Everything about Apabhramsha totally explained
Apabhramsha is a
term used by
Sanskrit grammarians since
Patanjali to refer to dialects of
North India that deviate from the norm of
Sanskrit grammar. The term literally means "corrupt" or non-standard language. It is used as a cover term for the dialects forming the transition between the late Middle Indic and early Modern Indic languages (for example
Brij Bhasha), spanning the period between the 6th and the 13th centuries, though some scholars use it more narrowly to refer primarily to the transition period, leaving the earlier part to the
Middle Indo-Aryan languages.
The term
Prakrit (which includes
Pali) is used for the popular dialects of India which were spoken until the 4th - 8th century, but some scholars use the term Prakrit throughout the Middle Indo-Aryan period. Middle Indo-Aryan languages gradually transformed into Apabhramshas which were used until about the 15th century. Apabhramshas evolved into modern languages which are equally today spoken by millions of people. Languages such as
Hindi (337 million speakers),
Bengali (232 million speakers),
Marathi (90 million),
Urdu (160 million speakers),
Gujarati (46 million speakers),
Sinhala (15 million speakers) are all representative languages of large modern day states, unlike
Sanskrit (>50 thousand speakers) which has fallen out of modern day use. The boundaries of these periods are somewhat hazy, not strictly chronological. The modern north Indian languages are often considered to have begun to develop a distinct identity around the 11th century, while the Apabhramshas were still in use, and became fully distinct by the end of the 12th century.
A significant amount of Apabhramsha literature has been found in
Jain libraries. While
Amir Khusro and
Kabir were writing in a language quite similar to modern Hindi, many poets, especially in regions that were still ruled by Hindu kings, continued to write in Apabhramsha. The Apabhramsha authors include Sarahapad of Kamarupa, Devasena of
Dhar (9th c. CE), Pushpadanta of
Manyakheta (9th c. CE), Dhanapal,
Muni Ramsimha,
Hemachandra of
Patan,
Raighu of
Gwalior (15th c. CE). An early example of the use of Apabhramsha is in Vikramorvashiyam of
Kalidasa, when Pururava asks the animals in the forest about his beloved who had disappeared.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Apabhramsha'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://apabhramsha.totallyexplained.com">Apabhramsha Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
