Magahi Language - History

History

Main article: Magadhi Prakrit See also: Jain Prakrit and Pali

The ancestor of Magadhi, from which its name derives, Magadhi Prakrit, was spoken in the eastern Indian subcontinent, in a region spanning what is now eastern India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. These regions were part of the ancient kingdom of Magadha, the core of which was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges. It is believed to be the language spoken by Gautama Buddha. It was the official language of the Mauryan court, and the edicts of Ashoka were composed in it.

The name Magahi is directly derived from the name Magadhi Prakrit, and the educated speakers of Magahi prefer to call it Magadhi rather than Magahi.

Grammarian Kachchayano wrote of the importance of Magadhi:

There is a language which is the root (of all languages); men and Brahmans spoke it at the commencement of the kalpa, who never before uttered a human accent, and even the supreme Buddhas spoke it: it is Magadhi.

The development of the Magadhi language into its current form is unknown. However, language scholars have come to a definite conclusion that Magadhi, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Assamese and Oriya originated from Magadhi-Prakrit/Ardh-Magadhi during the 8th to 11th centuries AD. These different dialects differentiated themselves and took their own course of growth and development. But it is not certain when exactly it took place. It was probably such an unidentified period during which modern Indian languages begin to take modern shape. By the end of 12th century, the development of Apabhramsa reached its climax. Gujrathi, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Maithili, etc. tool a definite shape in their literary writings in the beginning of the 14th century. The distinct shape of Magadhi can be seen in the Dohakosha written by Sidh-Sarahapa and Sidh-Kauhapa. Magadhi had a setback due to the transition period of Magadha administration. Traditionally, strolling bards recite long epic poems in this dialect, and it was because of this that the word 'Magadhi' came to mean 'a bard'. Kaithi is the script generally used for it. The pronunciation in Magahi is not as broad as in Maithili and there are a number of verbal forms for each person. Historically, Magahi had no famous written literature. There are many popular songs throughout the area in which the language is spoken, and strolling bards recite various long epic poems which are known more or less over the whole of Northern India. In Magahi spoken area folk singers sing a good number of ballads.

Even though the number of speakers of Magadhi is quite large, it has not been constitutionally recognized in India. Even in Bihar, Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters. Magahi was legally absorbed under the subordinate label of "HINDI" in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments.

The first success for spreading Hindi occurred in Bihar in 1881, when Hindi displaced Urdu as the sole official language of the province. In this struggle between competing Hindi and Urdu, the potential claims of the three large mother tongues in the region - Magahi, Bhojpuri and Maithili were ignored. After independence, Hindi was again given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950.