Punjab Notes: Punjabi language and historical records.

Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed is a reputable historian and scholar who has done some serious research on the history of the Punjab, especially on the Partition. In his keynote address on the Punjabi language in one of the functions held to celebrate International Mother Language Day a fortnight ago, he made certain assertions which invite a debate as the issue is quite complex but not much discussed. If such assertions were made by a run-of-the-mill scholar, one wouldn't bother. Since Dr Ishtiaq is a serious scholar, the record has to be put straight in order to dispel misreading of certain historical facts regarding the Punjabi language.

It was reported in this paper that he said in his address: 'Punjabi language has never been the language of the state. When Jaipal (Hindu Shahi dynasty) was ruling here, Sanskrit and Prakrits were the two languages which were managing the state as well as dealing with the religion...'

The question arises as to what was this Prakrit in Hindu Shah era. Parkrit, as is well-known, was unlike Sanskrit, people's language, the natural speech of the people. Prakrit is a blanket term for the peoples' languages spoken in different regions of the sub-continent. Each region had its own particular variety of Prakrit. Punjab's Prakrit in the period in question was called Aparbhramsha, which was an offshoot of Pishachi spoken earlier in our region. Contemporary Punjabi has its roots in Aparbhramsha and Pishachi. Then we have a literary language called Nath Bhasha that makes its appearance from the 7th to 10th century in the poetry of Natha Jogis generally referred to as Natha poetry.

The relationship between Punjab's Prakrit and contemporary Punjabi is organic. Prakrit spoken in Punjab was the predecessor of what we now call Punjabi, the language of the people. To say that Prakrit (spoken in Punjab) was something other than people's language, an alien or imported language, would be wrong. If 'Sanskrit and Prakrit were the two languages which were managing the state as well as dealing with religion' it simply means an earlier form of people's language -Aparbhramsha /Pishachi, the fountainhead of present day Punjabi-was being used to manage the official affairs of that period. It must be kept in mind that in the evolutionary process the name of the people's language may change but it still remains the people's language. It would be contradictory to say that Punjabi was never an official language while Prakrit in Punjab was being used...