Product Code Database
Old Bengali was the earliest recorded form of the Bengali language, spoken in the Bengal of eastern Indian subcontinent during the Middle Ages. It developed from an Apabhraṃśa of Magadhi Prakrit around 650 AD, and the first Bengali literary works date from the 8th century. Between 1200 and 1350 AD, no written form or literary work of Bengali language is found; during this period the Islamic conquest took place in Bengal. It is marked as the barren age, and also marks the end of the Old Bengali era, as the Middle Bengali language developed later.
Old Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language that is one of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, and its closest relatives are Old Odia and Kamarupi Prakrit. Like other Old Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, it is distinct from Modern Bengali and is not fully incomprehensible to Modern Bengali speakers without study. Within Old Bengali grammar, the verb evolved and a letter is omitted from a ligature formed by consonants.
According to Suniti Kumar, it overlapped the last Apabhraṃśa phase. Proto-Bengali was the last stage of an already decayed order, so it inflection less than later languages with its new postpositional affixes and other devices. Chatterji compares it to the 'Sea Old' period of modern Romance and Teutonic languages. Old Bengali is dated to 650 AD, and it originated from proto-Bengali, a form of the Bengali language of the period before 600 AD.
A Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary compiled by the Chinese poet Li-Yen in 782 AD shows the presence of Bengali. A four-volume research document "Classical Bangla" published in 2024 by the Kolkata-based institute "Institute of Language Studies and Research" (ILSR), mentions the presence of 51 Bengali words in the dictionary. The inclusion or rather Compulsion to include of the Bengali (Bengali word) as a third language in the Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary indicates the fact that—Bengali was already standardized and was the dominant language considered as the language of the geographical region (Bengal). The lexicon strongly supports the existence of Old Bengali in the 8th century or earlier, including many Bengali words, some of which are listed below: (2025). 9788198479358, Institute of Language Studies and Research (ILSR), Kolkata. ISBN 9788198479358
| āiśa | āśo, ēśo | (you) come |
| śuna | śono, śuno | (you) hear |
| Ki jani | ke jāne | who knows |
| triśa | triś | thirty |
| catvariśa | cautriś | thirtyfour |
| kachi | kochi | small/tiny |
| bhatāra | bhātār | husband |
| moṭā | moṭā | fat |
| māṅsa | māṅso | meat |
Vajrayana and Sahajani Acharyas composed charyas between the tenth and twelfth centuries AD. There is disagreement among historians about the period of composition. According to Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Prabodh Chandra Bagchi, the Charyapadas were composed between the 10th and 12th centuries; but Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah Hall and Rahul Sankrityayan put this period back by another 200 years and expressed the opinion that the period of Charya's composition was from eighth to twelfth century AD. Some of the Old Bengali songs compiled in Manasollasa—also known as Abhilashitartha Chintamani—were composed in the third decade of the twelfth century. Chalukya dynasty Someshvara III was the patron of the book. The songs were composed in the Bengal and circulated as far as Maharashtra.
In Old Bengali, adjectives had gender, which has declined in Modern Bengali. In the case of adverbs, the suffix /ɛ/ ( এ) or /ɛm̐/ ( এঁ) was added. Besides, adverbs are made by adding /i/ ( ই) or /jə/ ( ইয়া) to infinitive verbs.
There were two types of pronouns—personal and demonstrative. Personal pronouns were of two types, and demonstrative pronouns were of five types—general demonstrative, near demonstratives, far demonstrative, relative demonstrative and indefinite demonstrative or indefinite demonstrative. There were no gender differences in pronouns. I used to refer to any gender, male or female.
The most important surviving work of Old Bengali literature is the Charyapada, a collection of devotional song; which is considered as the best sign created in Old Bengali. According to Tibetan sources, the original manuscript was called Charyagiti-koshavrtti and contained 100 verses. But till now 51 Padas or verses of the manuscript have been discovered. There are also some literary works, such as few Bengali songs compiled in Sekshuvodaya, some rhymes and poems of Bidagdha Mukhomandal. Bandyaghatiya Sarbananda wrote the note on the Sanskrit lexicon Amarkosh by Amar Singh, which contains about 400 Bengali words which are considered to be traces of Old Bengali.
Some of the songs written in Old Bengali were compiled in Mānasōllōsa or Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi. These Bengali songs were placed in the gitbinod section of the Sanskrit text. The theme of the songs was the story of Raslila with the Gopi and Vishnu in various Dashavatara.
|
|
