23 
1886.] Kavi E,aj Shyamal Das —On the Prithi Bdj Rasa. 
In the same way the Samvat 1158 is assigned by the Rasa ” to 
the last battle with Shahabnddin, which resulted in the death of Prithi 
Raj —and the date is said to have been Amavasya or the 15th day of the 
waning Moon of Shravan ; the Sun to have been in (the sign of) Cancel* 
the Nakshatra Rohini and the Moon to have been in Taurus (^). 
Now, if the Moon be in Rohini, the Sun should be in Taurus : but 
according to the rule, the Sun and the Moon must be in one and th e 
same Rashi. 
That the Sun should have been in Cancer seems correct; but the 
Moon could not have been in Taurus as told in the ‘ Rasa ’ j on the 
other hand it must have been in Cancer. 
Thus it seems the author was quite ignorant of astronomy, and 
hence he did not notice this mistake : it is also rendered manifest that 
he was not the court-bard of Raja Someswara Dev or Prithi Raj, as in 
that case he must have known the true dates and combinations of the 
planets when the latter was born. 
I think the arguments so far stated are sufficient to prove that the 
* Prithi Raj Rasa ’ was not composed by Chand or in his time. 
lY. 
Then the question naturally arises, “ When and by whom was the 
Epic composed ? ” if not by Chand Bardai. 
I have stated the poem to be the work of some poet of Rajputana, 
and I venture to say I can prove the period of the composition on the 
following grounds:— 
(1.) In the poems composed in Rajputana before Akbar’s time 
and still available, Persian words and expressions are not met with : 
only the words of Sanskrit, Braj Bhasha, Magadhi or Prakrit, Rajputana 
dialects, and sometimes of Gujarati also are found. 
The Princes of Rajputana opened intercourse with the Imperial 
Court daring Akbar’s time. Raja Bhara Mai Kachhwaha of Amber 
(Jaipur) went to the Court in S. 1619 (= A. D. 1562) for the first 
time. In his domains there were very few Marwari poets, and Braj 
Bhasha poetry is still widely prevalent there. The poems now available 
about the Rajas of Jaipur or their brotherhood, are found to have been 
composed by Marwar or Mewar poets : that is Marwar stands first, and 
Mewar holds the second place as far as Marwari or Dingal poetry is 
concerned. 
The intercourse of the poets of Marwar and Mewar with the Im¬ 
perial Court commenced during the latter days of Akbar’s reign. 
When the dispute between the sons of Rao Mai Dev of Jodhpur 
was over, and Udai Singh was established on the throne in S. 1639 
