Awadhi: The Language of Lucknow

Awadhi: The language was already extensively used when Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula moved his capital from Faizabad to Lucknow in 1775. Around this time, it started using Persian terminology, but its significance in day-to-day living and its contribution to Lucknow’s rich cultural heritage persisted. For the first time, specialists who spoke to TOI on the conclusion of Lucknow’s 250-year history as the capital emphasized these realities.

According to Awadh historian Ravi Bhatt, who quotes Guzishta Lucknow by Abdul Halim Sharar, “Awadhi remained truly the language of the people and the land.”

According to Bhatt, everyone still uses Awadhi, including families at home and market merchants. It is the language of folk songs, proverbs, storytelling, and common emotional expressions. The monsoon tunes of Kajri, such as Ras barse badariya sawan ki (Clouds of sawan are raining nectar), or the upbeat springtime tunes of Chaiti songs commemorating the birth of Lord Ram, with lyrics like Chait maase janme Ram, ho Rama— (Rama was born in the month of Chait, O Rama—would fill the air.

Proverbs like Jekar kaam ohi ka saaje, aur kare to danda baaje (A work is best suited for the one who knows it; if someone does it, they will fail) are used to convey common knowledge, even though they are now mostly spoken in rural regions.
The importance of Awadhi to the general populace never decreased, even if the Nawabs supported Persian and then Urdu. As Lucknow expanded, drawing residents from other regions, Awadhi continued to serve as a uniting language.
Renowned Awadhi poet and writer Ram Bahadur Mishra points out that even Hindi literary critics, such as Ram Chandra Shukla, acknowledged the development of Awadhi from older languages like Prakrit and Apbhramsha in his Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihaas. According to Shukla, Awadhi remains the native tongue of the Awadh area, a position that has only become stronger since Lucknow became the capital.

Awadhi was the common language, even if the courtly language may have been Persian and then the sophisticated Urdu that flourished under royal patronage, according to a basic reality shared by both Ravi Bhatt and Ram Bahadur Mishra.

The expression “the king speaks in court, but the people speak in the street” sums up Lucknow’s linguistic reality very well. Awadhi is where local temples and mosques host daily encounters, gossip, jokes, and religious conversations.

Bhatt emphasizes the Nawabs’ influence and points out that they were not isolated from the regional language. The last Nawab of Awadh, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was a prolific composer who had a strong affinity for the local tongue, according to Bhatt.

The famous and moving thumri “Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Hi Jaaye” is a prime example of this. As he was being exiled from his beloved Lucknow by the British in 1856, it is traditionally said that the Nawab, a talented artist, wrote and performed this song, which is laden with the sorrow of a bride leaving her home. His own traumatic departure from his homeland was immortalized in the song.

Awadhi is home to a multitude of ancient sayings, tales, and folk songs that are renowned for their poetic beauty and practical wisdom, according to Nagendra Bahadur Singh Chauhan, an Awadhi translator for the UP Vidhan Sabha. These traditions, which form the foundation of Lucknow’s cultural identity, eloquently portray rural life, social rituals, and spiritual beliefs.

Experts agree that Awadhi lays the groundwork for the early literary manifestations of the area, despite Urdu poetry flourishing later. Even before Lucknow became the capital, Sufi poets like Malik Muhammad Jayasi, whose “Padmavat” is a masterwork in Awadhi, demonstrated the language’s strength and surely influenced subsequent literary tastes. Written in Awadhi, Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas became a staple in homes all across the world.

Bhatt further notes that the well-known Lakhnawi tehzeeb (etiquette) was influenced by the soft tone and innate politeness of Awadhi. Although it is a part of a larger courtly culture, the famous gesture of humility, pehle aap, pehle aap, is wonderfully articulated via a linguistic heritage influenced by the polite and non-confrontational tone of Awadhi.
Since Awadhi inherently communicates respect and sophisticated communication, many of the polite expressions used in Lucknow today have their origins in this language.

As seen by the continued popularity of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, Awadhi is closely linked to the spiritual lives of the general public and is used as the language of popular religious storytelling and devotional poetry.
The language was an integral part of the everyday lives and cultural manifestations of the local population, as indicated by SP Nevill’s Lucknow: A Gazetteer. It served as a platform for the average person to communicate, form connections, and add to the distinct culture that still distinguishes Nawabs.