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Omkar N Koul
Indian Institute of Language Studies
www.iils.org
In this paper the common bases of Hindi and Urdu are discussed
from historical, linguistic, and cultural points of view. Hindi and Urdu are
written in two different scripts and vary in the use of some high
vocabulary (primarily derived from Sanskrit in case of Hindi, and derived
from Perso-Arabic sources in case of Urdu). Though the two languages
have strong common bases but they are driving apart from each other in
their use in certain formal domains. Here, some suggestions are provided
for bringing the languages close to each other and resolving the problems
related to the widening gaps.
The Constitution of India provides for the use of Hindi in
Devanagri script as the official language of the Union of India. It lists 18
major languages including Hindi and Urdu in its Eighth schedule,
providing a choice to all States to choose one or more languages for use as
an official language in the concerned State. Hindi and Urdu, sharing major
linguistic structures at different linguistic levels but written in two
different Scripts (Devanagri and Perso- Arabic respectively), are listed as
two different languages. Besides the Union of India, seven states of India
namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Delhi have
opted for Hindi as the official language. Whereas all other states have
mostly chosen the languages prominently spoken in the concerned states,
the State of Jammu and Kashmir has opted for Urdu. Urdu also enjoys
second official language status in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and in certain
regions, for specific purposes.
The political division of Hindi-Urdu into two languages, and the
preference of one over the other in certain domains have given rise to
various problems in their use in education, mass media and administration.
Here we will confine ourselves to the discussion of problems with special
reference to their use in administration. The main problems being the
artificial coinage of administrative terminology and phrases, lack of
standardization, lack of coordination and duplication of efforts. Major
problems are due to ignoring of the common bases of Hindi and Urdu and
not drawing on its strength.
Language plays a specific role in administration. It need not be
emphasized that the use of language in administration is not an end in
itself, it is merely means to run the administration for the welfare and
benefit of inhabitants of a particular region, area, state or the country as a
whole. The use of language is to be valued from the point of view of its
communicability and not by the exhibition of mastery of literary
expressions or linguistic purism. The power of communicability is
strengthened by the use of simple, common and unambiguous words,
expressions, in familiar and popular style. In a participatory democratic
set-up like that of India with low percentage of literacy rate and
multiplicity of languages and their numerous varieties or styles of speech,
communicability is to be ensured at different levels of vertical and
horizontal axis.
Historical and cultural processes and the linguistic affinity which
exist in Indian languages led to emergence of Hindi-Urdu or so called
Hindustani as the lingua-franca of major areas of India long before her
freedom. In earlier period, the languages of administration, Sanskrit in
case of earliest Hindu kingdoms, Persian in case of Muslim dynasties, and
English in case of British regime have mostly remained confined to the
elite. Others have used one form or the other of prakrits, their offshoots or
various spoken languages for communication.
Beginning with the invasion of Mohammed Ghori in the late 12th
century AD, the foreign invaders settled down in India to rule. The Slave,
Tughluq, Lodi and Mughal dynasties used Persian in administration, but
they used the local language spoken in and around Delhi for
communicating with the people for their day to day needs. It was a form of
Apbhramsha, which eventually shaped in the form of khariboli, they called
this language as Hindi - a language belonging to Hind. Thus, the Hindi
language derived its name from the Persian towards the end of the 12th
century or beginning of the 13th century. During the Mughal period, the
word Urdu was derived from the Turkish word ‘Yurt’ or ‘ordu’ that meant
‘military encampment’. This variety was distinguished on the basis or
Perso-Arabic influence at the lexical level and was written in the Perso-
Arabic script. The Hindi-Urdu became the medium of communication
between the Muslim rulers and local people. This was used by both
Muslim and Hindu to preach their religious faiths and belief not only in the
North but in South as well. The solution variety of the speech, best known
as Dakhini, also became medium of literature and socio-religious
discourse. This variety, naturally was influenced by the Dravidian
languages as a result of language contact and convergence.
Due to common structural basis, Hindi and Urdu
continued to be treated as synonymous for centuries at least up to the
period of Mirza Ghalib. Mirza Ghalib called his language Hindi at several
occasions, though he used Perso-Arabic script for writing it. He has named
one of his works as ‘ode-e-Hindi’ (perfume of Hindi).
Primarily in the domain of different genres of literature,
Hindi and Urdu started drifting away from each other not only in the use of
two different scripts but also literary styles and vocabulary. Hindi started
drawing more and more from Sanskrit, and Urdu from Persian and Arabic.
The processes continue till today. Hence the controversy.
During the British rule, when English was adopted as the
official language, local languages were assigned roles for certain
administrative functions at lower levels of administration. A competition
started between the protagonists or supporters of Hindi and Urdu for
official recognition of their languages. In the first instance, Urdu was
recognized by the Britishers in the Northwest and Oudh, Bihar and the
Central Provinces in 1830 AD as the language of the courts. This was
followed by the recognition accorded to Hindi. Hindi and Urdu were
involved in controversy and mutual competition for their recognition in
various domains of education and administration.
The mutual conflicts were intensified right from the
beginning of the 20th century. On the one hand, there were protagonists of
Hindi and Urdu languages who were eager to maintain separate linguistic
identities, and on the other hand, some national leaders wanted to develop
Hindustani as a combined linguist identity on the basis of its use by
common masses. Bal Gangadhar Tilak pleaded for the use of Hindi as the
national language of India as early as in 1905. Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya
launched a campaign against highly Persianized Urdu jargon used by the
court offices which was as unintelligible as English to the rural Hindus and
Muslims alike.’ (quoted by Brass p. 131). The Muslim League intended to
make Urdu as ‘universal language of India’ (Das Gupta p.121). Hindu
Mahasabha declared that Sanskritized Hindi and not Hindustani deserved
to be the national language of India (Das Gupta p.121).
Gandhi favoured the development of Hindustani and other Indian
languages as against English. He strongly felt that not the English
themselves but our own English knowing men have enslaved India. He
stated, ‘to give millions a knowledge of English was to enslave them’
(Harrison p.56). Gandhi favoured Hindustani as the national language. He
said a national language must fulfill five requirements:
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