Languages of India in the context of "Americanist phonetic notation"

Sanātana Dharma (Devanagari: सनातन धर्म, meaning "eternal dharma", or "eternal order") or Sanatanism is an alternative term for Hinduism, primarily used as an endonym (native name) to the exonym (foreign name) of Hinduism. The term is found in Sanskrit and other Indian languages.

The term denotes the "eternal" or absolute set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of class, caste, or sect. Many Hindus in the Indian subcontinent call themselves Sanatanis, that is, those who follow the 'eternal dharma', to evoke a certain homogeneity in Hinduism. Its use to signify Hinduism as a religion was popularised since the 19th century by champions of Hindu orthodoxy such as Pandit Shraddha Ram in reaction to missionaries and Hindu reformers such as Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj. Aside from its use in socio-religious contexts, it also sustains a political necessity for many Hindus.

Puranas (Sanskrit: पुराण, romanized: Purāṇa, lit. 'Ancients') are a vast genre of Indian literature that include a wide range of topics, especially legends and other traditional lore. The Puranas are known for the intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed originally in Sanskrit and in other Indian languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, and Devi. The Puranic genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism.

The Puranic literature is encyclopedic, and it includes diverse topics such as cosmogony, cosmology, genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings, queens, heroes, heroines, sages, other gods, other goddesses, folk tales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories, theology, philosophy, etc. The content is highly inconsistent across the Puranas, and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts which are themselves inconsistent. The Hindu Maha Puranas are traditionally attributed to Vyasa, but many scholars consider them likely the work of many authors over the centuries; in contrast, most Jaina Puranas can be dated and their authors assigned.

Fakir, faqeer, or faqīr (/fəˈkɪər/; Arabic: فقیر (noun of faqr)), derived from faqr (Arabic: فقر, 'poverty'), is an Islamic term traditionally used for Sufi Muslim ascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do not necessarily renounce all relationships, or take vows of poverty, but the adornments of the temporal worldly life are kept in perspective. The connotations of poverty associated with the term relate to their spiritual neediness, not necessarily their physical neediness, which they adopt to seek purity and mystical knowledge and so earn God's love.

They are characterized by their reverence for dhikr (a devotional practice which consists of repeating the names of God with various formulas, often performed after the daily prayers). Sufism in the Muslim world emerged during the early Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE) and grew as a mystic tradition in the mainstream Sunni and Shia denominations of Islam, which according to Eric Hanson and Karen Armstrong was likely in reaction to "the growing worldliness of Umayyad and Abassid societies". Sufi Muslim ascetics (fakirs and dervishes) were highly influential and greatly successful in spreading Islam between the 10th and 19th centuries, particularly to the furthest outposts of the Muslim world in the Middle East and North Africa, the Balkans and Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent, and finally Central, Eastern, and Southeast Asia. Sufi Muslims have spread throughout several continents and cultures over a millennium, originally expressing their beliefs in Arabic, before spreading into Persian, Turkish, Indian languages, and a dozen other languages.

Indian culture is the heritage of social norms and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse nation of India, pertaining to the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and the Republic of India post-1947. The term also applies beyond India to countries and cultures whose histories are strongly connected to India by immigration, colonisation, or influence, particularly in South Asia and Southeast Asia. India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within the country.

Indian culture, often labelled as a combination of several cultures, has been influenced by a history that is several millennia old, beginning with the Indus Valley Civilisation and other early cultural areas. India has one of the oldest continuous cultural traditions in the world.

The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the languages officially recognized by the Government of India. As of 2024, 22 languages have been classified under the schedule.

Pashtuns, also known as Pakhtuns, Pukhtoons, or Pathans, are a nomadic, pastoral Iranian ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically referred to as Afghans until 1923, after the term's meaning had become a demonym for all citizens of Afghanistan, regardless of their ethnic group, creating an Afghan national identity.

The Pashtuns speak the Pashto language, which belongs to the Eastern Iranian branch of the Iranian language family, the Wanetsi language, mainly among Pashtuns of the Tareen tribe, and Ormuri among non-Pashtun Ormur people and Wazir Pashtuns. Additionally, Dari serves as the second language of Pashtuns in Afghanistan, while those in Pakistan speak Urdu and English. In India, the majority of those of Pashtun descent have lost the ability to speak Pashto and instead speak Hindi and other regional languages, while those in Iran primarily speak Southern Pashto, and Persian as a second language.

Gujarati (/ˌɡʊdʒəˈrɑːti/ GUUJ-ə-RAH-tee; Gujarati script: ગુજરાતી, romanised: Gujarātī, pronounced [ɡudʒəˈɾɑːtiː]) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gujarati (c. 1100–1500 CE). In India, it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Union. It is also the official language in the state of Gujarat, as well as an official language in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. As of 2011, Gujarati is the 6th most widely spoken language in India by number of native speakers, spoken by 55.5 million speakers which amounts to about 4.5% of the total Indian population. It is the 26th most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers as of 2007.

Gujarati, along with Meitei (alias Manipuri), hold the third place among the fastest growing languages of India, following Hindi (first place) and Kashmiri language (second place), according to the 2011 census of India.

The Indian Classical languages, or the Śāstrīya Bhāṣā (Hindi) or the Dhrupadī Bhāṣā (Assamese, Bengali) or the Abhijāta Bhāṣā (Marathi) or the Śhāstrīya Bhāṣā (Odia) or the Cemmoḻi (Tamil), is an umbrella term for the languages of India having high antiquity, and valuable, original and distinct literary heritage. The Government of India declared in 2004 that languages that met certain strict criteria could be accorded the status of a classical language of India. It was instituted by the Ministry of Culture along with the Linguistic Experts' Committee. The committee was constituted by the Government of India to consider demands for the categorisation of languages as classical languages. In 2004, Tamil became the first language to be recognised as a classical language of India. As of 2024, 11 languages have been recognised as classical languages of India.

Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ, ISO: Oṛiā, pronounced [oˈɽia] ; formerly rendered as Oriya) is a classical Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered as Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Odia is one of the official languages of India; it is the official language of Odisha and the second official language of Jharkhand. The Odia language has various dialects varieties, including the Baleswari Odia (Northern dialect), Kataki, Dhenkanalia, Anugulia(central dialect), Ganjami Odia (Southern dialect), Sundargadi Odia (Northwestern dialect), Sambalpuri Odia (Western dialect), Desia (South-western dialect) and Tribal Community dialects spoken by the tribals groups in Odisha who adopted the Odia language.

Odia is the sixth Indian language to be designated a classical language. It traces its linguistic roots to the Eastern Magadhi Prakrit, evolving through stages such as Proto Odia (7th–9th century CE), Old Odia (10th-13th century CE), Middle Odia (14th–17th century CE), and Modern Odia (from the 18th century onward). The language displays a distinct phonological and morphological character shaped by centuries of interaction with tribal and Dravidian tongues. Recognized as a classical language of India, Odia has an unbroken literary tradition, with inscriptions dating back over a thousand years.