This book traces the important role played by Prakrit language and narrative literature in the development of Indian languages and literature. This is considered to be the first attempt ever, by any Indian or foreign scholar in this field. This publication has been painstakingly, manually prepared by Dr J C Jain after a detailed research of a wide range of Indian and foreign literary works, which has taken several years. The manifold contributions of Prakrit in the field of Ardhamagadhi, Sauraseni, Maharastri and Paisachi language and literature, development of narrative literature in Maharastri, contributions in the field of Sanskrit poetics and drama have all been incorporated in this rare publication. Dr Jain has considered all the traditional views of ancient authors and grammarians and has compared them to those of the modern times, to enable to present a clear viewpoint to the readers.