Vidyapati

Vidyapati (1352 – 1448), also known by the sobriquet Maithil Kavi Kokil (the poet cuckoo of Maithili), was a Maithili and Sanskrit polymath-poet-saint, playwright, composer, biographer, philosopher, law-theorist, writer, courtier and royal priest. He was a devotee of Shiva, but also wrote love songs and devotional Vaishnava songs. He knew Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsha and Maithili. Vidyapati's influence was not just restricted to Maithili and Sanskrit literature but also extended to other Eastern Indian literary traditions. The language at the time of Vidyapati, the prakrit-derived late Abahattha, had just begun to transition into early versions of the Eastern language such as Maithili . Thus, Vidyapati's influence on making these languages has been described as "analogous to that of Dante in Italy and Chaucer in England". He has been called the "Father of Bengali literature". Vidyapati was born to a Maithil Brahmin family in the village of Bisapī (now Bisfi) in the present-day Madhubani district of the Mithila region of northern Bihar, India. The name Vidyapati ("master of knowledge") is derived from two Sanskrit words, vidya ("knowledge") and pati ("master"). There is confusion as to his exact date of birth due to conflicting information from his own works and those of his patrons. He was the son of Gaṇapati Ṭhakkura, a Maithil Brahmin said to be a great devotee of Shiva. He was a priest in the court of Rāya Gaṇeśvara, the reigning chief of Tirhut. A number of his near ancestors were notable in their own right including his great-grandfather, Devāditya Ṭhakkura, who was a Minister of War and Peace in the court of Harisimhadeva. Vidyapati himself worked in the courts of various kings of the Oiniwar Dynasty of Mithila. Vidyapati's first commission was by Kīrttisiṃha, who ruled Mithila from around 1370 to 1380. This led to the Kīrttilatā, a long praise-poem for his patron in verse. This work contains an extended passage praising the courtesans of Delhi, foreshadowing his later virtuosity in composing love poetry.