A Jain merchant’s diary of daily life under Mughal rulers Akbar, Jahangir & Shah Jahan |
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A Jain merchant’s diary of daily life under Mughal rulers Akbar, Jahangir & Shah Jahan
When Akbar dies, the Jain merchant records that he fainted in shock, cutting his head open on the stone floor of the courtyard, which ‘turned red with his blood’.
Imagine a text that is the first autobiography by an Indian in an Indian language, provides a rare glimpse into the life of a commoner during Mughal times and is a primary source for understanding the Adhyatma movement within Jainism. Sounds like fiction, but Ardhakathanaka by Banarasidas ticks all the boxes.
Banarasidas was a merchant whose life spanned the rule of three Mughal emperors, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan.
At a time when Indian literary traditions usually consisted of grand chronicles of monarchs or hagiographies of saints, Banarasidas shifted the focus toward the self. He chose to document his life not as a flawless hero but as a fallible individual navigating the complexities of the Mughal era. His account reveals aspects of the time rarely found elsewhere.
Banarasidas was a Shrimal Jain merchant who completed this account in 1641 when he was 55 years old. Since Jain tradition holds 110 years to be the ideal human lifespan, with wry humour, he named his account Ardhakathanaka or Half a Tale. Unfortunately, he would pass away just two years after completing the book. He wrote the text in versified colloquial Brajbhasha and clearly meant it to be read, recited and enjoyed by friends and associates. He was born in Jaunpur and spent his early life there, but later lived, for varying periods of time, in Agra, Varanasi and Khairabad. Patna and Itawah formed the eastern and western boundaries of his world.
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Ardhakathanaka provides fascinating insights into the values, practices and experiences of a medieval mercantile community. Banarasidas’s family belonged to the middle-ranks and dealt in jewellery, textiles and other goods. As a boy, he was trained in bookkeeping, cost accounting, drafting commercial documents........