in India of Kishangarhi poems and collections. Methodologically it seeks to establish what can be gained in understanding by reading paintings together with contemporary literary sources
Ancient history · Art · Literature · Poetry · Urdu · History · Islamic Studies and History · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Diaspora
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2019 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |