Mithila Brahmins
The Mithila Brahmiṇs are a group of Brahmins typically
originating from and living in and around the area that was at one time
the Videha kingdom of Mithila covering part of Nepal and
the Northern Indian state of Bihar. They are a community of highly
cohesive, traditional Brahmins who strive to follow rites and rituals according
to ancient Hindu canons.They have a reputation for orthodoxy and interest in
learning. A large number of Maithil Brahmins migrated a few centuries ago to
adjoining areas of South-east Bihar and Jharkhand, as well as to adjoining
Terai regions of Nepal. Most of the Maithil Brahmins are Śāktas (worshippers of
Śakti) . However, it is also not uncommon to find Vaishnavites among the
Maithil Brahmins. Some surnames of Brahmins in Bihar include Shukla, Sharma,
Mishra, Kissoon, Bhardwaj, Bhagwan, Choudhary, Jha,Bishwas, Bhatt, Kanojia,
Kaileyas, Bhaglani, Pingal, and Lakhlani, amongst others.Maithili is their
mother tongue, though many use Angika (a south-eastern dialect of
Maithili) as their mother tongue.
Maithili (मैथिली)
is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal and
northern India by 34.7 million people as of 2000, of which 2.8
million were in Nepal. It is written in the Devanagari script. In the
past, Maithili was written primarily in Mithilakshar. Less commonly,
it was also written with a Maithili variant of Kaithi, a script used to
transcribe other neighboring languages such as Bhojpuri, Magahi,
and Awadhi.
In 2002, Maithili was included in the Eighth
Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which allows it to be used in
education, government, and other official contexts. It is recognized as
one of the largest languages in India, and is the second most widely used
language in Nepal.
In 2007, Maithili was also included in the Interim
Constitution of Nepal 2063, Part 1, Section 5.
Geographic distribution
In India, Maithili is mainly spoken in Bihar up to
the Purnia, Munger and Bhagalpur districts. The towns
of Madhubani and Darbhanga constitute cultural and linguistic
centers. Native speakers also reside
in Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai. Maithili in its modified
form is the second major language spoken in
urban Jharkhand after Hindi. Maithili is also spoken in Sitamarhi, Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul.
In Nepal, Maithili is spoken mainly in the Outer
Terai districts of the Janakpur Zone such
as Sarlahi, Mahottari and Dhanusa Districts, in the Sunsari
District of the Koshi Zone, and in the Siraha and Saptari
Districts of the Sagarmatha Zone. Janakpur is an important religious
centre. It is spoken by various castes and ethnic groups such as
the Brahmin, Kayastha, Chamar,
Khatawe, Kurmi, Rajput, Yadav, and Teli. A
constitutional provision foresees the introduction of Maithili as medium of
education at the primary school level.
Classification
In the 19th century, linguistic scholars considered Maithili
as a dialect of Bengali or Hindi language and grouped it
with other languages spoken in Bihar. Hoernlé compared it
with Gaudian languages and recognised that it shows more similarities
with Bengali and Nepali languages than with
Hindi. Grierson recognized it as a distinct language and published
the first grammar in 1881.
Chatterji grouped Maithili with Magadhi Prakrit.
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