Bhojpuri Language

Bhojpuri is a language of the eastern Indo-Aryan family, spoken in northeastern India and parts of southern Nepal. It is used particularly in the western part of Bihar, the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and the Terai region of Nepal. The number of speakers reaches approximately eighty million.

Bhojpuri is closely related to Magahi and Maithili, languages of the Bihari group. For a long time it was classified as a dialect of standard Hindi, but many scholars and language movements argue that it is an independent language with its own grammar and vocabulary.

Writing and Scripts

Today it is mostly written in the Devanagari script, which is also used for Hindi and Nepali. Historically, a script called Kaithi was used in northeastern India for court records and commerce. Kaithi is now rarely used.

Diaspora

During British colonial rule, indentured laborers from the Bhojpuri region were taken to islands and other countries. As a result, Bhojpuri-based languages or dialects are found in Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. Fiji Hindi, for example, is based on Bhojpuri and Awadhi.

Culture and Media

Bhojpuri has a vibrant film industry, music, and literary tradition of long standing. Visual media and music channels have increased the language's prominence in India's cultural marketplace.

Legal Status

Bhojpuri is not among the languages listed in Schedule Three of the Indian Constitution. Political and language movements have called for its inclusion, but the matter remains unresolved. Nepal recognizes Bhojpuri among the country's national languages.