The Gupta dynasty, between AD 300 and 540 in northern India, was a time of great literary and artistic accomplishment, and there were a number of famous authors through the period.  The most famous was Kalidasa, sometimes referred to as the father of Sanskrit drama.  His most famous work is Sakuntala, or the Lost Ring.  Although there are many legends about this writer, almost nothing if actually known about his life.  This is complicated by the fact that he lived in the reign of King Chandragupta, toward the end of the Gupta era, but according to some Hindu legends was transposed to a much earlier King Vikramaditya's reign around 57 BC.  He actually lived sometime in the mid-fifth century.  As far as we can tell he was widely educated, and was possibly of foreign origin.  He is considered the most important of dramatists in the Sanskrit language, and author of two other major works, Meghaduuta (Cloud Messenger) and Malavikaagnimitra (Malavika and Agnimitra).