Any of the three main dialects of Prakrit, used extensively in Sanskrit literature. Chief among them is Maharashtri, followed by Sauraseni and Magadhi. Prakrit (Sanskrit prakrta: natural, usual, vulgar) refers to the broad family of the Indic languages and dialects spoken in ancient India. ... Maharashtri is a language of medieval India, descended from Sanskrit, and spoken in what is now Maharashtra and other parts of India. ... A Dramatic Prakrit, Sauraseni was the chief language of northern medieval India, evolving into the Hindi language complex and Punjabi. ... The Magadhi language (also known as Magahi) is a language of India. ...
The Prakrits became literary languages, generally patronized by kings identified with the ksatriya caste, but were regarded as illegitimate by the Brahmin orthodoxy.
The earliest extant use of Prakrit are the inscriptions of Asoka, emperor of Northern India, and while the various Prakrit languages are associated with different patron dynasties, with different religions and different literary traditions, none of them were at any time an informal "mother tongue" in any area of India.
Other Prakrits are reported in historical sources, but have no extant corpus (e.g., Paisaci).
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