Hindavi

Hindavi is a historical designation for the vernacular languages spoken in Hindustan, especially the forms that contributed to the development of Hindustani. Used by Persian- and Arabic-speaking administrators, poets, and scribes in medieval and early modern India, Hindavi referred to the everyday spoken language of the people rather than the courtly literary languages such as Persian. It is viewed as an early layer or umbrella term for what would later crystallize into Hindustani, spanning northern India and, in some contexts, the Deccan.

Linguistically, Hindavi drew on Indo-Aryan roots with a significant admixture of Persian and Arabic loanwords, reflecting prolonged contact with Central Asian and Iranian cultures. Its grammar and core vocabulary varied regionally, giving rise to several vernacular variants. Script usage also varied by region: in northern areas Hindavi was often written in Devanagari or Kaithi, while in the Deccan it appeared in Perso-Arabic script as part of the Dakhani tradition.

Geographically, Hindavi was associated with major northern centers such as Delhi and Avadh, but it also had a presence in the Deccan where the form known as Dakhani Hindavi developed with strong Persian influence and local language admixtures. Over time, the diverse Hindavi vernaculars coalesced into the broader register known as Hindustani, which later diverged into standardized Hindi (primarily Devanagari) and Urdu (primarily Perso-Arabic script).

Today, Hindavi is mainly described in linguistic and historical scholarship as the pre-modern vernacular milieu from which modern Hindi and Urdu emerged. The term highlights the shared roots and regional diversity of early Indo-Aryan speech in the subcontinent.

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