# Middle Malayalam
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Malayalam
> Source revision: 1354426993
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{{Short description|Period of the Malayalam language}}
{{Infobox language
|name= Middle Malayalam
|nativename= മധ്യകാലമലയാളം
|pronunciation= Madhyakālamalayāḷam
|region= [Kerala](/source/Kerala)
|era=Developed into [Modern Malayalam](/source/Malayalam) by the 15th century
|familycolor=Dravidian
|fam2 = [Southern](/source/Southern_Dravidian_languages)
|fam3 = [Tamil–Kannada](/source/Tamil%E2%80%93Kannada_languages)
|fam4 = [Tamil–Kodagu](/source/Tamil%E2%80%93Kodagu_languages)
|fam5 = [Tamil-Malayalam](/source/Tamil-Malayalam)
|ancestor = [Old Malayalam](/source/Old_Malayalam)
|script = [Vatteluttu](/source/Vatteluttu), then [Kolezhuthu](/source/Kolezhuthu), [Malayanma](/source/Malayanma), [Grantha](/source/Grantha_script)
|isoexception=historical
|glotto=none
}}
'''Middle Malayalam''' is the period of the [Malayalam language](/source/Malayalam_language) spanning from 13th century to 15th century AD.[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9GbBVfrm4gC&q=%22middle+malayalam%22&pg=PA14|title=A Primer of Malayalam Literature|first=T. K. Krishna|last=Menon|date=1939|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120606036|via=Google Books}}][{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot|first=Mohan|last=Lal|date=June 6, 1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788126012213|via=Google Books}}]
The works including ''[Unniyachi Charitham](/source/Unniyachi_Charitham)'', ''[Unnichiruthevi Charitham](/source/Unnichiruthevi_Charitham)'', and ''Unniyadi Charitham'', are written in Middle Malayalam, those date back to 13th and 14th centuries of [Common Era](/source/Common_Era).[{{cite book |title=A Short History of Malayalam Literature |author=Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker |url=https://archive.org/details/ASHORTHISTORYOFMALAYALAMLITERATURE |year=2006 |location=Thiruvananthapuram |publisher=Department of Information and Public Relations, Kerala}}][{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=''Kerala Charitram'' |year=2007 |publisher=DC Books |location=Kottayam |isbn=978-8126415885 |edition=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAlXPgAACAAJ&q=%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B3+%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82}}] The ''Sandesha Kavya''s of 14th century CE written in [Manipravalam](/source/Manipravalam) language include ''[Unnuneeli Sandesam](/source/Unnuneeli_Sandesam)''.[{{cite book|author1=Sheldon Pollock|author2=Arvind Raghunathan|title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak9csfpY2WoC |date=19 May 2003|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22821-4|pages=449, 455–472}}][Ke Rāmacandr̲an Nāyar (1971). ''Early Manipravalam: a study.'' Anjali. Foreign Language Study. pp. 78] ''Kannassa Ramayanam'' and ''Kannassa Bharatam'' by '''Rama Panikkar''' of the [Niranam poets](/source/Niranam_poets) who lived between 1350 and 1450 are representative of this language.[{{Citation|last=Kerala (India)|first=Dept. of Public Relations|title=District Handbooks of Kerala: Pathanamthitta (Volume 7 of District Handbooks of Kerala, Kerala (India). Dept. of Public Relations|year=2003}}] The ''[Champu](/source/Champu) Kavyas'' written by Punam Nambudiri, one among the ''Pathinettara Kavikal'' (Eighteen and a half poets) in the court of the [Zamorin of Calicut](/source/Zamorin_of_Calicut), also belong to Middle Malayalam.[{{Cite book|last=Narayanan|first=M. G. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ&q=Perumals+of+Kerala|title=Perumals of Kerala|publisher=CosmoBooks|year=2013|isbn=9788188765072|location=Thrissur|pages=380–82}}] It was an inscriptional language and there was not any literary work of its own, with possible exceptions of ''[Ramacharitam](/source/Ramacharitam)'' and ''[Thirunizhalmala](/source/Thirunizhalmala)''.[{{cite book|last=Ayyar|first=L. V. Ramaswami|url=https://archive.org/stream/TheEvolutionOfMalayalamMorphology/The-Evolution-of-Malayalam-Morphology|title=The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology|publisher=Rama Varma Research Institute|year=1936|isbn=|edition=1st|location=Trichur|pages=3}}] However the [Malayalam literature](/source/Malayalam_literature) completely diverged from the contemporary [Tamil literature](/source/Tamil_literature) by the period of Middle Malayalam.