Brij Bhasha, also called Braj Bhasha, Braj Bhakha, or Daihaati Zabaan (country tongue), is a Central Indo-Aryan language closely related to Hindi. In fact it is usually considered to be a dialect of Hindi, and was the predominant literary language before the switch to Khariboli in the 19th century. It is spoken by more than 42,000 people in the nebulously defined region of Braj Bhoomi, which was a political state in the era of the Mahabharata wars. According to ancient Hindu texts such as the Shrimad Bhagavatam, the kingdom of King Kams is described as spreading through the Braj (also known as Vrij or Vraj), where the incarnation of Krishna was born and spent his childhood days. This region lies in the Agra-Mathura area, and stretches as far as the environs of Delhi. In modern India, this area lies mostly in northwestern Uttar Pradesh, the eastern extremities of Rajasthan and the southern extremities of Haryana. Today Braj Bhoomi can be seen as a cultural-geographical entity rather than a proper state. It is the vernacular of the region and boasts a rich culture and literature by famous poets like Surdas, Bhai Gurdas and Amir Khusro. Brij Bhasha is very close to Avadhi, spoken in neighbouring Avadh region. Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: , Urdu: ‎, translation: Northern Province, IPA: ,  ), also popularly known by its abbreviation U.P. It is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Union of India. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... The Central Indo-Aryan languages include some 67 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by many people in Asia; this language family is a part of the Indo-Aryan language family. ... The Western Hindi languages include some 12 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by many people in Asia; this language family is a part of the Indo-Aryan language family. ... Writing systems of the world today. ... च् + छ = च्छ Devanagari in Unicode The Unicode range for Devanagari is U+0900 . ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... 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Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra The (Devanagari: ), is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . ... {{Hinduism small} Hinduism (Sanskrit/Devanagari: , , also known as , ) is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent. ... In Hinduism, Kamsa is the son of a demon and half-brother of Devaki. ... Krishna with Radharani, 18th C Rajasthani painting Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, in IAST ), according to various Hindu traditions, is the eighth avatar of Vishnu. ... Agra   (Hindi: , Urdu: ‎), (IPA: ) is a medevial city on the banks of the Yamuna River in India. ... Mathura (मथुरा) is a city in India, located approximately 50 km north of Agra, and south of Delhi. ... 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Brij bhasa is spoken in the cities of Mathura, Vrindavana, Agra, Firozabad, Hathras, Etah, Aligarh, Bareli, Bulandhshahar, Bharatpur and Dhaulpur. Much of the Hindi literature was developed in Brij in the medieval period. However, today Khariboli dialect has taken its place as the predominant standard dialect of Hindi. Vrindavana is the name of a mythic forest or forested region in Northern India, in which the Hindu deity Krishna spent his childhood. ... Firozabd is a city in India, within the state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Hathras Hathras district is a new district made recently by taking some part of Aligarh, Mathura and Agra districts. ... Etah is a town which is also the district headquarters of Etah district of Uttar Pradesh state, India. ... Aligarh   is a city in Aligarh district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Bareilly   is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Bharatpur is a city in Rajasthan state of India. ... Dholpur (also Dhaulpur) is a city in eastern Rajasthan state of India. ...

In modern India, Braj Bhasha exists as an unofficial dialect spoken colloqially by natives of the region of Braj Bhoomi, with great cultural and religious significance. Much of Hindi poetry, especially that of 'Bhakti' or devotional poetry is in this language. Some devotional poems for Krishna are also composed in Braj Bhasha. The pioneering Hindi poet Aamir Khusro, also spoke and composed poetry in this language. Famous Braj Bhasha folk songs or poems include 'Chhaap tilak sab chheeni' by Aamir Khusro, and the popular devotional song ,"Main naahin maakhan khaayo" by Surdas. Braj bhasha is also the main language of Hindustani classical music compositions. Bhakti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Hindustani (हिन्दुस्तानी/ہندوستانی) Classical Music is an Indian classical music tradition that took shape in northern Indian subcontinent circa the 13th and 14th centuries AD in the courts of Delhi Sultanate[] from existing religious, folk, and theatrical performance practices. ...

Braj Bhasha Literature

Studying Braj Bhasha literature, it can be noticed that most of the literature is of a mystical nature, related to the spiritual union of man with God. This is not at all surprising since virtually all of the poets were God-realised saints and their words are thus considered to be directly emanated from a divine source. Much of 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.

Examples of Brij bhasha literature include Buddha Charit by Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla. Ram Chandra Shukla better known as Acharya Shukla (October 4, 1882 - 1942) is regarded as the first codifier of the history of Hindi literature in a scientific system by efforting great research with scanty resources and published ‘Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihaas’(1928-29). ...

External links

• Braj Bhasha at the Ethnologue

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language. ...

Further reading

• Rupert Snell, The Hindi Classical Tradition: A Braj Bhasa Reader