Langueages In India 2

Dogri

Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language. Though it is chiefly spoken in the scenic region of Jammu, the presence of Dogri language can also be felt in northern Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and other places. The people speaking Dogri are called Dogras, whereas the belt where it's spoken is called Duggar. It is a member of the Western Pahari group of languages. Originally, Dogri language was written using the Takri script, but now the Devanagari script is employed for the same in India.

It was only recently that the Dogri language received official recognition in the country. It was recognized as an "independent modern literary language" of India, based on the unanimous recommendation of a panel of linguists from the General Council of the Sahitya Academy of Delhi, on 2nd August 1969. On 22nd December 2003, Dogri language achieved another achievement as it was hailed as a national language of India in the Indian Constitution.

The history of the Dogri language can be traced back to the times of poet, Amir Khusrau. It is in his list of Indian languages that the earliest known reference of the Dogri can be found. The gradual evolution of Dogri literature witnessed scripting of Rajauli, which is counted among its earliest level. It is actually a Dogri translation by Tehaldas, from an original Persian work by Bali Ram. It is also said that there exists a translation of the New Testament in Dogri language carried out by the Christian Missionaries of Sirampur.

It was, however, during the 20th century that Dogri literature witnessed a spurt in spheres like poetry, prose, novels, short stories and plays. Today, one of the prominent names in Dogri literature is that of Dr Karan Singh, who has penned numerous novels, travelogues and philosophical treatises. He is also known for translating famous Dogri songs into English to popularize this language. Some of Dr Singh's praiseworthy works include Towards a New India (1974), Hinduism: The Eternal Religion (1999), Welcome The Moonrise (1965), etc.

Dogri literature comprises a fabulous gamut of poetry, fiction and dramatic works. Under the poetry category alone, there are Dogri poets like Kavi Dattu from the 18th Century era to more recent ones like Professor Ram Nath Shastri and Ms Padma Sachdev. Dogri poet Kavi Dattu, who belonged to the court of Raja Ranjit Dev, is regarded in high esteem for his Barah Massa (Twelve Months), Kamal Netra (Lotus Eyes), Bhup Bijog, Bir Bilas and other works.

GUJARATI

Literature in Gujarati can be divided mainly into Prose and Poetry. In the medieval period, poetry was actually the means of expressing religious sentiments and the first poetry of the language was Bharateswara Bahubali Rasa. It was composed by Shalibhadrasuri, a 7th century Jain monk. A number of Jain Sadhus followed his example and composed short story poems called Rasas till the end of the 18th century. While in the 15th century, Narsingh Mehta was bringing in a new era of Vaishnava poetry. His poems portray Krishna as a playful child, a lover, a friend and the poet’s muse. He became a source of inspiration for his successors in composing not only similar poetry but also philosophical poems.

Raje, Raghunathdas, Pritam, Ratno and Muktananda were some of the great contributors to devotional Gujarati poetry. In the 18th century, Vallabh left his artistic touch in devotional songs like Garbo and Garbi. They are popular even today. Premananda, the greatest medieval poet introduced the famous ‘Akhyana’. He had a wonderful command over the language, treated the subject in an outstanding way and had a great understanding of human nature. Jains and non-Jains have written narrative poems using Sanskrit as well as Prakrit fiction as the source.

With the advent of the British in the 19th century, Guajarati poetic literature soared to new heights. Narmad and Dalpat were the pioneers of this age. In 1886, Narsingharao’s collection of lyrical poems Kusummala, was published. Poetry was getting restricted to the elite class and Mahatma Gandhi urged poets to write for the masses. The noted poets of this century like Kalapi, Kant, Nanalal and Balavantrai Thakor were all greats in their respective style of writing. Literature produced under Gandhi’s influence is known as Gandhian literature and the era as Gandhian era.

Gujarati poets of this time wrote about social order, the struggle for independence and especially about Gandhi himself. Umashankar, Sundaram, Shesh, Snehrasmi, Betai and many more were the principal poets of this era. During the 40s, there was a rise in communistic poetry and this inspired a movement for progressive literature. Meghani, Bhogilal Gandhi, Swapnastha and others preached class conflict and hatred of religion through their writings. Highly inspired by Tagore’s dialogue poems, Umashankar Joshi enriched the existing Gujrati literature by writing in the same manner. His two such poems are Prachina and Mahaprasthan.

Poetry of post-independence era is more subjective and brutal, discarding old imageries and symbols and replacing them with new ideas. The main representatives of this age are Suresh Joshi, Gulam Mohamed Sheikh, Harinder Dave, Chinu Modi, Nalin Raval, Adil Mansuri and others.

Gujarati literary prose in the real sense begins from the 19th century. Narmad was the leader in this field and began by writing essays meant to be read before an audience. His essays dealt mainly with social revolution, but he also wrote on literary, social, political and religious subjects. Narmad coined new words and phrases, using them to explain his ideas. His contemporary was Dalpat, an essayist and dramatist. The era starting from Narmad is called the social reform era. Naval Ram of this age was a critic of distinction besides writing literary essays and book reviews. Nand Shankar was the first novelist of his time and wrote Karanghelo, a historical fiction. Govardhanram is another great novelist whose Saraswati Chandra is a classic not only in Gujarati literature but also in Indian literature. It was the first social novel, which mentioned contemporary problems and their solutions. During this period, the Gujarat Vidyapith became the centre of all literary activities where new values emerged and more emphasis was given on Indianisation. Novels, short stories, diaries, letters, plays, essays, criticisms, biographies, travel books and all kinds of prose began to flood Gujarati literature. However, Kanhaiyalal Munshi was absolutely untouched by this change and made a mockery of the Gandhian principles while Ramanlal Desai (novelist, dramatist, literary critic and short storywriter all rolled into one) was the true representative of the Gandhian era. His works include ‘Divya Chakshu’ and ‘Bharelo Agni’. Kaka Kalelkar was a voluminous writer and subjects included travel, culture, nature, sociology and biography. Other pioneers of this era were Kishorelal Mashruwala (essayist), Ramnarayan Pathak (critic and short story writer), and Darshak (dramatist).

The post independence prose literature had two distinct trends that of traditional and modern. The former deals more with ethical values and its main writers were Gulabdas Broker, Mansukhlal Jhaveri, Vishnuprasad Trivedi and others. While existentialism, surrealism and symbolism have influenced the latter. The modernists want to do away with moral values and religious beliefs. The eminent writers of this trend are Chandrakant Baxi, Suresh Joshi, Madhu Rai, Raghuvir Chowdhury, Saroj Pathak and others. Gujarati prose has recorded growth and literary feats quite rapidly in less than two hundred years and now can be counted among the front benchers in Indian literature.

KANNADA

Kannada is almost as old as Tamil, the truest of the Dravidian family. Initially the area of the Kannada speech extended much further to the north than present Karnataka, but was pushed back by the Aryan Marathi.

The early (pre 800AD) bits and pieces of Kannada literature are insufficient to lay claims to the literature’s origins. The oldest extant book is king Nripatunga’s literary critique Kavi Raja Marga (circa 840). Jainism being a popular religion at the time, there were some Jaina poets like Srivijaya and Guna Varman I. A new trend began with the ‘Three Gems’ of Kannada literature, Pampa, Ponna and Ranna in the 10th century, where prose and verse were mixed with the campu style. The three poets extensively wrote on episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and Jain legends and biographies. Chavunda Raya, Ranna’s elder contemporary then came up with an elaborate work on history of all the 24 Jaina tirthankaras (saintly teachers). The Chola kings of Tamil-land got too aggressive around the 11th century and fought wars. This meant a lean phase in literary activities except for the works of a few writers like Naga Chandra, known for his Jain Ramayana, the Jain poetess Kanti, the grammarian Naga Varman II who wrote Karnataka Bhasha Bhushana in Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms), and Kirtti Varman and Vritta Vilasa.

The middle phase of Kannada literature saw the power of Puranic Hinduism over Jainism. A very distinct phase of writing began in the second half of the 12th century in the Vira-Shaiva phase with Basava’s Vachanas. There was a spate of writers like Harihara, Raghavanka and Kereya Padmarasa writing fervently about Shiva in the 12th-13th centuries. Rebellion against the orthodox rituals came from the brilliant poetess Akkamahadevi, a harbinger of Bhakti poetry . The Jains, too, weren’t idle all this while; they composed legendary histories of various tirthankaras (ford makers). In all, the 13th century was chock-full with poems, literary criticism, grammar, natural science and translations from Sanskrit.

Kannada literature took a strong Hindu bend with the orthodox Vijayanagara kings (14th-15th AD). Some eminent names were Bhima Kavi, Padmanaka, Mallanarya, Singiraja and Chamarasa. The Bhakti movement also affected Kannada literature in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas were translated afresh using the folk meters satpadi and regale. Devotional songs of dasas or singing mendicants were compiled, which formed an important part of popular literature.

The next two centuries were a busy period with many rulers and kingdoms such as the Wodeyar kings, Bijapur Sultans and Mughals that led to much literary activity. Bhattakalanka Deva’s Karnataka Shabdaushasana (1604AD) on grammar, Sakdakshara Deva’s romantic campu- the Rajshekhara Vilasa (1657AD), the historical compositions of the Wodeyar period (1650-1713AD), Nijaguna Yogi’s Viveka Chintamani of Shaiva lore (mid 17th century), Nanja Raja’s Puranic works the Shiva Bhakti Mahatmya and Hari Vamsa (circa 1760), were some of the notable creations. The popular Yakshagana, dramatization of Puranic tales with much singing, was an innovation of the late 18th century. A good mass of folk poetry thus came to be written.

Modern education made a late entry in Karnataka as compared to other parts of India. Works based on Sanskrit models, like Shakuntala of Basavappa Shastri, continued till the late 19th century. With a little initiation from the Christian missionaries, the Academy of Kannada Literature was set up in Bangalore in 1914. Gradually modern literature gained tempo and translations were made from English, Bengali and Marathi. Kerur and Galaganatha attempted the first novels in Kannada, followed by a host of novelists like Shivarama Karanta, K. V. Puttapa, G P Rajaratnam, Basavaraja Kattimani, Nanjanagudu Tirumalamba (the first major woman writer in modern Kannada) and others. The short story too made its advent with Panje Mangesha Rao and Masti Venkatesha Ayyangar. A new trend in drama began with the use of colloquial language. Poetry, too, wasn’t left behind; B. M. Shrikanthayya took Kannada poetry to great heights with innovations like the blank verse.

Literature in Kannada today is a big enterprise, with bustling centres like the University of Mysore, the Karnataka University at Dharwar and the Kannada Sahitya Parishad of Mysore.

KASHMIRI

Kashmiri has an interesting linguistic history. Like the other North Indian languages, it branched off from the Indo-Aryan Sanskrit, but had another ancestor before that- the Shina languages of the Indo-Iranian family. But when mighty Sanskrit came, Shina was thickly overlaid. From about the 14th century, medieval Persian too started creeping into Kashmiri. With such foreign influences, the Kashmiri language boasts of peculiarities like certain vowel and consonant sounds which no other Indian language has. Kishtawari is the most popular dialect of Kashmiri.

The literary history of Kashmiri, beginning from 12th century AD, is equally interesting. Poetry is the key word, with writers experimenting with different forms of it in all ages. Anyway, contrary to what happened in other literatures (or rather what has been recorded of them), the first great Kashmiri writer was a woman. She was everybody’s favourite- Lal Dad or Granny Lal. Her sensitivity and mysticism in the verses "Vaakh" appealed to the Hindus, Muslims, scholars and peasants alike. Other works of this formative phase (till about 1555 AD), though not as brilliant as Lal Dad’s, are Shrukhs of Sheikh Noor-ud-din, Mahanay Prakash of Shiti Kantha, Banasura Katha of Bhatavatar and Sukhadukhacharitam of Ganaka Prashasta.

Love-poetry flourished in the next few centuries. Along with the mystical and esoteric verses perfected by Habib Ullah Navshohri (1555-1617) and Rupa Bhawani (1625-1720), a new kind of love poetry developed. This was the beautiful lol-lyric, sung mostly by women. Habba Khatoon (1551-1606) and Aarnimal (late 18th century) were the ruling ladies of this genre of mellifluous verses.

Although a garden jasmine I,
in the very prime of bloom,
yet waste I as the snow in June.
Come in the garden, Love,
Come and enjoy the jasmine bloom;
It blooms for you.
Habba Khatoon

Persian literature became quite an influence on Kashmiri in the late 18th century. And Kashmiri littérateurs like Mahmud Gani and Waliullah Motoo (both mid-19th century) took to translations from Persian and writing masnavis (couplets expressing one emotion) and ghazals (romantic poetry set to music) in a big way. The legendary love tales of Laila and Majnu, Shirin and Farhad, Sohrab and Rustum, and many more were brought in which, a hundred years later, also became excellent fodder for hit films.

Lila-poetry was another innovation where the poet sang like a lover-devotee of the Creator’s exuberance. Paramanand (1791-1885) excelled in this, while others like Prakash Ram, Maqbul Shah, Lachman Raina, Rasul Mir and Shams Faqir dealt with other forms of poetry. The Kashmiris are a singing people; songs and ghazals have always been a part of their literary culture. The cult of the maikhana (liquor house) and sharaab (wine) in ghazals, popular in Urdu poetry too, was created in the 1890s and 1900s. The first few decades of the 20th century saw a prolific writing of mystical and secular poetry, ghazals, masnavis and geets (songs).

Prose appeared pretty late in Kashmiri, only in the beginning of this century. But there’s really not much good Kashmiri prose, except for a few translations. It was also the time of great socio-political movements all over the country, which had their impact on modern poets like Ghulam Ahmed Mahjoor (1885-1952), Zinda Kaul and Abdul Ahad Azad. Dramas are a recent entry in Kashmiri, with only a few noteworthy like Somnath Zutshi’s Mo’dur Mas and Viji Vaav, and some from the Machaama series of Pushkar Bhan.

Konkani

Konkani is an Indian language spoken in the Konkan region in the west coast of India. This region comprises the Konkan division of Maharashtra, Goa, Canara, i.e. coastal Karnataka, and a few pockets in Kerala. The Konkani language is said to hail from the Indo-European family of languages and is considerably influenced by languages like Portuguese, Kannada, Tulu, Marathi and Persian. There are two significant theories pertaining the history and origin of Konkani.

As per the first theory about the Konkani language, its originators were the Saraswat Brahmins who resided alongside the banks of the Saraswati River flowing in northwest part of India. This incident is dated as late as some 5000 years ago. But due to the seismic movement of the Earth, the Saraswat Brahmins had to migrate from there and they finally settled down in the Gomantek region of the country. They brought their own dialect of Sauraseni Prakrit, which with time evolved into the modern Konkani language.

Another theory is that Konkani is a Sanskritised version of a language that is now spoken by the Kokna tribe. The Kokna tribe is also famous by the names of Kokni, Kukni and Kukna. Though, in the present times, these tribals can be found in northern part of Maharashtra and south Gujarat, it is believed that they had primarily settled in the Konkan region. It was the migrating Aryans who came to the Konkan region, picked up this language and mixed numerous Sanskrit words into it.

In current times, Konkani is a dominant language of people residing at the picturesque sea port of Goa. Originally, it was the Brahmi script that was used for writing in the language. But later, when it lost its popularity, the Devanagri script started being used instead. This script was significantly used for religious purposes, for maintaining accounts and trade ledgers as well as for other activities of daily life.

The evolution of Konkani, as both language and literature, has seen some major sharp curves. For instance, Konkani was well nurtured under the care of the Hindus rulers evolving its own dramatic form and expression. It developed its own rich folklore, proverbs, lullabies, nursery rhymes and so on. In comparison, the Muslim domination in the Konkani speaking belt had an adverse effect on the growth of the Konkani language.

Some remarkable works in Konkani literature include the Cover of Dovtrina Christam by Fr. Thomas Stephens. This is probably the first published work in Konkani. Then there's also the Konkani Mansagangotri written by Prof Olivinho Gomes, Vajralikhani by Shenoi Goembab, Konkani Bhashecho Itihas by Shenoi Goembab, etc. Another famous piece of Konkani literature is the Sollavea Xekddeantlem Konknni Mhabharot by Adi Porv, which is a collection of 18 stories from the Indian epic, Mahabharata.

Maithili

The Maithili language is spoken in the state of Bihar in India. Considered to be a dialect of both Hindi and Bengali, Maithili achieved an independent language status in India in the year 2003. This could happen only because of a mass movement that called for providing Maithili an official status through its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution so that it may be used for education, government and other purposes.

In the very inception, Maithili used to be written in the Maithili script, which has some resemblance to the Bengali script and is also known by names like Tirhuta and Mithilakshar. Apart from this, the Maithili language was also written in the Kaithi script. However, it is the Devanagri script that is most commonly used for writing Maithili in the present times. A proposal has been drafted to preserve as well as develop the Maithili script by using it in the digital media by encoding the script in the Unicode standard.

Maithili that is even today it is spoken by approximately 4.5 Crore people in India boasts of a rich literature. If you start tracing the history of Maithili literature, you will find that the most famous literary figure in Maithili was poet Vidyapati. He is responsible for elevating Maithili from the status of people's language to one used for official work in Bihar, by impressing the maharaja of Darbhanga with his poems. Earlier, the state language used to be Sanskrit that distanced commoners from the state and its functions.

Varn Ratnakar by Jyotirishwar is probably the earliest work in Maithili literature dated at about 1224 AD. The medieval period of Maithili was during the Karnat Dynasty and litterateurs like Gangesh, Padmanabh, Chandeshwar, Vireshwar and others were famous during this period. Though poet Vidyapati was a Sanskrit scholar, he wrote many poems on Bhakti and Shringar in the Maithili language.

Infact, this language was also employed by many authors to write on humor and satire. For instance, writers like Dr Hari Mohan Jha took measures to bring about crucial changes in the ancient Mithila Culture. In fact, his renowned work 'Khatar Kaka Ke Tarang' is considered to be like a crown embellishing the modern Maithili literature. After the Maithali language was accepted by India's Sahitya Academy, it has won awards almost every year. Literary works in the Maithili language have also won a number of other awards.

MALAYALAM

Malayalam is one of the Dravidian languages, which dates back to the 10th century. Malayalam is the baby in the Dravidian family. It’s an offshoot of old Tamil and remained in the latter’s shadows for a long time before gaining independent identity in the 10th century. But soon after the young Malayalam stepped out on its own, it met with the biggest bully of all – Sanskrit. Thanks to the endeavors of the Namboodiris, the powerful feudal aristocrats of Kerala, Aryan Sanskrit had almost replaced Malayalam in its own land. The Mani-pravalam or ‘ruby and coral style’ was the baby of such a pileup, a style which meant using as many Sanskrit words as possible. The linguistic result of the two dominions, however, has been a happy one; the orchestral resources of Malayalam have been infinitely enriched.

But while Tamil and Sanskrit took turns in stamping their authority, a third kind of Malayalam evolved and survived – the pure or pucca Malayalam. This was the folk stream of lullabies, wedding songs and dirges, which flowed through the centuries and became the source of Malayalam literature later. It had Christian and Muslim elements too. The Kathakali dance form, which is famous the world over, traces its roots in this folk culture of Kerala.

Malayalam literature takes a lazy and winding route till the end of the 18th century, after which the modern period begins. The Ramacharitam (1300AD) is the oldest Malayalam text. Writings of the first few centuries were in Mani-pravalam or the ‘high style’. This went on until Cherusseri Namboodiri turned his attention to pure Malayalam and wrote Krishna Gatha in early 15th century. This was again followed by a generation of campu compositions, a mixture of prose and verse with a liberal sprinkling of Sanskrit words. The themes were from the great Sanskrit epics and Puranas. As late as the 17th century, the first big Malayali poet, Tunchattu Ramanuja Ezhuttachchan adopted the Sanskrit alphabet in place of Malayalam’s incomplete one. A new literary type arose in the 18th century, the Tullal or dance drama, which again dipped into the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas for themes.

Kotungallur (in North Kerala) and Trivandrum (in South Kerala) became the two hectic centers of literary activity in the second half of the 19th century. Volumes of translations were being written – Valiya Koyil Tampuran’s Shakuntala (1881), Kunnikkuttan Tampuran’s Hamlet and Mahabharata, Vallattol Narayana Menon’s Ramayana (1878) and others. It was a period of original works too, with a flood of essays on historical and literary topics, dramas, novels and poems and literary journals. The first and original novel in Malayalam was T. M. Appu Netunnati’s Kundalata (1887), but more popular was Chantu Menon’s Indulekha (1889). Some of the later novelists were Vennayil Kunniraman Nayanar, Appan Tampuran, V. K. Kunnan Menon, Ambati Narayana Potuval and C. P. Achyuta Menon who grounded the present day Malayalam prose style. Vaikkom Mohammad Bashir is one of the most loved literary figures of Kerala. Some poets of the modern school are Kumaran Ashan, G. Sankara Kurup, K. K. Raja, Channampuzha Krishna Pilla and N. Balamaniyamma.

As the state with the highest literacy rate, Kerala is one of the intellectual centers of the country. Kerala is just the place for literature and litterateurs.