Sanskrit is considered one of the world’s oldest languages, originating in the 2nd millennium BCE. Sanskrit can be categorised into the Vedic and classical.
Vedic Sanskrit was used for religious texts, the Vedas, Upanishads, also mantras and rituals.
Classical Sanskrit follow strict rules of grammar; it is the language of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, classic poetry and subjects like medicine, astronomy and mathematics.
Sanskrit is the language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.
More than three-quarters of India’s 1.4 billion people speak languages that are descendants of Sanskrit. The Dravidian languages, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are found mainly in South India, Sri Lanka and parts of Pakistan.
Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Konkani and Marathi have a large Sanskrit vocabulary base. Sanskrit is the mother of Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, and Gujarati. Languages like Nepali (Nepal), Urdu (Pakistan) and Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) were also born out of Sanskrit.
Hindi: The most widely spoken language of India. The word “Hindi” comes from the Sanskrit word “Sindhu.” The Zoroastrians referred to the people who lived near the Sindhu [Indus] River as “Hindu,” since “Sindhu” is pronounced as “Hindu.” The land where the Hindus lived became Hindustan.
Spoken Hindi can be found in such places as Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, Kenya, T&T, Guyana and Suriname. Hindi is an official language of India. Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. Both Hindi and Urdu were referred to as Hindustani prior to the partition of India in 1947.
The Indian government imposed the adoption of Hindi as the official language on September 14, 1949, and it came into force on January 26, 1950, Article 343 (1) of the Indian constitution. It was met with widespread resistance from non-Hindi-speaking states, particularly Tamil Nadu. Toda,y Hindi, along with English, shares the title of official language of the government. Hindi is spoken by more than 500 million Indians, most notably across the “Hindu Belt.” Major states include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.
Bengali: The language of the Indian state of West Bengal, spoken by about 80 million people, together with 120 million from Bangladesh. Bengali ranks sixth among all languages of the world.
The national anthem of India, “Jana Gana Mana,” is written in a Sanskrit version of Bengali. Similarly, the national song of India is “Vande Mataram.”
Punjabi: The official language of the Indian state of Punjab. It is also spoken in Pakistan, western province of Punjab. In India, Punjabi is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
There are about 100 million speakers of Punjabi. Punjabi is spoken in countries where Punjabis have emigrated in large numbers. It is the preferred language of most Sikhs. The famous Indian dance called Bhangra is composed in Punjabi. Punjabi is closely associated with the Sikh religion.
Marathi: Spoken in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Like Bengali literature, Marathi literature is the oldest among the regional literatures. There are about 75 million speakers of Marathi.
Gujarati: Spoken in the state of Gujarat, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Gujarati descended from Sanskrit and is written in an alphabet similar to that of Hindi.
Large numbers of Gujaratis live in the United Kingdom and in North America. Many migrated to East Africa. They are renowned for their entrepreneurial spirit and strong involvement in business sectors, particularly hospitality, 40% of all hotels and motels in the USA. There are about 50 million speakers of Gujarati.
Telugu: Spoken primarily in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also spoken among a diaspora population in the United States, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, Ireland, Fiji, T&T and the United Kingdom. With about 75 million speakers.
Kannada: It is spoken in southwestern India, principally in the state of Karnataka. Kannada is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Goa. It is spoken by about 40 million people.
Tamil: Spoken primarily in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. There are about 65 million speakers of Tamil, 60 million from India, and five million from Sri Lanka. It’s also widely spoken in Malaysia and Singapore. Tamil was the first Indian language to be declared a classical language by the government of India.
Malayalam: Spoken in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The word Malayalam is also a palindrome (Same spelling forward/backwards, same meaning). A native speaker of Malayalam is called a “Malayali” or, more affectionately, a “Mallu.” There are about37 million people speaking the language.
