History of-language-literature-writing-in-india

History of Languages, Literature, and Writing in India

1. History of Language, Literature, Writing ( Version-2 / 1 st Nov 2016) by Rajeev B Bhatnagar History & Culture of India

2. Definitions

3. What does Language, Literature, Writing Cover? - Languages Language is generally the spoken language There are five families of spoken languages in Indian subcontinent Dravidian Austro-Asiatic Tibeto-Burman Indo-Iranian (Iranian, Indo-Aryan) Isolates Language can be spoken ( eg . Prakrits ) or literary ( eg . Sanskrit) Language evolves, changes over time

4. What does Language, Literature, Writing Cover? – Literature-1 Literature is information preserved from past, generally in form of writing Sanskrit, an Indo-Aryan language, is unique in the world because its literature was preserved by memorizing, not bywriting it down Ensured longer survival. Greek fell in disuse till Muslims recovered it, Persian literature was destroyed by invaders - first Alexander and later Muslims Sanskrit could not be destroyed by Muslims in India because invasion was not complete Literature in 20+ languages is available in India Oldest is in Sanskrit Next Tamil

5. What does Language, Literature, Writing Cover? – Literature-2 Literature is classified in several ways One classification is “religious” (=connected with religion, sacred) “secular” (=not connected with religion) Three more classifications are Poetry & Prose Novels, Drama, Monologue, Non-fiction, . . . Comedy, Satire, . . .

6. What does Language, Literature, Writing Cover? - Writing Writing is converting language into symbols and inscribing them on a media like paper (perishable) or stone (permanent) “Script” is a et of specific symbols used for writing Progress of Oldest in India is Harappan script, yet to be deciphered Next Ashoka used three scripts in his inscriptions - Greek, Kharoasti , and Brahmi Brahmi was a new script, first time evidenced in his time Scripts used by most languages in India have evolved from Brahmi Irrespective of language family Today many scripts for writing are used in Indian subcontinent

7. Periodization into Eras / Ages SN Era Period Duration (Years) Link 1 Pre-civilization Era 70000 - 7000 BC 63000 2 Mehrgarh Era 7000-3300 BC 3700 3 Harappan Era 3300-1900 BC 1400 4 Vedic Era in India 1900-325 BC 1575 5 Buddhist Era 325 BC – 325 AD 650 6 Classical Hindu Era 325-1200 AD 875 7 Islamic Era 1200-1740 AD 540 8 Maratha Era 1740-1820 AD 80 9 British Era 1820-1947 AD 127 10 Contemporary Era 1947 AD till date 69

8. History of Language, Literature, Writing: Period wise

9. History of Language, Literature, Writing 1. Pre-civilization Era: 70,000-7,000 BC, 63,000 years

10. 1.1 Pre-civilization Era – Global scene Human beings migrated and populated the whole globe by end this Pre-civilization Era (7000 BC in India). They developed many language families which today are clearly linked to the genetic makeup of speakers but the families are unconnected with each other. Men today speaking languages of Indo-European family tend to have Male YDNA lineage of Haplogroup “R” Men today speaking Arabic tend to have Haplogroup “J” Men today speaking Dravidian tend to have Haplogroup “H” Men today speaking Sino-Tibetan tend to have Haplogroup “O” It is likely that human beings developed the faculty of communicating by spoken languages during this Pre-civilization Era.

11. 1.2 Pre-civilization Era – Indian scene Full Indian subcontinent had been populated by end of this Era (7000 BC) by peoples of different genetic makeups. It is reasonable to believe that different languages were spoken. Dravidian Austro-Asiatic, and may be Sino Tibetan, isolates, and some which do not survive today We know nothing about spoken languages of Indian people during this Era No literature survives Writing or script was certainly not yet developed .

12. History of Language, Literature, Writing 2. Mehrgarh Era: 7000-3300 BC, 3700 years

13. 2. Mehrgarh Era – Indian scene We know nothing about Language, Literature, Writing in Mehrgarh Era Languages must certainly have existed in Mehrgarh civilization or other areas of the subcontinent No literature survives Writing did not exist in this Era in India and is not evidenced in archeology

14. History of Language, Literature, Writing 3. Harappan Era: 3300-1900 BC, 1400 years

15. 3.1 Harappan Era – Indian scene-1 Since subcontinent was peopled and language development is evidenced in other areas of the world, we can Safely assume that languages of at least three families existed in India though we have hard evidence to support - Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman Perhaps couple of the modern isolate languages & now extinct languages may have existed Indo-Aryans were yet to arrive and existed somewhere outside Indian subcontinent with their language We know nothing about language & literature of the Harappan Civilization (or other civilizations) that flourished in India

16. 3.1 Harappan Era – Indian scene-2 Writing / Script is available on thousands of seals in Harappan civilization It has not been deciphered till date Though hundreds of claims have been made for deciphering it but none is generally accepted

17. 3.2 Harappan Era – Global footnote-1 We do, however, know about language, literature, & writing of neighboring Mesopotamian civilization in Iraq and distant Egypt civilization because those scripts have been deciphered Thru these we know about their political, military, and cultural life in 3300-1900 BC Political & Military history: Names of different people, kingdoms, kings, military technology Cultural life Religious aspects like God & Goddesses, their stories Economic activities like trade and so on

18. 3.2 Harappan Era – Global footnote We can make some reasonable hypothesis about Indo-Aryans (or their ancestors) during this Era (3300-1900 BC) even though they were outside Indian subcontinent. We have Indian historical tradition which was carried by Greeks in c. 300 BC and has been re-discovered after 2100 years in c. 1800 AD It says that Chandragupta Maurya was the ~159 th king of Indians Giving 18 years per king to 158 kings and 330 BC as coronation of Chandragupta Maurya , we get the date of first king as 3174 BC as the first year. We have their historical tradition of Kaliyuga starting in 3100 BC

19. 3.3 Harappan Era – Harappan Writing-1 Problems in deciphering Harappan Writing / Script First is discontinuity of 1650 years in practice of writing in Indian subcontinent After the Harappan seals (2700-1900), next available writing is from rule of Ashoka (c. 250 BC) Second is that no double-script inscription has been discovered to help deciphering Nothing like Rosetta Stone which helped in deciphering of . . . Nothing like Indo-Greek Coins which helped deciphering of Brahmi script Third is that the longest text available is only about 10 symbols long. It was found in (?) Surkotada at the Entrance Gate of that city. Fourth is that we do not know which is the language Harappans spoke which the writing represents

20. 3.3 Harappan Era – Harappan Writing-2 Status of Decipherment efforts Russian computerized attempts Iravai Mahadevan’s attempt Steve Farmer believes that Harappan writing does not depict writing because no long texts have been found. This hypothesis seems intuitively correct to me.

21. History of Language, Literature, Writing 4. Vedic Era in India: 1900-325 BC, 1575 years

22. 4.1 Vedic Era in India – Indian scene Most of the knowledge about Vedic Era is based on literature in Indo-Aryan languages (Sanskrit & various Prakrits ) that survives till date from this Era We can be sure that spoken languages other than Indo- Ayran existed though no direct evidence to support is available A Dravidian Language was flourishing in the geography where Rig Vedic people lived as borne out by a “Dravidian substrate” in Rig Vedic Sanskrit Iti . . ., Ld . . . , Retroflex consonants . . . Even AA languages flourished as some words have come into Sanskrit Examples There may have been other languages, “Language-X” as well, as hypothesized by Kuiper / Witzel Examples Let us turn to literature in Indo-Aryan languages

23. 4.2 Vedic Era in India – Literature (Indo-Aryan languages)-1 All knowledge about this Era comes thru literature produced under Vedic Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina religions There are archeological cultures but they tell a skeletal tale and don’t speak to us. There are no grand monumental structures from the time and such structures did not exist even in Harappan Era Literature, on the other hand enlivens the story like nowhere else in the world Based on literature, the Vedic Era / Age is divided into two periods Rig Vedic Period (1900-1000 BC) Later Vedic Period (1000-325 BC)

24. 4.3 Vedic Era in India – Literature (Indo-Aryan languages )-2 Indo-Aryans / Rig Vedic People who migrated into India in c. 1900 BC , spoke a Prakrit language similar to Sanskrit They had literature as well which included Hymns / prayer-songs recited by priests at worship ceremony Poems / magic spells recited by priests to ward-off illness, misfortune etc The prayer-songs literature was the intellectual property of priestly class Priests were divided into families and each family had its own set of Hymns which were taught from guru to shishya (generally the son) Singing of these prayer songs in worship ceremony appeased the Rig Vedic Gods who in turn and granted material benefit to the organizer of the worship A ll literature resided in the memory of those priests and was not written down

25. 4.4 Vedic Era in India - Literature (Indo-Aryan languages )-3 Indo-Aryans / Rig Vedic People devised innovative methods to preserve the C ontents of prayer-songs in memory such that not even a single alphabet would be lost, and Pronunciation of the words in contents such that eminent linguists say that oral transmission was not only faithful but like a tape recording from the past [Michael Witzel ] Due to above methods of preservation – originally developed in response to probably semi-nomadic lifestyle of Rig Vedic people, they did not write down their sacred literature

26. 4.5 Vedic Era in India - Writing The Indo-Aryans / Rig Vedic People, who had migrated into India towards the end of Harappan Era and became the dominant power, allowed the art of writing to die and it disappeared from Indian subcontinent Three Reasons for disappearance of writing / script during Vedic Era in India Usage of seals – these had most of the Harappan writing - stopped towards the end of Harappan civilization Trade declined with Mesopotamian civilization which also had declined earlier and within the Harappan which was also declining Indo-Aryans memorized their literature rather than write it down. Vedas, the most sacred of all literature, were written down in India for the first time in c. 1000 AD. Thus first reduction to writing happened 1250 years after the writing was definitely known in India. The transmission was by memory. The Mitanni Empire (1500-1250 BC) in Syria-Turkey, thousands of kilometers away from India, which was also ruled by Indo-Aryan Kings also did not adopt writing even though surrounded by people who used writing / script

27. 4.6 Vedic Era in India – Languages-1 In this Era spanning 1525 years, continuous & major developments took place in Indo-Aryan languages & literature It is indeed gratifying that we can study these changes due to extensive & well-preserved literature available till today First was the compilation of prayer-songs of different priestly families into a single Rig Veda Samhita in c. 1000 BC Since the RVS has been preserved like a “tape-recording” and gives us insight into life & times of Rig Vedic people we call the period from 1900 to 1000 BC as Rig Vedic Period, and then 1000-325 BC become Later Vedic Period

28. 4.7 Vedic Era in India – Languages-2 Spoken Indo-Aryan languages also underwent change of which we know little Several Prakrits : Pali (the language of Buddha), Ardha-magadhi (?language of Mahavira ) Massive amount of literature in Indo-Aryan languages was produced including Four Vedic Samhitas and attached with each Brahmans, Aryanaks , & Upnishads Six Vendangs First versions Ramayan & Mahabharat First version of Adi Purana And many other compositions Literary Indo-Aryan languages also underwent change Vedic Sanskrit, Epic Sanskrit, and so on

29. History of Language, Literature, Writing 5. Buddhist Era: 325 BC – 325 AD, 650 years

30. 5.1 Buddhist Era – External Influences on India Major changes in languages, literature, and writing happened in this Era Xerxes’s (Iranian Achaemenid Empire) conquest of areas in Pakistan before Buddhist Era Alexander’s destruction of Iranian Achaemenid Empire which certainly forced some migrations of Iranians sculptures (and other scholars) into India Chandragupta’s conquest over Greeks and inclusion of Kandhar into Mauryan Empire of India by time of Ashoka Contact with & conquest by Bactrian Greeks and Indo-Greek cultures Other conquests: Scythians (Shak), Parthians ( Pahalav ), Yueh Chi ( Kushan ), [Huns conquests in next Era]

31. 5.2 Buddhist Era - Languages Spoken Indo-Aryan Languages were divided into several Prakrit languages Examples are in Bharat N atya Shastra - which gives a hierarchy of languages with Sanskrit at top. It suggests that the country was multi-lingual as today (where some offices use English but have a mother tongue to converse in) Characters in a drama used different languages depending on hierarchy and the audience obviously understood all of them Spoken languages include Tamil for sure as Sangam poetry preserves the mentions Nanda dynasty kings as well a Mauryan dynasty kings as traversing Southern India it is evidenced in inscription using ‘Tamil Brahmi’ script Satavahana kings also used Sanskrit as well as other language in their inscriptions.

32. 5.3 Buddhist Era - Writing Most important was the introduction of writing / script Ashoka the Great left many inscriptions on rocks (like Iranians) and on pillars (Indian addition) He introduced a new writing script, now called Brahmi script. This was a scientific script in which there is one-to-one correspondence between spoken and written words, so there is little use for “spelling” like in English [?] Ashok used imported Greek and Kharoasthi scripts as well in 1 or 2 of his inscriptions Language of his inscriptions is perhaps Pali Brahmi and scripts derived from it were adopted in later Eras times in other IA, DR, languages and outside India as well Soon the Tamil speakers (Dravidian language) in deep south adopted writing and have left us inscriptions. These give us first direct attestation of Dravidian languages in circa .... BC

33. 5.4 Buddhist Era - Literature Poetry was much advanced in India even before arrival of external influences Even in Greeks the practice was to compose literature in poetry There were songs and dances (which Buddha prohibits to his monks) Rise of Dramas in literature Oldest Dramas were written by a Buddhist Sanskrit dramas were written as well Could have had Greek influence but Indian dramas are different in nature Bharat Natya Shastra was composed towards the end of this era which is the most comprehensive Indian treatise on Performing Arts and has influence till date in classical music and dance ... [Talks about types of Dramas in literature, though it is part of Performing Arts]

34. 5.5 Buddhist Era - Literature Literature also grew immensely There were several streams Buddhist, Jaina , and Hindu Religious and Secular (Need a better term) Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages Buddhist: Tripitakas were composed Compositions of 2 nd , 3 rd , & 4 th Buddhist Councils Later some of these were translated into Sanskrit and fresh Buddhist compositions were in Sanskrit

35. 5.6 Buddhist Era - Literature Sanskrit Chanakya Arthashastra , Chanakya Neeti , Chanakya Sutra Any Dharma Shashtra ? Panini’s all time classic ‘ Ashta-adhyayi ’ was composed and Patanjali’s commentary on it titled ‘ Maha-bhashya ’ Bharat N atya Shastra already mentioned before Sutra literature?? Patanjali Yoga-sutra ?? Present versions of Mahabharata and Ramayana Extension of genealogies in Puranas – Updation with “future kings” Thus, while Buddhism was popular, foundational Hindu literature was already composed.

36. 5.7 Buddhist Era - Literature Secular literature Astronomy & astrology: Composition on Greek & Roman - Sputhidhwaja [correct name?], Romaka Siddhanta mentioned in ..... Indian astrology also has 12 houses which is same as Greek Medicine: Some of the treatises like Sushrut and Charak may have been composed in this period. Indian system of ‘tri- doshas ’ is like the Greek, but this could be original Indian which the Greeks borrowed. In time of Ashoka he set up hospitals for humans and animals – and also planted medicinal trees where these were not available

37. 5.8 Buddhist Era - Literature Secular literature

38. History of Language, Literature, Writing 6. Classical Hindu Era: 325-1200 AD, 875 years

39. 6.1 Classical Hindu Era - Languages Evolution of new spoken languages continued in Indo-Aryan and Dravidian families Written evidence of separation of Dravidian languages comes from this period Kanadda Telugu Malyalam

40. 6.2 Classical Hindu Era - Writing Scripts for each of the four Dravidian languages, which had become ‘literary’ were unique There are many Dravidian languages But only four developed a script / literature, i.e. became ‘literary’ The unique scripts were derived from Brahmi What about other languages like Oriya?? Writing was certainly known by c. 400 AD Fa- hien , the Chinese Buddhist Monk who travelled to India in c. 400 AD records that he could with some difficulty obtain written manuscripts of Buddhist holy book(s)

41. 6.3 Classical Hindu Era – Literature-1 Copious literature was produced in Sanskrit, which was the language of scholarship across Indian subcontinent – both religious and secular Sanskrit had been the language of learning in India from the Rig Vedic Era. It got pushed back slightly during Buddhist Era because teachings of Buddha and Mahavira were in local spoken dialects Panini composed ‘ Ashtha-adhyayi ’ in beginning of Buddhist Era from which date Sanskrit has followed his rules of grammar & is called “Classical Sanskrit” which has been used till date Later even Buddhists & Jains later abandoned the Pali & Ardhamagadhi and adopted Sanskrit as their language of learning because the vernacular dialects were inadequate. It was only after c. 1200 AD that Arabic / Persian languages became the official language and use of Sanskrit declined. In addition use of other languages increased. We have King Hala’s poems from Andhra Pradesh in circa 200 AD Literature also arose in Tamil, Telugu, Kanadda , Malayalam Literature in other Indo- Aryaan languages arose Note worthy is first tanslation of Kuran into Sindhi It will be interesting to know about some the literary works produced because it gives us an insight into the life and times of our ancestors

42. 6.3 Classical Hindu Era – Literature-2 Tamil Post Sangam Age literature will come in Classical Hindu Era Poems of Alwars & Nayanars Tolkapium , Thirukural , two famous plays ( Kannaggi ) may be earlier Kanadda Telugu Mahabharata Malayalam

43. 6.3 Classical Hindu Era – Literature-3 Sanskrit: Religious Hindu Religious Completed before: Valmiki Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas . .. Moksha literature: Dharma literature: Three of greatest Hindu sages / philosophers of this Era were from south India – Shankaracharya , Ramanuja , Madhvacharya - also wrote in Sanskrit Buddhist Religious Jaina Religious Construction of religious buildings and icons

44. 6.3 Classical Hindu Era – Literature-4 Sanskrit: Secular Artha literature: Kama literature: Kama Sutra, Ananga Ranga Literature & Grammar Aesthetics, History: Puranas ??, Rajatarangini ,

45. 6.3 Classical Hindu Era – Literature-5 Sanskrit: Secular Astronomy & astrology Aryabhatta Medical science Math-Physics-Chemistry Geography Encyclopedia Brihat Samhita

46. 6.3 Classical Hindu Era – Literature-6 Other Indo-Aryan Languages Sindhi: The first translation of Quran into Sindhi was made Bengali Oriya Gujarati Maharashtri / Marathi

47. History of Language, Literature, Writing 7. Islamic Era: 1200-1740 AD, 540 years

48. 7.1 Islamic Era – Languages-1 Spoken Indo-Aryans and Dravidian languages continued to evolve unaffected by arrival of Islam Muslims who came as conquerors could not make the local population speak their mother tongue but adopted the local languages as their tongue Those who converted to Islam continued to speak their original mother tongues like in Sindhi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Bengali Persian, Turkish, and Arabic words were incorporated in vocabulary of local languages

49. 7.1 Islamic Era – Languages-2 Court language was changed to Persian (?) in most Muslim ruling dynasties thus Sanskrit lost its place in courts with spread of Islam in subcontinent Thus coins also display Persian script Arabic / Persian did not become the “dominant languages” and could not replace local languages – though usage of Sanskrit went down – never to acquire its previous predominant status “Language imperialism” did not succeed as later it did in case of English, nor was it “appropriated” nor could it become the “lingua franca”

50. 7.1 Islamic Era – Languages-3 A new language ”Urdu” evolved in latter half of Islamic Era which was used as the spoken ‘camp language’ in Mughal Armies Spoken part of Urdu is same as spoken Hindi but with significant influence of Arabic/Persian/Turkish Written part of Urdu is in Arabic script Thus Arabic & Persian enjoyed only a limited success in Indian subcontinent – they added to vocabulary to local languages but could not replace them, they brought in a new script which survives in Pakistan (but not Bangladesh I Guess) It dislodged Sanskrit from official language But its own usage did not catch and Arabic & Persian, like Sanskrit, are dead as spoken languages in the subcontinent

51. 7.2 Islamic Era – Literature-1 Wars of invasion by Muslim dynasties led to defeat of Hindu kings and thus reduced patronage to Sanskrit Destruction of temples and killing of Brahmins which resulted in loss of then-existing Sanskrit literature Classic example is destruction of Nalanda but there were other great monasteries Thus usage of Sanskrit declined continuously, though did not die out We can still find a few composition in Sanskrit from Islamic Era but these all come from kingdoms where Islam’s presence was non-existent or weak.

52. 7.2 Islamic Era – Literature-2 Sanskrit Literature from Islamic Era Most important is Sayana’s commentary on Rig Veda Samhita but for which translating it would have been difficult. Written in Vijayanagar Empire

53. 7.2 Islamic Era – Literature-3 Other IA / Dravidian Literature from Islamic Era Bhojpuri: Tulsidas wrote his very popular Rama- charit - manas . Was it Akbar’s time? Tamil: Kamban Ramayan is also from this period?? Many Bhakti poets lived and composed in this Islamic Era like the Gita Govind Sant Gnan-eshwar Punjabi: The Adi Granth (?) and Guru Granth Sahib (the 11 th Guru of Sikhs), were composed during this period and written in ‘Gurmukhi” script

54. 7.2 Islamic Era – Literature-4 Arabic / Turkish / Persian literature in India (Original)

55. 7.2 Islamic Era – Literature-5 Arabic / Turkish / Persian literature in India (Translations) There were translation of Sanskrit books in to Arabic / Persian and other languages Panchatantra, Alberuni has studied many Indian subjects and mentioned in his Indika Concept of zero was taken by Arabic people Humanyun , Akbar, Dara Shikoh also arranged for translations of Sanskrit works into Persian etc. Hindus also learned Persian language and began creating literature for example I have a history written by a Bhatnagar in that time.

56. 7.3 Islamic Era – Writing Arabic and Persian scripts came into India and were used in court records, coins, inscriptions, and the like. However, there is hardly any people in Indian subcontinent as speaking these languages as their mother-tongue May be those on west Indus like Pashtun and Baloch people may be using Persian family languages. But they have been over-shadowed by Muslims who speak Sindhi and Punjabi Gurmukhi script was used in this Era for writing the Adi Granth (?) and the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the 11 th Guru of Sikhs and is the Sikh Holy Book

57. History of Language, Literature, Writing 8. Maratha Era: 1740-1820 AD, 80 years

58. 8.1 Maratha Era - Overview We don’t have much to say about language, literature, and writing from this short Era Still let us have a look at some new things

59. 8.2 Maratha Era - Literature Indo-Aryan Languages I guess some Bengali literature may date from this era Dravidian Languages One of the first translations of Bible and Thirukural may be dated to this era European Languages Considerable literature must have been produced in Portuguese, French, Dutch, English. Original as well as translations.

60. 8.1 Maratha Era - Writing However, one change is noticeable – Maratha courts began keeping written records about their kingdoms, which was a leaf out of practice of Mughal courts. These Maratha court records are available to researchers today In contrast the records kept by Hindu Kings in Islamic Era & Classical Hindu Era are limited to Inscriptions on land grants, victories, temple completions etc. Biographies written by court poets When was printing press introduced? Before this the way was to copy manuscripts.

61. History of Language, Literature, Writing 9. British Era: 1820-1947, 127 years

62. 9. British Era: Overview Spoken languages underwent significant changes Literature and Writing witnessed an explosion

63. 9.1 British Era: Languages-1 Spoken languages underwent significant changes Obvious was addition of new vocabulary to Indian languages – especially in science English also acquired new words from Indian languages – Paraiah from Tamil, Bazaar from Urdu, . . . . English acquired the status of ‘dominant language’ and became an example of “Linguistic imperialism” – a feet in which Arabic and Persian had failed quite miserably

64. 9.1 British Era: Languages-2 What could be the reasons? Local people embraced the language in seeking higher economic and social status It was made available thru a secular schools (non-religious) and to people of all religions. Hindus as well as Muslims embraced English education realizing the new perspectives it had to offer – science, law, liberal arts, . . .

65. 9.2 British Era: Literature-1 The Official language (equal to court language) was changed to English It was used in offices, administration, courts, public Education in English was introduced in schools, colleges English became the way to achieve better paying government jobs & high positions Contact with western civilization brought a new outlook in literature Newspapers, magazines also began circulating – which was a new genre of communication but also literature

66. 9.2 British Era: Literature-2 Sanskrit Was a definite gainer in British Era Hundreds of Sanskrit works were painstakingly studied, corrected for errors by comparing manuscripts (edited), translated in German, French, and most of all English These became widely available to educated people – Hindus / Indian especially – from earlier extremely limited access Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas , Smritis (Hindu law books), Abhigyan Shakuntalam Systematic study of Sanskrit literature

67. 9.2 British Era: Literature-2 Other Indo-Aryan Languages Famous authors – Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya , Prem Chandra Autobiography, a new genre in India was started, one example being Gandhi’s ‘My Experiments in Truth’

68. 9.2 British Era: Literature-3 Dravidian Languages Translations from English like Bible Magazine like Malyaram Manorama and Kumdum Arabic / Persian / Urdu

69. 9.2 British Era: Literature-4 English There was a large body of translations as noted earlier Almost everything was translated – religious and secular – including Kama Sutra, Ananga Ranga , Panchatantra, . . . . Several Indians took to writing in English Newspapers – The Hindu, . . . Books on subjects like History & Culture of India, . . . Englishmen wrote hundreds of accounts about India and on things connected with India Books on India written outside were translated like travels of Greeks, Periplus , Fa- hien , Hieun-tsang , Alberuni , Ibn Batuta , Marcopolo , Tavernier, memoirs of British civil servants & military servicemen who served in India . . . Indepth studies were made on tribes of India and their spoken languages as well as castes

70. 9.2 British Era: Literature-5 Other European Languages One contribution was an account of Aurangzeb’s period by Niccolao Manucci Another was on sea-route to India adopted by Portuguese which was stolen by British / Dutch

71. 9.3 British Era: Writing Printing Press brought to India by ...... Was a revolution I think scripts for some tribal languages were also developed The interest in tribals as well as caste system was due to potential for conversions to Christianity these two stream of Indians offered

72. History of Language, Literature, Writing 10. Contemporary Era: 1947 till date, 69 years

73. 10.1 Contemporary Era - Languages Partition of India caused two new movements in languages India began promoting usage of Hindi – in line with policy of INC – and simultaneously purifying it by deleting Arabic/Persian words from it Pakistan made a strange choice of making Urdu as its national language It is not spoken by most of its people (Punjabi, Sindhi, and Bengali are) It began purifying Urdu of Hindi words

74. 10.1 Contemporary Era - Languages More important is the emergence of English as the “dominant language” at least in India It has effectively become the top-level language of communication, administration in large corporate sector, higher education across the country This is essential because no country or continent has a linguistic diversity higher than India Also given the agitation against “imposition of Hindi” and now “imposition of Sanskrit” in one southern state - Tamil Nadu – which is a emotional issue as well as a vote-catching issue

75. 10.1 Contemporary Era - Languages Political fallout of language-based movements In India languages played an important part in politics In 1956 India re-organized its states on linguistic grounds In Tamil Nadu a major political struggle broke out against “imposition of Hindi” which still has some life. Thus a three-language-formula was adopted Pakistan suffered very serious consequences – a second partition Internal strife between the East Pakistan (Bengali-speaking) and West Pakistan (Punjabi-Sindhi-speaking ) led to division of the country It was was partly the cause of its breakup in 1971 Sri Lanka also faced internal strife partly along linguistic divide It made Sinhalese (Indo-Aryan language) as national language and imposed it on Tamil-speaking minority in North-East of the country Later there was serious civil war between the two ethnic groups

76. 10.2 Contemporary Era - Literature Well needs a detailed study in which I need help Newer languages have become “ lietary ” due to development of scripts One example may be Rajasthani

77. 10.3 Contemporary Era - Writing How many scripts in India?? In India efforts are beings made to develop scripts for several languages so that they become “literary languages”

78. Thank You