There are various Indian language families in the Indian subcontinent and they have been around for for centuries. They are not only well-developed, but also have good syntax and strong grammar base. They are -Indo-Aryan languages, the Iranic languages, the Dravidian languages and Tibeto-Burma spoken by smaller groups. Linguistic records in the form of the Brahmi script go back to about the 3rd century BCE.
India has hundreds of languages, dialects, etc and and many of them are well developed with strong grammar and language structure. Among the Indian languages two of them are considered oldest in the world – Sanskrit and Tamil. The former was the source of many Indo -European languages and many languages spoken in the northern states - Hindi, Punjabi,Marathi, Hindustani, Urdu, Bengali, Sindhi, etc., (roughly AD 1000) have their roots in Sanskrit.
Sanskrit's written record found in the Rig-Veda (c. 1500 BCE) has two general categories - the more ancient Vedic Sanskrit (approximately 1500–200 BCE) and Classical Sanskrit (approximately 500 BCE–1000 CE).
Often used for religious and ceremonial purposes in modern India, Sanskrit is one of the country's 23 official languages (which includes English). The great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (c. 400 BCE) it is believed, were written between 400 BCE and 100 BCE. Like Latin in the medieval West, Sanskrit was a scholarly language 200 CE and 1000 CE in ancient south Asia.
''Agatthiyam'' was written by Agasthiyar who was one of the Saptha Rishis (Saints) mentioned in the vedas. The author of ''Agathiya Samhita'' (Written in sanskrit), the oldest author of Tamil is also the author of Sanskrit work and also has a Sanskritic Name. As a matter of fact, in the olden days, many Tamil scholars had mastery over both Sanskrit and Tamil and they never encouraged linguistic chauvinism as prevalent to day in south India to interfere with their scholarly works. They were great scholars in languages and not zealots.
Agatthiyam is the oldest work in Tamil which was written around 300-350 BC - in Sangam era. Sangam literature, is dated from ca. 300 BC – AD 300. It has the oldest extant literature among other Dravidian languages. The oldest dated Tamil inscription written in the Tamil-Brahmi script was found in Palani in Southern India, scientifically dated to 540 BCE - In Egypt, Sri Lanka and Thailand there are Tamil inscriptions dating back to first and second century.
The Vedas (sacred knowledge - 500 BCE and 600 BCE) are Hinduism's 's oldest and most sacred texts, compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana and are collections of hymns and ritual instructions used to perform Vedic ceremonies. They are repositories of theological and philosophical interpretations that form the very basic foundation of the indigenous religious systems of India which we call ''Hinduism.''
The
four works
are -
the Rig-Veda
-
oldest
collection of over 1,000 hymns, invoking
the deities Indra and Agni,the gods of war and fire, respectively. Atharva-Veda,
a collection of myths, verses, spells, and prayers ; the Yajur-Veda
a collection
on Vedic
sacrifice; and finally
the
Sama-Veda,
a collection of liturgical chants.
 |
| Sanskrit language. myindiamyglory.com |
The
Vedas
refer to
divine revelation or sruti ("that which is
heard")
and Smrti ("that which is remembered").
They are passed on generation after
generations
by Brahmins
of
priestly group.
The Vedas
also provide early records of astronomy and mathematics in India that came out of Vedic ritual and temple construction
reflect knowledge of mathematics ( geometrical patters for performing
''homam,''(ritual chanting before fire (agni) in a specifically designed place)etc) - and astronomy (calculation of movements of celestial
planets,etc).
 |
| Sanskrit college, Kolkata, WB. en.wikipedia.org |
Among
the languages in the Indian subcontinent, Tamil (c 200 BC), a
Dravidian language of Southern India, though enriched by Sanskrit has
less Sanskritic words than other South Indian languages. Telugu,
Kannada and Malayalam have their roots in Tamil
but have more Sanskritic words.
Many people may not be aware that Tamil was the first among the Indian languages to be printed and published. Thanks to Portuguese Christian Missionaries who were responsible for printing and publishing of prayer book in old Tamil script named 'Thambiraan Vanakkam' (1578). Tamil, also a sacred language of Ayyavazhi and in Tamil Hindu traditions of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, had 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, of which 353 were dailies.(2001).
From the period of the Pallava dynasty of S. India onwards, a number of Sanskrit loan-words entered into Tamil, particularly in relation to political, religious and philosophical concepts. Sanskrit also influenced Tamil grammar, in the increased use of cases and in declined nouns becoming adjuncts of verbs, and phonology. Almost all Indian languages are rich in beautiful literature - prose, poetry and epics and have well defined syntax and grammar. Middle Indo - Aryan - Prakrit dates back to c 400BC.(They were not a bunch of trash as initially thought by some of British officials.
The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages that are mainly spoken in south India and northeastern Sri Lanka, as well as certain areas in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and eastern and central India, as well as in parts of Afghanistan and Iran.
 |
| Sanskrit. vedas .trinetra.org.uk |
The earliest long text in 'Old Tamil' is the Tolkāppiyam, an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics (1st century BCE). Tamil is one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world - example2,200-year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on Samanamalai and "one of the
great classical traditions and literatures of the world"
According to
Archaeological
society of India roughly 55,000
epigraphical
inscriptions on rock edit
and hero stone dating back from 3rdC are in Tamil.
 |
| Tamil stone inscription ,Big temple Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu, en.wikipedia.org |
Above image: Tamil inscriptions in Vatteluttu script in stone during Chola period c.1000 AD at Brahadeeswara temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu...............................
 |
| Tamil inscription in Thailand. tamilnatiom.com |
Tolkāppiyam (the oldest known grammar book for Tamil) forms the essence of much of Tamil grammar; the modern Tamil writing is largely based on the 13th century grammar
Naṉṉūl
which restated and clarified the rules of the Tolkāppiyam.
 |
| tamil stone inscription, Big temple, Thanjavur, tamil Nadu. istockphoto.com |
The Dravidian languages form a close-knit family – much more closely related than, say, the Indo - European languages. There is a reasonable agreement on how they are related to each other. There are tens of thousands of Tamil hymns – expressive soul stirring devotional songs sung by Nayanmars and Azhwars (preferably in temples) glorifying Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu respectively. The practice of singing these ancient mystic devotional hymns is in vogue in many temples of Tamil Nadu. If well sung, these harmonious hymns will one take one to the higher level of spiritual ecstasy and emotion Kambar Ramayanam and Sri Villiputurar Bharatam, rich and powerful literary works, were translated from Sanskrit works several centuries ago.
Among the southern languages, Malayalam has assimilated the largest number of Sanskrit words. In the case of time honored traditional Carnatic music, the intricate, rich compositions are mostly in Telugu, which Bharatiyar described as 'a beautiful musical language. 'Likewise the literary works in Kannada are vast.
Ref:
/Linguistic_history_of_the_Indian_subcontinent
Meenakshisundaram, T. P. A History of Tamil Language, Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai, 1982. (translated) p. 241-2Masica, Colin (1991).
Aiyar, Swaminatha (1987). Dravidian theories. p. 286. ISBN 978-81-208-0331-2. Retrieved 22 January 2014. A family tree of Dravidian languages. Sourced from Encyclopaedia Britannica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sa
The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 36 – 38. ISBN 0-521-23420-4.
(Re modified 21 January 2022)
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