Visakhadatta

Years of birth and death unknown. Indian playwright of the seventh century (according to other sources, the fifth and sixth centuries). Author of the play Keeper of the Royal Seal, one of the best-known works of Sanskrit drama.

Visakhadatta’s play embodies a patriotic idea—the call for Indian unity in the struggle against its enemies—and presents a political interpretation of mores and morals that is close to that of the Panchatantra. The romantic conflict and poetic description that often deaden the dramatic effect of Sanskrit plays are absent in this work. This play has a historical basis, although Visakhadatta apparently did not attempt to recreate exactly the events of the past in constructing the plot. He displayed fantasy and creative boldness in the characterization of the images.