Classical Newar

Classical Newar or Classical Nepal Bhasa (Modern Newar: pulāṃ bhāy, 'old language') also known as Old Newar, is the vernacular and literary form of Nepal Bhasa used prior to the 19th century. The term is most generally used to describe the form of Nepal Bhasa used in manuscripts and other sources from the Malla dynasty.

The antiquity of the Newar language is not known. The Sanskrit stone inscriptions from the Licchavi Dynasty contains frequent use of Tibeto-Burman words, especially for proper nouns like names of person, settlements and rivers, suggesting the existence of a vernacular Tibeto-Burman language, which is believed to be an early form of the Newar language.

The earliest known (dated) document in Nepal Bhasa is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates back to 1114 AD (235 NS).

The language continued growing in the Medieval period, and enjoyed royal patronage. Noted royal writers include Mahindra Malla, Siddhinarsingh Malla, Jagatprakash Malla etc. An example of the language used in that period is provided by lines of Mooldevshashidev written by Jagatprakash Malla which verse describes Shiva and the use of a tiger skin as his seat.

This language was the official language of Nepal from Licchavi era to Malla era of Nepal. Newar words appeared in Sanskrit inscriptions in the Kathmandu Valley for the first time in the fifth century. The words are names of places, taxes and merchandise indicating that it already existed as a spoken language during the Licchavi period (approximately 400–750 AD). The inscriptions from the Licchavi period includes Newari words. Hence, it indicated that Newari was the common language during Licchavi dynasty although the official use of the period was Sanskrit, but Nepal Bhasa was already in use. The earliest dated stone inscription in Thakuri dynasty is in Newari, dated Nepal Sambat 293 (1173 CE).

Classical Nepal Bhasa was introduced in ISO 639-2 code list in 2004.

A Course in Reading Classical Newari by Felix Otter Heidelberg: CrossAsia, 2021ISBN 978-3-946742-94-4