Here's a breakdown:
* Kannada: Has its roots in the ancient Dravidian languages, believed to be spoken in the region before the arrival of Indo-Aryan languages. The earliest known inscriptions in Kannada date back to the 5th century CE.
* Hindi: Developed from the Apabhramsha languages, which evolved from the Prakrit languages, which in turn derived from Sanskrit. While Sanskrit is ancient, the earliest known inscription in Hindi is from the 11th century CE.
Therefore, Kannada has a much older history and established literary tradition compared to Hindi.