The Kathasaritsagara has been classed with the tow great epics of India by world-renowned indologists and sanskritists. Since the Kathasaritsagara, a text of the 11th c. AD, is based on the Brhatkatha, a work of the 1st c. AD, there was a problem regarding the period of the Indian society depicted in it. The author has proved that the Kathasaritsagara depicts the society of early medieval India, that is, the post-Gupta and pre-Muslim period of Indian history. A rich field for the study of the socio-cultural history of India, the Kathasaritsagara has been thoroughly explored by the author.

About the Author

Dr. Aparna Chattopadhyay has been carrying on research in unbroken continuity since her college days, and has more than 200 published papers. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1966. She worked in Banaras Hindu University for 29 years as a Lecturer and as a Reader.