Ahirani language

Ahirani
Khandeshi
अहिरणी / ख़ानदेशी
Native to Maharashtra, India
Region Khandesh
Native speakers
 1.9 million (2001 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
khn – Khandeshi
ahr – Ahirani (duplicate code)
Glottolog khan1272[3]

Location of the Khandesh region in India

Location of the Khandesh region within Maharashtra

Ahirani is an Indo-Aryan language in the Maharashtra state of India. It is spoken in the Khandesh region, wedged between the territory of Bhili and that of Marathi. It consists of Khandeshi proper, and the Dangri and Ahirani dialects.[4] The words "Ahirani" and "Khandeshi" are sometimes used interchangeably: Ahirani as the caste-based name (after Ahirs), and Khandesh as the region-based name.

Etymology

Khandeshi is named after the Khandesh region. There are various theories about the origin of the word Khanesh. One theory states that the name derives from the words "Khan" (a title used by the Mughal deputies in the region) and "desh" (country). Another theory suggests the name derives from the words "Kanha" and "desh"; "Kanha" is a name for Krishna, the primary deity worshipped by the Ahir people of the region. Other theories suggests the varying origins of the word "Khan", including "Kanbai" (a regional female deity), "Kahan" (hay or grass) and "Khaan" ("basin", as in basin of the Waghur river). A detailed study of the various etymologies of the word Khandesh appears in the book Ahirani Boli by Dr. Ramesh Suryawanshi.

Dialects

Ahirani is a major dialect of Khandeshi. It was originally spoken by the Ahirs (cattle herders) living in the Khandesh region. It is further divided into region-based sub-dialects such as Chalisgaon, Dhule, Malegaon and Dhule group. Ahirani is spoken in the Jalgaon (except Bhusaval, Jamner, Bodwad and Muktainagar) and Nandurbar, Dhule. Outside Khandesh, it is spoken in some parts of Nashik (Baglan, Malegaon and Kalwan tehsils) and Aurangabad. People in the tehsils of Chopda, Amalner, Sakri, Dondaiche, Shirpur, Taloda, Shahada, Dhadgaon, Akkalkuwa, Parola, Erandol, Satana, Malegaon, Baglan also speak Ahirani. In the neighboring state of Gujarat, it is spoken in Surat and Vyara, and in Madhya Pradesh, Ahirani is spoken in and around Amba-Varla. Research by Dr. Ramesh Suryawashi suggests that the Ahirani dialect is also spoken in Dharni tehsil of Amravati district, around the Melghat Tiger Reserve forest area. But it is known as Gavali Boli there. Around 30-35 thousand people speak Gavai boli in 40 villages.

According to the 1971 census of India, the number of people who declared Ahirani as their mother tongue was 363,780. A 2011 estimate of the population of the Dhulia, Jalgaon and Nandurbar districts, and the Ahirani speaker tehsils of Aurangabad and Nasik district was 10 million.

The non-Ahirs in the region (such as Lewa, Wani, Bhill and Pardeshi castes) started speaking variants of Ahirani mixed with their dialects while interacting with the Ahirs, which led to the birth of other dialects of the language. Chandwadi is spoken around Chandwad hills, Nandubari is spoken around Nandurbar, Jamnerior Tawadi is spoken around Jamner tehsil, Taptangi is spoken by the side of Tapi, Tapti river. Dongarangi is spoken by the side of forest Ajanta hills. All these are region-based names for Khandeshi sub-dialects. Ahirani, Gujari, Bhilau, Maharau, Lewa and Purbhi all are social (caste-based) categories of Khandeshi. Several castes speak their own dialect at home but use Khandeshi for their daily communication outside their communities. The Article By Dr Ramesh Suryawanshi on dilemma of Language used by Poetess Bahinabai Chaudhari. : 'Poetess Bahinabai Chaudhari’s language' Now a day’s people are becoming more conscious about their dialect, about their language. In olden days to speak our dialect or our Mothertongue was considered of low quality. Such people were considered as illiterate, peasants, vulgar, boorish. So no one cared about the language used by Khandeshi poetess Bhanabai Chaudhari. When the dialectal movement started at the rise of the beginning of the Linguistic study in various Universities. Khandesh is old district of Maharashtra where Khandeshi dialect was spoken. Old Khandesh District covered the area of Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar and part of Nasik and Aurangabad Districts. This area was a ditch sized area, surrounded by Ajanta Ranges to the south, Satpura Range to North, Chandwad Range to East and Waghur River to East. Various dialects are spoken in the Khandesh District. To South there was Marathwada and people spoke Marathawadi Dialect which affected the dialect of people of Khandesh who were residing near it’s border area. Local folk call such affected dialect as Ghatoli Boli. People in the part of East of Khandesh were in contact of Vidharbhi, the dialect of Vidharbha region. Populated with Lawa Patidar as major cast whose dialect is Leva Patidar Boli. This dialect in the border area is affected by Vidharbhi Boli. Such dialect is called as Tawadi Boli of Jamneri Boli by local people. People who were at the West part of Khandesh were living in Baglan Province and near Dangan area. Their dialect, ( the dialect of KSMDE belt Kalvan, Satana, Malegaon, Deola) is known as Baglani Boli. The Southern part is covered by Satpura Range and nearer to Gujarat where Pawara Bhil reside they speak Pawari Boli. Common peoples dialect is affected by nearby dialects like Gujarati and Pawari. All these dialects are surrounded to hypocenter of Khandesh District. Main clan in Khandesh is Ahir and their dialect is Ahirani. Ahir ruled this province. People living n Khandesh accepted the ruler’s dialect, Ahirani. People like Bania, Ladshakhi, Marwari, Pardeshi, Gurgar, Lewa, though they had their own dialect, they speak Ahirani for communication. It is natural their dialectal tone may affect the original Ahirani. But base of all Khandesh people’s dialect was Ahirani. But Ahirani was the Ahir’s dialect and not other people’s dialect. People living in Khandesh were known as Khandeshi People and their language was also known as Khandeshi. So Khandeshi is the regional name to the language spoken all over Khandesh. Ahirani, Lewa Patidar, Gurgar, Pawara such dialects are social categories of Khandeshi. And people who are at the border area of Khandesh and affected by nearby language speak Jamneri, Tawadi, Baglani, Nandurbari, Ghatoli. Such dialects are affected Ahirani, region based Ahirani. So these are Regional categories of Khandeshi. In this way, Khandeshi is the language of Khandesh. Khandesh is major concept, region based concept where as Ahirani is a minor concept and Social based concept. In the way, Khandeshi language is categorized in Social Based Categories and Region Based Categories. Poetess Bahinabai belongs to Lewa Patil cast and resided in Jalgaon district. Khandesh has legacy of verity of folk literature. Folklores, songs of men, women, and of children for various festivals and for ceremonies. Bahinabai also sung the songs while she work. Her songs were collected neatly written by her brother. Jalgaon district is Vaidharbhi affected area of Ahirani speaking Khandesh. Though Bahinabai was Lewa Patil and not Ahir, but spoke Ahirani affected Lewa Boli But she was of Khandesh and language used by her in her pomes is Khandeshi. So instead of calling her language as Lewa, social or race based dialect, it is better to call her dialect as Khandeshi ( Ahirani affected), region based dialect. Instead of minimizing by calling as Lewa dialect let us call her language as Khandeshi to glorify the region.

written by Dr.Ramesh Suryawanshi Mail ID – rss221718@yahoo.co.in

Grammar and vocabulary

The Standard Marathi and Ahirani show considerable difference at various levels of structures. This indicates that the source and development of these two dialects are independent. Some of the peculiarities of Ahirani show closeness to Rajashthani and Gujarati.

Borrowing and bending the words from Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati, Ahirani has created its own words not found in any of these languages. Ahirani is basically in colloquial form and uses the Devanagari script for its writing.

Educated Khandeshis speak standard Marathi as well as Ahirani. In the urban areas, Ahirani is losing its popularity among such people to standard Marathi, but in the rural areas, Ahirani dominates. The language is widely used among the farmers and villagers. It is also known for its secret words used by goldsmiths, cattle sellers, fruit-purchasers, known only to the members of that community.

Literature

Being a rural language, Ahirani has not produced much literature. Bahinabai Chaudhari (1880-1951) is a well-known poet of Khandesh, and the study of her literature is studied and included in Marathi language sources. The language in her poems is different from Ahirani, but affected by Ahirani. Some say the poet is not Ahirani, but Lewa (a dialect of Khandeshi).

Linguistic research

Dr. Ramesh Sitaram Suryawanshi has authored following works on Ahirani:

References

  1. ↑ Khandeshi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Ahirani (duplicate code) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Ernst Kausen, 2006. Die Klassifikation der indogermanischen Sprachen (Microsoft Word, 133 KB)
  3. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Khandesi". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ↑ Robert Vane Russell (1916). pt. II. Descriptive articles on the principal castes and tribes of the Central Provinces. Macmillan and Company, limited. pp. 19–.
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