Rajasthani Languages & Literature

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Rajasthani Languages

  • Evolution of rajasthani languages from Shaurseni Prakrit
  • Saureni Prakrit is then developed into:-

         Gurjar in western region

         Shaurseni in eastern region (Apram bhasha)

 

Gurjar-

         Maru Gurjar or old Rajasthani

         its common language of Rajasthan and Gujrat

         1st work was Bhrateshwar Bahubali Ghor by Vajrasensuri in 1168 ad

         In 15th century it evolved to Dingal

         Dingal was generally used in ballards and chronicles of warriors heroic deeds in the mewar and Marwar region

Shaurseni-

         It developed in Pingal which is a rajasthani variation of Braj Bhasha

         It was largely used for devotional and erotic poetry

Charans:-

         they preserves the glorious and martial deeds of their patrons

         Khayat- Chronicles

         Vats- Accounts of past events

         Vigats-Gazettes

 

 

Decline of Rajasthani Languages after the British rule was mainly due to following factors:-

         Outdated feudal system

         Growth of Printing press,newspaper and free  discussion was largely discouraged in the princely states.

         Royal patronage to rajasthani was largely discontinued.

         Influence of Hindi

         Growth of Khardi boli

Present status of Rajasthani Languages and their main variations –

         Kamdhari- Nagari script mainly used in administration

         Jain style- Manuscript writing

         Modiya- Used by Trading class

         Shasti- Common people language.

 

 

Rajasthani Dialact

 

The Rajasthani languages belong to the Western Indo-Aryan language family. However, they are controversially conflated with the Hindi languages of the Central-Zone in the Indian national census, among other places. The varieties of the Rajasthani language are:

  • Rajasthani :the common lingua franca of Rajasthani people and is spoken by over 18 million people in different parts of Rajasthan.

 

  • Marwari: the most spoken Rajasthani in the historic Marwar region of western Rajasthan.

 

  • Malvi: Spoken in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.

 

  • Dhundhari: Spoken speakers in the Dhundhar region of Rajasthan.

 

  • Harauti: Spoken in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan.

 

  • Mewari: Spoken in the Mewar region of Rajasthan.

 

  • Mewati: Spoken in the Mewat region, comprising Haryana and Rajasthan.

 

  • Shekhawati: Spoken in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan.

 

  • Bagri: Spoken in northern Rajasthan and northwestern Haryana. There are also speakers situated in southern Punjab.

 

  • Nimadi: Spoken in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

 

  • Other Rajasthani languages are Dhatki, Godwari, Gujari, Gurgula, Goaria and Lambadi.

 

                                     Rajasthani Literature

Rajasthani literature written in various genres starting from 1000 AD. But, it is generally agreed that modern Rajasthani literature began with the works of Surajmal Misrana.His most important works are the Vansa Bhaskara and the Vir Satsai. The Vans Bhaskar contains accounts of the Rajput princes who ruled in what was then Rajputana The Vir Satsai is a collection of hundreds of couplets.Medieval Rajasthani literature is mostly poetry only and it is more about the heroic poetry mentioning of the great kings and fighters of the Rajasthan. Early Rajasthani literature is created by mostly Jain saints. Earlier Rajasthani was known as Maru Gurjar (or dingal), which was close to Gujarati.

Rajasthani Literature can be classified into three categories, which are as follows:-

  1. Sanskrit and Prakrit
  2. Rajasthani
  3. Hindi

 

Sanskrit and Prakrit

 

Major literature of Sanskrit and prakrit developed in Rajasthan are as follows:-

         Shishupal Vadh by poet Magh

         Samaraichcha Katha by Hari Bhadra Suri

         Kuvalaya Mala by Udyotan Suri

         Upmiti Bharva Prancha Katha by Sidhi Rishi

         Harkaili by Vigrah Raj Chauhan IV of Ajmer

         Prithvi Raj Vijay by Prithvi Raj Chauhan

         Geet Goving and Sangeet Raj by Jai deva

         Charan Literature

 

Rajasthani

Major literature of Rajasthani developed in Rajasthan are classified into three styles which are as follows:-

  1. Jain- such as Prithvi Raj charit by Manak Chandra
  2. Dingal or Charan- like Prithvi Raj Raso by Chand Bardai, Rao Jaitasirau Chhanda by Vithu Sujo Nagarjota.
  3. Popular- like Veli Krishna Rukmani by Prithvi raj Rathore, Vansh Bhaskar by Surya Mal, Songs of Meera Bai, Khayal which are dance drama’s
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