Article 343 of the Constitution of India stated that the official language of the Union is Hindi in Devanagari script, with official use of English to continue for 15 years. Opposition to increased Hindi usage in South India led to the passage of the Official Languages Act in 1963, amending the constitution to allow for the continuation of English alongside Hindi in the Indian government indefinitely.[13] The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union are "the international form of Indian numerals",[14][15] which are referred to as Arabic numerals in most English-speaking countries.[1] Despite some misconceptions, Hindi is not the national language of India; the Constitution of India does not give any language the status of national language.[16][17]
According to the Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in the definition of the terms "language" and "dialect". The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people.[20] Three contact languages have played an important role in the history of India in chronological order: Sanskrit,[21]Persian[22] and English.[23]Persian was the court language during the Indo-Muslim period in India and reigned as an administrative language for several centuries until the era of British colonization.[24] English continues to be an important language in India. It is used in higher education and in some areas of the Indian government.[citation needed]
Hindi, which has the largest number of first-language speakers in India today,[25] serves as the lingua franca across much of northern and central India. However, there have been concerns raised with Hindi being imposed in South India, most notably in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.[26][27] Some in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Punjab, Kerala and other non-Hindi regions have also started to voice concerns about imposition of Hindi.[28]Bengali is the second most spoken and understood language in the country with a significant number of speakers in eastern and northeastern regions. Marathi is the third most spoken and understood language in the country with a significant number of speakers in the southwest,[29] followed closely by Telugu, which is most commonly spoken in southeastern areas.[30]
Hindi is the fastest growing language of India due to its demonstrably disproportionate funding, support and patronage by the Union/Federal government and to the detriment of other more ancient and classical languages listed in the Eigth schedule of the constitution, followed by Kashmiri in the second place, with Meitei (officially called Manipuri) as well as Gujarati, in the third place, and Bengali in the fourth place, according to the 2011 census of India.[31]
The Southern Indian languages are from the Dravidian family. The Dravidian languages are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.[33]Proto-Dravidian languages were spoken in India in the 4th millennium BCE and started disintegrating into various branches around 3rd millennium BCE.[34] The Dravidian languages are classified in four groups: North, Central (Kolami–Parji), South-Central (Telugu–Kui), and South Dravidian (Tamil-Kannada).[35]
The Northern Indian languages from the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family evolved from Old Indo-Aryan by way of the Middle Indo-AryanPrakrit languages and Apabhraṃśa of the Middle Ages. The Indo-Aryan languages developed and emerged in three stages— Old Indo-Aryan (1500 BCE to 600 BCE), Middle Indo-Aryan stage (600 BCE and 1000 CE), and New Indo-Aryan (between 1000 CE and 1300 CE). The modern north Indian Indo-Aryan languages all evolved into distinct, recognizable languages in the New Indo-Aryan Age.[36]
In the Northeast India, among the Sino-Tibetan languages, Meitei language (officially known as Manipuri language) was the court language of the Manipur Kingdom (Meitei: Meeteileipak). It was honored before and during the darbar sessions before Manipur was merged into the Dominion of the Indian Republic. Its history of existence spans from 1500 to 2000 years according to most eminent scholars including Padma Vibhushan awardee Suniti Kumar Chatterji.[37][38] Even according to the "Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947" of the once independent Manipur, Manipuri and English were made the court languages of the kingdom (before merging into Indian Republic).[39][40]
Persian, or Farsi, was brought into India by the Ghaznavids and other Turko-Afghan dynasties as the court language. Culturally Persianized, they, in combination with the later Mughal dynasty (of Turco-Mongol origin), influenced the art, history, and literature of the region for more than 500 years, resulting in the Persianization of many Indian tongues, mainly lexically. In 1837, the British replaced Persian with English and Hindustani in Perso-Arabic script for administrative purposes and the Hindi movement of the 19th Century replaced Persianized vocabulary with Sanskrit derivations and replaced or supplemented the use of Perso-Arabic script for administrative purposes with Devanagari.[22][41]
Each of the northern Indian languages had different influences. For example, Hindustani was strongly influenced by Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian, leading to the emergence of Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu as registers of the Hindustani language. Bangla on the other hand has retained its Sanskritic roots while heavily expanding its vocabulary with words from Persian, English, French and other foreign languages.[42][43]
The first official survey of language diversity in the Indian subcontinent was carried out by Sir George Abraham Grierson from 1898 to 1928. Titled the Linguistic Survey of India, it reported a total of 179 languages and 544 dialects.[44] However, the results were skewed due to ambiguities in distinguishing between "dialect" and "language",[44] use of untrained personnel and under-reporting of data from South India, as the former provinces of Burma and Madras, as well as the princely states of Cochin, Hyderabad, Mysore and Travancore were not included in the survey.[45]
Different sources give widely differing figures, primarily based on how the terms "language" and "dialect" are defined and grouped. Ethnologue, produced by the Christian evangelist organisation SIL International, lists 435 tongues for India (out of 6,912 worldwide). These languages are further subclassified in Ethnologue as follows:[46][47]
Institutional – 45
Stable – 248
Endangered – 131
Extinct – 11
The People's Linguistic Survey of India, a privately owned research institution in India, has recorded over 66 different scripts and more than 780 languages in India during its nationwide survey, which the organisation claims to be the biggest linguistic survey in India.[48]
The Census of India records and publishes data with respect to the number of speakers for languages and dialects, but uses its own unique terminology, distinguishing between language and mother tongue. The mother tongues are grouped within each language. Many of the mother tongues so defined could be considered a language rather than a dialect by linguistic standards. This is especially so for many mother tongues with tens of millions of speakers that are officially grouped under the language Hindi.
Separate figures for Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi were not issued, due to the fact the returns were intentionally recorded incorrectly in states such as East Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, PEPSU, and Bilaspur.[50]
The 1961 census recognised 1,652 mother tongues spoken by 438,936,918 people, counting all declarations made by any individual at the time when the census was conducted.[51] However, the declaring individuals often mixed names of languages with those of dialects, subdialects and dialect clusters or even castes, professions, religions, localities, regions, countries and nationalities.[51] The list therefore includes languages with barely a few individual speakers as well as 530 unclassified mother tongues and more than 100 idioms that are non-native to India, including linguistically unspecific demonyms such as "African", "Canadian" or "Belgian".[51]
The 1991 census recognises 1,576 classified mother tongues.[52] According to the 1991 census, 22 languages had more than a million native speakers, 50 had more than 100,000 and 114 had more than 10,000 native speakers. The remaining accounted for a total of 566,000 native speakers (out of a total of 838 million Indians in 1991).[52][53]
According to the census of 2001, there are 1,635 rationalised mother tongues, 234 identifiable mother tongues and 22 major languages.[20] Of these, 29 languages have more than a million native speakers, 60 have more than 100,000 and 122 have more than 10,000 native speakers.[54] There are a few languages like Kodava that do not have a script but have a group of native speakers in Coorg (Kodagu).[55]
According to the most recent census of 2011, after thorough linguistic scrutiny, edit, and rationalisation on 19,569 raw linguistic affiliations, the census recognises 1,369 rationalised mother tongues and 1,474 names which were treated as ‘unclassified’ and relegated to ‘other’ mother tongue category.[56] Among, the 1,369 rationalised mother tongues which are spoken by 10,000 or more speakers, are further grouped into appropriate set that resulted into total 121 languages. In these 121 languages, 22 are already part of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and the other 99 are termed as "Total of other languages" which is one short as of the other languages recognised in 2001 census.[57]
A danger sign in India containing eight languages, all using different scripts.A pentalingual highway sign in Kochi written in Malayalam, English, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada.
Ethnolinguistically, the languages of South Asia, echoing the complex history and geography of the region, form a complex patchwork of language families, language phyla and isolates.[10] Languages spoken in India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians. The most important language families in terms of speakers are:[60][5][6][10][61]
Present-day geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan language groups. Romani, Domari, Kholosi, Luwati, and Lomavren are outside the scope of the map.
Approximate distribution of the Austroasiatic languages in India
Families with smaller numbers of speakers are Austroasiatic and numerous small Sino-Tibetan languages, with some 10 and 6 million speakers, respectively, together 3% of the population.[67]
The Austroasiatic language family (austro meaning South) is the autochthonous language in Southeast Asia, arrived by migration. Austroasiatic languages of mainland India are the Khasi and Munda languages, including Bhumij and Santali. The languages of the Nicobar islands also form part of this language family. With the exceptions of Khasi and Santali, all Austroasiatic languages on Indian territory are endangered.[10]:456–457
Tibeto-Burman language family
The Tibeto-Burman language family is well represented in India. However, their interrelationships are not discernible, and the family has been described as "a patch of leaves on the forest floor" rather than with the conventional metaphor of a "family tree".[10]:283–5
The only language found in the Indian mainland that is considered a language isolate is Nihali.[10]:337 The status of Nihali is ambiguous, having been considered as a distinct Austroasiatic language, as a dialect of Korku and also as being a "thieves' argot" rather than a legitimate language.[75][76]
In 1946, the issue of national language was a bitterly contested subject in the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly of India, specifically what should be the language in which the Constitution of India is written and the language spoken during the proceedings of Parliament and thus deserving of the epithet "national". The Constitution of India does not give any language the status of national language.[16][17]
Members belonging to the northern parts of India insisted that the Constitution be drafted in Hindi with the unofficial translation in English. This was not agreed to by the drafting committee on the grounds that English was much better to craft the nuanced prose on constitutional subjects. The efforts to make Hindi the pre-eminent language were bitterly resisted by the members from those parts of India where Hindi was not spoken natively.
Eventually, a compromise was reached not to include any mention of a national language. Instead, Hindi in Devanagari script was declared to be the official language of the union, but for "fifteen years from the commencement of the Constitution, the English Language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement."[85]
Article 343 (1) of the Constitution of India states "The Official Language of the Union government shall be Hindi in Devanagari script."[86]:212[87] Unless Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, i.e. on 26 January 1965.[86]:212[87]
As the date for changeover approached, however, there was much alarm in the non-Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially in Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, Jawaharlal Nehru ensured the enactment of the Official Languages Act, 1963,[88][89] which provided that English "may" still be used with Hindi for official purposes, even after 1965.[85] The wording of the text proved unfortunate in that while Nehru understood that "may" meant shall, politicians championing the cause of Hindi thought it implied exactly the opposite.[85]
In the event, as 1965 approached, India's new Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri prepared to make Hindi paramount with effect from 26 January 1965. This led to widespread agitation, riots, self-immolations, and suicides in Tamil Nadu. The split of Congress politicians from the South from their party stance, the resignation of two Union ministers from the South, and the increasing threat to the country's unity forced Shastri to concede.[85][27]
As a result, the proposal was dropped,[90][91] and the Act itself was amended in 1967 to provide that the use of English would not be ended until a resolution to that effect was passed by the legislature of every state that had not adopted Hindi as its official language, and by each house of the Indian Parliament.[88]
The Hindi-belt, including Hindi-related languages such as Rajasthani and Bhojpuri
In the 2001 census, 422 million (422,048,642) people in India reported Hindi to be their native language.[92] This figure not only included Hindi speakers of Hindustani, but also people who identify as native speakers of related languages who consider their speech to be a dialect of Hindi, the Hindi belt. Hindi (or Hindustani) is the native language of most people living in Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh.[93]
"Modern Standard Hindi", a standardised language is one of the official languages of the Union of India. In addition, it is one of only two languages used for business in Parliament. However, the Rajya Sabha now allows all 22 official languages on the Eighth Schedule to be spoken.[94]
By virtue of its being a lingua franca, Hindi has also developed regional dialects such as Bambaiya Hindi in Mumbai. In addition, a trade language, Andaman Creole Hindi has also developed in the Andaman Islands.[95] In addition, by use in popular culture such as songs and films, Hindi also serves as a lingua franca across North-Central India.[citation needed]
Hindi is widely taught both as a primary language and language of instruction and as a second tongue in many states.
British colonialism in India resulted in English becoming a language for governance, business, and education. English, along with Hindi, is one of the two languages permitted in the Constitution of India for business in Parliament. Despite the fact that Hindi has official Government patronage and serves as a lingua franca over large parts of India, there was considerable opposition to the use of Hindi in the southern states of India, and English has emerged as a de factolingua franca over much of India.[85][27] Journalist Manu Joseph, in a 2011 article in The New York Times, wrote that due to the prominence and usage of the language and the desire for English-language education, "English is the de facto national language of India. It is a bitter truth."[96] English language proficiency is highest among urban residents, wealthier Indians, Indians with higher levels of educational attainment, Christians, men and younger Indians.[97] In 2017, more than 58 per cent of rural teens could read basic English, and 53 per cent of fourteen year-olds & sixty per cent of 18-year-olds could read English sentences.[98]
Main languages of India and their relative size according to how many speakers each has
Until the Twenty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1967, the country recognised 14 official regional languages. The Eighth Schedule and the Seventy-First Amendment provided for the inclusion of Sindhi, Konkani, Meitei and Nepali, thereby increasing the number of official regional languages of India to 18. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, as of 1 December 2007, lists 22 languages,[86]:330 which are given in the table below together with the regions where they are used.[92]
The individual states, the borders of most of which are or were drawn on socio-linguistic lines, can legislate their own official languages, depending on their linguistic demographics. The official languages chosen reflect the predominant as well as politically significant languages spoken in that state. Certain states having a linguistically defined territory may have only the predominant language in that state as its official language, examples being Karnataka and Gujarat, which have Kannada and Gujarati as their sole official language respectively. Telangana, with a sizeable Urdu-speaking Muslim population, and Andhra Pradesh[100] has two languages, Telugu and Urdu, as its official languages.
Some states buck the trend by using minority languages as official languages. Jammu and Kashmir used to have Urdu, which is spoken by fewer than 1% of the population, as the sole official language until 2020. Meghalaya uses English spoken by 0.01% of the population. This phenomenon has turned majority languages into "minority languages" in a functional sense.[101]
In addition to official languages, a few states also designate official scripts.
In addition to states and union territories, India has autonomous administrative regions which may be permitted to select their own official language– a case in point being the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam which has declared the Bodo language as official for the region, in addition to Assamese and English already in use.[153] and Bengali in the Barak Valley,[154] as its official languages.
At a tourist site in Bengaluru– Top to bottom, the languages are Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. English and many other European languages are also provided here.
In British India, English was the sole language used for administrative purposes as well as for higher education purposes. When India became independent in 1947, the Indian legislators had the challenge of choosing a language for official communication as well as for communication between different linguistic regions across India. The choices available were:
Making "Hindi", which a plurality of the country's population (41%)[92] identified as their native language, the sole official language.
Declaring both Hindi and English to be official languages nationwide and giving each state the freedom to choose its own statewide official language(s).
The Indian constitution, in 1950, declared Hindi in Devanagari script to be the official language of the union.[86] Unless Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, i.e. on 26 January 1965.[86] The prospect of the changeover, however, led to much alarm in the non-Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially in South India whose native tongues are not related to Hindi. As a result, Parliament enacted the Official Languages Act in 1963,[155][156][157][158][159][160] which provided for the continued use of English for official purposes along with Hindi, even after 1965.
Like most Indian languages, Bengali has a number of dialects. It exhibits diglossia, with the literary and standard form differing greatly from the colloquial speech of the regions that identify with the language.[163] Bengali language has developed a rich cultural base spanning art, music, literature, and religion. Bengali has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 7th to 12th century ('Charyapada' Buddhist songs).[164][165] There have been many movements in defence of this language and in 1999 UNESCO declared 21 Feb as the International Mother Language Day in commemoration of the Bengali language movement in 1952.[166]
Asamiya or Assamese language is most spoken in the state of Assam.[167] It is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language with more than 23 million total speakers including more than 15million native speakers and more than 7million L2 speakers per the 2011 Census of India.[168] Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Assamese evolved at least before the 7th century CE[169] from the middle Indo-Aryan Magadhi Prakrit. Assamese is unusual among Eastern Indo-Aryan languages for the presence of the /x/ (which, phonetically, varies between velar ([x]) and a uvular ([χ]) pronunciations). The first characteristics of this language are seen in the Charyapadas composed in between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The first examples emerged in writings of court poets in the fourteenth century, the finest example of which is Madhav Kandali's Saptakanda Ramayana composed during 14th century CE, which was the first translation of the Ramayana into an Indo-Aryan language.
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the official language and co-official language in Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India respectively, and is one of the official languages of India. There were 83 million speakers of the language in 2011.[170] Marathi has the third-largest number of native speakers in India and ranks 10th in the list of most spoken languages in the world. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages; Oldest stone inscriptions from 8th century & literature dating from about 1100 AD (Mukundraj's Vivek Sindhu dates to the 12th century). The major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi (Pramaan Bhasha) and the Varhadi dialect. There are other related languages such as Ahirani, Dangi, Vadvali, Samavedi. Malvani Konkani has been heavily influenced by Marathi varieties. Marathi is one of several languages that descend from Maharashtri Prakrit. The further change led to the Apabhraṃśa languages like Old Marathi.
Marathi Language Day (मराठी दिन/मराठी दिवस (transl. Marathi Dina/Marathi Diwasa) is celebrated on 27 February every year across the Indian states of Maharashtra and Goa. This day is regulated by the State Government. It is celebrated on the birthday of eminent Marathi Poet Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar, popularly known as Kusumagraj .
Marathi is the official language of Maharashtra and co-official language in the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. In Goa, Konkani is the sole official language; however, Marathi may also be used for all official purposes.[171]
Over a period of many centuries the Marathi language and people came into contact with many other languages and dialects. The primary influence of Prakrit, Maharashtri, Apabhraṃśa and Sanskrit is understandable. Marathi has also been influenced by the Austroasiatic, Dravidian and foreign languages such as Persian and Arabic. Marathi contains loanwords from Persian, Arabic, English and a little from French and Portuguese.
Meitei language is currently proposed to be included in the elite category of "Classical Languages" of India.[175][176][177] Besides, it is also currently proposed to be an associate official language of Government of Assam. According to Leishemba Sanajaoba, the present titular king of Manipur and a Rajya Sabha member of Manipur state, by recognising Meitei as an associate official language of Assam, the identity, history, culture and tradition of Manipuris residing in Assam could be protected.[178][179][180]
Telugu is the most widely spokenDravidian language in India and around the world. Telugu is an official language in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam, making it one of the few languages (along with Hindi, Bengali, and Urdu) with official status in more than one state. It is also spoken by a significant number of people in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and by the Sri Lankan Gypsy people. It is one of six languages with classical status in India. Telugu ranks fourth by the number of native speakers in India (81million in the 2011 Census),[170] fifteenth in the Ethnologue list of most-spoken languages worldwide and is the most widely spoken Dravidian language.
After independence, Modern Standard Urdu, the Persianised register of Hindustani became the national language of Pakistan. During British colonial times, knowledge of Hindustani or Urdu was a must for officials. Hindustani was made the second language of British Indian Empire after English and considered as the language of administration.[citation needed] The British introduced the use of Roman script for Hindustani as well as other languages. Urdu had 70 million speakers in India (per the Census of 2001), and, along with Hindi, is one of the 22 officially recognised regional languages of India and also an official language in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh[100], Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana that have significant Muslim populations.
Kannada is a Dravidian language which branched off from Kannada-Tamil sub group around 500 B.C.E according to the Dravidian scholar Zvelebil.[194] It is the official language of Karnataka. According to the Dravidian scholars Steever and Krishnamurthy, the study of Kannada language is usually divided into three linguistic phases: Old (450–1200 CE), Middle (1200–1700 CE) and Modern (1700–present).[195][196] The earliest written records are from the 5th century,[197] and the earliest available literature in rich manuscript (Kavirajamarga) is from c.850.[198][199] Kannada language has the second oldest written tradition of all languages of India.[200][201] Current estimates of the total number of epigraph present in Karnataka range from 25,000 by the scholar Sheldon Pollock to over 30,000 by the Sahitya Akademi,[202] making Karnataka state "one of the most densely inscribed pieces of real estate in the world".[203] According to Garg and Shipely, more than a thousand notable writers have contributed to the wealth of the language.[204][205]
Odia (formerly spelled Oriya)[212] is one of the modern languages officially recognised as a classical language from the Indo-Aryan group. Odia is primarily spoken and has official language status in the Indian state of Odisha and has over 40 million speakers. It was declared as a classical language of India in 2014. Native speakers comprise 91.85% of the population in Odisha.[213][214] Odia originated from Odra Prakrit which developed from Magadhi Prakrit, a language spoken in eastern India over 2,500 years ago. The history of Odia language can be divided to Old Odia (3rd century BC −1200 century AD),[215] Early Middle Odia (1200–1400), Middle Odia (1400–1700), Late Middle Odia (1700–1870) and Modern Odia (1870 until present day). The National Manuscripts Mission of India have found around 213,000 unearthed and preserved manuscripts written in Odia.[216]
Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script in India, is one of the prominent languages of India with about 32 million speakers. In Pakistan it is spoken by over 80million people and is written in the Shahmukhi alphabet. It is mainly spoken in Punjab but also in neighbouring areas. It is an official language of Delhi and Punjab.
Maithili is an Indo-Aryan language native to India and Nepal. In India, it is widely spoken in the Bihar and Jharkhand states.[225][226] Native speakers are also found in other states and union territories of India, most notably in Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.[227] In the 2011 census of India, It was reported by 13,583,464 people as their mother tongue comprising about 1.12% of the total population of India.[228] In Nepal, it is spoken in the eastern Terai, and is the second most prevalent language of Nepal.[229]Tirhuta was formerly the primary script for written Maithili. Less commonly, it was also written in the local variant of Kaithi.[230] Today it is written in the Devanagari script.[231]
In 2003, Maithili was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution as a recognised regional language of India, which allows it to be used in education, government, and other official contexts.[232]
In 2004, the Government of India declared that languages that met certain requirements could be accorded the status of a "Classical Language" of India.[233]
Over the next few years, several languages were granted the Classical status, and demands have been made for other languages, including Maithili[242] and Meitei (officially called Manipuri).[243][244][245]
Other regional languages and dialects
The 2001 census identified the following native languages having more than one million speakers. Most of them are dialects/variants grouped under Hindi.[92]
India has several languages in use; choosing any single language as an official language presents problems to all those whose "mother tongue" is different. However, all the boards of education across India recognise the need for training people to one common language.[246] There are complaints that in North India, non-Hindi speakers have language trouble. Similarly, there are complaints that North Indians have to undergo difficulties on account of language when travelling to South India. It is common to hear of incidents that result due to friction between those who strongly believe in the chosen official language, and those who follow the thought that the chosen language(s) do not take into account everyone's preferences.[247] Local official language commissions have been established and various steps are being taken in a direction to reduce tensions and friction.[citation needed]
Earliest known manuscripts are often subjected to debates and disputes, due to the conflicting opinions and assumptions of different scholars, claiming high antiquity of the languages. So, inscriptions are studied more in depth for understanding the chronology of the oldest known languages of the Indian subcontinent.
Date
Language
Earliest known inscriptions
Images
Notes
15th century BCE
Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit loanwords and names of Vedic gods found in inscriptions/texts of the Mitanni Empire
Cuneiform tablet containing a letter from Tushratta of Mitanni to Amenhotep III (of 13 letters of King Tushratta). British Museum
Yumbanlolcopper plate inscriptions about literature of sexuality, the relationships between husbands and wives, and instructions on how to run a household.[254][255]
There are conflicts over linguistic rights in India. The first major linguistic conflict, known as the Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu, took place in Tamil Nadu against the implementation of Hindi as the official language of India. Political analysts consider this as a major factor in bringing DMK to power and leading to the ousting and nearly total elimination of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu.[269] Strong cultural pride based on language is also found in other Indian states such as Assam, Odisha, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra. To express disapproval of the imposition of Hindi on its states' people as a result of the central government, the government of Maharashtra made the state language Marathi mandatory in educational institutions of CBSE and ICSE through Class/Grade 10.[270]
In the history of India, various linguistic movements were and are undertaken by different literary, political and social associations as well as organisations, advocating for the changes and the developments of several languages, dialects and vernaculars in diverse critical, discriminative and unfavorable circumstances and situations.
The Bhojpuri language movement, a linguistic movement that has been actively campaigning for greater recognition of the Bhojpuri language since 1947.[271][272]
There have been several protests and demands to include the Bhojpuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution for a long time. In 1971, CPI MP Bhogendra Jha introduced a bill on this issue in the Lok Sabha, but it was rejected.
In 2009 and 2016, Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and former MP from Gorakhpur, raised the issue of Bhojpuri's recognition in the Lok Sabha. He emphasised that Bhojpuri, spoken in parts of India and 27 countries, is one of the world's major languages.[273]
Since 2020, the Government of Assam is giving annual financial support of ₹500,000 (equivalent to ₹590,000orUS$7,000 in 2023) to the Assam Manipuri Sahitya Parishad. Besides, the Assam government financed ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹7.1croreorUS$840,000 in 2023) for the creation of a corpus for the development of the Meitei language (officially called Manipuri language).[280]
The Central Government of India allocated ₹6438.4million in the last three years for the development and the promotion of Sanskrit, ₹2311.5million in 2019–20, around ₹2143.8million in 2018–19, and ₹1983.1million in 2017–18.[286][287]
The Central Government of India gave an allocation of Rs 105.9million in 2017–18, Rs 46.5million in 2018–19 and Rs 77million in 2019–20 to the "Central Institute of Classical Tamil" for the development and the promotion of Tamil language.[286][288]
Seal, signature and handwriting of Maratha Senadhurandar Mudhoji Bhonsle I of Chandrapur and Nagpur. This text is written in Modi script which was used as an alternative script for Marathi.
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.[301]
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
सर्व मानवे जन्मतः स्वतंत्र आहेत व त्यांना समान प्रतिष्ठा व अधिकार आहेत. त्यांना विचारशक्ती व सदसद्विवेकबुद्धी लाभलेली आहे आणि त्यांनी एकमेकांशी बंधुत्वाच्या भावनेने वागावे.code: mar promoted to code: mr [302]
ধারা ১: সমস্ত মানুষ স্বাধীনভাবে সমান মর্যাদা এবং অধিকার নিয়ে জন্মগ্রহণ করে। তাঁদের বিবেক এবং বুদ্ধি আছে; সুতরাং সকলেরই একে অপরের প্রতি শ্রাতৃত্বসুলভ মনোভাব নিয়ে আচরণ করা উচিৎ।[306]
सबो लोगन मन के गौरव अऊ अधिकार मन के मामला म जनम ले मिले स्वतंत्रता अऊ बरोबरी मिले हे। ओमन ल बुद्धि अऊ अन्तरात्मा के देन मिले हे अऊ ओमन ल एक दूसर ल परेम भाईचारा के भाव ले बेवहार करना चाही।
અનુચ્છદ ૧ઃ તમામ મનુષ્યો જન્મથી સ્વતંત્ર છે અને પ્રતિષ્ઠા તેમજ અધિકારોની બાબતમાં સમાન છે. તેઓ બુદ્ધિ અને અંતઃકરણ ધરાવે છે અને તેમણે પરસ્પર બંધુત્વની ભાવનાથી વર્તવું જોઈએ.[311]
अनुच्छेद १. सभी मनुष्य जन्म से स्वतन्त्र तथा मर्यादा और अधिकारों में समान होते हैं। वे तर्क और विवेक से सम्पन्न हैं तथा उन्हें भ्रातृत्व की भावना से परस्पर के प्रति कार्य करना चाहिए।[312]
ನಿಬಂಧ್ನೆ - ೧. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾನವರು ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರರಾಗಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಘನತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅಧಿಕಾರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಮಾನರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ತಿಳಿವು ಮತ್ತು ಅಂತಃಸಾಕ್ಷಿಯನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದವರಾದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಅವರು ಒಬ್ಬರಿಗೊಬ್ಬರು ಸಹೋದರ ಭಾವದಿಂದ ನಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು.[314]
Jinis 1. Ïa ki bynriew baroh la kha laitluid bad ki ïaryngkat ha ka burom bad ki hok. Ha ki la bsiap da ka bor pyrkhat bad ka jingïatiplem bad ha ka mynsiem jingsngew shipara, ki dei ban ïatrei bynrap lang.[315]
सर्व मानवे जन्मतः स्वतंत्र आहेत व त्यांना समान प्रतिष्ठा व अधिकार आहेत. त्यांना विचारशक्ती व सदसद्विवेकबुद्धी लाभलेली आहे आणि त्यांनी एकमेकांशी बंधुत्वाच्या भावनेने वागावे.code: mar promoted to code: mr
बनुकोन-१ : सगळा मिणख नै गौरव अन अधिकारों रे रासे मांय जळम सूं स्वतंत्रता अने समानता प्राप्त छे। वणी रे गोड़े बुध्दि अन अंतरआत्मा री प्राप्ती छे अन वणी ने भैईपाळा भावना सू एकबीजे रे सारू वर्तन करणो जोयीजै छे।[325]
Mi zawng zawng hi zalèna piang kan ni a, zahawmna leh dikna chanvoah intluk tláng vek kan ni. Chhia leh ṭha hriatna fím neia siam kan nih avangin kan mihring puite chungah inunauna thinlung kan pu tlat tur a ni.
धारा १. - सबै व्यक्तिहरू जन्मजात स्वतन्त्र हुन् ती सबैको समान अधिकार र महत्व छ। निजहरूमा विचार शक्ति र सद्विचार भएकोले निजहरूले आपसमा भातृत्वको भावनाबाट व्यवहार गर्नु पर्छ।[326]
अनुच्छेद १. - सागला मिनख आज़ाद अर प्रतिष्ठा ने आधिकारां री बरोबरी लियोडा पैदा होवे। व्हां में इन बात री समझ अर विवेक होवे के व्हाने एक दूजे रे सागे भाईचारे सूं रैणों है।[330]
Perso-Arabic script(Official until Partition, continues to be so in Pakistan)
رٽيڪل 1. سمورا انسان آزاد ۽ عزت ۽ حقن جي حوالي کان برابر پيدا ٿيا آھن. انھن کي عقل ۽ ضمير حاصل ٿيو آھي، ان ڪري انھن کي ھڪ ٻئي سان ڀائيچاري وارو سلوڪ اختيار ڪرڻ گھرجي. [336]
تمام انسان آزاد اور حقوق و عزت کے اعتبار سے برابر پیدا ہوئے ہیں۔ انہیں ضمیر اور عقل ودیعت ہوئی ہے۔ اس لیے انہیں ایک دوسرے کے ساتھ بھائی چارے کا سلوک کرنا چاہیئے۔۔
↑In modern and colloquial contexts, the term "Indic" generally refers to the languages of the Indian subcontinent, thus also including non-Indo-Aryan languages. See e.g. Reynolds, Mike; Verma, Mahendra (2007). "Indic languages". In Britain, David (ed.). Language in the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.293–307. ISBN978-0-521-79488-6. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
↑Hindi does not merely refer to "Modern Standard Hindi" (which is based on the Dehlavi dialect of Kauravi), but also broadly to many "Hindi languages", which include Western Hindi (apart from Urdu), Eastern Hindi, the Bihari languages except for Maithili, the Rajasthani languages, and the Pahari languages apart from Nepali and (in 2001) Dogri, whether or not the included varieties were reported as "Hindi" or under their individual names in the census.
↑Although linguistically Hindi and Urdu are the same language called Hindustani, the government classifies them as separate languages instead of different standard registers of same language.
↑The Meitei language (officially called Manipuri) versions of the press releases are presently available in Bengali script, but there is plan of changing the script into Meitei script (Manipuri script) in due course of time.
↑Kokborok has an original script known as Koloma which is supposedly lost. The script of Kokborok is a politically charged issue within Tripura. See also: Script issues of Kokborok.
↑Because Devanagari is the official script used to write Konkani in Goa and Maharashtra, most Konkanis (especially Hindus) in those two states write the language in Devanagari.
↑As Ladakhi is primarily a spoken language, written documents often use standard Tibetan script to communicate formal, standardized phrases like the UDHR, but differs in pronounciation being more closer to Classical Tibetan
↑Reynolds, Mike; Verma, Mahendra (2007), Britain, David (ed.), "Indic languages", Language in the British Isles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.293–307, ISBN978-0-521-79488-6, retrieved 4 October 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
12Abidi, S.A.H.; Gargesh, Ravinder (2008). "4. Persian in South Asia". In Kachru, Braj B. (ed.). Language in South Asia. Kachru, Yamuna & Sridhar, S.N. Cambridge University Press. pp.103–120. ISBN978-0-521-78141-1.
↑Bhatia, Tej K and William C. Ritchie. (2006) Bilingualism in South Asia. In: Handbook of Bilingualism, pp. 780–807. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
123Hardgrave, Robert L. (August 1965). The Riots in Tamilnad: Problems and Prospects of India's Language Crisis. Asian Survey. University of California Press.
↑Dasgupta, Jyotirindra (1970). Language Conflict and National Development: Group Politics and National Language Policy in India. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley. Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies. p.47. ISBN9780520015906.
12Vijayanunni, M. (26–29 August 1998). "Planning for the 2001 Census of India based on the 1991 Census"(PDF). 18th Population Census Conference. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: Association of National Census and Statistics Directors of America, Asia, and the Pacific. Archived from the original(PDF) on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
↑Anthology of articles, Indian and Soviet scholars (1975). Problems of Modern Indian Literature. the University of Michigan: Statistical Pub. Society: distributor, K. P. Bagchi. p.23.
↑Kachru, Braj B.; Kachru, Yamuna; Sridhar, S. N. (27 March 2008). Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521781411. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
↑Robbins Burling. "On "Kamarupan""(PDF). Sealang.net. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
↑Forrester, Duncan B. (Spring–Summer 1966), "The Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation, 1965: Political Protest and its Effects on Language Policy in India", Pacific Affairs, 39 (1/2): 19–36, doi:10.2307/2755179, JSTOR2755179
↑"The Assam Official Language Act, 1960". India Code. Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. 19 December 1960. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
↑The National Commission for Linguistic Minorities, 1950 (ibid) makes no mention of Chhattisgarhi as an additional state language, despite the 2007 notification of the State Govt, presumably because Chhattisgarhi is considered as a dialect of Hindi.
↑Kurzon, Dennis (2004). "3. The Konkani-Marathi Controversy: 2000-01 version". Where East Looks West: Success in English in Goa and on the Konkan Coast. Multilingual Matters. pp.42–58. ISBN978-1-85359-673-5. Retrieved 26 December 2014. Dated, but gives a good overview of the controversy to give Marathi full "official status".
↑"The Haryana Official Language Act, 1969". India Code. Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. 5 March 1969. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
↑"Language and Literature", Official website of Government of Madhya Pradesh, Government of Madhya Pradesh, archived from the original on 29 September 2007, retrieved 16 July 2007
↑There are three primary languages used for official purposes – Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. The official language policy of the union territory states that the Tamil language should be the primary language used for all or any of the official purposes of the union territory. In the case of Mahe and Yanam, Malayalam and Telugu, respectively, may be used instead of or in conjunction with Tamil. The English language may also be used for official purposes. (ACT 28, Gazetteer, Pondicherry Vol. 1, P. II)Multilingualism and second language acquisition and learning in Pondicherry
↑"Bengali language | History, Writing System & Dialects | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024. The Bengali linguists Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Sukumar Sen suggested that Bengali had its origin in the 10th century ce, deriving from Magahi Prakrit (a spoken language) through Magahi Apabhramsha (its written counterpart). The Bengali scholar Muhammad Shahidullah and his followers offered a competing theory, suggesting that the language began in the 7th century CE and developed from spoken and written Gauda (also, respectively, a Prakrit and an Apabhramsha).
↑Mitra, Atri (8 October 2024). "Behind Bengali's classical language tag, a Kolkata institute's 2,000-page research document". The Indian Express. Kolkata. Retrieved 2 April 2025. …a Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary compiled by Li-Yen bears testimony to the fact that at least 51 Bangla words made their way into that dictionary…The Chinese-Sanskrit dictionary, compiled in the 8th Century CE, included or rather was compelled to include words of a third language, i.e., Bangla.
↑The Goa, Daman, and Diu Official Language Act, 1987 makes Konkani the official language, but provides that Marathi may also be used "for all or any of the official purposes". The Government also has a policy of replying in Marathi to correspondence received in Marathi. Commissioner Linguistic Minorities, , pp. para 11.3 Archived 19 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
↑Stein, Burton (November 1977), "Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country", The Journal of Asian Studies, 37 (1): 7–26, doi:10.2307/2053325, JSTOR2053325, S2CID144599197
↑Steever, Sanford B. "The Dravidian languages", First Published (1998), pp. 6–9. ISBN0-415-10023-2
↑Kamil Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan Leiden 1973, p11-12
↑Zvelebil in H. Kloss & G.D. McConnell; Constitutional languages, p.240, Presses Université Laval, 1 January 1989, ISBN2-7637-7186-6
↑Steever, S. B., The Dravidian Languages (Routledge Language Family Descriptions), 1998, p.129, London, Routledge, ISBN0-415-10023-2
↑Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju, The Dravidian Languages (Cambridge Language Surveys), 2003, p.23, Cambridge and London: Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-77111-0
↑Narasimhacharya R; History of Kannada Literature, p.2, 1988, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, ISBN81-206-0303-6
↑Sastri, Nilakanta K.A.; A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, 2002, India Branch of Oxford University Press, New Delhi, ISBN0-19-560686-8
↑Das, Sisir Kumar; A History of Indian Literature, 500–1399: From Courtly to the Popular, pp.140–141, Sahitya Akademi, 2005, New Delhi, ISBN81-260-2171-3
↑R Zydenbos in Cushman S, Cavanagh C, Ramazani J, Rouzer P, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition, p.767, Princeton University Press, 2012, ISBN978-0-691-15491-6
↑Datta, Amaresh; Encyclopaedia of Indian literature– vol 2, p.1717, 1988, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN81-260-1194-7
↑Sheldon Pollock in Dehejia, Vidya; The Body Adorned: Sacred and Profane in Indian Art, p.5, chapter:The body as Leitmotif, 2013, Columbia University Press, ISBN978-0-231-14028-7
↑Garg, Gaṅgā Rām; Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World, Volume 1, p.68, Concept Publishing Company, 1992, New Delhi, ISBN978-81-7022-374-0
↑Shipley, Joseph T.; Encyclopedia of Literature– Vol I, p.528, 2007, READ BOOKS, ISBN1-4067-0135-1
↑Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press. pp.86–87. ISBN978-0-19-535666-3.
↑"মণিপুরি ভাষা শিখলেই মিলবে কড়কড়ে ৫০০০ টাকা"[Manipuri Language: If you learn Manipuri language, you will get 5000 rupees, new strategy to prevent English?]. Eisamay (in Bengali). Retrieved 24 November 2023.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights"(PDF). OHCHR.org. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Ao"[ALIMA NUNG ALIR MEIMCHIR AJAK ATEMA KASA TEMETEN SANGDONG](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Ao Naga). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.3. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Awadhi"[मनइन के अधिकारन कै जगतबियापी ऐलान](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Awadhi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.1. Archived(PDF) from the original on 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Assamese"[মানৱ অধিকাৰৰ সাৰ্বজনীন ঘোষণা](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Assamese). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.4. Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Bengali"[মানবাধিকারের সার্বজনীন ঘোষণাপত্র](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Bengali). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.3. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Gondi (Northern)"[मानेय अधिकार ता सार्वभौम घोषना](PDF). OHCHR.org (in gno). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 July 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Gujarati"[માનવ અધિકારોની વિશ્વવ્યાપી ઘોષણા](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Gujarati). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.3. Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Hindi"[मानव अधिकारों की सार्वभौम घोषणा](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Hindi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.1. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Ho"[𑣖𑣓𑣉𑣟𑣁 𑣈𑣌𑣕𑣂𑣅𑣜 𑣜𑣈𑣅𑣄 𑣞𑣓𑣁𑣖 𑣌𑣉𑣟: 𑣚𑣁𑣋𑣂𑣑 𑣑𑣁𑣌𑣜𑣁](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Ho). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Kannada"[ಮಾನವ ಬಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳ ಸಾವವತ್ರಿಕ್ ಪ್ಿಕ್ಟನ](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Kannada). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.3. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Khasi"[KA JINGPYNBNA-ÏAR SATLAK ÏA KI HOK LONGBRIEW MANBRIEW](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Khasi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.3. Archived(PDF) from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Pahari (Kullu)"[𑚢𑚰𑚝𑚶𑚐𑚯𑚣𑚭 𑚀𑚜𑚮𑚊𑚭𑚤 𑚨𑚫𑚨𑚭𑚤 𑚡𑚤𑚯𑚄 𑚍𑚴𑚋𑚘𑚭𑚡𑚴 𑛁𑛉𑛄𑛈](PDF). OHCHR.org (in kfx). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Tibetan"[༄༅༎ཡོངས་ཁྱབ་གསལ་བསྒྲགས་འགྲོ་བ་མིའི་ཐོབ་ཐང་།](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Tibetan). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.4-5. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Lepcha"[ᰀᰪᰵᰶᰛᰦᰵ ᰝᰦᰵ ᰜᰦᰵ ᰝᰥᰪᰵ ᰠᰦᰵᰶ ᰛᰦᰵᰶᰊᰦᰵ ᰜᰦᰵ ᰀᰪᰵᰶ ᰛᰦᰵ ᰝᰦᰵ ᰜᰦᰵ](PDF). OHCHR.org (in lep). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.1. Retrieved 15 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Limbu"[ᤔᤧᤴᤇᤠᤶ ᤕᤢᤰᤖᤧᤴ ᤁᤒᤢ ᤀᤡᤰᤛᤠ ᤀᤡᤱᤓᤥ᤺ᤴᤛᤰ](PDF). OHCHR.org (in lif). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.1. Retrieved 15 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Dhivehi"[އިންސާނީ ޙައްޤުތަކުގެ ޢާންމު ޤަރާރ](PDF). OHCHR.org (in div). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.4. Archived(PDF) from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Maithili"[𑒧𑒰𑒢𑒫 𑒁𑒡𑒱 𑒏𑒰𑒩𑒏 𑒮𑒰𑒫𑒫𑒦𑒾𑒧 𑒒𑒼𑒭𑒝𑒰](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Maithili). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Malayalam"[മനുഷ്യാവകാശങ്ങളെക്കുറിക്കുന്ന പൊതുപ്രഖ്യാപനം](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Malayalam). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.3. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Marwari"[मानवी हक वे सार्वभोग लान सावना](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Marwari). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.3. Archived(PDF) from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Nepali"[मानव अधिकारहरूको विश्वव्यापी घोषणा](PDF) (in npi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.4. Archived(PDF) from the original on 14 June 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Newari"[𑐩𑐵𑐣𑐰 𑐀𑐢𑐶𑐎𑐵𑐬𑐫𑐵 𑐰𑐶𑐱𑑂𑐰𑐰𑑂𑐫𑐵𑐥𑐷 𑐑𑑀𑐲𑐞𑐵](PDF) (in Newari). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.1. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Oriya"[ମାନବିକ ଅଧିକାରର ସାର୍ବଜନୀନ ଘୋଷଣା](PDF) (in Odia). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Punjabi"[ਮਨੁੱਖੀ ਅਧਿਕਾਰਾਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਵਿਸ਼ਵਵਿਆਪੀ ਐਲਾਨਨਾਮਾ](PDF) (in Punjabi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Rajasthani"[मानव अधिकारां री सार्वभौम घोषणा](PDF) (in Rajasthani). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Sanskrit"[मानवाधिकाराणां जागत-अभिघोषणा](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Sanskrit). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Sindhi"[انساني حقن جو عالمي پڌرنامو](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Sindhi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Tamil"[மனித உரிமைகள் பற்றிய உலகப் பிரகடனம்](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Tamil). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Telugu"[మానవ హక్కుల సార్వత్రిక ప్రకటన](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Telugu). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
(total of official languages: 23, including 22 8th Schedule languages and one additional official language, English)
