KrystleZiemba7 at 11:17, 11 January 2026

2026-01-11T11:17:57Z

New page

{{Short description|Prakrit language of ancient and medieval India}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Maharashtri
|altname=Mahārāṣṭri
|nativename = [[Brahmi]]: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀭𑀸𑀱𑁆𑀝𑁆𑀭𑀻,
[[Modi script|Modi]]: 𑘦𑘮𑘰𑘨𑘰𑘬𑘿𑘘𑘿𑘨𑘲
|region= [[Maharashtra]], [[India]].
|era=500 BCE<ref name="ReferenceA">V.Rajwade, ''Maharashtrache prachin rajyakarte''</ref><ref name="The Linguist List">[http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh The Linguist List] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225003616/http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh |date=2009-12-25 }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Dr.Kolarkar, ''Marathyancha Itihaas''</ref> – 1000 CE; developed into [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and [[Konkani language|Konkani]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianscriptures.com/Common/GeneratePDF?pkey=Languages+of+Lakshadweep&ano=1935 |title = Hindu Scriptures {{!}} Vedic lifestyle, Scriptures, Vedas, Upanishads, Smrutis}}</ref>
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam3=[[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
|iso3=pmh
|glotto=maha1305
|glottorefname=Maharastri Prakrit
|linglist=pmh
}}

'''Maharashtri''' or '''Maharashtri Prakrit''' (''{{IAST|Mahārāṣṭrī Prākṛta}}'') is a [[Prakrit]] language of ancient as well as medieval India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goakonkaniakademi.org/konkaniweb/language-literature.htm |title=Roots of Konkani |publisher=Goa Konkani Akademi |language=English, Konkani |accessdate=2009-09-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828171254/http://www.goakonkaniakademi.org/konkaniweb/language-literature.htm |archivedate=2008-08-28 }}</ref><ref name="The Linguist List" />

Maharashtri Prakrit was commonly spoken until 875 CE<ref name="ReferenceA">V.Rajwade, ''Maharashtrache prachin rajyakarte''</ref><ref name="The Linguist List">[http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh The Linguist List] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225003616/http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh |date=2009-12-25 }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Dr.Kolarkar, ''Marathyancha Itihaas''</ref> and was the official language of the [[Satavahana dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3tAqIU0dPsC&q=official+language+Maharashtri+Prakrit+Satavahanas&pg=PA118|title=One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost|last=Austin|first=Peter|publisher=University of California Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0520255609|location=California|pages=118}}</ref> Works like ''Karpūramañjarī'' and [[Gatha Saptashati]] (150 BCE) were written in it. [[Jainism|Jain]] Acharya [[Hemachandra]] is the grammarian of Maharashtri Prakrit. Maharashtri Prakrit was the most widely used Prakrit language in western and southern India.

==History==
The rise of the [[Prakrit]]s is dated to the middle of the second millennium BCE when they existed alongside [[Vedic Sanskrit]] and later evolved into highly developed literary languages.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dani|first1=A. H.|title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia|date=June 1993|publisher=Unesco Publishing|isbn=92-3-102719-0|page=357|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lPzhfNRZ9IC&pg=PA357}}</ref> It is a subject of scholarly debate as to whether Sanskrit or the Prakrits are older with some scholars contending that Sanskrit was born out of the Prakrits.<ref name="EBPrakrit" /> According to the Sanskrit scholar, Rajaramshastri Bhagawat, Maharashtri is older and more vivacious than Sanskrit.<ref>{{cite web|title=Submission for Classical Status Of Marathi Language|date=November 2013|page=81|url=https://marathibhasha.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/pdf/english/main.pdf|accessdate=25 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411025852/https://marathibhasha.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/pdf/english/main.pdf|archive-date=11 April 2016|url-status=dead}} {{blockquote|Through many evidences Ketkar and Bhagwat have demonstrated that Marathi has not originated from Sanskrit but it is as old as Sanskrit. While highlighting the conclusion of research of Rajaramshastri Bhagwat, [[Durga Bhagwat]] (1979, p. 2) remarks, "He showed that old Mahārāṣṭrī is older and more vivacious than Sanskrit." It is an important observation and view both as it comes from Rajaramshastri Bhagwat and Durgabai Bhagwat who were both scholars of Sanskrit and Marathi and their dialects, respectively.}}</ref>

[[Vararuchi]], the oldest known grammarian of Prakrit, devotes four chapters of his ''Prakrita-Prakasha'' ({{IAST3|Prákṛta-Prakāśa}}) to the grammar of Maharashtri Prakrit. The other popular Prakrits; [[Shauraseni]], [[Magadhi Prakrit|Magadhi]], [[Ardhamagadhi]], and [[Paishachi]], have only one each.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Verma|first1=C.B.|last2=Varma|first2=C.B.|title=The Prakrit Bloom|journal=[[Indian Literature (journal)|Indian Literature]]|date=2002|volume=46|issue=1 (207)|page=144|jstor=23344538}}</ref> Poet [[Daṇḍin|Dandin]] ({{floruit|6th–7th century}}) in his [[Kavyadarsha]] grants it the highest status among all Prakrits.<ref name="EBPrakrit">{{cite web|title=Prakrit languages|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Prakrit-languages|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

==Demographics==
Maharashtri is the most attested amongst all [[Prakrit]] languages.<ref>{{cite book|title=Introduction to Prakrit|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.531194|author=Alfred C. Woolner|date=1928 }}</ref> It was spoken from [[Malwa]] and [[Rajputana]] (north) to the [[Krishna River]] and [[Tungabhadra River]] region (south). Historians agree that Maharashtri and other Prakrit languages prevailed in what is now modern [[Maharashtra]].<ref name="ReferenceA">V.Rajwade, ''Maharashtrache prachin rajyakarte''</ref> Maharashtri was widely spoken in [[Western India]] and even as far south as [[Kannada language|Kannada]]-speaking region.<ref>C. V. Vaidya, ''History of Medieval Hindu India, Being a History of India from 600 to 1200 AD,'' in 3 vols.: Vol. I, p. 317. {{ISBN|81-7020-438-0}}</ref>

==Early literature==
''"Paumachariyam"'', written by [[Vimalsuri]] is the earliest known [[Jainism|Jain]] version of the [[Ramayana]] and the oldest work of literature written in Maharashtri Prakrit.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Agrawal |first=Dr Mukta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rd3-EAAAQBAJ&dq=%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%B2+%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80&pg=PA137 |title=Vaishivk Paridrashya Main Ram - Sahaitya |publisher=Sadbhawana Publication |isbn=978-81-965928-2-0 |language=hi}}</ref> The ''[[Gatha Saptashati]]'' is attributed to King [[Hāla]] (r. 20-24 CE). Other Maharashtri Prakrit works include the Setubandha of [[Pravarasena II]], Karpuramañjarī and Sri Harivijay. The language was used by Vakpati to write the poem ''[[Gaudavaho]]''.<ref name="The Linguist List">[http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh The Linguist List] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225003616/http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh |date=2009-12-25 }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Dr.Kolarkar, ''Marathyancha Itihaas''</ref> It is also used in the dialogue and songs of low-class characters in Sanskrit plays, especially the famous dramatist [[Kalidasa|Kālidāsa]].<ref name="The Linguist List" />

==Patronage==
Maharashtri was the official language of the Satavahana dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3tAqIU0dPsC&q=official+language+Maharashtri+Prakrit+Satavahanas&pg=PA118|title=One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost|last=Peter|first=Austin|publisher=University of California Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0520255609|location=California|pages=118}}</ref> Under the patronage of the Satavahana Empire, Maharashtri became the most widespread Prakrit of its time, and also dominated the literary culture amongst the three [[Dramatic Prakrit|Dramatic Prakrits]] of the time, Maharashtri, Shauraseni and Magadhi. A version of Maharashtri called ''Jaina Maharashtri'' was also employed to write Jain scripture.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==See also==
* [[Marathi language|Marathi]]
* [[Malvani Konkani]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Old and Middle Indo-Aryan}}
{{Konkani language topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Marathi language]]
[[Category:Cultural history of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Prakrit languages]]
[[Category:Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Southern Indo-Aryan languages]]

Maharashtri Prakrit - Revision history

KrystleZiemba7 at 11:17, 11 January 2026