The Indo-Aryan languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated east of the Indus river in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal. Moreover, apart from the Indian subcontinent, large immigrant and expatriate Indo-Aryan–speaking communities live in Northwestern Europe, Western Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Southeast Africa, Polynesia and Australia, along with several million speakers of Romani languages primarily concentrated in Southeastern Europe. There are over 200 known Indo-Aryan languages.
Hindko is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northwestern regions of Punjab.
Kashmiri or Koshur is a Dardic Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Kashmir Valley of the Indian-administrated union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, over half the population of that territory. Kashmiri has split ergativity and the unusual verb-second word order.
The Dardic languages, or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan. This region has sometimes been referred to as Dardistan.
The Northern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Pahāḍi languages, are a proposed group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the lower ranges of the Himalayas, from Nepal in the east, through the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab was coined by G. A. Grierson.
Pahari-Pothwari is an Indo-Aryan language variety of Lahnda group, spoken on the Pothohar Plateau in the far north of Punjab, Pakistan, as well as in most of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and in western areas of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, is known by a variety of names, the most common of which are Pahari, and Pothwari.
The Western Pahari or Himachali languages are a range of languages and dialects of Northern Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the western parts of the Himalayan range, primarily in the state of Himachal Pradesh. They are also spoken in Jammu and Jaunsar-Bawar.
Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language of the Western Pahari group, primarily spoken in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, with smaller groups of speakers in the adjoining regions of western Himachal Pradesh, northern Punjab, and north-eastern Pakistani Punjab. It is the ethnic language of the Dogras, and was spoken in the historical region of Duggar. It is currently spoken in the districts of Kathua, Jammu, Samba, Udhampur, Reasi and other adjoining districts of Jammu Province Unusually for an Indo-European language, Dogri is tonal, a trait it shares with other Western Pahari languages and Punjabi. It has several varieties, all with greater than 80% lexical similarity.
The Kangri is a dialect of Punjabi of Indo-Aryan language that is spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Kangra, Una and Hamirpur of Himachal Pradesh, as well as in some parts of Mandi and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh and Gurdaspur, Rupnagar and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab. Kangri language is also spoken in Duggar (Jammu region) and in a few villages of Pakistan by people from families that migrated from Kangra Valley. Kangri is associated with the people of the Kangra Valley. Its total number of speakers has been estimated at 1.1 million, as of 2011.
The Tākri script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. It is derived from the Sharada script of Kashmiri language. It is the sister script of Laṇḍā scripts. It has another variant Dogra Takri employed in Jammu region. There are numerous varieties present throughout Punjab. Until the late 1940s, the adapted version of the script was the official script for writing Dogri in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Throughout the history, different kingdoms of what now forms Himachal Pradesh used their own variety to maintain their records. The Takri script used in Sirmour in Himachal Pradesh and in the adjacent region of Jaunsar-Bawar in Uttarakhand has some distinction.
Neelum is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the northernmost of 10 districts located within the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir. Taking up the larger part of the Neelum Valley, the district had a population of around 191,000 people. It was among the worst-hit areas of Pakistan during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
Mandeali is an dialect of Himachali language of Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh by the people of the Mandi Valley and particularly in the major city of Mandi. Other spellings for the name are Mandiyali and Mandiali. UNESCO reports it is one of the highly endangered languages of India. Speakers of the dialect have decreased by 21% from 1961 to 2001.
The Punjabi dialects and languages or Greater Punjabi are a series of dialects and languages spoken around the Punjab region of Pakistan and India with varying degrees of official recognition. They have sometimes been referred to as the Greater Punjabi macrolanguage. Punjabi may also be considered as a pluricentric language with more than one standard variety.
Sarazi or Sirazi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Saraz region of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is native to the Saraz region, a hilly area taking up the northern half of Doda district and parts of neighbouring Ramban and Kishtwar districts. Sarazi is spoken as a first language by 46,000 people, primarily Hindus, but it is also used as a lingua franca of the Saraz region and so is also spoken as a second language by Muslims, whom are native speakers of Kashmiri.
Saraz or Siraj is a hilly region in the eastern part of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. Historically a pargana within the erstwhile state of Kishtwar, the region currently takes up the northern half of Doda district and parts of neighbouring Ramban and Kishtwar districts. Its population in 2011 stood at 180,000 people. The region is defined mainly on the basis of linguistics where the majority of people speak Sarazi as their mother tongue.
Pangwali is a Himachali language of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is spoken in the Pangi Tehsil of Chamba district, and is threatened to go extinct. Pangwali is natively written in the Takri script, but Devanagari is used as well. It is very similar to the Padderi language of Padder, J&K.
Khāṣi (खाषी) is an Indo-Aryan dialect of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It belongs to the Western Pahari group and is spoken in some of the mountainous areas north of Jammu. It is different from the north-eastern Himalayan dialects of Assam and Meghalya, belonging to the Mon-Khmer Family.
The Pahari people or Pahari-speaking people is a cover term for a number of heterogeneous communities inhabiting in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and also some parts of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir who speak Pahari languages/dialects.
Rambani is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in Ramban district, which is located in the mountainous parts of the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Kishtwaris are an ethnolinguistic group inhabiting the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, India.
