PREFACE
THIS paper was prepared for and read in 1892 before the Wilson College Literary Society. It is the first contribution of its kind to the literature of the subject with which it deals. It attempts to apply the historical method of criticism to the study of the Gujarati poet. There are evident reasons for shortcomings in such a treatment of this subject. But in spite of all difficulties it may be predicted that future labourers in this field will not find their task hopeless. The longer poems usually end with a statement of the dates of their composition and short notices of their authors. Although the headnotes in the volumes of the Kávyadohana as to dates, &c, of the poets are based on tradition and may not be accurate, the poems themselves supply intrinsic evidence of the approximate correctness of the dates generally. The introduction and notes to the publications of the Baroda State throw very valuable light on several matters. We hear of further inquiries being undertaken in other quarters. When we take up these results side by side with the history of Gujaraàt and of religious upheavals in that country, we can discover the key-notes of the poetry that has been sung there at divers times and under varying circumstances. The attempt made in this direction in this paper is necessarily a crude one, and it only claims to be a beginning upon which others may improve hereafter.
