Farsi Would be the 9th Indian Classical Language

In a move to strengthen cultural ties, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced that the Indian government has included Farsi (Persian) as one of the nine classical languages in India under the New Education Policy.

About the decision

It is announced that Farsi will be a new classical language Under the New Education Policy 2020.

• Whereas there are officially under the Eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution, 6 classical languages have been identified so far.
• According to the National Education Policy-2020 of India, Pali and Prakrit along with Farsi (Persian) should be preserved.
• Recognising Farsi as a classical language will foster a greater understanding and appreciation of Farsi's rich heritage within the Indian educational framework. 

Classical Languages of India

There are Six classical languages of India. In 2004 Tamil was the first Indian language accorded as a classical language, later Odia added in 2014 was the last Language declared as a classical language.

Criteria for Declaring a Language as Classical

Criteria for declaring a language as a Classical language is provided by the Ministry of Culture under the Eighth Schedule of the constitution which is as follows:

• Historical text with high antiquity
• Old literature as part of the heritage
• Gap between classical language and literature

Classical languages

Tamil: It was the first Indian language to be declared as a classical language in 2004.

• It is mainly associated with the traditional Dravidian language spoken across southern India and Sri Lanka.
• Its earliest period was known as Sangam Literature.

Sanskrit: Sanskrit was included as a classical language in 2005.

• It belongs to Indo-Aryan.
• Most of the Hindu literature is in Sanskrit.

Kannada: In 2008 it was added as a classical language.

• It is also associated with the Dravidian language.
• Kadmba script is used in its literature.

Telugu: Along with Kannada, Telugu was added as a classical language in 2008.

• It is also a type of Dravidian language.
• It is spoken in the Andhra region.

Malayalam: It was added in 2013.

• Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken in Lakshadweep, Puducherry, and Kerala. 
• Its earliest literary works date back to the ninth to eleventh centuries. 
• The first script used to write Malayalam was Vattezhuthu.

Odia: Odia is an Indian language that was designated as a classical language in 2014.

• Odia is spoken in the Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand and belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family. 
• Unlike some other languages, Odia has a long literary tradition and borrows words from other languages less frequently. 
• The earliest recorded inscription in Odia dates back to the tenth century CE.