Ebook A History of Kanarese Literature

It is the practice of Kanarese poets to preface their works, not only with invocations of the gods and of the saints of old time but also with the praise of former poets. This practice is of very great historical value, for it enables us to place the poets in their relative chronological order. As in many instances the writers received patronage from some reigning king, the mention of the name of the royal patron enables us further to give to many of the poets an approximately correct date. In this way a list of Kanarese poets can be drawn up in fairly correct order. The result shows that Kanarese has a literature of vast extent, reaching back till its beginnings are lost in the mists of time in the early centuries of the Christian era.