The Pahari Language and Its Literature: پہاڑی زبان تے ادب

Abstract

The Pahari language is one of the oldest languages of the subcontinent. It was born on the land of Gandhara and the region is scattered between the Jhelum River and the Indus River. The language is spoken in a wide area of Nepal, from the foothills of the Pir Panjal range in Azad Kashmir, Jhelum, Hazara, and Murree districts to the Indian provinces of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Today, the language has incorporated many words from other languages, such as Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Rajasthani, Gujarati and Kashmiri. That is why the Hindus of Himachal Pradesh write this language in 'Dev Nagri' script, while the Sikhs write it in 'Garmkhi' script and the Muslims in 'Arabic' script. In the Azad Kashmir region, the Pahari language is spoken in Hind-Ku, Dogri and Puthu-Hari dialects. As far as literature is concerned In addition to folk literature, there are numerous Pahari poetry, children's literature, the tradition of translation into the Pahari language, fiction, travelogues, novels, satire and humor. There is a lot of created literature in genres like research, sketch writing and dramaturgy. Along with this, there is also a tradition of mushairas in the Pahari language, while many magazines are playing an important role in its promotion. There are also institutions in Mirpur, Rawalakot and Murree for the promotion of this language. The Department of Oriental Languages of the University of Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad also has