Why millions of speakers are losing their native tongues to a single label

Cultures · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The Bihari languages, a diverse Indo-Aryan family including Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Magahi, are spoken by vast populations across India and Nepal. Yet, despite their scale, these languages face an existential threat. Political policies and census classifications have systematically subsumed them under the umbrella of Hindi, pushing them toward potential endangerment.

The Bihari language group encompasses several distinct tongues, most notably Bajjika, Angika, Bhojpuri, Magahi, and Maithili. While these languages are widely spoken across regions in India—including Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal—and parts of Nepal, their official recognition remains limited. Maithili stands as the only language from this group to receive constitutional status in India, an achievement secured through the 92nd amendment in 2003, which received formal assent in 2004. In Nepal, both Maithili and Bhojpuri enjoy constitutional recognition, and a variant of Bhojpuri is even official in Fiji as Fiji Hindi.

The struggle for linguistic identity is deeply tied to state policy. Following India's independence, the Bihar Official Language Act of 1950 established Hindi as the sole official language of the state. It was not until 1981 that Urdu was granted status as a second official language. This historical preference for Hindi has had lasting consequences. In the 1961 Census, Bihari languages were officially absorbed under the Hindi label, a move that obscured the true linguistic diversity of the region. Today, many educated urban speakers identify Hindi as their primary language, often because it is the medium for formal education and official communication, or simply due to a lack of awareness regarding their own linguistic heritage.

This trend creates a precarious environment for the future of these languages. Because many speakers report Hindi as their native tongue in official surveys, accurate data on the number of Bihari language speakers is notoriously difficult to obtain. While rural areas remain strongholds for languages like Bajjika, Angika, and Surjapuri—as noted by linguist George Abraham Grierson—the pressure to conform to a singular national identity persists. There are ongoing demands to include Bhojpuri and Magahi in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution to provide them with greater protection. Meanwhile, institutions like the Nalanda Open University are attempting to preserve these traditions by offering formal courses in Magahi, Bhojpuri, and Maithili.

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