PREFACE. (First Edition) This work called the Madhura-vijaya or the Virakam- parayacharita Was written by a female author called Gangadevi, as is evident from the colophon, "इति श्रीगङ्गादेव्या विरचिते मधुराविजयनाम्नि वीरकम्परायचरिते" occurring at the end of the first and the second sargas. It is further clear from verses 39-41 of the seventh sarga that the authoress was a queen of the prince Kampana, the hero of the work, who ruled at Conjeevaram about 1367 A. D.
It is interesting to note that Sanskrit Literature claims a number of authors from among the fair In Vedic times there were such highly cultured ladies as Gargi Vachaknavi, Badava Pratitheyi and others, who were seers of Vedic hymns, and whom Asvalayana mentions along with Sumantu, Vaisampayana and other venerable Rishis of old. Rajasekhara, the dramatist who is said to have flourished about 950 A. D., has immortalized in his verses the names of a few poetesses* whose capacity judged from the merit of their verses found in the extant anthologies, must have been of a high order. In his Kavyamimamsa, a work on poetics, Rajasekhara cites as authority the views of his gifted wife Avantisundari,+ and also observes+ that women too, like men, may become poets, as the inner genus and not the sex is the determining factor,and that there were highly accomplished daughters of kings and ministers who were not only well- versed in Sastras but were also blessed with the poetic gift. Later than our authoress, there flourished in the Court of
- We find mention of the following names of authoresses in Sanskrit literature
viz.,Indulekha, Kuntidevi, Gaurika, Prakasa-datta, Phalguhastini, Muktapida, Marngma ala, Maurika, Prabhudevi and others. Vide pp. 23, 46 and 57, Gaikwad Oriental Series No, I (1917), † Ibid, p. 57,
