Kavindra Parameshwar

Kavindra Parameshwar medieval poet, author of the first mahabharata in Bangla. His given name was Parameshwar Das, 'Kavindra' was an honorific title meaning prime among the kavis. He was born in Balanda, in the Saptagram area of Hughli. His father, Gunaraj, was a landowner and an influential social leader. Kavindra was the court poet of Paragal Khan, ruler of chittagong, who asked the poet to tell the story of the Mahabharata in brief, so that it could be heard in one day: 'Ehi sab katha kaha sangksep kariya/Dineke shunite pari panchali padiya'. Accordingly Kavindra wrote an abridged version of the Mahabharata in Bangla for his patron, during 1515-1519.

Kavindra's version of the epic contains all eighteen chapters of the original Mahabharata, but the chapter on Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) describes the heroism of Arjun and his skills as a warrior in considerable detail. [Kalpana Bhowmik]