Bhāsa
Bhāsa is one of the earliest and most celebrated Indian playwrights in Sanskrit. However, very little is known about him. He is dated between the 2nd century BCE and 2nd century CE. Based on the language used, his date is also supposed to be around 5th century BC. The plays of Bhāsa had been lost for centuries. He was known only from mention in other works such as Kālidāsa's first play Malavikagnimitram, or the the famous text on poetics Kavyamimamsa written during 880–920 AD by Rajashekhara a famous poet, dramatist and critic.
This was until 1912, when Mahamahopadhyaya T. Ganapati Sastri came upon 13 Sanskrit plays at a nampoothiri home named Manalikkara Madom (present Kanyakumari District) that were used in the Koodiyattam plays. Unlike other classical plays, none of them mentioned the author, but one was the Swapnavāsavadatta. Comparing the style of writing and techniques employed in these plays and based on the knowledge that Swapnavāsavadatta was Bhāsa's work, all of them were credited to him. Some scholars have disputed Bhāsa's authorship of all the plays but over the years the plays have generally come to be ascribed to him.
This was until 1912, when Mahamahopadhyaya T. Ganapati Sastri came upon 13 Sanskrit plays at a nampoothiri home named Manalikkara Madom (present Kanyakumari District) that were used in the Koodiyattam plays. Unlike other classical plays, none of them mentioned the author, but one was the Swapnavāsavadatta. Comparing the style of writing and techniques employed in these plays and based on the knowledge that Swapnavāsavadatta was Bhāsa's work, all of them were credited to him. Some scholars have disputed Bhāsa's authorship of all the plays but over the years the plays have generally come to be ascribed to him.
