Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c12.s12.17

c12.s12.17

3. The Eastern dialect. The standard form of it, at first current all over Eastern U. P. (Oudh etc.) and Bihar, differentiated into Eastern Prācya (Māgadhi) and Western Prācya (Ardha-Māgadhi). The latter came strongly under Midland influence, and became finally transformed into the Kosali or Eastern Hindi dialects (Awadhi, Bagheli, Chattisgarhi). The former, Māgadhi, spread into Bengal and Assam and Orissa, and it is the source of Bhojpuri, Magahi-Maithili, Bengali-Assamese and Oriya.