Somadeva, also known as Somadeva Bhatta, was an 11th century writer from

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, 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 P ...

. He is best known for his work '' Kathasaritsagara''. Somadeva is believed to have lived in Kashmir, a region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, during the 11th century CE. He was a

Shaivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

Brahmin scholar and a court poet, serving in the court of King Ananta of Kashmir. Somadeva's most famous work, "Katha Sarit Sagara," is a vast compilation of stories and folktales drawn from various sources, including earlier Indian texts, oral traditions, and the literary heritage of Kashmir. The work is divided into 18 books (or lambakas), each containing a series of interconnected stories within a larger narrative framework. Most of his work was composed by the help of patronage from Ananta and were composed for Queen Suryamati, a princess of Jalandhara and wife of King Ananta of Kashmir.

References

* The Katha Sarit Sagara, or Ocean of the Streams of Story, Translated by C.H.Tawney, 1880

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Somadeva Bhatta 11th-century Indian poets Collectors of fairy tales Kashmiri Brahmins Kashmiri Shaivites Panchatantra 11th-century Indian writers Indian fairy tales