A BRIEF DESCRIPTION

OF THE
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
OF
HINDI AND ASSAMESE LANGUAGES
 CHAPTER - II

2.00 A brief description of the growth and development of Hindi and Assamese languages
2.1. A brief history of the growth and development of Hindi language :
There are numerous languages prevailing in the world. Although

languages are developed in different parts of the world, yet they are having

some type of relationship with language of some other parts in their aboriginal

form. The linguists after careful analysis have tried to classify the languages

into various families for the sake of systematic study.

The linguists have ciassified the languages of the world into twelve

families:

i) Indo - European family.

II) Semitic family.

III) Hamitic family.

IV) Tibeto - China family.

V) Eural-Altaik family.

VI) Dravidian family.

VII) Maloy - Polynesian family.

VIII) Buntung family.

IX) Mid - African family.

X) American family.

XI) Australian and Pacific Ocean family.

XII) Others.

Of these twelve families, Indian languages have special relationship

with the Indo-European family. Dr. Dhirendra Verma has called the Indo-

1. Sarma, Rajnath - Hindi Bhasha Ka Itihas, P-46 (quoted)

 18

European as the Bharopiya family;1

There are differences of opinion among the scholars about the place of

origin of the people speaking the Indo-European languages. But through

intensive study of the languages of this family, the scholars have arrived at a

decision that Europe was the place of origin of this family of languages.

According to Bholanath Tiwari - q f mR cik ■q-RcT cWT 'SfR

straqra f3TT t , 3?clT W r-g iM to rn (Indo-

European) ofif# § I2

[This fam ily prim arily spread over India and Europe and their

surroundings; and as such it is called the Indian-European or briefly Indo-

European family]

The following ten languages,are included in the Indo-European family :

(a) Celtic.

(b) Italic.

(c) Germanic or Teutonic.

(d) Greek.

(e) Baltoslavik.

(f) Albanian.

(g) Armenian.

(h) Khatti or Hittite.

(i) Tokharian.

(j) Indo-lranian or Aryan.3

Out of these ten languages, the Khatti and Tokharian languages being

obsolete now, there are only eight members of the family surviving. It is

2. Tiwari, Bholanath - Hindi Bhasha, P-3.

3. Tiwari, Udaynarayan - Hindi Bhasha Ka Udgam Aur Vikas, P-6

 19
necessary here to specially discuss about the Indo-lranian or the Aryan sub­

family out of the existing eight sub-families of Indo-European family. The users

of the Indo-lranian language called themselves as the Aryans; and therefore

their language came to known as the Aryan language.

Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee remarks : "The main lines of development

of the Aryan language of India can be traced in its various stages of Indo-

European, Indo-Aryan or Aryan.”4

The oldest literary materials are available in the Indo-lranian branch of

the Indo-European family only. It has three sub-branches :-

(a) Iranian

(b) Darad, and

(c) Indian Aryan

Some scholars include Darad in the Iranian branch. Two other languages

viz Avesta and old Persian come under the Iranian :

Dr. Bhalanath Tiwari remarks :

tfRfT- 3ft #T STTWr - (fe ffPSMfe# W # , sferfT,

snfc arnft 11
(fe 3 5 3 # $ , f^F TT, f e n #

tl

C*t) r- f e # wm # ofe

ot # t l5

Th e Indo-lranian has three branches :

(a) The Iranian - under which come Old Persian, Avesta, Pahlavi and

Persian;

4. Chatterjee, S.K. - Indo-Aryan and Hindi (Eight lecturers), P-3

5. Tiwari, Bholanath - Hindi Bhasha, P-6.

 20

(b) The Darad - under which come Kashmiri, Shina, Chitrali etc. and

(e) Indian - under which ali the Aryan languages of India come.

- 2.2. Indo-Aryan languages (W cffcj >3TRf *P fI)

The development of Indo-Aryan languages can be divided into three

parts :

I) Old Indo-Aryan languages : Vedic, Sanskrit and Popular Sanskrit.

II) Mid-Indo-Aryan languages : languages of Ashokas rock inscriptions,

Pali, Prakrit and Apabhramsha etc; and

III) Modern Indo-Aryan languages : Rajasthani,’ Gujrati, Pahadi, Bihari,

Bengali, Asamiya, Oriya, Marathi, Sindhi, Lahandi, Punjabi and Purbi

Hindi come under it.

Linguists like Dr. S. K. Chatterjee, Dr. D hirendra Verma, Dr.

Dwarikaprasad Saxena, Dr. Udaynarayan Tiwari except Dr. Grierson accept

the above mentioned twelve languages as Modern Indo-Aryan languages.

Dr. Dwarikaprasad Saxena Remarks :

“t e r fM , t e r t e t , fjRi#, g#
gf^rT, wm, sfR mrit ^rpw wm est #
w # £r wgm t e I r6
[Only twelve languages viz Sindhi, Lahanda, Punjabi, Gujrati, Rajasthani,

Pashchimi Hindi, Purvi Hindi, Bihari, Oriya, Bengali, Asamiya and Marathi are

regarded as Modern Indo-Aryan languages]

Of the twelve languages under the Indo-lranian branch of the Indo-

European family, our study is related only to two major Modern Indo-Aryan

languages viz Hindi and Asamiya (Assamese). Below we try to narrate briefly

the origin and development of these two languages - Hindi and Assamese.

6. Saxena, Dwarikaprasad - Hindi Bhasha Ka Vikashatmak Itihas, P-36.

 21

2.3. The Origin of the Hindi Language :

A language is like the flowing of a stream of a river. It does not know

how to stop; but from place to place it changes its course. If some one tries to

stop it, it comes out by breaking the barrier. In Hindi there is a proverb which

gives a similar idea : “ 'TOT WfrU I”

A languages is like the flowing water another popular saying in Hindi

goes like this:

“WR- gjfcr q? TFt IT#,

3TTS I"

(Water and language do change in each eight and sixteenth miles

respectively)

It is the natural quality and tendency of a language. This has been

found in the history of languages of the world.

India is the country rich in ancient culture. Indian people use different

languages in different periods of time. Sanskrit is the oldest of all languages in

India, which had been used by our ancient sages, scholars and great poets.

The best example of this language can be found in the Rik Veda, the most

ancient and the first ever written a book. Sanskrit is also known as the Deva-

bhasha, meaning language of the gods. This language is about 3500 years

old. Dr. S.K. Chattarjee remarked :

“Th e history of the Aryan language in India shows an uninterrupted

progress for some three thousand and five hundred years within India itself.’’7

History of this language began with the coming of the Aryans to India.

Hindi can be regarded as the successor of this Aryan language, the history of

its origin and development can be divided into three periods :

7. Chatterjee, S.K. - Indo-Aryan and Hindi, P-3

 22

(a) Old Indo-Aryan Languages. (1500 B.C. to 500 B.C.)

(arfPr * m )

(b) Mid-indo-Aryan Languages. (500 B.C. to 1000 A.D.)

( m t 'tr# ? h )

(c) Modern Indo-Aryan Languages. (1000 A.D. to present times)

(srngftc}? ma)
2.3:1 Old Indo-Aryan Languages : (5JI#T w rfft Vftf ^IWI)

The most ancient form of Indo-Aryan languages can be traced in the

vedic samhitas. The period of these vedic samhitas dates back around 1200

B.C. The language of these samhitas is to some extent different from the

language used by the common people as it was a poetic language. This form

of old Indian language, which has been analysed by Paninie in his Astadhyayee,

is known as Sanskrit language. It has two forms -

(a) Vedic Sanskrit. (1500 B.C. to 800 B.C.) and

(b) Popular (Laukik) Sanskrit. (800 B.C. to 500 A.D.)

Scholars opine that Vedic Sanskrit was the language of that time when

the Aryans lived around Punjab and was in the oldest form. Then the Aryans

began to spread up eastward and when it moved towards the east the Vedic

language began developing. It was then not a language of conversation but of

literary use, which belonged to scholars and sages. According to Dr. Bholanath

Tiwari - Tm W m sn#T

3 ftvtcT 11”8

The form of Sanskrit which is found in literature except in philosophical

ones is known as the Laukik Sanskrit In this Laukik form of literatures like the

Ramayana, Mahabharata, dramas, grammars etc. were written. Panini and

8. Tiwari, Bholanath - Hindi Bhasha, P-9

 23

Katyayana brought reformations to the dying language and developed a

standard form for the scholars.

As remarked by Dr. Udaynarayan Tiwari :

q#ifa %q#q ^ %cbt^t qf

qqw 3, vsrctf wr 3 i^pr, ts^czr qro # qftfer £ l fr qi?ft $
^cff I qif^r %3TOH # '3fR'§f W “g^|rHT-qM” #1 srt
w m m fFteu % f&x ? t w i 9
[Panini was a resident of Shalatura near Takhsashila. As an inhabitant

of North-Eastern part, he has fully acquainted with the north-eastern form of

the language accepted as the standard form by the learned section of the

society. These thinks prove that the ideal language of Panini’s grammar was

the Udichya meaning north-eastern language. Through the Astadhyayee the

form of Sanskrit language was fully established and determined.]

Some foreign scholars like Hoernley, Grierson and Waber donot

recognise Sanskrit a language of conversation. But Dr. Bhandarkar and Dr.

Gune refuted this theory. Practically speaking, there is always difference between

language used in conversation and in literature. From this point of view, the

Laukik Sanskrit was definitely different from the language used in conversation.

But the language used by the learned people in their conversation was not a

different one. Both i.e., languages in writing and in their conversation were

very much similar ones.

In the conclusion we can say that although with the coming of rigid

grammatical rules, the development of Sanskrit language suffered a set back,

yet nobody could stop the language of conversation from development. With

the spreading of Aryans through out the whole of North India, the Old Aryan

9. Tiwari, Udaynarayan - Hindi Bhasha Ka Udgam Aru Vikas, P-42

 24

language proceeded on with development and changes. Along with it, the

differences due to time and place began to grow more and more, and within

sixth century B.C., the Old Indo-Aryan language arrived at its middle stage.

2.3:2 Mid Indo-Aryan Languages : <**££[ Wlfim SIFf *PIT)

During the period of Old Indo-Aryan languages, Panini and Katyayana

gave the Laukik Sanskrit a literary form. This, being a Jana Bhasha, a popular

language, began to develop without any hindrance. This Jana Bhasha came

to be known as the Mid Indo-Aryan language. The time of this language was

for about one thousand and five hundred years spreading from 500 B.C. to

1000 A.D. During this period Indo-Aryan languages entered into a new era

and created new languages with new development. In practice, Lok Bhasha,

i.e. language of the common people began to grow and develop. As a result

of this newer development, a new form of language came into being which

came to be known as the P rakht :

ci||eb<u||fcfaHI$ IT I

w orriqRT Heifer c r a w m i"io

Therefore, during the period of Vedic Sanskrit and Laukik Sanskrit,

language used in conversation was suppressed but when favourable time

came, it began to raise its head and it developed into P rakrit:

“g#ci: mqti ctrT m M l f d ^ d I"*11

It is remarkable that Prakrit was not derived either from Vedic or from

Laukik Sanskrit, but it grew out of the Jana-bhasha or it was developed out of it.

The period of development of Prakrit during these one thousand and five hundred

years has been divided into three periods :

10. Tiwari, Bholanath - Hindi Bhasha, P-12

11. Ibid, P-12

 25

(a) Pratham Prakrit (From 500 B.C. to 1 A.D.)

- Prakrit in the Pali and Rock inscriptions

(b) Dwitiya Prakrit (From 1 A.D. to 500 A.D.)

- Prakrit used in various ways.

(c) Tritiya Prakrit (From 500 A.D. to 1000 A.D.)

- Apabhramshas and so-called Awahattha development.

(a) Pratham Prakrit: (SPW SHfcl)

The materials for the study of Pratham Prakrit and its development are

available in Pali literature and the inscriptions of Ashoka. Pandit Vidhushekhar

Bhattacharjee remarked that the term Pali came from Sanskrit term - Pankti.

Some other scholars believed that the term Pali might came from Palli, meaning

a village. For them Pali was a language of village people and Sanskrit was of

a town :

“qriftr TRcf 3ft srar 11 fft fp# yiftt arpr ftt 11

ft wtR sik 33%appfftftf ft -viRFfraR^r cfft FrcftsT fftft ft l”12
[Pali is the first rural language of India. It is also called the oldest

form of Prakrit. Gautam Buddha and his disciples preached to the people

through this language]

In addition to these, Pratham P rakrit included not only Pali but

also the Prakrit as used in the inscriptions. M ost o f these inscriptions are

on stones. So, it has another name the P rakrit o f inscriptions (Shilalekhi

Prakrit). Datas about this language can be had from two sources :

(a) Inscriptions of Ashoka and

(b) Inscriptions of other persons, (other than Ashoka)

The salient feature of this language is that as it was meant for the

12. Tiwari, Bholanath - Hindi Bhasha, P-14

 26

common people, the local dialects were used in different places in them.

Therefore, in these inscriptions materials for the study of Mid-Indo-Aryan

language and its different forms are kept intact:

^ eft $ hgorjuf ft I, w\ % zrnrn # ■#

^ wt flUAjdT teft, sprife mzr wefcr hm m

wt I r 13
[From the historical point of view these are of great importance. In the

study of linguistic development also these are of immense help, since they

preserve the oldest form of Mid-Indo-Aryan languages]

From the inscriptions of Ashoka, it comes to be known that during those

days there were at least four dialects like the Paschimottari; Dakshini Paschimi,

Madhya-Purvi and the Purvi.

(b) Dwitiya Prakrit: (fMta snfcT)

In the manner in which generally the ancient Indo-Aryan language was

termed as Sanskrit, the term Prakrit was used ordinarily to denote the Dwitiya

Prakrit a language included in the Mid-Indo-Aryan languages. The term Prakrit

originated from the term Prakrity (common people) and therefore, it means a

language of the common people. The name Prakrit was given to this language

of common people to distinguish it from Sanskrit, the language of the learned

people :

cjft ft wm m 3ft? # srffMW eft

*pni! # snr # ‘snfjcf ffw% if r14
Considering the literatures of various Prakrit language, it comes to our

knowledge that during this period there had been extensive discussions on the

13. Tiwari, Udaynarayan - Hindi Bhasha Ka Udgam Aur Vikas, P- 66

14. Verma, Dhirendra - Hindi Bhasha Ka Itihas, P-47

 27

literature and grammar of the following five Prakrit languages :

(a) Shaurseni Prakrit TlffcT);

(b) Magadhi Prakrit (HFT# STTfcT);

(c) Ardh-Magadhi Prakrit (SfwfTFl# $n=p);

(d) Maharashtri Prakrit (W 7 F # Pfl^cT); and

(e) Paishachi Prakrit (A w # W^k T);

During the Dwitiya Prakrit period, the use of Prakrit along with Sanskrit

began to grow more and more. In this period the use of Prakrit in the dramas

along with Sanskrit is available in a very huge proportion. The high class

people in the dramas spoke in Sanskrit, while the common people spoke in

Prakrit. Women, on the other hand spoke in Prakrit. There had been a large

number of Kavyas composed in Prakrit along with prose versions.

(c) Tritiya Prakrit (Apabhramsha, 500 A.D. to 1000 A.D.)

The last development of the Mid-Indo-Aryan language is known as the

Apabhramsha. It is something in between Prakrit and Modern Indo-Aryan

languages and almost all the Modern Indo-Aryan languages were born out of

some Apabhramsha languages. The period from 500 A.D. to 1000 A.D. is

known as the Apabhramsha era. During this period there had been development

of Apabhramsha along with other languages. The meaning of the term

Apabhramsha is to fall down or to deteriorate. Therefore, the language where

these had been changed in sound or grammar in comparison to Prakrit, is

called Apabhramsha or Awahattha by the scholars.

As many as seven different kinds of languages were found in Northern

India which grew out of the mixture of Prakrit and Modern Indo-Aryan language,

out of which most of the modern Indian languages were originated. The following

are the seven kinds of Apabhramsha and the name of Modern, Indian languages
 28

originated from them are given herewith :

Apabhramsha Modern Indian languages

1. Shourseni Apabhramsha - Pashchimi Hindi, Rajasthani,

2. Paishachi Apabhramsha - Lahanda, Punjabi

3. Brachad Apabhramsha Sindhi.

4. Khas Apabhramsha Pahadi, Kumayooni, Gadhwali.

5. Maharashtra Apabhramsha - Marathi.

6. Ardh-Magadhi Apabhramsha- Purvi Hindi, Awadhi, Chattisgarhi.

7. Magadhi Apabhramsha Bihari, Bengali, Oriya and Asamiya

(Assamese)15

The Hindi language is born out of Shourseni, Magadhi and Ardh-Magadhi

Apabhramshas and Assamese from Magadhi Apabhramsha only.

In the conclusion we find that the tendencies which were inherent in

Apabhramsha got final development in Hindi in course of time Apabhramshas

become the source of development for all Modern Indo-Aryan languages

including Hindi by using the words and roots in new senses.

2.2:3 Modem Indo-Aryan languages : SfRrfte

The Modern Indo-Aryan languages developed at about 1000 A.D. from

the Apabhramshas or the Tritiya Prakrit language. Although the composition of

Modern indo-Aryan literature had begun since 1100 A.D., Yet Indian languages

had their birth around 1000 A.D. In practice, no language becomes the language

of literature from the times of its birth. It takes about a hundred or hundred

and fifty years for its recognition. After being recognised and settled, people

begin writing in that language.

Below we discuss briefly about the different languages developed out of

15. Prasad, Vasudevnandan - Adhunik Hindi Vyakaran Aur Rachna, P-5

 29

the Jana Bhasha of the Tritiya Prakrit or Apabhramsha : All together 13

languages like Paschimi Hindi, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Lahanda, Punjabi, Sindhi,

Pahadi, Marathi, Purvi Hindi, Bihari, Bengali, Oriya and Asamiya are taken

under the Modern Indo-Aryan languages. But the scholars like Dr. Suniti Kumar

Chatterjee, Dr. Dhirendra Verma, Dr. Dwarikaprasad Saxena except Dr. Grierson

accept only twelve languages as branches of Modern Indo-Aryan language.

According to Dr. Dwarikaprasad Saxena :

TRcff cfit #

'm t s t A spprciT $ I r 16
[Only Sindhi, Lahanda, Punjabi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Pashchimi (Western)

Hindi, Purvi (Eastern) Hindi, Bihari, Oriya, Bengali, Assamese, and Marathi -

these twelve languages get importance among the Modern Indo-Aryan

languages.]

The following chart of Dr. Grierson gives a clear idea of the Modern

Indo-Aryan language :

Prachin Sanskrit (old Sanskrit)

fm (2)1
Kathya Shourseni Prakrit Kathya Magadhi Prakrit
________1_________________________
p) wl
Pashchimi Gaudiya Uttari Gaudiya
1
f(5) T lj Tm (5)1
Sindhi Gujarati Punjabi Pashchimi Hindi
__________________________________________ T__________________
' f ( 9 ) i ( 1 0 ) i(1 1 ) i (12) f (13) (W J-
Rajasthani Bangru Vernacular Brajbhasha Kannauji Bundheli
4 , (15)

Nageri Hindi or Khadiboli

16. Saxena, Dwarikaprasad - Hindi Bhasha Ka Vikasatmak Itihas, P- 36

 30

(2)
Kathya Magadhi Prakrit
{TTB3 l __________
Daxini Gaudiya Purvi Gaudiya
^ ( 18)
(P I) 4422) 4423) 1(24)
Marathi Bihari Bangla Oriya Asamiya
f(19) (20)1
Daxini Konkani
(4 )

Uttari Gaudiya
{(25) J(2 6 ) {(27) n 17
Garhwan luimayoom Nepali

Now in conclusion, we find that the five sub-languages - Pashchimi

Hindi, Purvi Hindi, Rajasthani, Pahadi and Bihari, or their 17 dialects like Kauravi,

Brajbhasha, Hariyani, Bundeli, Kannauji, Awadhi, Bagheli, Chattisgarhi, Purvi

Rajasthani, Uttar Rajasthani, Daxini Rajasthani, Paschimi Pahadi, Madhyawarti

Pahadi, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maitheli etc. have one common name Hindi which

was bom out of the mixture of Shourseni, Ardh-Magadhi and Magadhi

Apabhramsha.

2.4 : Development of the Hindi language :

Hindi, which was born around 1000 A.D., now is one thousand years

old. It took the shape of the Modern Indian language gradually after transforming

out of Apabhramsha the last form of Mid Indo-Aryan languages. The shourseni

and the Ardh Magadhi Apabhramsha, which were used by the people residing

from Ganga ghati to prayag or kashi, gave birth to almost all forms of Hindi.

Therefore, it was natural that Hindi was developed into a full-fledged language

before the literatures published during the 10th century A.D. The example of

premature Hindi is available in the following lines collected from Hem Chandra

Shabdnushasan:
17. Tiwari, Udaynarayan - Hindi Bhasha Ka Udgam Aur Vikas, R-227 (quoted)
 31

“n^TT fvHT ^ ##TT # # # W R I t o I

< to g 3 to t3 !f ^ ttt W % | |

t o to # ^ to # , to # w i to I

t o # t o t o i t o , f t o ^ t o t o 11”18

(t # to m\ f sit to fqHT to qm w l to ^ w fair <sm to A

W M [ 3 i # d ito d t o t i

to % t o A t o t o r ? t o % to te r 3 t o ^ to to t o ? ^i to to to
to acmr to to e to to i ^ to tof ^ ?to!)
It can be safely concluded that Hindi literature began around 1000 A.D.

and along with it Hindi had taken a full shape as a language. Since then, there

had been development of Hindi. The growth and development of Hindi during

the last one thousand years has been divided into three periods :

(i) Adikaal or the Prachin Kaal (1000 A.D. to 1500 A.D.)

(ii) Madhya Kaal (1500 A.D. to 1800 A.D.) and

(iii) Adhunik Kaal (1800 A.D. to Present day)

(i) Adikaal (Ancient Period)

During the beginning period of the Hindi language, it had to go ahead

with its different spoken forms and dialects and developing them. Apabhramsha

had tremendous influence over Hindi in the first phase of development. As a

result there are mixture of words from almost all the different dialects of Hindi

during this period. Moreover, there was an enormous use of tadbhava terms

and at the same time foreign words also enriched the terminology of Hindi.

During those days local Deshaja words were also abundant and Hindi owned

them and made itself a strong language. Primarily the words from Dingal,

Maithili, Braj, khadiboli, Punjabi, Awadhi and Dakshini were mostly used in

18. Saxena, Dwarikaprasad - Hindi Bhasha Ka Vikasatmak Itihas, P-62.

 32

Hindi of that period.

The specimen of Hindi language of ancient period can be placed into

following four groups.

(i) Rock - Inscriptions, Tamra Patras and Inscriptions on walls (Prachir

Patras);

(ii) Apabhramsha Kavyas.

(iii) The Charan Kavyas, which were born in the Ganga-valley got

their refuge in the religious scriptures of Rajasthan due to political

changes.

(iv) Hindvi or old khadiboli literature.

The grammar of ancient Hindi was very much similar to that of

Apabhramsha around 1000 or 1100 A.D. In language also the form was very

much sim ilar to that of Apabhramsha. But gradually the grammar of

Apabhramsha was given up and pure Hindi form began to grow around 1500

A.D. and now Hindi is able to stand up on its own feet.

Of the Hindi litterature of the ancient period the names of certain writers

like Gorakhnath, Chandvardai, Narapati Nalha, Vidyapati, Amir Khusroo, Khwaja

Banda Newaj, Shah Miraji etc. are worth-mentioning. The following is the list

of famous books published during the ancient period ;

(i) Vishaldev Rason by Narapati Nalha;

(ii) Prithviraj Rason by Chandvardai;

(iii) Futkar kavya by Khusroo;

(iv) Khalikbari;

(v) Hindi poetry by Khusroo; and

(vi) Kirtilata by Vidyapati

Analysing literature of ancient period, Dr. Shyam Sundar Das remarks;

 33

“t W T % W £ ^ cfjT {cfcfjRT ^FTT m <5^ *RT % T O ^

otcrt f^nr ^ w i”19

[Prior to Hem Chandra the Hindi language started developing and up to

the period of Chanda, it took a definite shape]

(ii) Madhyakaal (Middle period) :

The development of Hindi took vigorous turn during the middle ages.

On one hand the dialects of Hindi had their full development and a good

number of literary works were composed. On the other hand the influence of

Apabhramsha began to dwindle away, which enable Hindi to enjoy freedom.

Of the languages of this period the chief was Braj and Awadhi. In

addition to them, there were others like Maithali, Dakhsini Hindi, Urdu, Dingal

etc. in which lots of books were composed.

The highest number of books in Braj and Awadhi of Hindi were composed

during this period. Of the poets of Braj-Surdas, Nand Das, Hit Harivansh,

Mirabai, Raskhan, Keshav Das, Rahim, Bihari, Matiram, Bhushan, Dev,

Padmakar, Ghananand, Bodha, Thakur etc. were very famous. In the same

manner, of the poets of A w adhi- Kutuban, Manjhan, Jaysee, Osman, Shekh

Navi, Nur Muhammad, Goswami Tulsidas etc. were famous ones. The famous

books written in Awadhi during this period are the Padmawat by Jaysee and

the Ram Charit Manas by Tulsidas. On the other hand, the Sur-Sagar by

Surdas, the Vinay Patrika and Gitawaii of Tulsidas etc were major works of

Brajbhasha. During this period of Braj and Awadhi language, the works of

Muslim writers like Jaysee’s Padmawat and Rahim’s Dohas are famous one.

In addition to these, many Muslim poets during the 18th and 19th centuries

used the Khadiboli under an enlightened literature through their poetry. Of

19 Verma, Dhirendra - Hindi Bhasha Ka Itihas, P-76 (quoted)

 34

these poets names of Mir, Sauda, Isha, Ghalib, Jonk, Dag etc. are worth

mentioning.

(iii) Adhunik Kaal (Modern Period) :

During the modern times there is the beginning of the changing of

forms of middle period dialects and from the point of literary use the Khadiboli

Hindi began to suppress other dialects. Now there is the full fledged

development of Hindi in this period. Till now stress was given only in composing

poetry; but now prose writing has been carried in a large scale. The most

important fact about Hindi of this period is that the khadiboli had been accepted

as the established one, where from the ancient Tadbhav and Deshaja words

were ousted and new and newer technical words were being used. As a

result, it has become a language powerful in expressing knowledge and

technical ideas. In addition to it, it has been recognised as the national language

of India and a State language of ten states of India like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,

Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal. Now, standard Hindi has three distinct

styles :

(i) Sanskritnishtha Hindi. (Sanskritised Hindi)

(ii) Urdu and

(iii) Hindustani.

In addition to these, there has been so much huge development in the

field of technical terms that terminology has quick changes. As a result these

technical terms came to be in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Botany,

Psychology, Physics, Engineering etc. Even technical terms in legal literature

has also been coined in Hindi. In this manner, there has been multipurpose

development in Hindi language in modern times.

 35

2.5 The Naming of Hindi :

Hindi was born in India but its naming was done by the Iranians and

Indian Muslims. Scholars believe that the term Hindi has been derived from

the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which is a name of a particular river in India. There

had been interchange of sounds and that was why Sindhu termed into 'Hindu'

(TT > !?, > T) which in course of time became Hindi, meaning India (Bharat).

The affix ik was added to it and it became Hindik (fe?<Dch) which became

Indik in Greek and India in English. The ‘K’ sound in Hindik gradually

disappeared and a new term Hindi came into existence which originally meant

of India. On the basis of this idea, Jaban-E-Hindi began to mean the language

of India and with the gradual disappearance of Jaban-E, it became simply

Hindi. The oldest use of the word Hindi is available in the Jafarnama of

Sharfuddin Yajyo (1424 A.D.)

In the words of the Udaynarayan Tiwari :

“M # *p v E iH 1 ^ 'F R c f k c fifT T f f c 3 T F f

T W ?RT TFT # # WT I fo w l rPTT pcW H

■ w m wr £ $ I w ^ 3 # #
I off? m I ^ wp r20
[The foreign Muslims called the Indian Muslims as 'Hindi' and the course

of time their language was also termed as Hindi. This language was equally

used both by the Hindus and the Muslims. In short, the word 'Hindi' denoting

the language is the contribution of the Muslims and it is very much ancient one.]

Poet Iqbal in his "Tarana” used Hindi to mean the people of Hindustan :

wm\"
20. Tiwari, Udaynarayan - Hindi Bhasha Ka Udgam Aur Vikas, R-138.
 36

2.6 The Meaning of Hindi

The meaning of Hindi can be explained in three different senses :

(i) Wide Sense (Vistrit Arth)

(ii) Linguistic Sense (Bhasha Vaijnanik Arth) and

(iii) Narrow Sense (Sankuchitatam Arth)

In its wide sense, Hindi is the common name of the seventeen dialects

used in the Hindi speaking area. In the linguistic sense, only the Pashchimi

Hindi and Pun/i Hindi can be recognised as Hindi under which eight dialects

like Braj, Khadiboli, Bundeli, Haryani, Kannauji, Awadhi, Bagheii and

Chattishgarhi come. In its narrow sense, only Khadiboli can be recognised as

Hindi, which has been recognised as the standard Hindi.

2.7 Area of Hindi :

“The constitution of India, in its schedule VIII, has recognised Hindi as

official language and the language for co-ordination.”21 It is therefore, the

national language of India, and along with it, it is the state language of several

states of Indian nation.

The geographical area, Hindi of which has been reconised as the Prime

language has also been considered :

"3 tr - 3 Umm # # cw^cicb aflr %

^ fNt ®#rl# % ws 3 M I, fNt ^ 11
*tt*t It fflftcsr, ^<wRdi, snnreTT, # it

fe r * | l ” 22

[Hindi in the form of khadiboli is in vogue from the Himalayas in the

north to the Narmada Valley in the south and from Bhagalpur in the east to

21. Verma, Ramlal - Hindi AurAsamiya Vyakaranik Kotiya (Vyatireki Adhyayan), P-2

22. Prasad, Basudev Nandan - Adhunik Hindi Vyakaran Aur Rachna, P-8
 37

Amritsar in the west. This is known as the Hindi speaking area. It is being

used in literature, journalism, schools, colleges, legislatives assemblies and

councils daily.]

Considering the historical tradition, many of the scholars divided the

‘Hindi Khsetra’ into two areas :

(i) Pashchimi Hindi and

(ii) Purvi Hindi.

Within these two areas the dialects of Hindi are also used.

“Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar

Pradesh and Bihar come primarily under the Hindi area as recognised by Dr.

Bholanath Tiwari, while some areas of Punjab like AboHara, Fajilka etc. and

some other parts come secondarily under it.”23

John Beams has laid much importance on Hindi of all the Indo-Aryan

languages. He recognised the Antarveda (Madhya Desh) as the chief area of

Hindi when he says :

" q f f i N t # 3 1 % I , » TTcS -fTcpTRT ® n q 3 > w t # I ,

f % r a % s t r a w % s fa # § s t t m s fir % s r t ^

m% w j# s ftr 11”24

[Although there are several dialects in Hindi, but it has one standard

form which was developed in and around Delhi. This form known as khadiboli

is uniformly used and understood by the learned section every where.]

2.8 Dialects of Hindi :

There are as many as seventeen dialects in total and five sub-languages

(Up-Bhasha) within the vast Hindi area. They are as follows :

23. T iw a r i, B h o la n a t h - Hindi Bhasha, P -2 6 .

24 P ra s a d , B a s u d e v N a n d a n - Adhunik Hindi Vyakaran AurRachna, P -7 6 .

 38

Up-Bhashaven Dialects

(i) Pashchimi Hindi ----------- Kauravi (Khadiboli) Brajbhasha,

Haryani, Bundeli and Kannauji

etc.

(if) Purvi Hindi ----------- Awadhi, Bagheli, Chattisgarhi.

(iii) Rajasthani ------- Pashchimi Rajasthani, (Marwari)

Purvi Rajasthani (Jaypuri), Uttari

R aja sth a n i (M ew ati) and

Dakshini Rajasthani (Malwi) etc.

(iv) Pahadi ----------- Pashchimi Pahadi, Madhyawarti

Pahadi (Kumayuni, Garhwali)

(v) Bihari ----------- Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili25

2.9 Script of Hindi :

Although language and script are two separate things, yet they are one

and from the point of their use they are inseparable. The Hindi script is

Devnagri which is also known as the Nagri script. The old Nagri script is

developed from the Kutil script, which was already developed from the northern

style (Uttari Shaile) of the Brahmi script. The Kutil script developed during the

ninth century A.D. while Modern Nagri script developed around 15th or 16th

century A.D.26

The name Devnagri comes from the Nagar Brahmins of Gujrat, who

specially coined them. This Devnagri has been recognised as a scientific

script because almost the sounds of different languages of the world can be

pronounced through them. But we can say that there is the necessity of some

25. Tiwari, Bholanath - Hindi Bhasha, P-26.

26 Tiwari, Bholanath - Bhashavijnan, P-473

 39

reformation although it is regarded as a scientific script.

2.10 Importance of H in d i:

John Beams has given the highest importance to Hindi of all the Modern

Indo-Aryan languages. Hindi remains as the medium of exchange of thoughts

and ideas for ages together. It is not only a language of the northern India, but

also scholars of the Deccan like Ballabhacharyya, Vitthal, Ramanuj, Ramanand

and others used it as a medium of expression of their thoughts and ideas.

Different saints and poets of N on-Hindi speaking states like Srimanta

Shankardeva of Assam, Namdeva and Jnaneswar of Maharashtra, Narsi Mehta

of Gujarat and Chaitanya of Bengal made Hindi the medium of expression of

their religions principles and their literature.

Hindi has been regarded as the lingua franca of the whole of India.

Now-a-days, the terminology of technical subjects in Hindi is developing very

fast. Hindi has attracted the attention of most of the countries of the world out

side India like Burma, Sri Lanka, Marititus, Fiji, Malaya, Surinnam, Africa and such

other countries. In addition to it, more than one hundred universities out side India

teach Hindi language and literature with enthusiasm. Due to its development and

popularity now-a-days many foreign countries have made it a language of their

propaganda in their extension centres. Almost all the best books in different

languages of world have already been translated into Hindi. In addition to that

there have been circulation of Hindi literature in foreign countries also.

Considering ali these factors Dr. Suniti Kumar Chattarjee remarked :

"fN t ^ OTT H OT W 1 1 s F lM % 1 # # # fHclft

T fh O T lftrtT # % t? R T 1 1 ”2 7

[Hindi is a great link language. Th e great persons of Bengal have also

27. Prasad, Vasudevnandan - Adhunik Hindi VyakaranAurRachna, P-9.

 40

rightly recognised its glory and greatness.]

Now Hindi has become the state language of the state Assam and the

official language of India and at the same time it has become the lingua-

franca for the whole nation. The number of speaker of this language is about

50 to 60 crores and as such it has become the second most popular language

of the world. From the point of creation of literature, Hindi stands on equal

footings with other most advanced languages of the world. As a result there

has been enormous development of Hindi and it occupies a most important

place in the world.

2.11 The Origin and Development of Assamese language :

Assamese is one of the major language of the North-Eastern part of the

Indian Republic. It is one of the important Aryan language of the Indo-European

family. It is now not only the official language of Assam, but also the lingua-

franca of states situated in the North-Eastern part of India :

-3 FFFR T S F # lc r q fttJk rR 3TOFT T T W ¥ v f 3TFP% IT 'm I ET# T

WM* TTTf RRTT Hflcqt ff W

m cfjft '3TT%& I MHWRct, 3 1 # ^ 4RW FPM

“RWT cfTT cRT w m T#TFf TFT tF ^ F I W m TPfR

w M m 55 I28
[Assamese is the chief language of all the Indo-European languages

prevalent in Assam. Assam has been carrying the evidence of evolution right

from the ancient times with its own scripts and written literature. Assamese

works as lingua-franca among the tribals who donot understand the different

tribal languages and now it becomes more or less the lingua-franca for whole

of the north-eastern part of India]

28. Baruah, Bhim Kanta - Asamar Bhasha, P-167.

 41

The state of Assam was known as Pragjyotisha in ancient times. There

after it came to be known as Kamrupa. During the thirteenth century, when it

came under the Shans (Tans) of the then Burma (now Mynman), the name

was changed to Assam. Later the Shan people became known as the Ahom.

Some scholar believed that the term Asam is the corrupted form of Ahom.

Then the term Asamiya i.e. Assamese is formed with the addition of the suffix

iya to Asam, which is now used to mean the people and the language of this

place:

“It is the language of Assam, Pronounced axam by the native speakers

and hence the word Asamiya derived from Asama plus adjectival affix iya

meaning of relating or belonging to”29

“sraFT W 3To ITo TJ^frT f W

tfgtaisiM tttM 9irW)?k 4trdk vfrt hcbt^t <3#&i
sfrcifacT “'Srarf §TWT trFRT ‘^TT’ Wm (fw < fcfiT wm + #T I f
T’ q f M ^ §T®5TZt% cbWfbHd 6lf«iW< 3TI^

wm I”30
[About the origin of the word Assam, Sir Edward Gait, Dr. Grierson and

Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee opined that it is related to the name Ahom of the

Shan. The word Asamiya has been formed by adding the affix ‘iya’ to word

Assam (iya < iha Pratyay + Ek swastik) and the term in course of time began

to mean the people and language of that area.]

The Assamese language is used from the District of Lakhimpur situated

in the eastern part of Assam to the District of Goalpara situated in the western

end of it nearing the places where Bangali is used :

29 Goswami, Golok Chandra - Structure of Assamese, P-1

30. Baruah, Bhim Kanta - Asamar Bhasha, P -177

 42

“Assamese is the eastern most New Indo-Aryan language spoken in the

Assam Valley district with Lakhimpur in the extreme east and Goalpara in the

extreme west. It meets Bengali in the west”31

Assamese is the mother language of around 1.68 crores of the people

of this province which constitute 57 percent of the total population of the area.

In addition to it, another 15 percent people use it as the subsidiary language

for their day-to-day business among different tribes which have their own

dialects. In this manner, Assamese is the major language of the Brahmaputra

Valley and the lingua-franca for most of the tribals residing in the tribal areas

of Assamese and different hills in the neighbouring states. It is also used by

the people of Bhutan border who maintain business relationship with Assam.

Some mixed language like Nagamese in Nagaland and Nefamese in Arunachal

also came into being in the pattern of Assamese which are nothing but the

mixture of Assamese with other local language more particularly with English

words. It is also used in other neighbouring states as a lingua-franca since

one dialect of one tribe is not known to the other tribe there. Milles Bronson

wrote about Assamese:

- m cp # 1 7 PfP-HT% T fH R - Wm 0TT&

3TFTvt% r#PT r32

[The Assamese language is flowing like currents of the Brahmaputra in

the state and will go on with the flow for ever.]

Assamese is one of the major language of the Modern Indo-Aryan

family. So for as the Assamese language is concerned, scholars believe that

it is originated from the Apabhramsha growing out of the Magadhi Prakrit. The

31. Kakati, Bani Kanta - Assamese, Its Formation And Development, P -1

32. Goswami, Upendra Nath - Asamiya Bhasha Aru Upbhasha, P - 1

 43

Development of the Magadhi Apabhramsha took place in the North-Eastern

and the Southern directions of India. From this Magadhi Apabhramsha, the

language like Assamese and Bengali in the North East and Oriya in the South

began to grow :

“Magadhi Apabhramsha, in fact may be considered as spreading out

Eastwards and Southwards in three directions. To the North-East it developed

into northern Bengali and Assamese to the south into Oriya and between the

two into Bengali :33

In this manner, it is found that there are four forms of the Magadhi

Apabhramsha : Rarh, Barendra, Banga and Kamrupi. Of these four the Kamrupi

Apabhramsha gave birth to a new language in the North Bengali and Assam.

The description of Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese traveller during the first half of the

seventh century, A.D. revealed about i t :

“This is evident from the remarks of Hiuen Tsang who visited the

kingdom of Kamrupa in the first half of the seventh century A.D (in 643 A.D.)

during the reign (of Kamrupa) are of small stature and their complexion, a

dark yellow. Their language differs a little from that of Mid-India.34

Besides these the form of ancient Assamese language can also be

inferred from the language of the Tamrapatras issued by the Hindu kings who

ruled during the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. :

“But the copper-plate inscription of Kamrupa kings from the fifth through

thirteen centuries A.D. written though in Sanskrit, throw some light as to the

various typical, phonological and unique a few morphological peculiarities of

the language that gave birth to Assamese later on :"35

33. Kakati, B.K. - Assamese, Its Formation and Development, P- 6

34. Goswami, Upendra Nath - An Introduction o f Assamese, P - 1

 44

The form of the oldest Assamese language is available in the Prahlad

Charita written by Hem Sarswati during the year 1300 A.D. This can be regarded

as the beginning of Assamese literature. The development of Assamese

literature can be divided into three different periods:

(0 Old Assamese (Adikalin Asamiva) : It has two parts :

(a) Pre - Vaishnavite period and

(b) Vaishnavite period,

(ii) Mediavel Period (Madhvakalin Asamiva): and

(iii) Modern Period (Adhunikkalin Asamiva),

The old Assamese trends through these periods and finally we got the

modern Assamese prevailing in the state of Assam in the standard form. Of

the litterateurs during the old period Harihar Vipra and Hem Saraswati are

prominent ones. At the same time, Madhab Kandali who translated the

Ramayana into Assamese was the most important poet of the period. He was

working at the advice of king Maha Manikya of Kochbehar. He became the

torch bearer of the Vaishnav literature in Assamese.

It emerged as the most powerful, vehicle of expression in the Ramayana

rendued into Assamese by Kaviratna Madhava Kandali, the greatest wizard of

the Assamese idiom of early times whom the saint Sankardeva paid respectful

homage as unerring predecessor.36

Of the names of prominent writers of the Vaishnavite period of Assam

come Srimanta Shankardev and Srimanta Madhabdev first. Sri Shankardev is

the first Assamese writer who introduced prose in his novel type of one-act

play known as the Ankiya Naats. His other great works are the Kirtan Ghosha

35. Goswami, Golok Chandra - Structure of Assamese, P -14.

36. Medhi, Kaliram - Assamese Grammar and Origin of Assamese Language, P- 70.
 45

and the Dasam, a rendering of the first part of the chapter X of the Bhagawat

Purana into Assamese. Madhabdev was his great disciple and success or to

his religious world. He wrote the Naam Ghosha and the Bhakti Ratnawali. In

addition to these two great writers a host of prominent writers like Ananta

Kandali, Ram Sarswati and Bhattadev also enriched Assamese literature with

their writings. The important fact about this period is that prose writing developed

during i t :

- “Assamese prose literature developed to a stage in the for distinct

sixteenth century which no other literature of the world reached except the

writing of Hooker and Latimer in England.”37

Besides these the tradition of writing history also got its way along with

writing prose in the Medieval Assamese literature. After using Assamese as

the state language by the Ahom kings, they began to keep their historical

accounts in Assamese. In addition to these, other prominent writings of the

period are the Kathaguru Charit, the Mantra puthies, the Medical books on

Chemistry and on Mathematics.

The Modern period of Assamese literature began in the year 1931 with

the publication of the Assamese version of Bible by the Baptist Missionaries.

The Missionaries established a press at the Sivasagar district and made it the

centre of Assamese literature. Rev. W. Robinson first compiled a book on

Assamese grammar known as the Grammar of Assamese language and

published it in 1839 A.D. The second such attempt to compile grammar was

made by Nathan Brown in 1848 A.D. with his Grammatical Notes on the

Assamese language. Again in 1867, M. Bronson compiled the first Assamese

dictionary - T h e Assamese English Dictionary’. In the year 1846, the

37. Goswami, Golok Chandra - Structure of Assamese, P- 8.

 46

Missionaries with the view of development of Assamese literature published a

monthly magazine named the Arunoday. This attempt of the Missionaries for

the development and for making the language a standard one is quite praise

worthy:

“Under the influence of the Missionaries, a set of native writers grew up

and books and periodicals in the language of eastern Assam were multiplied.

Thew the tradition of the Ahom court supported by the mission press established

the language of eastern Assam as the literary language of the entire province."38

The multiplicity of spoken language is an important speciality of

Assamese language, Dr. Grierson wrote :

- “swftefT W m T F T O TTW I # fllTHFR 3TW cTK t e t e te

s m m z t l 3FFT viMcTchK 3FFFT TT W ft I f^Tl^f

'3#T qf^ITT t e TfcT t e , trjr TF ? OTTFTT TT3tf I tr^ OTTWRt fP W T

t e r 3TR> T te T R R T T p ^ t TFT l” 3 9

Assamese language can be classified into two from the point of spoken

language or dialects :

- Eastern Assamese (language spoken by the Assamese people of the

Upper Assam) and the Western Assamese (language spoken by the people of

lower Assam). In the lower Assam there are two Sub-dialects, viz, the Goalpariya

dialect, which is used in the district of Goalpara along with its sub joining

areas and the Kamrupiya dialect which is used by the people of undivided

Kamrup district. Again there are two more Sub-dialects in the Goalpariya viz,

Eastern Goalpariya and Western Goalpariya. In the same manner, the

Kamrupiya dialect also be divided into three classes - Western Kamrupi, Middle

38. Goswami, Upendra Nath - An Introduction to Assamese, P- 20

39. Ibid, P - 11
 47

Kamrupi and the South Kamrupi:

“As such, the dialects of Assamese may be regarded as western, eastern

and the central or rather the intermediate dialects".40

So for as the script is concerned, The Assamese script is related to the

scripts of the western Gupts. The example of Assamese script is available in

the Copper Plates of the Hindu Kings, of which the example of scripts found in

the Kanaibarshiboa may be the mentioned.

“The Akhsaras of the early inscriptions of particularly the Kanaibarasiboa

inscription give a sufficient due to the gradual translation from Devanagari to

the early Assamese.”41

It can be easily concluded that the history of Assamese language is

one thousand years old like other Modern Indo-Aryan languages. Now the

Assamese language achieved the 40,h position among the world languages. Its

literature is also growing at par with other Modern Indian languages. It is also

accepted as the lingua-franca of the North-Eastern India.

2:12 Conclusion :

Now, we can come to the conclusion that both Hindi and Assamese

languages are from the Indo-European family and are successors to Sanskrit

language. The Hindi language developed out of the Apabhramsha of the

Shourseni Prakrit while Assamese developed out of the Magadhi Apabhramsha

of the Magadhi Prakrit. As such there are several similarities and dis-similarities

as well.

Hindi is the official language of India and at the same time the state

language of ten states In addition to these, Hindi also functions as the lingua-

40. Goswami, Golok Chandra - Structire ofAssmese, P-11.

41. Bora, Mahendra - The Evaluation of Assamese Script, P -10..

 48

france of different states On the other hand, Assam ese besides being the

state language of Assam, is the lingua-france of the whole of North-East India.

Although Hindi and Assamese are contemporary languages, yet Hindi is

regarded as the second important language of the world. The number of Hindi

speaking people is around fifty five crores. On the other hand, Assamese

stands at the 40th position out of 2800 languages of the world and the number

of Assamese speaking people is around two crores only.

So for as the creation of literature is concerned, there are a huge

number of books published in it and it gained a respectful position in the

world. On the other hand, Assamese as a regional language also almost equal

to Hindi.

♦ ♦ ♦