The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.208

v1.c15.208

We are thus furnished with a satisfactory explanation of the distribution of the Indo-Āryan languages. As classified by the Linguistic Survey they radiate from a central area occupied by the Midland languages, the chief representative of which is Western Hindī. In the north of this area lay the country of the Kurus and Pañchālas where, according to the Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa (III, 2, 3, 15) speech, i.e. Brāhman speech, had its home (*Vedic Index*, I, p. 165). This is the centre from which the spread of Brāhmanism and Brāhman culture may be traced historically. From it the language of the Brāhman scriptures extended with the religion and became eventually the sacred language of the whole sub-continent; from it the influence of the Āryan type of speech was diffused in all directions, receiving a check only in the south where the Dravidian languages were firmly established.