Balashankar Ullasram Kantharia (May 17, 1858 – April 1, 1898), was a Gujarati poet.

Biography

Balashankar Kantharia was born on May 17, 1858 into a Sathodara

Nagar Brahmin The Nagar Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Gujarat. Author T. Sasaki says, Among Brahmins in Gujarat Nagar Brahmins were most prominent subdivision in the political, economic and social activities of this ...

family in

Nadiad Nadiad is a city in the state of Gujarat, India and the administrative centre of the Kheda district. The city is managed by the Nadiad Municipality. It is known for the Santram Mandir, the Mai Mandir,

(now in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

, India). He was born to Ullasram Arjunlal Kantharia, a government magistrate, and Revaba, and had one brother, Umedram, and one sister, Rukshmani. Balashankar had studied till the first year of his college. He was a polyglot and knew Gujarati, Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit,

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura- Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Har ...

and Hindi languages as well as music and archaeology. His wife's name was Manilakshmi. He briefly worked in government service. He managed ''Bharati Bhusan'', ''Itihas Mala'', ''Krishna Mahoday'' magazines. He served as an editor of ''

Buddhiprakash ''Buddhiprakash'' ( gu, બુદ્ધિપ્રકાશ, English: Light of Knowledge) is a Gujarati language magazine published by Gujarat Vidhya Sabha (formerly known as Gujarat Vernacular Society), Ahmedabad, India. History ''Buddhip ...

'' magazine briefly. He is considered as the founder of the modern Gujarati poetry and

Ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

Manilal Dwivedi Manilal Nabhubhai Dwivedi (; 26 September 1858 – 1 October 1898) was a Gujarati-language writer, philosopher, and social thinker from British India, commonly referred to as Manilal in literary circles. He was an influential figure in 19th-c ...

was his close friend. He considered himself as a follower of

Dalpatram Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi (21 January 1820 – 25 March 1898) was a Gujarati language poet during 19th century in India. He was the father of Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi, a poet. He led social reform movements in Ahmedabad, and wrote articles aga ...

and was expert in poetry in ''Shikharini''

metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its p ...

. It is believed that

Kalapi Sursinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (26 January 1874 – 10 June 1900), popularly known by his pen name, ''Kalapi'' was a Gujarati poet and the Thakor (prince) of Lathi state in Gujarat. He is mostly known for his poems depicting his own pathos. He live ...

had learned Ghazal poetry from him and Manilal Dwivedi. He died due to the plague, on April 1, 1898 at

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capi ...

(now

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...

, Gujarat).

Works

Kalant Kavi and Bal were his pen names. He is credited with bringing Persian style poetry such as Ghazal in

Gujarati literature The history of Gujarati literature ( gu, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય) may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, oth ...

. ''Kalant Kavi'' and ''Hariprem Panchdashi'' are his collections of poetry. He had translated ''Karpūramañjarī'' by Rajasekhara, ''

Mṛcchakatika ''Mṛcchakatika'' ( sa, Mṛcchakaṭikam मृच्छकटिकम्), also spelled ''Mṛcchakaṭikā'', ''Mrchchhakatika'', ''Mricchakatika'', or ''Mrichchhakatika'' (''The Little Clay Cart'') is a ten-act Sanskrit drama attributed t ...

'' and Sufi Ghazals of

Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shiraz, Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "H ...

in Gujarati. "Gujare Je Shire Tare" is his popular ghazal poetry composed in Bah’r Hazaj Saalim metre.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kantharia, Balashankar Gujarati-language writers 1898 deaths 1858 births People from Kheda district Gujarati-language poets Indian magazine editors

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links