Magahi language in the context of Aurangabad district, Bihar

Bihar (pronounced [bɪˈɦaːr] ), also spelled Behar in colonial documents, is a state in Eastern India. It is the second largest state by population, the 12th largest by area, and the 14th largest by GDP in 2024. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, and Jharkhand to the south. Bihar is split by the river Ganges, which flows from west to east. On 15 November 2000, a large chunk of southern Bihar was ceded to form the new state of Jharkhand. Around 11.27% of Bihar's population live in urban areas as per a 2020 report. Additionally, almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, giving Bihar the highest proportion of young people of any Indian state. The official language is Hindi, which shares official status alongside that of Urdu. The main native languages are Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri, but there are several other languages being spoken at smaller levels.

In Ancient and Classical India, the area that is now Bihar was considered the centre of political and cultural power and as a haven of learning. Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankar led the shramana order in this region in 9th century BCE. Jainism was revived and re-organised by Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar in 6th century BCE. From Magadha arose India's first empire, the Maurya empire, as well as one of the world's most widely adhered-to religions: Buddhism. Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of South Asia under a central rule. Another region of Bihar, Mithila, was an early centre of learning and the centre of the Videha kingdom.

Most of the languages of Bihar, the third most populous state of India, belong to the Bihari subgroup of the Indo-Aryan family. Chief among them are Bhojpuri, spoken in the west of the state, Maithili in the north, Magahi in center around capital Patna and in the south of the state. Maithili has official recognition under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The official language of Bihar is Modern Standard Hindi, with Standard Urdu serving as a second official language in 15 districts. Bihari Hindi serves as the lingua franca of the region.

Exact speaker numbers for the main Bihari languages are not known because the more educated prefer to speak in Hindi (in formal situations) and so return this answer on the census, while many in rural areas and the urban poor, especially the illiterate, list their language as "Hindi" And "Urdu" on the census as they regard that as the term for their language.

Magahis (Devanagari: मगहि लोग, Kaithi: 𑂧𑂏𑂯𑂱 𑂪𑂷𑂏, Perso-Arabic: مگاہی قوم) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Magadh region of the East Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Magahi culture is rich with its distinct language, folk songs and festivals. They natively speak the Magahi language.

Kaithi (𑂍𑂶𑂟𑂲, IPA: [kəɪ̯t̪ʰiː]), also called Kayathi (𑂍𑂨𑂟𑂲), Kayasthi (𑂍𑂰𑂨𑂮𑂹𑂟𑂲, IPA: [kəjəst̪ʰiː]), Kayastani, or Kaite Lipi (काइते लिपि) in Nepali language, is a Brahmic script historically used across parts of Northern and Eastern India. It was prevalent in regions corresponding to modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The script was primarily utilized for legal, administrative, and private records and was adapted for a variety of Indo-Aryan languages, including Angika, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Hindustani, Maithili, Magahi, and Nagpuri.

Abahaṭ‌ṭha, Abahatta or Avahaṭṭha (Sanskrit apabhraṣṭa 'corrupted', related to apabhraṃśa) is a stage in the evolution of the Eastern group of the Indo-Aryan languages. This group consists of languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili, and Odia. Abahatta is considered to follow the Apabhraṃśa stage—i.e. those Apabhraṃśas derived from Magadhi Prakrit.

After different business and trading classes, including the Jains, rose in power and influence at the end of the ninth century CE, the widespread speaking of classical Sanskrit waned. Apabhransa and Abahatta thus became very popular, especially amongst common people, functioning as a lingua franca throughout the north of the Indian subcontinent.