''Keyura-bahu-charitramu'' (
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: ''Keyūra-bāhu-caritramu'') is a
Telugu language
Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...
poetic collection of short stories written by Manchana in the
Velanati Choda kingdom of southern India in the 12th or the 13th century. The book's title is also transliterated as ''Keyura-bahu-charitra'' (IAST: ''Keyūra-bāhu-caritra'') or ''Keyura-bahu-charitram''.
Authorship
The poet Manchana (
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: Mañcana) lived in the
Velanati Choda kingdom of southern India,
probably during late 12th to early 13th century CE.
Contents
The book contains several short stories (''katha''s) within a frame narrative. Manchana took the frame story from
Rajashekhara's ''Viddha-shalabhanjika'', and took the short stories from several other sources including ''
Pancha-tantra''. His writings are an example of the early
Prabandha
Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The ''prabandha''s contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 1 ...
style, and the earliest extant example of the ''katha'' (story) narrative in the Telugu literature.
Manchana dedicated the book to Nanduri Gundayamatya, a grandson of the Velanati Choda courtier Nanduri Ketana.
The book glorifies generals, diplomats, and ministers of the Velanati Choda king
Gonka II.
References
{{reflist
External links
Telugu text(1950)
Telugu text(2012): ''Keyurabaahu Charitra by Manchena Kavi'', Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Religious Publications Series
Telugu poetry
Velanati Chodas