Classical languages of India

The Indian classical languages are the languages of India perceived as having high antiquity, and valuable, original and distinct literary heritage. Some classical languages of India are recognised by the Ministry of Culture of the Union Government of India, while some are separately recognised by the National Education Policy, specifically the 2020 edition, which is often referred to as the "New Education Policy". Certain classical languages are cited in the academic and scholarly writings and publications, independent of any governmental or institutional recognition.

The Government of India declared in 2004 that languages meeting strict criteria could be accorded the status of a classical language of India. It was instituted by the Ministry of Culture along with the Linguistic Experts' Committee. The committee was constituted by the Government of India to consider demands for the categorisation of languages as classical languages. In 2004, Tamil became the first language to be recognised. As of 2024, 11 languages have been recognised: the four largest Dravidian languages (Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu), four Indo-Aryan languages that are still spoken (Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Odia), and three historic Indo-Aryan languages (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit).

Criteria

In the year 2004, the tentative criteria for the age of antiquity of "classical language" was assumed to be at least 1000 years of existence.

The Central Government has revised the criteria 3 times.

Criteria in 2004

The following criteria were set during the time Tamil was given the classical language status by the government of India:

  • High Antiquity of its early texts/ recorded history over a thousand years.
  • A body of ancient literature/ texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generation of speakers.
  • The literary tradition must be original and not borrowed from another speech community.

Criteria in 2005

The following criteria were set during the time Sanskrit was given the classical language status by the government of India

  • High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500–2000 years.
  • body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers.
  • The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community.
  • The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.

After classical language status was granted to Tamil in 2004, there were similar demands for other languages. Subsequently Telugu (2008), Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013) and Odia (2014) were given the status.

Criteria in 2024

The following criteria were set by the Ministry of Culture:

i. High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500–2000 years.

ii. A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a heritage by generations of speakers.

iii. Knowledge texts, especially prose texts in addition to poetry, epigraphical and inscriptional evidence.

iv. The Classical Languages and literature could be distinct from its current form or could be discontinuous with later forms of its offshoots.

Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit were given the classical language status in October 2024.

Upon dropping the criteria for "original literary tradition", the Linguistic Expert Committee justified their decision by stating the following:

“We discussed it in detail and understood that it was a very difficult thing to prove or disprove as all ancient languages borrowed from each other, but recreated the texts in their own way. On the contrary, archaeological, historical and numismatic evidence are tangible things”

— Linguistic Expert Committee

Benefits

Academic opportunities

As per Government of India's Resolution No. 2-16/2004-US (Akademies) dated 1 November 2004, the benefits that will accrue to a language declared as a "Classical Language" are:

  1. Two major international awards for scholars of eminence in Classical Indian Languages are awarded annually.
  2. A Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Languages is set up.
  3. The University Grants Commission will be requested to create, to start with at least in the Central Universities, a certain number of Professional Chairs for Classical Languages for scholars of eminence in Classical Indian Languages.

Job employment opportunities

The recognition of these classical languages will give job employment opportunities, especially in academic and research areas. Moreover, the preservation, documentation, and digitisation of ancient texts of these languages will provide employment opportunities to people in archiving, translation, publishing, and digital media.

Recognition by the Ministry of Culture

Language Earliest attestation Language family Language branch Date recognised
Word/Place name Epigraphy/Unbroken literary
Tamil 580 BCE ~300 BCE (written) Dravidian South Dravidian 12 October 2004
Sanskrit ~1500 BCE (oral) ~1500 BCE (oral); 100 CE (written) Indo-European Indo-Aryan 25 November 2005
Kannada c. 250 BCE 450 CE (written) Dravidian South Dravidian 31 October 2008
Telugu 200 BCE. 575 CE (written) South-Central Dravidian
Malayalam 300-400 849 (written) CE South Dravidian 23 May 2013
Odia 700-800 CE Indo-European Eastern Indo-Aryan 20 February 2014
Assamese 3 October 2024
Bengali 432-33 CE
Marathi 739 CE Southern Indo-Aryan
Pali 260 BCE (written) Between ~300-200 BCE (oral) and 100 BCE (Written) Middle Indo-Aryan
Prakrit 260 BCE (written)

Recognition by the Education Policy

The New Education Policy, also known as the National Education Policy 2020, had given recognition of Farsi (Persian language), owing to its huge long-established cultural heritage and influence on the traditional Indian culture, despite being originated from outside India, simultaneously with two ancient Indian languages, namely, Prakrit and Pali, as "classical language of India". Certain sources explicitly mention it as "Classical languages of India", while some sources write only "Classical language", without highlighting it as either "Indian" or not. In 2024, the classical language designation was internationally announced by S. Jaishankar, the then External Affairs Minister of India, in a Tehran-based bilateral meeting between India and Iran.

Language(s) Earliest establishment Language family Language branch Date recognised
Farsi/Persian language Already long-established in Iran (Ancient Persia) in antiquity, but significantly introduced to the Indian subcontinent, in the 7th century CE by the Parsis. It was widespreadly introduced in the 11th century, during the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni (conquering portions of Northwest India, including the Punjab, as a part of the Ghaznavid Empire) and the early Delhi Sultanate era Indo-European Iranian January 2024
Pali c. 1st century BCE Indo-Aryan
Prakrit c. 3rd century BCE

Demand from other languages

Some languages are described as "classical" by scholars but still not officially recognised as "classical" by the Government of India. These languages may either have administrative "official language" or "scheduled language" statuses.

Meitei

Meitei, or Manipuri, is a language of the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family, having a long literary tradition.

Maithili

Maithili is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language with a literary tradition that traces its roots back to the 7th and 8th centuries. The earliest known example of Maithili can be found in the Mandar Hill Sen inscription from the 7th century, which provides evidence of its ancient lineage. Additionally, the Charyapada, a collection of Buddhist mystical songs from the 8th century, also reflects the early development of Maithili. The language is predominantly spoken in the Mithila region, encompassing parts of present-day Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal. Maithili's rich literary heritage includes epic poetry, philosophical texts, and devotional songs, such as the works of the 14th-century poet Vidyapati. Though it has a distinct script, Tirhuta, Devanagari is commonly used today. Despite its profound historical and cultural significance, Maithili has yet to be recognised as a "classical language" by the Government of India, leading to ongoing demands for such recognition.

Classical Language Literary Awards

In January 2026, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced the first edition of the annual "Semmozhi Illakiya Virudhu" (transl. Classical Language Literary Award), for the best works in the 7 languages, namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odiya, Bengali and Marathi, carrying a cash prize of 7 lakh INR each.

Politics

Besides the literary achievements, the status of classical language is granted, sometimes influenced by the political parties of the states or union territories of the respective languages where these are spoken or are based in, or the national parties, advocating for the certain languages to be accorded the demanded status.

Languages declared as "classical" Political parties (involved in advocacy) State/UT/National level parties Notes/Ref.
Tamil Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and UPA Government Tamil Nadu and national
Telugu Telugu Desam Party and
UPA Government		 United Andhra and National
Kannada Bharatiya Janata Party and UPA Government Karnataka and national
Odia UPA Government and Biju Janata Dal National and Odisha
Bengali Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party West Bengal and national
Bengali Amra Bangali Tripura
Marathi Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Shiv Sena Maharashtra
Marathi Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress National

Court cases against classical status

A lawyer from the Madras High Court legally challenged against the official classical status of Malayalam and Odia, in 2015. There was a long legal proceeding for almost one year. Later, the Madras High Court disposed the case against the mentioned languages' status of being officially "classical" in 2016.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Originally orally transmitted. Not attested in writing until the 1st century BCE, when it was written in the Brahmi script, and later in various Brahmic scripts.
  2. ↑ c. 8th and 12th centuries CE through the Vajrayana Buddhist mystical composition of the Charyapada, which is regarded as the earliest known "common" written specimen of Bengali, Odia, and Assamese languages
  3. ↑ Certain sources mention it as "New Education Policy" with all letters capitalized, instead of directly mentioning the National Education Policy 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 The establishment of Persian language in India coincided with or preceded the rise of certain native Indo-Aryan languages (from their regional Prakrit ancestors), which are recognised as "classical" in modern times.
  5. 1 2 3 Prakrit and Pali were again given "classical language" recognition by the Ministry of Culture (India) later in 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "Reviving classical languages – Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". Dnaindia.com. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 21 September 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 "India sets up classical languages". BBC. 17 September 2004. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Cabinet approves conferring status of Classical Language to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali languages". Press Information Bureau.
  4. ↑ "Clamour grows for Marathi to be given classical language status". The Times of India. 16 April 2018. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Chakrabarty, Sreeparna (6 October 2024). "Five languages got classical status after 'original literary tradition' norm was dropped". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 "Classical Status to Odiya Language". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 14 August 2013. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Keezhadi, a new Sangam Age site". Frontline. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2026. Potsherds with inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi script found in trenches dug by the ASI at Keezhadi near Madurai on the banks of the Vaigai river in Tamil Nadu. The inscriptions were of Tamil names such as Eyyan, Udhiran and Aadhan, but an unusual find was a Prakrit name, "Tissa", which pointed to the existence of trade links between Keezhadi and Sri Lanka.
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  9. ↑ Definitive Editions of Ancient Tamil Works
  10. ↑ Abraham, S.A. (2003), "Chera, Chola, Pandya: Using Archaeological Evidence to Identify the Tamil Kingdoms of Early Historic South India" (PDF), Asian Perspectives, 42 (2): 207, doi:10.1353/asi.2003.0031, hdl:10125/17189, S2CID 153420843
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  15. ↑ Jain, Dhanesh (2007). "Sociolinguistics of the Indo-Aryan languages". In George Cardona; Dhanesh Jain (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. pp. 47–66, 51. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9. In the history of Indo-Aryan, writing was a later development and its adoption has been slow even in modern times. The first written word comes to us through Asokan inscriptions dating back to the third century BC. Originally, Brahmi was used to write Prakrit (MIA); for Sanskrit (OIA) it was used only four centuries later (Masica 1991: 135). The MIA traditions of Buddhist and Jain texts show greater regard for the written word than the OIA Brahminical tradition, though writing was available to Old Indo-Aryans.
  16. ↑ Salomon, Richard (2007). "The Writing Systems of the Indo-Aryan Languages". In George Cardona; Dhanesh Jain (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. pp. 67–102. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9. Although in modern usage Sanskrit is most commonly written or printed in Nagari, in theory, it can be represented by virtually any of the main Brahmi-based scripts, and in practice it often is. Thus scripts such as Gujarati, Bangla, and Oriya, as well as the major south Indian scripts, traditionally have been and often still are used in their proper territories for writing Sanskrit. Sanskrit, in other words, is not inherently linked to any particular script, although it does have a special historical connection with Nagari.
  17. ↑ The word Isila found in the Ashokan inscription (called the Brahmagiri edict from Karnataka) meaning to shoot an arrow, is a Kannada word, indicating that Kannada was a spoken language in the 3rd century BC (D.L. Narasimhachar in Kamath 2001, p5)
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  22. ↑ The Hindu News: Telugu is 2,400 years old, says ASI Archived 3 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine "The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has joined the Andhra Pradesh Official Languages Commission to say that early forms of the Telugu language and its script indeed existed 2,400 years ago"
  23. ↑ "Telugu language | Origin, History, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 1 November 2023. Archived from the original on 21 September 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "The earliest inscription in Malayalam". The Hindu. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2026.
  25. ↑ Devadevan, Manu V. (2020). "Changes in Land Relations and the Changing Fortunes of the Cera State". The 'Early Medieval' Origins of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 126–28. ISBN 978-1-108-49457-1.
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  28. ↑ Comrie, Bernard (30 November 2022). The Major Languages of South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-93257-3. This is clearly evident, for instance, in the case of the celebrated Buddhist hymns called the Caryapada, composed in eastern India roughly between AD 1000 and 1200. Though the language of these hymns is Old Beng2ali, there are reference works on Assamese, Oriya and even Maithili that treat the same hymns as the earliest specimens of each of these languages and their literatures.
  29. ↑ Dalby, Andrew (28 October 2015). Dictionary of Languages: The definitive reference to more than 400 languages. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-4081-0214-5. Around 1000 AD, when Bengali, Oriya and Assamese not yet distinguishable as separate languages, the remarkable, mystical Buddhist Charyapada songs were composed. They were discovered in a manuscript at Kathmandu and first published in 1916. They are claimed as the foundation of the literary tradition of all three languages.
  30. ↑ "Odia language | Region, History, & Basics | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  31. ↑ "Bengali literature | History, Rabindranath Tagore, Poetry, Novels, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024. The Charyapada, written between the 8th and 12th centuries ce, are a collection of mystical poems from Vajrayana Buddhist traditions of the eastern Indian regions of Bengal, Assam, Bihar, and Odisha.
  32. ↑ Suniti Kumar Chatterji 1926, pp. 109, 179.
  33. ↑ Christian Lee Novetzke 2016, p. 53.
  34. ↑ "Classical Language status granted to Marathi". pib.gov.in. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024. The Marathi language's first known inscription dates back to around 2200 years ago, found in the Naneghata inscription, where the term "Maharathino" was used. This inscription, written in the Brahmi script, proves that the language must have existed at least a few centuries before.
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  42. 1 2 3 "India Uses Language To Strengthen Ties With Iran And Indian Muslims – Analysis". Eurasia Review. 20 January 2024. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
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