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The Pahari languages (from पहाड़ी (Devanagari), ਪਹਾੜੀ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi), from pahar 'mountain') are a geographic group of Indic languages spoken in the lower ranges of the Himalayas, from Nepal in the east to the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in the west. These languages fall into three groups: Eastern, consisting of the various dialects of Nepali, also known as Gorkhali, Gurkhali, Khaskura, or Parbatiya; Central, spoken in Uttarakhand state, in Kumaon and Garhwal; and Western, spoken in Himachal Pradesh. Though traditionally considered Pahari, and often Hindi or Panjabi, it is now clear that they are more closely related to each other than to other Indic languages. In Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, and other surrounding areas, it is the same as Dogri. Both words, Pahari and Dogri, are used alternatively as well. Eastern and Central Pahari has been placed together as the Northern zone of Indic, with Western Pahari in the Northwestern zone along with Panjabi and related languages. The variation in Pahari languages is due to influence of specific religion, dominating language and culture. Nearly 17 to 20 percent of Jammu and Kashmir (both sides of Loc) speaks Parahi language which resembles more to Punjabi Or Hindi. It is considered as a dialect of Punjabi or other dominating languages of region but it is not true as Pahari is one of the biggest Language existed in the history of Sub Continent. Origin of Pahari language and its main region where it was bred and spread to other portion of region can be traced back to the ancient time when Jammu and Kashmir was a Pure Hindu state. As Buddhism got birth and started to spread in region, its mean preaching center turned to be Jammu and Kashmir and there, the Buddhist Priest started to search a language other than Sanskrit which was dominating and mainly was considered of Hindu religion people. So Buddhist achieved success in forum of Parahi which in fact was as one language and of one state at that time. This was the golden of Parahi as one language (something that can be dated back to 400 BC). Buddhist adapted Pahari as a language of their preaching and various scripts were introduced to write the language. With the rise of Buddhism in whole Jammu and Kashmir and its corresponding areas, Pahari was developed and preached. When King ASOKA took control of Kashmir, he also said to have contributed in the development of language and introduced another script of it. That was the climax of Parahi language. But with the fall of Buddhism and again rise of Hinduism in Kashmir, proved to be fall of Pahari language, as there was no one to promote and serve. Pahari language was left on the mercy of local people and its script for writing disappeared very soon. It was adopted from parents to children and so on. It was vulnerable to all other languages; that is why with the arrival of Muslims, Sikhs etc. in region contributed to change in its words, and Parahi turned more resembling to such languages. In Pakistan-administered Kashmir where majority of people are Pahari speaking, a team was formulated to trace the background of Pahari language and clarify whether it was dialect of Punjabi or any other language. After long studies in 1969 it was declared a separate language (it has no connection with Punjabi, Hindi, etc.).In Nepal, Nepali is the native language mainly of the Indo-Aryan population of the "hills" north of the Mahabharat Range up to the limits of rice cultivation at about 2,500 meters. The mother tongues of most "hill tribes" of higher elevations are Tibeto-Burman. Nepali is mainly differentiated from Central Pahari through its being affected, both in grammar and vocabulary, by Tibeto-Burman idioms. The speakers of Central and Western Pahari have not been brought into close association with Tibeto-Burmans, and their language is therefore purely Indo-Aryan. Even the Bihari people have adapted this style and also use a wide range of terms from this language. It is sometimes known as Hindi code language and is known to few around Bharat (aka : India) Khaskura, as its speakers themselves call it, passes under various names. English speakers generally call it Nepali or Nepalese (i.e. the language of Nepal). Khaskura is also called Gorkhali or Gurkhali, the language of the Gurkhas, and Parbatiya, the language of the mountains. Palpa, closely related to Khaskura, is deemed by some authorities to be a separate language. |
