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Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh.
Standard Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has bee ...
and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its Dehlavi dialect( Old Hindi), becoming the Hindustani language of the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. Hindustani gained prestige when it was accepted along with
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
as a language of the court, before that it was only a sociolect of the ruling classes and a language the Persianate states spoke to their subjects in. Modern Kauravi contains some features, such as
gemination In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from ''gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from ...
, which give it a distinctive sound and differentiates it from Braj,
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, ...
and Hindustani. An early form of Kauravi became the main basis of Old Hindi, which subsequently developed into Hindustani and then into Hindi and Urdu.


Geographical distribution

Khariboli is spoken in the rural surroundings of Delhi and northwestern Uttar Pradesh, as well as in some neighbouring areas of
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
and Uttarakhand. The geography of this part of North India is traditionally described as '' doabs''. In
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
, the following districts are Khari-speaking: * Kurukshetra *
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...
* Yamunanagar * Panchkula *Northern half of Faridabad *Eastern parts of Karnal,
Sonepat Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It is also around 214 km (128 miles) southwest o ...
, Panipat In Uttar Pradesh, the following districts of the
Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ba ...
- Ganges ''doab'' are Khari-speaking: *
Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared a ...
* Muzaffarnagar *
Shamli Shamli is a city and the headquarters of Shamli district, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a part of Delhi NCR and is an administrative subdivision under Saharanpur division. History According to the mythological story, in Dawpar yu ...
*
Baghpat Baghpat is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Bagpat district, which was established in 1997. It is part of the National Capital Region. Etymology The original name of the city was ''Vyaghrap ...
* Meerut *
Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Mu ...
*
Hapur Hapur is a city in, as well as the headquarters of, Hapur district, in Uttar Pradesh, India. Located about east of New Delhi, the city is part of the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). National Highway 9 passes through the city, connecting ...
*
Bulandshahr Bulandshahr, formerly Baran, is a city and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bulandshahr district and part of Delhi NCR region. According to the Government o ...
*
Gautam Buddha Nagar Gautam Buddha Nagar district is a district of Uttar Pradesh, named after Gautama Buddha. It is a part of Delhi NCR and is divided into 4 sub-divisions i.e. Noida, Greater Noida, Dadri and Jewar. Greater Noida is the administrative headquarters o ...
In the trans- Ganges area, it is spoken in the following districts of Rohilkhand region in Uttar Pradesh: *
Moradabad Moradabad () is a city, commissionary and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Moradabad is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of from the national capital, New Delhi and ...
* Rampur *
Sambhal Sambhal is a city located in the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh state in India. The city lies approximately 158 kilometres (98 mi) east of New Delhi and 355 kilometres (220 mi) north-west of state capital Lucknow. History Sambhal ...
*
Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The ...
*
Badaun Budaun is commonly pronounced Badayun is a city and a seat of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located near the Ganges river in the centre of Western Uttar Pradesh. Budaun was the capital of Delhi Sultanate for four years from 1210 C ...
*
Amroha Amroha is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is located north-west of Moradabad, near the Ganga River. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amroha district. Geography Amroha is located north-west of Moradabad, near the ...
*
Bijnor Bijnor is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, IndiaUttarakhand, the following districts of the
Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ba ...
- Ganges ''doab'' are partially Khari-speaking: * Haridwar *
Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative A ...
In the trans- Ganges area, it is partially spoken in the following districts of Uttarakhand: *
Nainital Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters o ...
only in Terai region which has significant population of immigrants from Uttar Pradesh. *
Udham Singh Nagar Udham Singh Nagar District (officially District of Udham Singh Nagar )is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. Rudrapur is the district headquarters. This district consists of nine Tehsils named Bajpur, Gadarpur, Rudrapur, Jaspu ...


Khariboli in Hindustani popular culture

Khariboli is often seen as rustic by speakers of Standard Hindustani, and elements of it were used in '' Hum Log'', India's first television soap opera, where the main family was depicted as having roots in Western Uttar Pradesh. As the two main Hindustani dialects of Western Uttar Pradesh and the areas surrounding Delhi, Khariboli and
Braj Bhasha The Braj language, ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as Vraj Bhasha or Vrij Bhasha or Braj Bhāṣā or Braji or Brij Bhasha or Braj Boli, is a Western Hindi language. Along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi), it was one of the two predominan ...
are often compared. One hypothesis of how Khariboli came to be described as (standing) asserts that it refers to the "''stiff and rustic uncouthness''" of the dialect compared to the "''mellifluousness and soft fluency''" of Braj Bhasha. On the other hand, Khariboli supporters sometimes pejoratively referred to Braj Bhasha and other dialects as "''Pariboli''" ( hi, पड़ी बोली, ur, , lit=fallen/supine dialects).


Kauravi and Sankrityayan's proposal

Although most linguists acknowledge that Modern Standard Hindustani descended from Khariboli, the precise mechanism of dialectical changes from Khari to the prestige dialect (such as the loss of gemination which is so prevalent in Khari) lacks consensus. There are also variations within Khari itself across the area in which it is spoken. In the mid-twentieth century,
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
scholar and nationalist,
Rahul Sankrityayan Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...
, proposed a redrawing of the linguistic map of the Hindustani zone. Drawing a distinction between the Khari of Delhi and the Khari of the extreme western parts of Western Uttar Pradesh, he advocated that the former retain the name ''Khariboli'' while the latter be renamed to ''Kauravi'', after the Kuru Kingdom of ancient India. Although the term ''Khariboli'' continues to be applied as it traditionally was, some linguists have accepted the term ''Kauravi'' as well, applying to the language spoken in the linguistic arc running from Saharanpur to Agra (i.e. the close east and north east of Delhi). Sankrityayan postulated that this ''Kaurvi'' dialect was the parent of Delhi's specific Khari dialect. Sankrityayan had also advocated that all Hindustani be standardised on the Devanagari script and Perso-Arabic entirely be abandoned.


Other dialects of Hindustani

Khariboli is related to four registers of Hindustani, the lingua franca of northern India and Pakistan: Standard Hindi, Standard Urdu,
Dakhini Deccani (also known as Deccani Urdu and Deccani Hindi). https://knowledgehubadda.blogspot.com/2022/02/blog-post_74.html? m=1 or Dakni, Dakhni, Dakhini, Dakkhani and Dakkani (, ''dekanī'' or , ''dakhanī''), is a variety of Hindustani spoken ...
and Rekhta. Standard Hindi (also High Hindi, Manak Hindi) is the language of government and is one of the official languages of India, Standard Urdu is the
state language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
and national language of Pakistan, Dakhini is the historical literary dialect of the Deccan region, and Rekhta the "mixed" Hindustani of medieval poetry. These registers, together with Sansiboli, form the Hindustani dialect group. This group, together with Haryanvi,
Braj Bhasha The Braj language, ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as Vraj Bhasha or Vrij Bhasha or Braj Bhāṣā or Braji or Brij Bhasha or Braj Boli, is a Western Hindi language. Along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi), it was one of the two predominan ...
,
Kanauji Kannauji is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kannauj region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Kannauji is closely related to Hindustani, with a lexical similarity of 83–94% with Hindi. Some consider it to be a dialect of Hindustani, ...
and Bundeli, forms the
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
dialect set of Hindi languages.


Early influences

The area around Delhi has long been the center of power in northern India, and naturally, the ''Khari Boli'' dialect came to be regarded as urbane and of a higher standard than the other dialects of Hindi. This view gradually gained ground over the 19th century; before that period, other dialects such as
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, ...
,
Braj Bhasha The Braj language, ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as Vraj Bhasha or Vrij Bhasha or Braj Bhāṣā or Braji or Brij Bhasha or Braj Boli, is a Western Hindi language. Along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi), it was one of the two predominan ...
and
Sadhukaddi Sadhukkadi (सधुक्कड़ी ) was a vernacular dialect of the Hindi Belt of medieval North India, and a mix of Hindi languages ( Hindustani, Haryanvi, Braj Bhasha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Marwari) and Punjabi, hence it is also commonly call ...
were the dialects preferred by littérateurs. Standard Hindustani first developed with the migration of Persian Khari Boli speakers from Delhi to the
Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
region—most notably
Amir Khusro Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian su ...
, mixing the 'roughness' of Khari Boli with the relative 'softness' of Awadhi to form a new language which they called "Hindavi." This also became referred to as Hindustani, which subsequently diverged into Hindi and Urdu. Although as a dialect, Khari Boli belongs to the Upper Doab, "Hindavi" developed in the cultural spheres of
Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administra ...
and
Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tr ...
.


Rise as the basis for Standard Hindustani

The earliest examples of Khariboli can be seen in the compositions of
Amir Khusro Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian su ...
(1253–1325). Before the rise of Khariboli, the literary dialects of Hindi were the ones adopted by the Bhakti saints:
Braj Bhasha The Braj language, ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as Vraj Bhasha or Vrij Bhasha or Braj Bhāṣā or Braji or Brij Bhasha or Braj Boli, is a Western Hindi language. Along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi), it was one of the two predominan ...
( Krishna devotees),
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, ...
(adopted by the Rama devotees) and Maithili ( Vaishnavites of Bihar). However, after the Bhakti movement became ritualistic, these languages came to be regarded as rural and unrefined. Khariboli, on the other hand, was spoken in the urban area surrounding the Mughal courts, where Persian was the official language. The Persian-influenced Khariboli thus gradually came to be regarded as a prestige dialect, although hardly any literary works had been written in Khariboli before the British period in India. The British administrators of India and the Christian missionaries played an important role in creation and promotion of the Khariboli-based Modern Standard Hindustani. In 1800, the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
established a college of higher education at
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerc ...
named the Fort William College.
John Borthwick Gilchrist John Borthwick Gilchrist (19 June 1759 – 9 January 1841) was a Scottish surgeon, linguist, philologist and Indologist. Born and educated in Edinburgh, he spent most of his early career in India, where he made a study of the local languages. In ...
, a president of that college, encouraged his professors to write in their native tongue; some of the works thus produced were in the literary form of the Khariboli dialect. These books included ''Premsagar'' by
Lallu Lal Lallu Lal (1763–1835) was an academic, author and translator from British India. He was an instructor in the Hindustani language at Fort William College in Hastings, Calcutta. He is notable for ''Prem Sagar'', the first work in modern literary ...
, ''Nasiketopakhyan'' by Sadal Mishra; ''Sukhsagar'' by Sadasukh Lal of Delhi and ''Rani Ketaki Ki Kahani'' by Inshallah Khan. More developed forms of Khariboli can also be seen in some mediocre literature produced in the early 18th century. Examples are ''Chand Chhand Varnan Ki Mahima'' by Ganga Bhatt, ''Yogavashishtha'' by Ram Prasad Niranjani, ''Gora Badal Ki katha'' by Jatmal, ''Mandovar Ka Varnan'' by Anonymous, a translation of Ravishenacharya's ''Jain Padmapuran'' by Daulat Ram (dated 1761). With the government patronage and the literary popularity, the Khariboli flourished, even as the use of previously more literary tongues such as Awadhi, Braj and Maithili declined in the literary vehicles. The literary works in Khariboli gained momentum from the second half of the 19th century onwards. A prominent Indian historian
Raja Sivaprasad Raja Śivaprasāda or Shivaprasad C.S.I Sitara-e-Hind ("Star of India") (3 February 1823 – 23 May 1895) was an Indian scholar, linguist and historian. He was the title of Raja and old documents use the titular name or the prefix "babu", a term ...
was a promoter of the Hindi language, in particular the Khariboli version. Gradually, in the subsequent years, Khariboli became the basis for standard Hindustani, which began to be taught in schools and used in government functions. Urdu, the heavily Persianised version of Khariboli, replaced Persian as the official language of local administration in North India in the early 19th century. However, the association of Urdu with the Muslims prompted Hindus to develop their own Sanskritised version of the dialect, leading to the formation of Modern Standard Hindi. After India became independent in 1947, the Khariboli-based dialect was officially recognised as the approved version of the Hindi language, which was declared as one of the official languages for central government functioning.


See also

*
Standard Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has bee ...
*
Standard Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''
Awadhi language Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, ...
*
Dakhini Deccani (also known as Deccani Urdu and Deccani Hindi). https://knowledgehubadda.blogspot.com/2022/02/blog-post_74.html? m=1 or Dakni, Dakhni, Dakhini, Dakkhani and Dakkani (, ''dekanī'' or , ''dakhanī''), is a variety of Hindustani spoken ...


References

{{Central Indo-Aryan languages Hindi languages Hindustani Indian words and phrases