JAGTIV · Previous Year Questions

UPPSC

HISTORY · 2022

Previous Year Question

Which Mughal ruler patronaged Kavindra Acharya Saraswati of Banaras, a great scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi?

A.

Humayun

B.

Jahangir

C.

Akbar

D.

Shahjahan

Correct Answer: D

Detailed Solution

Kavindra Acharya Saraswati was a celebrated Sanskrit scholar, poet and musicologist of Banaras in the 17th century. He belonged to the flourishing Sanskrit scholarly tradition of Banaras during this period.

Kavindra Acharya Saraswati received patronage at the court of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan. Among the prominent Sanskrit scholars patronised by the Mughal court during Shahjahan's reign, Kavindra Acharya Saraswati and Panditraj Jagannath were particularly notable.

Kavindra Acharya composed the ‘Kavindrakalpalata’. It was a work connected with music in which different Ragas were discussed along with praise of Shahjahan.

He also prepared a Hindavi digest of the Sanskrit Yogavasistha. This shows that his scholarship was not limited to Sanskrit poetry but also occupied an important position in interactions between Sanskrit and vernacular literary traditions.

Kavindra Acharya is also associated with opposition to the pilgrimage tax imposed during Shahjahan's period. On behalf of scholars and pilgrims of Banaras, he petitioned the Emperor for removal of the tax.

Following his representation, Shahjahan remitted this tax imposed on pilgrims. The episode also demonstrates the prestige and influence enjoyed by Kavindra Acharya at the Mughal court.

Thus, Kavindra Acharya Saraswati was one of the prominent Sanskrit scholars of Shahjahan's period and received royal patronage from his court.

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