THE EVOLUTION OF INDIAN LANGUAGES

official source: Prout in a Nutshell Part 17

cross-references: none

this version: is the printed Prout in a Nutshell Part 17, 1st edition, version 
	(spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most
	up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition.

      Long ago I said that human life must not be like a flower but like a bouquet of flowers of different scents and colours -- each and every flower should get ample scope for its development until its zenith point. The different aspects of life and the different faculties are also just like different flowers of different scents and colours.

	I said that art is for service and blessedness and not for art's sake. And regarding science also I say the same thing. But in science you know there are certain expressions, certain manifes tations which are more concerned with physicality than with the psychic or spiritual aspects of life. Where science is concerned with human sentiments, ideas or ideologies its approach should be of synthetic order. But where it is more concerned with the physicality of life, the crudeness of human life, its approach should be syntho-analytic. That is, it should be analytic in character without going against the fundamental interest of humanity -- without going against the apexed locus standi of human life, of human entities.

	Take the case of medical science. The oldest form of medical science is Ayurveda and the `country treatment' which was practiced in different parts of the globe. There are certain common points in different therapies also, so regarding these different therapies the approach should be synthetic. We should try to bring all these therapies onto a common platform, a common faculty. Regarding their specialities, they should be of synthoanalytic order. This is what I want to say regarding medical science.

	Regarding other sciences or demi-sciences, the approach concern ing the sentimental portions, ideas or ideological portions should be of synthetic order, and regarding the other portions it should be of syntho-analytic order. That is, this later approach should be followed regarding other faculties such as biology, geology, physics, chemistry, astrophysics and astro-mathematics. 

	Regarding the classical languages, they should be taught not as treasures or treatises of past history or analysis but as a common link to humanity, a binding tether of human hopes, of the emancipation of humanity in general. Some ancient languages do not come within the scope of the classics, like Sam'skrta for example. Sam'skrta is a classical subject as well as an ancient language. It is the mother of all the mother languages of South Asia and Southeast Asia. All North Indian languages and South Indian languages like Oriya, Marathii and Konkoni are of Sam'skrtic origin. Regarding the five Dravidian languages, in cluding Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telegu, their pronouns, verb endings and case endings are of old Dravidoid tongue, but their vocabularies are demi-Sam'skrtic. These languages use old Dravidoid and Sam'skrtic vocabularies, but the percentage of Sam'skrta words varies from 7% in Tamil to 74% in Malayalam. Old Tamil is 5000 years old. It is a very old language.

	So in the case of South Indian Dravidoid or demi-Dravidoid tongues, we may use Sam'skrta words and side by side old Dravidoid tongues for the facility of both the teacher and the stu dents. "Narikela", which is Sam'skrta, may be used in Malayalam; "kera", which is also Sam'skrta, may be used in Malayalam. "Tenga" has its origin in ancient Dravidoid, and "tenga", the modern Tamil word "tenga", should also be used side by side for the facility of both the teachers and the pupils. This should be the policy.

	Bengali people as a race are Austrico-Mongolo-Negroid, not Aryan, but Bengali language is of Aryan origin, having 92% Sam'skrta vocabulary. Similar is the case of Oriya. Racially Bengali, Oriya and Angika people are the same, all having Dravidoid blood, but their languages originated from Oriental Demi-Ma'gadhii with Sam'skrtic vocabulary.

	Regarding the Hindi language, if Hindi is an Indian language then it should move in the mainstream of Sam'skrtic movement, other wise it will die a premature death. We will not allow it to die a premature death, so there should be structural modifications to Hindi in its pronouns, verb endings and case endings as well as its vocabulary. It must not try to follow Urdu, because in Urdu the pronouns, verb endings and case endings are not of Sam'skrtic origin and the vocabularies are mostly of Persian and Turkish origin. This should be our principle and policy.

	You know, a language has an average longevity of 1000 years. As per Hindu astrology of Kashi offshoot, human beings have an average longevity of 120 years, and as per Bengali astrology, 108 years. But the average longevity of a language is 1000 years. It is incorrect to say that the Vedic people, when they invaded India from Afghanistan, came with their Vedic language and thus the Vedic language is not of ancient Indian origin. No, this is incorrect. The Vedic language, that is the Vedic offshoots of Sam'skrta, may be of non-Indian origin, but the Sam'skrta language is of Indian character, of Indian origin. The girls of Ra'r'h say "bina taele rendhechi" -- "bina" is a Sam'skrta word, "tel" is from the Sam'skrta word "taelam", and "rendhechi" comes from the Sam'skrta word "randha nam". Should I then accept the idea that this language came from outside India? The hinterland of Sam'skrta was the entire Southeast Asia, the entire North India, the entire Southwest India, and where the people were of Dravidoid stock there also Sam'skrta was present as a demi-cultural language.

	The civilisation and culture of Ra'r'h is the oldest of the entire world, and in the Ra'r'h district of Bengal the percentage of Sam'skrta words is more than 92% -- that is, it is the highest of any part of Bengal. The people of Ra'r'h are of Austrico-Negroid origin, they have little Mongoloid blood. Magahii people are also Austrico-Negroid. They used the word "kerava" which is derived from the Sam'skrta word "karaya". Similarly, in Bhojpurii "kapara" is used, which means "head", and is from the Sam'skrta word "kapala". When these words are used by Austrico-Negroid people and derived from Sam'skrta, how can Sam'skrta be a foreign language? Some people say that Sam'skrta came from outside India. This is illogical. Sam'skrta is not a foreign language, it is ours.

	Now, when Sam'skrta died she left behind seven daughters: 1) Ma'gadhii Pra'krta, 2) Shaurasenii Pra'krta, 3) Paeshachii 73 Pra'krta, 4) Pa'shcha'tya Pra'krta, 5) Saendha'vii Pra'krta, 6) Ma'lavii Pra'krta and 7) Maha'ra's't'rii Pra'krta. Pra'krta means "people's language," common people's language. The common people of India who were of mixed stock -- Aryan, Assyrian, Dravidoid, Negroid or Austric -- could not pronounce Sam'skrta correctly; they distorted the pronunciation of Sam'skrta. People spoke Sam'skrta with different intonations, and thus the language underwent different types of changes in different circumstances. In the eastern portion of India, east of Prayag (Trivenii), the change in Sam'skrta was known as Ma'gadhii Pra'krta. From Prayag up to Tamunotrii, that is Brahmavarta (the land between the Ganga and the Jamuna) and Udayana (which means lower Himalayas, Garhwal Himalayas), Pra'krta was known as Shaurasenii Pra'krta. The Brahmavarta, the Brahmarsi land of the Vedic era, was known as Shu'rasena during the Mahabharata era. During the Vedic era the capital of Brahmavarta or Brahmarsii Desha was Brishnipur -Brikhipur -- Brishtipur -- Bitthor. Bitthor is a small town near Kanpur. In the Mahabharata age the name was Shu'rasena, (the capital was Mathura) -- hence the language was known as Shaura senii Pra'krta. In the central northern portion of India, that is, in modern Punjab, the Western Punjab of Pakistan, other portions of Sind and Jammu, the language was known as Paeshachii Pra'krta. It is said in the Puranas that the original inhabitants of this area were the Kash people -- Kash, Kashmirii. They were of Assyrian origin. Then in the northwest portion of Paeshachii Pra'krta was Pa'shcha'tya Pra'krta: Kashmir, Kaso, Khazakistan, Uzbekistan and southern Russia. The language was known as Pa'shcha'tya Pra'krta which means "occidental" or "west of". From Pa'shcha'tya Pra'krta came Pasto, the language of Afghanistan. And in the lower portion of the Indus valley, in Pakistan, there Pra'krta was known as Saendhavii Pra'krta, the ancient language of modern Rajasthan; in the western portion of Madhya Pradesh it was Ma'lavii Pra'krta; and in the southern portion of Gujarat, Maharastra, the western portion of Karnataka and Goa it was Maha'ra's't'rii Pra'krta. Those were the seven Pra'krtas.

	The average longevity of a language is 1000 years. So after 1000 years Ma'gadhii Pra'krta died and left behind two daughters: Oriento-Demi-Ma'gadhii and Occidento-Demi-Ma'gadhii. Oriento-Demi-Ma'gadhii died after another 1000 years and she left behind five languages: Oriya, Bengali, Assamese, Angika and Maethili. These languages have the speciality of using "ca" in the past tense: a'mi ja'cchi, ami jaochi, humae jayehi, hum jaichi -- always ca, ca. In the past tense they use "la": ami gelam, gelo, hum geliye -- la. And in the future tense, "ba": ami ya'ba, mu jabi, a'mara' yaba, hum yaba -- ba. They are daughters of Oriento-Demi-Ma'gadhii. "Oriento" means "eastern" and "demi" means "half". And another daughter of Ma'gadhii Pra'krta was Occidental DemiPra'krta. She left behind four daughters: Magahii, Bhojpurii, Chattisgarhii and Nagpuria -- the language of Ranchi. They use "la" in the past tense and "ba" in the future tense, but they do not use "ca" in the present tense: hum jaithathi -- Magahii. Hum jatani, hum jatbani -- Bhojpurii. No ca. This is the speciality. Now when Maha'ra's't'rii Pra'krta died, she left behind Demi- Maha'ra's't'rii, and she left behind five languages: Dangi, a mixed language of Gujarati and Marathi; Newari, a mixed language of Nepali and Marathii; Bara'ri, a mixed language of Marathii, Oriya and Chattisgarhii; chaste Marathii of the Pune area; and Konkoni, the language of the Konkoni coast of India.

	When Saendha'vii Pra'krta died, she left behind Demi-Saendha'vii, and after her death, she left behind modern Sindhi, Baluchi and Grahvi. In Baluchi and Grahvi there is some influence, some blending of Dravidian Tamil. And in eastern India within the range of the Nagpuria and Chattisgarhii belt there are islands of Dravidoid tongues, and these islands are known as Kuruk language spoken by the Oraons of Chottanagpur. Kuruk is a Dravidian language, not Indo-Aryan. Kuruk, the language of the Oraons, is quite different from Mundari spoken by the Mundas.

	Then when Pa'shcha'tya Pra'krta died, her grand daughters are Pasto, the language of the eastern portion of Afghanistan and the western portion of Pakistan, Peshawar and North West Frontier Province excepting Attak district. Attak district speaks Punjabi, not Pasto. Then Kashmirii, Kulpi, etc. -- all languages of South Russia. When Pa'shcha'tya Pra'krta died, her daughters, that is Northern Demi-Pa'shcha'tya and Southern Demi-Pa'shcha'tya came. After that now we find five different languages: Multani, a mixed language of Sindhi and Punjabi; Paschimi Punjabi in Landadi script -- even Hindu businessmen of Punjab use that script in making their accounts -- then eastern Punjabi; Pahari Punjabi, the language of Himachal Pradesh; and Dogrii, the language of Jammu. 

	When Ma'lavii Pra'krta died she left behind Oriento-Demi-Ma'lavii and Occidental-Demi-Ma'lavii. Oriento-Demi-Ma'lavii left behind three daughters: Ma'lavii of western Madhya Pradesh and partly of Rajasthan; Gujrati; and Kacachi. Kacachi is a blending of Ma'lavii Pra'krta and Saendha'vii Pra'krta, that is of Gujrati and Sindhi. Kacachi has got no script; it is written in Gujrati script but the language is a blending of Gujrati and Sindhi. And Occidento-Demi-Ma'lavii left behind daughters like Marwari, Mewari, Harauti and Dhundari, the language of Jaipur.

	The last one is Shaurasenii. When Shaurasenii died she left behind Demi-Shaurasenii, and her daughters are five in number: Avadhi, Brajbhasa, Bundeli, Bagehli and Hariya'navii. In the city of Delhi and its neighbouring areas the people speak Hariya'navii.

Now, in the first phase of the Pathan period, Persian was the official language of India, but Persian was not an Indian language, just as English is not. But common people in the neighbouring areas of Delhi created an artificial spoken language used in bazaars and military camps, a blending of Hariya'navii, Persian and Turkish, with Persian and Turkish vocabularies, and pronouns, verb endings and case endings of Hariya'navii.

During the time of Emperor Shah Jahan this language, this bazaar and camp language, was known as Hindustani or Urdu dialect. It was also known as Urdu because it was used in military camps by soldiers wearing vardi -- it was the language of the camp, a military language. In different big towns there were military cantonments and camps, and those portions of the towns were also known as Urdu bazaars. In Gorakhpur, in Dacca, we have got Urdu Bazaars. An Urdu Bazaar has nothing to do with the Urdu language; an Urdu Bazaar means a military market.

Now, Emperor Shah Jahan felt that Persian is of non-Indian origin and so the common people could not assimilate the language. So he modified the grammar a bit and made Urdu the official language substituting Persian. Hereafter, Urdu became the official language of the Mughal empire.

In the course of time, however, the local languages and Urdu were used side by side. In Bengal the court language was Bengali, but in upper offices Urdu was the official language. In Bihar the court language was Kaythi, just like Marwari in Mauri script. Mauri has got three varieties: Marathi Mauri, Marwari Mauri and Gujrati Mauri, now known as Gujrati script. In Bihar the official languages were Maethili, Magahii and Bhojpurii during the Mughal empire.

During the first phase of the British rule, the British made Bengali the official language of the area of northern India they occupied. And afterwards several leaders like Lord Macauley and Rajarammohan Roy said, no, English should be the official language, because through English we will be able to come in contact with the rest of the world -- with modern arts, science and education. So henceforward English became the official language. Then what should be the official language of Bengal? Bengali remained the official language. In the case of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, at that time there were two provinces in Uttar Pradesh: the province of Agra and the province of Avadhi. Justice Sharadachandra Mitra pleaded in favour of Hindi, that is Urdu written in Devana'grii script. Before that there was no Hindi literature; there was Urdu litera ture but no Hindi. From that time, inspired by Kashi Nagri Pra carani Sabha. (Justice Sharadachandra Mitra was the leading man of that Sabha) Hindi literature was written. In Bihar the people's languages of Maethili, Magahii and Bhojpurii were de pressed by Urdu written in Devana'grii script, known as Hindi. Bhojpurii, Maethili and Magahii were expelled, banished from their own land. But Kaythi script continued and after independ ence Kaythi has been replaced by Devana'grii in the courts of Bihar. But in Uttar Pradesh, Urdu remained the official language of the courts, and after independence Urdu was replaced by Hindi. In Devana'grii script we require two more letters: diirgha anus vara and diirgha visarga.

The history of the Hindi language is from the British era, at least the literature of Hindi; but regarding the poetic literature of Hindi, if Hariya'navii, Brajabhas'a, Avadhi, Bhojpurii and Magahii are taken into account, the literature is about 1200 years old, more than 1000 years old. So old Hindi is rich in its poetic treasure, but modern Hindi is not rich in prosaic treasure. The first phase of Hindi literature was translation from Bengali, the works of Bankim Chandra etc. But now Hindi literature has stood upon its own legs. However, due to grammatical difficulties, the movement is not easy. The movement should be clear, the movement should be speedy, and more scientific. The grammar should be modified without any further delay, and this is the most opportune moment for the purpose.

25 September 1990, Calcutta