Somadeva
Somadeva was an 11th century CE writer from Kashmir. He was the author of a famous compendium of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales - the Kathasaritsagara.
Not much is known about him except that his father's name was Rama and he composed his work for the entertainment of the queen Suryamati, a princess of Jalandhara and wife of King Ananta of Kashmir. The queen was quite distraught as it was a time when the political situation in Kashmir was 'one of discontent, intrigue, bloodshed and despair'.
Though he was a Shaiva Brahmin, he was respectful of Buddhism and some of the tales in the Kathasaritsagara show Buddhist influences.
