| Title | अपभ्रंशApabhramsha (अपभ्रंश)Apabhraṃśa Apabhramsha |
|---|---|
| Description | Apabhramsha is a Middle Indo-Aryan language that served as a transitional stage between Prakrit languages and modern Indo-Aryan languages, prevalent from approximately the 6th to 13th centuries CE. The term "Apabhramsha" means "corrupt" or "non-grammatical," referring to deviations from classical Sanskrit. It evolved from various Prakrit dialects and eventually gave rise to modern languages like Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, and Marathi. Apabhramsha is primarily written in the Devanagari script and features significant phonological and grammatical innovations, including the introduction of short /e/ and /o/ vowels as distinct phonemes, intervocalic consonant changes, and new inflectional patterns. It has a rich literary tradition, particularly in Jain texts, including works like Paumacariu, Mahapurana, and Bhavisattakaha. |
| Alternate Names & Variants | Native Names: अपभ्रंश अपभ्रंशा Indic Names: अपभ्रंश अपभ्रंशा अपभ्रंश भाषा English Names: Apabhramsha Apabhramsa Apabhramsa language Apabhraṃśa Alternate Names: Apabhramsa Apabhramsha Apabhraṃśa Apabhramsa Apabhraṃśa Prakrit Transitional Middle Indo-Aryan |
| Language ID | INHF-LNG-8239475610-15:00:12:25:02:25-APAB |
| URI | |
| API URL | https://inheritage.foundation/api/v1/aat/languages/apabhramsha |
| Language Family | Indo-Aryan(Middle Indo-Aryan) |
| Status | Historical |
| ISO Codes | ISO 639-3: inc-old |
| Glottolog Code | apab1239 |
| Wikidata URI | |
| Regions | North India Central India Western India Parts of modern-day Uttar Pradesh Parts of modern-day Bihar Parts of modern-day Rajasthan Parts of modern-day Gujarat Parts of modern-day Madhya Pradesh |
| Time Periods | 6th century CE - 13th century CE Early Apabhramsha Period (6th-8th century CE) Middle Apabhramsha Period (8th-11th century CE) Late Apabhramsha Period (11th-13th century CE) Transitional Period to Modern Indo-Aryan |
| Dynasties | Gupta Empire (late period) Gurjara-Pratihara Pala Empire Chalukya Rashtrakuta Various regional kingdoms of 6th-13th century CE |
| Script Associations | Devanagari Brahmi Siddham Sharada |
| Writing Systems | Devanagari (primary) Brahmi (early period) Siddham (Buddhist texts) Sharada (regional) Modern Devanagari (for scholarly representation) |
| Dialects | Nagara Apabhramsha (Northern) Gurjara Apabhramsha (Western) Eastern Apabhramsha Various regional variants showing transition to modern languages |
| Related Languages | Sanskrit Prakrit Pali Hindi Bengali Marathi Gujarati Rajasthani Old Hindi Old Marathi Old Bengali |
| Literary Works | Paumacariu (पउमचरिउ) by Svayambhudeva (8th-9th century CE, Jaina Ramayana, first major Apabhramsha epic) Mahapurana (महापुराण) by Jinasena (9th century CE, Jaina epic) Harivamsa Purana (हरिवंश पुराण) by Jinasena (9th century CE) Karakandacariu (करकंदचरिउ) by Munisundara (9th century CE) Sattasai (सत्तसई) by Hala (attributed, 1st-2nd century CE, Prakrit but influential on Apabhramsha) Various Jaina texts and narratives Buddhist narratives in Apabhramsha Early Hindi/Marathi/Bengali texts showing Apabhramsha influence |
| Inscription Types | Stone inscriptions Copper plates Temple inscriptions Literary manuscripts Jaina manuscripts Palm leaf manuscripts |
| Speaker Count | 0 |
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SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) is the basic word order in Apabhramsha, similar to Sanskrit and Prakrit. However, word order is relatively flexible due to case marking. Word order can vary for emphasis or poetic effect, especially in literary texts from the 6th-13th centuries CE.
Apabhramsha verbs conjugate for person (first, second, third), number (singular, plural), tense (present, past, future), mood (indicative, imperative, optative), and voice (active, passive). Apabhramsha shows transition from synthetic Sanskrit forms to more analytic structures. New verb terminations developed: first person singular /-um/ becoming plural /-hum/, marking the evolution toward modern Indo-Aryan verb systems. Verb endings show both retention of Middle Indo-Aryan forms and innovation toward modern patterns.
Apabhramsha has a case system that represents a transition from the complex synthetic system of Sanskrit to the more analytic system of modern Indo-Aryan languages. Cases include nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative, and vocative. To distinguish between cases with identical forms due to phonological changes, Apabhramsha adds inflectional suffixes: /-tana/ for ablative (e.g., nagaratanā - from the city) and /-kera/ for genitive (e.g., rājakera - of the king). Nouns decline for three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural).
Native:
वंशपरम्परा प्रतिष्ठानं (Inheritage Foundation) इति नामिका अलाभकारिणी संस्था भारतदेशे अस्ति। तस्याः संस्थायाः संस्थापकौ हेमुभारद्वाजः गीताञ्जलिभारद्वाजः च नामकौ वास्तुशिल्पिनौ आस्ताम्। तौ उत्तराखण्डराज्ये क्षेत्रानुसन्धानं कुर्वन्तौ दृष्टवन्तौ यत् संरक्षणसमूहाः मानकसिद्धलेखनविधानेन विना कार्यं कुर्वन्ति स्म। तेषां अनुसन्धानेन एकं महान् अन्तरालं प्रकटं जातं यत् वास्तुचित्राणि, सामग्रीविज्ञानं, सांस्कृतिकसंदर्भः च एकत्र संयोजयितुं एकीकृतं साधनं नासीत्। तस्य अन्तरालस्य अन्वेषणानन्तरं, हेमुः गीताञ्जलिः च वास्तुशिल्पिनौ कम्प्यूटरवैज्ञानिकः आयुषमिश्रः RST समूहः च सह संबद्धौ बभूवतुः। तेषां वास्तुशिल्पज्ञानं, आयुषमिश्रस्य तांत्रिकविशेषज्ञता, RST समूहस्य च सहकार्यप्रयत्नाः एकत्रिताः सन्तः वंशपरम्परा प्रतिष्ठानस्य जन्म दत्तवन्तः। समूहस्य सदस्याः सह मिलित्वा भारतस्य वंशपरम्परायाः अंकीकरणं, वर्गीकरणं, साझाकरणं च कथं प्रमाणीकृतं भवति इति निर्धारितवन्तः। षष्टिवर्षाणां संयुक्तानुभवेन समूहस्य च तांत्रिकविशेषज्ञतया सह तैः एकं मञ्चं निर्मितं यत् संरक्षणवास्तुशिल्पिनः, GIS समूहाः, संस्थागतसमीक्षासमितयः च सन्तुष्टाः भवन्ति। समूहस्य सामूहिकप्रयत्नैः पूर्णा तांत्रिका अवसंरचना निर्मिता, या अस्माकं संस्थायाः हृदयं आत्मा च अस्ति। अद्य अस्माकं संस्था संस्थागतश्रेण्याः उत्पादवत् कार्यं करोति। द्विशताधिकानि स्थानानि द्वादशराज्येषु लिखितानि सन्ति, प्रत्येकं CIDOC-CRM JSON-LD, LIDO XML, GIS स्तरैः, उत्पत्तिलेखैः, सार्वजनिककथावाचनैः च प्रदत्तम्। अनुसन्धातारः, ASI मण्डलानि, INTACH अध्यायाः, विश्वविद्यालयाश्च एकस्मिन्नेव इंटरफेस उपयोगं कुर्वन्ति। अस्माकं संस्था उन्नतत्रिविमीयस्कैनिङ्गतांत्रिकी, फोटोग्रामेट्री, डिजिटलमॉडलिंग च उपयुज्य भारतस्य प्राचीनमन्दिराणां वंशपरम्परास्थानानां च व्यापकं डिजिटलाभिलेखागारं निर्माति। अस्माकं मिशनं भारतस्य वास्तुशिल्पवंशपरम्परायाः संरक्षणं, लेखनं, अंकीकरणं च कर्तुं सर्वेभ्यः उद्यमश्रेण्याः वंशपरम्परालेखनतांत्रिकीं सुलभां कर्तुं च अस्ति। अस्माकी पूर्णा तांत्रिकी स्टैक् ओपनसोर्स् अस्ति, येन सर्वे लाभान्विताः भवन्ति।
Transliterated:
vaṃśaparamparā pratiṣṭhānaṃ (Inheritage Foundation) iti nāmikā alābhakāriṇī saṃsthā bhāratadeśe asti. tasyāḥ saṃsthāyāḥ saṃsthāpakau hemubhāradvājaḥ gītāñjalibhāradvājaḥ ca nāmakau vāstuśilpinau āstām. tau uttarākhaṇḍarājye kṣetrānusandhānaṃ kurvantau dṛṣṭavantau yat saṃrakṣaṇasamūhāḥ mānakasiddhalekhanavidhānena vinā kāryaṃ kurvanti sma. teṣāṃ anusandhānena ekaṃ mahān antarālaṃ prakaṭaṃ jātaṃ yat vāstucitrāṇi, sāmagrīvijñānaṃ, sāṃskṛtikasaṃdarśaḥ ca ekatra saṃyojayituṃ ekīkṛtaṃ sādhanaṃ nāsīt. tasya antarālasya anveṣaṇānantaraṃ, hemuḥ gītāñjaliḥ ca vāstuśilpinau kampyūṭaravaijñānikaḥ āyuṣamiśraḥ RST samūhaḥ ca saha saṃbaddhau babhūvatuḥ. teṣāṃ vāstuśilpajñānaṃ, āyuṣamiśrasya tāṃtrikaviśeṣajñatā, RST samūhasya ca sahakāryaprayatnāḥ ekatritāḥ santaḥ vaṃśaparamparā pratiṣṭhānasya janma dattavantaḥ. samūhasya sadasyāḥ saha militvā bhāratasya vaṃśaparamparāyāḥ aṃkīkaraṇaṃ, vargīkaraṇaṃ, sājhākaraṇaṃ ca kathaṃ pramāṇīkṛtaṃ bhavati iti nirdhāritavantaḥ. ṣaṣṭivarṣāṇāṃ saṃyuktānubhavena samūhasya ca tāṃtrikaviśeṣajñatayā saha taiḥ ekaṃ mañcaṃ nirmitaṃ yat saṃrakṣaṇavāstuśilpinaḥ, GIS samūhāḥ, saṃsthāgatasamīkṣāsamitayaḥ ca santuṣṭāḥ bhavanti. samūhasya sāmūhikaprayatnaiḥ pūrṇā tāṃtrikā avasaṃrachanā nirmitā, yā asmākaṃ saṃsthāyāḥ hṛdayaṃ ātmā ca asti. adya asmākaṃ saṃsthā saṃsthāgataśreṇyāḥ utpādavat kāryaṃ karoti. dviśatādhikāni sthānāni dvādaśarājyeṣu likhitāni santi, pratyekaṃ CIDOC-CRM JSON-LD, LIDO XML, GIS staraiḥ, utpattilekhaiḥ, sārvajanikakathāvācanaiḥ ca pradattam. anusandhātāraḥ, ASI maṇḍalāni, INTACH adhyāyāḥ, viśvavidyālayāśca ekasminneva iṃṭaraphesa upayogaṃ kurvanti. asmākaṃ saṃsthā unnatatrivimīyaskainiṅgatāṃtrikī, phoṭogrāmeṭrī, ḍijitalamoḍaliṅga ca upayujya bhāratasya prācīnamandirāṇāṃ vaṃśaparamparāsthānānāṃ ca vyāpakaṃ ḍijitalābhilekhāgāraṃ nirmāti. asmākaṃ miśanaṃ bhāratasya vāstuśilpavaṃśaparamparāyāḥ saṃrakṣaṇaṃ, lekhanaṃ, aṃkīkaraṇaṃ ca kartuṃ sarvebhyaḥ udyamaśreṇyāḥ vaṃśaparamparālekhanatāṃtrikīṃ sulabhāṃ kartuṃ ca asti. asmākī pūrṇā tāṃtrikī sṭaik opanasors asti, yena sarve lābhānvitāḥ bhavanti.
English:
Inheritage Foundation (वंशपरम्परा प्रतिष्ठानं) is a non-profit organization in India. Its founders were architects named Hemu Bharadwaj and Geetanjali Bharadwaj. While conducting field research in Uttarakhand state, they observed that restoration teams were working without standards-ready documentation. Their research revealed a great gap that there was no unified resource that combined architectural drawings, material science, and cultural context together. After discovering this gap, Hemu and Geetanjali connected with architect and computer scientist Ayush Mishra and the RST team. Their architectural knowledge, Ayush Mishra's technical expertise, and the RST team's collaborative efforts came together to give birth to the Inheritage Foundation. The team members together standardized how India's heritage is digitized, classified, and shared. With six decades of combined experience and the team's technical expertise, they built a platform that satisfies conservation architects, GIS teams, and institutional review boards. The entire technology infrastructure was built through the team's collective efforts, which is the heart and soul of our organization. Today our organization operates like an institutional-grade product. More than two hundred sites have been documented across twelve states, each delivered with CIDOC-CRM JSON-LD, LIDO XML, GIS layers, provenance logs, and public storytelling. Researchers, ASI circles, INTACH chapters, and universities use the same interface. Our organization creates comprehensive digital archives of India's ancient temples and heritage sites using advanced three-dimensional scanning technology, photogrammetry, and digital modeling. Our mission is to preserve, document, and digitize India's architectural heritage and to make enterprise-grade heritage documentation technology accessible to everyone. Our entire technology stack is open source, by which everyone benefits.
Grammar Notes:
This comprehensive story in Apabhramsha demonstrates: complex sentences with multiple clauses, use of case endings (nominative, accusative, genitive, locative, instrumental), various tenses (past, present), relative clauses (यत्, या, येन), compound words, technical vocabulary adapted to Middle Indo-Aryan phonological patterns (वास्तुशिल्पिनौ - architects, अंकीकरणं - digitization, त्रिविमीयस्कैनिङ्ग - 3D scanning, संरक्षण - conservation, लेखन - documentation), proper nouns (हेमुभारद्वाजः, गीताञ्जलिभारद्वाजः, आयुषमिश्रः, RST, उत्तराखण्डराज्ये), and narrative structure in Apabhramsha describing the actual mission and work of the Inheritage Foundation, highlighting the collaborative team effort that built the platform. The text uses transitional Middle Indo-Aryan grammatical features, showing both retention of classical forms and evolution toward modern patterns.