Dogri, the language of the
Dogras or the Dogri Tribe, is spoken in the hilly regions of northern India. It is the is main language spoken in
Jammu, major parts of
Himachal Pradesh, including
Kangra,
Chamba,
Kullu,
Mandi, Suket, parts of
Punjab like
Gurdaspur,
Pathankot, Nurpur,
Hoshiarpur and in some parts of neighboring Pakistan like Sialkot. Earliest reference to the language can be found in an 11th century copper inscription found in Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. Dogri Language also finds mention in the list of Indian languages compiled by the
Amir Khusro, Father of
Hindustani Classical Music, who lived in the 13th century.
Dogri has originated from Sauraseni, one of the
Prakrit languages. Its vocabulary has been largely derived from
Sanskrit and it has also absorbed a number of Persian, Arabic and even English words. Though it is believed that the language was initially written in Takri script, Dogri Language generally uses the
Devanagari script. Dogri is akin to both
Hindi and
Punjabi.
