297. 298 HISTORY OF SANSKRIT POETIOS

298 HISTORY OF SANSKRIT POETIOS

A ms. of the Sahityadarpana deposited at Jammu1 is dated in the Vikrama year 1440, i. e. approximately 1384 A.D. From this it may be safely concluded that the Sahityadarpana was composed at some time earlier than 1384 A. D. Viśva- natha quotes a verse which /speaks of a Mohammadon king named Allauddin. We saw above that Visvanatha came from Orissa. The king referred to in the verse is certainly Sultan3 Allauddin Khilji, whose favourite general Malik Kafur invaded the Deccan, seized Warangal and carried his victorious arms as far as Cape Comorin. Allauddin, it is said, was poisoned in 1316 A. D. Supposing that the verse in which Allauddin is mentioned by name was written in his life-time, the Sāhitya- darpana cannot be said to have been composed at a date earlier than 1300 A. D. From these two circumstances it follows that the Sahityadarpana was composed at some time between 1300 A. D. and 1384 A. D. There is a good deal of evidence, both internal and ex- ternal, that confirms this conclusion. I The internal evidence is a follows :- (a) Viśvanātha quotes a verse from the Gitagovinda of Jayadeva.4 Tradition makes Jayadeva, along with Govardhana, Sarana, Umāpati and Kavirāja, a protege of Laksmana-sena whose inscription at Gaya is dated in samvat 1173 or 1116 A. D.5 Jayadeva him- self mentions Govardhana and others as his contemporaries.6 We may say that Jayadeva flourished in the first half of the 12th century. 1. See Dr. Stein's Catalogue of mss. at Jammu under the heading Alankārsāstra p. 64. 2. सन्धौ सर्वस्वहरणं विग्रहे प्रायनिग्र्यः। अलावदीननृपतौ न सन्धिर्न च विग्रहः ॥ IV. 14, p. 244 Nir. ed. 3. The word Sultan, it should be noted, occurs under the Sanskritized from सुरत्राण in the साहित्यदपण, 'गङ्गाम्भसि सुरत्राय तव निःशाननिस्वन: ।' p. 30 of our text (under) उत्प्रेक्षा). 4. 'हृदि बिसलताहारो नायं' etc. p. 29 of our text (under faa). This verse is ascribed to Jayadeva in the Subhāshitā- vali also. 5. Buhler's Kashmir Report p. 64. 6. वाच: पल्मवयत्युमापतिघरः सन्दर्भशुद्धि गिरां जानीते जयदेव एव शरणः छाध्यो दुरूहद्रते। शभारोत्तरसत्प्रमेयवचनैराचार्यगोवर्धनः स्पर्धी कोऽपि न विश्रुतः अवपरो धोयी कविचमापतिः॥4th verse of th Gitagovinda.