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Chapter Overview Map
Evolution of Telugu Language and Literature (about 575–1600 CE)
7.1–7.2 Language and early literature
- Telugu is a Dravidian language; the earliest wholly Telugu inscription is the Kalamalla record of about 575 CE.
- Telugu verse appears in inscriptions from about 848 CE (Addanki), before any surviving Telugu book.
7.3 The Kavitraya
- Nannaya, Tikkana and Errana rendered the Mahabharata into Telugu between the 11th and 14th centuries.
- Their work set the model of classical Telugu poetry.
7.4–7.6 Kakatiya, Reddi and Bhakti literature
- Kakatiya-age poets used new forms such as dvipada and sataka, often with Shaiva themes.
- Reddi courts made Srinatha the leading poet; Potana and Annamacharya carried Vaishnava devotion to ordinary people.
7.7–7.8 Vijayanagara and the prabandha
- Krishnadevaraya wrote the Amuktamalyada and patronised Allasani Peddana and other poets.
- The prabandha, a richly described single story, became the leading genre; the Ashtadiggajas list is a later tradition.
7.9–7.15 Wider voices, genres and legacy
- Molla and Tallapaka Timmakka are the best-known medieval women poets.
- Vemana's plain-spoken verses criticised hypocrisy and inequality; his date is debated.
- Genres, patronage, literary centres and legacy are compared in Sections 7.12–7.15.
Don't confuse
- The Kalamalla inscription is the earliest Telugu prose record; the Addanki inscription has the earliest Telugu verse.
- Potana wrote the Telugu Bhagavatamu; Tikkana and Errana completed the Mahabharatam.
Notice how the branches follow time, from inscriptions to the Kavitraya, then the Kakatiya, Reddi and Vijayanagara courts, and finally the popular and women's voices. The last branch holds two common mix-ups.