HINDI

Kashmir is a non-Hindi region. The number of people who can speak Hindi clearly is 2.55 lakh persons for the year ending1981. A sizable section of the educated urban and semi-urban population in the valley is well acquainted with the standard literary form of the language. Kashmir Pandits who had left Kashmir during reign of Sultan Sikander and had settled  in Punjab and Utter Pradesh came back to Kashmir  during the reign of Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin. During their stay of about 30 to 35 years in Hindi speaking areas, they were very much influenced by Brij Basha and other dialects of Hindi and Punjabi.Not only tourist interests, but professional considerations and business interests have drawn hundreds of people from the plains of Punjab and U.P. to settle in Kashmir. Likewise, after the opening of the Banihal Cart road, hundred of Kashmiri labourers began to move down to the plains during the hard winter months in search of work. The language used by these people to communicate with each other is again Hindi. Thus, it was centuries back that the Kashmiris realized and recognized the inherent possibilities of Hindi in developing as an All India Link

Language.Linguistically speaking, Hindi is not so alien a language for the people of Kashmir. It many lexical affinities with Kashmiri as both are members of Indo-Aryan  group of languages and both have drawn heavily from  Sanskrit sources for their vocabulary. A study of the earliest literary works in the Kashmiri language- Mahanaya,Prakash,Banasur, Katha and Sukh-Dukh, reveal beyond any doubt the fact  that like Hindi, Kashmiri also has been derived from Sanskrit rather vedic Sanskrit. Similarly, Richard Temple’s view of changes regarding the languages of Kashmir is not based on facts, at least about the Kashmiri commonly spoken by Hindus and Muslims of the region.

The influence of Persian and Arabic language on languages spoken in Kashmir started after the advent of Islam in the valley.It should also be noted that alarge number of words are common to Kashmiri language and certain dialects of Hindi like Braj, Rajasthani and Avadhi. This makes it clear, why it is not difficult at all for a Kashmiri to pick-up Hindi. Apart from their common inheritance from Sanskrit, the two languages have only similar features which bring them close to each other,  though there are many phonological and morphological differences. It is due to these differences that Hindi as it is spoken by a kashmiri has like Indian-English, developed many a peculiarity and oddity of its own. Difficulties in pronunciation of some Hindi phonemes and in grasping of some of its grammatical forms encountered by a Kashmiri are no doubt considerable. While speaking Hindi, most Kashmiris tend to apply Kashmiri grammer to it. This is due to the reason that they think in Kashmiri and then come out with a literal translation of it. Some of the expressions of what may be termed as Kashmiri-Hindi are really amusing.Nothing definite can be said as to when Hindi was first introduced in Kashmir but one is sure that it has been in use for the last century. Permanand a “Bakhta”  of great stature who has sung in the immortal love of Radha and  Krishna has also burst into songs in Hindi at many places in his great work “Radha Swayamwara”. However,his hindi verses cannot be said to have touched the heights of the  Hindi Poetry, though these are considered as literary curiosities. His disciple Lakhmanjoo “Bulbul” has also written a few poems in Hindi. Some of his devotional songs have been composed in a strange mixture of Hindi and Kashmiri.Similar bilingual essays have been written by the great poet of the “Leela School” of Kashmir poetry.Lalji Zadoo a poet of 19^th Century has also written a full-fledged epic in Hindi. It is a work of considerable literary merit of medieval Hindi poetry.

The tradition of devotional poetry continued un-interrupted upto the third or fourth decade of present century. Like Parmanand, Lakmanjoo, Sri Krishna Razdan, Thakarjoo Manvati, Haldar Joo Kokru and Pandit Nila Kanth Sharma (famous for his Ramyana in Kashmiri) wrote in Hindi side by side with their Kashmiri poems. Many of the poems in Hindi are infused with devotional, religious and ethical fervour.In 1941, the late Pandit Zinda Koul, “Masterji”, a famous Kashmiri mystical and humanist poet, published five Hindi Poems writtem by him  in the form of a booklet entitled “Patra-Pushpa”. These poems convey the poet’s message of good will and peace for the entire mankind.Hindi received official patronage in the state during the reign of Maharaja Ranbir Singh who accepted Hindi in Devnagri scripr as one of the official of the State. Maharaja started a fornightly Hindi Gazette entitled “Ranbir Samachar” and introduced Hand Bills in Hindi,but his successor Maharaja Pratap Singh made Urdu an official language and Persian a Court language. Yet Hindi came to be accepted as one of the subjects included in the schools of the State. It ultimately resulted the development of Hindi with Systematic deeper roots in the region. It was during the Maharaja Hari  Singh’s time when the then Director of Eduction, Mr. K.G.Sayyadin declared  easy urdu in both Persian nad Devnagri characters to be the official medium of instruction of schools of the valley, as well as, in the State as a whole. This also gave impetus to the spread of Hindi in Kashmir.It were, however, then voluntary organizations which played an important role in propogating and  popularizing Hindi in Kashmir and widening its base. In the pre-independence era, several scio-culture, religious and literary organizations like the Aryasamaj, Sanatan Dharm Sabha, Jeevan Sudhar Sabha, Mahavir Dal, Hindi Parishad etc. did much to promote the course of Hindi. These organizations prepared students for appearing in Hindi examinations.

 These organizations established Hindi medium educational institutions and published magazines etc. in the Hindi language, besides other literary activities. The weekly “Mahavir” and “Chandro-days”, the first Hindi magazines published in Kashmir did a commendable work in popularizing Hindi in the region.In the post independence era, the role of voluntary organizations has remained very significant. The contribution of D.A.V Schools and the Mahila Maha Vidhalaya is note-worthy. The emphasis has shifted slowly from mere propogation of hindi to popularizing its literature and encouraging literary activities. The Kashmir Hindi Pracharni Sabha, Rashtra Basha Prachar Samati, Hindi Parishards of the Hindi Department of  Kashmir University, Kashmir Hindi Sanatan and the Hindi Sahitya Samelan deserves a special mention in this context. Similarly, other notable Hindi  Journals include “Yojna” a monthly magazine published by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and languages and “Vitasta” published by the Post-graduate Department of Hindi of the university of Kashmir.

A group of young Hindi writers emerged in Kashmir in the  fifties who chose Hindi as the medium of literary expression. These notable writers among whom are Hari Krishen Koul, Moti Lal Kemmer, Shashi Shekar Toshkhani, Rattan Lal, “Shant” and Mohan Lal “Nirash” are all endowed with modern  sensibility and spot light the contemporary human situation in their writings. The number of students studying in various educational institutions of Kashmir has been ever increasing and can be safely put at several thousands at present. In the University of Kashmir students are receiving instructions in the Post Graduate Courses in hindi. As many as fifteen persons have been awarded with  Ph.D Degrees in Hindi by the University which include Muslim also. Besides, many students are engaged in research work on various topics at University of Kashmir.