Vidyapati

Vidyapati (c. 1352 – 1448), also known by the sobriquet Maithil Kavi Kokil (the poet cuckoo of Maithili), was a Maithili and Sanskrit polymath-poet-saint, playwright, composer, biographer, philosopher, law-theorist, writer, courtier and royal priest. He was a devotee of Shiva, but also wrote love songs and devotional Vaishnava songs. He knew Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsha and Maithili.

Vidyapati's influence was not just restricted to Maithili and Sanskrit literature but also extended to other Eastern Indian literary traditions. The language at the time of Vidyapati, the prakrit-derived late Abahattha, had just begun to transition into early versions of the Eastern language such as Maithili. Thus, Vidyapati's influence on making these languages has been described as "analogous to that of Dante in Italy and Chaucer in England". He has been called the "Father of Bengali literature".