Sanskrit is ofc an Indo-Aryan language

But unlike other Indo-Aryan languages, a very significant proportion of Sanskrit literature has actually been composed in the deep South by people whose mother tongues were Dravidian!

A thread on Sanskrit literature composed in South India

Let's start with literature pertaining to "Vedic study"

1. ऋगर्थदीपिका : A commentary on Rig Veda composed by a man named Venkata Madhava, during the reign of the Chola - Parantaka I (10th century)

2. The works of Sāyaṇācārya (or likely the scholar-group led by him) : Commentary on nearly all Veda Samhitas, brAhmaNas, AraNyakas (14th cen)

(patronized by the early Vijayanagara monarch - Bukka I)

3. bharataswAmin's commentary on sAmaveda - patronized by Hoysala king rAmanAtha (13th century)

4. shaDgurushishya's commentary on Aitareya BrAhmaNa and AraNyaka, AshvalAyana Shrauta sutra (13th cen)

5. caundapAcArya - annotation of Apastamba Srauta sutra, a work called "prayogaratnamAla" - a treatise on ritual practices (14th cen)

6. bhAvaswAmin's commentary on bodhAyana Srauta sutra (10th cen)

7. devarAja's "nighaNTu vyAkhyA" - a work that expounds on yAska's nirUkta (written in Srirangam) (15th century)

Next we move from Vedic studies to works on purANas and itihAsas -

8. viSNu chitta's commentary on viSNu purANa from a viSishtAdvaitin standpoint (12th cen)

9. vivekatilaka - commentary on rAmAyaNa by Atreya varadarAja (12th cen)

10. bhUshaNa - a commentary on rAmAyaNa by govindarAja (a native of Kanchipuram) (early 16th cen)

11. amRta kataka - a commentary on rAmAyaNa by one mAdhava Yogi - who positions rAma as an avatAr of brahmA as per Prof Nilakanta Sastri (17th cen)

12. vAlmIki hRdaya of Ahobala (another commentary on select rAmAyaNa verses)

13. Ishvara dIkshita's vivaraNa on rAmAyaNa(16th cen)

14. lakshAbharaNa of the madhva theologian from Udupi - vAdirAja - commentary on Mahabharata (16th cen)

15. vyAkhyaratnAvali of AnandapUrna vidyAsAgara (Gokarna native) (early 14th cen)

Now let's switch to poetry, drama, prose fiction -

16. bhAravi's kirAtArjunIyam - a mahAkavya describing the conflict b/w Arjuna and Shiva (we are not sure if bhAravi was "south indian", but tradition connects him with eastern chAlukyas)

17. The Pallava ruler's Mahendravarman's plays - mattavilAsa, bhagavadajjuka (early 7th cen)

18. Dandin's famous dasakumAracharita (a prose romance dated to 8th cen)

19. mukunda mAla - a devotional lyric attributed to Kerala king Kulashekhara (9th cen)

20. The four yamaka kAvyas of vAsudeva - Yudhishtira Vijaya, Tripuradahana, ShaurikathA, nalodaya (9th cen)

21. The same author's vAsudeva vijaya - a kAvya illustrating the rules of Panini's grammar (9th cen)

22. Ascharya-chUDAmaNi of Shaktibhadra - regarded as among the earliest works of drama in deep South (8th cen)

23. The champu works of Trivikrama bhatta - nalachampu, madAlasachampu (10th cen)

24. AmogharAghava - a champu by DivAkara of Kerala (early 14th cen)

25. The drama works of another kulasekhara from 10th cen - tapatIsamvaraNa, subhadrAdhananjaya (which dramatize incidents from Mahabharata

(less than halfway through...will keep adding to this thread)

26. yashastilaka champu - a work by somadeva sUri - a Jaina scholar of Andhra region (10th cen)

27. nItivAkyAmrita - a review of Arthashastra by the same somadeva Suri from the standpoint of Jain ethics (10th cen)

28. mAnasollAsa attributed to the chAlukyan king someshwara III ( an encyclopedic work covering medicine, magic, cooking recipes, games etc)
(12th cen)

29. vidyAmAdhava's pArvatI-rukmiNiya- each verse narrates the marriage of Shiva / Parvati and that of kRSNa-rukmini! (12th cen)

30. A work similar to 29 - mAdhava bhatta's rAghava pAndaviya which narrates the story of MB and rAmAyaNa simultaneously with the same set of verses (12th cen)

31. mAdhava bhatta's pArijAtaharaNa - a poem of kRSNa lore (12th cen)

32. gadyakarNAmrita - a quasi-historical work of part-fiction dealing with the war between Hoysala king Narasimha II and Pandyas (13th cen)

(written by a Hoysala court poet)

33. bhAvaprakAsha by shAradAtanaya - from Chingleput near modern Madras - a work of literary criticism (13th cen)

34. Dandin's kAvyadarsha - a manual on rhetoric (7th /8th cen)

35. shAradIya - the same shAradAtanaya's treatise on music

36. yAdavAbhyudaya - a mahAkAvya on kRSNa's life by vedANta desika, the Sri-Vaishnava theologian / polymath (13th cen)

37. Other literary / non-philosophical works of vedAnta desika (in next tweet)

a. Hamsa sandesha (an imitation of kALidAsa's meghasandesha)

b. the devotional poem pAdukA sahasra

c. The drama sankalpa sUryodaya (an SV counter to the Advaitin drama prabodhachandrodaya)

38. Sandesha kAvyas from Kerala -

a. shukasandesha of lakshmIdAsa ( 12th cen)
b. kokilasandesha of Uddanda kavi (15th cen)
c. mayUrasandesha of Udaya (15th cen)
d. bhringa sandesha of vAsudeva (16th cen)

39. pradyumnAbhyudaya - a drama pertaining to the marriage of pradyumna and prabhAvati by King ravivarman kulasekhara (early 14th cen)

40. The quasi-historical "madhurAvijayam" (the conquest of madurai) by Gangadevi - the wife of the great kumAra kampanna (14th cen)

41. vEmabhUpAlacharita (a prose romance) - by bhatta bAna ( a pupil of the famous vidyAraNya) (early 15th cen) - it details the exploits of the Reddi king pedda komati vEma

42. rasArNavasudhAkara - by simhabhUpAla of rajakonda (a work on rasa and the rules of drama) (14th cen)

43. chamatkArachandrika - a manual on rhetoric by one vishveshwara of andhra origin (14th cen)

44. the quasi historical "sAlvAbhyudaya" (detailing the wars of saluva narasimha the vijayanagara king) - by rAjanAtha, a native of northern Tamil nad

45. Some of Apayya Dikshita's works from 16th cen

a. ChitramImamsa and lakshaNAvali (literary criticism / poetry)

b. kuvalayAnanda (a work on poetics)

Next we turn to

works of philosophy (mostly vedanta),
legal literature
grammar
architecture
ayurveda

(to be added later)

PS : This thread is gleaned from KA Nilakanta Sastri's fine work "A History of South India"

Turning to philosophical literature

47. tArkikarakshA - a commentary on Udayana's kusumAnjali (12th cen)

48. Commentary on yAjnavalkya smriti - by the Konkan ruler aparArka (12th cen)

49. Adi shankara's works

a. bhASyas on Brahma Sutras, main Upanishads, and Upadesha Sahasri

(8th cen)

50. raghavAnanda muni's sarvamata-samgraha (a precursor to vidyAraNya's sarva darshana samgraha) (13th cen) - he was from Kerala.

51. rAghavAnanda also wrote commentaries on bhAgavata purANa and mukunda mAla

52. vidyAraNya's sarva-darshana samgraha, panchadasi (advaitin work), jivanmukta-viveka (14th cen)

53. Appayya DIkshitar's philosophical works (16th cen)

a. vedANta - kalpataru parimaLa
b. Siddhantalesha samgraha
c. mAdhavatantra mukha mardana (an attack on dualism)

Moving to visiStAdvaita literature -

54. yogarahasya and nyAyatattva by nAthamuni (9th/10th cen)

55. yAmunAcArya's works (10th cen)

a. Siddhitraya
b. GitArthasamgraha (commentary on Gita)
c. AgamaprAmANya (a defense of pANcharAtra)
d. Stotraratna (a devotional poem)

56. rAmAnuja's works (11th/12th cen)

a. Shri bhASya - famous commentary on brahma-sutras

b. vedArtha samgraha (lectures on upanishads)

c. Gita bhASYa (commentary on Gita)

57. parAsara bhattar's works (12th cen)

a. tattvaratnAkara (non existent)
b. commentary on viSNu sahasranAma

58. nItimAla of nArAyaNArya (13th cen)

59. prameyamAla and tattvasAra of naDadUr ammAL (12th cen)

60. prapannapArijAta - develops the SV doctrine of prApatti (12th cen)

61. Commentaries on Sri bhASya and bhAgavata by Sudarshana Suri (12th cen)

62. vedANta deSika's philosophical works (we've discussed his literary works before) (13th cen)

a. nyAyasiddhanjana
b. sarvArthasiddhi
c. tattvamukhAkalApa
d. ShatadUshaNi - a polemic against advaita

Let's now move to Shaiva literature - whose philosophy is also viSiStAdvaita -

63. shruti-sUkti-mAla by haradattAcArya (12th cen
64. hariharatAratamaya - a polemic by the same author

Interesitingly haradatta was born a Sri-Vaishnava, who converted to Shaiva siddhAnta

65. A shaiva interpretation of brahma sutras by Srikantha's brahma-mImAmsa-bhASya (12th cen)

66. the works of aghorashivAcArya (12th cen)

a. commentary on tattvaprakAshika
b. commentary on mrigendrAgama

67. umApatishivAcArya's commentary on paushkara-samhita (plea for shaivite monotheism) (14th c)

68. Works of GnanashivAcArya (14th c)

a. commentary on shivagnanabodha

b. shaiva paribhASa - on the categories of shaivism

c. shivAgrapaddati / kriyAdIpika - works on shaiva ritual

69. nIlakanTa's kriyAsAra - a work that attempts to reconcile the Shaivism of Srikantha and that of Veera-shaivas (15th cen)

70. Appayya Dikshitar's commentary on Srikantha's bhASya - shivArkamaNidIpika (16th cen)

Next we move to the literature pertaining to Dvaita (madhva's school)

71. The works of madhva (also called Ananda Tirtha) (13th cen)

bhASyas on brahma sutras, upanishads
commentary on mahabhArata (bhArata tAtparya nirNaya)
work on RV (rigveda vyAkhya)

72. jayatIrtha's nyAyasudhA, vAdAvali (14th cen)

73. The works of vyAsatirtha (16th cen)

a. nyAyAmruta (a defense of dvaita against advaita)
b. tarka-tAndava (an attack on logicians)
c. bhedojjivana and tAtparyachandrikA

74. The works of vAdirAja (of Udupi) (16th cen)

Notably yuktimallika - an attack on shankara's doctrines

75. vijayIndra's works (16th c)

A lot of his works were refutations of appayya dikshitar's works

a. upasamhAravijaya
b. madhava-tantra-mukhabhUshaNa
c. paratattvaprakAsha

Next we move to legal literature

76. mitAkshara - the great commentary on yAjnavalkya smRti by vijnAneshvara of chAlukya court (12th cen)

77. vyavahArashiromaNi by one nArAyaNa (a disciple of vijnAneshwara)

78. a more extensive commentary on yAjnavalkya smRTi by the konkan king aparArka - who was also a nyAya scholar (as we've encountered) (12th cen)

79. vyavahAranirNaya by varadarAja - a work on juristic rules based on mImAmsa principles (14th cen)

80. haradatta's commentaries on Apastamba / gautama dharmasutras (13th cen)

81. mAdhava's commentary on parAshara smRti - parAshara mAdhavIya (14th cen)

82. dalapati's great legal work - nrisimhaprasAda - interesting as dalapati was a Hindu officer in the Nizam's court at Ahmadnagar

83. smRti ratnAkara by hArita venkatAcArya - a native of Chinglepet near Madras - v high status among Vaishnavas
(15th cen)

Works on lexicography

84. vaijayanti of yAdavaprakAsha - the teacher of rAmAnuja (11th cen) - it includes a work on synonyms and another on homonyms

85. nAmamAlA - a work on synonyms by Dhananjaya - a Digambara Jaina from karnAtaka (12th cen)

Next we move to the literature from kerala in particular which has contributed to some v specialized literature in niche topics

the works of Melpathur nArAyana bhattatiri (17th cen)

a. nArAyaNiyam - a condensation of bhAgavatam
b. prakriyA sarvasva - a work on grammar
c. apANinIya prAmANya sAdhana 0 which departs from pANini and attempts to simplify grammar

Works on architecture from kerala in sanskrit

a. vAstuvidyA
b. manushyAlaya chandrika
c. Shilparatna

Works on astrology (closely related to the kerala-school of mathematics)

chandra vAkyas
govindaswAmin's commentary on siddhanta shiromaNi (9th cen)

grahachAranibandhana - by haradatta (8th cen)

venvAroha - by mAdhava of sangamagrAma (14th cen)

The works of parameshwara, nIlakanTa somayajin, achyuta pisharoti (from 15th-16th cen)

This concludes the thread

The purpose was to just collate some of the major Sanskrit works composed in the Deccan over the past 1000-odd years, so that more people get interested in exploring these works

PS : Thread mostly gleaned from KA Nilakanta Sastri's History of S.India