The classic age of the Indian drama may be divided into three periods : the first includes the time before Kalidasa, of which only one piece remains, "Mrichhakati," The Toy-Cart,' by King Sfidraka (who probably lived about the end of the Ist century A.D.). It is easy to discover that this piece belongs to the early period of art : the poet has to contend with materials which he does not well know how to handle. There is a certain clumsiness in the management of the acts and scenes, and the excess of descriptive poetry is fatiguing, a whole act, for instance, being occupied with the description of a storm. In other respects it is strikingly original, and contaius few of the common places which occur in the other poets ; the different dialects of the Prakrit also are more closely amalgamated than in the other pieces. To Europeans this drama is particularly valuable, as giving a repre sentation of Indian manners which cannot be found in any other work. Though it is the only remaining piece of this period, many others must have existed before Kalidtlsa ; for the general theory of the dramatic art was already perfected, which is obvious from his frequent allusions to it.
The secoud period begins with Ktilidasa (about the middle of the 2nd century A.D.), under whom the Indian drama reached its highest degree of perfection. We have two pieces by him, Sakuntala ' and Vikramorvasi [CILIDAsA, in Bioo. Div.], of which the last has been denied to be his; but, to judge from the style and spirit, it must certainly be ascribed to him. Kalidasa is indeed tho most perfect of the Indian dramatists, for in his pieces we have the utmost elegance of style, without anything over•laboured or artificial ; the development of his plot is natural and well considered ; and there is always a correct relation of parts. As to his poetical merit, Europeans have been enabled to form a judgment from the graceful translation of his Sakuntala; by Prof. M. Williams (Hertford, 1855).
The third period begins with Bhavabhtlti, at the commencement of the Stli century, whose era is established by a passage in the • Chronicle of Cashmere' (iv. 144). Dramatic poetry had now undergone a great change, the historical progress of which we are unable to describe for want of the necessary evidence. Bhavabhftti was a learned poet, who constructed his works entirely according to the dramatic theory of previous writers. He has accordingly a very high reputation in India, but he has all the faults consequent on the direction thus given to his genius. With all his poetic talent, lie is deficient in true dramatic spirit ; his results are laboured, and there is always a display of art. and a want of nature. Description is with him always in excess, and the diction of single passages is not only too artificial, but also pompous, and to Europeans therefore not, without difficulty. There are three pieces of his ; one in which a domestic subject is treated, the loves of MAlati and Madhava, and two others taken from the cycle of traditions of the Itainflyana, Mahavlracliarits; and ' UttararAmacharitra.' The
last is most free from the excessive elaboration of style.
As specimens of dramas of intrigue in the Indian style, ‘Ratnlisrali and 31alavikagnimitra ' are worthy of notice. The first was written in the 12th century by some poet at the court of Srlharsha, king of Cashmere ; the other was long prior to lihavabhati, probably by Kiliehlaa himself. The plan of these pieces is not unskilful, and the language is may and graceful ; the subject itself warning the poet to avoid a highly ornamental style. Another kind of interest belongs to the 3ludrarbashasa' of Visakhadatta ; the exact time to which this drama belongs is unknown, hut it is certainly after Bhavabhati ; the matter is historical, namely, the history of Chandragupta, the Sandro cottua of the Greeks. In the deficiency of historical information, even such a tradition ix important, and the piece also throws much light on the politics of the Indian courts. As a drama it is not of much value ; it is mostly written in prose. The Pmbodhachandrodaya ' (" the rising of the moon of reason ") is of a character quite peculiar : it is an allegorical play, written by Krishnamisra in the 11th century, in which purely abstract ideas, as virtues, passions, and crimes, aro personified. and act, and by means of whom the Vedanta philosophy at last celebrates her triumph. Setting aside the strangeness of such a work of imagination, it must be admitted that the author has performed his task with great skill.
It was much later before the peculiar species of drama made its appearance which is called pm/ism:nu (comedy, or rather farce). The pieces are short, and are valuable as exhibiting an entirely new kind of literature. They are bitter satires, as unrestrained as those of Aristo phanes, and aimed at the deep state of degradation into which the Indians had sunk, chiefly through the corruption of the Brahmins. The Dhartasamagama (" the assembly of rogues ") is a playful wrangle between a Brahmin and his scholars about a courtesan. The piece has the merit of parodying in a happy manner the bombastic style of Bhavabliati, which is a proof that even in India there were critics who were opposed to the common opinion, and who ridiculed the perverse ness of the general taste. This little piece belongs to the end of the 15th ceutury. (Published in Lassen's Anthologia Sanscritica,' Bonn, 1838.) The later dramas confine themselves entirely to mythological subjects. The greater number of the sixty pieces before mentioned belong to this class. An imitation of the ' Prabodhachandrodaya' is the Chaitanyachandrodaya,' a drama in ten acts by Kavikarnapura, in which the life and mystical reveries of the philosopher Chaitauya are celebrated. It dates from the 16th century. Amongst its faults are a profusion of alliterations, and a gorgeously ornate style : but, regarded as an ideal drama—a series of tableaux vivaius presenting faithful portraiturea of the adored object of a large body of enthieurtste—the work will always command the esteem of the lovers of literary worth. It was published at Calcutta, 1854.