Somadeva Bhatta

Somadeva Bhatta was a Kashmiri Brahmin and Sanskrit poet of the eleventh century, attached to the court of King Ananta of Kashmir. Around 1070 he composed the Kathasaritsagara, the Ocean of the Streams of Story, for the entertainment of Queen Suryamati, retelling in some 22,000 verses the lost Brihatkatha of Gunadhya. Within a frame narrative about Prince Naravahanadatta, Somadeva gathered hundreds of stories of kings, merchants, thieves, demons and clever women, including versions of the Panchatantra and the Vetala tales, many of which traveled west to the Arabian Nights and the medieval story collections of Europe.