bARa The well-known author of the Harṣacarita, ( pb ) Kādambarī and Caṇḍikāśataka. Pārvatīpariṇaya and Ratnāvalī are also ascribed to him. His date is indisputably fixed by that of his patron Harshavardhana of Kānyakubja who was reigning during the whole of Hiouen Thsang's travels in India which lasted from 629 to 645 A. D. Bāṇa must, therefore, have lived in the latter half of the sixth or the first half of the seventh century. The date of Bāṇa is useful in ascertaining the dates-at least the termini ad quem -of several writers mentioned by him in his introduction to the Harṣa Carita.