With the conquest of Deccan by the Mughals, there was a period of decadence (1750-1850) in literature. Then emerged a period of transition (1850-1910) following a long period of Renaissance. European savants like C.P.Brown played an important role in the development of Telugu literature and language. The Telugu literature of this time was greatly influenced by European forms like the novels, the short stories, prose, drama, belles, letters etc.

The father of modern Telugu literature is K.Veeresalingam Pantulu (1848-1919) who wrote a novel, Rajashekhara Charitamu inspired by the Vicar of Wakefield. He was followed by Rayaprola Subba Rao, Gurajada Appa Rao, Vishwanath Satyanarayana, Katuri Venkateshvara Rao, Joshua, Devulapalli Venkata Krishna Sastri, Sri Sri, Puttaparthy Narayana Charlu and others in the sphere of poetry. Viswanath Satyanarayana has won the coveted Jnanpith Award. Kanyasulkam (bride money) the first social play in Telugu by Gurajada Appa Rao was a thumping success.

We also find the progressive movement, free verse movementb and the Digambara style finding expression in the Telugu literature. The well known modern Telugu novelists are Unnava Lakshminarayana (of Malapalli fame), Viswanatha Satyanarayana (Veyipadagalu), KutumbaRao and Buchi Babu. Telugu is specially known for its daring experiments in the field of poetry and drama.