Deccani language: Difference between revisions

Deccani
Deccani
دکنی; दखनी
	A folio from the Kitab-i-Navras, a collection of Deccani poetry attributed to the Adil Shahi king Ibrahim Adil Shah II (16th-17th centuries)
Native to	India
Region	South India Telangana; Andhra Pradesh; Tamil Nadu; Kerala; Maharashtra;
Ethnicity	Deccanis
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Central Zone Western Hindi Hindustani Deccani; ; ; ; ; ;
Standard forms	Standard Urdu; Dakshina Hindi
Dialects	Hyderabadi; Mysore; Madrasi (Chennai);
Writing system	Arabic script (Nastaliq); Brahmic script (Devanagari)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	dakh1244

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Latest revision as of 11:38, 24 March 2026

Deccani (دکنی,Template:Script/Devanagari, dakanī)^{[upper-alpha 1]}^[1] also known as Deccani Urdu,^[2]^[3] Deccani Hindi,^[4]^[5]^[6] or Deccani Hindustani)^[7]^[8] is an Indo-Aryan language variety based on a form of Hindustani spoken in the Deccan region of South India and is the native language of the Deccani people.^[9]^[10]^[11] The historical form of Deccani sparked the development of Urdu literature during the late-Mughal period.^[12]^[13] Deccani arose as a lingua franca under the Delhi Sultanate and Bahmani Sultanates, as trade and migration from the north introduced Hindustani to the Deccan. It later developed a literary tradition under the patronage of the Deccan Sultanates. Deccani itself came to influence standard Urdu and later Hindi, in the form of Dakshina Hindi.^[10]^[14]

Deccani has an Indo-Aryan core vocabulary, though it incorporated loanwords from Persian, which was the official language of the Deccan Sultanates. Additionally, Deccani differs from northern Hindustani sociolects due to archaisms retained from the medieval era, as well as a convergence with and loanwords from the Deccan's regional languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam spoken in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and some parts of Maharashtra.^[10] Deccani has been increasingly influenced by Standard Urdu, which serves as its formal register. In the modern era, it has mostly survived as a spoken lect and is not a literary language.

There are three primary dialects of Deccani spoken today: Hyderabadi Urdu,^[15] Mysore, and Madrasi (Chennaian). 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 Hindustani;^[16]^[10] and an oral one, referring to the language spoken in many areas of the Deccan today.^[17] Both contexts have intricate historical ties.

History[edit | edit source]

Origin[edit | edit source]

As a predecessor of modern Hindustani,^[18] Deccani has its origins in the contact dialect spoken around Delhi then known as Dehlavi and now called Old Hindi. In the early 14th century, this dialect was introduced in the Deccan region through the military exploits of Alauddin Khalji.^[19] In 1327 AD, Muhammad bin Tughluq shifted his Sultanate's capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (near present-day Aurangabad, Maharashtra), causing a mass migration; governors, soldiers and common people moved south, bringing the dialect with them.^[20] At this time (and for the next few centuries) the cultural centres of the northern Indian subcontinent were under Persian linguistic hegemony.^[21]

The Bahmani Sultanate was formed in 1347 AD with Daulatabad as its capital. This was later moved to Gulbarga and once again, in 1430, to Bidar. By this time, the dialect had acquired the name Dakhni, from the name of the region itself, and had become a lingua franca for the linguistically diverse people of the region, primarily where the Muslims had settled permanently.^[22] The Bahmanids greatly promoted Persian, and did not show any notable patronage for Deccani.^[23] 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. The Sufis 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 the masnavi Kadam 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.^[21]^[24]

Growth[edit | edit source]

Illustrated page from ibn-e-Nishati's "Phulban" (Flower Garden), a Deccani rendition of an unknown Persian work. Written under the patronage of Abdullah Qutb Shah, depicted here seated on a throne.

In the early 16th century, the Bahmani Sultanate splintered into more assimilated Deccan Sultanates such as the Golconda and Bijapur Sultanates, which sponsored, blended and developed humanistic disciplines of local languages into Indo-Persian culture. ^[25] According to Shaheen and Shahid, Golconda was the literary home of Asadullah Wajhi (author of Sab Ras), ibn-e-Nishati (Phulban), and Ghwasi (Tutinama). Bijapur played host to Hashmi Bijapuri, San‘ati, and Mohammed Nusrati over the years.^[26]

The rulers themselves participated in these cultural developments. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of the Golconda Sultanate wrote poetry in Deccani, which was compiled into a kulliyyāt. It is widely considered to be the earliest Urdu poetry of a secular nature.^[18] Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Bijapur Sultanate produced Kitab-e-Navras (Book of the Nine Rasas), a work of musical poetry written entirely in Deccani. The mathnawi Pem Nem was also compiled during his reign.^[27]

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 the Sanskritic roots of Deccani without overshadowing it, and borrowed from neighbouring languages (especially Marathi; Matthews states that Dravidian influence was much less^[28]). 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 exhibited diglossia.^[29] Poet San'ati is a particular example of such conscious efforts to retain simplicity:^[30]

rakhiyā kam sanskrit ke is me bōl,
adīk bōlne te rakhiyā hũ amōl;

jise fārsī kā na kuch gyān he
sō dakhnī zabān us kō āsān he

I have restricted the use of Sanskrit words,
And made it free of unnecessary talk.

Those who have no knowledge of Persian;
For them Dakhnī is a readily understood language.

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,^[31]^[32] 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.^[33]

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.^[34]

Decline[edit | edit source]

The Mughal conquest of the Deccan by Aurangzeb 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:^[35]

tuje chākrī kya tu apnīch bōl,
terā shēr dakhnī hai dakhnīch bōl

Why bother about patrons, in your own words do state;
Your poetry is Dakhni, and only in it should you narrate

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 of Wali Deccani (1667–1707), who adapted his Deccani sensibilities to the northern style and produced a divan 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 as Rekhta. This accelerated the downfall of Deccani literature, as Rekhta came to dominate the competing dialects of Mughal Hindustan.^[21]^[36] The advent of the Asaf Jahis slowed this down, but despite their patronage of regional culture, Deccani’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.^[37]^[19]

Phonology[edit | edit source]

Consonants[edit | edit source]

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	voiced	m	n	ɳ		ŋ
Nasal	breathy	mʱ	nʱ
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ʈ	tʃ	k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ
	voiced	b	d	ɖ	dʒ	ɡ
	breathy	bʱ	dʱ	ɖʱ	dʒʱ	ɡʱ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s		ʃ	x	h
Fricative	voiced		z			ɣ	h
Trill/Tap	voiced		r	ɽ
Trill/Tap	breathy		rʱ
Approximant	voiced	ʋ	l	ɭ	j
Approximant	breathy	ʋʱ	lʱ		jʱ

/h/ can be heard as either voiceless [h] or voiced [ɦ] across dialects.
The /q/ of Urdu is merged with /x/.

Vowels[edit | edit source]

	Front	Central	Back
High	iː		uː
High	ɪ		ʊ
Mid	e	ə	o
Low		aː

/e, o/ can have lax allophones of [ɛ, ɔ] when preceding consonants in medial position.
Diphthong sounds include /əi, əe, əu, əo/.^[38]
/əi/ can be heard as [æ] after /h/.
/əu/ can be heard as [ɔː] in initial positions.^[39]

Modern era[edit | edit source]

The term Deccani today is given to a Hindustani lect spoken natively by many Muslims from Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra (who are known as the Deccanis). It is considered to be the modern, spoken variety of the historical Deccani, and inherits many features from it. The demise of the literary tradition has meant that Deccani uses standard Urdu as its formal register (i.e. for writing, news, education etc).^[40]

Geographical distribution[edit | edit source]

Deccani is spoken in many urban areas of the Deccan region, especially those with large Muslim populations such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Aurangabad, Bijapur, Amravati, Gulbarga, and Mysore.^[41] In addition to members of the Deccani community, some Hindu Rajputs and Marathas in the Deccan speak Deccani as well.^[14]

Features[edit | edit source]

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 a lingua franca in the Deccan.^[40] Below is a non-exhaustive list of its unique features, with standard Urdu equivalents:


Sources:^[44]^[45]
Deccani	Standard Urdu equivalent	Notes
mai, tu (southern dialects)	ma͠i, tū	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 with postpositions (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"^[42]
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^[43]
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 merged q with kh
ai (ـَے‬) [aɪ], au (ـَو) [aʊ] (southern dialects)	ai (ـَے‬) [əe~ɛː], au (ـَو) [ɔː]	Southern dialects of Deccani preserve diphthongs where northern dialects and standard Urdu have shifted to open-mid vowels

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 dominant Dravidian 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.^[46]

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.^[47]

Culture[edit | edit source]

Deccani finds a cultural core in and around Hyderabad. Deccani in Hyderabad has found a vehicle of expression through humour and wit, which manifests in events called "Mazahiya Mushaira", poetic symposiums with comedic themes.^[48] An example of Deccani, spoken in such a context at Hyderabad:

buzdil hai woh jo jīte jī marne se ḍar gayā
ek mai-ich thā jo kām hī kuch aur kar gayā
jab maut āko mereku karne lagī salām
maĩ walaikum salām bola aur mar gayā.^[49]

It's a coward who fears death while still alive,
It was but me who did something different altogether
When Death came to me and said "salam",
I said "walaikum salam" and died^[50]

—Ghouse Khamakha

Additionally, the Deccani film industry (also called Dollywood) is based in Hyderabad and produces movies in Deccani, especially the Hyderabadi dialect.^[51]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

Urdu[edit | edit source]

Deccani is often considered a predecessor of Urdu. The Deccani literary tradition is largely responsible for the development of modern Urdu since contact with southern poets led to a shift in northern tastes and the development of Urdu as a literary language.^[21] 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.^[52]

Dakshina Hindi[edit | edit source]

Deccani is often associated with Dakshina Hindi, a dialect of Modern Standard Hindi, used in South India. Just like Urdu, Deccani also contributed to the growth of Dakshina Hindi dialect and many of the core loanwords of Deccani are incorporated into Dakshina Hindi, with more Prakrit influence in it, instead of Persian. Dakshina Hindi is the most used Hindi / Hindustani dialect in South India, mainly in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Dakshina Hindi is further divided into many varieties with Kerala Hindi and Madrasi Hindi being the most used in them.

References[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

↑ Deccani is spelled variously as Dakni, Dakani, Dakhni, Dakhani, Dakhini, Dakkhani, Dakkhini and Dakkani in both Hindi and Urdu.

Citations[edit | edit source]

↑ Kellman, Steven G.; Lvovich, Natasha (2021). The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translingualism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-44153-6.
↑ Khan, Abdul Jamil (2006). Urdu/Hindi: An Artificial Divide: African Heritage, Mesopotamian Roots, Indian Culture & Britiah Colonialism. Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87586-438-9.
↑ Alam, Sarwar (2019). Cultural Fusion of Sufi Islam: Alternative Paths to Mystical Faith. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-87294-5.
↑ Azam, Kousar J. (2017). Languages and Literary Cultures in Hyderabad. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-39399-7.
↑ Verma, Dinesh Chandra (1990). Social, Economic, and Cultural History of Bijapur. Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli. p. 141. Deccani Hindi is indebted for its development to the Muslim poets and writers chiefly belonging to the kingdom of Bijapur.
↑ Arun, Vidya Bhaskar (1961). A Comparative Phonology of Hindi and Panjabi. Panjabi Sahitya Akademi. p. xii. The Deccani Hindi Poetry in its earlier phase was not so much Persianised as it became later.
↑ "Social History — 1750-1780: Document". Museum of London. Retrieved 6 February 2025. 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.
↑ Hirschmann, Edwin (11 December 2019). The Accidental Viceroy: Robert Lytton in India. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-4985-9853-8. But the dewan translated these (probably into Deccani Hindustani) as "friendship" and "alliance".
↑ Mohammed, Syed (20 January 2012). "Deccani roots truly secular". The Times of India.
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 ^10.3 Kama Maclean (26 September 2021). "Language and Cinema: Schisms in the Representation of Hyderabad". Retrieved 12 February 2024. 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 traveled to the north of India and influenced Khari Boli. It also had a significant influence on the development of Hindi and Urdu.
↑ Emeneau, Murray B.; Fergusson, Charles A. (2016). Linguistics in South Asia. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-081950-2.
↑ Imam, Syeda (2008). The Untold Charminar. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-81-8475-971-6.
↑ Alam, Sarwar (2019). Cultural Fusion of Sufi Islam: Alternative Paths to Mystical Faith. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-87294-5.
↑ ^14.0 ^14.1 ^14.2 "Urdu-Phonology and Morphology" (PDF).
↑ Bhatnagar, Dr Shikha (15 October 2018). Legendary Narratives of Hyderabad. Notion Press. ISBN 978-1-64429-473-4.
↑ Rahman 2011, p. 22.
↑ Rahman 2011, p. 4.
↑ ^18.0 ^18.1 Rahman 2011, p. 27.
↑ ^19.0 ^19.1 Mustafa 2008, p. 185.
↑ Dua 2012, p. 383.
↑ ^21.0 ^21.1 ^21.2 ^21.3 Matthews, David. "Urdu". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011.
↑ A History of the Freedom Movement:Being the Story of Muslim Struggle for the Freedom of Hind-Pakistan, 1707–1947. Vol. 3. Pakistan Historical Society. 1957.
↑ Schmidt, Ruth L. (1981). Dakhini Urdu : History and Structure. New Delhi. pp. 3 & 6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Digby, Simon (2004). "Before Timur Came: Provincialization of the Delhi Sultanate through the Fourteenth Century". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 47 (3): 333–335. doi:10.1163/1568520041974657. JSTOR 25165052.
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, p. 100.
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, p. 124.
↑ Matthews, David J. (1993). "Eighty Years of Dakani Scholarship". The Annual of Urdu Studies. 9: 92–93.
↑ Matthews 1976, p. 170.
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, p. 116.
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, pp. 101–103.
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, pp. 103–104.
↑ Matthews 1976, p. 283.
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, pp. 106–108.
↑ Eaton, Richard (2005). A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 142–144. ISBN 9780521254847.
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, pp. 116 & 143.
↑ Faruqi, Shamsur Rahman (2003). Pollock, Sheldon (ed.). Urdu Literary Culture, Part 1. University of California Press. pp. 837 & 839. ISBN 0520228219. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
↑ Shaheen & Shahid 2018, pp. 118–119.
↑ Mustafa, Khateeb S. (1985). A descriptive study of Dakhni Urdu as spoken in the Chittoor District, A. P. Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
↑ Schmidt, Ruth L. (1981). Dakhini Urdu : history and structure. Bahri, New Delhi.
↑ ^40.0 ^40.1 Matthews 1976, pp. 221–222.
↑ Masica, Colin P. (1993). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 22 & 426.
↑ Matthews 1976, p. 74.
↑ Matthews 1976, p. 215.
↑ Matthews 1976, p. 222-224.
↑ Masica, Colin P. (1993). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 413. ISBN 9780521299442.
↑ Mustafa 2008, p. 186.
↑ Matthews 1976, p. 179.
↑ Sharma, R.S. (2018). Azam, Kousar J (ed.). A Tentative Paradigm for the Study of Languages and Literary Cultures in Hyderabad City. Routledge. pp. 32–33. ISBN 9781351393997. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
↑ "Ghouse Khamakhan (Part 1): Dakhani Mazahiya Mushaira". YouTube. Siasat Daily. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
↑ "A Tongue Tied: The Story of Dakhani". Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
↑ Mumtaz, Roase. "Deccanwood: An Indian film industry taking on Bollywood". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
↑ Dua 2012, pp. 383–384.

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

Dua, Hans R. (2012), "Hindi-Urdu as a pluricentric language", in Michael Clyne (ed.), Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-088814-0
Rahman, Tariq (2011), From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History (PDF), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-906313-0, archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2014
Mustafa, K.S (2008), "Dakkhni", in Prakāśaṃ, Vennelakaṇṭi (ed.), Encyclopaedia of the Linguistic Sciences: Issues and Theories, Allied Publishers, pp. 185–186, ISBN 978-1139465502
Shaheen, Shagufta; Shahid, Sajjad (2018), Azam, Kousar J (ed.), "The Unique Literary Traditions of Dakhnī", Languages and Literary Cultures in Hyderabad, Routledge, ISBN 9781351393997{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
Sharma, Ram (1964), दक्खिनी हिन्दी का उद्भव और विकास (PDF) (in Hindi), Allahabad: Hindi Sahitya Sammelan{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
Matthews, David J. (1976). Dakani Language and Literature (Thesis). SOAS University of London.