| Deccani | |
|---|---|
| دکھنی दक्खिनीcode: hin promoted to code: hi | |
_40_and_42_from_the_Kitab-i_Nauras_(Book_of_Nine_Essence_-_2013.284_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.jpg) A folio from theKitab-i-Navras, a collection of Deccani poetry attributed to theAdil Shahi kingIbrahim Adil Shah II (16th-17th centuries) | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Deccan (Maharashtra,Karnataka,Telangana,Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,Goa) |
| Ethnicity | Deccanis |
Standard forms | |
| Dialects |
|
| Perso-Arabic (Urdu alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | dakh1244 |
Deccani (دکھنی,दखनीcode: hin promoted to code: hidakhanī orدکنی,दकनीcode: hin promoted to code: hidakanī;[A][1] also known asDeccani Urdu,[2][3]Deccani Hindi,[4][5][6] andDeccani Hindustani)[7][8] is anIndo-Aryan language based on a form ofHindustani spoken in theDeccan region of south-central India and is the native language of theDeccani people.[9][10][11] The historical form of Deccani sparked the development ofUrdu literature during thelate-Mughal period.[12][13] Deccani arose as alingua franca under theDelhi Sultanate andBahmani Sultanates, as trade and migration from the north introducedHindustani tothe Deccan. It later developed a literary tradition under the patronage of theDeccan Sultanates. Deccani itself came to influence modern standardUrdu and laterHindi.[10][14]
The Deccani language has anIndo-Aryan core vocabulary, though it incoporated loanwards fromPersian, which was the official language of the Deccan Sultanates. Additionally, Deccani differs from northernHindustani sociolects due to archaisms retained from themedieval era, as well as aconvergence with and loanwords from the Deccan's regional languages likeTelugu,Tamil,Kannada,Marathi spoken in the states ofTelangana,Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,Karnataka and some parts ofMaharashtra.[10] Deccani has been increasingly influenced byStandard Urdu, especially noticed inHyderabadi Urdu, which serves as itsformal register. In the modern era, it has mostly survived as a spokenlect and is not a literary language.
There are three primary dialects of Deccani spoken today:Hyderabadi Urdu, Mysore Urdu, and Madrasi Urdu.Hyderabadi Urdu is the closest of these dialects to Standard Urdu and the most spoken.[14]
The term "Deccani" and its variants are often used in two different contexts: a historical, obsolete one, referring to the medieval-era literary predecessor of Hindi-Urdu;[15][10] and an oral one, referring to the Urdu dialects spoken in many areas of the Deccan today.[16] Both contexts have intricate historical ties.
As a predecessor of modernHindustani,[17] Deccani has its origins in thecontact dialect spoken around Delhi then known asDehlavi and now calledOld Hindi. In the early 14th century, this dialect was introduced in theDeccan region through the military exploits ofAlauddin Khalji.[18] In 1327 AD,Muhammad bin Tughluq shifted hisSultanate's capital fromDelhi toDaulatabad (near present-dayAurangabad, Maharashtra), causing a mass migration; governors, soldiers and common people moved south, bringing the dialect with them.[19] At this time (and for the next few centuries) the cultural centres of the northern Indian subcontinent were underPersian linguistic hegemony.[20]
TheBahmani Sultanate was formed in 1347 AD withDaulatabad as its capital. This was later moved toGulbarga and once again, in 1430, toBidar. By this time, the dialect had acquired the nameDakhni, from the name of the region itself, and had become alingua franca for the linguistically diverse people of the region, primarily where the Muslims had settled permanently.[21] The Bahmanids greatly promoted Persian, and did not show any notable patronage for Deccani.[22] However, their 150-year rule saw the burgeoning of a local Deccani literary culture outside the court, as religious texts were made in the language. TheSufis in the region (such as Shah Miranji) were an important vehicle of Deccani; they used it in their preachings since regional languages were more accessible (than Persian) to the general population. This era also saw production of themasnaviKadam Rao Padam Rao by Fakhruddin Nizami in the region around Bidar. It is the earliest available manuscript of the Hindavi/Dehlavi/Deccani language, and contains loanwords from local languages such as Telugu and Marathi. Digby suggests that it was not produced in courtly settings.[20][23]
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In the early 16th century, the Bahmani Sultanate splintered into theDeccan Sultanates. These were also Persianate in culture, but were characterised by an affinity towards regional languages. They are largely responsible for the development of the Deccani literary tradition, which became concentrated atGolconda andBijapur.[24] Numerous Deccani poets were patronised in this time. According to Shaheen and Shahid, Golconda was the literary home of Asadullah Wajhi (author ofSab Ras), ibn-e-Nishati (Phulban), and Ghwasi (Tutinama). Bijapur played host to Hashmi Bijapuri, San‘ati, and Mohammed Nusrati over the years.[25]
The rulers themselves participated in these cultural developments.Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of theGolconda Sultanate wrote poetry in Deccani, which was compiled into akulliyyāt. It is widely considered to be the earliest Urdu poetry of a secular nature.[17]Ibrahim Adil Shah II of theBijapur Sultanate producedKitab-e-Navras (Book of the NineRasas), a work of musical poetry written entirely in Deccani. ThemathnawiPem Nem was also compiled during his reign.[26]
Although the poets of this era were well-versed in Persian, they were characterised by a preference for indigenous cultures, and a drive to stay independent of esoteric language. As a result, the language they cultivated emphasised theSanskritic roots of Deccani without overshadowing it, and borrowed from neighbouring languages (especially Marathi; Matthews states that Dravidian influence was much less[27]). In this regard, Shaheen and Shahid note that literary Deccani has historically been very close to spoken Deccani, unlike the northern tradition that has always exhibiteddiglossia.[28] Poet San'ati is a particular example of such conscious efforts to retain simplicity:[29]
rakhiyā kam sanskrit ke is me bōl, | I have restricted the use of Sanskrit words, |
As the language of court and culture, Persian nevertheless served as the model for poetic forms, and a good amount of Persian and Arabic vocabulary was present in the works of these writers. Hence Deccani attempted to strike a balance between Indian and Persian influences,[30][31] though it did always retain mutual intelligibility with the northern Dehlavi. This contributed to the cultivation of a distinct Deccani identity, separate from the rulers from the north; many poets proudly extolled the Deccan region and its culture.[32]
Hence, Deccani experienced cultivation into a literary language under the Sultanates, alongside its usage as a common vernacular. It also continued to be used by saints and Sufis for preaching. However, the Sultanates did not use Deccani for official purposes, preferring the prestige language Persian as well as regional languages like Marathi, Kannada, and Telugu.[33]
The Mughal conquest of the Deccan byAurangzeb in the 17th century connected the southern regions of the subcontinent to the north, and introduced a hegemony of northern tastes. This began the decline of Deccani poetry, as literary patronage in the region decreased. The sociopolitical context of the period is reflected in Hashmi Bijapuri's poem, composed two years after the fall of Bijapur, in a time when many southern poets were pressured to change their language and style for patronage:[34]
tuje chākrī kya tu apnīch bōl, | Why bother about patrons, in your own words do state; |
The literary centres of the Deccan had been replaced by the capital of the Mughals, so poets migrated to Delhi for better opportunities. A notable example is that ofWali Deccani (1667–1707), who adapted his Deccani sensibilities to the northern style and produced adivan in this variety. His work inspired the Persianate poets of the north to compose in the local dialect, which in their hands became an intermediate predecessor of Hindustani known asRekhta. This accelerated the downfall of Deccani literature, as Rekhta came to dominate the competing dialects of Mughal Hindustan.[20][35] The advent of theAsaf Jahis slowed this down, but despite their patronage of regional culture, Deccani Urdu's literary tradition died. However, the spoken variety has lived on in the Deccani Muslims, retaining some of its historical features and continuing to be influenced by the neighbouring Dravidian languages.[36][18]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | iː | uː | |
| ɪ | ʊ | ||
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low | aː | ||
The term Deccani today is given to a Hindustani lect spoken natively by many Muslims from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra (who are known as theDeccanis). It is considered to be the modern, spoken variety of thehistorical Deccani dialect, and inherits many features from it. The term Deccani distinguishes the lect from standard Urdu - however, it is commonly considered a "variety" of Urdu,[16] and often gets subsumed under this name, both by its own speakers and the official administration. The demise of the literary tradition has meant that Deccani uses standard Urdu as its formalregister (i.e. for writing, news, education etc).[39]
Deccani speakers centre around Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. Deccani is also spoken in many other urban areas of the Deccan region andMumbai, especially those with large Muslim populations such as Aurangabad, Nanded, Akola, Amravati, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Mysore and Bangalore.[40] In addition to members of theDeccani community, some Hindu Rajputs and Marathas in the Deccan speak Deccani Urdu as well.[14]
Deccani retains some features of medieval Hindustani that have disappeared in contemporary Hindi-Urdu. It is also distinguished by grammar and vocabulary influences from Marathi, Kannada, and Telugu, due to its prolonged use as alingua franca in the Deccan.[39] Below is a non-exhaustive list of its unique features, with standard Urdu equivalents:
| Deccani | Standard Urdu equivalent | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| mai, tu (southern dialects) | mẽ, tum | First and second person singular pronouns | |
| hame, tume (southern dialects) | ham, āp | First and second person plural pronouns | |
| kane, kan | pās | Possessive marker | |
| un, in, une, ine | us, is | Third person singular pronouns | |
| uno, uno logã, unõ | un, un lōg, woh log | Third person plural pronouns | |
| "sabaan"(southern dialects) | "kal" | For the word "tomorrow", northern dialects use the same word as Standard Urdu | |
| mer(e)kū, ter(e)kū (northern dialects) | mujhe, tujhe | First and second person possessive pronouns often used withpostpositions (mera +ku,tera +ku) | |
| suffix -ã [ãː] (logã,mardã) | -õ, -ẽ | Plural marker | |
| ap(p)an | āp lōg | Third person plural pronoun, often used in first person as well | |
| suffix -ich [it͡ʃʰ] (mai idharich hũ) | hī (mẽ idhar hī hũ) | Emphasis marker, Matthews comments that this is "probably from Marathi"[41] | |
| kaiku, ki | kyũ | 'why' | |
| po (southern dialects) | par, pē | 'on' or 'at' (postposition) | |
| suffix -ĩgā (kal jaĩgā, ab karĩgā) | -ẽge (kal jāyẽge, ab karẽge) | Plural future tense marker | |
| sangāt | ke sātʰ | 'with', both are used in Deccani | |
| nakko | mat/na (imperative),nahĩ cāhiye (first person negative) | From Marathi[42] | |
| kate | lagta hē | 'it seems' or 'apparently' | |
| sō | sō | Common to Deccani and Urdu but largely restricted to classic literature and rarely used in the standard spoken registers of the latter Still commonly used in Deccani, roughly meaning 'that', 'which', or 'hence' | |
| suffix -ko (jāko, dʰōko, āko) | suffix -kē or -kar (jākē/jākar, dʰōkē/dʰōkar/, ākē/ākar) | Conjunctive participle, all three are used in Deccani | |
| kh (خ) [x/χ] | (ق) [q] | Deccani speakers have fully mergedq withkh | |
| ai (ـَے) [aɪ],au (ـَو) [aʊ] (southern dialects) | ai (ـَے) [ɛː],au (ـَو) [ɔː] | Southern dialects of Deccani preserve diphthongs where northern dialects and standard Urdu have shifted to open-mid vowels | |
| Sources:[43][44] | |||
These features are used to different degrees among speakers, as there tends to be regional variation. Mustafa names some varieties of Deccani as "Telugu Dakkhni, Kannada Dakkhni, and Tamil Dakkhni", based on their influence from the dominantDravidian language in the spoken region. He further divides Telugu Deccani into two linguistic categories, corresponding to Andhra Pradesh, which he says has more Telugu influence; and Telangana, with more influence from standard Urdu. The latter is seen especially in Hyderabad.[45]
Deccani's use of Urdu as a standard register, and contact with Hindustani (widespread in India), has led to some of its distinctive features disappearing.[46]
Deccani finds a cultural core in and around Hyderabad, where the highest concentration of speakers are; Telangana is one of the only four states of India to provide "Urdu" official status. Deccani Urdu in Hyderabad has found a vehicle of expression through humour and wit, which manifests in events called "Mazahiya Mushaira", poetic symposiums with comedic themes.[47] An example of Deccani, spoken in such a context at Hyderabad:
buzdil hai woh jo jīte jī marne se ḍar gayā | |
| —Ghouse Khamakha |
Additionally, theDeccani film industry (also called Dollywood) is based in Hyderabad and produces movies in Deccani, especially the Hyderabadi dialect.[50]
Deccani is often considered a predecessor of Hindustani. The Deccani literary tradition is largely responsible for the development of modern Hindustani since contact with southern poets led to a shift in northern tastes and the development of Urdu as a literary language.[20] Deccani also imparted the practice of writing the local vernacular in the Perso-Arabic script, which eventually became the standard practice for Urdu all over the Indian subcontinent.[51]
Deccani Hindi is indebted for its development to the Muslim poets and writers chiefly belonging to the kingdom of Bijapur.
The Deccani Hindi Poetry in its earlier phase was not so much Persianised as it became later.
The majority of the documents are written in Farsi (Persian), employing the adapted Arabic script but these notes are written in English and Deccani Hindustani with Carnatic translation.
But the dewan translated these (probably into Deccani Hindustani) as "friendship" and "alliance".
The Deccani language developed between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Deccan—it is known to be an old form of Hindi and Urdu. Deccani was influenced by the other languages of the region, that is, it borrowed some words from Telugu, Kannada and Marathi. Deccani was known as the language from the South and it later travelled to the north of India and influenced Khari Boli. It also had a significant influence on the development of Hindi and Urdu.
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