Indian poetry has a long and rich history dating back to ancient times. Due to the diverse nature of India, Indian poetry has been written in numerous languages including Sanskrit, Hindi, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Urdu; as well as in foreign languages like Persian and English. 5th century Indian poet Kalidasa is regarded as one of the greatest poets of all time and he has had a major impact on not only Indian poetry but on world literature. The medieval period in India saw the emergence of several great poets which include Rahim, Kabir and Tulsidas. Tulsidas, in particular, wrote Ramcharitmanas which has been acclaimed as “the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry”. Nineteenth and twentieth century has seen the emergence of several towering figures in Indian literature
