The Awadhi people or Awadhis (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...

: अवधी,

Kaithi Kaithi (), also called Kayathi (), Kayasthi (), or Kayastani, is a Brahmic script historically used across parts of Northern and Eastern India. It was prevalent in regions corresponding to modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The s ...

: 𑂃𑂫𑂡𑂲,

Perso-Arabic The Persian alphabet (), also known as the Perso-Arabic script, is the right-to-left script, right-to-left alphabet used for the Persian language. It is a variation of the Arabic script with four additional letters: (the sounds 'g', 'zh', ' ...

: ) are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group who speak the Awadhi language and reside in the

Awadh Awadh (), known in British Raj historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India and southern Nepal, now constituting the North-central portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala Regio ...

region of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. Many Awadhis also migrated to

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

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India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and some adjoining regions of the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, and in addition 3 per cent of Nepalis are Awadhi speakers. Awadhi people can be found throughout the world, most notably in

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, the

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, the

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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the

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, and

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. Historically,

Indo-Aryans Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of peoples predominantly found in South Asia, who (traditionally) speak Indo-Aryan languages. Historically, Aryans were the Indo-Iranian speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia int ...

dominated the North Indian Gangetic Planes; thus, the Awadhi language continuously evolved over the centuries in the

region of Uttar Pradesh.

Language

The Awadhi language is spoken by about 55 million people. In India, native speakers are estimated to be 65 million, while in Nepal native speakers are estimated to be 500,000 people. Linguistically, Awadhi is a distinct language with its own grammar. However, the Indian government considers Awadhi to be a dialect of

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

due to political reasons. Awadhi is not formally taught in any institution.

Cuisine

Consisting of both vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes, Awadhi cuisine has influences that can be linked to the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. It is similar to cuisines from surrounding areas, such as Bhojpur, Kashmir, Central Asia, Punjab, and Hyderabad. Awadhi cuisine is known for its use of aromatics and spices, such as

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

and saffron, in a slow fire cooking process. There is also notable variety in ingredients that are cooked, such as paneer and mutton. In addition, there are rice, curry, dessert, and chaat preparations that are specific to Awadhi cuisine.

Notable Awadhis

* Afroz Ahmad * Muzaffar Ali * Nahshad Ali * Abhishek Bachchan * Anand Satyanand *

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

* Harivansh Rai Bachchan * Piaa Bajpai * Sarita Bhadauria *

Pali Chandra Pali Chandra, (born 19 November 1967) is a Kathak Exponent, Choreographer, Digital Dance Educator, Mentor and artistic director. Intensively trained in the field of Kathak, she now propagates Dance Education through various channels. She has es ...

* Abhishek Chaubey * Rudrasen Chaudhary * Narendra Deva * Shanta Devi * Babu Gulabrai * Ali Sardar Jafri * Cheddi Jagan * Kailas Nath Kaul * Imdad Khan * Wahid Khan * Akhil Kumar * Ram Manohar Lohia * Amaresh Misra * Satish Mishra * Gopaldas Neeraj * Shringi Rushi * Babu Himmat Sah * Ramchandra Shukla * Lal Pratap Singh * Babu Bhoop Singh * Bajrang Bahadur Singh * Nivedita Tiwari * Bekal Utsahi * Bhagwati Charan Verma * Anand Sen Yadav * Mitrasen Yadav * Raju Srivastav

References

Ethnic groups in India Ethnic groups divided by international borders Ethnic groups in Nepal {{asia-ethno-group-stub hi:अवधी लोग