languages of India

{{Main|Linguistic history of India}}{{Further|Persian language in the Indian subcontinent}}

The Southern Indian languages are from the Dravidian family. The Dravidian languages are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y88nzRtTNUAC|title=India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-Continent from C. 7000 BC to AD 1200|last=Avari|first=Burjor|date=11 June 2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134251629}} Proto-Dravidian languages were spoken in India in the 4th millennium BCE and started disintegrating into various branches around 3rd millennium BCE.{{Cite book |last=Andronov |first=Mikhail Sergeevich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhB60gYvnLgC |title=A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages |date=1 January 2003 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=9783447044554 |pages=299}} The Dravidian languages are classified in four groups: North, Central (Kolami–Parji), South-Central (Telugu–Kui), and South Dravidian (Tamil-Kannada).{{Cite book |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |title=The Dravidian Languages |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0521771110 |pages=19–20}}

The Northern Indian languages from the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family evolved from Old Indo-Aryan by way of the Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrit languages and Apabhraṃśa of the Middle Ages. The Indo-Aryan languages developed and emerged in three stages — Old Indo-Aryan (1500 BCE to 600 BCE), Middle Indo-Aryan stage (600 BCE and 1000 CE), and New Indo-Aryan (between 1000 CE and 1300 CE). The modern north Indian Indo-Aryan languages all evolved into distinct, recognisable languages in the New Indo-Aryan Age.{{cite book|last=Kachru|first=Yamuna|title=Hindi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ooH5VfLTQEQC|series=London Oriental and African language library|date=1 January 2006|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=90-272-3812-X|page=1}}

In the Northeast India, among the Sino-Tibetan languages, Meitei language (officially known as Manipuri language) was the court language of the Manipur Kingdom ({{langx|mni|Meeteileipak}}). It was honoured before and during the darbar sessions before Manipur was merged into the Dominion of the Indian Republic. Its history of existence spans from 1500 to 2000 years according to most eminent scholars including Padma Vibhushan awardee Suniti Kumar Chatterji.{{Cite book |last=Sanajaoba |first=Naorem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-CzSQKVmveUC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA290 |title=Manipur, Past and Present: The Heritage and Ordeals of a Civilization |date=1988 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-853-2 |pages=290}}{{Cite book |last=Mohanty |first=P. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkguECp3vKEC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA149 |title=Encyclopaedia of Scheduled Tribes in India: In Five Volume |date=2006 |publisher= Gyan Publishing House|isbn=978-81-8205-052-5 |pages=149}} Even according to the "Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947" of the once independent Manipur, Manipuri and English were made the court languages of the kingdom (before merging into Indian Republic).{{Cite book |last=Sanajaoba |first=Naorem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO-vtI8NuxIC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA369 |title=Manipur: Treatise & Documents |date=1993 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-399-5 |pages=369}}{{Cite book |last=Sanajaoba |first=Naorem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO-vtI8NuxIC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA255 |title=Manipur: Treatise & Documents |date=1993 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-399-5 |pages=255}}

Persian, or Farsi, was brought into India by the Ghaznavids and other Turko-Afghan dynasties as the court language. Culturally Persianized, they, in combination with the later Mughal dynasty (of Turco-Mongol origin), influenced the art, history, and literature of the region for more than 500 years, resulting in the Persianisation of many Indian tongues, mainly lexically. In 1837, the British replaced Persian with English and Hindustani in Perso-Arabic script for administrative purposes and the Hindi movement of the 19th Century replaced Persianised vocabulary with Sanskrit derivations and replaced or supplemented the use of Perso-Arabic script for administrative purposes with Devanagari.{{cite book|last=Brass|first=Paul R.|title=Language, Religion and Politics in North India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SylBHS8IJAUC&pg=PA129|year=2005|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-34394-2|page=129}}

Each of the northern Indian languages had different influences. For example, Hindustani was strongly influenced by Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian, leading to the emergence of Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu as registers of the Hindustani language.

Bangla on the other hand has retained its Sanskritic roots while heavily expanding its vocabulary with words from Persian, English, French and other foreign languages.{{cite book|last1=Kulshreshtha|first1=Manisha|last2=Mathur|first2=Ramkumar|title=Dialect Accent Features for Establishing Speaker Identity: A Case Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHmARyhRoNYC&pg=PA16|date=24 March 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4614-1137-6|page=16}}{{Citation | title=The Cultural Landscape an Introduction to Human Geography |author1=Robert E. Nunley |author2=Severin M. Roberts |author3=George W. Wubrick |author4=Daniel L. Roy | year=1999 | isbn=0-13-080180-1 | publisher=Prentice Hall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7wQAOGMJOqIC | quote=... Hindustani is the basis for both languages ...}}

{{Main|List of languages by number of native speakers in India}}

The first official survey of language diversity in the Indian subcontinent was carried out by Sir George Abraham Grierson from 1898 to 1928. Titled the Linguistic Survey of India, it reported a total of 179 languages and 544 dialects.{{cite book|author=Aijazuddin Ahmad|title=Geography of the South Asian Subcontinent: A Critical Approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2QmPHeIowoC&pg=PA123|access-date=17 December 2014|year=2009|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-568-1|pages=123–124}} However, the results were skewed due to ambiguities in distinguishing between "dialect" and "language", use of untrained personnel and under-reporting of data from South India, as the former provinces of Burma and Madras, as well as the princely states of Cochin, Hyderabad, Mysore and Travancore were not included in the survey.{{cite book |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10603/11248/9/09_chapter+2.pdf |title=Linguistic heterogeneity and multilinguality in India: a linguistic assessment of Indian language policies |author=Naheed Saba |publisher=Aligarh Muslim University |date=18 September 2013 |location=Aligarh |pages=61–68 |chapter=2. Multilingualism |access-date=17 December 2014 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Pie chart

| thumb = right

|caption = Languages of India by language families (Ethnologue)

|label1 = Sino-Tibetan |value1 = 34.90 |color1 = orangered

|label2 = Indo-European |value2 = 33.01 |color2 = gold

|label3 = Dravidian |value3 = 19.81 |color3 = deepskyblue

|label4 = Austroasiatic |value4 = 7.54 |color4 = hotpink

|label5 = Andamanese |value5 = 3.30 |color5 = green

|label6 = Kra–Dai |value6 = 1.17 |color6 = maroon

|label7 = Isolates |value7 = 0.23 |color7 = grey

|style=align="left"

}}

Different sources give widely differing figures, primarily based on how the terms "language" and "dialect" are defined and grouped. Ethnologue, produced by the Christian evangelist organisation SIL International, lists 435 tongues for India (out of 6,912 worldwide), 424 of which are living, while 11 are extinct. The 424 living languages are further subclassified in Ethnologue as follows:{{cite web|editor=Lewis, M. Paul |editor2=Simons, Gary F. |editor3=Fennig, Charles D.|year=2014|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Seventeenth edition) : India|publisher=SIL International|location= Dallas, Texas|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/IN|access-date=29 December 2023}}[http://archive.ethnologue.com/15/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=area Ethnologue : Languages of the World (Seventeenth edition) : Statistical Summaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217151950/http://archive.ethnologue.com/15/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=area |date=17 December 2014 }}. Retrieved 17 December 2014.

• Institutional– 45
• Stable– 248
• Endangered– 131
• Extinct– 11

The People's Linguistic Survey of India, a privately owned research institution in India, has recorded over 66 different scripts and more than 780 languages in India during its nationwide survey, which the organisation claims to be the biggest linguistic survey in India.{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/language-survey-reveals-diversity/article4938865.ece|title=Language survey reveals diversity|newspaper=The Hindu|date=22 July 2013|author=Singh, Shiv Sahay|access-date=15 December 2014}}

The People of India (POI) project of Anthropological Survey of India reported 325 languages which are used for in-group communication by 5,633 Indian communities.{{cite book|last1=Banerjee|first1=Paula|last2=Chaudhury|first2=Sabyasachi Basu Ray|last3=Das|first3=Samir Kumar|author4=Bishnu Adhikari|title=Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance of the UN's Guiding Principles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VjGdDo75UssC&pg=PA145|access-date=17 December 2014|year=2005|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0-7619-3329-8|page=145}}

The Census of India records and publishes data with respect to the number of speakers for languages and dialects, but uses its own unique terminology, distinguishing between language and mother tongue. The mother tongues are grouped within each language. Many of the mother tongues so defined could be considered a language rather than a dialect by linguistic standards. This is especially so for many mother tongues with tens of millions of speakers that are officially grouped under the language Hindi.

; 1951 Census

Separate figures for Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi were not issued, due to the fact the returns were intentionally recorded incorrectly in states such as East Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, PEPSU, and Bilaspur.{{cite book |last1=Dasgupta |first1=Jyotirindra |title=Language Conflict and National Development: Group Politics and National Language Policy in India |year=1970 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley. Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies |location=Berkeley |isbn=9780520015906 |page=47}}

; 1961 Census

The 1961 census recognised 1,652 mother tongues spoken by 438,936,918 people, counting all declarations made by any individual at the time when the census was conducted.{{cite journal |author=Mallikarjun, B. | date=5 August 2002 |publisher=M. S. Thirumalai |journal=Languages in India |url=http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2002/indianmothertongues1961aug2002.html |title=Mother Tongues of India According to the 1961 Census | volume= 2 | issn=1930-2940 |access-date=11 December 2014}} However, the declaring individuals often mixed names of languages with those of dialects, subdialects and dialect clusters or even castes, professions, religions, localities, regions, countries and nationalities. The list therefore includes languages with barely a few individual speakers as well as 530 unclassified mother tongues and more than 100 idioms that are non-native to India, including linguistically unspecific demonyms such as "African", "Canadian" or "Belgian".

; 1991 Census

The 1991 census recognises 1,576 classified mother tongues.{{cite web|url=http://www.ancsdaap.org/cencon98/papers/india/india.pdf|title=Planning for the 2001 Census of India based on the 1991 Census |author=Vijayanunni, M. |date= 26–29 August 1998 |work=18th Population Census Conference |location= Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | publisher= Association of National Census and Statistics Directors of America, Asia, and the Pacific |archive-date=19 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119080707/http://www.ancsdaap.org/cencon98/papers/india/india.pdf |access-date=17 December 2014}} According to the 1991 census, 22 languages had more than a million native speakers, 50 had more than 100,000 and 114 had more than 10,000 native speakers. The remaining accounted for a total of 566,000 native speakers (out of a total of 838 million Indians in 1991).{{cite web |author=Mallikarjun, B. |title=Languages of India according to 2001 Census |url=http://www.languageinindia.com/nov2001/1991Languages.html |website=Languages in India |date=7 November 2001 |access-date=17 December 2014}}

; 2001 Census

According to the census of 2001, there are 1,635 rationalised mother tongues, 234 identifiable mother tongues and 22 major languages.{{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/gen_note.html |title=Census Data 2001 : General Note |publisher=Census of India |access-date=11 December 2014 }} Of these, 29 languages have more than a million native speakers, 60 have more than 100,000 and 122 have more than 10,000 native speakers.{{cite book|last=Wischenbart|first=Ruediger|title=The Global EBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFmKE7rsKqwC&pg=PA62|access-date=18 December 2014|date=11 February 2013|publisher="O'Reilly Media, Inc."|isbn=978-1-4493-1999-1|page=62}} There are a few languages like Kodava that do not have a script but have a group of native speakers in Coorg (Kodagu).{{cite book|last1=Schiffrin|first1=Deborah|last2=Fina|first2=Anna De|last3=Nylund|first3=Anastasia|title=Telling Stories: Language, Narrative, and Social Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CXbldT6300C&pg=PA95|access-date=18 December 2014|year=2010|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-1-58901-674-3|page=95}}

; 2011 Census

According to the most recent census of 2011, after thorough linguistic scrutiny, edit, and rationalisation on 19,569 raw linguistic affiliations, the census recognises 1,369 rationalised mother tongues and 1,474 names which were treated as ‘unclassified’ and relegated to ‘other’ mother tongue category.{{cite web|title = Census of India 2011, Paper 1 of 2018, Language – India, States and Union Territories|website = Census of India Website|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf|access-date = 29 August 2019}} Among, the 1,369 rationalised mother tongues which are spoken by 10,000 or more speakers, are further grouped into appropriate set that resulted into total 121 languages. In these 121 languages, 22 are already part of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and the other 99 are termed as "Total of other languages" which is one short as of the other languages recognised in 2001 census.[http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/gen_note.html Census Data 2001 General Notes]|access-date = 29 August 2019

{{Main|Multilingualism in India}}

File:Danger sign in India.jpeg

File:Road_sign_Kochi.jpeg

{{Pie chart

|caption = Languages in India (2011)

|label1 = Hindi |value1 = 43.63 |color1 = orange

|label2 = Bengali |value2 = 8.30 |color2 = orchid

|label3 = Marathi |value3 = 6.83 |color3 = red

|label4 = Telugu |value4 = 6.70 |color4 = steelblue

|label5 = Tamil |value5 = 5.70 |color5 = royalblue

|label6 = Gujarati |value6 = 4.58 |color6 = skyblue

|label7 = Urdu |value7 = 4.19 |color7 = green

|label8 = Kannada |value8 = 3.61 |color8 = darkslateblue

|label9 = Odia |value9 = 3.10 |color9 =saddlebrown

|label10 = Malayalam |value10 = 2.88 |color10 =cornflowerblue

|label11 = Punjabi |value11 = 2.74 |color11 = pink

|label12 = Assamese |value12 = 1.16 |color12 = purple

|label13 = Maithili |value13 = 1.12 |color13 = mistyrose

|label14 = Meitei |value14 = 0.15 |color14 = goldenrod

|label15 = Others |value15 = 5.31 |color15 = grey

|thumb = right

}}

Ethnolinguistically, the languages of South Asia, echoing the complex history and geography of the region, form a complex patchwork of language families, language phyla and isolates. Languages spoken in India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians. The most important language families in terms of speakers are:{{cite web |title=India : Languages |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285248/India/46398/Languages |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2 December 2014}}[https://www.indiastat.com, INDIA STATISTICS REPORT]

{{Main|Indo-Aryan languages}}

File:Indo-Aryan language map.svg, Domari, Kholosi, Luwati, and Lomavren are outside the scope of the map.

{{legend|#ffc0ec|Pashai (Dardic)}}

{{legend|#ffa1e6|Khowar (Dardic)}}

{{legend|#FF54DE|Shina (Dardic)}}

{{legend|#ff81e0|Kohistani (Dardic)}}

{{legend|#e03eb9|Kashmiri (Dardic)}}

{{legend|#855ff8|Punjabi (Northwestern)}}

{{legend|#699fd0|Sindhi (Northwestern)}}

{{legend|#69d762|Rajasthani (Western)}}

{{legend|#61b97d|Gujarati (Western)}}

{{legend|#61b762|Khandeshi (Western)}}

{{legend|#a6e7b9|Bhili (Western)}}

{{legend|#d79662|Western Pahari (Northern)}}

{{legend|#b9845a|Central Pahari (Northern)}}

{{legend|#9b7451|Eastern Pahari (Northern)}}

{{legend|#ff8d36|Western Hindi (Central)}}

{{legend|#ffb736|Eastern Hindi (Central)}}

{{legend|#fff87c|Bengali-Assamese (Eastern)}}

{{legend|#f8d836|Bihari (Eastern)}}

{{legend|#e0c036|Odia (Eastern)}}

{{legend|#AB8900|Halbic (Eastern)}}

{{legend|#e03e36|Marathi-Konkani (Southern)}}

{{legend|#a13e36|Sinhala (Southern)}}

{{legend|#e03e36|Dhivehi (Southern)}}

(not shown: Kunar (Dardic), Chinali-Lahuli (Unclassified))

]]

The largest of the language families represented in India, in terms of speakers, is the Indo-Aryan language family, a branch of the Indo-Iranian family, itself the easternmost, extant subfamily of the Indo-European language family. This language family predominates, accounting for some 1035 million speakers, or over 76.5 of the population, per a 2018 estimate. The most widely spoken languages of this group are Hindi,Although linguistically Hindi and Urdu are the same language called Hindustani, the government classifies them as separate languages instead of different standard registers of same language. Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Odia, Maithili, Punjabi, Marwari, Kashmiri, Assamese (Asamiya), Chhattisgarhi and Sindhi.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/286348/Indo-Aryan-languages|title=Indo-Aryan languages|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=October 2023 }}{{Cite book |last=Mandryk |first=Jason |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EOsBQAAQBAJ&dq=indo+aryan+languages+marathi%2C+bhojpuri%2C+bengali%2C+odia%2C+punjabi&pg=PA406 |title=Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation |date=15 October 2010 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-9599-1}} Aside from the Indo-Aryan languages, other Indo-European languages are also spoken in India, the most prominent of which is English, as a lingua franca.

{{Main|Dravidian languages}}

The second largest language family is the Dravidian language family, accounting for some 277 million speakers, or approximately 20.5% per 2018 estimate. The Dravidian languages are spoken mainly in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in parts of northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. The Dravidian languages with the most speakers are Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. Besides the mainstream population, Dravidian languages are also spoken by small scheduled tribe communities, such as the Oraon and Gond tribes.{{cite book|last=West|first=Barbara A.|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA713|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7|page=713}} Only two Dravidian languages are exclusively spoken outside India, Brahui in Balochistan, Pakistan and Dhangar, a dialect of Kurukh, in Nepal.{{cite book|last1=Levinson|first1=David|last2=Christensen|first2=Karen|title=Encyclopedia of Modern Asia: China-India relations to Hyogo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jFQYAAAAIAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|isbn=978-0-684-31243-9|page=299}}

File:India austroasiatic map.svg

Families with smaller numbers of speakers are Austroasiatic and numerous small Sino-Tibetan languages, with some 10 and 6 million speakers, respectively, together 3% of the population.{{cite book|last=Ishtiaq|first=M.|title=Language Shifts Among the Scheduled Tribes in India: A Geographical Study|year=1999|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|location=Delhi|isbn=9788120816176|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkIgsfb95rAC|access-date=7 September 2012|pages=26–27}}

The Austroasiatic language family (austro meaning South) is the autochthonous language in Southeast Asia, arrived by migration. Austroasiatic languages of mainland India are the Khasi and Munda languages, including Bhumij and Santali. The languages of the Nicobar islands also form part of this language family. With the exceptions of Khasi and Santali, all Austroasiatic languages on Indian territory are endangered.{{rp|456–457}}

The Tibeto-Burman language family is well represented in India. However, their interrelationships are not discernible, and the family has been described as "a patch of leaves on the forest floor" rather than with the conventional metaphor of a "family tree".{{rp|283–5}}

Padma Vibhushan awardee Indian Bengali scholar Suniti Kumar Chatterjee said, "Among the various Tibeto-Burman languages, the most important and in literature certainly of much greater importance than Newari, is the Meitei or Manipuri language".{{Cite book |last=Devi |first=Nunglekpam Premi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kqJVDwAAQBAJ&dq=Dr+Suniti+Kumar+Chatterjee+Manipuri+language&pg=PT5 |title=A Glimpse of Manipuri Literary Works |date=14 April 2018 |pages=5}}{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Ch Manihar |title=A History of Manipuri Literature |date=1996 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-0086-9 |pages=8}}{{Cite book |last=Anthology of articles |first=Indian and Soviet scholars |title=Problems of Modern Indian Literature |date=1975 |publisher=Statistical Pub. Society : distributor, K. P. Bagchi |location=the University of Michigan |pages=23}}

In India, Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken across the Himalayas in the regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam (hills and autonomous councils), Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/documents/papers/memorandum_feb02.htm|title=Memorandum of Settlement on Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC)|website=satp.org}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89aPZJ3qCD4C&q=tibeto-burman+language+hills+of+assam&pg=PA157|title=Language in South Asia|isbn=9780521781411|access-date=28 December 2017|last1=Kachru|first1=Braj B.|last2=Kachru|first2=Yamuna|last3=Sridhar|first3=S. N.|date=27 March 2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}{{cite web|url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/burling1999kamarupan.pdf|title=On "Kamarupan"|author=Robbins Burling|website=Sealang.net|access-date=28 December 2017}}

Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in India include two constitutionally recognised official languages, Meitei (officially known as Manipuri) and Bodo as well as the non-scheduled languages like Karbi, Deori, Lepcha, and many varieties of several related Tibetic, West Himalayish, Tani, Brahmaputran, Angami–Pochuri, Tangkhul, Zeme, Kukish sub linguistic branches, among many others.

{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2018}}

The Ahom language, a Southwestern Tai language, had been once the dominant language of the Ahom Kingdom in modern-day Assam, but was later replaced by the Assamese language (known as Kamrupi in ancient era which is the pre-form of the Kamrupi dialect of today). Nowadays, small Tai communities and their languages remain in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh together with Sino-Tibetans, e.g. Tai Phake, Tai Aiton and Tai Khamti, which are similar to the Shan language of Shan State, Myanmar; the Dai language of Yunnan, China; the Lao language of Laos; the Thai language of Thailand; and the Zhuang language in Guangxi, China.

The languages of the Andaman Islands form another group:{{cite journal|title=Deep linguistic prehistory with particular reference to Andamanese|author=Niclas Burenhult|journal=Working Papers|issue=45|pages= 5–24|publisher=Lund University, Dept. of Linguistics|url=http://lup.lub.lu.se/record/528793/file/624474.pdf |access-date=2 December 2014 }}

• the Great Andamanese languages, comprising a number of extinct, and one highly endangered language Aka-Jeru.
• the Ongan family of the southern Andaman Islands, comprising two extant languages, Önge and Jarawa, and one extinct language, Jangil.

In addition, Sentinelese is thought likely to be related to the above languages.

In addition, a Bantu language, Sidi, was spoken until the mid-20th century in Gujarat by the Siddi.{{rp|528}}

The only language found in the Indian mainland that is considered a language isolate is Nihali.{{rp|337}} The status of Nihali is ambiguous, having been considered as a distinct Austroasiatic language, as a dialect of Korku and also as being a "thieves' argot" rather than a legitimate language.{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Gregory D. S.|title=The Munda Verb: Typological Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVL2FrA6WboC&pg=PA6|year=2007|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-018965-0|page=6}}{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=G. D. S.|editor=Brown, Keith |editor2=Ogilvie, Sarah|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&pg=PA94|date=6 April 2010|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-08-087775-4|page=94|chapter=Austro-asiatic languages}}

The other language isolates found in the rest of South Asia include Burushaski, a language spoken in Gilgit–Baltistan (administered by Pakistan), Kusunda (in western Nepal), and Vedda (in Sri Lanka).{{rp|283}} The validity of the Great Andamanese language group as a language family has been questioned and it has been considered a language isolate by some authorities.{{rp|283}}Greenberg, Joseph (1971). "The Indo-Pacific hypothesis." Current trends in linguistics vol. 8, ed. by Thomas A. Sebeok, 807.71. The Hague: Mouton.Abbi, Anvita (2006). Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands. Germany: Lincom GmbH. The Hruso language, which is long assumed to be a Sino-Tibetan language, it may actually be a language isolate.{{citation |last1=Blench |first1=Roger |title=(De)classifying Arunachal languages: Reconstructing the evidence |year=2011 |url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526230734/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf |archive-date=26 May 2013 |url-status=dead |last2=Post |first2=Mark}}{{cite web |year=2020 |title=Hruso |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/hrus1242 |work=Glottolog 4.3 |editor-last1=Hammarström |editor-first1=Harald |editor-last2=Forke |editor-first2=Robert |editor-last3=Haspelmath |editor-first3=Martin |editor-last4=Bank |editor-first4=Sebastian}} Roger Blench classifies the Shompen language of the Nicobar Islands as a language isolate.{{Cite book |last=Blench |first=Roger |url=https://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Isolates/Shompen%20paper.pdf |title=The language of the Shom Pen: a language isolate in the Nicobar islands |year=2007 |pages=20–21 |chapter=5. The classification of the Shom Pen language }} Roger Blench also considers Puroik to be a language isolate.Blench, Roger. 2011. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf (De)classifying Arunachal languages: Reconsidering the evidence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526230734/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf|date=26 May 2013}}

{{Main|Languages with official status in India}}

File:Official language map of India by state and union territory (claimed and disputed hatched).svg

{{See also|Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu}}

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{{bar percent 2|Hindi|2001|Blue|53.61|2011|Blue|57.11|+3.50%}}

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After Mughal rule and prior to Independence, in British India, English was the sole language used for administrative purposes as well as for higher education purposes.{{cite book|last=Guha|first=Ramachandra|title=India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FKepYC6wzwC|access-date=3 January 2015|date=10 February 2011|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=978-0-330-54020-9|pages=117–120|chapter=6. Ideas of India (section IX)}}

In 1946, the issue of national language was a bitterly contested subject in the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly of India, specifically what should be the language in which the Constitution of India is written and the language spoken during the proceedings of Parliament and thus deserving of the epithet "national".

The Constitution of India does not give any language the status of national language.

Members belonging to the northern parts of India insisted that the Constitution be drafted in Hindi with the unofficial translation in English. This was not agreed to by the drafting committee on the grounds that English was much better to craft the nuanced prose on constitutional subjects. The efforts to make Hindi the pre-eminent language were bitterly resisted by the members from those parts of India where Hindi was not spoken natively.

Eventually, a compromise was reached not to include any mention of a national language. Instead, Hindi in Devanagari script was declared to be the official language of the union, but for "fifteen years from the commencement of the Constitution, the English Language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement."

Article 343 (1) of the Constitution of India states "The Official Language of the Union government shall be Hindi in Devanagari script."{{rp|212}}{{cite book|author=Thomas Benedikter|title=Language Policy and Linguistic Minorities in India: An Appraisal of the Linguistic Rights of Minorities in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpZv2GHM7VQC&pg=PA32|access-date=19 December 2014|year=2009|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-643-10231-7|pages=32–35}} Unless Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, i.e. on 26 January 1965.{{rp|212}}

As the date for changeover approached, however, there was much alarm in the non-Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially in Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, Jawaharlal Nehru ensured the enactment of the Official Languages Act, 1963,{{cite web|title=Official Languages Act, 1963 (with amendments)|url=http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/official_lang/downloads/act1963_eng.PDF |website=Indian Railways|date=10 May 1963| access-date=3 January 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rajbhasha.gov.in/khand8-eng7.pdf |title=Chapter 7 – Compliance of Section 3(3) of the Official Languages Act, 1963|work=Committee of Parliament on Official Language report|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220150003/http://www.rajbhasha.gov.in/khand8-eng7.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2012}} which provided that English "may" still be used with Hindi for official purposes, even after 1965. The wording of the text proved unfortunate in that while Nehru understood that "may" meant shall, politicians championing the cause of Hindi thought it implied exactly the opposite.

In the event, as 1965 approached, India's new Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri prepared to make Hindi paramount with effect from 26 January 1965. This led to widespread agitation, riots, self-immolations, and suicides in Tamil Nadu. The split of Congress politicians from the South from their party stance, the resignation of two Union ministers from the South, and the increasing threat to the country's unity forced Shastri to concede.{{cite book|author=Hardgrave, Robert L.|date=August 1965|title=The Riots in Tamilnad: Problems and Prospects of India's Language Crisis|series=Asian Survey|publisher=University of California Press}}

As a result, the proposal was dropped,{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940936,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014111537/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940936,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 October 2007 | title=The force of words | magazine=Time | date=19 February 1965|access-date=3 January 2015|url-access=subscription }}{{citation |last=Forrester |first=Duncan B. |title=The Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation, 1965: Political Protest and its Effects on Language Policy in India |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=39 |issue=1/2 |pages=19–36 |date=Spring–Summer 1966 |doi=10.2307/2755179|jstor=2755179 }} and the Act itself was amended in 1967 to provide that the use of English would not be ended until a resolution to that effect was passed by the legislature of every state that had not adopted Hindi as its official language, and by each house of the Indian Parliament.

{{Main|Hindi}}

File:Hindispeakers.png

In the 2001 census, 422 million (422,048,642) people in India reported Hindi to be their native language.{{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.aspx |title=Statement 1 – Abstract of Speakers' Strength of Languages and Mother Tongues – 2001 |publisher=Government of India |access-date=11 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014133158/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.aspx |archive-date=14 October 2013 |url-status=live }} This figure not only included Hindi speakers of Hindustani, but also people who identify as native speakers of related languages who consider their speech to be a dialect of Hindi, the Hindi belt. Hindi (or Hindustani) is the native language of most people living in Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh.{{ELL2|Hindi}}

"Modern Standard Hindi", a standardised language is one of the official languages of the Union of India. In addition, it is one of only two languages used for business in Parliament. However, the Rajya Sabha now allows all 22 official languages on the Eighth Schedule to be spoken.{{cite news|title=Rajya Sabha MPs can now speak in any of 22 scheduled languages in the house|url=https://wap.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/rajya-sabha-mps-can-now-speak-in-any-of-22-scheduled-languages-in-the-house-118071001144_1.html|access-date=24 July 2018}}

Hindustani, evolved from khari boli (खड़ी बोली), a prominent tongue of Mughal times, which itself evolved from Apabhraṃśa, an intermediary transition stage from Prakrit, from which the major North Indian Indo-Aryan languages have evolved.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

By virtue of its being a lingua franca, Hindi has also developed regional dialects such as Bambaiya Hindi in Mumbai. In addition, a trade language, Andaman Creole Hindi has also developed in the Andaman Islands.{{cite journal |title=Digital vitality of Uralic languages|year=2017|doi=10.1556/2062.2017.64.3.1|last1=Ács|first1=Judit|last2=Pajkossy|first2=Katalin|last3=Kornai|first3=András|journal=Acta Linguistica Academica|volume=64|issue=3|pages=327–345|s2cid=57699700 |url=http://real.mtak.hu/65041/1/2062.2017.64.3.1.pdf}} In addition, by use in popular culture such as songs and films, Hindi also serves as a lingua franca across North-Central India.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Hindi is widely taught both as a primary language and language of instruction and as a second tongue in many states.

{{Main|English language|Indian English}}

British colonialism in India resulted in English becoming a language for governance, business, and education. English, along with Hindi, is one of the two languages permitted in the Constitution of India for business in Parliament. Despite the fact that Hindi has official Government patronage and serves as a lingua franca over large parts of India, there was considerable opposition to the use of Hindi in the southern states of India, and English has emerged as a de facto lingua franca over much of India. Journalist Manu Joseph, in a 2011 article in The New York Times, wrote that due to the prominence and usage of the language and the desire for English-language education, "English is the de facto national language of India. It is a bitter truth."{{cite web|author=Joseph, Manu|author-link=Manu Joseph|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/asia/17iht-letter17.html|title=India Faces a Linguistic Truth: English Spoken Here|newspaper=The New York Times|date=17 February 2011}} English language proficiency is highest among urban residents, wealthier Indians, Indians with higher levels of educational attainment, Christians, men and younger Indians.{{Cite web |last=S |first=Rukmini |date=14 May 2019 |title=In India, who speaks in English, and where? |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/india/in-india-who-speaks-in-english-and-where-1557814101428.html |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=mint}} In 2017, more than 58 per cent of rural teens could read basic English, and 53 per cent of fourteen year-olds & sixty per cent of 18-year-olds could read English sentences.{{Cite web |last=Pratim Gohain |first=Manash |date=22 January 2018 |title=58% of rural teens can read basic English: Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/58-of-rural-teens-can-read-basic-english-survey/articleshow/62596824.cms |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=The Times of India}}

{{More citations needed section|date=November 2016}}

File:Indian Languages Map.jpgUntil the Twenty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1967, the country recognised 14 official regional languages. The Eighth Schedule and the Seventy-First Amendment provided for the inclusion of Sindhi, Konkani, Meitei and Nepali, thereby increasing the number of official regional languages of India to 18. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, as of 1 December 2007, lists 22 languages,{{rp|330}} which are given in the table below together with the regions where they are used.

File:Fastest growing languages of India — Hindi (first), Kashmiri (second), Gujarati & Meitei alias Manipuri (third), Bengali (fourth) — based on 2011 census of India.jpg (first), Kashmiri (second), Gujarati & Meitei/Manipuri (third), Bengali (fourth) — based on 2011 census of India]]

The individual states, the borders of most of which are or were drawn on socio-linguistic lines, can legislate their own official languages, depending on their linguistic demographics. The official languages chosen reflect the predominant as well as politically significant languages spoken in that state. Certain states having a linguistically defined territory may have only the predominant language in that state as its official language, examples being Karnataka and Gujarat, which have Kannada and Gujarati as their sole official language respectively. Telangana, with a sizeable Urdu-speaking Muslim population, and Andhra Pradesh{{Cite web |author= |date=24 March 2022 |title=Urdu second official language in Andhra Pradesh |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/politics/240322/assembly-passes-two-bills-of-minorities-component-and-urdu-as-2nd-offi.html |access-date=26 March 2022 |website=Deccan Chronicle}} has two languages, Telugu and Urdu, as its official languages.

Some states buck the trend by using minority languages as official languages. Jammu and Kashmir used to have Urdu, which is spoken by fewer than 1% of the population, as the sole official language until 2020. Meghalaya uses English spoken by 0.01% of the population. This phenomenon has turned majority languages into "minority languages" in a functional sense.{{citation |last=Pandharipande |first=Rajeshwari |title=Minority Matters: Issues in Minority Languages in India |url=http://www.unesco.org/most/vl4n2pandhari.pdf |journal=International Journal on Multicultural Societies |volume=4 |number=2 |year=2002 |pages=3–4}}

{{#lsth:Languages with official status in India|Official languages of states}}

{{#lsth:Languages with official status in India|Official languages of Union Territories}}

In addition to states and union territories, India has autonomous administrative regions which may be permitted to select their own official language – a case in point being the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam which has declared the Bodo language as official for the region, in addition to Assamese and English already in use.{{cite web|url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/documents/papers/memorandum_feb02.htm|title=Memorandum of Settlement on Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC)|date=10 February 2003|website=South Asia Terrorism Portal|access-date=25 December 2014}} and Bengali in the Barak Valley,{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-assam-government-withdraws-assamese-as-official-language-in-barak-valley-restores-bengali-2017504|title=Assam government withdraws Assamese as official language in Barak Valley, restores Bengali|website=DNA India|date=10 September 2014|author=ANI|access-date=25 December 2014}} as its official languages.

{{Main|Hindi}}

File:South Indian languages.jpg – Top to bottom, the languages are Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. English and many other European languages are also provided here.]]

In British India, English was the sole language used for administrative purposes as well as for higher education purposes. When India became independent in 1947, the Indian legislators had the challenge of choosing a language for official communication as well as for communication between different linguistic regions across India. The choices available were:

• Making "Hindi", which a plurality of the people (41%) identified as their native language, the official language.
• Making English, as preferred by non-Hindi speakers, particularly Kannadigas and Tamils, and those from Mizoram and Nagaland, the official language. See also Anti-Hindi agitations.
• Declare both Hindi and English as official languages and each state is given freedom to choose the official language of the state.

The Indian constitution, in 1950, declared Hindi in Devanagari script to be the official language of the union.{{cite web|url=http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf|title=Constitution of India as of 29 July 2008|access-date=13 April 2011|work=The Constitution Of India|publisher=Ministry of Law & Justice|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621134720/http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf|archive-date=21 June 2014|url-status=dead}} Unless Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, i.e. on 26 January 1965. The prospect of the changeover, however, led to much alarm in the non-Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially in South India whose native tongues are not related to Hindi. As a result, Parliament enacted the Official Languages Act in 1963,{{Cite web |url=http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/dolacteng.htm |title=DOL |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620135422/http://rajbhasha.nic.in/dolacteng.htm |archive-date=20 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/35.htm |title=Commissioner Linguistic Minorities |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008113359/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/35.htm |archive-date=8 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.languageinindia.com/april2002/officiallanguagesact.html|title=Language in India|website=languageinindia.com}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/RPF/Files/law/BareActs/officiallang1963act.htm |title=THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT, 1963 |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601185802/http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/RPF/Files/law/BareActs/officiallang1963act.htm |archive-date=1 June 2009 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://india.gov.in/knowindia/official_language.php |title=National Portal of India : Know India : Profile |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417150059/http://india.gov.in/knowindia/official_language.php |archive-date=17 April 2007 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.rajbhasha.gov.in/khand8-eng7.pdf |title=Committee of Parliament on Official Language report |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220150003/http://www.rajbhasha.gov.in/khand8-eng7.pdf |archive-date=20 February 2012 |url-status=dead }} which provided for the continued use of English for official purposes along with Hindi, even after 1965.

{{Main|Bengali language}}

Native to the Bengal region, comprising the nation of Bangladesh and the states of West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley region{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/|title=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=21 February 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size|title=Summary by language size|website=Ethnologue|access-date=21 February 2019}} of Assam. Bengali (also spelt as Bangla: বাংলা) is the sixth most spoken language in the world. After the partition of India (1947), refugees from East Pakistan were settled in Tripura, and Jharkhand and the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. There is also a large number of Bengali-speaking people in Maharashtra and Gujarat where they work as artisans in jewellery industries. Bengali developed from Abahattha, a derivative of Apabhramsha, itself derived from Magadhi Prakrit. The modern Bengali vocabulary contains the vocabulary base from Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, also borrowings from Sanskrit and other major borrowings from Persian, Arabic, Austroasiatic languages and other languages in contact with.

Like most Indian languages, Bengali has a number of dialects. It exhibits diglossia, with the literary and standard form differing greatly from the colloquial speech of the regions that identify with the language.{{cite web|url=http://lrc.cornell.edu/asian/courses/bengali|title=The Bengali Language at Cornell – Department of Asian Studies|website=Lrc.cornell.edu|access-date=28 December 2017}} Bengali language has developed a rich cultural base spanning art, music, literature, and religion. Bengali has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 7th to 12th century ('Charyapada' Buddhist songs).{{Cite web |date=31 August 2024 |title=Bengali language {{!}} History, Writing System & Dialects {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bengali-language |access-date=3 October 2024 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |quote=The Bengali linguists Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Sukumar Sen suggested that Bengali had its origin in the 10th century ce, deriving from Magahi Prakrit (a spoken language) through Magahi Apabhramsha (its written counterpart).
The Bengali scholar Muhammad Shahidullah and his followers offered a competing theory, suggesting that the language began in the 7th century CE and developed from spoken and written Gauda (also, respectively, a Prakrit and an Apabhramsha).}}{{cite news |last1=Mitra |first1=Atri |title=Behind Bengali's classical language tag, a Kolkata institute's 2,000-page research document |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/bengalis-classical-language-tag-kolkata-institute-research-9609939/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=The Indian Express |date=8 October 2024 |location=Kolkata |quote=…a Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary compiled by Li-Yen bears testimony to the fact that at least 51 Bangla words made their way into that dictionary…The Chinese-Sanskrit dictionary, compiled in the 8th Century CE, included or rather was compelled to include words of a third language, i.e., Bangla.}} There have been many movements in defence of this language and in 1999 UNESCO declared 21 Feb as the International Mother Language Day in commemoration of the Bengali Language Movement in 1952.{{cite web|last1=Chu|first1=Emily|title=UNESCO Dhaka Newsletter|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/FIELD/Dhaka/pdf/Publications/UNESCO%20Dhaka%20Newsletter%203v2.pdf|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=24 January 2015}}

{{Main|Assamese language}}

File:Illustrated Manuscript of Dakhinpat Sattra( Bhagawat).jpg manuscript written in Early Assamese, from Dakhinpat Satra.]]

Asamiya or Assamese language is most spoken in the state of Assam.{{cite web|url=http://www.india-travel-agents.com/india-guide/languages.html|title=Common Languages of India – Popular Indian Language – Languages Spoken in India – Major Indian Languages|website=India-travel-agents.com|access-date=28 December 2017}} It is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language with more than 23 million total speakers including more than 15 million native speakers and more than 7 million L2 speakers per the 2011 Census of India.{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-17.html|title=C-17 POPULATION BY BILINGUALISM AND TRILINGUALISM|first=Ministry of Home Affairs|last=Government of India|access-date=22 August 2021}} Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Assamese evolved at least before the 7th century CESen, Sukumar (1975), Grammatical sketches of Indian languages with comparative vocabulary and texts, Volume 1, P 31 from the middle Indo-Aryan Magadhi Prakrit. Assamese is unusual among Eastern Indo-Aryan languages for the presence of the {{IPA|/x/}} (which, phonetically, varies between velar ({{IPAblink|x}}) and a uvular ({{IPAblink|χ}}) pronunciations). The first characteristics of this language are seen in the Charyapadas composed in between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The first examples emerged in writings of court poets in the fourteenth century, the finest example of which is Madhav Kandali's Saptakanda Ramayana composed during 14th century CE, which was the first translation of the Ramayana into an Indo-Aryan language.

{{Main|Marathi language}}

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the official language and co-official language in Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India respectively, and is one of the official languages of India. There were 83 million speakers of the language in 2011.{{cite web|title=Language and Mother Tongue|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|publisher=MHA, Gov. of India}} Marathi has the third-largest number of native speakers in India and ranks 10th in the list of most spoken languages in the world. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages; Oldest stone inscriptions from 8th century & literature dating from about 1100 AD (Mukundraj's Vivek Sindhu dates to the 12th century). The major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi (Pramaan Bhasha) and the Varhadi dialect. There are other related languages such as Ahirani, Dangi, Vadvali, Samavedi. Malvani Konkani has been heavily influenced by Marathi varieties. Marathi is one of several languages that descend from Maharashtri Prakrit. The further change led to the Apabhraṃśa languages like Old Marathi.

Marathi Language Day (मराठी दिन/मराठी दिवस (transl. Marathi Dina/Marathi Diwasa) is celebrated on 27 February every year across the Indian states of Maharashtra and Goa. This day is regulated by the State Government. It is celebrated on the birthday of eminent Marathi Poet Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar, popularly known as Kusumagraj .

Marathi is the official language of Maharashtra and co-official language in the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. In Goa, Konkani is the sole official language; however, Marathi may also be used for all official purposes.The Goa, Daman, and Diu Official Language Act, 1987 makes Konkani the official language, but provides that Marathi may also be used "for all or any of the official purposes". The Government also has a policy of replying in Marathi to correspondence received in Marathi. Commissioner Linguistic Minorities, [http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/35.htm], pp. para 11.3 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919055657/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/35.htm|date=19 September 2009}}

Over a period of many centuries the Marathi language and people came into contact with many other languages and dialects. The primary influence of Prakrit, Maharashtri, Apabhraṃśa and Sanskrit is understandable. Marathi has also been influenced by the Austroasiatic, Dravidian and foreign languages such as Persian and Arabic. Marathi contains loanwords from Persian, Arabic, English and a little from French and Portuguese.

{{Main|Meitei language}}

Meitei language (officially known as Manipuri language) is the most widely spoken Indian Sino-Tibetan language of Tibeto-Burman linguistic sub branch. It is the sole official language in Manipur and is one of the official languages of India. It is one of the two Sino-Tibetan languages with official status in India, beside Bodo. It has been recognised as one of the advanced modern languages of India by the National Sahitya Academy for its rich literature.{{Cite book |last=Bareh |first=Hamlet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XScmdGvMf7IC&q=Owing+to+its+richness+%2C+the+language+has+been+recognized+as+one+of+the+advanced+modern+languages+of+India+by+the+National+Sahitya+Academy+Manipuri&pg=PA80 |title=Encyclopaedia of North-East India |date=2001 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-790-0 |pages=80}} It uses both Meitei script as well as Bengali script for writing.{{Cite web |title=Manipuri language and alphabets |url=https://omniglot.com/writing/manipuri.htm |access-date=29 July 2022 |website=omniglot.com}}{{Cite web |title=Manipuri language {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manipuri-language |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}

Meitei language is currently proposed to be included in the elite category of "Classical Languages" of India.{{Cite web |title=Government must take concrete step for recognition of Manipuri as classical language |url=https://www.ifp.co.in/manipur/government-must-take-concrete-step-for-recognition-of-manipuri-as-classical-language |access-date=29 July 2022 |website=Imphal Free Press}}{{Cite news |last=IANS |date=20 August 2016 |title=Classic language status for Manipuri demanded |work=Business Standard India |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/classic-language-status-for-manipuri-demanded-116082000690_1.html |access-date=29 July 2022}}{{Cite web |date=21 August 2019 |title=Manipur Govt Begins Efforts for Inclusion of Manipuri Among 'Classical' Languages |url=http://www.indiatodayne.in/breaking-news/story/manipur-govt-begins-efforts-inclusion-manipuri-among-classical-languages-397876-2019-08-21 |access-date=29 July 2022 |website=India Today NE |language=hi}} Besides, it is also currently proposed to be an associate official language of Government of Assam. According to Leishemba Sanajaoba, the present titular king of Manipur and a Rajya Sabha member of Manipur state, by recognising Meitei as an associate official language of Assam, the identity, history, culture and tradition of Manipuris residing in Assam could be protected.{{Cite web |title=Manipuri as associate official language in Assam Sanajaoba approaches Sonowal |url=https://www.thesangaiexpress.com/Encyc/2020/9/24/Manipuri-as-associate-official-language-in-AssamSanajaoba-approaches-Sonowal-.html |access-date=29 July 2022 |website=thesangaiexpress.com}}{{Cite web |title=Manipuri language should be one of Assam's associate official languages: AAMSU |url=https://www.ifp.co.in/9888/manipuri-language-should-be-one-of-assams-associate-official-languages-aamsu |access-date=29 July 2022 |website=Imphal Free Press}}{{Cite news |last=Laithangbam |first=Iboyaima |date=27 September 2020 |title=Assam to look into demand to include Manipuri in list of associate languages|work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/minister-to-look-into-demand-to-include-manipuri-in-the-list-of-associate-languages-of-assam/article32707194.ece |access-date=29 July 2022 |issn=0971-751X}}

Meitei Language Day (Manipuri Language Day) is celebrated on 20 August every year by the Manipuris across the Indian states of Manipur, Assam and Tripura. This day is regulated by the Government of Manipur. It is the commemoration of the day on which Meitei was included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India on 20 August 1992.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Dr Th Suresh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbu_AwAAQBAJ&dq=meitei+language+day&pg=PA24 |title=The Endless Kabaw Valley: British Created Visious [sic] Cycle of Manipur, Burma and India |date=2 June 2014 |publisher=Quills Ink Publishing |isbn=978-93-84318-00-0 |pages=24}}{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Dr Th Suresh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbu_AwAAQBAJ&dq=meitei+language+day&pg=PA25 |title=The Endless Kabaw Valley: British Created Visious Cycle of Manipur, Burma and India |date=2 June 2014 |publisher=Quills Ink Publishing |isbn=978-93-84318-00-0 |pages=25}}{{Cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eu8cTROu4LcC&dq=meitei+language+day&pg=PA131 |title=Countering Displacements: The Creativity and Resilience of Indigenous and Refugee-ed Peoples |last2=Glanville |first2=Erin Goheen |last3=Hasan |first3=Wafaa |last4=Kramer-Hamstra |first4=Agnes |date=26 April 2012 |publisher=University of Alberta |isbn=978-0-88864-592-0 |pages=131}}{{Cite web |title=30th Manipuri Language Day observed : 21st aug21 ~ E-Pao! Headlines |url=http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=7..210821.aug21 |website=e-pao.net}}{{Cite web |date=20 August 2017 |title=Manipuri Language Day observed in Manipur – Eastern Mirror |url=https://easternmirrornagaland.com/manipuri-language-day-observed-in-manipur/ |website=easternmirrornagaland.com}}

{{Main|Telugu language}}

Telugu is the most widely spoken Dravidian language in India and around the world. Telugu is an official language in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam, making it one of the few languages (along with Hindi, Bengali, and Urdu) with official status in more than one state. It is also spoken by a significant number of people in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and by the Sri Lankan Gypsy people. It is one of six languages with classical status in India. Telugu ranks fourth by the number of native speakers in India (81 million in the 2011 Census), fifteenth in the Ethnologue list of most-spoken languages worldwide and is the most widely spoken Dravidian language.

{{Main|Tamil language}}

File:Thiruppugazh - Umbartharu - Hamsadhwani.wav]]

Tamil is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and many parts of Sri Lanka. It is also spoken by large mino Telugu is the second oldest language in Dravidian languages, after Tamil.rities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and throughout the world. Tamil ranks fifth by the number of native speakers in India (61 million in the 2001 Census){{Cite web|title=Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength – 2001|url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/census_data_2001/census_data_online/language/Statement4.htm|website=censusindia.gov.in}} and ranks 20th in the list of most spoken languages.{{Citation needed|reason=Contradicted by other articles which have reliable sources|date=November 2016}} It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was the first Indian language to be declared a classical language by the Government of India in 2004. Tamil is one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world.{{Citation | first= Burton |last=Stein |date=November 1977 | title = Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country | journal = The Journal of Asian Studies | volume = 37 | issue = 1 | pages = 7–26| doi = 10.2307/2053325 | jstor=2053325|s2cid=144599197 }}Steever, Sanford B. "The Dravidian languages", First Published (1998), pp. 6–9. {{ISBN|0-415-10023-2}} It has been described as "the only language of contemporary India which is recognisably continuous with a classical past".Kamil Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan Leiden 1973, p11-12 The two earliest manuscripts from India,{{Citation |url=http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=23087&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081027173647/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D23087%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 October 2008 |title=The I.A.S. Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=13 September 2012 }}{{Citation |url=http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=23084&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804195118/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D23084%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 August 2009 |title=Saiva Manuscript in Pondicherry |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=13 September 2012 }} acknowledged and registered by UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, are in Tamil.{{Citation |url=http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=26531&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012181205/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D26531%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2009 |title=Memory of the World Register: India |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=13 September 2012 }} Tamil is an official language of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka and Singapore. It is also recognised as a minority language in Canada, Malaysia, Mauritius and South Africa.

{{Main|Urdu}}

After independence, Modern Standard Urdu, the Persianised register of Hindustani became the national language of Pakistan. During British colonial times, knowledge of Hindustani or Urdu was a must for officials. Hindustani was made the second language of British Indian Empire after English and considered as the language of administration.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}} The British introduced the use of Roman script for Hindustani as well as other languages. Urdu had 70 million speakers in India (per the Census of 2001), and, along with Hindi, is one of the 22 officially recognised regional languages of India and also an official language in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana that have significant Muslim populations.

{{Main|Gujarati language}}

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the west Indian region of Gujarat. Gujarati is part of the greater Indo-European language family. Gujarati is descended from Old Gujarati ({{circa|1100}} – 1500 CE), the same source as that of Rajasthani. Gujarati is the chief and official language in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is also an official language in the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 4.5% of population of India (1.21 billion according to 2011 census) speaks Gujarati. This amounts to 54.6 million speakers in India.{{cite web|url=http://www.wwt-services.co.uk/translations/languages/gujarati-translation-216|title=Translation from Gujarati to English and from English to Gujarati – Translation Services|author=Sandra Küng|date=6 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017024018/http://www.wwt-services.co.uk/translations/languages/gujarati-translation-216|archive-date=17 October 2014}}

{{Main|Kannada}}

Kannada is a Dravidian language which branched off from Kannada-Tamil sub group around 500 B.C.E according to the Dravidian scholar Zvelebil.Zvelebil in H. Kloss & G.D. McConnell; Constitutional languages, p.240, Presses Université Laval, 1 January 1989, {{ISBN|2-7637-7186-6}} It is the official language of Karnataka. According to the Dravidian scholars Steever and Krishnamurthy, the study of Kannada language is usually divided into three linguistic phases: Old (450–1200 CE), Middle (1200–1700 CE) and Modern (1700–present).Steever, S. B., The Dravidian Languages (Routledge Language Family Descriptions), 1998, p.129, London, Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-10023-2}}Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju, The Dravidian Languages (Cambridge Language Surveys), 2003, p.23, Cambridge and London: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-77111-0}} The earliest written records are from the 5th century,H. Kloss & G.D. McConnell, Constitutional languages, p.239, Presses Université Laval, 1 January 1989, {{ISBN|2-7637-7186-6}} and the earliest available literature in rich manuscript (Kavirajamarga) is from {{circa|850}}.Narasimhacharya R; History of Kannada Literature, p.2, 1988, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, {{ISBN|81-206-0303-6}}Sastri, Nilakanta K.A.; A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, 2002, India Branch of Oxford University Press, New Delhi, {{ISBN|0-19-560686-8}} Kannada language has the second oldest written tradition of all languages of India.Das, Sisir Kumar; A History of Indian Literature, 500–1399: From Courtly to the Popular, pp.140–141, Sahitya Akademi, 2005, New Delhi, {{ISBN|81-260-2171-3}}R Zydenbos in Cushman S, Cavanagh C, Ramazani J, Rouzer P, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition, p.767, Princeton University Press, 2012, {{ISBN|978-0-691-15491-6}} Current estimates of the total number of epigraph present in Karnataka range from 25,000 by the scholar Sheldon Pollock to over 30,000 by the Sahitya Akademi,Datta, Amaresh; Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 2, p.1717, 1988, Sahitya Akademi, {{ISBN|81-260-1194-7}} making Karnataka state "one of the most densely inscribed pieces of real estate in the world".Sheldon Pollock in Dehejia, Vidya; The Body Adorned: Sacred and Profane in Indian Art, p.5, chapter:The body as Leitmotif, 2013, Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-231-14028-7}} According to Garg and Shipely, more than a thousand notable writers have contributed to the wealth of the language.Garg, Gaṅgā Rām; Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World, Volume 1, p.68, Concept Publishing Company, 1992, New Delhi, {{ISBN|978-81-7022-374-0}}Shipley, Joseph T.; Encyclopedia of Literature – Vol I, p.528, 2007, READ BOOKS, {{ISBN|1-4067-0135-1}}

{{Main|Malayalam}}

Malayalam has official language status in the state of Kerala and in the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages and is spoken by some 38 million people. Malayalam is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; with some speakers in the Nilgiris, Kanyakumari and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu, and the Dakshina Kannada and the Kodagu district of Karnataka.{{cite web|url=http://www.karnatakavision.com/dakshin-kannada.php|title=Dakshina Kannada District: Dakshin Kannada also called South Canara – coastal district of Karnataka state|publisher=Karnatakavision.com|access-date=20 February 2012|archive-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220061237/http://www.karnatakavision.com/dakshin-kannada.php|url-status=usurped}}{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/26/stories/2008112656840300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105143606/http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/26/stories/2008112656840300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2012|location=Chennai, India|work=The Hindu|title=Kodagu-Kerala association is ancient|date=26 November 2008}}{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/09/stories/2008120951660300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105143619/http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/09/stories/2008120951660300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2012|location=Chennai, India|work=The Hindu|title=Virajpet Kannada Sahitya Sammelan on January 19|date=9 December 2008}} Malayalam originated from Middle Tamil (Sen-Tamil) in the 7th century.{{cite book|last1=Asher|first1=R|last2=Kumari|first2=T. C.|title=Malayalam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRNTAQAAQBAJ&pg=PR24|access-date=19 December 2016|date=11 October 2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-10084-0|page=xxiv}} As Malayalam began to freely borrow words as well as the rules of grammar from Sanskrit, the Grantha alphabet was adopted for writing and came to be known as Arya Eluttu.[http://www.tnarch.gov.in/epi/ins3.htm Epigraphy – Grantha Script] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111183842/http://www.tnarch.gov.in/epi/ins3.htm |date=11 January 2010 }} Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology This developed into the modern Malayalam script.Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich. A Grammar of the Malayalam Language in Historical Treatment. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1996.

{{Main|Odia language}}

Odia (formerly spelled Oriya){{cite news|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/orissa-to-odisha-negotiable-instruments-act/1/158874.html|title=Mixed views emerge as Orissa becomes Odisha|work=India Today|access-date=10 November 2011}} is one of the modern language officially recognised as a classical language from the Indo-Aryan group. Odia is primarily spoken and has official language status in the Indian state of Odisha and has over 40 million speakers. It was declared as a classical language of India in 2014. Native speakers comprise 91.85% of the population in Odisha.{{cite web|title=Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength – 2011|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf|publisher=Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India}}{{cite web |last1=CENSUS OF INDIA 2011 |title=LANGUAGE |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf |publisher=Government of India |page=12}} Odia originated from Odra Prakrit which developed from Magadhi Prakrit, a language spoken in eastern India over 2,500 years ago. The history of Odia language can be divided to Old Odia (3rd century BC −1200 century AD),{{cite book |title= Classical Odia |first1=Debi Prasanna |last1= Pattanayak |first2=Subrat Kumar |last2= Prusty |publisher= KIS Foundation |location= Bhubaneswar |url=http://www.orissalinks.com/odia/classical3.pdf#16 |page=54 |access-date= 26 July 2016}} Early Middle Odia (1200–1400), Middle Odia (1400–1700), Late Middle Odia (1700–1870) and Modern Odia (1870 until present day). The National Manuscripts Mission of India have found around 213,000 unearthed and preserved manuscripts written in Odia.{{cite news|last1=Kumarl|first1=Chethan|title=Manuscript mission: Tibetan beats all but three Indian languages – Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Manuscript-mission-Tibetan-beats-all-but-three-Indian-languages/articleshow/53284630.cms|access-date=11 November 2016|work=The Times of India|date=19 July 2016}}

{{Main|Santali language}}

Santali is a Munda language, a branch of Austroasiatic languages spoken widely in Jharkhand and other states of eastern India by Santhal community of tribal and non-tribal.{{Cite web |date=22 July 2022 |title=Santhals: A Look At The Tribal Community Of India's New President Droupadi Murmu |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/santhals-a-look-at-the-tribal-community-of-india-s-new-president-droupadi-murmu-news-211156 |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=outlookindia.com}} It is written in Ol Chiki script invented by Raghunath Murmu at the end of 19th century.{{Cite web |title=Ol Chiki Script |url=https://wesanthals.tripod.com/id45.html |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=wesanthals.tripod.com}} Santali is spoken by 0.67% of India's population.{{Cite web |title=Summary by language size |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size |access-date=12 March 2019 |website=Ethnologue}} For items below No. 26, see individual Ethnologue entry for each language.{{cite web |title=How languages intersect in India |date=22 November 2018 |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/how-languagesintersect-in-india/story-g3nzNwFppYV7XvCumRzlYL.html |work=Hindustan Times}} About 7 million people speak this language.{{Cite web |title=Santali language and alphabets |url=https://omniglot.com/writing/santali.htm |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=omniglot.com}} It is also spoken in Bangladesh and Nepal.{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Joshua |title=Santal (Sawntal) in Nepal |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/14743/NP |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=joshuaproject.net}}{{Cite web |title=Santals, The – Banglapedia |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Santals,_The |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=en.banglapedia.org}} The language is major tribal language of Jharkhand and thus Santhal community is demanding to make it as the official language of Jharkhand.{{Cite web |date=21 February 2017 |title=ASA demands Santali as first official language in Jharkhand |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/asa-demands-santali-as-first-official-language-in-jharkhand-4536259/ |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=The Indian Express}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2020}}

{{Main|Punjabi language}}

Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script in India, is one of the prominent languages of India with about 32 million speakers. In Pakistan it is spoken by over 80 million people and is written in the Shahmukhi alphabet. It is mainly spoken in Punjab but also in neighbouring areas. It is an official language of Delhi and Punjab.

{{Main|Maithili language}}

Maithili is an Indo-Aryan language native to India and Nepal. In India, it is widely spoken in the Bihar and Jharkhand states.{{Cite web|url=https://ndtv.in/india-news/prakash-javadekar-likely-to-call-meeting-of-experts-to-promote-maithili-script-1826774|title=मैथिली लिपि को बढ़ावा देने के लिए विशेषज्ञों की जल्द ही बैठक बुला सकते हैं प्रकाश जावड़ेकर|website=NDTVIndia}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.livehindustan.com/jharkhand/story-maithili-will-get-second-state-language-status-in-jharkhand-1835624.html,|title=मैथिली को भी मिलेगा दूसरी राजभाषा का दर्जा|website=Hindustan}} Native speakers are also found in other states and union territories of India, most notably in Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.{{Cite web|url=https://zeenews.india.com/hindi/india/bihar-jharkhand/bjp-trying-to-influence-maithil-voters-in-delhi/635693/amp?espv=1,|title=BJP trying to influence Maithil voters in delhi | मैथिल मतदाताओं को मोहने की कोशिश में है बीजेपी, दिल्ली में हैं कुल 40 लाख वोटर्स| Hindi News, बिहार एवं झारखंड|website=zeenews.india.com}} In the 2011 census of India, It was reported by {{formatnum:13583464}} people as their mother tongue comprising about 1.12% of the total population of India.[https://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/language-census-2011-surge-in-hindi-speakers-south-indian-language-and-urdu-speakers-decline-1530869001-1, Rise in Hindi language speakers, Statement-4 Retrieved on 22 February 2020]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In Nepal, it is spoken in the eastern Terai, and is the second most prevalent language of Nepal.{{cite journal |author=Sah, K. K. |year=2013 |title=Some perspectives on Maithili |journal=Nepalese Linguistics |issue=28 |pages=179–188 }} Tirhuta was formerly the primary script for written Maithili. Less commonly, it was also written in the local variant of Kaithi.{{cite book |author=Brass, P. R. |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SylBHS8IJAUC&pg=PP1 |title=Language, Religion and Politics in North India |publisher=iUniverse |location=Lincoln |access-date=1 April 2017 |isbn=0-595-34394-5}} Today it is written in the Devanagari script.Yadava, Y. P. (2013). Linguistic context and language endangerment in Nepal. [http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepling/pdf/Nep_Ling_28.pdf Nepalese Linguistics 28]: 262–274.

In 2003, Maithili was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution as a recognised regional language of India, which allows it to be used in education, government, and other official contexts.Singh, P., & Singh, A. N. (2011). Finding Mithila between India's Centre and Periphery. Journal of Indian Law & Society 2: 147–181.

{{Main|Classical Languages of India}}

{{Further|Meitei classical language movement}}

In 2004, the Government of India declared that languages that met certain requirements could be accorded the status of a "Classical Language" of India.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3667032.stm |publisher=BBC |title=India sets up classical languages |access-date=1 May 2007 | date=17 September 2004}}

Languages thus far declared to be classical:

• Tamil (in 2004),{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/18/stories/2004091806530100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303153544/http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/18/stories/2004091806530100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 March 2018 |title=Front Page : Tamil to be a classical language |date=18 September 2004 |access-date=1 August 2010 |work=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India}}
• Sanskrit (in 2005),{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2005/10/28/stories/2005102809281200.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904105019/http://www.thehindu.com/2005/10/28/stories/2005102809281200.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 September 2016 |title=National : Sanskrit to be declared classical language |date=28 October 2005 |access-date=1 August 2010 |work=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India}}
• Kannada (in 2008),
• Telugu (in 2008),{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=44340|title=Declaration of Telugu and Kannada as classical languages|work=Press Information Bureau|publisher=Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India|access-date=31 October 2008}}
• Malayalam (in 2013),{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/classical-status-for-malayalam/article4744630.ece | title='Classical' status for Malayalam |work=The Hindu |date=24 May 2013 |access-date=25 May 2013 |location=Thiruvananthapuram, India}}
• Odia (in 2014),{{cite news|title=Odia gets classical language status|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/odia-gets-classical-language-status/article5709028.ece|access-date=20 February 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=20 February 2014}}{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Milestone-for-state-as-Odia-gets-classical-language-status/articleshow/30779140.cms|title=Milestone for state as Odia gets classical language status|work=The Times of India|date=21 February 2014 }}
• Assamese (in 2024)
• Bangla (in 2024),{{cite news|title=Cabinet approves conferring status of Classical Language to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali|url=https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2061660 |access-date=4 October 2024}}{{cite news|title=Cabinet approves classical language status to five languages, including Marathi and Bengali|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/cabinet-classical-language-status-five-languages-marathi-bengali-9602341/|access-date=4 October 2024|newspaper=The Indian Express}}
• Marathi (in 2024)
• Pali (in 2024)
• Prakrit (in 2024)

Over the next few years, several languages were granted the Classical status, and demands have been made for other languages, including Maithili{{cite news |url=https://www.jagran.com/bihar/madhubani-not-a-single-language-of-bihar-has-become-a-classical-language-yet-maithili-may-be-included-21816443.html |title=बिहार की एक भी भाषा अब तक नहीं बनी शास्त्रीय भाषा, मैथिली हो सकता शामिल|date=9 July 2021 |author=Jagran Team |newspaper=Jagran}} and Meitei (officially called Manipuri).{{Cite web |title=Manipur steps up to renew push for inclusion of Manipuri among India's classical languages (time duration of the movement) |url=https://www.ifp.co.in/manipur/manipur-steps-up-to-renew-push-for-inclusion-of-manipuri-among-indias-classical-languages |website=Imphal Free Press|quote=The movement for recognizing Manipuri as a classical language began in 2013, yet there has been a gap in the follow up actions.}}{{Cite web |title=MP for classical language status : 23rd sep20 ~ E-Pao! Headlines |url=http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=17..230920.sep20 |website=e-pao.net}}{{Cite web |title=Process for recognising Manipuri as classical language of India underway: MP Sanajaoba |url=https://www.ifp.co.in/4203/process-for-recognising-manipuri-as-classical-language-of-india-underway-mp-sanajaoba |website=Imphal Free Press}}

The 2001 census identified the following native languages having more than one million speakers. Most of them are dialects/variants grouped under Hindi.

File:Linguistic map of Northeast India English Native.png and "non-scheduled" official languages of Northeast Indian states; most of the languages in Northeast are unrecognised by the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India]]

India has several languages in use; choosing any single language as an official language presents problems to all those whose "mother tongue" is different. However, all the boards of education across India recognise the need for training people to one common language.{{cite web|url=http://cgs.illinois.edu/content/language-and-globalization|title= Language and Globalization: Center for Global Studies at the University of Illinois|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510062844/http://cgs.illinois.edu/content/language-and-globalization|archive-date=10 May 2013}} There are complaints that in North India, non-Hindi speakers have language trouble. Similarly, there are complaints that North Indians have to undergo difficulties on account of language when travelling to South India. It is common to hear of incidents that result due to friction between those who strongly believe in the chosen official language, and those who follow the thought that the chosen language(s) do not take into account everyone's preferences.{{cite news|last=Prakash|first=A Surya|url=http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=surya%2Fsurya25.txt&writer=surya |title=Indians are no less racial|work=The Pioneer|date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927033944/http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=surya%2Fsurya25.txt&writer=surya|archive-date=27 September 2007}} Local official language commissions have been established and various steps are being taken in a direction to reduce tensions and friction.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

{{Further|Sanskrit epigraphy}}

Earliest known manuscripts are often subjected to debates and disputes, due to the conflicting opinions and assumptions of different scholars, claiming high antiquity of the languages. So, inscriptions are studied more in depth for understanding the chronology of the oldest known languages of the Indian subcontinent.

{{Further|Three language formula|National Education Policy 2020}}

The Union Government of India formulated the Three language formula.

{{See also|Prime Minister's Office (India)|Prime Minister of India|}}

The official website of the Prime Minister's Office of India publishes its official information in 11 Indian official languages, namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Meitei (Manipuri), Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, in addition to English and Hindi.{{Cite web |title=PMINDIA Multilingual Website now available in 13 languages Assamese and Manipuri versions of Prime Minister's Official Website launched |url=https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1514873 |access-date=28 January 2023 |website=pib.gov.in}}

{{Main|Press Information Bureau}}

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) selects 14 Indian official languages, which are Dogri, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati, Marathi, Meitei (Manipuri), Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Konkani and Urdu, in addition to Hindi and English, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic to render its information about all the Central Government press releases.{{efn|The Meitei language (officially called Manipuri) versions of the press releases are presently available in Bengali script, but there is plan of changing the script into Meitei script (Manipuri script) in due course of time.}}{{Cite web |title=PIB press releases in Manipuri : 25th nov15 ~ E-Pao! Headlines |url=http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=17..251115.nov15 |access-date=28 January 2023 |website=e-pao.net}}{{Cite web |last=Press |first=Imphal Free |author-link=Imphal Free Press |title=PIB website has news in regional languages now – KanglaOnline |date=24 November 2015 |url=http://kanglaonline.com/2015/11/pib-website-has-news-in-regional-languages-now/ |access-date=28 January 2023}}

{{Main|Staff Selection Commission}}

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) selected 13 Indian official languages, which are Urdu, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Konkani, Meitei (Manipuri), Marathi, Odia and Punjabi, in addition to Hindi and English, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, to conduct the Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staff examination for the first time in its history.{{Cite web |title=Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh lauds SSC for deciding to conduct the Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staff examination 2022 in 13 regional languages in addition to Hindi and English for the first time |url=https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1892439 |access-date=28 January 2023 |website=pib.gov.in}}{{Cite web |title=হিন্দি অমসুং ইংলিসকী মথক্তা অহানবা ওইনা লম-লমগী লোন ১৩দা মল্তি-তাস্কিং(নন-তেক্নিকেল) স্তাফ এজামিনেসন ২০২২ পাংথোক্নবা ৱারেপ লৌখিবগীদমক য়ুনিয়ন মিনিস্তর দোক্তর জিতেন্দ্র সিংহনা এস.এস.সি থাগৎখ্রে |url=https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1892624 |access-date=28 January 2023 |website=pib.gov.in |language=mni}}

The Union Government of India selected Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Meitei (Manipuri), Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Urdu, Punjabi, and Konkani, 13 out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, in addition to Hindi & English, to be used in the recruitment examination of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). The decision was taken by the Home Minister after having an agreement between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Staff Selection Commission.{{Cite web |title=Manipuri among 13 regional languages approved for CAPF exam |url=https://www.ifp.co.in/manipur/manipuri-among-13-regional-languages-approved-for-capf-exam |access-date=19 April 2023 |website=Imphal Free Press}}{{Cite web |date=15 April 2023 |title=CAPF Recruitment Examination In Assamese, Manipuri, Bengali, Odia & Other Regional Languages – NE India Broadcast |url=https://neindiabroadcast.com/2023/04/15/capf-recruitment-examination-in-assamese-manipuri-bengali-odia-other-regional-languages/ |access-date=19 April 2023}} The official decision will be converted into action from {{Start date and age|df=y|2024|01|01}}.{{Cite web |last=NEWS |first=NE NOW |date=16 April 2023 |title=Manipur CM lauds Centre for introducing Manipuri in CAPF exams |url=http://nenow.in/north-east-news/manipur/manipur-cm-lauds-centre-introducing-manipuri-capf-exams.html |access-date=19 April 2023 |website=NORTHEAST NOW}}

{{Further|Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu |Pure Tamil movement|Meitei linguistic purism movement|Gokak agitation}}

There are conflicts over linguistic rights in India. The first major linguistic conflict, known as the Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu, took place in Tamil Nadu against the implementation of Hindi as the official language of India. Political analysts consider this as a major factor in bringing DMK to power and leading to the ousting and nearly total elimination of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu.{{cite news |last1=Guha |first1=Ramachandra |author-link1=Ramachandra Guha |url=http://www.thehindu.com/mag/2005/01/16/stories/2005011600272536.htm |title=Hindi against India |date=16 January 2005 |access-date=1 August 2010 |location=Chennai, India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629020349/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/01/16/stories/2005011600260300.htm |archive-date=29 June 2011 |work=The Hindu |url-status=dead}} Strong cultural pride based on language is also found in other Indian states such as Assam, Odisha, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra. To express disapproval of the imposition of Hindi on its states' people as a result of the central government, the government of Maharashtra made the state language Marathi mandatory in educational institutions of CBSE and ICSE through Class/Grade 10.{{cite news|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/marathi-a-must-in-maharashtra-schools/28502-3.html |title=Marathi a must in Maharashtra schools |publisher=CNN-IBN |date=3 February 2010 |access-date=1 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812002609/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/marathi-a-must-in-maharashtra-schools/28502-3.html |archive-date=12 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}

The Government of India attempts to assuage these conflicts with various campaigns, coordinated by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, a branch of the Department of Higher Education, Language Bureau, and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.{{clarify|date=December 2014}}{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

In the history of India, various linguistic movements were and are undertaken by different literary, political and social associations as well as organisations, advocating for the changes and the developments of several languages, dialects and vernaculars in diverse critical, discriminative and unfavorable circumstances and situations.

{{Further|Bengali language}}

• Bengali language movement in India

The Bhojpuri language movement, a linguistic movement that has been actively campaigning for greater recognition of the Bhojpuri language since 1947.{{Cite web |date=12 January 2021 |title=भोजपुरी को आधिकारिक भाषा का दर्जा देने के सवाल पर सरकार से क्या मिला जवाब, जानिए |url=https://www.aajtak.in/india/news/story/language-bhojpuri-8th-schedule-constitution-rti-answer-central-govt-ministry-of-home-affairs-1191031-2021-01-12 |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=आज तक |language=hi}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZhjAAAAMAAJ |title=Śrī Nāgendra Prasāda Siṃha ke "Soca-vicāra" para bāta-vicāra |date=1999 |publisher=Loga Prakāśana |language=bh}}

There have been several protests and demands to include the Bhojpuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution for a long time. In 1971, CPI MP Bhogendra Jha introduced a bill on this issue in the Lok Sabha, but it was rejected.

In 2009 and 2016, Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and former MP from Gorakhpur, raised the issue of Bhojpuri's recognition in the Lok Sabha. He emphasised that Bhojpuri, spoken in parts of India and 27 countries, is one of the world's major languages.{{Cite web |date=29 July 2024 |title=क्या हिंदी-संस्कृत की तरह भोजपुरी भी बनेगी आधिकारिक भाषा? रवि किशन का बिल कानून बना तो क्या होगा फायदा |url=https://www.aajtak.in/explained/story/ravi-kishan-bhojpuri-official-language-constitution-eighth-schedule-bhojpuri-demand-ntc-pryd-1994961-2024-07-29 |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=आज तक |language=hi}}

{{Further|Meitei language}}

• Meitei language movements (aka Manipuri language movements), various linguistic movements for the cause of Meitei language (officially called Manipuri language)
• Meitei linguistic purism movement, an ongoing linguistic movement, aimed to attain linguistic purism in Meitei language
• Scheduled language movement, a historical linguistic movement in Northeast India, aimed at the recognition of Meitei language as one of the scheduled languages of Indian Republic
• Meitei classical language movement, an ongoing linguistic movement in Northeast India, aimed at the recognition of Meitei language as an officially recognised "classical language"
• Meitei associate official language movement, a semi active linguistic movement in Northeast India, aimed at the recognition of Meitei language as an "associate" official language of Assam

{{Further|Rajasthani language}}

• Rajasthani language movement, a linguistic movement that has been campaigning for greater recognition for the Rajasthani language since 1947

{{Further|Tamil language}}

• Tanittamil Iyakkam (Pure Tamil Movement), a linguistic purism movement for the Tamil language, to ignore the loanwords borrowed from Sanskrit

In the age of technological advancements, the Google Translate supports the following Indian languages: Bengali, Bhojpuri,{{Cite web |title=Google Translate now supports Sanskrit and Bhojpuri |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/google-translate-gets-24-new-languages-including-assamese-bhojpuri-sanskrit-1948298-2022-05-11 |access-date=9 June 2023 |website=India Today |date=11 May 2022}} Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Meiteilon (Manipuri){{efn|Google Translate mentions both "Meiteilon" as well as "Manipuri" (within the parentheses) at the same time for the Meitei language (officially known as Manipuri language).}} (in Meitei script{{efn|Meitei language uses both Meitei script as well as Bengali script officially but Google Translate uses Meitei script only.}}), Odia, Punjabi (in Gurmukhi script{{efn|Punjabi language

uses both Gurmukhi script as well as Shahmukhi script officially but Google Translate uses Gurmukhi script only.}}), Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

{{Further|Meitei language|Meitei script|Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation}}

On 4 September 2013, the Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation (DLPI) was established for the development and the promotion of Meitei language (officially called Manipuri language) and the Meitei script (Manipuri script) in Manipur.{{Cite news |date=14 March 2018 |title=Department of language planning and implementation trying to resolve all language issues in the state |url=https://www.pothashang.in/2018/03/14/department-language-planning-implementation-trying-resolve-language-issues-state/|archive-date=13 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313201109/https://www.pothashang.in/2018/03/14/department-language-planning-implementation-trying-resolve-language-issues-state/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=21 August 2013 |title=Separate directorate for M'puri language {{!}} Nagaland Post |url=https://nagalandpost.com/index.php/separate-directorate-for-mpuri-language/ |access-date=24 November 2023}}

The Manipuri Sahitya Parishad is given annual financial support of {{INRConvert|500000|year=2015}} by the Government of Manipur.{{Cite web|url=https://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=31..110515.may15|title=Govt to give Rs 5 lakh to Manipur Sahitya Parishad: CM : 11th may15 ~ E-Pao! Headlines|website=e-pao.net}}{{Cite web|url=https://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=24..250619.jun19|title=Titles, cash awards presented on 85th foundation day of Manipuri Sahitya Parishad : 25th jun19 ~ E-Pao! Headlines|website=e-pao.net}}{{Cite web|url=https://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=29..100515.may15|title=Annual meet of Manipur Sahitya Parishad held : 10th may15 ~ E-Pao! Headlines|website=e-pao.net}}

Since 2020, the Government of Assam is giving annual financial support of {{INR Convert|500000|year=2020}} to the Assam Manipuri Sahitya Parishad. Besides, the Assam government financed {{INR Convert|6|c|year=2020}} for the creation of a corpus for the development of the Meitei language (officially called Manipuri language).{{Cite news |last=Laithangbam |first=Iboyaima |date=27 September 2020 |title=Assam to look into demand to include Manipuri in list of associate languages|work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/minister-to-look-into-demand-to-include-manipuri-in-the-list-of-associate-languages-of-assam/article32707194.ece |access-date=24 November 2023 |issn=0971-751X}}

In September 2021, the Central Government of India released {{INRConvert|180|m}} as the first instalment for the development and the promotion of the Meitei language (officially called Manipuri language) and the Meitei script (Manipuri script) in Manipur.{{Cite news |last=Laithangbam |first=Iboyaima |date=15 September 2021 |title=Centre has released ₹18 crore for promotion of Manipuri language, says State Education Minister|work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/centre-has-released-18-crore-for-promotion-of-manipuri-language-says-state-education-minister/article36466705.ece |access-date=21 August 2022 |issn=0971-751X}}{{Cite web |date=14 September 2021 |title=Centre to release Rs 18 crore to promote Manipuri language {{!}} Pothashang News |url=https://www.pothashang.in/2021/09/14/centre-to-release-rs-18-crore-to-promote-manipuri-language/ |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=Pothashang}}{{Cite web |date=15 September 2021 |title=State Education Minister says Center has released ₹18 crore to promote Manipuri language – Bharat Times |url=https://news.bharattimes.co.in/state-education-minister-says-center-has-released-%e2%82%b918-crore-to-promote-manipuri-language/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}

The Department of Language Planning and Implementation of the Government of Manipur offers a sum of {{INRConvert|5000|year=2013}}, to every individual who learns Meitei language (officially called Manipuri language), having certain terms and conditions.{{Cite web |title=মণিপুরি ভাষা শিখলেই মিলবে কড়কড়ে ৫০০০ টাকা |trans-title=Manipuri Language : If you learn Manipuri language, you will get 5000 rupees, new strategy to prevent English? |url=https://eisamay.com/north-east-india/manipur-govt-to-offer-5-thousand-rupees-for-learning-manipuri-language/articleshow/94956201.cms |access-date=24 November 2023 |website=Eisamay |language=bn}}{{Cite web |title=Applications invited for local language training programme |url=https://www.ifp.co.in/manipur/applications-invited-for-local-language-training-programme |access-date=24 November 2023 |website=Imphal Free Press}}

{{Further|Sanskrit}}

The Central Government of India allocated ₹6438.4 million in the last three years for the development and the promotion of Sanskrit, ₹2311.5 million in 2019–20, around ₹2143.8 million in 2018–19, and ₹1983.1 million in 2017–18.{{Cite web |date=16 February 2020 |title=₹643.84 crore spent on promotion of Sanskrit in 3 years: Government data |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rs-643-84-cr-spent-on-promotion-of-sanskrit-in-3-years-govt-data/story-8LLLjyebUs8RbaL2J1LS9H.html |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=Hindustan Times}}{{Cite web |date=18 February 2020 |title=Why ₹643 crores spent on Sanskrit, ₹ 3 crore on flowers to greet Trumps, but ₹29 crore on five other languages |url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/why-indian-rupee643-crores-spent-on-sanskrit-and-just-indian-rupee29-crores-on-other-five-classical-languages-ask-twitterati |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=National Herald}}

{{Further|Tamil language}}

The Central Government of India gave an allocation of Rs 105.9 million in 2017–18, Rs 46.5 million in 2018–19 and Rs 77 million in 2019–20 to the "Central Institute of Classical Tamil" for the development and the promotion of Tamil language.{{Cite web |title=Centre Spent 22 Times More on Promoting Sanskrit Than Other 5 Classical Languages Combined |url=https://thewire.in/government/sanskrit-language-promotion |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=The Wire}}

{{Further|Telugu language|Kannada language}}

The Central Government of India gave an allocation of Rs 10 million in 2017–18, Rs 9.9 million in 2018–19 and Rs 10.7 million in 2019–20, each for the development and the promotion of Telugu language and Kannada language.

{{Main|Official scripts of the Indian Republic|Brahmic scripts|Nastaliq}}Most languages in India are written in scripts derived from Brahmi.{{cite book|author1=Peter T. Daniels|author2=William Bright|title=The World's Writing Systems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ospMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA384|year=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-507993-7|pages=384–}} These include Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Meitei Mayek, Odia, Eastern Nagari – Assamese/Bengali, Gurumukhi and other. Urdu is written in a script derived from Arabic. A few minor languages such as Santali use independent scripts (see Ol Chiki script).

Various Indian languages have their own scripts. Hindi, Marathi, Maithili{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/17/language/mai/ |title=Maithili: A language of India |website=Ethnologue |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304205942/http://www.ethnologue.com/17/language/mai/ |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}} and Angika are languages written using the Devanagari script. Most major languages are written using a script specific to them, such as Assamese (Asamiya){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtCPAgAAQBAJ&q=asamiya+language&pg=PA430|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|isbn=9781135797119|access-date=28 December 2017|last1=Jain|first1=Danesh|last2=Cardona|first2=George|date=26 July 2007|publisher=Routledge }}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkguECp3vKEC&q=asamiya+language&pg=PA58|title=Encyclopaedia of Scheduled Tribes in India|isbn=9788182050525|access-date=28 December 2017|last1=Mohanty|first1=P. K.|year=2006|publisher=Gyan Publishing House }} with Asamiya,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUXrVyUk0RAC&q=asamiya+language&pg=PA348|title=The Brahmaputra Basin Water Resources|isbn=9781402017377|access-date=28 December 2017|last1=Singh|first1=Vijay|last2=Sharma|first2=Nayan|last3=Ojha|first3=C. Shekhar P.|date=29 February 2004|publisher=Springer }} Bengali with Bengali, Punjabi with Gurmukhi, Meitei with Meitei Mayek, Odia with Odia script, Gujarati with Gujarati; Awadhi, Magahi and Bhojpuri with Kaithi script{{Cite book |last=Humanity |url=https://archive.org/details/languageandlinguisticsseriesr.pischelagrammaroftheprakritlanguagesmotilalbanarsidass1981/07418-unicode-kaithi/page/n18/mode/1up?q=+awadhi+bhojpuri+braj |title=The 'Awadhi, Magadhi, Prakrit, Kaithi, Sanskrit, Ashokan, Bhojpuri, Bihari, Siddham, Eastern Indo-Aryan, Indic, Maithili' Collection |publisher=Humanity |others=Humanity |language=English}} etc. Urdu and Kashmiri, Saraiki and Sindhi are written in modified versions of the Perso-Arabic script. With this one exception, the scripts of Indian languages are native to India. Some languages like Kodava that didn't have a script, as well as some languages such as Tulu which already had a script, adopted the Kannada script due to its readily available printing settings.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/kfa/|title=Kodava|newspaper=Ethnologue|access-date=14 October 2016}}

File:Handwriting_of_Mudhoji_Bhonsle.jpg which was used as an alternative script for Marathi.]]

File:ANDRO INSCRIBED STONE.jpg|A Meitei language stone inscription in Meitei script about a royal decree of a Meitei king found in the sacred site of God Panam Ningthou in Andro, Imphal East, Manipur

File:Development of Orissan scripts.jpg|Development of Odia script

File:Jambai Tamil Brahmi.jpg|Tamil-Brahmi inscription in Jambaimalai

File:Silver rupee of Rudra Simha.jpg|Silver coin issued during the reign of Rudra Singha with Assamese inscriptions

File:Asokan brahmi pillar edict.jpg|North Indian Brahmi found in Ashok pillar

File:Halmidi OldKannada inscription.JPG|The Halmidi inscription, the oldest known inscription in the Kannada script and language. The inscription is dated to the 450 CE - 500 CE period.

File:Telugu inscription at Srikakulam, Krishna District in Andhra Pradesh.jpg|An early Telugu inscription found in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh

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{{Wikiquote}}

• [http://www.muturzikin.com/cartesasie/10.htm Linguistic map of India] with a detailed map of [http://www.muturzikin.com/cartesasiesudest/7.htm the Seven Sister States (India)] at Muturzikin.com
• [http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/scripts.html Languages and Scripts of India]
• Kulkarni-Joshi, Sonal. "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334266653_Linguistic_history_and_language_diversity_in_India_Views_and_counterviews Linguistic history and language diversity in India: Views and counterviews.]" Journal of Biosciences 44 (2019): 1–10.
• [http://www.kamat.com/indica/diversity/languages.htm Diversity of Languages in India]
• [http://www.ciil.org/ A comprehensive federal government site that offers complete info on Indian Languages]
• [http://www.tdil.meity.gov.in/Services/Lang_Tech_Product.aspx Technology Development for Indian Languages, Government of India] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115113958/http://www.tdil.meity.gov.in/Services/Lang_Tech_Product.aspx |date=15 November 2019 }}
• [https://www.himachalpariksha.in/2020/03/languages-spoken-in-himachal-pradesh.html Languages Spoken in Himachal Pradesh – Himachal Pariksha] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406143423/https://www.himachalpariksha.in/2020/03/languages-spoken-in-himachal-pradesh.html |date=6 April 2023 }}

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Category:Demographics of India