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Curated category

Official languages of India

  • Bengali languageIn the 3rd century BCE, Indo-Aryans arrived in Bengal and began a process of Sanskritisation that would shape the language for millennia.
  • Marathi languageA copper-plate inscription from 739 CE found in Satara marks the earliest known written record of Marathi. This artifact predates other major literary works…
  • Odia languageThe Urajam inscription of 1051 CE stands as the earliest surviving evidence of Old Odia. This royal charter from the Eastern Ganga dynasty marks a clear…
  • HindiThe word Hindi traces back to Old Persian, which derived the name from Sanskrit Sindhu, referring to the Indus River. Early inhabitants of the Indo-Gangetic…
  • Tamil languageThe name Tamil appears in the earliest extant literary work known as the Tolkāppiyam, dated to the 2nd century BCE. This text serves as both a grammar and a…
  • SanskritIn the late Bronze Age, a group of people moved from regions north of the Indus River into northwest South Asia. They brought with them a language that would…