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Art. V.—Early History of Kannaḍa Literature
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
Among the so-called Dravidian languages of Southern India none can boast of a higher antiquity in the cultivation of its literature than the Kannaḍa or Karṇâṭaka, commonly called Canarese by Europeans. And yet, while the sister languages Tamil and Telugu have their votaries, Kannaḍa has received attention from but few, if any, among Oriental scholars. This neglect is no doubt partly due to its being principally spoken in Native States, whence it has come less into contact with Europeans, while the other languages form the media of official business through a large extent of British territory. An erroneous impression has, besides, been fostered by some writers, whose acquaintance with South Indian languages was probably chiefly confined to Tamil or Telugu, that these were in some way superior either in structure or in the contents of their literature to Kannaḍa, a statement for which there is not the least foundation, and originating in the want of accurate information regarding the latter.
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References
page 245 note 1 See articles on The Poet Pampa, in Royal Asiatic Society's Journal for January, 1882, and Early Kannaḍa Authors in the same Journal for July, 1883.
page 248 note 1 See DrBhandarkar's, Report on Sanskrit MSS. for 1883–1884, p. 320Google Scholar.
page 248 note 2 A volume will shortly be issued containing all the Jaina inscriptions at this place.
page 249 note 1 Patna on the Ganges; the Palibothra of the Greeks.
page 249 note 2 i.e. inviting any one to discussion. A drum was fixed in a public place in the middle of the city, and any learned man who desired to enter into argument struck it as a challenge to whoever would meet him. This practice is referred to in the travels of the Chinese pilgrims in India.
page 249 note 3 The Panjab (see Cunningham, , Anc. Geog., 148 ff.Google Scholar)
page 249 note 4 Kolhâpur in the South Mahratta country.
page 249 note 5 The metre of this verse is also śârddûla-vikrîḍita.
page 250 note 1 Manual of the Salem District, vol. ii. p. 369.
page 251 note 1 Ghâti-mala. The Jains recognize two classes of karma, namely ghâti and aghâti: the suppression of the first confers kaivalya, while by the suppression of both mukti is obtained.
page 252 note 1 Indian Antiquary, vol. xiv. p. 355.
page 252 note 2 Wrongly attributed by me before to his father Avinîta.
page 252 note 3 This work with its commentaries is in the press.
page 254 note 1 Published by MrFleet, in Ind. Ant. vol. xii. p. 215 ffGoogle Scholar.
page 256 note 1 Sacred Literature of the Jains, translated by DrSmyth, H. W. in Ind. Ant. vol. xviii. p. 181Google Scholar.
page 260 note 1 Possibly Kopal in Mudgal in the Nizam's Dominions. Could this be the city visited by Hiouen Tsiang and called by him, through some mistake, Konkanapura, which has never yet been identified?