Maarg Manthan · Topic 1.9

Linguistic Background – Language Families of India

Ancient History › Sources, Geography and Historiography · Topic 1.9

India's languages belong to four main families: Austro-Asiatic (Munda and Mon-Khmer), Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian (with Brahui in the north-west and Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam) and Indo-Aryan (Old Indo-Aryan Vedic Sanskrit, Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrit, Pali and Apabhramsha, and modern regional languages). Grierson counted nearly 180 languages. The groups borrowed from one another from Vedic times, and language cannot be tied cleanly to race.

6 min read · UPSC Prelims · History · Sources, Geography and Historiography

At a Glance

Groups Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian, Indo-Aryan
Earliest Austro-Asiatic (Munda)
Dravidian outlier Brahui in Baluchistan
Indo-Aryan stages Old, Middle, Modern
Survey Grierson: about 180 languages
Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Sources, Geography and Historiography

Where Does It Fit?

This is the ninth and last topic of the category on sources, geography and historiography. The previous topic covered ecology, and this one covers the languages of India. The next category begins with human evolution and the Stone Age. Previous topic: Ecology and Environment in Ancient India. The languages recognised today are in Eighth Schedule: Languages Recognized by the Constitution (22 Languages).

What Are the Four Language Groups?

In short: India’s languages fall into four main families, each with its own region and history.

According to Grierson, editor of the Linguistic Survey of India, nearly 180 languages and about 550 dialects are spoken in India. They belong to four groups: Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian and Indo-Aryan.

Family	Regions and features
Austro-Asiatic	Earliest in India, known through Munda; branches Munda and Mon-Khmer (the Khasi language in Meghalaya and Nicobar); Santhals, the largest tribal group, speak Munda in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa; also spoken in Southeast Asia
Tibeto-Burman	Branch of Sino-Tibetan with some 300 languages in China, Tibet and Myanmar; in India along the Himalayas from north-east Assam to north-east Punjab and across the north-eastern states, with 116 dialects; no writing, so oral traditions were first recorded by Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century
Dravidian	Covers nearly all south India and north-east Sri Lanka; over twenty languages; Brahui is the earliest form, in Pakistan’s Baluchistan; Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are main branches, Tamil the most Dravidian; Oraon (Kurukh) in Jharkhand and central India
Indo-Aryan	Of the Indo-European family; spoken in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal; nearly 500 languages in north and central India

When Did These Peoples Arrive?

The Austric people are thought to have appeared in Australia about 40,000 BC, so they likely travelled from Africa to Southeast Asia and Australia via the Indian coast about 50,000 years ago. Human genetics show that about 50,000 years ago Africans came to the deep south of India and passed through the Andaman and Nicobar islands to Indonesia and Australia. For Dravidian speakers there are two views. The genetic view puts the first major migration from the Middle East about 30,000 years ago. The linguistic view attributes the language to Elam in south-west Iran in the fourth millennium BC, about 6,000 years ago, with Brahui as a later form. Dispersal seems to have run from about 30,000 BC to 4000 BC, via the Pakistan area to south India. Genetic signals found in the steppe peoples of Central Asia appear considerably among Indo-Aryan speakers in India and very little among Dravidian speakers, which suggests that Indo-European speakers migrated to India.

How Did Indo-Aryan Develop?

Stage	Languages and dates
Indo-European branches	The eastern or Arya branch split into Indo-Iranian, Dardic and Indo-Aryan; Iranian’s earliest specimen is the Zend Avesta; Dardic of eastern Afghanistan, north Pakistan and Kashmir is now seen by most as a branch of Indo-Aryan
Old Indo-Aryan	Vedic Sanskrit
Middle Indo-Aryan	Prakrit, Pali and Apabhramsha, from about 500 BC to AD 1000; Apabhramsha words appear from AD 600; Prakrit and classical Sanskrit continued in early medieval times
Modern	Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi, Kashmiri and Nepali, which developed in medieval times from Apabhramsha; Kashmiri is Dardic in origin but deeply influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit

The groups interacted from Vedic times. Large numbers of Munda and Dravidian words occur in the Rig Veda. Indo-Aryan eventually superseded many tribal languages because its speakers had socio-economic dominance, though the Indo-Aryan ruling groups could not use tribal resources and manpower without tribal dialects, which led to mutual borrowing. The Vedic linkages are in Identity of Aryan Culture and the Debate on Aryan Origins.

Can Language Be Tied to Race?

The nineteenth century divided Indians into four ethnic groups on physical features: Negrito (Andaman and Nilgiri areas, thought to speak Austric), Australoid (central and southern regions, Austric or Munda), Mongoloid (sub-Himalayan and north-east, Tibeto-Burman) and Caucasoid (Dravidian and Indo-Aryan, so not linked to one language). It is difficult to separate groups, since features change with climate and peoples mix; brahmanas and chamars share physical features in some areas and the same language. In bordering areas of cultural zones people speak two or more languages, and mixing changes both features and speech, so it is not easy to assign a language to one ethnic group. As an analytical point, language families are a better guide to history than race, and they show the layers of settlement: Austro-Asiatic first, then Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman, then Indo-Aryan. The unity amid diversity of these languages is the theme of Significance of Ancient Indian History and Unity in Diversity.

Why Is This Topic Important?

Map-based facts Language regions are asked
Early peoples Layers of migration
Caution Race and language are not the same

What Came Next?

The next category covers prehistoric and chalcolithic cultures, beginning with human evolution. Next topic: Human Evolution and the Early Man in India.

Key People and Terms

Austro-Asiatic Oldest Indian language family
Munda Branch spoken by Santhals
Brahui Dravidian language in Baluchistan
Apabhramsha Late Prakrit from which modern languages grew
Pali Language of early Buddhist texts
Zend Avesta Earliest Iranian text

Exam Corner

Points to Remember

Four families: Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian, Indo-Aryan.
Largest tribal group: Santhals (Munda).
Brahui is the earliest Dravidian form.
Middle Indo-Aryan: about 500 BC to AD 1000.
Grierson: about 180 languages.

Do Not Confuse With

Munda and Mon-Khmer Two branches of Austro-Asiatic
Prakrit and Apabhramsha Middle Indo-Aryan stages
Language family and ethnic group Speech versus physical type

Memory Hook

Austric first, then Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, Indo-Aryan; Vedic to Prakrit to Apabhramsha to Hindi.

Mains Angle

Questions on this topic ask about language groups and their interaction. These points add depth.

Families Four groups and regions
Contact Mutual borrowing
Caution Language and race

A Question You May Face

An original practice question, not a past paper question.

“Describe the language families of India and their interaction in ancient times.”

How to Answer

Families Four groups.
Origins Migration views.
Indo-Aryan Old, middle, modern.
Mixing Borrowing and the race question.

GS Relevance

Prelims: language families and their regions. GS Paper 1: linguistic diversity and early peoples.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the four language families of India?

The four families are Austro-Asiatic (known through Munda), Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian and Indo-Aryan, which belongs to the larger Indo-European family. Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India counted nearly 180 languages and about 550 dialects in all, grouped into the four families.

Which is the oldest language family in India?

The Austro-Asiatic family, known in India mostly through Munda speech, seems the earliest. Munda is spoken by the Santhals, the largest tribal group, in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa, and Mon-Khmer survives in Khasi.

What is Brahui?

Brahui is the earliest known form of Dravidian speech, found in the north-western part of the subcontinent, in Baluchistan and Sindh in Pakistan. It is also spoken in Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, and is seen as a later form of an Elamite-linked Dravidian.

How did Indo-Aryan languages develop?

Old Indo-Aryan means Vedic Sanskrit. Middle Indo-Aryan covers Prakrit, Pali and Apabhramsha from about 500 BC to AD 1000, and modern languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati developed from Apabhramsha in medieval times.

Can language be linked to race in India?

Not easily. The nineteenth-century division of Indians into four ethnic groups matched language families only partly, because peoples mixed and physical features changed with climate. The Caucasoid group, for example, speaks both Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages.

PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis

1 Brahui is a Dravidian language spoken in the north-west.

True

It is the earliest form of Dravidian speech.

2 Tibeto-Burman languages have an old literature.

False

They had no writing.

3 Modern Hindi and Marathi developed from Apabhramsha.