When did Kalidasa live?
Kālidāsa
The most popular theory is that Kalidasa flourished during the reign of Chandragupta II, and therefore lived around 4th-5th century CE. Several Western scholars have supported this theory, since the days of William Jones and A. B. Keith.[9] Many Indian scholars, such as Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi and Ram Gupta, also place Kalidasa in this period.[10][11] According to this theory, his career might have extended to the reign of Kumaragupta I (r. 414 – 455 CE), and possibly, to that of Skandagupta (r. 455 – 467 CE).[12][13]
Nandikeshvara
Although Bhasa's texts had mysteriously disappeared, his contributions had been, however, remembered by Kalidasa himself in the 4th century in his play "malavikagnimitra", by Banabhatta in the 7th century in his "harshacharita" and, early in the 8th century, by Bhavabhuti (author of the play "malatimadhava"). Thus, Bhasa had remained not only a model for his posterity but, in the 4th century BC – out of the theme of Charudatta accredited to him -, Shudraka had recreated the famous play known as the "mrit-shakaTika". Even in the 12th century, Jayadeva, author of the "gita govinda", had hailed Bhasa as the "smile of the Goddess of Poetry".