12 
THE MODERN LITERARY HISTORY OF HINDUSTAN. 
[§19- 
19. Jaideb. FI. 1400 A.D. 
A Maitb.il poet, said to be distinct from Jayadeua, author of the 
Gita Gouinda . He attended the court of Sib Siygh, of Sugaona, and 
was a contemporary of Bidyapati. See J. A. S. B., vol. liii, page 88. 
20. Mira Bai , the Mar’warl. FI. 1420 A.D. 
Hag. Leaving Bidyapati and his successors, we may now turn to 
the extreme west of Hindustan, where, in Mewar, Mira Bai, the one 
great poetess of Northern India, was pouring forth her passionate 
hymns to Krish’n Ran’chhor . This remarkable woman, who flourished 
in the year 1420 A.D., was the daughter of Baja Ratiya Rana, 1 the 
Rathaur, of Mer'ta , and was married in Sambat 1470 (A.D. 1413) 
to Baja Kumbh’karan (No. 21), son of Mokal Deb, of Chitaur . 2 Her 
husband was killed in Sambat 1534 (A.D. 1469) by his son Uda Rana. 
Her great work is the Rag Gobind, and she also wrote a much-admired 
commentary on the Gita Gouinda of Jayadeua . She was devoted to 
that form of the god Krish’n known as Ran’chhor , and the tradition 
is that she worshipped his image with such fervour that it came to 
life, and the god, descending from his shrine, embraced her, crying 
< Welcome Mira.” On hearing these words, overcome with rapture, 
she died in his arms. According to Wilson 3 she was much persecuted 
by her husband’s family on account of her religious principles. 
She became the patroness of vagrant Vaishnavas, and visited in 
pilgrimage Brindaban and Dwarika. Previous to leaving the latter 
place she visited the temple of her tutelary deity to take leave of him, 
when on the completion of her adoration the image opened, and Mira 
leaping into the fissure it closed and she finally disappeared. Some 
idea of the popularity of her writings may be gained from the fact 
that I have collected from the mouths of the people of Mithila songs 
purporting to be by her. 4 
21. Kumbh f karan, king of Chitaur (Mewar), 
husband of Mira Bai. FI. 1419 A.D. ■> 
1 According to Tod, ii, 23 (Calc. ed. ii, 24) her father’s name was 
Dudoh (P). 
3 According to Wilson, Udaipur. 
3 Religious Sects of the Hindus, p. 137. 
4 Cf. Tod, i, 289 ; ii, 760 ; Calc. ed. i, 309; ii, 818. 
