Who is the author of the 'Rajatarangini', the historical chronicle of Kashmir?

The "Rajatarangini" ("River of Kings") is a Sanskrit chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, written by the Kashmiri poet-historian Kalhana in 1148-1149 CE, during the reign of King Jayasimha of the Lohara dynasty.

About the Rajatarangini:

• It is written in verse and divided into eight books called "Tarangas" ("waves"), with nearly 8,000 verses.
• It traces the history of Kashmir from legendary times up to Kalhana's own time in the 12th century.

Kalhana used older chronicles, inscriptions, coins, land grants and local traditions as sources, and he tried to be impartial and critical. For this reason, it is regarded as the first true historical work in Indian literature.

The later books, dealing with the 11th and 12th centuries, are especially reliable.

Later writers continued the chronicle: Jonaraja (second Rajatarangini), Srivara (third) and Prajyabhatta and Shuka (fourth), covering the period up to Akbar's conquest of Kashmir.

It was translated into Persian under Akbar and into English by Aurel Stein (1900) and R. S. Pandit.

About Kalhana:

He was the son of Champaka, a minister of King Harsha of Kashmir (1089-1101).

Other historical and biographical works in Sanskrit:

• "Harshacharita": Banabhatta, a biography of King Harshavardhana (7th century).
• "Vikramankadevacharita": Bilhana, about the Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI.
• "Ramacharitam": Sandhyakar Nandi, about the Pala king Ramapala.
• "Kathasaritsagara": Somadeva, a large collection of stories, written in Kashmir in the 11th century.
• "Prithviraja Vijaya": Jayanaka, about Prithviraj Chauhan.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Bilhana wrote "Vikramankadevacharita".
• ✗Banabhatta wrote "Harshacharita" and "Kadambari".
• ✗Somadeva wrote "Kathasaritsagara".