The history of Hindi, a major language of India. Hindi started to emerge as Apabhramsha in the 7th century and by the 10 century became stable. Several dialects of Hindi have been used in literature. Braj was the popular literary dialect until it was replaced by khari boli in the 19th century.

Background: The period of Prakrits and Classical Sanskrit (dates are approximate)

• 750 BCE: Gradual emergence of post-vedic Sanskrit
• 500 BCE: Prakrit texts of Buddhists and Jains originate (Eastern India)
• 400 BCE: Panini composes his Sanskrit grammar (Western India), reflecting transition from Vedic to Paninian Sanskrit
• 322 BCE: Brahmi script inscriptions by Mauryas in Prakrit (Pali)
• 250 BCE: Classical Sanskrit emerges.
• 100 BCE-100 CE: Sanskrit gradually replaces Prakrit in inscriptions
• 320: The Gupta or Siddha-matrika script emerges.

Apabhramshas and emergence of old Hindi

• 400: Apabhramsha in Kalidas's Vikramorvashiyam
• 550: Dharasena of Valabhi's inscription
  
  
  
  mentions Apabhramsha literature
• 779: Regional languages mentioned by Udyotan Suri in "Kuvalayamala"
• 769: Siddha Sarahpad composes Dohakosh, considered the first Hindi poet
• 800: Bulk of the Sanskrit literature after this time is commentaries.
• 933: Shravakachar of Devasena, considered the first Hindi book
• 1100: Modern Devanagari script emerges
• 1145-1229: Hemachadra writes on Apabhramsha grammar

Decline of Apabhramsha and emergence of modern Hindi

• 1283: Amir Khusro's pahelis and mukaris. Uses term "Hindavi"
• 1398-1518: Kabir's works mark origin of "Nirguna-Bhakti" period
• 1370-: Love-story period originated by "Hansavali" of Asahat
• 1400-1479: Raighu: last of the great Apabhramsha poets
• 1450: "Saguna Bhakti" period starts with Ramananda
• 1580: Early Dakkhini work "Kalmitul-hakayat" of Burhanuddin Janam
• 1585: "Bhaktamal" of Nabhadas: an account of Hindi Bhakta-poets
• 1601: "Ardha-Kathanak" by Banarasidas, first autobiography in Hindi
• 1604: "Adi-Granth" a compilation of works of many poets by Guru Arjan Dev.
• 1532-1623: Tulsidas, author of "Ramacharita Manasa".
• 1623: "Gora-badal ki katha" of Jatmal, first book in Khari Boli dialect (now the standard dialect)
• 1643: "Reeti" poetry tradition commences according to Ramchandra Shukla
• 1645: Shahjahan builds Delhi fort, language in the locality starts to be termed Urdu.
• 1667-1707: Vali's compositions become popular, Urdu starts replacing Farsi among Delhi nobility. It is often called "Hindi" by Sauda, Meer etc.
• 1600-1825: Poets (Bihari to Padmakar) supported by rulers of Orchha and other domains.

Modern Hindi literature emerges

• 1796: Earliest
  
  
  
  type-based Devanagari printing (John Gilchrist, Grammar of the Hindoostanee Language, Calcutta)
• 1805: Lalloo Lal's Premsagar published for Fort William College, Calcutta
• 1813-46: Maharaja Swati Tirunal Rama Varma(Travancore) composed verses in Hindi along with South Indian languages.
• 1826: "Udanta Martanda" Hindi weekly from Calcutta
• 1837: Phullori, author of "Om Jai Jagdish Hare" born
• 1839,1847: "History of Hindi Literature" by Garcin de Tassy in French
• 1833-86: Gujarati Poet Narmad proposed Hindi as India's national language
• 1850: The term "Hindi" no longer used for what is now called "Urdu".
• 1854: "Samachar Sudhavarshan" Hindi daily from Calcutta
• 1873: Mahendra Bhattachary's "Padarth-vigyan" (Chemistry) in Hindi
• 1877: Novel "Bhagyavati" by Shraddharam Phullori
• 1886: "Bharatendu period" of modern Hindi literature starts
• 1893 Founding of the Nagari Pracharni Sabha in Benares
• 1900: "Dvivedi period" starts. Nationalist writings
• 1900: "Indumati" story by Kishorilal Goswami in "Sarasvati"
• 1913: "Raja Harishchandra", first Hindi movie by Dadasaheb Phalke
• 1918-1938: "Chhayavad period"
• 1918: "Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha" founded by Gandhi.
• 1929: "History of Hindi Literature" by Ramchandra Shukla
• 1931: "Alam Ara" first Hindi talking movie
• 1930's: Hindi typewriters ("Nagari lekhan Yantra")

Our age

• 1949: Official Language Act makes the use of Hindi in Central Government Offices mandatory
• 1949-50: Hindi accepted as the "official language of the Union" in the constitution. Debates a, b, c.
• 1952: The Basic Principles Committee of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan recommends that Urdu be the state language.
• 1965: Opposition to "Blind Hindi-imposition by Congress" in Tamilnadu, where Tamil- the predominant Dravidian Language, lives brings DMK to power.Congress lost its base.
• 1975: English medium private schools start asserting themselves socially, politically, financially .
• 1985-6: Devanagari word processor, Devyani DTP software, both from Dataflow (?).
• 1987-88: Frans Velthuis creates Devanagari metafont.
• 1990: According to World Almanac and Book of Facts Hindi-Urdu has passed English (and Spanish) to become the second most widely spoken language in the world .
• 1991: ITRANS encoding scheme developed by Avinash Chopde allows Hindi documents in Roman and Devanagari on the Internet.
• 1995: Movie "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" biggest grosser ever
• 1997: Prime Minister Deve Gowda emphasises promotion of Hindi and the regional languages, having himself learned Hindi recently.
• 1997: Hindi Newspaper Nai Dunia on the web (January) (Or was Milap first?)
• 1998: Thiru Karunanidhi, the DMK leader, recites a Hindi verse during a political campaign, indicating a change in views.

See also

• Hindi
• Hindi Literature
• Apabhramsha
• Urdu

References

This chronology, compiled by editor Prof. Yashwant Malaiya (Malaiya), has reproduced with his permission.