Chanda Jha (Makers of Indian Literature) An Old and Rare Book

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Chanda Jha (1831-1907) was a Maithili poet of proved merit. Although a court-poet of Maharaja Lakshmishwar Singh of Darbhanga, he showed exceptional creativeness and initiative in the literary field and was somewhat influenced by the western trends in literature. He seems to have been encouraged a good deal by the Maithili works of Grierson and the liberal culture of his patron, Maharaja Lakshmishwar Singh. In spite of his scholastic background, his natural gift for striking expressions stood him in good stead as much in the composition of an epic as in the devo- tional songs and lyrics.

This monograph by Sri Jayadeva Misra is an attempt to introduce the poet to the readers who have no direct access to Chanda Jha's poetry, prose and songs. The life and works of Chanda Jha have been presented in this monograph in the context of his times and surroundings.

This short monograph on Chanda Jha is intended to introduce him to readers who have no access to Maithili, a language spoken by more than 3 crores of people in Bihar. Since the cultural, political and literary background of Chanda Jha has not received adequate treatment up till now I have ventured to deal with it as best as was possible within the limited space available to me. I am conscious that I have touched upon too many problems, however briefly, only in the hope that scholars in Maithili and outside will deal with them in greater detail later on.

I have tried also to give English rendering of the verses or songs of Chanda Jha. Conscious as I was of my imperfection in translation, I have also given the original verses in Roman script for such readers as may be interested in knowing the original.

Since most of what I considered technical terms have been explained by me in the body of the book, I did not consider it necessary to add separate notes on them.

I take this opportunity to express my gratefulness to Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi who asked me to write this monograph. I also acknowledge my gratefulness in particular to Dr. B.В. Misra, Dr. Jatashankar Jha, Maithili Akademi, Patna from whose works I have quoted and to Sri Prabhas Kumar Choudhary of Pindarucha, who procured for me a copy of the photograph of Chanda Jha.