Gunavarma I was an early

Kannada language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native ...

poet who authored two ''

Mahakavya Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as ''sargabandha'', is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of scenery, love, battles and so on — in short, eve ...

'' (epic poems), the ''Shudraka'' and the ''Harivamsha'' around 900 CE. His works are considered extinct but are found referenced in later years. According to historians Kamath and Narasimhacharya (also a Kannada language expert), he was patronised by

Western Ganga Dynasty Western Ganga was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 1000 CE. They are known as "Western Gangas" to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas who in later centuries ruled over Kalinga (m ...

King Ereganga Neetimarga II (also called Ereyappa) in the late 9th century and early 10th century period.Narasimhacharya (1988), p18

Notes

References

* * Kannada-language writers 9th-century births 10th-century deaths 9th-century Indian poets 10th-century Indian poets {{india-writer-stub