The Components of Hindawi Language in Amir Khusraw’s Poetry

Abstract

In the fourteenth century Delhi Sultanate polyglot Amir Khusraw (1253-1352) was one of the earliest poets of Hindawi language who blended medieval northern Indian dialects Braj Bhasha and Khari Boli. In his times, Persian was considered the official and literary language that was used by the Delhi Sultanate ashraf (elite). On the other hand, many local dialects including
Hindawi were considered to be the language of the ajlaf (commoners) in the Sultanate society.