The Katantra (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
: कातन्त्र;
IAST: K''ātantra'') is a treatise on Sanskrit grammar (
Vyakarana) attributed to Sharvavarman living at the time of the
Satavahana dynasty
The Satavahanas (; ''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...
.
It is a simplified and abridged version of
Pāṇini
(; , ) was a Sanskrit grammarian, logician, philologist, and revered scholar in ancient India during the mid-1st millennium BCE, dated variously by most scholars between the 6th–5th and 4th century BCE.
The historical facts of his life ar ...
's
Aṣṭādhyāyī
The (; ) is a grammar text that describes a form of the Sanskrit language.
Authored by the ancient Sanskrit scholar Pāṇini and dated to around 6th c. bce, 6-5th c.BCE and 4th c.BCE, it describes the language as current in his time, specifica ...
and divided into the chapters ''Sandhi'', ''Nāmni Catuṣṭaya'' and ''Ākhyāta''.
The terms ''Kālāpa'', ''Kālāpaka'' and ''Kālāpa-vyākaraṇasūtra'' refer to either the Katantra or a different version of it.
Arthur Coke Burnell
Arthur Coke Burnell (11 July 184012 October 1882) was an England, English civil servant who served in the Madras Presidency who was also a scholar in Sanskrit and Dravidian languages, Dravidian languages. He catalogued the Sanskrit manuscripts i ...
compared the arrangement of the Katantra to those of the
Aindra school and the
Tolkāppiyam
''Tolkāppiyam'', also romanised as ''Tholkaappiyam'' ( , ''lit.'' "ancient poem"), is the oldest extant Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature. It is the earliest Tamil text mentioning Gods, perhaps linked to ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Vyakarana
Grammar books