| Bundeli | |
|---|---|
| बुन्देली | |
 The word "Bundeli" written in Devanagari script | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Bundelkhand |
Native speakers | 5.6 million (2011)[1] Census results conflate some speakers with Hindi. |
| Devanagari | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | None |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bns |
| Glottolog | bund1253 |
 | |
Bundeli (Devanagari: बुन्देली/बुंदेली) orBundelkhandi is anIndo-Aryan language spoken in theBundelkhand region of centralIndia. It belongs to the Central Indo-Aryan languages and is part of theWestern Hindi subgroup.
A descendant of theSauraseniApabhramsha language, Bundeli was classified underWestern Hindi byGeorge Abraham Grierson in hisLinguistic Survey of India.[2] Bundeli is also closely related toBraj Bhasha, which was the foremost literary language in north-central India until the nineteenth century.
Like many otherIndo-Aryan languages, Bundeli has often been subject to a designation as adialect, instead of alanguage. Furthermore, as is the case with otherHindi languages, Bundeli speakers have been conflated with those ofStandard Hindi in censuses.
Grierson divided Bundeli into four dialect groups:[3]
TheBundelkhand region comprises regions ofUttar Pradesh andMadhya Pradesh. Bundeli is spoken in theBanda,Hamirpur,Jalaun,Jhansi,Lalitpur,Chitrakoot,Mahoba,Datia,Chhatarpur,Panna,Tikamgarh,Sagar,Damoh,Niwari districts.
Early examples of Bundelkhandi literature are the verses of theAlha-Khand epic. It is still preserved by bards in the Banaphari region. The epic is about heroes who lived in the 12th century CE. Formal literary works in Bundeli dates from the reign of EmperorAkbar. Notable figures are the poetKesab Das of the 16th century, whilePadmakar Bhatt and Prajnes wrote several works during the 19th century. Prannath and Lal Kabi, produced many works in Bundeli language at the court ofChhatrasal of Panna.[4]
