Hindi

Lore & Background

Hindi is a direct descendant of an early form of Vedic Sanskrit, transitioning through Shauraseni Prakrit and Śauraseni Apabhraṃśa, which emerged in the 7th century CE. During the Delhi Sultanate, the Sanskrit and Prakrit base of Old Hindi became enriched with Persian loanwords, evolving into Hindustani. Hindi achieved prominence after it became the official language of the imperial court during the reign of Shah Jahan, and Emperor Aurangzeb spoke in Hindvi. Standard Hindi is based on the Khariboli dialect spoken in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, gradually replacing earlier prestige languages such as Awadhi and Braj. Modern Hindi became a literary language in the 19th century, with early examples including Prēm Sāgar by Lallu Lal, Batiyāl Pachīsī of Sadal Misra, and Rānī Kētakī Kī Kahānī of Insha Allah Khan, published in Devanagari script.

Reader's Guide

Hindi's significance lies in its role as the official language of the Indian Union and its widespread use as a lingua franca across northern India. The adoption followed efforts by figures such as Beohar Rajendra Simha, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Kaka Kalelkar, Maithili Sharan Gupt, and Seth Govind Das. Hindi is the fourth-most-spoken first language globally and, when counted with Urdu, the third-most-spoken. Outside India, several other languages are officially recognized as 'Hindi' but descend from other languages such as Awadhi and Bhojpuri, including Bhojpuri-Hindustani in South Africa and Mauritius, Fiji Hindi, and Caribbean Hindustani.

Did You Know?

• Hindi is mutually intelligible with standard Urdu, and their common base is sometimes referred to as Hindi–Urdu or Hindustani.
• The term 'Hindi' was originally used to refer to inhabitants of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, borrowed from Classical Persian.
• Hindi became the official language of the imperial court during the reign of Shah Jahan.