Rajasthani Language history and challenges (part 1)

"सोने री धरती अठे, और चाँदी रो आसमान रंग रंगीलो रस भरयो, म्हारो प्यारो राजस्थान...केसरिया बालम आवो नी पधारो म्हारे देश"

Rajasthan, The Royal land, the lines above tell everything about this historical province of India. These lines state that Rajasthan's land is as pure as gold, the sky is as vibrant as silver and Rajasthan is a colourful cultural region. These lines are from famous Rajasthani folk song "Kesaria Balam". These lines point at the fact that how rich is the Rajasthani language. Rajasthan’s history is very prosperous, and the role of Rajasthani language is very influential in it. 

The ancient Rajasthan was a group of royal kingdoms ruled by dynasties named like Maharaja, Sawai, Maharana, etc. A lot of Maharajas born here and ruled over it. The dominant rulers were from the Rajput community. Therefore the state was known as Rajputana in the pre-independence era. A lot of literature about those Kings is available in the form of poetry in local tongues like marwadi, Shekhawati, mewati, bagri, harauti, mewari, dhundhari, ahirwati etc. Where poets have expounded their stories, about the bravery of kings like heroes. All of such local tongues have equal contribution in the overall framework of Rajasthani language. This literature in Rajasthani language is the heritage as well as proud of whole Rajasthan.

• History of Rajasthani Language

Rajasthani language is an Indo-Aryan language. Rajasthani language history starts long back from Sanskrit. Some linguists believe that Rajasthani language is developed from “Prakrit” language. One branch from “Prakrit” language derived which is called “Dingle.” Another Branch was formed from Sanskrit which is called “Pingle.”. From “Dingle” Gujarati and Marwadi language were born.  From “Pingle.” branch Hindi and Brij language were developed. According to linguists primary language of Rajasthan is Marwadi (which was called earlier “Marubhasha” ). Dr Suniti Kumar Chatterjee has used words “Marwadi” or “Dingle” for Rajasthani Language. 

• Distribution of Rajasthani Language

Linguistic Survey of India was done by George A. Grierson. This survey was done to know how languages are distributed in India. According to Grierson Rajasthani is not only spoken in Rajasthan, but it is found in some parts of Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab. Even some places in Pakistan such as Bahawalpur, Tharparkar and Multan provinces also speaks Rajasthani language.  Then Rajasthani language merges with Riasti and Saraiki in Bahawalpur and Multan parts, respectively. It comes in contact with Sindhi from Dera Rahim Yar Khan through Sukkur and Ummerkot. Rajasthani Language is also common in some areas of Lahore.

This is the first part of this blog post Rajasthani Language history and challenges 

Read This Blog Post in Hindi Here -  राजस्थानी भाषा का इतिहास और आगे की चुनौतियाँ