Krishna Kolhar Kulkarni (born 1939) is a Kannada historian from Vijayapura. [1] He is also a research scholar who works include extensive research on Dasa Sahitya. [2] He wrote more than 50 books. At least 14 of them were on Dasa Sahitya. He received the Kanakashree award, in recognition of his research on Dasa Sahitya. [3] He is the president of the Karnataka Gamaka Kala Parishat. [3] He worked and used gamaka to popularise literature. [3] He also served as the director of Dr. P. G. Halakatti Research Centre in Bijapur. [4] [5]
He hails from Kolhar village, Bijapur, which is on the banks of river Krishna, in the erstwhile Bijapur district. [6]
Kulkarni heads the Adil Shahi Literature Translation Project. Under the project seven volumes were commissioned to be translated by January 2024. [7] [5] The project started by M. M. Kalaburgi was completed in 2019. [8] Kulkarni inaugurated the first Dasa Sahitya Sammelan in Bidar. [9] The professor also translated, the ancient history of the dynasty that ruled Bijapur from Persian to Kannada. [3] One of his books is Kannadalli Seriruva Arabbi Persia bhasha padagalu, published by Samanvita. [10]
He is also an irrigation activist and welcomed the final award of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal with former Supreme Court judge Brijesh Kumar as its head in 2014. [11] He also opposed changing the name of the district. [12]