Angika

Angika (अंगिका) or Chhika-Chhiki is a language spoken primarily in the Anga region of Bihar and Jharkhand states of India. In addition to India, it is also spoken in some parts of the Terai region of Nepal.[1] It belongs to the Eastern Indo-Aryan language family. It is closely related to languages such as Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Maithili and Magahi.

Angika
अंगिका
Native toIndia and Nepal
RegionBihar and Jharkhand states of India and Terai region of Nepal[1]
Native speakers
743,600 (1996)[2]
Devanagari, Anga Lipi (similar to Mithilakshar), Kaithi
Official status
Official language in
 India (Jharkhand[3])
Language codes
ISO 639-2anp
ISO 639-3anp
Glottologangi1238[4]

Angika is not listed in the 8th schedule of the constitution of India. Nevertheless, Angika language movements have advocated its inclusion, and a submitted request is currently pending with the Government.[5] Angika is written in the Devanagari script; although the Anga Lipi and Kaithi scripts were used historically. Angika shows a regular contrast for animates.[6]

Territory

Angika is mainly spoken in Anga area which includes Munger, Bhagalpur and Banka districts of Bihar and the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand.[7] Its speakers number around 15 million people.[8]

In addition to the Anga area, it is also spoken in some parts of Purnia district of Bihar.[1] However, in Purnia, it is a minority language as Purnia has a Maithil majority.[9]

Apart from Bihar and Jharkhand states of India, it is also spoken in the Morang district of Nepalese Terai as a minority language. 1.9% people of Morang returned Angika as their mother tongue during the 2011 Nepal census.[10]

Dialects of Angika

Relationship to Maithili

Angika was wrongly classified as a dialect of Maithili by George A. Grierson in the Linguistic Survey of India (1903) which was later proved wrong by many Indian historians and scholars. Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan has also accepted the Local Language of Adjoining areas of Bhagalpur as an independent and separate Language as Angika.[11] When the proponents of the Maithili language in Bihar demanded use of Maithili-medium primary education in the early 20th century, the Angika speaking people did not support them, and instead favoured Hindi-medium education. In the 1960s and the 1970s, when the Maithili speakers demanded a separate Mithila state, the Angika and Bajjika-speakers made counter-demands for recognition of their languages.

Maithili proponents wrongly believe that the Government of Bihar and the pro-Hindi Bihar Rashtrabhasha Parishad promoted Angika and Bajjika as distinct languages to weaken the Maithili language movement. People from mainly Maithil Brahmins and Karan Kayasthas castes have supported the Maithili movement to enjoy the political benefits, they also include Angika speaking Districts in their so called Mithila state which is totally unacceptable. Angika has been classified as a Separate Language by Government of Bihar and Government of Jharkhand, Jharkhand has also given Angika as an second official Language status in Jharkhand rejecting it to be the Dialect of Maithili.

Official status

Angika has the status of "second state language" in the Indian state of Jharkhand since 2018. It shares this status with 15 other languages, including Maithili.[3][12]

See also

References
  1. "Angika". Archived from the original on 2018-03-21.
  2. Angika at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  3. Sudhir Kumar Mishra (22 March 2018). "Bhojpuri, 3 more to get official tag". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018.
  4. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Angika". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  5. "Languages in the Eighth Schedule". Ministry of Home Affairs. 2004-12-22. Archived from the original on 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  6. Colin P. Masica 1993, p. 221.
  7. Colin P. Masica 1993, p. 12.
  8. Sevanti Ninan (2007). Headlines From the Heartland: Reinventing the Hindi Public Sphere. SAGE Publications. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7619-3580-3. Archived from the original on 2018-05-11.
  9. https://m.aajtak.in/elections/lok-sabha-election-2019/story/purnia-lok-sabha-election-result-2019-live-updates-will-santosh-kumar-win-again-from-this-seat-1085204-2019-05-23
  10. 2011 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables
  11. "The Record News". dsal.uchicago.edu. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03.
  12. "Jharkhand gives 2nd language status to Magahi, Angika, Bhojpuri and Maithali". United News of India. 21 March 2018. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018.

Bibliography
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