Indian Language & Literature

Outrage over classification of Sylheti as a Bangladeshi dialect 

Context: Sylheti is spoken by over 7 million people in Northeast India and millions more in Bangladesh’s Sylhet Division. The classification of Sylheti as a foreign or Bangladeshi dialect has sparked outrage in Assam's Barak Valley.  

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts about Sylheti language.

image 10

Sylheti Linguistic Status

  • Sylheti is spoken on both sides of the India-Bangladesh border, notably in Assam’s Barak Valley, and in parts of Meghalaya and Tripura & in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh.
  • Many speakers identify culturally and linguistically as Bengali, while maintaining Sylheti as their mother tongue.
  • It is often classified as a dialect of Bengali, with the primary argument being mutual intelligibility between the two.
  • However, linguists note that such intelligibility may stem from speakers’ exposure to both languages rather than inherent similarity. The region exhibits diglossia, with standard Bengali used for education and literacy, while Sylheti remains the spoken vernacular in daily life.
  • Sylheti and standard Bengali share almost identical morphology and syntax, but they differ in phonetics. 

Historically, Sylheti had a script known as Sylhet-Nagri, which emerged in the late medieval period under Persian influence. It was used mainly by Sufi mystics for religious and philosophical writings, but it was never widely adopted as a common script.

Historical Background of Sylhet: 

  • 1874: Sylhet was moved from Bengal to Assam to strengthen Assam’s revenue base.
  • From 1874-1947: Sylhet’s status was contested, i.e., Bengal vs Assam, Hindu vs Muslim political leanings.
  • 1947 Partition: A referendum decided Sylhet would join East Pakistan, except for Karimganj (now in Barak Valley, Assam). Many Hindu Sylhetis migrated to India, especially Barak Valley.
  • Pre-Partition migration: Sylheti traders, clerks, and professionals were already settled across Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya long before East Pakistan or Bangladesh existed.

Jnanpith Award 

Context: Eminent Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla was bestowed the 59th Jnanpith Award for the year 2024. The 88-year-old short story writer, poet and essayist, is one of the greatest contemporary writers in Hindu language. 

Relevance of the Topic:Prelims: Key facts about Jnanpith Award. 

About Jnanpith Award

  • The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award. 
  • It is presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their outstanding contribution towards literature. 
  • It is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, and English.
  • Details of the Award: Citation plaque, a cash prize of ₹11 lakh, and a bronze replica of goddess Saraswati. There is no posthumous conferral of the award. 

Eighth Schedule to Indian Constitution

  • The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of 22 languages: (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.
  • Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution. Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were the latest additions in 2004.

The Popularity of Dakhni

Context: The campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, particularly in Hyderabad, was marked by exchange of comments and comebacks in the Dakhni language.

About Dakhni Language: 

Introduction: 

  • Dakhni shares the Persian-Arabic script with Urdu. 
  • Dakhni people and speakers are spread across the Deccan region and speak variants of the language in Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. 
  • The language is seen as the Hyderabadi, but what Hyderabadis speak is only a variant of Dakhni.
  • It is a predecessor of Modern Hindustani. 
  • Since the medieval period, it has been a language of the common man.
  • This was the reason why the Sufis such as those belonging to Chishti order, who arrived in the Deccan chose to use Dakhni as a literary medium.

History 

  • It has its origins in the dialect spoken around Delhi then known as Dehlavi. In the early 14th century, this dialect was introduced in the Deccan region through the military exploits of Alauddin Khilji.
  • In 1327, Muhammad bin Tughluq shifted his Sultanate's capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (Maharashtra), causing a mass migration of governors, soldiers and common people who brought the dialect with them.
  • When Bahmani Sultanate was formed in 1347, the dialect had acquired the name Dakhni, from the name of the region itself (Deccani) and had become a lingua franca for people of the region. 
    • The Bahmani sultans promoted Persian, and did not give much patronage to Dakhni. 
    • However, during their rule, local Dakhni literary culture outside the court developed.
    • The Sufis were important promoters. as they used it in their preachings since regional languages were more accessible (than Persian) to the general population.
    • During this period, the earliest available manuscript of the language, ‘Masnavi Kadam Rao Padam Rao’ by Fakhruddin Nizami was produced. 
  • In the early 16th century, the Bahmani Sultanate was divided into the Deccan Sultanates.
    • These were also Persianate in culture, but also patronised regional languages. 
    • They are largely responsible for the development of the Dakhni literary tradition and culture, centred at Golconda and Bijapur.
    • The rulers themselves participated in these cultural developments. Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Bijapur Sultanate produced Kitab-e-Navras (Book of the Nine Rasas), a work of musical poetry written entirely in Dakhni. 
    • However, the Sultanates did not use Dakhni for official purposes or as a court language, they preferred Persian as well as regional languages like Marathi, Kannada, and Telugu.
  • The Mughal conquest of the Deccan by Aurangzeb in the 17th century connected the southern regions of the subcontinent to the north.
    • The Deccani poetry, as literary patronage in the region decreased. 
    • The literary centres of the Deccan had been replaced by the capital of the Mughals, so poets migrated to Delhi for better opportunities.
    • A notable example is that of Wali Deccani (1667–1707), who adapted his Deccani sensibilities to the northern style.
    • However, the historical form of Deccani sparked the development of Urdu literature during the late-Mughal period.

 

Tripura board allows Kokborok in Roman script in examinations

Context: The Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) will be allowing both Roman and Bengali scripts of the Kokborok in the examination. Earlier only the Bengali script was allowed. 

More about the news: 

  • Debate around the script of the Kokborok language is several decades old.
  • The primary opposition TIPRA Motha party has been demanding the Roman script to be declared as the official script for the indigenous language and as one of the scripts allowed for board exams.
image 51

About Kokborok Language: 

  • Kokborok is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Bodo-Garo branch, spoken in the Indian state of Tripura and neighbouring areas of Bangladesh.
  • The language is associated with the Bodo and Dimasa languages of neighbouring Assam and the Garo language spoken mainly in the state of Meghalaya is also a related language. 
  • The language was formerly known as Tripuri and Tipra Kok and its name was changed in the 20th century. These names refer to the inhabitants of the former Twipra Kingdom and the ethnicity of its speakers. 
  • From the 19th century and till the 20th century, it became a common people’s dialect during the rule of the Tripuri rulers in the Kingdom of Tipra. 
  • In 1979, the language was declared as an official language of the state of Tripura. 
  • Major tribes associated with the language: Jamatia, Noatia, Kalai, Reang, Debbarma, Kalai, Rupini, Murasing, Uchoi.

Development of the Script:

  • When the historical record of Tripuri kings began to be written down, i.e., 1st century AD, the Kokborok language was documented. 
  • Rajratnakar (chronicle of the Tripuri kings) was originally written in Kokborok using the Koloma script by Durlobendra Chontai. 
    • The book was translated in Sanskrit and then in Bengali (in the 19th century) by Sukreshwar and Vaneswar. 
  • Koloma script fell out of use after the 14th century and eventually was lost. 
  • The Kingdom of Twipra, from the 19th century began using the Bengali script to write in Kokborok and with the independence of India and Tripura’s merger with Indian Union, the Roman script of the language gained promotions by NGOs. 
    • Merger of Tripura: 
      • The last ruler of the princely state of Tripura was Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur Debbarma who reigned from 1947 to 1949.
      • After his death, the kingdom was merged with India on 9 September 1949, and the administration was taken over in October 1949.
      • Tripura became a Union Territory on 1 July 1963, and attained the status of a full-fledged state on 21 January 1972.
  • Both scripts (Roman and Bengali) are now used in the state in education as well as in literary and cultural circles.
  • Proposals have also been made for the adoption of scripts other than the Bengali or Roman scripts, such as Ol Chiki. 

Currently, there is a demand to give the language recognition as one of the recognized official languages of India as per the 8th schedule of the Constitution:

image 52