Braj Bhasha

Brij Bhasha (Devanagari: ब्रज भाषा) (Gurmukhi: ਬ੍ਰਜ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ), also called Braj Bhasha (बृज भाषा, ਬ੍ਰਿਜ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ), Braj Bhakha (ब्रज भाखा, ਬ੍ਰਜ ਭਾਖਾ), or Dehaati Zabaan (देहाती ज़बान, ਦੇਹਾਤੀ ਜ਼ਬਾਨ, 'country tongue',(Urdu: برج بھاشا‎)), is a Western Hindi language closely related to Hindustani. In fact, it is usually considered to be a dialect of Western Hindi, and along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi) was one of the two predominant literary languages of North-Central India before the switch to Hindustani (Khariboli) in the 19th century.

Brij Bhasha is spoken by people in the nebulously defined region of Vraja Bhoomi, which was a political state in the era of the Mahabharata wars. According to ancient Hindu texts such as the Bhagavata Purana, the kingdom of King Kamsa is described as spreading through the Brij (also known as Vrija or Vraja), where the incarnation of Krishna was born and spent his childhood days. This region lies in the Agra-Mathura-Aligarh area, and stretches as far as the environs of Delhi. In modern India, this area lies mostly in northwestern Uttar Pradesh, the eastern extremities of Rajasthan i.e. Bharatpur & Dholpur and the southern extremities of Haryana. Northern regions of Madhya Pradesh like Morena are also included. Today Braj Bhoomi can be seen as a cultural-geographical entity rather than a proper state. It is the vernacular of the region and boasts a rich culture and literature by famous poets like Surdas, Bhai Gurdas and Amir Khusro. Brij Bhasha is very close to Avadhi, spoken in neighbouring Avadh region.