One language, or many?
The local view: most Rajasthanis say they speak Rajasthani, and name their dialect only when asked. Marwari, Mewari or Dhundhari come second to the shared name.
The linguist's view: scholars describe a cluster of closely related languages, each tied to an old kingdom, that shade into one another across the map.
- What it is
- A group of related languages and dialects
- Spoken
- Across Rajasthan and beyond its borders
- Closest relative
- Gujarati, from a shared ancestor
- In the census
- Counted under the Hindi group
- Not a dialect of Hindi: Rajasthani has its own grammar, sounds and vocabulary. It is related to Hindi, but it grew up separately.
- Its closest cousin: Gujarati. The two grew from a shared medieval ancestor that scholars sometimes call Old Western Rajasthani.
- In the census: India's census counts Rajasthani as a mother tongue grouped under Hindi, which many speakers find frustrating.
- Hindi everywhere: schools, signs, newspapers and government use Hindi, so almost everyone is bilingual. Many also speak English.
- Where it is spoken: across Rajasthan, in neighbouring parts of Gujarat, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, and in Marwari families all over India.
The dialects and where you will hear them
Marwari, the voice of the desert
Where: around Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and across the Thar.
- Why it is famous: Marwari merchants carried it to Kolkata, Mumbai, Assam and beyond, so it is the best known of all the dialects.
- What you notice: a strong, open sound, and the songs of the desert musicians.
Dhundhari, the speech of Jaipur
- Where: Jaipur and the old Kachwaha country of Dhundhar around it.
- Also called: Jaipuri, and it is the dialect you will hear most in the walled city.
Mewari, the softer voice of Udaipur
- Where: Udaipur, Chittorgarh and the hills of Mewar.
- What you notice: a gentler tone. Mewaris will tell you it is the sweetest of all, and Marwaris will disagree.
Harauti, the speech of Bundi and Kota
- Where: Bundi, Kota and Jhalawar, the old Hada country of Hadoti.
- Why listen: it is the language of the Bundi murals' world and of the Chambal villages.
Shekhawati, the speech of the painted towns
- Where: the merchant towns of Shekhawati, such as Mandawa and Nawalgarh.
- Why listen: many of the great Marwari trading families came from here, and their havelis still stand.
Wagdi, Mewati and the borderlands
Wagdi: spoken by the Bhil communities of the southern hills around Dungarpur and Banswara.
- Mewati: heard in the north-east, around Alwar, close to the speech of the neighbouring regions.
- At the edges: near every border, Rajasthani shades into the languages of Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
How it sounds
Breath matters: khamma is not kamma, and ghani is not gani. The h is a real puff of air.
The tongue curls back: Rajasthani has a curled-back n, written ण, which you hear in ghani, and a curled-back l, written ळ.
- Breathy sounds
- kh, gh, bh, dh, th, each with a puff of air
- Curled-back n
- ण, as in ghani
- Curled-back l
- ळ, a sound Hindi does not use
- Respect
- The ending sa, added to words and names
- Long and short vowels: the long aa in padharo changes the feel of the word. Say it slowly.
- Respect is built in: the small word sa turns almost anything into a courtesy, and you will hear it all day.
- Different in every district: words, endings and tones shift from Marwar to Mewar to Hadoti. Locals enjoy the differences and tease each other about them.
- Do not worry: Rajasthanis are generous listeners. Try, smile and try again. Our phrase guide has a pronunciation section.
The language of the bards
Dingal: the bardic language of Rajasthan, full of battle, sacrifice and horses. It was recited at courts, at weddings and on the eve of battle.
Pingal: a softer style, close to the Braj of Krishna's country, used for devotional and love poetry.
- Dingal
- The old literary language of heroic poetry
- Pingal
- A gentler style, coloured by Braj, for devotion and love
- The bards
- Charans and Bhats of the Rajput courts
- Famous romance
- Dhola and Maru
- The Charans: a community of bards and genealogists who held a special, respected place at Rajput courts and kept the families' histories in verse.
- Dhola and Maru: the great folk romance of the desert, of a prince and the princess he was betrothed to as a child. Singers still perform it across Rajasthan.
- A royal poet: in the sixteenth century, Prithviraj Rathore of the Bikaner house wrote a celebrated poem on Krishna and Rukmini in Dingal.
- Meera Bai: the poet-saint's songs to Krishna were composed in a language close to the Rajasthani of her day, and are sung across India.
- The epic of Pabuji: the bhopas, priest-singers, still perform the epic of the folk hero Pabuji in Rajasthani, in front of a painted scroll. Read about the bhopa and the phad.
Scripts, ledgers and the merchants' code
Devanagari: today Rajasthani is written in the same script as Hindi, so signs and printed books look familiar.
Mahajani: the merchants kept their accounts in a script of their own, written fast and without most vowels. Few people can read it today.
- Why it mattered: a ledger in Mahajani was hard for outsiders to read, which suited trading families who guarded their business.
- Old manuscripts: palace libraries and Jain temple collections hold centuries of Rajasthani writing, from chronicles to poetry.
- A scholar from Italy: in the early twentieth century the Italian scholar Luigi Pio Tessitori studied the bardic chronicles and old Rajasthani, and died in Bikaner in 1919.
- The bardic chronicles: the khyat, prose histories of the ruling families written in old Rajasthani, are among the most important sources for the history of the Rajput states.
Modern Rajasthani writing
Vijaydan Detha: born in Borunda in Marwar in 1926, he spent his life collecting and retelling Rajasthani folk tales. His great collection is Batan ri Phulwari, a garden of stories.
On screen: several of his stories became films, including Paheli in 2005, based on his tale Duvidha.
- Kanhaiyalal Sethia: a poet from Churu district in the north whose verses on the land of the dunes became much-loved songs.
- Folklore saved: at Borunda, the folklorist Komal Kothari worked with Detha to record the songs, epics and instruments of Rajasthan's musician communities.
- Recognised in letters: India's national academy of letters, the Sahitya Akademi, recognises Rajasthani and gives an annual award for writing in it.
- Today: Rajasthani newspapers, magazines, radio, films and a lively online world keep new writing coming.
The language that travelled with the merchants
Why they left: from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, trading families from Shekhawati and Marwar moved east and south following trade, banking and later industry.
Marwari as a name: across India the word Marwari came to mean these trading families, wherever they settled, not only people from Marwar.
- Homes in the desert: many families built grand painted havelis in their home towns with the wealth they made far away. Our guide to Shekhawati frescoes shows them.
- Language at home: in many of these families, Marwari remained the language of the kitchen, the wedding and the account book for generations.
- Coming back: many families still return for weddings, temple festivals and family ceremonies in their ancestral towns.
The long campaign for recognition
What the Schedule does: languages on it are officially recognised, can be used in national examinations and receive support from the central government.
The argument for: Rajasthani has tens of millions of speakers, a literature centuries old and its own grammar. Campaigners say it deserves a place.
- The list
- The Eighth Schedule of India's constitution
- Rajasthani
- Not yet included
- State support
- The Rajasthan assembly has asked for inclusion
- Literary status
- Recognised by the Sahitya Akademi
- The state's view: the Rajasthan legislative assembly has passed a resolution asking for Rajasthani to be included.
- The difficulty: debate over whether the dialects form one language, and which standard to use, has slowed the process.
- Why it matters to people: for many Rajasthanis, recognition is about dignity, about the language of their mothers being taken seriously.
- How we feel: our family speaks it at home, and we would be glad to see it on the list. We leave the politics to the campaigners.
Rajasthani at its most beautiful, in song
The Manganiyars: hereditary musicians of the Thar who sing the genealogies, weddings and legends of their patron families. Read about Manganiyar music.
The Langas: another community of desert musicians, with their own patrons and repertoire.
- Maand: a refined classical-folk style of the courts. Kesariya Balam, the most famous Rajasthani song of welcome, is sung in it.
- The Kalbelia: the songs and dance of this community are recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. See our page on Kalbelia dance.
- At festivals: the Rajasthan International Folk Festival at Mehrangarh brings these musicians together each autumn.
- At home: women's songs at weddings, Teej and Gangaur keep the language alive in every family. Listen for them if you are invited.
A few words you can use with confidence
खम्मा घणी, khamma ghani: the Rajasthani greeting, for hello and often goodbye, said with joined hands and a slight bow. Ghani means a great deal.
पधारो सा, padharo sa: please come in, you are welcome. You will hear it at the door of every haveli.
- पधारो म्हारे देस, padharo mhare des: welcome to my land. Our piece on padharo mhare des explains the phrase and its song.
- सा, sa: a small respectful ending added to words and names. Padharo sa, khamma ghani sa.
- राम राम सा, ram ram sa: the everyday village greeting, heard at every tea stall on a country road.
- हुकुम, hukum: a respectful form of address, roughly sir or as you wish, heard in Rajput homes and palace hotels.
- For more: our guide to Rajasthani and Hindi phrases adds the Hindi you will use every day.
The language hidden in the map
-pur: town or city, usually after its founder. Jaipur is the city of Jai Singh, Jodhpur of Rao Jodha and Udaipur of Udai Singh.
-ner: also a town, so Bikaner is the town of Rao Bika.
- -mer: usually traced to meru, a hill. Jaisalmer is the hill of Rawal Jaisal.
- -garh: a fort. Chittorgarh is the fort of Chittor, and Nahargarh the fort of the tigers.
- -sar and sagar: a lake or pool, as in Gadisar in Jaisalmer and Fateh Sagar in Udaipur.
- Rajasthan itself: the land of kings. The British called it Rajputana, the country of the Rajputs.
How to hear Rajasthani on your journey
Ask your guide: our guides speak their own dialects at home, and love to teach a word a day.
Go to the villages: a rural homestay or a village walk is where you hear Rajasthani spoken without a thought for visitors.
- Listen at the market: the vegetable sellers and cloth merchants of the old cities bargain in Rajasthani.
- Book a musical evening: we arrange private performances by desert musicians. Our page on folk music explains how.
- Watch a puppet show: the kathputli puppeteers of Rajasthan tell their stories in the language. See puppet theatre.
- Read a little first: our history of Rajasthan explains the kingdoms whose names the dialects carry.
What most visitors miss
Women's songs: at weddings, Teej and Gangaur, women sing together in Rajasthani. If you are invited to a celebration, these songs are the heart of it.
The bards at a wedding: some families still invite a bard to recite the bride's or groom's ancestors. It is Dingal tradition alive in a marquee.
- Proverbs: grandparents speak in sayings about rain, camels, milk and patience. Ask your guide to translate one he grew up with.
- Village radio and phones: listen to drivers on the phone to home. That quick, warm talk is Rajasthani, not Hindi.
- The puppeteers' patter: a kathputli show is told in a lively mix of Rajasthani and Hindi, full of jokes the children understand at once.
- The temple songs: at Nathdwara and in village shrines, devotional songs in Rajasthani and Braj fill the evenings.
Before you go
Learn two greetings: khamma ghani and ram ram sa will see you through almost any meeting.
- Listen to the music first: a little Manganiyar or Maand music before you travel tunes your ear to the sounds.
- Read one story: a translated Vijaydan Detha tale on the plane is the best introduction we know.
- Respect the pride: Rajasthanis are proud of their language. Never call it a dialect of Hindi to a speaker, and you will make friends.
Who will love this side of Rajasthan
Curious travellers: a few words open conversations that no monument can.
Music lovers: the language is at its finest in the songs of the desert.
- Readers: Detha's stories and the bardic poems make Rajasthan a literary journey too.
- Families: children pick up greetings fastest, and Rajasthanis adore hearing them.
- Who might skip it: if your trip is short and full of palaces, a single greeting will do. The language waits for a slower second visit.
- Planning it: our village Rajasthan journey gives you the most time among people who speak it at home.