(a Digambara text), its Sanskrit commentary by Amritchandra and Hindi commentary by Rajamalla. The Ardhakathānaka is his autobiography which describes his transition from an unruly youth, to a religious realization by the time the work was composed. The work is notable for many details of life in Mughal times - Banarasidas lived during the reign of Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjahan. He appears to have been an occasional chess partner of Emperor Shahjahan (this is not mentioned in the Ardhakathanaka though). The following stanzas describe the effect of Akbar's sudden death in 1605 – the uncertainty of succession induced widespread fear among the wealthier classes: Recent interest Pioneering work on Banarasi and his trio of works, Banarasi Vilasa, Samayasara Nataka and Ardhakathanaka was carried out by Pandit Nathuram Premi in the early decades of the 20th century. Since then, only Mukund Lath's translation, Half a Tale was published in 1981. Recent interest in the works of Banarasi, particularly in his Ardhakathanaka are a direct result of the abiding interest of two scholars. Professor Nalini Balbir of Sorbonne Institute of France encouraged her student Jérôme Petit to work on Banarasi for his Ph.D. Petit has now completed the study and a French translation of the Ardhakathanaka. Professor Rupert Snell, of University of Texas at Austin, USA not only wrote an article on Banarasi, but also encouraged Chloe Martinez of Santa Barbara to work on Banarasi. Rohini Chowdhury's Hindi translation of Banarasidas' Ardhakathanaka has been published by Penguin Books India, 2007. . A new English translation by Chowdhury has been published by Penguin Classics in 2009 . Chowdhury's translations were inspired by Rupert Snell, he also wrote the Introduction to the work. See also List of Jains Champat Rai Jain References Citations Sources Indian male poets Hindi-language poets 1580s births 1643 deaths People from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh People from Agra 17th-century Indian poets Mughal Empire poets 17th-century Indian Jains 17th-century male writers