{{Short description|Gujarati Poet}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} [[File:House of Bhalan.jpg|thumb|Bhalan's house in Patan]] '''Bhalan''' (b. 15th century in Patan in the present-day Gujarat state in India), was a famous Gujarati poet of the medieval period. Also a scholar of Sanskrit literature, he is considered a major contributor in Bhakti-kal in Gujarati literature.<ref name="Pollock2003">{{cite book|author=Sheldon Pollock|title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak9csfpY2WoC&pg=PA580|accessdate=19 September 2017|date=19 May 2003|publisher=University of California Press|location=California|isbn=978-0-520-22821-4|page=580}}</ref>
==Works== According to Narsinhrao Divatia, his best works are ''Kadambari'' and ''Nalakhyan''.<ref name="DivatiaDivatia1993">{{cite book|author=Narsinhrao Bholanath Divetia|author-link=Narsinhrao Divetia|title=Gujarati Language and Literature|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.127207/2015.127207.Gujarati-Language-And-Literature-Vol-ii#page/n249/mode/2up|accessdate=4 March 2018|year=1993|publisher=Asian Educational Services|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-206-0648-7|page=219}}</ref> ''Kadambari'' is an abridged Gujarati rendering of Banabhatta's well-known Sanskrit prose work ''Kadambari'' in verse.<ref name="Pollock2003"/> He extracted the pulp from the Puranas and converted it into various significant works, which include ''Nalakhyan'', ''Shiv-Bhiladi Samvad'', ''Durvasa Akhyan'', ''Mrugi Akhyan'', ''Jalandhar Akhyan'', ''Mamaki Akhyan'', ''Chandi Akhyan'' and ''Dhruv Akhyan''. He was an exponent of the genres of the ''Akhyana'' and ''Kavita'' in Gujarati literature.
Bhalan also wrote the poems ''Ram Balacharita'' and ''Krishna Balacharita'', which describe the depth of the childness of both gods. Bhalan was the first Gujarati writer to use the word, ''Gujarabhasha'' (Gujarati language) in his ''Nalakhyan'' to describe the language of his poem.
==References== {{reflist}} *''Milestones in Gujarati Literature'' by K M Jhaveri. *Brahmbhatt, Prasad, ''Kavyasarita.'' (Literary Criticism of the evolution of Poetry). Ahmedabad: Parshwa Publication, 2003. *Trivedi, Ramesh. M. ''Arvachin Gujarati Sahityano Itihaas'' (History of Modern Gujarati Literature). Ahmedabad: Adarsh Prakashan, 1994. *Trivedi, Ramesh. M. ''Gujarati Sahityano Itihaas'' (History of Gujarati Literature). Ahmedabad: Adarsh Prakashan, 2005.
==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Shastri|first=Keshavram Kashiram|author-link=Keshavram Kashiram Shastri|title=ભાલણ : એક અધ્યયન|trans-title=Bhalan : A Study|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.305935|year=1958 |oclc=78491478}}
==External links== * Bhalan's [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.304755 Nalakhyana] at Internet Archive * [http://gujaratonline.com/arts/sahitya.htm History of Gujarati Literature]
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Category:Gujarati-language poets Category:15th-century Indian poets Category:People from Patan district Category:Bhakti movement Category:Poets from Gujarat Category:Indian male poets
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