SANSKRIT LITERATURE

body of writings produced by the Aryan peoples who entered the Indian subcontinent from the northwest, probably during the 2nd millennium BC. It developed as the vehicle of expression for the Brahmanical society that gradually established itself as the main cultural force throughout the region in the period before the Muslim conquest. Beginning c. 1500 BC, with the era of the Vedic hymns, the classical period of Sanskrit drew to a close c. AD 1000. Throughout this period of 2,500 years the dating of most literary works is problematical; the difficulty is aggravated by the tendency to ascribe authorship to well-known or legendary names. Two main periods in the development of the literature are discernible: the Vedic period, approximately 1500200 BC; and, somewhat overlapping it, the classical period, approximately 500 BCAD 1000.