Kannada, formerly also known as Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 44 million native speakers, and is additionally second or third language for around 15 million non-native speakers in Karnataka.
The Halmidi inscription at Halmidi village, in old-Kannada, is usually dated to 450 AD (Kadamba Dynasty).
Old-Kannada inscription dated 578 AD (Badami Chalukya dynasty), outside Badami cave no.3
Old-Kannada inscription of c. 726 AD, discovered in Talakad, from the rule of King Shivamara I or Sripurusha (Western Ganga Dynasty)
Old-Kannada inscription of the 9th century (Rashtrakuta Dynasty) at Durga Devi temple in Hampi, Karnataka
The Dravidian languages are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, south-west Pakistan and some regions of Nepal.
Dravidian is first attested in the 2nd century BCE, as inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi script on cave walls in the Madurai and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu.
Language families in South Asia
The oldest known Tamil-Brahmi inscription, near Mangulam in Madurai district
