VII.) BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 1009 was first translated into Bengali met- rical verse, about 425 years ago, by Maladhara Basu, one of her illustrious poets. (2) Eastern Bengal produced the earliest works of the Chandi and Manas§-cults, and her learned writers compiled most of the earliest recensions of the Sans- krit epics. Eastern Bengal thus gave the earliest impetus towards the dis- semination of Pourgnik ideas amongst the masses. ৃ (3) From North Bengal we received our songs of the Pal Kings and our earliest Dharma-mangals. These, as we have said, deal with the exploits and adven- tures of Lau-sen, a nephew of the King Darmapala II of Gauda. These were the three centres,—the early fields of the activities of our poets in vernacular com- position. Rada Deca in the 16th century came to the fore and dominated the great intellectual awakening brought about by Chaitanya. i1.—The patronage accorded to Vernacular writers. In the first chapter of this book, we indicated how the Hindu Courts, following the examples of Moslem chiefs and noblemen, extended their pat- ronage to the Vernacular poets. Bengali gradually became a favourite vehicle for the expression of thought with scholarly people; and we scarcely find a poet of any renown who was not rewarded and patronised by some noble man. The Vaishnava 127
