Bhadarwahi language

Bhadarwahi
भद्रवाही
Native to	Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh
Region	Bhadarwah, Chamba district
Native speakers	(160,000 cited 1991 census – 2002)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan North-Western Western Pahari (Dogri–Kangri) Mandeali Bhadarwahi
Dialects	Bhalesvi (Bhalesi) Padari Churahi Bhadrawahi Khashali
Writing system	Devnagari, Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: bhd – Bhadrawahi cdj – Churahi
Glottolog	bhad1243
ELP	Bhadrawahi

Bhadarwahi (Bhadrawahi) is a native language of the people of Bhadarwah, a tehsil in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Bhaderwahi is a Pahari language spoken by about 50,000 people in Bhaderwah town and surrounding villages (Bhadrawahi/Bhadarwahi, Bhalesi, Padari/Padri, and Khashali/Khasali dialects), and by about 110,000 people in Chaurah and Saluni tehsils in Himachal Pradesh. It has many alternate names like Baderwali, Bhadri, Badrohi, Bhidli.

Classification

Bhadarwahi is an Indo-Aryan language of Pahari group. According to Dr. G. A. Fierson the word Pahari applies to the groups of languages spoken in the sub-himalayan hills extending from Bhaderwah to the eastern parts of the Nepal. The Bhaderwah group includes three dialects, viz Bhaderwahi, Bhalesvi and Padri, which form a dialect chain with Churahi.

See also

• Bhadarwah