Nannayya Bhattaraka or Nannayya Bhattu was a Telugu poet and the author of Andhra Mahabharatam, a Telugu retelling of the Sanskrit-language Mahabharata. Nannaya is generally considered the first poet of Telugu language. He was patronized by Rajaraja Narendra of Rajamahendravaram. Rajaraja Narendra was an admirer of Mahabharata and wanted the message of the Sanskrit epic to reach the Telugu masses in their own language and idiom. He commissioned Nannaya, a scholar well versed in Vedas, Puranas, and Itihasas for the task. Nannaya began his work in c. 1025 CE and wrote Adi Parvam, Sabaparvam, and a part of Aranyaparvam.
Kandukuri Veeresalingam is a social reformer and writer from the Madras Presidency, British India. He is considered as the Father of the Telugu Renaissance movement. He was one of the early social reformers who encouraged the education of women and the remarriage of widows. He also fought against child marriage and the dowry system. He started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874, constructed the 'Brahmo Mandir' in 1887 and built the 'Hithakarini School' in 1908 in Andhra Pradesh. His novel Rajasekhara Charitramu is considered to be the first novel in Telugu literature.
Telugu literature is the body of works written in the Telugu language. It consists of poems, short stories, novels, plays, and song lyrics, among others. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium, the first extant works are from the 11th century when the Mahabharata was first translated to Telugu from Sanskrit by Nannaya. The language has experienced a golden age under the patronage of the Vijayanagara Emperor-Poet Krishnadevaraya.
Kasinadhuni Nageswararao, better known as Nageswara Rao Pantulu, was an Indian journalist, nationalist, politician, businessman, and a staunch supporter of Khaddar movement. He participated in the Indian independence movement and in the Indian National Congress party, including Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement through salt satyagraha. He was conferred with the title Desabandhu by the people of Andhra Pradesh. He was a major financier of Congress activities in Andhra and Chennai and is also known for patenting Amrutanjan. He was conferred with the title Desoddhaaraka by the Andhra Mahasabha. In 1935, the Andhra University honoured him with Kalaprapoorna, an honorary doctorate of Literature.
Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy (1863-1940) was a Telugu writer and one of the earliest modern Telugu linguists and social visionaries during the British rule. He championed the cause of using a language comprehensible to the common man as opposed to the scholastic language.
Nayani Krishnakumari was an Indian scholar, poet, researcher, speaker in Telugu and an active participant in literary and cultural organizations. She served several institutions in various capacities. She received several awards such as Swarnakankanam, instituted by Desoddharaka Kasinathuni Nageswara Rao, Best Telugu Writer award from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, and Sahitya Akademi among others.
Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham was an Indian playwright, novelist and author of short stories, who wrote in the Telugu language. He was a romantic and a social reformer in the tradition founded by Veeresalingam. His best-known plays are probably Gayopakhyanam (1909) and Ganapati (1920).
Balivada Kanta Rao was a noted Telugu novelist and playwright.
Rao Venkata Kumara Mahipati Surya Rau CBE (1885–1964) was Maharajah of Pithapuram. He was called by Telugu people "Abhinava Krishnadevaraya". Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda was his daughter.
International Telugu Institute was established by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1975 in acceptance of a resolution unanimously adopted by the delegates to the first World Telugu Conference held at Hyderabad. It was later merged with the Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University in 1985 and renamed as the International Telugu Centre.
Dewan Bahadur Sir Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu was an Indian social reformer and educationist who hailed from present-day Andhra Pradesh. He was described as "the most powerful orator of his day". He worked for the eradication of untouchability and upliftment of Dalits. He strived for the reformation of the Devadasi system in Andhra, and succeeded to a considerable extent. He promoted widow remarriages and encouraged women's education.
Nyapathi Subba Rao Pantulu was an Indian politician and social activist who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council between 1893 and 1909. He was also one of the Triplicane Six, founders of The Hindu, and General Secretary of the Indian National Congress from 1914 to 1917.
Digavalli Venkata Siva Rao, or Digavalli Śivarāvu, was a lawyer, historian and Telugu writer from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He is the author of forty-two books and some 300 articles written between 1924 and 1987. Some of his works are available in the Indian Digital Library.
Kokkonda Venkata Ratnam Pantulu (1842–1915) was a well-known Telugu and Sanskrit writer in the nineteenth century. As a respect word pantulu meaning scholar was added. He was known as Andhra Johnson and is remembered as the multifaceted Andhra genius, the pioneer of many movements in social reform, literature, publication, journalism.
Andhra Kavula Charitramu is a compilation of the life histories of Telugu poets by Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848-1919). It was published in three parts by Hitakarini Samajam, Rajahmundry. It is a history of Telugu literature, though the author dealt more with the lives of the poets than their poetry.
Asavadi Prakasa Rao was an Indian poet, critic, translator and scholar, who is known for his poetry and prose works. He is noted for his significant contribution to Telugu and Sanskrit literature. In January 2021, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri in the Arts and Literature category. As Ashtavadhani, he has given 170 performances and has written and published 50 books across various genres. His most notable literary contribution is his performance of Avadhanam – a literary performance. He has received an honorary D Litt from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University and a Distinguished Teacher award from the Department of Higher Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Keyura-bahu-charitramu is a Telugu language poetic collection of short stories written by Manchana in the Velanati Choda kingdom of southern India in the 12th or the 13th century. The book's title is also transliterated as Keyura-bahu-charitra or Keyura-bahu-charitram.
Nachana Soma-natha was a 14th-century Telugu language poet from the Vijayanagara Empire of southern India. He translated the Sanskrit work Harivamsa into Telugu as Uttara-Harivamsamu, and also wrote the now-lost Vasanta Vilasamu, an early prabandha work.
S. Muddu Narasimham Naidu (1792–1856) was an Indian writer and social reformer considered to be the first essayist in Telugu. He was a pioneer of the popular language movement, the widow remarriage movement and the rationalist movement in Andhra through his writings. He was a government officer by profession and served as a District Munsif in Rajahmundry.
Sri Suryaraya Andhra Nighantuvu is a Telugu language dictionary. It is the most comprehensive monolingual Telugu dictionary. It was published in eight volumes between 1936 and 1974. It was named after Rao Venkata Kumara Mahipati Surya Rau, the zamindar of Pitapuram Estate who sponsored the first four volumes of the dictionary.
