कान्हड़दे प्रबन्ध (कवि पद्मनाभ - जालोर चौहान वीरगाथा, अलाउद्दीन खिलजी से युद्ध व जौहर इतिहास)

INTRODUCTION
I
The Kānhaḍade Prabandha is perhaps the most valuable treasure
in Old Gujarātī or Old Western Rājasthānī, as it is called by
Dr. TESSITORI. It is an epic of a glorious age and there is nothing to
compare with it either in Old or Modern Gujarātī. It can easily stand
comparison with the celebrated Pṛthvīrāja Rāsā in Old Hindi.
There are various reasons why the Kānhaḍade Prabandha
has attained this unique position. In the first place, it is a text of
supreme importance for a study of the development of the Gujarātī
language. Composed as early as v. s. 1512, it represents an important
landmark in the evolution of the Gujarātī language. It embodies
a stage when Gujarātī and Rājasthānī were just beginning to evolve
their distinctive characteristics from the common source—the post-
Apabhraṁśa. While the morphology and the general character of the
language are unmistakeably Gujarātī, its phonology reveals several
Rājasthānī traits. It is a rich mine of typical Old Western Rājasthānī
words, many of which are rarely met with in other Old Western Rājas-
thānī works. Besides being a gifted poet the author was an erudite
scholar. His work, therefore, faithfully reproduces the standard form
of the language current at the time. This text, fortunately, has been
handed down by learned scribes who have taken care to preserve its
linguistic peculiarities with great fidelity. The result is that we get
from this work a clear picture of the Old Gujarātī language or Old
Western Rājasthānī as it prevailed in the middle of the 15th century
A. D. And herein lies the value of this work because the works of
eminent mediaeval poets like Narasiṁha and Mīrābāī, although
belonging approximately to the same age, have considerably suffered
in the process of transmission in later times.
From the historical point of view, also, the Kānhaḍade
Prabandha is without a parallel in the entire Old Western Rājasthānī
literature. It is perhaps the only OWR Prabandha that gives an
accurate account of historical events. There is hardly any doubt
that the poet has drawn at first-hand on court-records and chronicles
as well as the current historical traditions of Rājasthān. His
references to the contemporary geography of India are always
accurate. The value of this work as a source-book of the history of
the period, therefore, must be rated very high indeed. Moreover,
the work is a mine of information on the social customs and manners
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