MarielKrr8600268 at 06:03, 16 March 2026

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{{Short description|Indo-Aryan language}}
{{Distinguish|text = with the other Indian literary languages of [[Brajabuli]] and [[Brajavali dialect|Brajavali]], or with the [[Brijvasi]] ethnic group}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Braj
| nativename = {{lang|bra|ब्रजभाषा}}
| ethnicity = Brajwasi
| altname = Brij Bhasha
| states = [[India]]
| region = [[Braj]]
| speakers = {{sigfig|1.556314|3}} million
| date = 2011 census
| ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702150916/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 July 2018|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=www.censusindia.gov.in|access-date=2018-07-07}}</ref>
| speakers2 = Census results conflate some speakers with Hindi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.aspx|title=Census of India: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues –2001|work=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=16 July 2015}}</ref>
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Central Indo-Aryan languages|Central Indo-Aryan]]
| fam5 = [[Western Hindi languages|Western Hindi]]
| script = [[Devanagari]]
| iso2 = bra
| iso3 = bra
| glotto = braj1242
| glottorefname = Braj
| map =
| mapcaption = Braj-speaking region
| image = Braj Bhasha.svg
}}
'''Braj'''{{efn|commonly called ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as ''Vraj Bhasha'' or ''Brij Bhasha'' or ''Braj Boli''}} is a language within the [[Indo-Aryan language family]] spoken in the [[Braj region]] in Western Uttar Pradesh centered on [[Mathura]] and in some parts of eastern Rajasthan centered on [[Bharatpur district|Bharatpur]], [[Karauli]], [[Dholpur district|Dholpur]], it was one of the two predominant literary languages of North-Central India before gradually merging and contributing to the development of standardized Hindi in the 19th century. It is spoken today in its unique form in many districts of [[Western Uttar Pradesh]], often referred to as 'Central Braj Bhasha'.

The language was historically used for Vaishnavite poetry dedicated to Krishna, whose life was associated with sites in the Braj region. There were also early prose works in terms of the hagiographical ''vārtā'' literature of the [[Vallabh sect|Vallabha sect]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin P. |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1991 |pages=53, 57, 62}}</ref>

Braj is considered by scholars to be a more conservative example of the Central Indo-Aryan languages compared to the [[Hindustani language]], which has been influenced by [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and intermediate dialects.{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=197-198}}

== Geographical distribution ==

Braj Bhasha is spoken in the nebulous [[Braj]] region centred on [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]], [[Agra]], [[Aligarh]], [[Hathras]], [[Gautam Buddh Nagar]], Southern Part of [[Bulandshahr]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Bharatpur, Rajasthan|Bharatpur]], [[Deeg]], [[Karauli]] & [[Dholpur]] in [[Rajasthan]]. It is the predominant language in the central stretch of the Ganges-Yamuna [[Doab]] in the following districts:
* [[Bharatpur district|Bharatpur]]
* [[Deeg district|Deeg]]
* [[Hathras district|Hathras]]
* [[Mathura district|Mathura]]
* [[Agra district|Agra]]
* [[Aligarh district|Aligarh]]
* [[Firozabad district|Firozabad]]
* [[Gautam Buddha Nagar district]]
* Southern Part of [[Bulandshahr district]]
* [[Sambhal district]]
* [[Farrukhabad district]]
* [[Etah district]]
* [[Mainpuri district]]
* [[Etawah district]]
* [[Kasganj district]]
* [[Badaun district]]
* [[Bareilly district]]
* [[Faridabad district]]
* [[Palwal district]]
* [[Karauli district]]
* [[Dholpur district|Dholpur]]

In [[Rajasthan]] it is spoken in the districts of :
* [[Bharatpur district|Bharatpur]]
* [[Karauli]]
* [[Dholpur district|Dholpur]]

In [[Western Uttar Pradesh]] spoken in the southern part of western Uttar Pradesh. Braj-speaking districts include [[Mathura]], [[Hathras]], [[Agra]], [[Aligarh]], [[Etah]], [[Firozabad]], [[Budaun]], [[Mainpuri]], [[Etawah]], [[Bareilly]], [[Sambhal]] and Most parts of [[Gautam Buddh Nagar]] (areas of [[Jewar]] and [[Greater Noida]]), [[Bulandshahr]] (areas of [[Khurja]], [[Shikarpur, Bulandshahr]], [[Dibai]] and [[Aurangabad, Bulandshahr]]) and Even Some communities still speaks Braj basha near southern part of [[Ghaziabad]].

In Haryana it is spoken in the districts of :
* [[Palwal]],
* [[Faridabad]]
The area of South Delhi, which is connected to [[Faridabad]], still has some communities that speak Brajbhasha.

It is spoken in several villages of [[Mathura]], specially in [[Vrindavan]], [[Madhuvan]], [[Deeg]], [[Kaman, Rajasthan|Kaman]], [[Kosi Kalan]], [[Chhata]], [[Baldeo]], and all other villages belongs to Braj Area with [[Bajna, India|Bajna]], [[Surir]], [[Bhidauni]],

==Phonology==

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Phonemes of Braj Bhasha
|-
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
|
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="4" | [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]/ [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! [[voicelessness|voiceless]]
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t̪}}
| {{IPA link|ts}}
| {{IPA link|ʈ}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
! [[voicelessness|voiceless]] [[aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
| {{IPA link|pʰ}}
| {{IPA link|t̪ʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tsʰ}}
| {{IPA link|ʈʰ}}
|
| {{IPA link|kʰ}}
|
|-
! [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d̪}}
| {{IPA link|dz}}
| {{IPA link|ɖ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|-
! [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]] [[aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
| {{IPA link|bʱ}}
| {{IPA link|d̪ʱ}}
| {{IPA link|dzʱ}}
| {{IPA link|ɖʱ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɡʱ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɦ}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|ʋ}}
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|}

== Literature ==
{{Main|Braj literature}}[[File:Story_of_Camel_and_Jackal_in_Braj_language.webm|thumb|Story of Camel and Jackal in Braj language]]

Most Braj literature is of a mystical nature, related to the spiritual union of people with God, because almost all of the Braj Bhasha poets were considered God-realised saints and their words are thus considered as directly emanating from a divine source. Much of the traditional Northern Indian literature shares this trait. All traditional Punjabi literature is similarly written by saints and is of a metaphysical and philosophical nature.

Another peculiar feature of Northern Indian literature is that the literature is mostly written from a female point of view, even by male poets. This is because the saints were in a state of transcendental, spiritual love, where they were metaphorically women reuniting with their beloved. (In its inversion of the conventional genders of worshipper and worshippee, Maulana Da’ud's [[Chandayan]] departs from this tradition.)

Important works in Braj Bhasha are:
* ''Pushtimargiya kiratan'' of ashtachhap.
* ''Yugala Shataka'' by Swami Sri Sribhatta Devacarya; known as the first 'Vani' book in Vraja Bhasha composed in the 14th Century AD as a part of [[Nimbarka Sampradaya]] tradition of [[Radha]] [[Krishna]] worship.
* ''[[Vinaya Patrika]]'' by [[Tulsidas]]
* ''Sur Sagar'' by [[Surdas]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/notebook/public/03553967701179803178/BDQs4SwoQx5vXjbQh|title=Google Notebook|work=google.com|access-date=16 July 2015}}</ref>
* ''Buddha Charit'' by [[Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla]]
* [[Sufi]] poetry by [[Amir Khusro]]
* Eulogies by [[Kavi Bhushan]]
* Dasam Granth by [[Guru Gobind Singh]]
* Nayikabhed, Nakhshikh and satasattak by Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Atre |first=Shubhangana |title=History |publisher=Maharashtra state textbook bureau |year=2019 |location=Maharashtra |language=English}}</ref>
* ''Vrind Satsai'' by [[Vrind]] (1643 - 1723), court poet of ruler of [[Kishangarh]]<ref name="Mukherjee1998">{{cite book|author=Sujit Mukherjee|title=A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCJrUfVtZxoC&pg=PA425|date= 1998|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-1453-9|pages=425–}}</ref>
* ''[[Chaurashi Vaishnavan ki Varta|Caurāsī Vaiṣṇavan kī Vārtā]]'' by [[Gokulanatha|Gokulanātha ]]; Edited and Compiled by [[Harirāy]]. An important [[Pushtimarga Sampradaya|Pushtimarg]] sacred biography of [[Vallabha|Vallabhācārya]]'s exemplary devotees.

== See also ==
* [[Hindi literature]]
* [[Brajavali dialect]]
* [[Brajabuli]]
* [[Awadhi language]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Snell, Rupert. 1991. ''The Hindi Classical Tradition: A Braj Bhāṣā Reader'' {{isbn|0728601753}}
* Snell, Rupert. 2016. [http://hdl.handle.net/2152/46339 ''Braj in Brief: An introduction to literary Braj Bhāṣā'']

== External links ==
{{incubator|bra}}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20070524104936/http://www.ciil.org/Main/Languages/indian.htm

{{Hindi topics}}
{{Central Indo-Aryan languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Central Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Languages of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Brij]]
[[Category:Languages listed as Hindi dialects in latest census]]

Braj Bhasha - Revision history

MarielKrr8600268 at 06:03, 16 March 2026