This thesis deals with the earliest period of Urdu literature and the language of those texts which were for the most part composed in the various centres of the Deccan during the two and a half centuries between the decline of the Delhi Sultanate and the annexation of the south of India by Aurangzeb. The language of these works is usually referred to as Dakani. A small number of texts which have been ascribed to the fifteenth century A. D. and a number of early works composed in the province of Gujarat have also been taken into account. The vast majority of Dakanl works were written after 1580 AD, in the cities of Bijapur and Golkunda which at that time became the two most important centres of literary activity.