History of Punjabi Language & Shahmukhi Script

History of Punjabi Language & Shahmukhi Script

Punjabi Language:

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by over 100 million native speakers worldwide,
ranking as the 10th most widely spoken language in the world. The language is said to have developed in the late 10th century. It is the native language of the Punjabi people, who reside mainly in the Province of Punjab in Pakistan, but also neighbouring State of Punjab in India.

The word “Punjabi” is derived from “Punjab” – this word is derived from the Persian words “Panj” (پنج) meaning five and “Ab” (آب) meaning water; hence "Five Water" which is in reference to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River, which flow through Punjab – the Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers.

Shahmukhi :

Shahmukhi (شاہ مکھی ; meaning "from the King's mouth") is a Perso-Arabic alphabet used by Muslims in Punjab to write the Punjabi language. It is generally written in the Nastalīq calligraphic hand, which is also used for Urdu. Shahmukhi was adopted by Sufi poets of Punjab as early as the 11th century and over time became the conventional standard writing style for Punjabi language. Muslim rule had a deep impact on Punjabi language. What we know as contemporary Punjabi is the product of socio-cultural and interaction between the various Muslim empires and kingdoms which ruled Punjab and the Middle Indo-Aryan languages spoken at the time.

The Middle Indo-Aryan languages are a historical group of languages which are descendants of Vedic Sanskrit and the predecessors of the modern Indo-Aryan languages, such as Urdu, Sindhi and Punjabi. The Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) stage in the evolution of Indo-Aryan languages is thought to have spanned more than a millennium between 600 BCE and 1000 CE. Gandhari is a modern name for the language of Kharoṣṭhi texts dating to between the third century BCE and fourth century CE found in the region of Gandhara and Central Asia. Gandhari is said to have been developed heavily during during Persian Achaemenid rule. The Kharosthi alphabet, derived from the one used for Aramaic (the official language of Achaemenids), developed in Gandhara and remained the national script of the region until 200 AD. Gandhari is said to have descended from Vedic Sanskrit or a closely related language. Gandhari appeared on coins, inscriptions and texts, notably the Gandharan Buddhist texts. It is notable among the for having some archaic phonology (some being characteristic of the Dardic languages of the modern region), for its relative isolation and independence, for being partially within the influence of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean and for its use of the Kharoṣṭhi script. Punjabi is said to have descended from this Gandhari language. Several different related languages would develop from the 4th century onward until the 10 century where Punjabi would begin appearing.

Ghaznavid rule in Punjab during the 10th century set in a process by which Punjabi language would be born. The Turks under the Iranian cultural influence adopted Persian as the language of the court, though their mother tongue was Turkish. What comes out of this new cultural matrix is an epoch-making book ‘Kashful Mehjub’ (Revealing the veiled) by an intellectually inclined mystic, Ali Bin Usman Hajveri, popularly known as Data Ganjbuksh who migrated to Lahore in early 11th century. His book, written in Persian, on the subject of the Sufi doctrine and practice, the first treatise of its kind, remains uncontested in the history of Muslim mystic tradition.

Immediately after, we come across the religious literature of Ismaili Shiites of Multan in the form of hymns called Ginan. The Ginans are a kind of bridge between the Natha compositions and contemporary Punjabi, showing the language in transition. They have indigenous words as well as borrowings from Arabic and Persian. During the rule of Ghazni, Mas’ud sa’d Salmon, born in Lahore in the 11th century, wrote his poetry both in Persian and Punjabi. He was said to have loved Punjabi as much as he loved Lahore, though his much referred to Punjabi poetry unfortunately seems to have been lost.

A phenomenal figure who transformed the literary and cultural course in Punjab was none other than Fariduddin Mas’ud, fondly called Baba Farid Shakarganj, a highly revered saint of the Chishti Sufi order. He was born in 12th century in Kothewal, Multan. Though schooled in Arabic and Persian as was the tradition, he chose Punjabi, his mother tongue as a medium of poetic expression which not only set the precedent to be followed by the later classical Punjabi poets and writers but also laid the foundation of contemporary Punjabi with the adoption of Shahmukhi. His idiom shows a refined blend of indigenous vocabulary and loan words, a sign of not only of his artistic mastery but also that of a starting point of maturing of a new literary tradition. He is undisputed in being acknowledged as the pioneer of the Punjabi literature.

Roughly from the 11th century to 19th century, many great Sufi saints of Punjab wrote in Shahmukhi. Bulle Shah is considered one of the greatest Sufi poets. Punjabi further developed through Sufi poetry under Shah Hussain (1538–1599), Sultan Bahu (1628–1691), Shah Sharaf (1640–1724), Ali Haider (1690–1785), Saleh Muhammad Safoori (son of Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya, whom Ali Haider had given great tribute) and Bulleh Shah (1680–1757).

Most were written in the Majhi dialect, which today has been adopted as standard Punjabi for education, media etc in Punjab. Punjabi has three phonemically distinct tones that developed from the lost murmured (or "voiced aspirate") series of consonants. Phonetically the tones are rising or rising-falling contours and they can span over one syllable or two, but phonemically they can be distinguished as high, mid, and low.

Now A new Shahmukhi Script is made with new Eight Additional Words in basic Shahmukhi Script.

Lack of recognition: 
Despite Punjabi's rich literary history, it was not until 1947 that it would be recognized as an official language. Previous governments and empires, which had ruled Punjab, had favoured Persian and/or Urdu.

Persian maintained its position as the language of the courts from roughly the 11th century up until the 18th century and remained a language of power until the mid 19th century. After the annexation of Punjab in 1849, the British policy of establishing a uniform language for administration was expanded into Punjab. The British Raj employed Urdu (Hindustani) in its administrative language for the entire Northwest (Indus Valley) and North Central (Ganges plain) regions.

Despite its lack of official sanction for hundreds of years, the Punjabi language continued to flourish as an instrument of cultural production, with rich literary traditions continuing until modern times.

Comparison with Gurmukhi:
Gurmukhi is a relatively new script when compared to Shahmukhi. Gurmukhi translates into “from the Gurus mouth” and was adopted by the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad (1563–1606) in the 16th century. This was presumably done to differentiate Punjabi Sikhs from Punjabi Muslims. Gurmmukhi uses Brahmic script and hence Punjabi speakers who are taught Shahmukhi are unable to read Punjabi written Gurmukhi and vice versa, despite the fact that the language is understood by both when spoken. Many words were also loaned from Sanskrit in Gurmukhi to replace Persian words in traditional Shahmukhi Punjabi. Gurumukhi is considered the standard script for Indian Punjabis, however in the past century, many Punjabi Hindus have begun adopting Devanagari due to influence from Hindi.

Present status:
Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Punjabis in the Province of Punjab chose to retain the traditional Shahmukhi script, whereas the State of Punjab in India adopted the newer Gurmukhi script.

Now A new Shahmukhi Script is made with new Eight Additional Words in basic Shahmukhi Script.