Hindi, the official language of India

Stuid

Updated on September 10, 2022

Hindi is the most spoken language in India. Hindi and English are the official languages of our country. Hindi belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages. According to the latest census, 44 pc of Indians speak Hindi.

Hindi got its name from the Persian word Hind, which means ‘land of the Indus River.’ In the 11th century, Turkish invaders called the language of the region ‘Hindi’ – the language of the land of the Indus River.

Hindi (Devanagari script) was declared as the official language of the Indian union in 1950. Following this, the Official Language Act was passed in 1963. This allowed the continuation of English as an associate official language in the India Union and approved its usage in the parliament as well.

Hindi Diwas or National Hindi Day is celebrated every year on September 14 to mark the adaptation of Hindi as the official language of India. It was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, who decided to celebrate the day every year.

Apart from Hindi Diwas, World Hindi Day is also celebrated every year on January 10 to promote the use of Hindi language across the world. Hindi is also spoken in several other countries including Pakistan, Nepal, USA, UK, Bangladesh, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Suriname, Guyana, Uganda, Trinidad, Mauritius and South Africa.

World Hindi Day is observed on the anniversary of the first world Hindi Conference held in Nagpur on January 10, 1975. 122 delegates from 30 countries participated in the conference. The day was celebrated for the first time in the year 2006 by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

Hindi is the third most spoken language in the world, the modern Devanagari script of Hindi came into existence in the 11th century. In the year 2017, the Oxford Dictionary included words like ‘Bada Din’ (big day), ‘Acha’ (good), ‘Bacha’ (child) and ‘Surya Namaskar’ (worshiping the sun). The inclusion is an evidence for the growing acceptance and importance of Hindi. Several writers including Kaka Kalelkar, Maithili Sharan Gupta and Hazari Prasad Dwivedi made significant contributions in making Hindi the official language.

So, let’s commemorate the history and legacy of Hindi language on September 14th!