Somadeva Bhatta was an 11th century writer from
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
, and author of the ''
Kathasaritsagara''.
Not much is known about him except that his father's name was Rama and he composed his work (probably during the years 1063–1081 CE) for the entertainment of Queen Suryamati, a princess of Jalandhara and wife of King Ananta of Kashmir. The queen was quite distraught as it was a time when the political situation in Kashmir was 'one of discontent, intrigue, bloodshed and despair'.
He was a
Shaiva Brahmin, and very respectful of
Buddhism and some of the tales in the ''Kathasaritsagara'' show Buddhist influences. It is also known as the encyclopaedia of social life in the 11th century.
References
* The Katha Sarit Sagara, or Ocean of the Streams of Story, Translated by C.H.Tawney, 1880
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Somadeva Bhatta
11th-century Indian poets
Collectors of fairy tales