44 
THE MODEEN LITERARY HISTORY OF HINDtfSTlN. 
[§ 128 . 
the honour of being his birthplace. As a child he lived at Sukar’khet 
(vulgo Soro), 1 where he was first imbued with devotion to Ram. 
According to Priya Das (see Nos. 51 and 319) his wife first persuaded 
him to exchange an earthly for a divine love, and, incited by her 
remonstrances, he left her and went to Banaras, where he spent 
the greater part of his life, visiting frequently Ajodhya, Mathura, 
Brindaban, Kuruchhettr’ Prayag (Allahabad), Purukhottam’puri, 
and other holy places. The only other fact in his life about which 
there is any reasonable certainty (beyond the dates of some of 
his works) is that he was appointed arbitrator in a land dispute 
between two men, Anand Ram and Kanhdy. The deed of arbitra¬ 
tion in his handwriting is still in existence, and is dated Sambat 
1669, or eleven years before his death. A photograph, transliteration, 
and translation of it, are appended to this work. A few legends 
mentioned by Priya Das, and given in full by Mr. Growse in the 
introduction to his translation of the Ramayan, may be briefly noted 
here. A grateful ghost introduced him to Hanuman, through whom he 
obtained a vision of Ram and Lachhman. He recognised a murderer, 
who piously uttered the name of Ram, as a saved man, and when 
challenged to prove his statement he did so by making the guilty 
man’s offering accepted by Qiva. Some thieves came to rob him, but 
his house was guarded by a mysterious watchman, who was no 
other than Ram himself, and, instead of stealing, the thieves became 
converted and pure of heart. He restored a Brahman to life. 2 His 
fame reached Dilli, where Shah Jahan (1628—1658 ; but the poet 
died in 1624) was emperor. The monarch called upon him to 
perform a miracle and to produce the person of Ram, which Tul’sl Das 
refusing to do, the king threw him into confinement. He was, 
however, speedily compelled to release him, for myriads of monkeys 
having collected about the prison began to demolish it and the 
adjacent buildings. Shah Jahan having set the poet at liberty desired 
him to solicit some favour as a reparation for the indignity he had 
suffered. Tul’sl Das accordingly requested him to quit ancient Dilli, 
which was the abode of Ram ; and in compliance with this request 
the emperor left it and founded the new city, thence named Shah - 
Jahan-abad . After this Tul’sl went to Brindaban, where he had 
an interview with Ndbha Das (the author of the Bhakt Mala). 
There he strenuously advocated the worship of Ram in preference 
1 Ram., Ba„ Doha, 87. 
2 The following is nearly in Wilson’s words. 
