Bharata is the son of Raja Dushyanta and Sakuntala. Kalidasa`s drama of Sakuntala, or the Lost Ring was based on the legend of the birth of Bharata.

As per the legend, Raja Dushyanta was hunting in the forest when he saw Sakuntala, a Brahman`s daughter. At that moment, he fell in love with her. Bharata`s father Dushyanta persuaded her to accept him as her husband by a Gandharva marriage. He gave Sakuntala his ring as a vow of his truth. Later, Sakuntala gave birth to a son who was named Bharata. But, she lost the ring and the Raja denied accepting his engagement to marry the daughter of a priest.

Afterwards, the ring was found, which Bharata`s mother lost. Dushyanta also came to know about various heroic acts of Bharata like taming a lion. So, Raja Dushyanta accepted Bharata as his son and Sakuntala was made his chief Rani.

There is no perfect information about the kingdom of Bharata but his greatness is described in various ancient writings. India is known by the name of `Bharatavarsha` or the country of Bharata from his name.

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