Classical Indian Languages
🧭 Why This Topic Matters:
Understanding the evolution of India’s classical languages isn’t just about linguistics—it’s about the intellectual and civilizational history of the subcontinent. These languages carried philosophies, scriptures, dramas, edicts, and folk traditions across millennia.
🏛️ What Makes a Language “Classical”?
A Classical Language in India is not defined by the number of speakers today — rather, by the depth of its antiquity, richness of its literature, and historical-cultural continuity.
✅ Criteria for Classical Status (Then vs Now):
| 2005 Criteria | 2024 Revised Criteria |
|---|---|
| 📜 Antiquity: 1500–2000 years of recorded history | Same (1500–2000 years of early records) |
| 📚 Rich ancient literature, respected over generations | Same |
| 🗝️ Classical form is distinct from modern, with possible discontinuity | Same – accepts either distinctness or discontinuity |
| ✋ Originality (not borrowed from other speech groups) | Slightly relaxed: Emphasis on knowledge texts, prose, inscriptions, poetry |
🌟 Benefits of Classical Language Status
A language recognized as classical is not only honored for its antiquity and literary richness—it also receives sustained support to ensure its preservation and promotion.
- Government Incentives: Special schemes are introduced to encourage research, teaching, and dissemination of classical languages.
- International Recognition: Each year, two prestigious awards are conferred on scholars who have made outstanding contributions:
- Presidential Award of Certificate of Honour
- Maharshi Badrayan Samman Award
- Academic Infrastructure: The University Grants Commission (UGC) facilitates the establishment of Professional Chairs in central universities and research institutions, dedicated to advancing studies in classical languages.
- Centers of Excellence: To safeguard these linguistic treasures, the government set up the Center of Excellence for Studies in Classical Languages at the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore.
👉 These measures ensure that India’s classical languages are not just remembered as relics of the past, but actively nurtured as living traditions of scholarship and culture.
🧾 🗓️ List of 11 Classical Languages of India (as of Oct 2024)
| Year | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Tamil | First to be recognised |
| 2005 | Sanskrit | Language of the Vedas, Epics |
| 2008 | Kannada | Oldest inscriptions from 450 CE |
| 2008 | Telugu | Literary texts from 11th century |
| 2013 | Malayalam | Evolved from Tamil, shaped by Sanskrit |
| 2014 | Odia | Ancient Odia poetry from 10th century |
| 2024 | Bengali | Long literary tradition, Charyapadas (~900 CE) |
| 2024 | Marathi | Old inscriptions, Bhakti poetry |
| 2024 | Pali | Canonical language of Theravāda Buddhism |
| 2024 | Prakrit | Vernacular literature of early Jain/Buddhist texts |
| 2024 | Assamese | Rooted in ancient Kamrupi dialects |
🪔 PRAKRIT – The Language of the Common People
“Just like Ganga flows for everyone, Prakrits carried India’s spiritual messages beyond the elite.”
🔍 What is Prakrit?
- Prakrit = “Natural” or “Original” speech, as opposed to Sanskrit = “Perfected” speech.
- Not one language, but a family of Indo-Aryan dialects used across India (500 BCE – 500 CE).
- Simple grammar, spoken by masses, used by Jains, Buddhists, and in inscriptions.
📜 Prakrit in Literature & Drama:
- In classical Sanskrit plays (e.g., Kalidasa’s Abhijnanasakuntalam), Brahmins and kings spoke Sanskrit, while women and commoners spoke Prakrit.
🗺️ Important Prakrit Variants:
| Prakrit | Region / Use | Legacy |
|---|---|---|
| Magadhi | Magadha (Bihar) | Ashokan edicts, evolved into Bengali, Assamese, Odia |
| Ardhamagadhi | Jain literature | Jain Agamas written in this |
| Shauraseni | North India | Ancestor of Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi |
| Maharashtri | Western India | Used in love poetry (Gatha Saptashati) |
| Paisaci | Lost Prakrit | Mentioned in literary texts, possibly tribal |
| Avanti | Malwa region | Region-specific use |
📘 PALI – The Canonical Language of Theravāda Buddhism
📌 Historical Background:
- Pali was either a form of Sanskritised Magadhi Prakrit, or a hybrid literary dialect.
- Closely associated with Buddha’s teachings.
- Though not exactly what Buddha spoke, it preserved his earliest teachings.
🧭 Geographic Spread:
- Declined in India post-Guptas.
- Thrived in Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia) with Theravāda Buddhism.
📚 Important Pali Texts of Buddhism
| Text | Description |
|---|---|
| Tipitaka (Three Baskets) | Core canonical text: 🔸 Vinaya Pitaka (monastic rules) 🔸 Sutta Pitaka (discourses) 🔸 Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophical doctrines) |
| Milinda Panha | Dialogue between Indo-Greek King Menander (Milinda) and monk Nagasena |
| Visuddhimagga | A 5th-century manual of meditation and doctrine, written by Buddhaghosa in Sri Lanka. |
🧠 Why Are Prakrit and Pali So Important?
| Reason | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Democratized religion | Took Jain and Buddhist teachings to the masses |
| Scriptural preservation | Jain Agamas and Buddhist Tripitakas are in these languages |
| Influenced modern languages | Root of many North Indian vernaculars |
| Epigraphical importance | Ashokan edicts = Magadhi Prakrit; Jain inscriptions = Ardhamagadhi |
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