Heritage of Oudhi / Awadhi Language

Heritage of Oudhi / Awadhi Language

My classmates used to talk to their friends in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, and other native languages when I was younger. We spoke Hindi to our family and friends, but they spoke their native tongue to their parents when I used to visit their house.

I used to question why I don't speak their language while they do. My mother informed me that Oudhi is our language when I asked her one day if we had a native tongue. I first heard this word, and whenever I tried to explain to people that we do have our own language, which is called Oudhi, they would never believe me because they had never heard of it. How could they believe when I had my doubts about the language's existence?

As I grewup I realised that Oudhi which is also written as Awadhi is a very ancient and important language. The holy books of Hindus i.e., Ramacharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa were written in Oudhi / Awadhi language. This is when I started researching more about Awadhi language and found how great the Awadhi language is.

Where is Awadhi Language Spoken The Most

Well, Awadhi Language is spoken in many districts of Uttar Pradesh like Prayagraj (Allahabad), Pratapgarh, Amethi, Sultanpur, Bahraich, Sitapur, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Raebareli, Lucknow, Gonda and some parts of Jaunpur too.

Basically, Awadhi is language spoken in region of Ayodhya which is also known as Awadh. The language of Awadh is Awadhi.

Where Else Awadhi Language is Spoken ?

In addition to India, some regions of Nepal (Terai) also speak the Awadhi language. When the British transported hundreds of indentured laborers from the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and other nearby locations in the 19th century, the laborers who were unable to return settled there, and their offspring also spoke the Awadhi language. Unfortunately, however, the Awadhi/Oudhi language is slowly dying and becoming extinct.

Why is Awadhi Language Dying ?

The reasons behind this are :

•  People are migrating from villages of Uttar Pradesh to urban areas where they speak Hindi instead to Awadhi.
• Secondly, villages are left with only old age people who are gradually leaving this world and this way the number of Awadhi speakers is reducing day by day.
• Thirdly, the government is not supporting Awadhi language as it does to other scheduled languages.

There aren't many online resources for learning Awadhi because people don't want to learn a language that won't help them in the future. However, I have made a blog with simple Awadhi words and sentences to provide anyone who wants to learn the language with a quick overview of it.

Instead of focusing only on the Awadhi language, I will attempt to discuss other facets of the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh in this blog.