Scholars are not unanimous regarding the beginning of Hindi prose. Some consider the 10th century, some 11th century, some 13th century. We find the earliest uses of prose in Rajasthani and Braj Bhasha. The time range of Rajasthani prose is considered to be from 11th century to 14th century and Braj Gadya from 14th century to 16th century. It is believed that Hindi prose started only between the 10th century and the 13th century. The first sightings of Khadi Boli are in the glory of Baranan, a few verses composed by Akbar's court poet Ganga, to study the development of Hindi prose literature can be divided the following way.
The development of Hindi prose can be divided into several stages:
(1) East Bharatendu Yuga (Ancient Age): 13th century to 1868 AD.
(2) Bharatendu era (Renaissance period): 1868 AD to 1900 AD.
(3) Dwivedi era: 1900 AD to 1922 AD.
(4) Shukla Yuga (Shayavadi Era): 1922 AD to 1938 AD
(5) Shuklattara Yuga (post-Chhayavad Yuga): From 1938 AD till now.
Hindi prose before 19th century
There is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding the origin of Hindi prose. Some scholars consider the beginning of Hindi prose as early as the 19th century, while others trace the tradition of Hindi prose to the 11th-12th century. The following traditions of Hindi prose are found before the modern period:
(1) Hindi prose in Rajasthani: - The oldest forms of Rajasthani prose are found in the 10th century donation letters, leaseholders, commentaries and translation texts. Worship, Atiyar, Child Education, Tattva Vichar, Dhanpal Katha etc. The earliest uses of Rajasthani prose are seen in the compositions.
(2) Hindi prose in Maithili:- After Rajasthani from the point of view of chronology, the use of Hindi prose in Maithili is seen. Varna Ratnakar is the composition of the ancient Hindi prose text Jyotirishwar in Maithili. Its composition period is 1324 AD.
(3) Hindi prose in Brajbhasha:- The oldest works of Hindi prose in Brajbhasha do not seem to be before 1513 AD. These include "Shringar Rasa Mandan" by Goswami Vitthalnath, "Yamunashtak", "Navratna precise", Chaturbhuj Das's Shadritu talks", Gokul Nath's "Courtesy eighty-four Vaishnav talks", "Two hundred and fifty-two Vaishnav talks" Goswami Hariram's "Krishnavatar form". Decision", "The spirit of the seven forms", "The spirit of the twelfth Nikunj", "Ashtyam" by Nabhadas, "Aghan Mahatmya", "Vaishakha Mahatmya" by Baikuntha Mani Shukla and "Madhav Vilas" by Lallu Lal are particularly noteworthy.
(4) Hindi prose in the Deccan:- The ancient Deccan Hindi prose form can be seen in Gesudraj's "Merajul Aashikin" and Mulla Vaahi's "Sabaras".
Bhartendu East Age
The development of prose in Khariboli Hindi happened around the 19th century. Fort William College of Kolkata played an important role in this development. Two scholars of this college, Lallu Lal ji and Sadal Mishra, under the direction of Gilchrist prepared books named Premsagar and Nasiketopakhyan respectively. At the same time, Sadasukhlal composed Sukhsagar and Munshi Insha Alla Khan 'The story of Queen Ketki' found a place in the language of all these texts Khadi dialect in use at that time. All these works were composed in the year 1803.
Introductory books of various religions contributed greatly in the development of the modern Khadi dialect, in which Christianity also contributed. The Raja of Bengal Ram Mohan Roy got the Hindi translation of Vedanta Sutra published in 1815 AD. After this, in 1829, he brought out a letter named Bangdoot in Hindi. Even before this, in 1826, Pn Jugal Kishore of Kanpur brought out the first Hindi newspaper UdantmartandCalcutta. At the same time the Gujarati speaking Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati wrote his famous treatise Satyarth Prakash in Hindi.
The novel Parikshaguru by Srinivasdas is said to be the first novel of Hindi. Some scholars consider Shraddharam Phullauri's novel Bhagyavati to be the first novel in Hindi. Babu Devkinandan Khatri's Chandrakanta and Chandrakanta Santati etc. are the major novels of this era. These novels became so popular that many non-Hindi speakers learned Hindi to read them. In the stories of this era Shivprasad Sitare Hind the dream of Raja Bhoj is important.
Baldev Agrahari In the drama book 'Sulochana Sati' published in the year 1887, along with the story of Sulochana, the modern story has also been given place, in which the editors and country reformers have been satirized. In many plays, only the main plot presents a realistic portrayal. In Baldev Agrahari's Sulochana Sati, the insistence of rhyming verses is also visible.[1][2]
Dwivedi era
This era was named Dwivedi Yuga after the name of Pandit Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi. In the year 1903, Dwivedi ji took over the responsibility of editing Saraswati Patrika. He stabilized the nature of Khari Boli prose and through the magazine inspired a large community of composers to write in Khari Boli. There was good development of essay, novel, story, drama and critique during this period.
The real development of Hindi story started from Dwivedi era itself. Kishori Lal Goswami's Indumati story is considered by some scholars to be the first story in Hindi. Other stories include Bang Mahila Ki Dulai Wali, Shukla ji's Eleven Years Time, Prasad ji's Village and Chandradhar Sharma Guleri's She Said. Padma Singh Sharma is notable in the field of criticism. Some plays were written by 'Hariudh', Shivnandan Sahai and Rai Deviprasad Poorna.
This era gave birth to many editors. Pandit Ishwari Prasad Sharma edited more than half a dozen letters. Shiv Poojan Sahay was among his worthy disciples. Hindi criticism got a direction in this era. This era laid the foundation for the development of Hindi. It was in many ways an era for establishing new beliefs.
Shukla era
This era has a special significance in the development of prose. Pt. Ramchandra Shukla (1884–1941) made serious writings in the field of essay, history and criticism of Hindi literature. He wrote an essay for the first time in Hindi on psychosis. Also composed essays related to literature review. In his essays, there is a combination of both emotion and thought i.e. intellect and heart. His history, written in the form of the role of a Hindi word, still retains its significance. His critiques on Jaisi, Tulsidas and Surdas guided future critics. Other essayists of this period Jainendra Kumar Jain, Siyaramsharan Gupta, Padumalal Punnalal Bakshi and Jaishankar Prasad etc. are notable.
Jaishankar Prasad has a special place in the field of drama. His historical plays like Chandragupta, Skandagupta, Dhruvaswamini have amalgamated history and imagination and Indian and western theatrical systems. Lakshminarayan Mishra, Harikrishna Premi, Jagdishchandra Mathur etc. are notable playwrights of this period.
Post-Euclidean Age
There was an all-round development of prose during this period. Pt Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Jainendra Kumar, Agney, Yashpal, Nanddulare Vajpayee, Dr. Nagendra, Ramvriksha Benipuri and Dr. Ramvilas Sharma etc. have composed thought-provoking essays. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Vidyanivas Mishra, Kuber Nath Rai, Kanhaiyalal Mishra Prabhakar, Viveki Rai, have composed fine essays. The satires of Harishankar Parsai, Sharad Joshi, Srilal Shukla, Rabindranath Tyagi, and KP Saxena have succeeded in uncovering the vulnerabilities of today's life. Jainendra, Agyeya, Yashpal, Ilachandra Joshi, Amritlal Nagar, Rangeya Raghav and Bhagwati Charan Varma wrote notable novels. Nagarjuna, Phanishwar Nath Renu, Amritrai, and Rahi Masoom Raza have written popular regional novels. Mohan Rakesh, Rajendra Yadav, Mannu Bhandari, Kamleshwar, Bhishma Sahni, Bhairav Prasad Gupta, etc. have composed many novels and stories with modern sentiment. Amarkant, Nirmal Verma and Gyanranjan etc. are also important pillars of new fiction.
The names of Lakshminarayan Lal, Lakshmikant Verma, Mohan Rakesh and Kamleshwar are notable in the field of post-prasadam plays. Kanhaiyalal Mishra Prabhakar, Ramvriksha Benipuri and Banarsidas Chaturvedi etc. have composed memoir sketches and biography etc. After Shukla, Pandit Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Nand Dulare Vajpayee, Nagendra, Ram Vilas Sharma and Namvar Singh enriched Hindi criticism. Today, many new genres of prose like travelogue, reportage, radio metaphor, article, etc., are being composed in abundance of literature and the genres of prose are meeting each other.
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