Sanskrit Sahitya ka Itihas: Authors, Works and Genres
What history of literature tests
The Itihās section asks for authors, works, periods and genres. Questions are usually matching-type or short answers: who wrote what, which work belongs to which genre, and what a term such as mahākāvya, khaṇḍakāvya, gadyakāvya or nāṭaka means.
Core map
- Vedic: four Vedas - Ṛgveda, Sāmaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda; associated Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka and Upaniṣad literature.
- Epics: Rāmāyaṇa (Vālmīki), Mahābhārata (Vyāsa).
- Classical poetry: Kālidāsa - Raghuvamśa, Kumārasambhava, Meghadūta, Ṛtusaṃhāra; three plays: Mālavikāgnimitra, Vikramorvaśīya, Abhijñānaśākuntala.
- Other dramatists: Bhāsa, Śūdraka (Mṛcchakaṭika), Viśākhadatta (Mudrārākṣasa), Bhavabhūti (Uttararāmacarita).
- Prose: Bāṇabhaṭṭa (Kādambarī, Harṣacarita), Daṇḍin (Daśakumāracarita).
- Poetics: Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra; Ānandavardhana's Dhvanyāloka; Mammata's Kāvyaprakāśa.
Worked example
Question: Which of these is by Bhavabhūti - Abhijñānaśākuntala or Uttararāmacarita? Answer: Uttararāmacarita. Reason: Kālidāsa wrote Abhijñānaśākuntala; Bhavabhūti's three plays are Mahāvīracarita, Mālatīmādhava and Uttararāmacarita. Match by author groups, not by title similarity.
Traps
- Attributing Nāṭyaśāstra to Kālidāsa.
- Mixing Kālidāsa's epics with his plays.
- Confusing Kādambarī (prose) with a play.
- Giving exact dates you cannot support; use periods and relative sequence.