GlenDoolittle2 at 11:26, 24 January 2026

2026-01-24T11:26:54Z

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{{Short description|Class of Indian languages}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Apabhraṃśa
| nativename = {{lang|psu-deva|अवहंस}}
| states = [[India]] and [[Nepal]]
| region = [[Northern India]]
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Vedic Sanskrit]]
| fam5 = [[Sanskrit]]
| script = [[Devanagari]]
| notice = IPA
| image = Apabhraṃśa.svg
| imagecaption = The word "Apabhraṃśa" written in Devanagari script
}}

'''Apabhraṃśa''' ({{langx|sa|अपभ्रंश}}, {{IPA|sa|ɐpɐbʱrɐ̃ˈɕɐ|IPA}}, [[Prakrit]]: {{lang|psu-deva|अवहंस}} {{IAST|''Avahaṃsa''}}) is a term used by ''[[Vyākaraṇa|vaiyākaraṇāḥ]]'' (native grammarians) since [[Patanjali|Patañjali]] to refer to languages spoken in [[Northern India]] before the rise of the modern languages. In [[Indology]], it is used as an [[umbrella term]] for the dialects forming the transition<ref>{{citation | last= Shapiro | first= Michael C. | year= 2003 | chapter= Hindi | chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jPR2OlbTbdkC&q=indo-aryan&pg=PA250 | editor1-last= Cardona | editor1-first= George | editor2-last= Jain | editor2-first= Dhanesh | title= The Indo-Aryan Languages | publisher= Routledge | isbn= 978-0-415-77294-5 }}{{page needed|date=May 2016}}</ref> between the [[Middle Indo-Aryan languages|late Middle]] and the early [[Indo-Aryan languages|Modern Indo-Aryan languages]], spanning the period between the 6th and 13th centuries CE. However, these dialects are conventionally included in the Middle Indo-Aryan period.<ref name=avabhansa>{{cite book|last=Shastri|first=Devendra Kumar|title=Apabhramsha Bhasha Sahitya Ki Shodh Pravritiyan|year=1996|publisher=Bhartiya Jnanpith. Bhartiya Jnanpith Bhartiya Jnanpith.|location=New Delhi|page=388}}</ref>{{rp|p.42}} [[wikt:अपभ्रंश#Sanskrit|{{IAST|Apabhraṃśa}}]] in Sanskrit literally means "corrupt" or "non-grammatical language", that which deviates from the norm of Sanskrit grammar.

Apabhraṃśa literature is a valuable source for the history of Northern India for the period spanning the 12th to 16th centuries.<ref name="Apabhramsha Sahitya 2003">Apabhramsha Sahitya, Devendra Kumar Jain, Mahavir Jain Vidyalay Suvarna Mahotsav Granth, 2003.</ref>

==Overview==
The term [[Prakrit]], which includes [[Pali]], is also used as a cover term for the [[vernacular]]s of Northern India that were spoken perhaps as late as the 4th to 8th centuries, but some scholars use the term for the entire Middle Indo-Aryan period. Middle Indo-Aryan languages gradually transformed into Apabhraṃśa dialects, which were used until about the 13th century. The Apabhraṃśas later evolved into Modern Indo-Aryan languages. The boundaries of these periods are somewhat hazy, not strictly chronological. Modern Northern Indian languages are often considered to have begun to develop a distinct identity around the 11th century – while Apabhraṃśas were still in use – and became fully distinct by the end of the 12th century.

A significant amount of Apabhraṃśa literature has been found in [[Jainism|Jain]] libraries. While [[Amir Khusrow]] and [[Kabir]] were writing in a language quite similar to modern Urdu and Hindi, many poets, especially in regions that were still ruled by [[Hindu king]]s, continued to write in Apabhraṃśa. These authors include [[Saraha]], [[Tilopa]] and [[Kanha (poet)|Kanha]] of [[Kamarupa]]; Devasena of [[Dhar]] (9th century CE); Pushpadanta of [[Manyakheta]] (9th century CE); Dhanapal; Muni Ramsimha; [[Hemachandra]] of [[Patan, Gujarat|Patan]]; and [[Raidhu]] of [[Gwalior]] (15th century CE).

An early example of the use of Apabhraṃśa is the ''Vikramorvashiyam'' of [[Kālidāsa]], when [[Pururavas]] asks the animals in the forest about his beloved who had disappeared. Compositions in Apabhramsha continued until the 18th century, when Bhagavatidasa wrote ''Migankaleha Chariu''.<ref name="Apabhramsha Sahitya 2003"/>

The first known example of an Apabhraṃśa work by a Muslim is the [[Sandeśarāsaka]] of Abdur Rahman of Multan, possibly written around 1000 CE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alī |first=Saiyada Asad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbpjAAAAMAAJ&q=Sandesh+Rasak |title=Influence of Islam on Hindi Literature |date=2000 |publisher=Idarah-i-Adabiyat-Delli |series=Oriental Original Series |volume=47 |location=Delhi |pages=12–13, 195 |language=en |quote=After Muslim Hindi-Persian poet Masood Saad Salman, "Sandesh Rasak" is the first Apbharansh work of poetry. It was probably written in 11th century. Abdur Rahman, in his ...}}</ref>

== Writers and poets ==
Below is the list of some of the eminent writers and poets of Apabhraṃśa literature:

*Mahakavi Swyambhudev (8th century CE)
:* Ritthanemichariu
:* Pauma-Chariu<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jnanpith.net/book/pauma-chariu-part-i |title=Pauma-Chariu (Part-I) |access-date=13 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124073233/http://www.jnanpith.net/book/pauma-chariu-part-i |archive-date=24 January 2016 }}</ref>
*Mahakavi Pushpadant (10th century)
:* Mahapuran <ref>[http://www.jaingranths.com/Manuscript.asp?id=91&i=1 Jain granths]</ref>
:* Naykumarchariu
:* Jasaharchariu
*[[Hemachandra]] (12th century)
*Abdur Rahman (Addahamāṇa) (12th century) – [[Multan]]i poet who penned the epic romance [[Sandeśarāsaka]] in Apabhraṃśa.<ref name="Flood">{{cite book|last1=Flood|first1=Finbarr Barry|title=Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval "Hindu-Muslim" Encounter|date=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-12594-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLNE_li8C10C&q=Multan&pg=PA155}}</ref>
* [[Padmanābha]] who wrote [[Kanhadade Prabandha]] (15th century)

==See also==
*[[Hindustani language|Hindavi]]
*[[History of Hindustani]]

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
* Shapiro, Michael C. ''Hindi.'' Facts about the world's languages: An encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present. Ed. Jane Garry, and Carl Rubino: New England Publishing Associates, 2001.

==External links==
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195148/http://www.jainworld.com/society/speaksch/dksastri.htm Dr. Devendra Kumar Shastri]"– Jainworld (archived)
* "[https://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/hindiint.html Hindi: The language of songs]" by Yashwant K. Malaiya
* {{cite book |last=Halder |first=Shashwati |year=2012 |chapter=Apabhrangsha |chapter-url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Apabhrangsha |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}

{{Old and Middle Indo-Aryan}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apabhramsa}}
[[Category:Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 6th century]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 13th century]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Linguistic history of India]]
[[Category:Medieval languages]]
[[Category:North India]]
[[Category:Languages written in Devanagari]]
[[Category:History of the Bengali language]]

Apabhraṃśa - Revision history

GlenDoolittle2 at 11:26, 24 January 2026