10 
THE MODERN LITERARY HISTORY OF HINDUSTAN. 
allegorically with the relations of the soul to God under the form of the 
love which Radha bore to Krish’n. These were adopted and recited 
enthusiastically by the celebrated Hindu reformer Chaitanya, who 
flourished at the beginning of the sixteenth century (b. 1484 A.I).), 
and, through him, became the house-poetry of the Lower Provinces. 
Numbers of imitators sprung up, many of whom wrote in Bidyapatfs 
name, so that it is now difficult to separate the genuine from the 
imitations, especially as the former have been altered in the course of 
ages to suit the Bap gall idiom and metre. Bidydpati was a contem¬ 
porary of the Bapgall poet Chandi Das, and of Umapati and Jai Deb, 
and was, we know, on terms of intimate friendship with the first. He 
was, we have seen, a famous poet in A.I). 1400, and a copy of the 
Bhdgauata Purana in his handwriting, dated L.S. 349 (A.H. 1456), 
still exists, so that he lived to a good old age. These are the only 
two certain dates we have in his life. The following dates depend 
upon the dates mentioned in Ajodhya Par’sad’s Gulzar-Bihar as 
those of the accessions of the various kings. Ajodhya Par’sad’s 
dates are as follows:—King Deua Simha (Deb Siygh) came to the 
throne A.D. 1385 ; Giua Simha (Sib Siygh) 1446; two queens reigned 
1449—1470; Nam Simha Deua (Nar Siygh Deb) 1470; Dhira Simha 
(Dhir Siygh) 1471. 
Now the Purusa Parlksa was according to its colophon written 
during the lifetime of Deb Siygh , i.e. before 1446, and the Durga- 
bhakti Taraygini was written during the reign of Nar Siygh Deb, i.e, 
in the year 1470. We therefore can arrange the dates which we 
have of Bidijapati Thakur’s life as follows, giving those which depend 
upon Ajodhya Par’sdd in italics.:— 
A.D. 
Granted the village of Bisapi, and therefore 
already a learned man ... ... 1400 
Wrote Purusa Parlksa before ... ... 1J+1+6 
Wrote the numerous songs dedicated to Sib 
Siygh before ... ... ... 1!±!±9 
Copied the Bhdgauata Purana ... ... 1456 
Wrote Durgdbhakti Taraygini ... ... ILfiO 
Assuming the above dates to be correct, he must have been at least 
ninety years old when he completed his last work. Raja Sib Siygh, 
Bidyapatfs great patron, was also named Rap Ndrayan, which seems 
to have been a general title of many members of the family. He had 
several wives, of whom the poet has immortalised Lakhima Thakurain, 
