Shudraka

Shudraka (IAST: '''') was an Indian playwright, to whom three Sanskrit plays are attributed: Mrichchhakatika (The Little Clay Cart), Vinavasavadatta, and a bhana (short one-act monologue), Padmaprabhritaka. According to the prologue of Mrichchhakatika, he was a king; according to one theory, he may have been a third century Abhira king. According to another theory, Shudraka is a mythical figure, and the authorship of plays attributed to him is uncertain. Col. Wilfred has identified him with Simuka, the founder of Satavahana dynasty and placed him in 200 B.C.

== Sources == In the prologue of the play Mrichchhakatika, the stage manager states that its poet was a wise king renowned as "Shudraka". He had performed Ashvamedha ritual to prove his superiority, and immolated himself aged 110 years, after crowning his son as the new king. The prologue describes him as a distinguished wise man, who had gained knowledge of the Rigveda, the Samaveda, mathematics, the Kamashastra and the art of training elephants.