Prabandha

Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The prabandhas contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 13th century onwards. The prabandhas feature colloquial Sanskrit with vernacular expressions, and contain elements of folklore.

The prabandhas are semi-historical anecdotes about famous persons. The Prabandha Kosha of Rajashekhara Suri mentions two types of biographical narratives: charitas and prabandhas. It states that the charitas are the life-stories of tirthankaras, kings and religious leaders up to Aryarakshita-Suri (who died in 30 CE). The biographies of persons after Aryarakshita-Suri are called prabandhas. It is not clear if this is Rajashekhara's own definition or if it is based on some other authority. However, several later texts do not abide by this definition. For example, there are texts titled Kumarapala-Charita, Vastupala-Charita and Jagadu-Charita about people who flourished after the end of the 1st millennium CE.

Prabandhas were written primarily by Jain scholars from 13th century onwards. The authors were based in western India, and wrote primarily in colloquial Sanskrit (as opposed to Classical Sanskrit). The prabandhas make heavy use vernacular (that is, non-Sanskrit) expressions, and often appear close to the folk tradition.

Trishashti-Shalaka-Purusha-Charitra by the 12th century Jain scholar Hemachandra contains legendary narratives about 63 persons. However, the earliest collection explicitly titled Prabandha- is Jinabhadra's Prabandhavali (1234 CE).

Some of the notable Prabandha collections include:

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