Kavikalanidhi Devarshi Shrikrishna Bhatt

Kavikalanidhi Devarshi Shrikrishna Bhatt (1675–1761), a contemporary of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur, was an 18th-century Sanskrit poet, historian, scholar, and grammarian. He was an immensely accomplished and venerated poet of Sanskrit and Brajbhasha at the courts of the Kings of Bundi and Jaipur. He belonged to a reputed Sanskrit family of Vellanadu Brahmins from Andhra Pradesh in South India who migrated to North India in the 15th century on invitation from various erstwhile princely States. His father's name was Laxman Bhatt. Sawai Jai Singh II (1688–1743) was a connoisseur of art and literature, besides being a great warrior. During his rule, he invited many prominent and reputed scholars, artists, tantriks, painters, architects and town planners from different parts of the country. Devarshi Shrikrishna Bhatt was one such Sanskrit scholar and poet. He was a witness to the Ashwamedha yajña (1716) and Vajapeya yajña (1734) performed by Sawai Jai Singh II and to the founding and construction of Jaipur city. His famous epic Ishvar Vilas Mahakavya provides an excellent description of the reigns of Kings Sawai Jai Singh II (1688–1743) and his son Maharaja Ishvari Singh (1743–1750). A Sanskrit work by the name ‘Kulaprabandha’ written by Harihar Bhatt has documented the sequence of first migration of the scholars belonging to ‘Bhatt - Tailang’ lineage to North India. Many of the Brahmin scholars in the 15th century accompanied the religious gurus like Shri Shankaracharya and Shri Vallabhacharya during their religious India tours or pilgrimages to North India. When these people came in contact with the erstwhile princely courts, the kings came to know of their high scholarship. They were honourably offered state positions of ‘court poets’ or gurus. Many of them stayed back and migrated to the northern states of India. Some scholars were also picked up and offered respectable positions when they went to study at places like Kashi. In due course of time, they adopted Hindi or other North Indian languages as their mother-tongue.