Classical Sanskrit literature

Vedic and Sanskrit literature comprises the spoken or sung literature of the Vedas from the early-to-mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, and continues with the oral tradition of the Sanskrit epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to Late Antiquity (roughly the 3rd to 8th centuries CE). Indian literary production saw a late bloom in the 11th century before declining after 1100 CE, hastened by the Islamic conquest of India, due to the destruction of ancient seats of learning such as the universities at Taxila and Nalanda. There are contemporary efforts towards revival, with events like the All-India Sanskrit Festival (since 2002) holding composition contests.

Given its extensive use in religious literature, primarily in Hinduism, and the fact that most modern Indian languages have been directly derived from or strongly influenced by Sanskrit, the language and its literature is of great importance in Indian culture akin to that of Ancient Greek and Latin in European culture. Some Sanskrit literature such as the Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali and the Upanishads were translated into Arabic and Persian, most significantly by the emperor Akbar. The Panchatantra was also translated into Persian.

Composed between approximately 1500 BCE and 600 BCE (the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age) in pre-classical Sanskrit, Vedic oral literature forms the basis for the further development of Hinduism. There are four Vedas - Rig, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva, each with a main Samhita and a number of circum-vedic genres, including Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Grhyasutras and Shrautasutras. The main period of Vedic literary activity falls into c. the 9th to 7th centuries when the various shakhas (schools) compiled and memorized their respective corpora. The oldest surviving manuscript of a text composed in Sanskrit is the Devi Māhātmya on Palm-leaf dating from the 11th century CE.

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