Damodar Gulati
Damodar Gulati (Gurmukhi: ਦਮੋਦਰ ਦਾਸ ਅਰੋੜਾ, Shahmukhi:  ()) also known as Damodar Das Arora, was a Punjabi Hindu poet. He hailed from Jhang. He lived during the reign of Mughal king Akbar. Biography

Heer and Ranjha 
He wrote the qissa Heer and Ranjha () and was the first to put the story to pen, adapted from a preexisting and circulating legend. He claims to be the eye witness of this tale. His Qissa (story) is deemed the oldest and the first Heer Ranjha in Punjabi literature. He states in the poem that he is from Jhang—the home of Heer, one of the poem's two main characters. He wrote his rendition and the original tale of Heer Ranjha in the dialect of Sandal Bar, despite this fact after the lapse of five hundred years the language used in the story is nearer to modern Majhi dialect. An analysis by Najam Hussain Syed led him to believe that Damodar Gulati was not actually an eyewitness to the tale but rather he was using a storytelling technique that was misinterpreted as meaning he was simply an eyewitness. In reality, Gulati's position to the characters in the tale is similar Sanjaya of the Mahabharata epic, who used paranormal powers to see what was happening at the battle of Kurukshetra. Religious identity 
On the matter of his religious identity, the majority of scholars describe him as a "Punjabi Hindu". Amaresh Dutta makes mention of Sufi and Sikh influence on Gulati. Style 
He does have also a peculiar style, at the end of a quaternary he repeats Aakkh Damodar means "Say Damodar":

Waris Shah later adapted Heer and Ranjha. Particular importance is placed on finer details in the storytelling of Gulati's works. Legacy 
The Heer and Ranjha renditions of Waris Shah, Muqbal, and Charag Awan were all based on Damodar Gulati's original version. References

Further reading 

  Selections from Gulati's Heer and Ranjha. Punjabi-language poets
Punjabi people
Heer Ranjha