The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c15.s1.1

c15.s1.1

Another outstanding figure in the history of the Sanskrit drama, Bhâsa, can be noticed as conveniently here as anywhere else. T. Gaṇapati Sâstrî who recently discovered and edited his plays, ascribed them to the seventh or eighth century B.C. But it has lately been argued that they are not the product of a single mind, that at most they can only be said to belong to one school and that they took shape about the 7th century A.D. Others will bring the date as low as the eleventh century A.D. On weighing the internal evidence and considering the arguments advanced to support the various hypotheses, one is inclined to think that the plays were composed by the same author sometime between the 4th and the 6th century A.D. In the seventh century A.D. Bâṇabhaṭṭa mentioned Bhâsa in the introductory verses of Harṣacarita and placed his name before that of Kâlidâsa.