The Alha Khand is an early poetic work in Hindi which consists of a number of ballads describing the brave acts of two Banaphar

Banaphar

Banaphar is the name of a clan that claims to belong to the Yaduvanshi lineage of Rajput.According to Alf Hiltebeitel Like Krishna, Udal is susceptible to "mean caste" slurs and slights because of his combined Rajput and Ahir background.-History and origin:Their traditional seat of power was...

 Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 heroes, Alha

Alha

Alha of Banaphar Rajput clan was the famous general of great Chandela King Paramdidev or Parmal who fought Prithviraj Chauhan in 1182 CE.Alha's mother Devaki was Ahir...

 and Udal. This work has been entirely handed down by oral tradition and presently exists in many recensions, which differ from one another both in language and subject matter. The Bundeli

Bundeli

Bundeli is a Western Hindi language spoken in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and in southern parts of Uttar Pradesh...

, the Bagheli, the Awadhi

Awadhi language

Awadhi is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the Hindi-Urdu continuum. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Nepal. Furthermore, the Fiji Hindi dialect spoken by Indo-Fijians is considered a variant of Awadhi,...

, the Bhojpuri and the Kannauji

Kannauji

Kannauji language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh...

 recensions are the most well known among these. The original language of this work has been continuously modernized over the centuries to suit the dialect of the reciter and it has been lost wholly in this process. This epical work was probably written by Jagnayak (or Jagnik), a contemporary to Chand Bardai

Chand Bardai

Chand Bardai was the court poet of the Indian king Prithviraj III Chauhan, who ruled Ajmer and Delhi from 1165 to 1192. A native of Lahore, Chand Bardai composed the Prithviraj Raso, an epic poem in Hindi about the life of Prithviraj...

 and the court poet of Chandela

Chandela

The Chandela is a Rajput clan found in North India. A section of the Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region of central India for long periods between the 10th and the 13th centuries AD. The Chandela dynasty is famous in Indian history for King Vidyadhar, who repulsed the attacks of Mahmud...

 ruler Paramardi Deva (Parmal) of Mahoba

Mahoba

Mahoba is a city and Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in the Bundelkhand region. Mahoba is known for its closeness to Khajuraho, Laundi and other historic places like Kulpahar, Charkhari, Kalinjar, Orchha, and Jhansi...

 in Bundelkhand

Bundelkhand

Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom is a geographic region of central India...

. This work is also known as the Parmal Raso. The work was written in the Alha metre.

The ballads from this work are still sung during the monsoons by the professional bardic singers (known as the Alhets) in various parts of northern India, mostly in Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

, eastern Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

 and northern Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....

. No manuscript of this text has been found so far. In 1865, Charles Elliott compiled a recension by collating various oral versions into 23 cantos and this recension was the basis of the first printed edition in 1871. Later George Abraham Grierson

George Abraham Grierson

Sir George Abraham Grierson OM KCIE was born to a prominent Dublin family in 1851. His father and grandfather, both also named George, were well-known printers and publishers.-Biography:Educated at St...

 enlarged this recension with additional inputs. Portions of this recension was translated into English ballad metre by William Waterfield, under the title of The Nine-Lakh Chain or the Maro Feud (1876). Later, this translation, along with the abstracts of the untranslated portions and an introduction written by Grierson was published under the title of The Lay of Alha: A Saga of Rajput Chivalry as Sung by Minstrels of Northern India (1923).

Contents

The heroes of this poem are two brothers, Alha and Udal (or Udan), the generals of Parmal’s army who fought in the battle of Mahoba between Prithviraj III

Prithviraj III

Prithvi Raj III, commonly known as Prithviraj Chauhan , was a king of the Hindu Chauhan dynasty, who ruled the kingdom of Ajmer and Delhi in northern India during the latter half of the 12th century....

 and Parmal in c.1182. The narration begins with the early exploits of Alha and Udal. They fought with the Karingarai (or Kalingarai) and killed him to avenge the killings of their father Dassaraj (or Dasraj) and uncle Baccharaj. Later they fought the battle of Mahoba. According to the Bhojpuri and the Kannauji

Kannauji

Kannauji language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh...

 recensions, Alha married Sonvati (Sonva), the princess of Nainagarh (Chunar

Chunar

Chunar छुनर شُنَر, located in Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh state, India, is an ancient town. The railway tracks passing through Chunar leads to major destinations of India, including Howrah, Delhi, Tatanagar and Varanasi. National Highway number 7 also passes through Chunar...

), while according to the some other Western Hindi recensions he married Macchil, the daughter of Raghomacch of Haridwar

Haridwar

Haridwar is an important pilgrimage city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India...

. Apart from Alha and Udal, the brave deeds of other heroes like Malkhan and Sulkhan (the sons of Baccharaj), Brahamjit (the son of Parmal) and Talhan Syed are also described in this work. This work narrates the details of fifty-two wars in total.

External links

• A website on the Alha Khand (in Hindi).