>सौरभ मिश्र at 03:25, 7 June 2021

2021-06-07T03:25:43Z

New page

{{short description|Maithili-language Author}}
'''Caṇḍeśvara Thakkura''' was a [[Maithili language|Maithili]]-language political theorist and general during the 14th century. He served as minister for peace and war and chief judge in the court of [[Harisimhadeva]] who was the last King of the [[Karnat dynasty]] of [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] in modern-day northern [[Bihar]] of [[India]] and parts of Southern [[Nepal]].<ref name=Pandit2003>{{cite journal | title=A Discussion about the Rare Quotes from Caṇḍeśvara Thakkura's Rajanitiratnakara | author= Swagata P. Pandit | journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume = 84| year=2003 | pages= 33–41 |jstor = 41694748}}</ref> His family had their origins in the village of Bisfi in [[Madhubani district]] of [[Bihar]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sahitya |first1=Akademi |title=Vidyapati |url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/pdf/Vidyapati.pdf |accessdate=9 October 2020}}</ref>

Among his most notable works was the ''Rājanītiratnākara'', a treatise on organising the state.<ref name="Jha2018">{{cite book|author=Pankaj Jha|title=A Political History of Literature: Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8xl9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT49|date=20 November 2018|publisher=OUP India|isbn=978-0-19-909535-3|pages=49–60}}</ref> Further to this, he also wrote a set of seven books that dealt with issues relating to the law among other themes. These were titled the ''Krityaratnākara, Dānaratnākara, Vyavahāraratnākara, Śuddhiratnākara, Pūjāratnākara, Vivādaratnākara, and Gṛihastharatnākara''. Together, these books are referred to as ''Saptaratnākara''.<ref name="Jha2018" />

Primary sources from the time describe him as a great diplomat and a successful minister who participated in battles against ''[[mlecchas]]'' (possibly referring to Muslim invasions) as well as leading a successful military expedition to Nepal where he is said to have distributed gold equal in weight to himself on the banks of the [[Bagmati River]] in 1314.<ref name="Choudhary1970">{{cite book|author=Radhakrishna Choudhary|title=History of Muslim Rule in Tirhut, 1206-1765, A.D.|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfMuslimRuleInTirhut/page/n61/mode/2up?q=candesvara|year=1970|publisher=Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office|page=48}}</ref>

==Family==
Chandeshvar was born in a family of [[Maithil Brahmins]] who were also learned scholars who worked in the Karnat court.<ref name=Majumdar1962>{{cite journal | title=Political Thought of Chandesvara (A fourteenth-century philosopher-diplomat) | author= Bimanbehari Majumdar | journal=The Indian Journal of Political Science |volume = 23| year=1962 | issue= 1/4 | pages= 295–301 |jstor = 41853940}}</ref> He was the cousin of Jayadatta who was the grandfather of the famous [[Vidyapati]] who worked in the court of the [[Oiniwar dynasty]] a century after Candesvara's time. Candesvara was also the grandson of another famous scholar, Devāditya Ṭhakkura who was described as a "minister for War and Peace" in the court of the [[Karnat dynasty]].<ref name="Jha2018" />

Candesvara most likely became a minister for peace and war for [[Harisimhadeva]] in 1310 C.E.<ref name=Sharma1966>{{cite journal | title=Rajanitiratnakara, A Medieval Sanskrit Text on Politics | author= Ram Gopal Sharma | journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume = 28| year=1966 | pages= 195–201 |jstor = 44140426}}</ref>

==Karnat invasion of Nepal==
Under Caṇḍeśvara's leadership and with the support of the King Harisimhadeva, the Karnatas of Mithila made an attack on Nepal in 1314. The Karnats made the city of [[Bhaktapur]] their focus and plundered the city. After this, they targeted [[Lalitpur, Nepal|Lalitpur]] and continued looting and plundering the region.<ref name="Ram1978">{{cite book|author=Rajendra Ram|title=A History of Buddhism in Nepal, A.D. 704-1396|url=https://archive.org/details/history-of-buddhism-in-nepal-ad-704-1396-by-rajendra-ram/page/1314/mode/2up?q=chandesvara|year=1978|publisher=Janabharati Prakashana|page=185}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Scholars from Bihar]]
[[Category:Mithila]]

Caṇḍeśvara Ṭhakkura - Revision history

>सौरभ मिश्र at 03:25, 7 June 2021