Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s5.t2.2

c8.s5.t2.2

Inscriptions in the Islamic languages⁸⁹ first appeared in India in the last decade of the twelfth century A.D. (Desai 226) and gradually became more numerous, especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and continued into the nineteenth. In the earlier centuries Arabic was the preferred language, but from the fourteenth century on Persian became more prevalent, while Urdu came into use only from the mideighteenth century on. Bilinguals among these languages, especially Arabic and Persian, are common, as are bilinguals with Indic languages (e.g., Persian and Sanskrit or Kannada). In general, Islamic inscriptions are most numerous in northern India, but they are found in virtually all parts of the subcontinent.