page_title: Kannada
section_title: Early traces
hierarchical_section_title: Kannada / History / Early traces
caption_attribution_description: English: The Photograph of an Old Kannada inscription (c. 1220 CE) of the Hoysala Empire was taken by self (Dinesh Kannambadi) at the Ishwara temple (also spelt Isvara) in Arasikere, Hassan district, Karnataka state, India
context_page_description: Kannada is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in south western region of India. The language is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and Goa; and also by Carnatican expats abroad. The language has roughly 43 million native speakers by 2011, who are called Kannadigas. Kannada is also spoken as a second and third language by over 12.9 million non-Kannada speakers in Karnataka, which adds up to 56.9 million speakers. It is one of the scheduled languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka. Kannada was the court language of some of the most powerful empires of South and Central India, such as the Chalukya dynasty, the Rashtrakuta dynasty, the Vijayanagara Empire and the Hoysala Empire.
  The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th-century Kadamba script. Kannada is attested epigraphically for about one and a half millennia and literary Old Kannada flourished in the 6th-century Ganga dynasty and during the 9th-century Rashtrakuta Dynasty.
context_section_description: Purava Hale Gannada: This Kannada term literally translated means "Previous form of Old Kannada" was the language of Banavasi in the early Common Era, the Satavahana, Chutu Satakarni (Naga) and Kadamba periods and thus has a history of over 2500 years. The Ashoka rock edict found at Brahmagiri (dated to 230 BCE) has been suggested to contain words in identifiable Kannada.
  In some 3rd–1st century BCE Tamil inscriptions, words of Kannada influence such as nalliyooraa, kavuDi and posil have been introduced. The use of the vowel a as an adjective is not prevalent in Tamil but its usage is available in Kannada. Kannada words such as gouDi-gavuDi transform into Tamil's kavuDi for lack of the usage of Ghosha svana in Tamil. Hence the Kannada word 'gavuDi' becomes 'kavuDi' in Tamil. 'Posil' ('hosilu') was introduced into Tamil from Kannada and colloquial Tamil uses this word as 'Vaayil'. In a 1st-century CE Tamil inscription, there is a personal reference to ayjayya, a word of Kannada origin. In a 3rd-century CE Tamil inscription there is usage of oppanappa vIran. Here the honorific appa to a person's name is an influence from Kannada. Another word of Kannada origin is taayviru and is found in a 4th-century CE Tamil inscription. S. Settar studied the sittanvAsal inscription of first century CE as also the inscriptions at tirupparamkunram, adakala and neDanUpatti. The later inscriptions were studied in detail by Iravatham Mahadevan also. Mahadevan argues that the words erumi, kavuDi, poshil and tAyiyar have their origin in Kannada because Tamil cognates are not available. Settar adds the words nADu and iLayar to this list. Mahadevan feels that some grammatical categories found in these inscriptions are also unique to Kannada rather than Tamil. Both these scholars attribute these influences to the movements and spread of Jainas in these regions. These inscriptions belong to the period between the first century BCE and fourth century CE. These are some examples that are proof of the early usage of a few Kannada origin words in early Tamil inscriptions before the common era and in the early centuries of the common era.
  In the 150 CE Prakrit book Gaathaa Saptashati, written by Haala Raja, Kannada words like tIr or Teer (meaning to be able), tuppa, peTTu, poTTu, poTTa, piTTu (meaning to strike), Pode (Hode) have been used. On the Pallava Prakrit inscription of 250 CE of Hire Hadagali's Shivaskandavarman, the Kannada word kOTe transforms into koTTa. In the 350 CE Chandravalli Prakrit inscription, words of Kannada origin like punaaTa, puNaDa have been used. In one more Prakrit inscription of 250 CE found in Malavalli, Kannada towns like vEgooraM (bEgooru), kundamuchchaMDi find a reference.
  Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 CE) was a naval and army commander in the early Roman Empire. He writes about pirates between Muziris and Nitrias (Netravati River). He also mentions Barace (Barcelore). Nitrias of Pliny and Nitran of Ptolemy refer to the Netravati River as also the modern port city of Mangaluru, upon its mouth. Many of these are Kannada origin names of places and rivers of the Karnataka coast of 1st century CE.
  The Greek geographer Ptolemy (150 CE) mentions places such as Badiamaioi (Badami), Inde (Indi), Kalligeris (Kalkeri), Modogoulla (Mudagal), Petrigala (Pattadakal), Hippokoura (Huvina Hipparagi), Nagarouris (Nagur), Tabaso (Tavasi), Tiripangalida (Gadahinglai), Soubouttou or Sabatha (Savadi), Banaouase (Banavasi), Thogorum (Tagara), Biathana (Paithan), Sirimalaga (Malkhed), Aloe (Ellapur) and Pasage (Palasige) indicating prosperous trade between Egypt, Europe and Karnataka. He also mentions Pounnata (Punnata) and refers to beryls, i.e., the Vaidhurya gems of that country. He mentions Malippala (Malpe), a coastal town of Karnataka. In this work Larika and Kandaloi are identified as Rastrika and Kuntala. Ptolemy writes that "in the midst of the false mouth and the Barios, there is a city called Maganur" (Mangalore). He mentions inland centres of pirates called Oloikhora (Alavakheda). He mentions Ariake Sadinon, meaning Aryaka Satakarni, a
caption: Old-Kannada inscription of AD 1220 (Hoysala Empire) at Ishwara temple of Arasikere town in the Hassan district
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