Bundeli (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...

: बुन्देली or बुंदेली; or Bundelkhandi) is an

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

spoken in the Bundelkhand region of central

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It belongs to the Central Indo-Ayran languages and is part of the

Western Hindi The Central Indo-Aryan languages or Hindi languages are a group of related language varieties Spoken across North India and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, itself a part of the ...

subgroup.

Classification

A descendant of the Sauraseni Apabhramsha language, Bundeli was classified under

by George Abraham Grierson in his

Linguistic Survey of India The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. The Survey was first proposed by George Abraham Grierson, a member of the Indian Civil Service and a linguist ...

. Bundeli is also closely related to Braj Bhasha, which was the foremost literary language in north-central India until the nineteenth century. Like many other

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

, Bundeli has often been subject to a designation as a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

, instead of a

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

. Furthermore, as is the case with other

Hindi languages The Central Indo-Aryan languages or Hindi languages are a group of related language varieties Spoken across North India and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, itself a part of the ...

, Bundeli speakers have been conflated with those of Standard Hindi in censuses. Grierson divided Bundeli into four dialect groups: * Standard Bundeli * Northeast Bundeli (closely related to

Bagheli Bagheli (Devanagari: बघेली) or Baghelkhandi is a Central Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Baghelkhand region of central India. Classification An independent language belonging to the Eastern Hindi subgroup, Bagheli is one of the ...

) * Northwest Bundeli (similar to Braj Bhasha) * South Bundeli

Geographical distribution

The Bundelkhand region comprises regions of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. Bundeli is spoken in the Banda, Hamirpur,

Jalaun Jalaun is a city and a municipal board in Jalaun district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. History In early times Jalaun seems to have been the home of kurmi clans, the jalaunya kurmi in the east and the Kachwahas in the west. The villag ...

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...

, Lalitpur, Chitrakoot,

Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...

Datia Datia is the district headquarter of the Datia District in north central Madhya Pradesh,a state of Central India. It is an ancient town, mentioned in the Mahabharata ruled by King Dantavakra. The city is 78 km from Gwalior, 325 ...

, Chhatarpur, Panna,

Tikamgarh Tikamgarh is a town and a tehsil in Tikamgarh district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city serves as a district headquarters. The earlier name of Tikamgarh was Tehri (i.e., a triangle) consisting of three hamlets, forming a rough ...

, Sagar,

Damoh Damoh is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city is also the district headquarters of Damoh district. History Early history Stone Age tools have been found in Singrampur Valley and it is believed that the area has been inhabit ...

, Niwari districts.

History

Early examples of Bundelkhandi literature are the verses of the Alha-Khand epic. It is still preserved by bards in the Banaphari region. The epic is about heroes who lived in the 12th century CE. Formal literary works in Bundeli dates from the reign of Emperor Akbar. Notable figures are the poet Kesab Das of the 16th century, while Padmakar Bhatt and Prajnes wrote several works during the 19th century. Prannath and Lal Kabi, produced many works in Bundeli language at the court of

Chhatrasal Chhatrasal Bundela (4 May 1649 – 20 December 1731) was an Indian warrior and ruler from the Bundela Rajput clan, who fought against the Mughal Empire, and established his own kingdom in Bundelkhand during the 17th-18th centuries. Early l ...

of Panna.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * *Bundelkhand NEW
Learn Bundelkhandi on Bundelkhanddarshan.com

www.bundelkhand.com

{{Authority control Hindi languages Languages of India Languages of Madhya Pradesh Languages of Uttar Pradesh Bundelkhand