Braj is a language within the Indo-Aryan language family spoken in the Braj region in Western Uttar Pradesh centred on Mathura, Eastern Rajasthan centred on Bharatpur, Karauli, Dholpur, and south-eastern areas of Haryana. It was one of the two predominant literary languages of North-Central India before gradually merging into and contributing to the development of standardized Hindi in the 19th century. It is spoken today in its unique form in many districts of Western Uttar Pradesh, often referred to as 'Central Braj Bhasha'.
The language was historically used for Vaishnavite poetry dedicated to Krishna, whose life was associated with sites in the Braj region. There were also early prose works in terms of the hagiographical vārtā literature of the Vallabha sect.
Braj is considered by scholars to be a more conservative example of the Central Indo-Aryan languages compared to the Hindustani language, which has been influenced by Punjabi and intermediate dialects.
Most Braj literature is of a mystical nature, related to the spiritual union of people with God, because almost all of the Braj Bhasha poets were considered God-realised saints and their words are thus considered as directly emanating from a divine source. Much of the traditional North Indian literature shares this trait. All traditional Punjabi literature is similarly written by saints and is of a metaphysical and philosophical nature.
Another peculiar feature of North Indian literature is that the literature is mostly written from a female point of view, even by male poets. This is because the saints were in a state of transcendental, spiritual love, where they were metaphorically women reuniting with their beloved. (In its inversion of the conventional genders of worshipper and worshippee, Maulana Da’ud's Chandayan departs from this tradition).
Important works in Braj Bhasha are:
Pushtimargiya Kiratan of Ashtachhap.
Yugala Shataka by Swami Sri Sribhatta Devacarya; known as the first 'Vani' book in Vraja Bhasha composed in the 14th century as a part of Nimbarka Sampradaya tradition of Radha-Krishna worship.
Mahabharat Darpan by Gokul Nath Kavi, with his son Gopinath and his disciple Manidev finishing the last sections. The work was composed under the court patronage of Kingdom of Kashi, Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh in the late 18th to early 19th century. This is the first complete verse translation of the Mahabharata including the Harivamsa Purana in the literary Braj Bhasha.
