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Chapter 15 developmenT of

regional CUlTUres

India’s diverse regional languages and various festivals, forms of dance and music, dresses
and food items evolved during the medieval period. In this chapter, we will study some of
the historical processes which shaped the regional cultures of certain parts of India.
evOluTiOn Of regiOnal culTure during medieval KingdOms

There are twenty-eight states in India today. Each of these states varies in terms of language,
geography, food and culture. Therefore India is often called a
land of diversity. Have you ever wondered how these different
states and the regional cultures in them developed? Regional
states like Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur which are now part of
one state of Rajasthan were once independent regional states
in the medieval period whereas on the other hand, there are
some regional states which are now a part of more than one
state, for example, the Vijayanagar Empire (1336-1565) is now
a part of the modern states of Karnatka, Andhra Pradesh and Painting of Devadasis, Vijayanagar
Tamil Nadu. Empire.
language and liTeraTure

The medieval period saw the significant development of regional languages and literature.
During this period, not only religious literature but a lot of secular literature was also written.
lanGuaGes
A number of languages such as Gujarati, Marathi, Rajasthani, Assamese, Bengali, Oriya
developed in different regions during the early medieval period from the dialects used by the
common people. Religious teachers of that time often preached in regional languages. This
further popularised these languages. In South India; Tamil, Telugu and Kannada prepared
during the Chola reign. While Malayalam was patronised by the Cheras. The Cheras kingdom
of Mahadayapuran was the part of the present day Kerala. This language was influenced
by Tamil, the language of Tamil Nadu. The rules maintained in administrative records in
these languages. In fact, Malayalam is one of the earliest example of the use of a regional
language in official records in the sub-continent.

During the period of Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals, two new languages— Arabic and Persian
entered in India. Of these, Persian was most important. It has been the court language for hundreds
of years. Out of the mixture of Persian and Hindi, a new laguage developed that was Urdu.

In addition to Sanskrit, many regional languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada were
used for administrative purpose. Even during the sultanate and Mughal Periods; regional
languages, besides Persian, continued to be used for administration. Hindi was an important
language in Medieval India.

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