Extinct Kannada literature

Extinct Kannada literature is a body of literature of the Kannada language dating from the period preceding the first extant work, Kavirajamarga (ca. 850 CE).

Although no works of this period are available now, references to them are found in the Kavirajamarga and a handful of other extant works. While a few scholars may have expressed reservations regarding the extent of this literature, noted modern scholars such as A.K. Ramanujan, K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, R. S. Mugali, and A. K. Warder, to name a few, have hypothesized that a body of literature must have existed in an earlier period.