Rudrata

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Rudrata (c. 9th century) was a Kashmiri poet and literary theorist who wrote the Kavyalankara in the early ninth century. Very little is known about him. From Namisadhu, a later commentator on the fifth chapter, verses 12–14, we learn he was also known as Shatananda and that his father’s name was Bhamuka.

The Kavyalankara is an important work in the Sanskrit poetic tradition, following writers such as Bhamaha, Dandin, and Anandavardhana. It has 16 chapters and about 734 verses, not counting 14 verses in chapter 12 that discuss the eight types of Nayika, which are thought to be later additions. The poem is mostly written in the Arya meter, with a few exceptions near the ends of chapters. The 13th chapter is the shortest (17 verses), while chapters 7 and 8 are the longest (111 and 110 verses). The first chapter begins with invocations to Ganesha and Gauri.

Kavyalankara is noted by chess historians for containing one of the earliest references to chess in India and for the earliest known knight’s tour. In Sanskrit literary theory, it is known for the idea of auchitya, or the propriety of theme. It represents a high point of the alankara-focused tradition in Sanskrit poetics.

Three commentaries on the Kavyalankara survive. The most significant is Namisadhu’s, written in 1068–69 CE; others are by Vallabhadeva and Gopalabhatta. Gopalabhatta’s commentary is titled Rasatarangini.