RAS question
Kalidasa's drama 'Malavikagnimitram' is set during the reign of:
Correct answer: (B) Shunga king Agnimitra.
Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitram is set in the court of the Shunga king Agnimitra.
Explanation
Malavikagnimitram is Kalidasa's first drama, and its setting is the court of Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra Shunga. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the play as a Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa whose story concerns King Agnimitra's attempts to win Malavika, and names Agnimitra as the ruler of the Shunga dynasty. That matters because the question is asking for the historical reign around which the drama is set, not for Kalidasa's own period or for a later literary patron. The love story of Agnimitra and Malavika is therefore also a historical marker: it places the plot in the Shunga court, making option B the only grounded answer.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Kanishka belongs to the Kushan line, while the setting names Agnimitra as the Shunga ruler at the centre of the play.
- (C) Samudragupta is a Gupta king, but the drama's plot is tied to King Agnimitra and the Shunga court, not to a Gupta ruler.
- (D) Ashoka is a Mauryan king, whereas the play is set around Agnimitra, ruler of the Shunga dynasty.
Concept
This tests the linkage between Sanskrit literary texts and political history in ancient India. RAS repeats such items because plays, inscriptions and court literature often anchor dynastic chronology and cultural history.