India: Notable Writers (and their Most Famous Works and Notable Biographical Information and Information about their Works) and Literary Terms and Concepts (inc. Genres) and Notable Literary Developments

300s BCE - 200s BCE - Kautilya (All Facts)

• Prime Minister under Chandragupta Maurya

• Some believe the text was composed by multiple authors, however

300s BCE - 200s BCE - Kautilya: Arthasastra (All Facts) 

• Describes the Mauryan ideal of government

100s CE - 200s CE - Vatsayana Mallagana (All Facts)

• Indian Sage

• Wrote in the holy city of Benares

100s CE - 200s CE - Vatsayana Mallagana: Kama Sutra / Aphorisms of Love (All Facts)

• Work which serves as a guidebook to the many and varied pleasures of sexual love

  • It functioned as a guide to every aspect of erotic etiquette

  • It was composed from the male point of view, although the author suggests that brides-to-be should study it before their marriages

• Work which was essentially a veritable encyclopedia of sexuality

  • It lists literally hundreds of ways of sexual intercourse

  • It includes information on

    • Courtesans

    • Go-betweens

    • Sexual preferences of different nationalities

    • Courtship

    • Kissing

    • Marriage

    • Seduction 

  • The physical act of love is set out in unprecedented detail 

  • Included a selection of magic spells one could perform during sex 

• Work which is 1250 slokas (verses), it is divided into 36 chapters and written in Sanskrit

• Underlying the book is the philosophy of the Hindu religion, which stresses that sexuality is a central part of human life, as fundamental as breathing 

300s - 400s - Kalidasa: The Ring of Shakuntala (All Facts) 

• Masterpiece of Indian literature 

• Drama which illustrates the pious and chivalrous ideal of the Brahmans 

600s - Bana / Banabhatta (All Facts)

• Sanskrit writer and court poet of Emperor Harsha

600s - Bana / Banabhatta: Harshacharita (All Facts)

• Biography of Indian Emperor Harsha

680 - 760 - Bhavabhuti (All Facts)

• Sanskrit playwright and dramatist

• He wrote three outstanding plays, two of which tell the story of Rama

1320 - 1392 - Lalleshwari / Lal Ded / Mother Lalla (All Facts)

• She was born in Kashmir in northern India

• Her poetry illustrates a major cross-interaction between religious traditions that shaped the history of southern Asia

• She was Hindu, but her emphasis on experience appealed to many Sufi Muslims

• Her poetry represents the dynamic developments in religious thought created from the interaction between Hindus and Muslims in India during her time

1149 - 1200 - Chand Bardai: Prithviraj Raso (All Facts)

• Important early epic of the bardic period of Hindi literature

1253 - 1325 - Amir Khusrau (All Facts)

• Indo-Persian Sufi Mystic, Writer, Poet, and Composer

  • He composed poetry for six different Delhi sultans

  • He was nicknamed the “Parrot of India”

• He was the first artist to reflect the absorption of Islam into Indian life by mixing mystic themes and images from both cultures

• His poetry and songs gained huge popularity

• He is famous for his many works and stories such as “Laila and Majnun” and “Shirin and Khusrau”

• His devotion to the Sufis, a liberal Muslim sect, inspired his best work

• He was buried close to the grave of Nizamuddin Auliya