Introduction

Indian literature holds immense historical, social, and cultural importance, representing the country's diverse traditions and philosophical heritage. From the ancient Vedas, Upanishads, and epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana to classical Tamil poetry and medieval Bhakti and Sufi literature, it reflects a range of beliefs, values, and societal norms. Indian literature not only showcases the evolution of languages and literary forms but also captures the social dynamics and spiritual quests of various periods. Its writings, across Sanskrit, Prakrit, Persian, and regional languages, offer insights into India's cultural diversity, conveying moral teachings, historical narratives, and expressions of human emotions and experiences.

History of Indian Literature

History of Indian Literature caters the wide bifurcation between the ancient scriptures to the adapted colonial tongue, and the attempt of the empire writing back.

Ancient Indian Literature

Ancient Indian literature is the crowning glory of Indian civilization and its evolution towards contemporary times. No other part of the world has probably produced such voluminous literature.

Medieval Indian Literature

Medieval Indian literature was greatly influenced by various factors, dominated mostly by Hindu and Muslim religions. The Middle Ages in India were an incessant period of perpetual fluctuation.

Modern Indian Literature

Modern Indian Literature is a composite reformation that was brought by several revolutions that set up different literary styles. The development of modern Indian literature has been marked by certain characteristics.

Themes in Indian Literature

Themes in Indian literature are just the tip of the iceberg that defines literary genres in motley of emotions. These themes were created keeping in mind the ongoing Indian society or the people associated with it.

Regional Indian Literature

Regional Indian Literature literally refers to the authentic writings of the regional writers, when compared to Indian English writings. It is an integral and inseparable body of writings.

Children`s Literature in India

Children’s literature in India is meant for readers and listeners up to approximately twelve years of age and is often exemplified with detailed illustrations.

Indian Tribal Literature

Indian tribal literature upholds each of its rich traditions since thousands of years has been subject to cultural upsurges. Tribal literature in India has always been delivered orally through generations.

Buddhist Literature

Buddhist Literature was written in several versions in the 2nd and 1st century B.C. Its main divisions are Vinaya or monastic rules, the Sutra or discourses of the Buddha and the Abhidhamma or scholastic metaphysics.

Tamil Literature

Tamil literature pertains to the literary writings scripted in the Tamil language. Literature in Tamil, just like its other domains in history, is rich in its own right.

Bengali Literature

Bengali literature has been divided into three distinct eras, Old Bengali (950-1350), Medieval Bengali (1350-1800) and Modern Bengali (1800 to the present day).

Hindi Literature

It was in the 10th century that authentic Hindi literature took its form and since then it has been constantly modified.  The dialect that has been chosen as the official language of India comprises of the Khari boli in Devanagari script.

Jain Literature

Jain literature comprises of two broad categories: canonical and non-canonical. Generally, Jain inscriptions commence with the words Om! Svasti! Sri!

Gujarati Literature

Gujarati literature is unique in its own way, with almost no patronage from any ruling dynasty, but the composers. Literature in Gujarati is classified into two broad categories- poetry and prose.

Urdu Literature

Urdu literature has, since its inception, attracted attention due to its long and vibrant history, that is perpetually tied to the evolution of Urdu as a language.

Kannada Literature

Kannada literature refers to that corpus of written forms of Kannada language, an integral member of the Dravidian family spoken, primarily in the Indian state of Karnataka and penned in Kannada script.

Assamese Literature

Assamese literature, just like the umpteen other Indian literatures of every region, possesses its own distinct way of differences in every genre.

Indian English Literature

Indian English Literature includes works of Indian writers in English. Indian English Literature developed during a time when the country was looking forward to creating its own identity in English writing.

Punjabi Literature

Punjabi literature pertains to the literature scripted in the Punjabi language, especially by the populace of the historical Punjab region of South Asia, encompassing citizens of India and Pakistan.

Marathi Literature

Marathi literature defines that bulk of literature in Marathi language, deduced from a version of Sanskrit language, and spoken primarily in Maharashtra. It is penned in Devanagari script.

Malayalam Literature

Malayalam literature over the centuries has developed a tradition which, even while rooted in the locality, is truly universal. It is remarkably free from the provincialisms and parochial prejudices.

Oriya Literature

Oriya literature involves a prolonged period of evolution, which in contemporary times contains a bevy of theories. Oriya, Bengali and Assamese, all have come down from the Eastern Magadhi Apabhramsa.

Sanskrit Literature

Sanskrit literature bears its first initiations with the Vedas and continues with Sanskrit epics of Iron Age. The golden age of Sanskrit literature dates is considered to be from 3rd to 8th centuries A.D.

Telugu Literature

Telugu literature is defined and entrusted with the literature of the Telugu people, a cultural group based in southern India. Telugu is a luxuriously and ornately developed language.

Nepali Literature

Nepali literature is considered an integral portion within Indian literature, believed to have contributed from intelle. The official language of the Indian state of Sikkim is Nepali.

Sindhi Literature

Sindhi literature had its most early beginning in the framework of Persian and Arabian literature with luminous compose.  Sindhi language is both ancient and enriched in literature.

Bhojpuri Literature

Bhojpuri literature has truly risen from dust to scale peak heights, with an astounding range of literary wonders. There exist numerous dialects of Bhojpuri, including three or four in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Kashmiri Literature

Kashmiri literature consists of a variety of folk forms and is the most representative form. It signifies many features of social change, actions, patterns, hopes, suppressed wishes, etc.

Sangam Literature

Sangam Literature is one of the main sources used for documenting the history of ancient land or Tamilagam. The word Sangam means "association" that refers to Tamil Sangam.

Pali Literature

Pali is a literary language, extracted from the middle Indo -Aryan dialect of Prakrit, used in composing the manuscript. The foundation of the Pali Literature dates back to the 1st century B.C.

Prakrit Literature

Prakrit emerged, in the 6th century as the literary language, generally patronized by the Kshatriya king in ancient India. The earliest extant model of Prakrit is the Ashokan inscription.

Vedic Literature

Vedic literature glorifies Vedic India. "Vedas", a Sanskrit phrase, implies knowledge. It is the traditional faith that Vedas are "apuruseya" (not composed by human beings), and a direct revelation of God.

Konkani Literature

Konkani literature bears a struggling and heart-warming story to its evolvement into modernity. Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-European family of languages.

Indian Novels

Indian Novels are the priceless possessions of Indian Literature. Indian novels have been unbeaten to systematically reproduce the history, society, political, economic status of Indian subcontinent.

Indian Poets

A noteworthy aspect of India literature is poetry written by eminent poets. Some of the notable poets are Sumitranandan Pant, Rabindranath Tagore, Ramanuja Kavirayar, Gopalakrishna Adiga, etc.

Indian Writers

Indian literature has been shaped by Indian writers who, with their immense knowledge and skills in writing has added a new dimension to it. Written in diverse languages, Indian literature is an invaluable source to learn about the history and culture of the country. 

Indian Poetry

Indian Poetry from a panoptic perspective possesses an extensive history in itself dating back to Vedic times. Indian poetry has been doused in subliminal and transcendental experiences.