List of milestones in Kannada literature

This is a list important milestones in Kannada literature starting with Kavirajamarga (850 C.E.). These writings are the earliest available works in each listed genre. Though many notable works have been accomplished in each genre during later years, these writings are the forerunners for later developments.

The list

Milestones in Kannada literature

Genre	Writing	Author	Year	Patron
Poetics, Rhetoric	Kavirajamarga[1][2]	Amoghavarsha I	850	Rashtrakuta Empire
Basic Grammar	Kavirajamarga[3][4]	Amoghavarsha I	850	Rashtrakuta Empire
Narrative Prose (Parables)	Vaddaradhane[5][6]	Shivakotiacharya	900	Rashtrakuta Empire
Epic (Jain)	Adipurana, Vikramarjuna Vijaya[5][7][8]	Adikavi Pampa	941	Rashtrakuta Empire
Elegy	Sahasa Bhima Vijaya[5][9]	Ranna	982	Western Chalukya Empire
Prosody	Chandombudhi[7][10]	Nagavarma I	990	Western Ganga Dynasty
Fiction (Romance)	Karnataka Kadambari[7][10]	Nagavarma I	990	Western Ganga
Lexicon	Rannakanda[5][11]	Ranna	990	Western Chalukya
Erotics	Madanatilaka[10][12]	Chandraraja	1025	Western Chalukya
Encyclopaedia	Lokopakara[10][13]	Chavundaraya II	1025	Western Chalukya
Cookery	Lokopakara (Supasastra)[14]	Chavundaraya II	1025	Western Chalukya
Agriculture	Lokopakara (Vrksayurveda)[15]	Chavundaraya II	1025	Western Chalukya
Fable	Panchatantra[10][12]	Durgasimha	1025	Western Chalukya
Free Verse (Vers Libre)	Vachana poems[16][17][18]	Chennaiah, Kakkaiah and others	11th century	None
Bhakti poems (early native)	Vachana[19][20][21]	Chennaiah, Kakkaiah and others	1025	None
Belles-lettres	Chandraprabha Charite[10][22]	Shridaracharya	1049	Western Chalukya
Astrology	Jatakatilaka[10][12]	Shridaracharya	1049	Western Chalukya
Mathematics	Vyavaharaganita, Kshetraganita, Lilavati[23][24]	Rajaditya	1105	Hoysala Empire
Veterinary Science	Govaidya[23][24]	Prince Kirtivarma	1120	Western Chalukya
Medicine (health)	Karnataka Kalyanakaraka[24][25]	Jagadalla Somanatha	1150	Western Chalukya
Bhakti poems (mature native)	Vachana Sahitya[21][25][26][27]	Basavanna and others	1160	Kalachuris of Kalyani (Southern branch)
Epic (Shaivism)	Girijakalyana[25][26][28]	Harihara	1160	Hoysala Empire
Epic (Vaishnavism)	Jagannatha Vijaya[25][28][29]	Rudrabhatta	1180	Hoysala Empire
Anthology	Suktisudharnava[25][30]	Mallikarjuna	1245	Hoysala Empire
Mature Grammar	Shabdamanidarpana[25][30]	Kesiraja	1260	Hoysala Empire
Bhakti poems (mystic, Vaishnavism)	Haridasa Sahitya[31][32][33]	Naraharitirtha	1281	Hoysala Empire
Meteorology	Rattasutra[30][34]	Rattakavi	1300	Hoysala Empire
Toxicology	Khagendramanidarpana[30][34]	Mangaraja I	1360	Vijayanagara Empire
Epic (Mahabharata)	Gadugina Bharata[32][35]	Naranappa (Kumara Vyasa)	1425	Vijayanagara Empire
Epic (Ramayana)	Torave Ramayana[35][36]	Narahari (Kumara Valmiki)	1500	Vijayanagara Empire
Epic (native folk)	Ramanatha Charite (Kumararama Charite)[35][37]	Nanjunda Kavi	1525	Vijayanagara Empire
Classical devotional	Carnatic music[38][39]	Purandara Dasa	16th century	Vijayanagara Empire
Theatre (folk, Yakshagana)	Virata Parva[40][41]	Vishnu Varamballi	1564	None
Drama (social)	Mitravinda Govinda[42][43]	Singaraya	1680	Mysore Kingdom
Biography	Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijaya[44][45]	Govinda Vaidya	1648	Mysore Kingdom
History	Chikkadevaraja Vamshavali[45][46]	Tirumalarya II	1698	Mysore Kingdom
Grammar (modern)	Kannada grammar[47]	Rev. William Carrey	1817	Princely Mysore
Novel (Historical prose)	Mudramanjusha[48][49]	Kempu Narayana	1823	Princely Mysore
Dictionary (modern)	Kannada-English Dictionary[47]	Rev. W. Reeve	1832	Princely Mysore
Journalism (news)	Mangalura Samachara[47][50]	Hermann Mögling	1843	Madras Presidency
Novel (modern Romance)	Saugandhika Parinaya[51][52]	Krishnaraja Wodeyar III	1850	Princely Mysore
Drama (early modern)	Shakuntala[53][54]	C. Sehagiri Rao	1869	Princely Mysore
Ballad (native folk)	Sangoli Rayana Dange[55][56]	John Faithfull Fleet	1874	Bombay Presidency
Drama (mature modern)	Shurasena Charite (Othello)[53][57]	Basavappa Shastry	1882	Princely Mysore
Epic (early, prose)	Adbhuta Ramayana[58][59]	Muddanna	1885	Princely Mysore
Mature Novel (Social)	Suryakantha[54][60]	Lakshmana Gadagkar	1892	Bombay Presidency
Poem (modern)	English Geethagalu[58][61]	B. M. Srikantaiah	1910	Princely Mysore
Short Stories	Kelavu Sanna Kathegalu[62]	Masti	1920	Princely Mysore
Lyrical poems	Gari[63][64]	D. R. Bendre	1936	Bombay Presidency
Epic (modern)	Sri Ramayana Darshanam[65][66]	Kuvempu	1949	Mysore state

Notes

1. Narasimhacharya (1988), p17
2. Sastri (1955), p355
3. Rao in Datta (1988), p1474, p1699
4. Sridhar in Brown & Oglivie, (2009), p577
5. Sastri (1955), p356
6. P.S. Srinivasan in Lal (1992), p4459
7. Narasimhacharya (1988), p18
8. Rao in Datta (1988), p1180
9. M.V.Seetharamiah in Datta (1988), p1150
10. Sastri (1955), p357
11. Mukherjee (1999), p324
12. Narasimhacharya (1988), p19
13. Murthy in Gopal & Srivastava (2008), pp506-509
14. Murthy in Gopal & Srivastava (2008), pp508
15. Murthy in Gopal & Srivastava (2008), pp506-508
16. Rao in Datta (1988), p1324
17. Sadarangani (2004), p20
18. Shiva Prakash (1997), pp171–173
19. Shiva Prakash in Ayyappapanicker (1997), p171
20. Rawat (2011), p11, chapter 1
21. Hart, George L (1976), p.337
22. Kamath (1980), pp114-115
23. Narasimhacharya (1988), 19
24. Sastri (1955), p358
25. Narasimhacharya (1988), p20
26. Sastri (1955), p361
27. Shiva Prakash in Ayyappapanicker (1997), pp166-192
28. Rao in Datta (1988), p1181
29. Sastri(1955), p364
30. Sastri (1955), p359
31. Shiva Prakash in Ayyappapanicker (1997), p194
32. Sastri (1955), p364
33. Rice E.P. (1921), p77
34. Narasimhacharya (1988), p21
35. Narasimhacharya (1988), p22
36. Sastri (1955), pp364-365
37. Rao in Datta (1988), p1182, chapter-Epic(Kannada)
38. Thielemann (2002), p22
39. R Zydenbos in Cushman S, Cavanagh C, Ramazani J, Rouzer P (2012), p767
40. Ashton & Christie (1977), p21
41. Karanth (1997), p160
42. K. Marulasiddappa in Datta (1988), p1077
43. Mukherjee (1998), p235
44. Narasimhacharya (1988), p64
45. Rice E.P. (1982), p89
46. Narasimhacharya (1988), p23, p64
47. Kamath (1980), p279
48. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp167-168
49. Kamath (1980) p280
50. Verlag in Wendt (2006), p159
51. Narasimhacharya (1988), p26
52. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp167
53. Kamath (1980), p282
54. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp169
55. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp168
56. Prashad (2001), page xiii, chapter-Kannada folk epics, a profile
57. Guttal in Trivedi & Bartholomeusz (2006), p105
58. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp170
59. Krishnamoorthy & Mukhopadhyay (1991), p94
60. Kamath (1980), p281
61. Rao in Datta (1988), p1716
62. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp172
63. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp173
64. Das (1995), p203
65. Rao in Datta (1988), p1182
66. Murthy in K.M. George (1992), pp174

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