Classical Languages

Classical Languages are languages with original, independent literary traditions and a large body of ancient written literature.
India recognizes eleven classical languages: Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013) and Odia (2014), Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali have been included in the prestigious category in 2024.
All the Classical Languages are listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian constitution.
In 2024, the Union Cabinet dropped a key provision for the selection of classical language, and the dropped provision mandated that the language must have original literary tradition.

Criteria for declaring a language as ‘Classical.’

The Ministry of Culture provides guidelines regarding Classical languages. They are:

High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over 1500-2000 years.
A body of ancient literature/texts is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers.
Classical language and literature are distinct from modern, but there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or offshoots.

The Ministry of Education provides specific benefits to promote the classical languages:

Two major annual international awards for scholars of eminence in classical Indian languages.
Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Languages.
The University Grants Commission is requested to create several professional chairs for classical languages in the Central Universities.

Eleven languages in India have a Classical Language status; these are:

It was declared a classical language in 2004.
It is a classical Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, and various other parts of Southeast Asia.
Sangam literature constitutes the earliest period of Tamil literature.
It is one of the 22 languages in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.

It was declared a classical language in 2005.
It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-European languages.
It is one of the 22 languages in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
It is a language of classical Hindu philosophy.
It spread to the northwest part of the subcontinent during Bronze Age.

It was declared a classical language of India in 2008.
It is one of the 22 languages in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
It is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Karnataka and southwest India.
It is written in Kannada script which was evolved from the Kadamba script during the 5th century.

It was declared a classical language of India in 2008.
It is one of the 22 languages in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
It is a Dravidian language spoken by people in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
It traces its origin from proto-Dravidian spoken during the third millennium BCE.

It was declared as a classical language of India in 2013.
It is one of the 22 languages in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
It is a Dravidian language spoken in Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep.
Its oldest literature work is from between the 9th and 11th centuries.
Vatteluttu script was the earliest script used to write Malayalam.

It was declared a classical language of India in 2014.
It is one of the 22 languages in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
It is an Indo-Aryan language, spoken in the Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand.
It has a wide literary history and is less borrowed from other languages.
The earliest known inscription in Odia dates back to the 10th century CE

5 languages Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali were included in the prestigious category in 2024.

Eighth Schedule of Indian Constitution	Hindustani Music
Schools of Indian Philosophy	Indian Puppetry