Presented by

Snehil SauravPresented in Shanghai on July 12, 2010

Introduction to

Maithili

Your are Welcome

Today’s Agenda

• Maithili- Basic facts• History• Maithili Literature• Culture• Script• Maithili Tutorial• References

Facts• Spoken in the Indian state of Bihar and in the Terai

region of Nepal

• Script- Tirhuta and Kaithi script; modern time Devanagari script (Hindi) is most commonly used

• With 45 million speakers, ranked 26th in the world (wikipedia)

• Has a very rich literary and cultural heritage

• The name Maithili is derived from the word Mithila, an ancient kingdom of King Janaka.

• Maithili is also one of the names of Sita, the wife of King Rama and daughter of King Janaka.

• Scholars in Mithila used Sanskrit for their literary work and Maithili was the language of the common folk.

• The most famous literary figure in Maithili is the poet Vidyapati. He is credited for raising the importance of 'people's language‘.

History-I• Proto-Maithili Period (715-1130)

From 8th century A.D. the composition of occult songs by a host of Buddhist monks continued throughout the period of Pala –rule (750-1130 A.D.) Though the product of this tradition is claimed by all languages of eastern region (i.e. Maithili, Bangla, Asamiya and Oriya) but as the language of these songs is close to the language of some portions of Varnaratnākara of Jyotirisvara (1280-1340) and Kīrtilatā and Kīrtipatāka of Vidapati Thakur (1350-1490), and as Vidyapati explicitly calls this language Desilavayanā, the language of his deśa Mithila, and as the major eastern part of Mithila was under the rule of Pala kings interspersed with such monks, it seems most probable that the language of the Buddhist songs originally belonged to Mithila and had spread out eastward with the local variations culminated in different languages.

• Early Maithili Period (1300-1600)With fall of Pala-rule, disappearance of Buddhism and establishment of karnāta kings- under patronage of Harasimhadeva (1226-1324) of karnāta dynasty Jyotirisvara Thakur (1280-1340) wrote a unique work Varnaratnākara in pure Maithili, earliest prose in any north Indian language;

In 1324, Ghyasuddin Tughluq, the emperor of Delhi invaded Mithila, defeated Harasimhadeva , entrusted Mithila to his family Priest Kameshvar Jha, a Maithil Braman of Onibar family but disturbed era could not produce any literature till Vidyapati Thakur(1360 to 1450), an epoch making poet came up under the patronage of a like minded king Shiva Simha and his queen LakhiMā Devi, he produced over a thousand of immortal songs in Maithili on the theme of erotic sports of Radha and Krishna and the domestic life of Shiva and Parvati, besides a number of treaties in Sanskrit on various subjects. His love-songs spread far and wide in no time and enchanted saints, poets and youth in general.

Ravindranath Tagore, out of curiosity, imitated these songs under a pseudo named Bhanusimha. Vidyapati influenced the religious literature of Asama, Vanga and Utkala.

After the invasion of Mithila by the Sultan of Johnpur, Delhi and disappearance of Shivasimha in 1429, Oinibar rule grew weaker and the literary activity shifted to north(present Nepal).

History -IIMiddle Maithili period (1600-1860)

When Mahesh Thakur, a great pandit belonging to Khandvala family of Maithil Brahman was installed as a feudal chief of Mihtila under Mughal empire literary activity gained momentum. After a gap of about two centuries Maithili got a drama entitled pārijātaharaa from the pen of Umapati Upadhyaya. A number of professional troupes, known then as Kirtania the singers of bhajan or devotional songs, started to perform this drama in public gatherings and the courts of the nobles. Voluminous devotional songs were written by some famous vaisnava saints, Govendadas (Mid. 17th century)

Ther rulers of Mall dynasty's mother tongue was Maithili which spread far and wide throughout Nepal valley during this dynasty from 16th to 17th century when at least 70 Maithili dramas were produced. Curiously, in a drama, namely Harishchandranrityam of Siddhinarayanadeva (1620-57) some characters speak pure colloquial Maithili while others speak Bangla, Sanskrit or Prakrit.

Modern Maithili Period (1860 onwards)After the demise of Maheshvar Singh, the ruler of Darbhanga Raj, in 1860 and the Raj was taken over by the British Government under courts of wards act. With the return of the Darbhanga Raj to successor Maharaj Lakshmishvar Singh in 1898, a galaxy of enthusiastic pandits gathered around him enriched their mother tongue to name a few, were M.M. Dr. Sir Ganganath Jha, M.M. Parameshvar Mishra, Chanda Jha, Munshi Raghunandan Das and others.

Publication of Maithil Hita Sadhana (1905) and Mithila Moda (1906), Mithila Mihir (1908),encouraged writers. The first social organization, Maithil Mahasabha was established in 1910 for development of Maithili and Maithili was followed by a number of such organizations. Maithil Mahesabha was the first to raise the demand for the recognition of Maithili as a regional language.

The findings of some great linguists like Geoge Abraham Grieson, Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, gave pillip to it. Ultimately Calcutta university came forward to recognize Maithili in 1917. Gradually other universities followed suit.

Literature• Some of the theatrical writings of the medieval age are Jyotireeshwar (Dhurt Samagam),

Vidyapati (Goraksha Vijay, Mani Manjari), Ramapati (Rukmini Haran), Lal (Gauri Swayambar), Manbodh (Krishna Janma),Umapati (Parijat Haran).

• Maithili has been preferred by many authors to write humour and satire. Writers like Dr. Hari Mohan Jha took steps to bring about fundamental changes in the centuries old Mithila Culture. His work like Khatar Kaka Ke Tarang decorated modern Maithili Literature. Upendra Nath Jha, though an engineer by profession, made venerable contributions to modern Maithili literature. " Doo Patra", his most famous work, brought out the goods and the evils of the Maithil society.

• In 2003 Maithili was recognized on the VIII schedule of the Indian Constitution and once again given its proper status as a major Indian language and thus now Maithili is one of the 22 National Languages of India. Maithili was accepted long back in 1965 by Sahitya Academy and since its inclusion has won awards almost every year. A number of academy awards have been won for translation from other languages.

• Modern Maithili came into its own after Sir George Abraham Grierson, Irish linguist and civil servant, tirelessly researched Maithili folklore and transcribed its grammar. In May 2010, Wycliffe Bible Translators finished translating the Greek New Testament into Maithili.

Maithili SongJai Jai Bhairavi Asur

bhayawaniWritten by Vidyapati

FestivalsChhath: The biggest festival of Mithilanchal people

Almost all civilizations have worshipped the ‘sun god’, but it has a unique form in Bihar. Chatth Puja is the only occasion where the setting sun is worshipped. The word “chhath” denotes the number 6 in Hindi. The festival is marked for four days beginning from the sixth day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Kartik (November). For this 4-day festival, people maintain sanctity and purity from even a month ahead. People celebrate this festival with immense faith the folk songs sung in the honour of ‘Surya Dev’ and ‘Chatti Maiyya’ can be heard at every nook and corner the sweetness of the songs lets you feel the holiness of the festival. Women fast for the good of their family and the society.

Sama-Chakeva

It is during the winter season that the birds from the Himalayas migrate towards the plains. With the advent of these colorful birds, celebration of sama–chakeva is done. Mithilanchal dedicates this festival to the celebration of the brother sister relationship. It represents the tradition of this land as well as the art of making idols. This festival starts with the welcoming of the pair of birds sama-chakeva. Girls make clay idols of various birds and decorate them in their own traditional ways. Various rituals are performed and the festival joyfully ended with the ‘vidai’ of sama and with a wish that these birds return to this land the next year.

Madhushravani

It is celebrated in the month of Sawan (Hindu calendar), which falls around August. This festival carries a message with itself. It teaches how to weave together religion and tradition in day-to-day life.

Mithila PaintingMithila Painting or Madhubani Painting is a style of Indian painting, practiced in the Mithila region.

Mithila painting is one of the living creative activities of the women of this Mithila region. It is a famous folk painting on paper, cloth, readymade garments, movable objects etc. Originally it is a folk art, practiced by the women of all castes and communities, on walls and floors using the natural and vegetable colors

OriginsThe origins of Madhubani painting or Mithila Painting are shrouded in antiquity. Tradition states that this style of painting originated at the time of the Ramayana, when King Janak commissioned artists to do paintings at the time of marriage of his daughter, Sita, to Lord Ram.

Maithili Script

Learn Maithili I - Hum He - Woo She - Woo You - Aahan It - E Go - Jaa

Come - Aaoo Came – Aailalkhin

Will come - Aithain

Open - Kholyo

Opened - Khoyl dalya

Will open - Kholbay

He goes - Woo jaicha He has eaten - Woo khana khai chukal chai

He will go - Woo jaite

He eats an apple - Woo aam khaya chai

He had eaten - Woo khana khaina chai

He will come - Woo aaiyte

He is eating an apple - Woo ekta aam khai rahal chai

He had gone - Woo jaa chukal chai

What is your name? - Aahan ke naam kee chee

He ate an apple - Woo aam khaya lalkay

He had come - Woo aab chukal chai

What did you do? - Aahan kee karay chiya?

I saw the film last week - Hum film pichla hafta dekh lalya

He will eat - Woo khaite What should I do? - Humara kee karma chahiya?

What can I do? - Hum kee kai sakya chiya?

What are the questions? - Prasnna kee chai?

What were the questions? - Prasnna kee rahe?

Maithili Sentences

The contents has been taken from a research done in 1971-72 by,

Ms Jennifer Williams, andIrvine Davis

O kitab He threw the book

Ghar me In the house

Hamara uper Above me

Gachhak neecha Under the tree

Gachhak tar me Under the tree

Oi kursi lag me By that chair

Jamin par On the ground

Hamra dis Towards me

Hamar peechha sa Behind me

Tutorial- Coupling relationship

** Spoken form only

1. Pronouns occur at the beginning of their respective bases.2. The pronouns 'wherever', 'however' etc in the first proposition produce a corresponding 'there', 'so' etc in the second.3. In addition to the pronouns given here, a phrase with the pronouns Jai and Tai may also be used to indicate the shared item.

Conjuctions: Alternative Sentence

Conjuctions manifesting links are: ki, ya, athaba, arthat, chahe

Coupled Sentence

Semantically the coupled sentence is a loose coordination of two propositions.Generally the tenses are same in both the bases, although they don’t have to be.

jeni kaphi pibaaiya aur ham chah pibai chhiJenny coffee drinks and I tea drink am-> Jenny drinks coffee and I drink tea

This example illustrate the occurrence of 3 bases. As many as 4 bases have been found in a sentence: Matkuri me dahi poraiya dahi do rakhaiya aur chhot chhot pariwar ke aadmi ahi me machh mans karaiyaMatkuri in curd make curd give keep and small small family of people this in fish meat do-> In a matkuri (type of clay pot) curd is made and kept and a very small family uses it for meat and fish

desh ke raksha karab aur moka parat ta larai me jaeb nation of guard will do and time must if war in will go -> I will protect the country's security and go to war if necessary.

Negation is possible in either base or in both. in both cases: 'neither.. nor' or 'not... and not'

pahar me karin lagabe ke asthan nai chhaik aur bises ka paharsab me oteik khetiyo nai hoi chheHill in karin stick of place not is and more of hills in so much cultivation not is is-> In the hills there is no place to stand a karin (an irrigation device) and in the hills farming is not done on such a large scale.

Contrast SentencesGrammatically contrast sentence consists of two independent bases joined by a permuting link.Some of the literary conjuctions are:

parantu, magar, paranch, and muda but the colloquial form is Hindi loan Lekin

choot ta ai lekin chhichhalah sehi aishort (emphasis) is but slippery also is-> It is short but also slippery

Onata may appear initially in the sentence:Onata akhan ham chah nai pibai chhi muda bad me pibalthough now I tea not drink am bu after will drink-> Although I am not drinking tea now, I will later

ham Evie ai bajar jaeb lekin nischit nai kon samae me jaebI Evie today bazar will go but certain not which time in will go-> Evie and I will go to market today but it's not certain at what time we'll go

Restatement Sentences

Indicates that the two propositions involved in the sentence are saying the same thing, as the English, 'He is gone, he is not here'. Thus it should be possible to eleminate one of the propositions and still leave the meaning intact.

loksab angan ghar me chinta phikar nai rahaiya kono chinta nai rahiyepeople courtyard house in anxiety care not stays any anxiety not stays-> There is no anxiety or care among the people at home, there are no worries

ahi me brahmanak bhok prasiddh achh bisesta tahi me brahmanak bhok prasidh achhthis is Brahmin's feast famous is most this in brahmanak bhoj prasidh achh-> The feast of the Brahmin's is famous, the Brahmin feast are the most famous of all

Paraphrase Sentencesaha kona hinka sange ja rahal chhi aha ke kena hinkasaab ke bhet bha gelyou know her with go stay are you of how them of meet become went-> How (is it that) you are travelling with her--- how did you happen to meet her?

bachha ka aba diya okara nai rokuchild to come give! them not stop-> Let the children come-- do not hinder them

Cause Effect Relationship

o barhiya admi rahai lekin okara saath kharab byewahar bhelhe good man was but him with bad treatment became-> He was a good man but he got bad treatment

Reason Sentenceo thaik gelah chhalah jai sa ki o nai aib saklahhe tired went was so he not come was able-> He was tired so he could not come

o ghar gelah kyaek ta o bimar bho gel chhalahhe house went because he sick became went was-> He went home because he was sick

Purpose Sentencekan me rui dhara ke lel seho delakear in cotton keep for also gave -> FOr keeping in the ears, they also gave cotton.

Negative Purpose Sentenceadhyan bahut kelaith kahi o phel nai karaith taestudy much did lest he fail not do so-> He studied hard so that he would not fail

Condition Sentence

khana kharab haet ta aha bimar bho jaebfood bad will be if you sick become will go-> If the food should be bad then you will get sick

oi kukur lag nai jau nai ta kait letthat dog near not go! not if cut will take-> Don't go near that dog or it will bite!

Warning Sentence

Reference Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithili_language• About Maithili Language- http://www.mithilaonline.com/• http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mai• www.mithilatimes.com• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithili_language• http://themithila.tripod.com/• http://ignca.nic.in/kmsh0002.htm

• An introduction to Maithili dialect of the Bihari language as spoken in North Bihar (Asiatic Society, Calcutta) by George Grierson, 1909