Harisena

Who is Harisena?

Harisena, also Harishena or Hirisena, was a 4th-century Sanskrit poet, panegyrist, and government minister. He was an important figure in the court of Gupta Emperor Samudragupta. His most famous poem, written c. 345 AD, describes the bravery of Samudragupta and is inscribed on the Allahabad Pillar. At least one of his known inscriptions was written as a panegyric.

Harisena was an early writer of Kāvya poetry; Arthur Berriedale Keith says of it, "Harisena's poem bears expressly the title Kavya, though it consists both of prose and verse. Its structure is similar to the delineation of kings adopted in the prose romances of Subandhu and Bana". Other works attributed to either this author include Apabramsa Dharmapariksa, Karpuraprakara, the medical treatise Jagatsundari-Yogamaladhikara, Yasodharacanta, Astahnikakatha and Brhatkathakosa.