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Ideology, Identity and Pragmatism:Formation of the Medieval Mithila


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1 Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India
     

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The paper studies the regional history under which it has been tried to find how an ideology helps in the formation of a state and gradually ideology builds an identity in its parallel line, then how it takes the form of a cultural entity. In this context, my study focuses on the Mithila region and it has been tried to understand that, during the medieval period, how the contemporary Maithil scholars started writing commentaries on the Dharamsāstras and Smritis and the rule and regulations described in it were placed prominently in their literatures. It is also important to know that how the intellectual class of Mithila and their literatures were helpful in the formation of a state and what was the attitude of the ruling class to this intellectual class. Besides, these scholars had presented ideal examples on the basis of the code of conduct described in the Dharamsāstras and were they ever been brought into practice. Suppose that if they were brought to practice in practical life, then what type of the mechanism would have been used for its implementation in the society.

Keywords

Mithila, Brahman, Dharamsastra, Buddhism, Jainism, Philosophy, Literature, Culture.
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  • Adrian Green and A. J. Pollard.ed, Region and Regionalism in History: Regional Identities in North-East England 1300-2000, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2007, pp. 3-5.

  • B. D. Chattopadhyaya, Representing the Other? Sanskrit Sources and the Muslims (Eighth to Fourteenth Century),Manohar, New Delhi, 1998, pp. 21-22.

  • ShatapathaBrahaman, Tr. Julius Eggeling, SBE-Vol.43, The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882, p. 62; Vayu-Purana, Tr. G. V. Tagare, Vol. 2, MotilalBanarasidass, New Delhi, pp. 88.3-5.

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  • AbulFazl, Ᾱīn-i-Akbarī, tr. H.S. Jarret, Vol. 2, The Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, 1939, pp. 149-156.

  • Jata Shankar Jha, Education In Bihar, K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna, 1979, p. 3.

  • Jyotishwar Thakur, Varn-ratnakara, ed. S. K. Chatterjee& B. Mishra, BibliothicaIndica, Calcutta, 1940, p. 9.

  • Vidyapati Thakur, Purusa- Parīkṣā, pp.87

  • These two books of Vidyapati are no longer available, but for the facts described in these books, we can see S. Dvivedi, GanagaTarangini, Banaras, 1933 and S. B. Dikshit, BharatiyaJyotish, Lucknow, 1963.

  • Chandeshwara Thakur, Rajnitiratnakara, ed. K. P. Jayaswal, The Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Patna, 1936, pp. 3-4.

  • Vidyapati Thakur, Kritilata, ed. VirendraShrivastava, Bihar RashtraBhashaParishad, Patna, 1983, pp. 106-08.

  • Jyotishwar Thakur, Varn-ratnakara, pp. 8, 26.

  • Ibid. pp. 8-9.

  • Chandeshwara Thakur, Rajnitiratnakara, p. 4.

  • Vardhamana, Dandaviveka, ed. Mm. K. K. Smrtitirtha, Gaekwad’sOrental Series, Baroda, 1931, P. 36.

  • ‘Panji-PrabandhaVyvastha’is a book of genealogy In which the genealogy of Maithil Brahmans and Kayasthas families has beenrecorded.

  • R. K. Chaudhary, The Mithila In The Age of Vidyapati, ChaukhambaOrentalia, Varanasi, 1976, p. 111.

  • JoytishwarThakur,Varnaratnakara, ed. GovindJha, Maithili Akadami, Patna, 1990, pp. 84-85.

  • Chandeshwara Thakur, Grishth-Ratnakara, pp. 336-38.

  • Vidyapati Thakur, Varshkritya, ed. R. C. Jha, Maithil Academy, Part-1, Patna, 1977, pp. 129-174. Upendra Thakur,

  • Upendra Thakur, Studies in Jainism and Bhuddism in Mithila, The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Studies, Vol. XLIII, Varanasi, 1964, pp. 152-157.

  • R. K. Chaudhary, Bihar: The Homeland of Buddhism, Sri Siddhartha Press, Patna, 1956, pp. 139-40.

  • Vidyapati Thakur, Saivasarvasara, ed. IndrakantJha, Maithil Akadami, Patna, 1979. Durgabhakti- Tarangini, ed. Kashinath Mishra, K.S.D. Sanskrit University, Darbhanga, 2001. Gorakshvijaya, eds. Umesh Mishra and Jayakant Mishra, AkhilBharatiya Maithili SahityaAamiti, Allahabad, 1961.

  • IndrakantJha, Vidyapatikalin Mithila, Maithil Akadami, Patna, 1986, pp. 351-52.

  • S. H. Askari, AFiftheen Century Shattari Sufi Saint of North Bihar, JBRS, Vol. 34. Patna, 1951, p. 74.

  • R. K. Chaudhary, The Mithila In The Age of Vidyapati, p. 379

  • Ibid. pp. 81-82


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  • Ideology, Identity and Pragmatism:Formation of the Medieval Mithila

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Authors

Pritam Kumar Gupta
Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India

Abstract


The paper studies the regional history under which it has been tried to find how an ideology helps in the formation of a state and gradually ideology builds an identity in its parallel line, then how it takes the form of a cultural entity. In this context, my study focuses on the Mithila region and it has been tried to understand that, during the medieval period, how the contemporary Maithil scholars started writing commentaries on the Dharamsāstras and Smritis and the rule and regulations described in it were placed prominently in their literatures. It is also important to know that how the intellectual class of Mithila and their literatures were helpful in the formation of a state and what was the attitude of the ruling class to this intellectual class. Besides, these scholars had presented ideal examples on the basis of the code of conduct described in the Dharamsāstras and were they ever been brought into practice. Suppose that if they were brought to practice in practical life, then what type of the mechanism would have been used for its implementation in the society.

Keywords


Mithila, Brahman, Dharamsastra, Buddhism, Jainism, Philosophy, Literature, Culture.

References