Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 146  New Language ?.

Vijay, unaware of the plot brewing in the Mughal Empire, is focused on his own matters. It is a special day for the Vijayanagar Empire as they hold the first conference of all the intellectuals, and Vijay is very excited about it.

"Vinod, did everyone arrive?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, everyone is waiting for you." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Vijay nodded in approval and went into the large hall. When he entered, all the intellectuals, sages, and literary scholars got up as soon as they saw Vijay and gave him a namaskara. He nodded his head in acceptance and went towards the dias to start his speech.

Saint Tukaram was also present, fortunately, he was given a front-row seat. As soon as he went on the dais, everyone quieted down, so Vijay started speaking loudly.

"I am very happy and honoured that so many intellectual scholars, teachers, and religious figures decided to come to Vijayanagar."

As soon as he spoke this sentence, Alok Jain's mouth twitched. If he could say something now, it would be, 'Who came here voluntarily? You are the one who kidnapped us.' However, he did not voice it out, as genuinely, the treatment he had received since his arrival here had been very good. He was even gifted with a few acres of land. On top of that, he could feel that the emperor of Vijayanagara was up to something important; otherwise, why would he make such a fuss in inviting all the Bharatiya-originated language scholars? He was not the only one who felt that way, as a few more people had a similar reaction to him.

Vijay, who saw some blank faces in the crowd, coughed lightly in embarrassment, covered it up, and continued. "As you all know, Vijayanagar has conquered three new territories, well, if you add Sri Lanka, it is four. This is a very good thing, but a problem arises. The languages of all the places are different, each language has many dialects, and if I want to integrate all these new territories into the empire, there must be some common language among all the territories."

An Odia scholar raised his hand and posed a question, "Your Highness, isn't there already Sanskrit for that? The language Sanskrit already connects all the major cultures in Bharat."

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Vijay nodded his head as he explained, "What this scholar said is true. Sanskrit is already a common bridge between multiple cultures in our Bharat desha, but what I want is not a language only the nobles and higher caste people use. I want a language where even the common person could learn it. Sanskrit now is nothing but a language of superior people according to the masses, and this creates isolation which I do not want to see."

Suddenly, another priest stood up and posed his question, "Your Majesty, why would you want all those lower caste people to learn the sacred language? It is a language for us, the higher caste people who are more knowledgeable and can actually understand it."

Vijay, upon hearing this, sighed as he was expecting the question from the start, so he chose to make his intention clear. "What this priest said is the common consensus among the higher castes today, but I think they are no different from us and no less capable than us. People like Rani Padmini, Sage Valmiki, and Vyasa prove this point." While many intellectuals in the conference agreed, the person who asked the question and a few of his followers were unwilling, as they were about to cause a ruckus. So, he had no other choice but to order the guards, "Throw them out." 'There will always be a black sheep to ruin everything,' he thought to himself, annoyed. The people who saw the person being escorted out finally got an understanding of the determination of this emperor. Now, most of the intellectuals, who do not care about this caste-related nonsense, became interested as they listened on.

"Where was I? ...ah, Yes, a unified language. So yes, I need a unified language that even the masses can speak. As for the ideas of how to make this happen, I will tell you in the further conversation. But for now, I have chosen Sanskrit as the core for this new language. Does anyone have any objections?"

As soon as Vijay finished his speech, a huge discussion erupted among the people. While many expected the result, others did not. One Tamil scholar got up and questioned, "Your Majesty, why Sanskrit? Why can it not be a Dravidian language, which all the subjects under your rule speak?"

Vijay, drawing from his experiences with Tamilians in both his current and past lives, was well-prepared for this question. Reflecting on Tamil Nadu's behaviour, he felt like it was similar to the French. In essence, if he had to encapsulate Tamil Nadu's demeanour in one sentence, it would be, 'Tamil Nadu likes to do its own thing.' This succinct statement effectively captures the independent and unique nature that characterizes Tamil Nadu.

But still, he replied, "There are many reasons. now, let me give you some. Language is not only a means of communication, but it also contains the inheritance of a civilization. While I do not deny that the Dravidian language has a rich history, it does not compare to Sanskrit, in which all our religious, scientific, mathematical Ideas, Vedas, Puranas, and Shastra are written. Although Tamil also has all these, it was translated from a Sanskrit source. And the more practical reason is Dravidian languages do not have a lot of words which are present in Sanskrit."

This answer stopped a lot of people. Just when they thought his majesty would Move on to the next topic, he put one last point.

"And the most important point being the rest of Bharat speaks languages derived from Sanskrit, so using Sanskrit would be more conducive to integration."

This last point caused a huge stir among the crowd because what Vijay was saying was no different from proclaiming that he would conquer the rest of Bharat. They were startled by the ambition of the young king.

Seeing the expressions, Vijay nodded as he asked, "Now, is there any last complaint about using Sanskrit as the core for our new language?"

No one objected again, so he continued, "Now that we have decided what the core language would be, we will now decide how we will go about doing it. This is a two-stage process. The first stage is to remove all the religious and caste-oriented words from Sanskrit. I don't want the language to be corrupted by all this rubbish."

This one sentence made a lot of scholars clench their fists, and they are only the relatively moderate people who are able to hold back their anger. For the fanatic Brahmins, this will be another story.

Vijay continued, "Next, let's simplify the grammar. Avoid using complex verb forms and noun structures. Use shorter words and break down compounds into clear phrases. Choose everyday words from regional languages instead of obscure literary terms. When possible, replace complex grammatical constructions with simple descriptive phrases. In everyday life, emotions, relationships, and nature, use words from regional languages rather than Sanskrit, ensuring a smooth integration to avoid sounding artificial.

Additionally, incorporate common nouns from different languages across Bharat that seamlessly fit with Sanskrit. Ensure that the grammar of this new language remains consistent with Sanskrit, making it as simple as possible for everyday communication."

"Is there any objection or anything more to add?"

This time, a Bengali scholar asked, "But, Your Majesty, can such a language be used by scholars? I mean, wouldn't it be harder for scientific personnel if the language is not precise enough?"

Vijay waved his hand and replied, "There is no problem with this. Bringing out a new language does not mean completely getting rid of all the other languages. It just means that this new language will be taught in schools, and spoken in the courts, and the government's documentation will be done in this language. So, to say, this new language will be the official language of the Empire, and the rest of the languages, the people are free to speak and write however necessary."

"As for the scientific community, they can still use Sanskrit for the dissemination of knowledge as it is still the most precise language our ancestors had produced. But my only demand is that the version of Sanskrit used should be decastified so that even the people from Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist communities could accept it."

With this, there were no more doubts. Some of them were relieved, knowing the fact that the emperor did not want to suppress other languages.

Looking at how there were no other doubts, Vijay concluded, "Good. Now the name of this new language. I call it Bharathi language, the language spoken by Bhartiya people."

Vijay completed his speech, as the intellectuals started their discussion, but he left to take care of the rest of the report.

The future historians called these five months The Likitha Srushti months, the months that gave birth to a language that rekindled the identity of Bharat, an ancient civilization reawakening after a long sleep under the sage King Vijay Devaraya.