The language has a long literary tradition that exists for more than 1000 years. Gujarat poets were writing poems even before that, but those have not survived. The first known Gujarati writer was Narsinh Mehta (1414–1481), who wrote religious songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. He is also known as “Adi Kavi” or “the first poet”.
Around the 15th century, Gujarati literature got influenced by the Bhakti movement, a popular cultural movement to liberate religion from the ingrained priesthood. The literature reached its peak with the works of poets like Dayaram (1584–1652), Premanand (1586–1663), and Narmadashankar Dave (1833–1886).
Gujarati is also spoken in many other countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. This language has an estimated 46 million speakers worldwide.