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{{short description|Series of biographical monographs published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi}}
{{Infobox book series
| name             = Makers of Indian Literature
| image            = Swami Vivekananda MakersofIndianLiterature.jpeg
| image_caption    = Monograph on [[Swami Vivekananda]] written by Nemai Sadhan Bose
| border           = yes
| books            = 
| author           = 
| editors          = 
| country          = India
| language         = 
| discipline       = [[Indian literature]]
| publisher        = [[Sahitya Akademi]]
| media_type       = 
| number_of_books  = 
| oclc             = 
}}
'''Makers of Indian Literature''' is a series of biographical [[monograph]]s published by [[Sahitya Akademi]], India's National Academy of Letters.

==Background==
In 1964, the [[Sahitya Akademi]], India's National Academy of Letters,  decided to publish the first in a series of monographs on writers who had made significant contributions to the development of literature in an [[Languages of India|Indian language]]. The Sahita Akademi planned to title the series ''Indian Men of Letters''. Among the authors invited to contribute to the series was [[C. Rajagopalachari]], who was asked to write on the ancient [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poet [[Thiruvalluvar]]. Responding to the request, Rajagopalachari objected to classifying Thiruvalluvar as one of  the "Indian Men of Letters". He felt that the series' title should be changed if ''[[rishi|rishis]]'' and [[sages]] such as [[Valmiki]] and [[Tulsidas]] were to be included. Alternative titles were considered. Eventually, in order to encompass both old and modern writers, from sages and ''rishis'' to men of letters, the series was named ''Makers of Indian Literature''.<ref name="Rao2004">{{cite book|last=Rao|first=D. S.|title=Five Decades: The National Academy of Letters, India : a Short History of Sahitya Akademi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=12pjAAAAMAAJ|year=2004|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-260-2060-7|pages=105–106}}</ref>

[[Krishna Kripalani]] prepared detailed guidelines for the authors to ensure a measure of uniformity.<blockquote> Each volume was to be of about 80 printed pages, or 30,000 words. They were intended primarily for the general reader who had not necessarily read the work of the writer concerned, and might not be burdened with references and allusions more likely to deter than hold the attention of the target audience. The story of the life and work of the writer concerned was to be told simply and lucidly and in such a manner as to convince the reader of the historic significance of their contribution to Indian literature. The merit of an author's worth and the quality of their work was to be established on the evidence of the totality of their contribution. This was to be assessed in the context of the age in which they had lived and, if possible, in the context of Indian heritage as a whole. Selected passages from works discussed were to be interwoven with the narrative, in order to assist the reader to appreciate the author's style and mode of expression.<ref name="Rao2004"/></blockquote>

==Monographs==
Within twenty years, 120 monographs, on figures who wrote in 20 languages, were published by the Sahitya Akademi. A total of  250 translated volumes were also published, in 13 languages. The next 20 years saw the publication of a further 531 monographs, on historical figures who wrote in a further 21 languages; as well as 586 translations. Of the 651 monographs published up to 2003, 274 were originally written in English; 96 in [[Hindi]]; 51 in [[Urdu]]; 41 in Tamil; 28 each in [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] and [[Maithili language|Maithili]]; 27 in [[Kannada]]; 15 each in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Rajasthani language|Rajasthani]]; 14 each in [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and [[Telugu language|Telugu]]; 10 in [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]; seven in [[Odia language|Odia]]; six each in [[Malayalam]] and [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]; five in [[Nepali language|Nepali]]; four each in [[Assamese language|Assamese]] and [[Dogri language|Dogri]]; two each in [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and [[Sanskrit]]. Of the 836 translations, Hindi was the most common, with 151 volumes being translated into it; followed by Tamil, 98; Kannada 76; Telugu 70; and Urdu 63.<ref name="Rao2004"/>

==List of monographs==
The authors included in the series cover a wide range:
{{div col|colwidth=}}
'''Assamese'''
*[[Krishna Kanta Handique|Krishnakanta Handiqui]]

'''Bengali'''
*[[Jibanananda Das]]
*[[Kazi Nazrul Islam]]
*[[Buddhadeva Bose]]
*[[Bankim Chandra Chatterjee]]
*[[Manik Bandopadhyay]]
*[[Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay|Tarasankar Banerji]]
*[[Raja Rammohun Roy]]
*[[Maharshi Debendranath Tagore]]
*[[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar|Iswarchandra Vidyasagar]]

'''English'''
*[[Sarojini Naidu]]
*[[Toru Dutt]]
*[[Manmohan Ghose]]
*[[Sri Aurobindo]]

'''Gujarati'''
*[[Shamal Bhatt|Shamal]]
*[[Akha Bhagat|Akho]]
*[[Dayaram|Dayārām]]
*[[Dalpatram]]
*[[Narmadashankar Dave|Narmadashankar]]
*[[Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth|Mahipatram]]
*[[Govardhanram Tripathi|Govardhanram]]
*[[Manilal Dvivedi]]
*[[Kalapi]]
*[[Kavi Kant|Kant]]
*[[Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi|Nanalal]]
*[[Balwantray Thakore|B. K. Thakore]]
*[[Jhaverchand Meghani|Meghani]]
*[[Harivallabh Bhayani]]
*[[C. C. Mehta]]
*[[Harindra Dave]]

'''Hindi'''
*[[Kabir]]
*[[Ravidas]]
*[[Jaishankar Prasad]]
*[[Premchand]]
*[[Bharatendu Harishchandra|Bharatendu Harischandra]]

'''Kannada'''
*[[Basava|Basavesvara]]
*[[B. M. Srikantaiah|B. M. Srikantayya]]
*[[Panje Mangesh Rao]]

'''Kashmiri'''
*[[Zinda Kaul]]

'''Malayalam'''
*[[Kumaran Asan|Asan]]
*[[Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer|Ulloor]]
*[[Vallathol Narayana Menon|Vallathol]]
*[[A. R. Raja Raja Varma|A.R. Rajaraja Varma]]
*[[Chandu Menon]]

'''Marathi'''
*[[Dnyaneshwar|Jnanadev]]
*[[Namdev]]
*Dattakavi
*[[Keshavasuta|Kesavsut]]
*[[Hari Narayan Apte|H.N. Apte]]
*[[Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar|Sripad Krishna Kolhatkar]]
*[[Purushottam Shivaram Rege]]

'''Odia'''
*[[Sarala Das|Saraladasa]]
*[[Radhanath Ray]]

'''Punjabi'''
*[[Baba Farid]]
*[[Bhai Vir Singh]]
*[[Giani Gurdit Singh]]

'''Rajasthani'''
*[[Mirabai]]

'''Sanskrit'''
*[[Bhavabhuti]]
*[[Jayadeva]]
*[[Bhāsa]]

'''Tamil'''
*[[Ilango Adigal]]
*[[Kambar (poet)|Kamban]]
*[[Subramania Bharati|Bharati]]

'''Telugu'''
*[[Vemana]]
*[[Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy|Dr. C.R. Reddy]]
*[[Veeresalingam]]

'''Urdu'''
*[[Mir Taqi Mir]]
*[[Ghalib]]
*[[Nazir Akbarabadi]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/general/Digitalbooks.jsp Selected digitised volumes] at [[Sahitya Akademi]]
* [https://www.google.co.in/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=Makers+of+Indian+Literature ''Makers of Indian Literature''] at [[Google books]]

[[Category:Indian literature]]
[[Category:Monographic series]]
[[Category:Sahitya Akademi]]