Old Hindi (Old Hindi: ڐھلّی Ḍhillaī) was the earliest formstage of Hindustani language, and so the ancestor of Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu.
| Old Hindi | |
|---|---|
ڐهِلَّی | |
| Region | Delhi |
| Era | 10th–13th centuries |
Early forms | |
| Devanagari, Nastaliq | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hiw |
| Glottolog | None |
It was spoken by the peoples of the Hindi belt, especially around Delhi, in roughly the 13th–15th centuries. It is attested in only a handful of literature, including some works by the poet Amir Khusrau, verses by the poet-saint Namdev, and some verses by the Sufi saint Baba Farid in the Adi Granth. The works of Kabir also may be included, as they use a Khariboli-like dialect. Old Hindi was originally written in Devanagari and later in Nastaliq as well.
Old Hindi poetry can be found as early as 769 AD.
... on one account, Khari Boli was contrasted with the mellifluousness and soft fluency of Braj Bhasha: khari was understood to refer to the rustic and stiff uncouthness of Khari Boli. The protagonists of Khari Boli returned the compliment: Braj Bhasha was called pari boli – ie supine! ...