Are people aware of the content in Jayasi's Padmavat?
Malik Muhammad Jayasi belonged to the Chishtia order of Sufis. His miracle legends have been part of popular memory. The most stunning miracle he performed the Padmawat has been around physically for five centuries. Jayasi composed his magnum opus in 1540 in Awadhi, its manuscripts were mostly found written in the Persian script. Taking the legend of Padmini from the oral traditions of Rajputana, Jayasi created a fascinating texture of legend, history and mythology (Hindu as well as Islamic), drawing liberally from his vast knowledge and life experiences. Padmawat was apparently an instant hit in the literary circles of north India, and was also translated into Bengali in the sixteenth century itself. Thus, to Jayasi goes the credit of taking the Padmawati legend to Bengal; wherefrom a number of novels, plays and poems glorifying the Rajputs were to emanate in the nineteenth century.
Ever since Ramchandra Shukla, the most influential historian
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