Hindi can be traced back to as early as the seventh or eighth century. The dialect that has been chosen as the official language is Khariboli in the Devnagari script. Other dialects of Hindi are Brajbhasa, Bundeli, Awadhi, Marwari, Maithili and Bhojpuri.It was in the 10th century that authentic Hindi poetry took its form and since then it has been constantly modified.
Sub-Division of Hindi Literature
Hindi literature as a whole can be divided into four stages: Adikal (the Early Period), Bhaktikal (the Devotional Period), Ritikal (the Scholastic Period) and Adhunikkal (the Modern Period).
Adikal - The Early Period
Adikal starts from the middle of the 10th century to the beginning of the 14th century. The poetry of this period has been divided into three categories Apabhramsha Poetry, Heroic Poetry and Miscellaneous Poetry.
Apabhramsha Poetry includes the Siddha literature (750-1200), the Nath literature and the Jain literature. Siddha literature was written in the popular language and this echoed devotional themes combined with a strong erotic feeling.
Between the 7th and the 14th century, the poet Gorakhnath and his followers mainly composed the Nath literature. They avoided eroticism, scorned racial discrimination and put stress on moral values, using the Doha (couplet) and the Chaupai (quartet) styles in their poems. These compositions had a great influence on the Sant (devotional literature made popular by Rahim and Kabir et al) literature.
During this period Jain poets like Swayambhu, Som Datt Suri, Sharang Dhar and Nalla Singh composed the Charit Kavyas, which propagate moral tenets and portrayals of Nature. Heroic Poetry was composed wholly in the native speech.
The Early Period was the age of invasions and turmoils which greatly influenced poets who composed actual as well as imaginary accounts of the heroism of their patrons. Poems were usually written for the pleasures of kings, who were anyways quite accustomed to praise. Prithviraj Raso (Chand Bardai), Khuman Raso (Dalpativijay), Bisaldev Rao (Narpati Nalha) and Parmal Raso (Jagnik) are the major works of this age, and are lively renditions of battles and their outcomes.
Bhakti Kal or The Devotional Period
Bhakti Kal or the Devotional Period stretched between the 14th and the 17th century. During this age Islamic customs were heaped upon the common people, and the Hindus were quite dejected at the effect on their culture.
The poets of this period felt that it was their moral duty to arouse a sense of devotion through religious poetry.These poets have been divided into two groups: Nirguna and Saguna poets, depending upon the devotional attitude towards the Lord.
Nirgunas have been further divided into two groups on the basis of the different sadhanas (disciplines) followed by them.
Those that put emphasis on the importance of knowledge for the realization of God were called the Saint poets. Kabir Das, Guru Nanak, Dharma Das, Maluk Das, Dadudayal, Sunder Das belong to this genre. In their Sakhis (couplets) and Padas (songs) they condemned rituals and laid emphasis on the theory of Monotheism (the belief that there is one God).
Poets who believed love was the path of realizing God were called Sufi Poets. Jayasi, Manjhan, Kutuban and Usman were the pioneers of this school. Poets of the Saguna style are also divided into two groups: the followers of Rama and those of Krishna. Tulsi Das is the leading poet of the former group along with Agra Das, Nabha Das and Pran Chand Chauhan. Tulsi Das depicts Rama as the Ideal Man in his classical works Ramacharitamanasa, Gitavali, Kavitavali and Vinay Patrika.
The devotees of Krishna have, however, portrayed him according to his popular image, that of the playful Krishna.
These poets like Surdas, Nand Das, Parmananda Das and Meera have written about the Love and Beauty. The Devotional Period created immortal literature and is distinguished as the golden age of Hindi Poetry.
Ritikal or The Scholastic Period
The poets of Ritikal or the Scholastic period can be classified into two groups on the basis of their subject: Ritibaddha (those wedded to rhetorics) and Ritimukta (free from rhetorical conventions).
The former poets composed on definitional and (Lakshana) and illustrative (Lakshya) themes. The essential nature of Rasa, Alankara, Nayikabheda were illustrated by them through Saviyas and Kavithas. Poets like Chintamani, Keshav, Mati Ram, Deva, Kulpati Misra, and Bhikari Das were leaders of this style. The second group consists of free-minded poets like Alam, Ghananand, Bodha and Thakur.
They wrote in a spontaneous manner with powerful feelings of Love, quite apart from rhetorical poetry. This age saw two more poetic trends. Didactic poetry in stray verses composed by Vrinda, Vaital and Giridhar and Heroic Poetry by Bhushan, Sudan, Lal and various others.
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