prabandhas

Prabandhas are a genre of medieval Indian narrative literature consisting of biographical and anecdotal accounts about kings, sages, religious figures, and cities; the term prabandha means an arrangement or compilation, and the works are usually framed as connected stories rather than a single continuous history.

They were composed in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsa, and later in regional languages, and produced across northern and western India, with significant Jain and Hindu traditions. They often present a frame narrative that links shorter tale-segments into a larger chronicle.

Form and content: Each segment recounts a life, a miracle, a conquest or a pilgrimage; genealogies, geography, antiquarian material; myths mingle with historical memory; rhetorical praise and moral lessons; dates and dynastic pedigrees included.

Significance and interpretation: Prabandhas shaped medieval historiography and hagiography; they provided courtly propaganda but also historical details; modern scholars treat them as composite sources requiring critical evaluation for factual accuracy, while valuing them for social, religious, and cultural insights.

Notable examples: The Prabandha-Chintamani is a well-known Sanskrit collection of legends and historical anecdotes about rulers of Gujarat and Malwa, attributed to the 13th–14th century figure Merutunga. Jain and Buddhist manuscript traditions also produced many prabandhas, in vernacular languages such as Gujarati, Marathi, and Kannada.