Historical Outline of the Languages of Western Indian

Author(s): K B Vyas
Publisher: Z_Vijay_Vallabh_suri_Smarak_Granth_012060.pdf
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/250113/1

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A HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE LANGUAGES OF
WESTERN INDIA Prof. K. B. VYAS, M.A., F.R.A.S.
I
There are several languages spoken in Western India, of which Gujarāti, Western Rajasthāni, Māļavi, Cutchi, Sindhi and Konkani are the principal ones. Of these Cutchi and Sindhi are allied and so are Gujarāti, Rājasthani and Māļavi. Konkani, however, stands apart. It has no affinity with its northern neighbours. In this brief historical outline of the languages of Western India, we shall restrict ourselves mainly to Gujarāti which is admittedly the most outstanding and the richest of these languages.
The area in which Gujarāti is spoken may be roughly outlined thus :In the north, Gujarāti is spoken as far as Cutch, where it is the courtlanguage and the language of culture. From there it extends to the north up to Mithi, 30 miles to the North of the desert of Cutch. From here it extends to the East to Deesā, Pālaņpur, and Mount Abu. Beyond Mount Abu, the speech is Gujarati or its dialectal form mixed with Marwāļi. From this northernmost point, the boundary of Gujarāti descends southeastward including within itself Mahikanthä, Idar, Dohad and Luņāwādā, Chhotā Udepur and Rājpiplä. To the east and south of the Panchmahāls, Chhotā Udepur and Rājpiplā, Gujarāti slowly merges into the Bhilli dialects. From Rājpiplā the boundary sharply descends southward covering the entire Surat District and a major portion of the Dängs where it touches the area of Khåndeśī. From here further south upto Umbergaon and Dahāņu, Gujarāti is spoken as the principal speech. Beyond this to the south the Konkani language is spoken which is claimed to be a dialect of Marāthi.
These are then the limits of the area of the Gujarāti speech--from Mount Abu in the north to the Dāngs and Umbergāon in the south, and from Dvārkā in the west to Dohad in the east. Roughly it includes the whole of Saurāştra and almost the entire northern division of the Bombay State which is popularly known as Gujarāt.
The number of persons speaking Gujarati in Gujarät and Saurästra alone comes to over 1,33,00,000. To these must be added 35,00,000 speaking

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Gujarati in the border-lands of Gujarăt and in Cutch. Gujarāti is also the speech of a large and influential section of the population in Bombay. The Gujarātī-speaking population is not negligible in Calcutta, Karachi, Madras, Nagpur, Hyderabad and other important commercial and industrial centres of India. Gujarāti colonies are also to be found in Burma, South Africa, East Africa, Indonesia, and several other parts of the world, where they speak Gujarātī and follow Gujarāti traditions and culture.
II
Gujarātī is thus a very important language indeed both culturally and politically on the western coast-line of India. It is one of the few languages of the world which has a continuous history with full documentary evidence for every stage of its evolution, from the time of its inception right up to the present age. From about 1200 A.D., the date of the first Gujarāti work discovered so far, till the time of the advent of the English when printing was introduced, we find countless works belonging to various subjects composed in Gujarāti. They have been preserved in the various Jaina Jñāna-Bhandāras or manuscript-libraries attached to Jaina temples and Upāśrayas. Several important cities of Gujarāt are celebrated for their rich manuscript-libraries dating from very early times. In Pātan alone, there are Bhandāras which house no less than 40,000 old manuscripts of different ages, some of which are very rare on account of their antiquity, wealth of illustrations and historical data. Cambay is known for its collection of palm-leaf manuscripts. The other cities in Gujarāt too have such manuscript-libraries, but the rarest manuscript-collection is found to have been preserved in the Badā Bhandāra of Jesalmer situated deep in the heart of Rajasthān. Only a part of this great store of ancient literature, both religious and secular, has come to light so far. Numerous works of great antiquity and literary merit are still awaiting publication.
The fact that Gujarāt was the great commercial centre of India from early times and enjoyed comparative peace and political security for long periods, contributed to the development of the Gujarāti language and literature in no small measure. In this process of development, as we shall presently see, Gujarāti came in contact with several foreign languages and cultures like the Persian, Arabic, Portuguese and English, and was influenced by them to a certain degree,

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III . It would be very interesting to trace the history of the language of Gujarāt from the earliest times. We must, however, remember that in earlier times the boundaries of Gujarat were not the same as they are today. Northern Gujarāt and Southern Rājasthān along with a part of Māļvā then formed the territory known as the Gurjara desa. Southern Gujarāt was then known as Lāța and remained for a long time under the influence of the south.
Situated as the gateway of India, maritime Gujarat witnessed from early times several immigrations of Greeks, Bactrians, Sakas, Kşatrapas, Gurjaras, Hūņas, Arabs, Turks and Mughals, many of whom made it their home.
In the earliest times known to history the language spoken in Gujarāt and Saurastra was a dialect the conventionalized form of which is known as Vedic Sanskrit. But of this speech we have no written evidence before the Asokan Inscriptions.
Then-i.e. from 1000 B.C. to 600 B.C.--three or four dialects existed : Udicyā or the northern, Madhyadesiyā or the midland, Prācyā or the eastern, and the Praticyā or the western. The northern dialect was the nearest to the Vedic and was standardized by Pāṇini in the present-day classical Sanskrit. From the early eastern speech developed the Prakrit dialect spoken by Buddha and Mahavira, which was popularly known as the Māgadhi Prakrit. A close examination of the inscriptions of Asoka (250 B.C.) reveals, besides the eastern Māgadhi, at least two other distinct dialects—the northern, allied to Paiśācī, and the midland or western, allied to Sauraseni. The western dialect as recorded in the rock-edicts of Girnar contains several linguistic traits (such as the preservation of 'r' in consonant-clusters) which characterized Gujarāti speech from very early times.
These spoken Prakrit speeches fossilized in course of time and resulted in a classical standardized form of common Prakrit which became the medium of literature and was treated by grammarians as the principal Prākrit. This form of Prākrit became later known as Mahārāştri Prākrit or the language of a large portion of the country (Mahārāştra). The popular speeches of the north, midland and east came to be considered as the dialects of this speech and were termed as Paiśācī, Sauraseni and Māgadhi. The language Avantijā or Avanti which Bharata mentions in

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his Nātyaśāstra must be the speech then current in Saurāstra, Anarta, Lăța and Maru (i.e. the present-day Gujarat and Rājasthän). This speech may have been identical with or closely allied to the Sauraseni of the Präkrit grammarians.
IV
From these early Prākrit speeches developed the Apabhraṁsa, the language current in a considerable portion of northern India, from the 5th to the 10th century A.D. Some philologists lean to the view that there existed several regional Apabhraíśas from which New Indo-Aryan speeches or Modern Indian Languages gradually evolved. On the other hand, other authorities believe that there was only one Apabhraíša current in Western India with slight dialectal variations. .: From the evidence of early grammarians and rhetoricians, Apabhrassa has been connected with the Abhiras. It was that speech that developed into Apabhraíśa. Their abode extended from the Indus delta to Cutch and Saurāstra. They adopted the general Prākrit language, vigorously infusing into it the characteristics of their own speech, resulting in a powerful speech known as Apabhramsa. Three varieties of Apabhraíśa are mentioned, but Hemacandra, the greatest and the most celebrated grammarian of the Middle Indo-Aryan languages, treats Apabhramśā as one homogeneous speech, and cites instances from the current folk-literature of the period. This Apabhraíśa is basically the Apabhraṁsa of Gujarāt (the Gurjara Apabhramśa), though there are traces of dialectal variations in this material. Some call this Apabhramsa Saurasena, while others term it as Nāgara.
Apabhramśa too became, in course of time, a standard stylized speech in which considerable literature was composed. For instance, works like Paumacariaya, Kumārapālacarita, Bhavisayatta-Kahā, Vilasavai-Kahā are all composed in Apabhramśa. But linguistically, the specimens from folk-literature cited by Hemaçandra in "Siddha Hemacandra', his Prākrit Grammar, reflect the speech more faithfully than the stylized form used in literary works. These verses of Hemacandra are remarkable also from another point of view. Some of them reveal a striking freshness of imagination and a rare poetic charm. Several of these verses are erotic; a few are didactic; while a large number of them are heroic.
The following erotic verses have a rare poetic charm about them :

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ढोल्ला सामला धण चंपावण्णी । गाइ सुवण्णरेह कसवट्टइ दिण्णी॥ (Dhollä sāmalā dhana campāvanni/
Ņãi suvannareha kasavațțai diņņi//) "The husband is dark in complexion, while the wife is fair as a campaka flower: (she appears) like a streak of gold on the black touchstone."
वायसु उड्डावन्ति अए पिउ दिट्ठउ सहसत्ति । अद्धा वलया महिहि गय अद्धा फुट्ट तडत्ति ॥ (Vāyasu uddāvantiae piu ditthau sahasatti/
Addhā valayā mahihi gaya addhā phuţța tadatti//) "While frightening away the crows the lady suddenly saw her husband coming home; half of her bracelets slipped down (while waving away the crow before she sighted her husband), while the remaining cracked with a noise (as a result of the joy which filled her when she saw her husband)."
जइ केवड पावीसु पिउ अकिया कुड करीम्।। पाणिउ नवइ सरावि जिव सम्वंगे पइसीसु ॥ (Jai kemvai pāvisu piu akiyā kudda karisu/
Pāņiu navai sarāvi jivam savvange paisīsu//) "If ever I meet my husband again, I shall do a wonderful thing never done before : I shall enter into all his limbs even as water permeates a new earthen vessel." - The heroic verses cited below from Hemacandra's Apabhramśa fully reveal the glory that was early Gujarät:
संगरसएहिं जु वण्णिअइ देक्खु अम्हाग कन्तु । अहमत्तहं चत्तंकुसहं गयकुंभई दारन्तु ॥ (Sangarasaehim ju vaņņiai dekkhu amhără kantu/
Aimattahaṁ cattamkusahaṁ gayakumbhaim dārantu//) "Behold my husband : whose prowess requires mention of hundreds of battles; who breaks the temples of elephants excessively maddened and beyond all control." de
भल्ला हुआ जु मारिआ बहिणि महारा कन्तु । लजेजन्तु वयंसिअहु जइ भग्गा घरु एन्तु ।। (Bhallā huā ju māriā bahiņi mahārā kantu/ I.ajjejjantu vayamsiahu jai bhaggã gharu entu//)

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"It is well, O Sister, that my husband is killed in battle; for, if he had fled the battlefield and returned home I would have died of shame among my women-friends."
जइ भग्गा पारकडा तो सहि मज्झु पिएण । अह भग्गा अम्हहं तणा तो तें मारिअडेण || (Jai bhaggā pārakkadā to sahi majjhu piena/
Aha bhaggā amhaham tana to tem māriadeņa//) "If enemies are fleeing (from the battlefield), it must be, O friend, because of my husband's valour; but if our men are running away, then it must be that he has been killed in the battle."
पाइ विलग्गी अन्त्रडी सिरु ल्हसिउं खन्धस्सु । तो वि कटारइ हत्थडउ बलि किजउँ कन्तस्सु ।। (Pāi villaggi antradi siru lhasium khandhassu/
To vi kațārai hatthadau bali kijjaum kantassu//) “The entrails hang down and entangle the feet; the head, severed from the trunk, is drooping sidewards; yet the hand is firmly on the dagger -I bow to this husband of mine."
The heroism of these verses captures our imagination and wins our heart.
From Apabhramsa slowly evolves the New Indo-Aryan Languages. This is not surprising because Apabhramsa was always so near and akin to the rising regional languages than to the Prākrit which was nearer to Sanskrit. For instance, the following Apabhramba verse easily turns into old Gujarāti with only slight phonological changes :
सिरि जर-खंडी लोअडी गलि मणियडा न वीस । at fe IEET FRISTI GT 38- ! .. (Siri jara-khandi loadi gali maniyadā na visa/ To vi gotthaļā karāviā muddhāe uttha-baisa//)
(Apabhramśa) सिरि जीर्ण-खंडी लोबडी गलि मणियडा न वीस । तोइ गोठडा कराविया मुग्धाए ऊठबईस ॥ (Siri jārņakhandi lobadi gali maniyadā na visa/ Toi gothadā karāviyā mugdhāe üțhabaisa//)
(Old Gujarāti version)

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A HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE LANGUAGES OF WESTERN INDIA 163
"Though she has only a tattered lobadi (woollen cloth) on her head, and hardly twenty glass-beads round her neck-still the beautiful maiden agitated the young men of the hamlet."
It is not easy always to demarcate the point where Apabhramsa ends and old Gujarati begins. There are, however, some characteristics such as the simplification of conjunct consonants, substitution of post-positions for inflections, and most of all the use of the auxiliary verb achai-chai, the precursor of the modern Gujarati che, which indicate the termination of Apabhramsa and the evolution of Gujarāti.
VI
The earliest literary work in old Gujarati that has come to light so far is the Bharatesvara Bahubali Rasa of Sälibhadra Süri, composed in V.S. 1241 (1185 A.D.). The following quotation will reveal how the new speech has just left the Apabhramsa stage and started on its career towards modern. Gujarātī.
रिसह जिणेसर पय पणमेवी, सरसति सामिणि मनि समरेवी, नमवि निरंतर गुरुचरणा ॥ भरह नरिंदर तणुं चरितो, जं जुगी वसवलय वदीतो,
बार वरस बिहु बंधवहं || हुं हिव पभणिसु रासह छंदिहिं, तं जनमनहर मन आनंदिहिं, भाविहिं भवीयण संभलेउ ॥ .

(Risaha Jinesara paya panamevi, sarasati sāmiņi mani samarevi, namavi norantara gurucalaṇā// Bharaha narindaha tanurh caritto, jam jugi vasahāṁvalaya vadito, bāra varasa bihum bandhavaham// Hum hiva pabhaṇisu rāsaha chandihim, tam jaņamanahara manaāṇandihim, bhävihim bhaviyana sambhaleu//)
"Having bowed to the feet of Rsabha Jineśvara, having remembered Goddess Sarasvati, and saluting always the feet of the guru;
"The life history of King Bharata, famous in this world from times of yore, (the war between) the two brothers which lasted for twelve years;
"(This) I shall sing in the form of a rasă in verse, so fascinating to the minds of people; may the religious-minded hear it with delight!"
In the century which followed, Gujarati was developed further and became the vehicle of over a dozen works in poetry. The following verse

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in the Revantagirirāsu of Vijayasenasūri which describes Saurāṣtra, will indicate the extent to which the language has evolved.
गामागरपुरवणगहण सरिसरवरि सुपएसु । देवभूमि दिसि पच्छिमह मणहरु सोरठदेसु ॥ जिणु तहिं मंडलमंडणउ मरगयमउडमहंतु । निम्मलसामलसिहरभरे रेहइ गिरि रेवंतु ॥ (Gāmāgarapuravanagahana sarisaravari supaesu/ Devabhūmi disi pacchimaha manaharu sorathadesu// Jiņu tahim mandalamandaņau maragayamaudamahantu,
Nimmalasāmalasiharabhare rehai giri Revantu// "Attractive with its towns and villages, imposing because of its forests, and charming on account of its rivers and lakes, is the beautiful Soratha deśa, the abode of gods, situated in the western direction.
"There stands out the charming Revanta mountain, the ornament of the world : its dark summits forming a majestic emerald green crown."
With the dawn of the next century (14th century) Gujarăti emerges into the limelight as a fully developed mature language with immense possibilities. Several works are composed in this period, some of which reveal a rare poetic beauty. Of these works the anonymous Vasanta Vilasa, the Thūlibhadda Phägu of Jinapadmasūri, the Neminátha Phagu of Maladhāri Rājasekharasūri, are most outstanding. The following description of spring found in Vasanta Vilása is singularly beautiful both in its style and in its conception :
कामुकजनमनजीवनु ती वनु नगर सुरंग । " राजु करइ अवभंगिहि रंगिहिं राउ अनंगु ॥ अलिजन वसई अनंत रे वसंतु तिहां परधान । तरुअर बासनिकेतन केतन किशलसंतान ॥ (Kālā bhūñcha teļiya bhoi, gâde linga caļāvyaum/ Rāju karai avabhangimhi rangihim rău anangu// Alijana vasaim ananta re vasantu tihāṁ paradhāna/
Taruara vāsaniketana ketana kišalasantāna/) "That forest, the life of the hearts of lovers, is (like) a charming city; (there) rules in full splendour the King Ananga (the God of Love).
"Innumerable bees dwell there; spring is there the minister; the trees are the dwelling places, and the mass of tender sprouts the banners."
Another remarkable work composed towards the close of this century is the Ranamalla Chanda of Sridhara Vyāsa, written in a style which is

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the parent of the Dingala or Cāraṇi poetry.
चडि चंचलि चाउद्दिशि चंपि थिरथिर थाणदार अरि कंपिइ । कमधजकरि धरि लोह लहक्किा बिबहरि बूंब बूंब बहक्किइ ।। निशि खंभनयर उध्रकिह धुंधलि धुंस पडिइ धुलक्किइ । प्रहि पोकार पडिइ पट्टणतलि रे रणमल्ल धाडि तव संभलि ।। (Cadi cañcali cāuddisi campi thirathira thāñadāra
ari kampii/ Kamadhajakari dhari loha lahakkii bibahari
būṁba būmba bahakkii// Nisi khambhanayara udhrakii dhundhali dhumsa
padii dhulakkii// Prahi pokāra padii Pațțaņatali re Raṇamalla dhādi
tava sambhali//) "When he mounts his horse and invades the four quarters, the generals of the enemies tremble with fear. As soon as the sword flashes in the hand of Kamadhajja (Rāthoda) Raņamalla, wails resound in the harems of the enemies.
"At night Cambay trembles; in the early morning Dholkā is struck with terror; in the morning Pāțaņ wakes up with screams--when, O Ranamalla, people hear of your attacks." . The 15th century is remarkable for its wealth of old Gujarati literature. Among the works of this century the pre-eminent in literary merit is the Kähnadade Prabandha of Padmanābha, which is a rare saga of Rajput heroism that has ever come down in the Indian Languages. The verses given below from that great mediaeval epic will testify to its great poetic beauty.
काला मूंछ तेडीया भोई, गाडे लिंग चडाव्यउं । आगलि घणी जोतरी त्रीयल, ढीली भणी चलाव्यउं ।। आगइ रुद्र घणइ कोपान लि, दैत्य सवे तई बाल्या । तई पृथ्वी मांहि पुण्य वरतान्यां, देवलोकि भय टाल्या ॥ तई बालिउ काम त्रिपुर विध्वंसिउ, पवनवेगि जिम तूल । पद्मनाभ पूछइ सोमईया केथू करयां त्रिसूल || (Kālā bhūñcha tediyā bhoi, gāde linga cadāvyaum/ Agali ghani jotari triyala, Dhili bhani calāvyaum// Agai Rudra ghaņai kopānali, daitya save taim bālya/ Taim Přthvi māṁhi punya varatāvyām, devaloki bhaya
tālya/

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Taiṁ bāliu Kāma Tripura vidhvaṁsiu, pavanavegi jima tūla/
Padmanābha pūchai Somaiya Kethüm Karayauṁ trisüla//) "Dark Bhois were called for; and the pieces of Siva's linga were hauled up in the cart. Several pairs of bullocks were made to draw it; it was thus removed to Delhi.
"O Rudra, in the times of yore you consumed the demons in the fire of your wrath; you spread punya in the world and removed the terror which oppressed the gods.
"You burnt down Kāma and destroyed Tripura just as wind blows away cotton. Padmanābha (the poet) asks you, O Somanātha, where have you laid up your trisula now?"
The other outstanding poets of this period are Narsimha, the poetsaint, and Mirambãi the immortal poetess of Rajasthān, whose poetry is the cherished heritage of India; Bhālana, the celebrated scholar who set Kadambari to verse; and the great Jaina writers Lāvanyasamaya and Māņikyasundara Sūri. Of the latter writers Māņikyasundara Suri is celebrated for his remarkable prose classic Pệthvīcandracaritra, which is an ornament of the Old Gujarātī prose. It stands unique in the entire Old Gujarāti literature on account of its dignified and mellifluous prose-style and the remarkable beauty of its composition. Numerous specimens of Old Gujarati prose have come to light, but of the ornate literary prose used by scholars of the mediaeval times, Pệthvīcandracaritra is almost the solitary example.
VII From the 16th century A.D. Gujarati assumes almost its present linguistic form. This period is remarkable for its wealth of literature—the well-known Akhyānas of Premānanda, reflecting the contemporary Gujarāti life, the poetical romances of Sāmala, reminding us of the Kathasaritsāgara and the Arabian Nights, and the great philosophical poems of Akho, and the delicately melodious and almost etherial lyrics of Dayārām.
From the middle of the 19th century Gujarāti language and literature undergo a fateful change on account of the influence of the English language and literature. The prose now became, under the influence of English, more cultivated and complex in nature, capable of expressing involved thoughts. The prose style could now vary from the declamatory and the narrative to the reflective. In content, the literature, which was so far restricted only to religion and allied topics, now embraced every

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topic on earth. In respect of form, lyrics, ballads, sonnets and elegies in poetry, and essay, fiction, short story, drama, autobiography, and travel literature now came into existence as a direct consequence of contact with western literature. The still newer forms of literature like the short story, one-act plays and radio-plays have recently come into greater vogue and achieved success. Such is modern Gujarati language and literature.
VIII Besides its standard form in which literature is composed Gujarāti has several interesting dialects which are only spoken forms of speech, though almost universally current among the masses of Gujarāt. They are the Kāțhiāwādi, Pattanī or north Gujarātī, Carotari or middle Gujarātī, and Surati or south Gujarātī.
The Bhils on the eastern border speak their own dialect--the Bhilli, which bears a close affinity to Gujarāti. To the north beyond Mount Abu is spoken a language which has traces of Gujarāti within its predominantly Rajasthani corpus. To the south-east in the Dānga area the speech is an intermixture of Gujarāti and Marathi-predominantly Gujarati on the western side, and leaning more to Marāțhi on the eastern side.
There are also racial dialects of Gujarāti which are spoken by particular communities. For example, Kāthis and Ahirs of Saurāṣtra speak an archaic dialect nearer to Apabhramśa than to modern Gujarāti. The Khārvās of the coast-line of Saurāṣtra have their special dialect known as Khārvi. Parsis speak Parsi-Gujarāti, while Vohrás of north Gujarāt, Memoņs of Saurāştra, and Bāraiyas and Dhāraļās of middle Gujarāt speak Gujarātī with their characteristic dialectal traits. Some of these dialects are given a place in modern Gujarāti creative literature-particularly in the short-story and fiction-in order to impart local colour to the work.
Gujarāti in its long history stretching over a thousand years as outlined above came in contact with several external influences and assimilated some of them. Thus it is that Arabic words like umdā,* insaf, javáb, kharca, taiyar, makan, vatan, sarbat; and the Persian words like gulab, gumasto, cālāk, jakham, dago, dastāvej, darji, fudino, bakhşīs, bāju, majūr, hajâr, etc.; and the Turki words like kalgi, kābu, cakmak, camco, jājam,
These and other loan-words are reproduced in their characteristically Gujarāti form.

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168 ACARYA VIJAYAVALLABHASURI COMMEMORATION VOLUME top, begum, mughal; and the Portuguese words like afus, ananas, ingrej, ijaner, kaju, tamaku, batata, mej, mosambi, have found a place in Gujarati and have been almost completely naturalized. More recently Gujarati borrowed several loan-words from English such as office, appeal, court, doctor, pencil, boot, master, station, hotel, etc., and gave them a completely indigenous Gujarati form. This process of borrowing continues even to-day as Gujarati does not hesitate in borrowing several words from Indian or foreign languages if they are found to express sense in a particularly effective manner in reference to corresponding words of indigenous origin. Herein lies its strength, because this process increases the potentiality of the language. Gujarati has also improved by being relieved from a surfeit of Sanskrit words which marred its innate beauty and made it heavy and pedantic as in the writings of some of the scholars of the latter part of the last century. This purification owes its origin to Gandhiji. Gandhiji insisted on using the simple and forceful speech of the masses living in the country-side as the standard form of language to be used in all literary compositions. Gandhiji demonstrated in his worldfamous 'Autobiography' the inherent strength of this simple speech which could be adapted to the highest literary purposes. A whole school of writers followed his foot-steps and wielded the folk-speech with considerable power and charm even in serious literary works of philosophy, economics, politics and social sciences. This is the Gujarati of to-day, full of strength and promise, awaiting a future even more glorious than its hoary past. TAN AAN TV mby VA ST XX il l) .