Editing Kannada (section)

===Early traces===
{{Main|Halmidi inscription|Kappe Arabhatta|Shravanabelagola inscription of Nandisena|Tyagada Brahmadeva Pillar|Atakur inscription|Doddahundi nishidhi inscription|List of people associated with the study of Kannada inscriptions}}
[[File:Halmidi OldKannada inscription.JPG|left|upright|thumb|The [[Halmidi inscription]] at [[Halmidi]] village, in old-Kannada, is usually dated to 450&nbsp;AD ([[Kadamba Dynasty]]).]]
[[File:6th century Kannada inscription in cave temple number 3 at Badami.jpg|thumb|right|Old-Kannada inscription dated 578&nbsp;AD (Badami Chalukya dynasty), outside Badami cave no.3]]
[[File:TalakadInscription.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Old-Kannada inscription of c. 726&nbsp;AD, discovered in [[Talakad]], from the rule of King Shivamara I or Sripurusha ([[Western Ganga Dynasty]])]]
[[File:Old Kannada inscription from the Rashtrakuta period (9th century) at the Durga Devi temple in Virupaksha temple complex at Hampi.jpg|thumb|upright|Old-Kannada inscription of the 9th century ([[Rashtrakuta Dynasty]]) at Durga Devi temple in [[Hampi]], Karnataka]]
[[File:Atakur memorial stone with inscription in old Kannada (949 C.E.).jpg|thumb|upright|The famous [[Atakur inscription]] (AD 949) from [[Mandya district]], a classical Kannada composition in two parts; a fight between a hound and a wild boar, and the victory of the [[Rashtrakutas]] over the Chola dynasty in the famous [[battle of Takkolam]]]]
[[File:Old Kannada inscription (c.1057) in Kalleshvara temple at Hire Hadagali.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Old Kannada inscription dated 1057&nbsp;AD of Western Chalukya King Someshvara I at [[Kalleshwara Temple, Hire Hadagali]] in [[Bellary district]]]]
[[File:Old Kannada inscription (1112 CE) of King Vikramaditya VI in the Mahadeva temple at Itagi.jpg|thumb|upright|Old-Kannada inscription ascribed to King [[Vikramaditya VI]] ([[Western Chalukya Empire]]), dated AD 1112, at the Mahadeva Temple in Itagi, Koppal district of Karnataka state]]
[[File:Old-Kannada inscription at Arasikere Ishwara temple.jpg|left|thumb|Old-Kannada inscription of 1220&nbsp;AD ([[Hoysala Empire]]) at Ishwara temple of Arasikere town in the [[Hassan district]]]]
[[File:Kannada inscription (1509 AD) of Krishnadeva Raya at entrance to mantapa of Virupaksha temple in Hampi.JPG|thumb|upright|Kannada inscription dated 1509, of King [[Krishnadevaraya]] ([[Vijayanagara Empire]]), at the Virupaksha temple in [[Hampi]] describes his coronation]]
[[File:Kannada inscription (17th century) at Gaurishvara temple at Yelandur 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Kannada inscription dated 1654, at [[Gaurishvara Temple, Yelandur|Yelandur]] with exquisite relief]]

The earliest Kannada inscriptions are from the middle of the 5th century AD, but there are a number of earlier texts that may have been influenced by the ancestor language of Old Kannada.{{sfn|Bhat|1993|p=102,103}}

Iravatam Mahadevan, author of a work on early Tamil epigraphy, argued that oral traditions in Kannada and Telugu existed much before written documents were produced. Although the rock inscriptions of Ashoka were written in Prakrit, the spoken language in those regions was Kannada as the case may be. He can be quoted as follows:<ref name="civil2">{{cite web |title=Classical Kannada, Antiquity of Kannada |url=http://www.classicalkannada.org/LanguageEng.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425022336/http://www.classicalkannada.org/LanguageEng.html |archive-date=25 April 2010 |access-date=28 August 2011 |work=Centre for classical Kannada |publisher=Central Institute for Indian Languages}}</ref>
{{blockquote|If proof were needed to show that Kannada was the spoken language of the region during the early period, one needs only to study the large number of Kannada personal names and place names in the early Prakrit inscriptions on stone and copper in Upper South India [...] Kannada was spoken by relatively large and well-settled populations, living in well-organised states ruled by able dynasties like the Satavahanas, with a high degree of civilisation [...] There is, therefore, no reason to believe that these languages had less rich or less expressive oral traditions than Tamil had towards the end of its pre-literate period.}}

The [[Ashoka rock edict]] found at [[Brahmagiri archaeological site|Brahmagiri]] (dated to 250&nbsp;BC) has been suggested to contain words (''Isila'', meaning to throw, viz. an arrow, etc.) in identifiable Kannada.<ref name="isila">The word ''Isila'' found in the Ashokan inscription (called the Brahmagiri edict from Karnataka) meaning to shoot an arrow, is a Kannada word, indicating that Kannada was a spoken language in the 3rd century BC (D.L. Narasimhachar in Kamath 2001, p5)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=B. |first=Dr. Suresha |date=October 2018 |title=A study on Ashoka's Inscriptions with special reference to Karnataka |url=https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1810731.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1810731.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |website=JETIR |page=3}}</ref><ref name="deccanherald">{{Cite news |last=Angadi |first=Jagadish |date=30 October 2020 |title=Kannada in Alexandria |work=Deccan Herald |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/spectrum/spectrum-top-stories/kannada-in-alexandria-909294.html}}</ref>

In some 3rd–1st century BC Tamil inscriptions, words of Kannada influence such as ''Naliyura'', ''kavuDi'' and ''posil'' were found. In a 3rd-century AD 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 AD Tamil inscription. S. Settar studied the ''sittanavAsal'' inscription of first century AD 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'', {{lang|oty|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 BC and fourth century AD. These are some examples that are proof of the early usage of a few Kannada origin words in early [[Tamil language|Tamil]] inscriptions before the common era and in the early centuries of the common era.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZBkAAAAMAAJ&q=posil|title=Early Tamil Epigraphy|isbn=9780674012271|last1=Mahadevan|first1=Iravatham|year=2003|publisher=Cre-A }}</ref>

[[Pliny the Elder]], a Roman historian, wrote about pirates between [[Muziris]] and Nitrias ([[Netravati River]]), called Nitran by Ptolemy. He also mentions Barace (Barcelore), referring to 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 the 1st century AD.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78I5lDHU2jQC&q=ptolemy+nitran&pg=PA74|title=Some Early Dynasties of South India|last=Chattopadhyaya|first=Sudhakar|date=1 January 1974|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=9788120829411}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.muzirisheritage.org/history.php|title=Muziris Heritage Project}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India|last=Warmington|first=E. H.|publisher=Cambridge University Press, 2014|year=1928|isbn=9781107432147|pages=112–113}}</ref>

The Greek geographer [[Ptolemy]] (150&nbsp;AD) 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).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bP7DzXQBoM4C&q=Siro+Polemaios&pg=PA193|title=History of India, in Nine Volumes: Vol. II – From the Sixth Century B.C. to the Mohammedan Conquest, Including the Invasion of Alexander the Great|last1=A. Smith|first1=Vincent|last2=Williams Jackson|first2=A. V.|publisher=Cosimo, Inc., 2008|date=1 January 2008|isbn=9781605204925|pages=193–196}}</ref> He mentions a Satavahana king Sire Polemaios, who is identified with Sri Pulumayi (or Pulumavi), whose name is derived from the Kannada word for ''Puli'', meaning tiger. Some scholars indicate that the name Pulumayi is actually Kannada's ''Puli Maiyi'' or ''One with the body of a tiger'' indicating native Kannada origin for the Satavahanas.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dltXAAAAMAAJ&q=pulumayi+tiger |title=Mysore State, 1956–1966 |publisher=Director of Publicity & Information, Government of Mysore |year=1966 |pages=15 |language=en}}</ref> Pai identifies all the 10 cities mentioned by Ptolemy (100–170&nbsp;AD) as lying between the river Benda (or Binda) or [[Bhima River|Bhima river]] in the north and Banaouasei ([[Banavasi]]) in the south, viz. Nagarouris (Nagur), Tabaso (Tavasi), Inde ([[Indi, Karnataka|Indi]]), Tiripangalida ([[Gadhinglaj]]), Hippokoura ([[Huvina Hipparagi]]), Soubouttou ([[Savadi, Gadag|Savadi]]), Sirimalaga ([[Malkheda|Malkhed]]), Kalligeris ([[Kalkeri]]), Modogoulla ([[Mudgal]]), and Petirgala ([[Pattadakal]])—as being located in Northern Karnataka, which explain the existence of Kannada place names (and the language and culture) in the southern Kuntala region during the reign of [[Vasishthiputra Pulumavi|Vasishtiputra Pulumayi]] ({{Circa|85}}–125&nbsp;AD, i.e., late 1st century – early 2nd century AD) who was ruling from Paithan in the north and his son, prince Vilivaya-kura or Pulumayi Kumara was ruling from Huvina Hipparagi in present Karnataka in the south.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pai |first=M. Govinda |year=1942 |title=THE VIḶIVĀYAKURAS AND SIVALAKURA OF THE KOLHAPUR COINS |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44002572 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=23 |issue=1/4 |pages=319–329 |jstor=44002572 |issn=0378-1143}}</ref>

An early ancestor of Kannada (or a related language) may have been spoken by Indian traders in [[Roman Egypt|Roman-era Egypt]] and it may account for the Indian-language passages in the ancient Greek play known as the [[Charition mime]].<ref name="Salomon1991">{{Cite journal |last=Salomon |first=Richard |date=1991 |title=Epigraphic Remains of Indian Traders in Egypt |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=111 |issue=4 |pages=731–736 |doi=10.2307/603404| jstor = 603404}}</ref>