Literature of Kashmir has a long history, the oldest texts having been composed in the Sanskrit language. Early names include Patanjali, the author of the Mahābhāṣya commentary on Pāṇini's grammar, suggested by some to have been the same to write the Hindu treatise known as the Yogasutra, and Dridhbala, who revised the Charaka Samhita of Ayurveda.
Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad, known by his pen name as Mahjoor, was a poet of the Kashmir Valley, along with contemporaries, Zinda Kaul, Abdul Ahad Azad, and Dinanath Nadim. He is especially noted for introducing a new style into Kashmiri poetry and for expanding Kashmiri poetry into previously unexplored thematic realms. Mahjoor is recognized as father of Kashmiri language.
Rasul Mir also known as Rasul Mir Shahabadi, was a romantic poet of Kashmir in the 19th century. He was born at Doru Shahabad, a historic town in Anantnag district of Kashmir. He is often referred to as imām-e-ishqiya shairi' for his literary contribution to Kashmiri romanticism. Mir was said to have been alive in around 1855 when Mahmud Gami and Swoch Kral sa'eb died. He died a few years before Maqbool Shah Kralawari. Though, Muhammad Y. Taing, in his book کلیاتِ رسول میر mentions of a document from Revenue Department, Anantnag, dated 5 April 1889, acknowledging Rasul Mir as a muqdam.
Amin Kamil (1924–2014) was a Kashmiri poet, literary critic, researcher and editor. He is also known for his short stories, a genre of which he was one of the pioneers in Kashmiri. He remains one of the most popular and influential masters of the Kashmiri language, leaving behind a legacy of literary brilliance.
Gujari is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by most of the Gujjars in the northern parts of India and Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan. It is a member of the Rajasthani group of languages.
Abdur Rehman Rahi was an Kashmiri poet, translator and critic. He was awarded the Indian Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961 for his poetry collection Nawroz-i-Saba, the Padma Shri in 2000, and India's highest literary award, the Jnanpith Award in 2007. He is the first Kashmiri writer to be awarded the Jnanpith, India's highest literary award for his poetic collection Siyah Rood Jaeren Manz. He was honoured with Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2000 by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
Gopi Chand Narang was an Indian theorist, literary critic, and scholar who wrote in Urdu and English. His Urdu literary criticism incorporated a range of modern theoretical frameworks including stylistics, structuralism, post-structuralism, and Eastern poetics.
Syed Ali Jawad Zaidi was an Indian Urdu poet, scholar, and author of over 80 books in several languages. He was also an Indian independence activist, lawyer and later, a civil servant, but is best known for his work in Urdu literature.
Professor Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a Kashmiri poet, writer and an educationist.
Masud Husain Khan was an Indian linguist, the first Professor Emeritus in Social Sciences at Aligarh Muslim University and the fifth Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, a Central University in New Delhi.
Jitendra Udhampuri is an Indian writer of Dogri, Hindi and Urdu literature. He is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1981. The Government of India honored him in 2010, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Ale Ahmad Suroor (1911-2002) was an Urdu poet, critic and professor from India. He is best known for his literary criticism. In 1974 he was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Government of India for his literary critic work, Nazar aur Nazariya. In 1991 he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award. He was awarded a special gold medal by the President of Pakistan on the centenary of the birth of Muhammad Iqbal.
Prof. Champa Sharma is a noted Dogri author and poet known for her contributions to the promotion and preservation of Dogri language in Jammu and Kashmir as well as other Dogri speaking regions of Himachal Pradesh.
Liaqat Jafri is an Indian poet, scholar and researcher of Urdu. He has authored books and serves as editor of Alla Taleem magazine, published by Department of Higher Education, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. He represented Jammu and Kashmir in International Festivals and Mushairas held in UAE, South Asia and elsewhere. His poems have gone viral including his popular poem about Narendra Modi. He writes songs for Bollywood movies.
Ghulam Nabi Gowhar was a multilingual Indian Kashmiri author, novelist, poet, columnist and a retired sessions jurist. He wrote about sixty books in Kashmiri, Urdu, and in English languages on various subjects such as politics, literature, history and on Sufism. In 1971, he wrote a novel titled Mujrim, leading him to become the "first novelist of Kashmiri literature". The recipient of cultural and literary awards and accordion, including Sahitya Akademi Award, he is also credited for translating constitution of India into Kashmiri language.
Mir Ghulam Rasool Nazki, also spelled Meer Ghulam Rasul Naazki, was a Kashmiri poet, writer, broadcaster, and teacher. He wrote books, including poetry in regional and foreign languages such as Urdu, Persian, Arabic and later work in Kashmiri language. The receipent of Sahitya Akademi Award for Awaz-e-dost, a Kashmiri poetry, he is also credited as the "first Kashmiri writer" to write in Ruplic of India after independence, and the first poet to resuscitate quatrain poetic form in Kashmiri literature, which originally began during the period of thirteen and fourteenth century poets such as Lal Ded and Nund Reshi.
Ghulam Mohiuddin Hajni was a Kashmiri writer, critic, political activist and teacher. He wrote in regional and foreign languages such as Urdu, Persian, Arabic and primarily in Kashmiri language. In 1970, he became the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for his research publication titled Maqalati Hajini.
Aziz Hajini was a Kashmiri writer, poet, critic and convenor of Sahitya Akademi for New Delhi's Northern Regional Board. He served as a government school teacher for 30 years before being appointed as assistant professor at the department of Kashmiri of the University of Kashmir until he retired from active service in 2019. In between he was appointed secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in 2015 by PDP led government which evoked severe criticism in the media for his alleged links with the separatists.
Professor Rashid Nazki, was a Kashmiri poet, teacher, author, critic and the founder of the Adbi Markaz Kamraz Jammu and Kashmir, a nonprofit literary organization of the Jammu and Kashmir state dedicated to promote Kashmiri language and literature. He wrote biography of Islamic Prophet Muhammad, leading him to become the first Kashmiri writer to cover the life of Muhammad.
Bashir Bhadarwahi is an Indian writer, educationist and poet, known for his literary criticisms such as Jamis Ta Kasheeri Manz Kashir Natia Abduk Tawareekh. The recipient of numerous awards, including Sahitya Akademi Award, he writes in Kashmiri language.
