History of Sanskrit Literature: Periods, Major Authors and Works
What the history section tests
This section tests chronology and authorship: Vedic, epic, classical and medieval periods, major authors, genres and works. Questions may ask you to place an author in the right period, match a work to its author, or explain a literary shift.
Core rules
- Vedic period: Vedic hymns, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and early Upanishads; oral transmission.
- Epic period: Valmiki's Ramayana and Vyasa's Mahabharata; the rise of purana and narrative literature.
- Classical or Gupta period: Kalidasa, Bhasa, Bhavabhuti, Vishakhadatta; court poetry, nataka and ornate prose.
- Medieval period: Jayadeva's Gita Govinda, devotional and regional literatures, and later commentaries.
- Match genre to form: nataka is drama, mahakavya is court epic, katha is prose narrative.
Worked example
Question: Where does Kalidasa belong, and name two works? Reasoning: Kalidasa is placed in the classical Gupta period, not the Vedic period. His works include Abhijnanashakuntalam and Meghaduta, with Raghuvamsha and Kumarasambhava also attributed to him. State period, genre and works together so the answer is checkable.
Traps
Do not place Kalidasa in the Vedic period or make Valmiki the author of Mahabharata. Do not confuse Bhavabhuti with Banabhatta. Do not treat the Ramayana and Mahabharata as modern novels; they are epic poems.