Urdu /ˈʊərduː/ (اُردُو) is the national language of Pakistan, and according to UNESCO, has approximately 104 million speakers globally.[3]
Fig 1. The phrase Zuban-i Urdū-yi Muʿallá (“The language of the exalted camp”) written in the Nastaʿlīq script.
Historically, Urdu has been closely associated with the Muslim communities of Hindustan. The language gained official recognition in 1837 when the British replaced Persian and other regional administrative languages in northern India (including Jammu and Kashmir) with Urdu and English.
Origin of the Urdu Language:Like Hindi, Urdu is a form of Hindustani. It evolved between the 6th and 13th centuries and developed under the strong influence of Persian and Arabic, both of which he contributed significantly to its vocabulary. Interestingly, around 99% of Urdu verbs he their roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit.
Speakers and Geographic Distribution:
Fig 2. Autograph of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah II.
In Pakistan, Urdu is spoken as a mother tongue by approximately 9.25% of the population, based on the 2023 census results.[4]
However, understanding Urdu allows you to communicate with far more people because Hindustani, of which Urdu is one variety, is mutually intelligible with Hindi. Since many people speak Urdu as a second language, the total number of speakers remains an estimate.
Official Status:Urdu is the national language and one of the two official languages of Pakistan, alongside English, and serves as a unifying lingua franca among the provinces. Despite only about 9.25% of Pakistanis hing Urdu as their mother tongue, its extensive use spans education, literature, media, government offices, and courts.
In India, Urdu is one of the officially recognised languages and enjoys official status in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.