The literary activity from 1150 A.D to 1400 A.D is very vast and the number of writers and their works is so large that no individual attention can be bestowed on them in this brief survey. The types of works produced, with few critical remarks about their literary and artistic qualities may be notified here.

The spoken language of the people was fast changing from old kannada into middle kannada. We see signs of a change appearing for the first time in the inscriptions and literary works towards the close of the 10th century and throughout the 11th century the change was rapidly proceeding as can be seen from the inscriptions of the period. By about 1150 A.D there was a wide gap between the spoken language and old kannada, the literary language of poets and learned men.

The religious reformist movement of the Veerashaivas under the leadership of Basaveshwara took up the spoken language and gave it a literary status and a vast amount of literature was produced. Unaffected by this literary movement, a large number of writers still clung to old kannada and continued to write in the traditional way.

Their works can be classified into sections and briefly touched upon.
The Life of the Thirthankaras and other Jaina Stories:
Of the 24 thirthankaras of Jainism the lives of a few are selected for detailed treatment. Pampa, Ranna and Ponna, as we have already seen, have given us the life of the thirthankara of his choice and they had setup the form and standard of such works, which may be called as "Jina-purana". Karnaparya (1140 A.D) continued the tradition by his "Neminatha purana".

The 22nd Thirthankara:
The "Harivamsha" of Jinasena I (738 A.D) in Sanskrit was the source for Karnaparya and other writers on the same theme. The story of Neminatha gains in interest on account of its association with the stories of Krishna, the Pandavas and the Mahabharatha war. Herein we have the Jainistic versions of the Bhagavatha and the Mahabharatha. A comparative study of these versions with their originals will be of immense interest. Suffice it to say here that Karnaparya has narrated the story in a straightforward manner with diction at once easy and spontaneous and unaffected by pedantry.

The traditional descriptions do not occupy much space and hamper the movement of the narrative. The influences of Pampa and Ranna are seen in those contexts where the Mahabharatha episode occurs.

Nemichandra (1170 A.D), Bandhuvarma (1200 A.D) and Mahabalakavi (1254 A.D), have each written work on Neminatha. Nemichandra's work ends with the slaying of Kamsa by Krishna and is incomplete; it was called "Ardha-Nemi".

Nemichandra was a poet of some imaginative power and his description of the growth of Vamana rises to the level of sublime grandeur in the Ardha Nemi. There were other episodes of varying degrees of beauty and it is a pity that the work was left unfinished.

The Harivamsha of Bhandhuvarma does not seem to be remarkable in any way but the poet has a happy style and a plenteous vocabulary. The Neminatha-purana of Mahabala is an ordinary narrative with a learned diction. The individual abilities of the poets and their distinct contribution can be assessed only after a comparative study.

JANNA: (1191 A.D - 1230 A.D)
Began his literary career as a composer of inscriptions and wrote his work, the "Yashodhara charithe" (1209 A.D). This poem is popular for the interesting story that it contains, for the vivid portrayal of character and for the moral fervor of the poet in upholding non-violence in thought, word and deed. The story of Maridatta and the two youngsters, which forms the framework of the main story, is in itself a lovely poem.

Though the poem is based on the "Yashodhara-kavya" in Sanskrit by Vadiraja it is far superior in quality to the original. The "Ananthanatha-purana", second work of Janna was finished in 1230 A.D. It tells the story of Ananthanatha, the 14th Jina, in the traditional manner with an abundance of descriptive material, which is apt to submerge the main story. But its chief interest lies around the story of Vasusena forming the third part of the work. It is a story of temptation and infatuation with its fatal consequences. The abduction of Sunanda, the wife of Vasusena by his friend Chanda-sasana, and the following chastisement ending in the death of the latter are most movingly depicted.

The style of Janna in his earlier work is far more chaste and rich in suggestion than in the latter one, which betrays some carelessness in the matter of structure and language. Janna has great claims to fame as a poet.

All the above poets vie with one another in their scholarship and differ only in their tastes and degrees of imagination.

Next to come: Polemical works and stories

Books referred:
1.Karnataka History and Culture by K.B.Basavaraju.
2.Karnataka through the ages - A Publication of Govt. of Karnataka.
3.Karnataka Darshana by R.R.Diwakar.
4.Vijayanagara Arts & Culture by Robert Sewell
5.Avalokana- Karnataka Parampare Sameekshe.