imported>Citation bot: Alter: url. Add: jstor. Removed URL that duplicated unique identifier. | You can use this bot yourself. Report bugs here. | User-activated.

2019-03-06T23:10:08Z

Alter: url. Add: jstor. Removed URL that duplicated unique identifier. | You can use this bot yourself. Report bugs here. | User-activated.

New page

{{short description|11th-century work of Indian satire}}
The '''Samaya Mātrikā''' ([[English language|en]]: '''''The Courtesan's Keeper''''') is a [[satire]] written by the 11th-century Kashmiri poet [[Kshemendra]]. Originally written in [[Sanskrit]], the work has since been translated into English by [[A. N. D. Haksar]].<ref name=":2" />
== Description ==
=== History ===
''Samaya Matrika'', or ''The Courtesan's Keeper'', was written by the Kashmiri poet Kshemendra. The poet was born in Kashmir in the 11th century, and much of his body of work was set in the Kashmir region. He studied both [[Vaishnavism]] and [[Buddhism]], and was versed in several [[Vedas|vedic]] texts.<ref name=":3">Warder, Anthony Kennedy (1992). ''Indian Kāvya Literature: The art of storytelling''. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publ. {{ISBN|9788120806153}}. pp. 365</ref> After years of recording, abridging, and translating various texts, the poet began to produce his own works, one of which would become ''Samaya Matrika''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=5nlsBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT26&lpg=PT26&dq=Captain+S.H.+Godmerry#v=onepage&q=Captain%20S.H.%20Godmerry&f=false|title=Srinagar: An Architectural Legacy|last=Alkazi|first=Feisal|date=2014-05-01|publisher=Roli Books Private Limited|isbn=9789351940517|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">Kshemendra (2011). ''Three Satires: From Ancient Kashmir''. Translated by Haksar, A. N. D. Penguin Books. {{ISBN|9780143063230}}.</ref> The work was produced post 1037, the year in which the author began to transition to writing original content.<ref name=":3" />

While many of his works were poems, historical epics, and abridgments of Hindu texts, ''Samaya Matrika'' was written to be a work of satire.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=tROMBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT5&lpg=PT5&dq=Samaya+M%C4%81trik%C4%81#v=onepage&q=Samaya%20M%C4%81trik%C4%81&f=false|title=Suleiman Charitra|last=Malla|first=Kalyana|date=2015-02-06|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9789351189466|language=en}}</ref> The work pokes fun at the upper class (nobles and merchants), the clergy, the poor, the seasonal harvest, and the government. In doing so, the document has been cited as providing historians an insight into the day-to-day lives of people in the Medieval-era Kashmir valley.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ray|first=Sunil Chandra|date=1949|title=SOME ASPECTS OF THE LIFE OF PEOPLE IN EARLY MEDIAEVAL KĀŚMĪRA|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=12|pages=132–138|jstor=44140522}}</ref> The story takes place in an urban setting, and there are notably a few mentions of far-away Chinese and Turkish peoples.<ref name=":0" />
=== Plot ===
The work of satire follows the exploits of Kankali, a worldly Kashmiri [[courtesan]] who is given ward-ship over a younger woman, Kalavati.<ref name=":1" /> The two travel throughout Kashmir, with Kankali using her [[shapeshifting]] abilities to instruct her younger ward in the ways of the world; these lessons and observations in turn show Kalavati the general silliness of people.<ref name=":1" /> Kankali is also keen to point out the contradictions seen in people's behavior, such as priests re-selling temple offerings and monks breaking their vows. Alternatively, Kankali shows her ward the unsung nobility of others, such as a porter who carries water to nearby fields for farming and a noble magistrate who shirks personal wealth to deal fairly with the people.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Indian satire]]
[[Category:Kashmiri literature]]

Samaya Mātrikā - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Alter: url. Add: jstor. Removed URL that duplicated unique identifier. | You can use this bot yourself. Report bugs here. | User-activated.