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Indian Languages Spoken in India: Complete List, Families, Scripts and Facts
- India's language count depends on whether we are counting raw mother tongue names, classified mother tongues, Census groups or constitutional languages.
- Census 2011 recorded 19,569 raw mother tongue names, 1,369 classified mother tongues and 121 grouped languages in its published language classification.
- The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution lists 22 languages. These are not India's national languages, and India has no national language declared by the Constitution.
- Indian languages belong to several families and use several scripts. A language, dialect, script and language family are different things.
- Multilingual education and community-led preservation are important for learning, identity, public access and cultural knowledge.
How many languages are spoken in India?
India is home to a very large number of languages and speech varieties, but the answer depends on what is being counted. A census return, a mother tongue, a language used in administration and a language family are not the same thing. This is why different articles sometimes give different totals.
The official Census of India 2011 language data recorded 19,569 raw mother tongue names. After spelling, naming and linguistic review, the Census identified 2,843 rationalised mother tongues and 1,369 classified mother tongues. The published Census tables grouped languages with 10,000 or more speakers into 121 languages. Of these, 22 were in the Eighth Schedule and the remainder were non-Scheduled languages. These figures describe a particular classification system; they do not mean that India has only 121 ways of speaking.
India has 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Census 2011 published data for 121 languages after grouping mother tongues. The same Census recorded thousands of mother tongue names, because people reported the language used in their childhood homes in many different ways.
Why do the totals differ?
People may identify with a language, dialect, regional variety, community name or a broader language label. A census must group these answers so that data can be compared, but a grouping used for statistics does not erase the community's own identity. The difference between "language" and "dialect" can also involve history, politics, literature, mutual understanding and public recognition, not only grammar.
For a useful conversation about Indian languages, it is better to say exactly what kind of count you mean: scheduled languages, Census-published languages, classified mother tongues or the many language varieties used by communities.
What are the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule?
The Eighth Schedule is part of the Constitution of India. It lists 22 languages that receive constitutional recognition for the purposes described in the Constitution. Being listed in the Eighth Schedule does not make a language the national language of India, and it does not mean that the other languages spoken in India are unimportant.
The 22 Scheduled Languages are listed below. The spelling "Odia" is now commonly used; older government documents may show "Oriya."
- Assamese
- Bengali
- Bodo
- Dogri
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Kannada
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Malayalam
- Manipuri
- Marathi
- Maithili
- Nepali
- Odia
- Punjabi
- Sanskrit
- Santali
- Sindhi
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Urdu
Scheduled language does not mean national language
India has no national language declared by the Constitution. Hindi is the official language of the Union under Article 343, written in Devanagari, and English continues to be used for official Union purposes under the Official Languages Act. States and Union Territories may adopt one or more languages for their own official work. The language a person speaks at home can be different from the language used by a state or by the Union government.
Which are the major Indian languages?
The table below gives a practical overview of widely used languages and language groups. It is not a ranking. Speaker totals change depending on whether a source counts mother tongue, second-language use, diaspora communities or related varieties. The Census 2011 mother tongue tables are the appropriate source for a particular historical count.
| Language | Where it is widely used | Family or branch | Common script or scripts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hindi | Northern, central and parts of western India; also widely learned elsewhere. | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari; Roman and other scripts may be used informally. |
| Bengali | West Bengal, Tripura and the Barak Valley; also Bangladesh and diaspora communities. | Indo-Aryan | Bengali-Assamese script. |
| Marathi | Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari. |
| Gujarati | Gujarat and diaspora communities. | Indo-Aryan | Gujarati script. |
| Punjabi | Punjab and nearby areas; also major diaspora communities. | Indo-Aryan | Gurmukhi in Indian Punjab; Shahmukhi in Pakistan. |
| Assamese | Assam and nearby areas. | Indo-Aryan | Bengali-Assamese script. |
| Odia | Odisha and nearby areas. | Indo-Aryan | Odia script. |
| Kashmiri | Kashmir Valley and Kashmiri-speaking communities. | Indo-Aryan | Perso-Arabic and Devanagari are both used in different contexts. |
| Maithili | Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of Nepal. | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari in contemporary standard use. |
| Tamil | Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Tamil-speaking communities worldwide. | Dravidian | Tamil script. |
| Telugu | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and surrounding areas. | Dravidian | Telugu script. |
| Kannada | Karnataka and neighbouring areas. | Dravidian | Kannada script. |
| Malayalam | Kerala and Lakshadweep. | Dravidian | Malayalam script. |
| Urdu | Many parts of India, especially urban and northern communities, and Pakistan. | Indo-Aryan | Perso-Arabic script, commonly Nastaliq in literary use. |
| Konkani | Goa, coastal Karnataka, Maharashtra and other communities. | Indo-Aryan | Multiple scripts, including Devanagari, Roman and Kannada. |
| Nepali | Sikkim, parts of West Bengal and other Indian communities. | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari. |
| Santali | Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and neighbouring areas. | Austroasiatic, Munda branch | Ol Chiki and other scripts. |
| Bodo | Assam and nearby areas. | Sino-Tibetan, often grouped under Tibeto-Burman | Devanagari in official use in Assam; other script traditions exist. |
A language can be used across state borders, and a state can contain many languages. Political boundaries and language boundaries do not match perfectly. The same language may also have different scripts, registers or regional varieties.
What are the main language families in India?
A language family is a group of languages that linguists connect through historical relationships. It does not mean that every language in a region is mutually understandable, and it does not describe a person's culture or identity by itself. India contains languages from several families, including Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan groupings. The classification of some languages and branches can be debated.
Language families are useful for understanding history and sound patterns, but they should not be used to rank languages. A language with fewer speakers can have a highly developed grammar, literature and cultural knowledge.
How are Indian languages connected with regions and states?
Indian languages are often described by region, but regional labels should be treated as practical guides rather than strict borders. Migration, trade, education, marriage and urban life have created multilingual communities across the country. Many people use one language at home, another at school or work, and a third for wider communication.
| Broad area | Examples of languages | Important note |
|---|---|---|
| North and central India | Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Dogri, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Chhattisgarhi, Rajasthani varieties. | The Hindi belt contains many distinct varieties and languages; not every variety should be treated as "just Hindi." |
| Western India | Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, Sindhi, Bhili varieties, Kutchi and others. | Coastal trade and migration have created multilingual communities. |
| Eastern India | Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Santali, Maithili, Magahi, Bhojpuri and others. | The region includes Indo-Aryan, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman languages. |
| Southern India | Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, Kodava and others. | Dravidian languages dominate many areas, alongside substantial multilingual populations. |
| Northeast and Himalayan areas | Bodo, Manipuri, Mizo, Khasi, Garo, Nepali, Lepcha and many others. | The region has exceptional linguistic diversity and many languages with smaller speaker populations. |
The language used in a state government is not necessarily the only language spoken in that state. Public communication, education and health services often need to account for several languages and for people who have migrated from another region.
What is a mother tongue or first language?
In Census 2011, "mother tongue" was defined as the language spoken in childhood by a person's mother to the person. If the mother died in infancy, the language mainly spoken in the childhood home could be recorded. This is a Census definition and should not be treated as the only personal meaning of "first language."
In everyday use, people may call a home language, first learned language, strongest language or heritage language their mother tongue. A child can grow up with more than one language. A person can understand a family language without speaking it fluently, or speak a school language more confidently than the language used by older relatives.
India's multilingualism means that language identity is often layered. Someone may identify with a regional language, a religious or community language, a state language, Hindi or English, depending on the setting. These identities can coexist.
Why do regional and minority languages matter?
A language carries more than vocabulary. It can hold oral history, songs, agricultural knowledge, place names, humour, ceremonies and ways of describing relationships with land and community. When a language becomes weaker, a community may lose easy access to knowledge held by older speakers. Language preservation is therefore connected with culture, education, dignity and participation.
The phrase "minority language" can describe a language with fewer speakers in a particular area, but a language may be locally dominant in one place and a minority language in another. "Lesser-known" is also a misleading label if the language is well known to its own speakers. Prefer "smaller speaker population" or name the community and region.
Examples of languages needing visibility
Santali, Ho, Mundari, Gondi, Khasi, Garo, Mizo, Tulu, Kodava, Bhili varieties, Nicobarese languages and many others illustrate the breadth of India's linguistic landscape. Their needs differ. Some have established writing traditions and media; others need more documentation, teaching materials, digital support or public recognition.
Preservation should involve speakers and communities. Recording a language without consent, context or community control can create ethical problems. Good language work supports people's right to use, teach, adapt and represent their own language.
How are Indian languages used in education?
The language of instruction affects how easily a child can understand a lesson, ask questions and show knowledge. UNESCO supports mother-tongue-based multilingual education because children generally learn more effectively when early instruction uses a language they understand well. This does not mean children should learn only one language. A strong programme can build literacy in a familiar language while adding regional, national or international languages carefully.
India's education policy discussions often refer to mother tongues, regional languages and multilingual learning. Actual implementation varies by state, school, teacher availability, learning materials and family choice. It is inaccurate to imply that every school follows the same language policy.
A child may understand a science idea in a home language but struggle to answer in the school language. A teacher can use familiar-language discussion, visuals, bilingual terminology and gradual academic-language practice. This gives the child more than one route to understanding and expression.
What multilingual education requires
- Teachers who can use or support the relevant languages.
- Books, assessments and digital materials in languages learners understand.
- A planned transition when another language is introduced as a subject or medium.
- Respect for family choices and the child's complete language background.
- Assessment that separates subject knowledge from unfamiliar-language difficulty.
How are Indian languages used in government and public services?
India's Union and state governments use defined official-language arrangements, but public services may need to communicate with people who speak many other languages. A citizen may need information about health, education, transport, elections, courts or emergencies in a language they understand.
Translation is useful, but a translated page is not always enough. People may need spoken interpretation, sign-language interpretation, plain-language writing, audio, captions or a person who can explain a form. In legal, medical and safety situations, accuracy and confidentiality matter.
The language a government uses for administration does not determine the value of a family or community language. Inclusive public service begins by identifying who needs information and which communication format will work for them.
What scripts are used for Indian languages?
A script is a writing system. A language and a script are not the same thing. Some languages use more than one script, and the same script can be used for several languages. Script choice may reflect history, religion, state policy, education, technology or community preference.
| Script | Languages commonly associated with it in India | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Devanagari | Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Sanskrit, Konkani and others. | The same script does not make these languages the same. |
| Bengali-Assamese | Bengali and Assamese; also used for related languages in some contexts. | Letters and orthographic conventions differ by language. |
| Gurmukhi | Punjabi in India. | Punjabi is also written in Shahmukhi in Pakistan. |
| Gujarati | Gujarati. | It developed historically from Devanagari-related forms. |
| Odia | Odia. | Its rounded letter shapes are distinctive. |
| Tamil | Tamil. | Tamil script is used for Tamil and adapted in some contexts. |
| Telugu | Telugu. | Telugu script is used primarily for Telugu. |
| Kannada | Kannada. | Kannada script is also used in some historical and regional contexts. |
| Malayalam | Malayalam. | Malayalam has its own script tradition. |
| Perso-Arabic | Urdu, Kashmiri, Sindhi and others in particular contexts. | Styles and adaptations vary by language. |
| Ol Chiki | Santali. | Created for Santali; other scripts are also used in different communities. |
If you want to learn an Indian language, ask which script is used by the people and resources you will actually interact with. Learning the script can improve reading, pronunciation and access to local media, but Roman transliteration may help during the first stage.
What influence have Persian, Arabic and English had on Indian languages?
Languages change when communities trade, migrate, govern, study and create art together. Persian and Arabic contributed vocabulary to several Indian languages, particularly through historical administration, literature and religious life. English has influenced vocabulary, education, law, science, business, technology and urban speech.
Urdu developed within the broader Hindustani environment and uses a Perso-Arabic script. Hindi and Urdu share significant spoken grammar and vocabulary, but their formal registers and writing traditions differ. It is more accurate to describe this as long-term language contact than to say that one language is simply a mixture of another.
English is widely used in Indian education, government, media, technology and professional life, but access and proficiency differ across communities. Indian English is also a living variety with its own usage patterns. Borrowed words are evidence of contact, not proof that a language has lost its identity.
How can you choose an Indian language to learn?
There is no single "best Indian language" for everyone. Choose according to the people you want to speak with, the place where you will use it, your family history, your work or study needs, and the resources available for regular practice.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Who do I want to speak with? | Family, friends, customers and local communities may use a particular language or variety. |
| Where will I use it? | A language useful in one state or city may not be the language used in another. |
| Do I need speaking, reading or both? | This affects whether you need a script course, conversation practice or both. |
| Which variety and register do I need? | Home speech, formal writing, media and regional varieties can differ. |
| Can I practise regularly? | Access to a tutor, relatives, media and reading material predicts sustainable progress. |
| What is my first task? | A real task such as greeting relatives or handling a shop visit gives study direction. |
If family connection is your goal, do not feel that you need to speak perfectly before using the language. Start with greetings, questions, everyday routines and listening. A heritage learner may already understand more than they can say, so the plan should build speaking confidence without treating partial knowledge as failure.
How can families support Indian-language learning?
Families can make a language part of ordinary life rather than treating it only as a school subject. Use it during meals, family calls, cooking, travel planning, storytelling and celebrations. Let children hear adults speaking naturally, and give them books, music and media that match their age and interests.
What can technology do for Indian languages?
Technology can make language learning and preservation easier through keyboards, fonts, online dictionaries, subtitled media, speech recordings, translation tools, digital archives and online lessons. It can also make a language more visible to people who live far from their home region.
Technology is not equally accurate for every Indian language. Systems trained on large amounts of text may perform better for high-resource languages than for languages with limited digital material. Automatic translation may miss dialect, politeness, cultural references or context. Human review is important for education, healthcare, legal information and community archives.
A practical learner can use technology to hear a phrase, compare scripts, review vocabulary and find conversation opportunities. The best tool is the one that supports a real task and is checked against a reliable speaker, teacher or source.
A practical way to learn an Indian language online
Online learning is useful when it gives you regular exposure and a chance to use the language. A strong beginner routine combines listening, speaking, reading or script practice, vocabulary review and feedback. It should also reflect the language variety and situation you care about.
| Practice area | Beginner action | Progress signal |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | Listen to a short dialogue and identify the situation. | You understand the main purpose without translating every word. |
| Speaking | Practise a greeting, introduction and two requests. | You can use them with another person and repair a misunderstanding. |
| Reading or script | Learn a small group of letters and find them in real words. | You can recognise names, signs or short messages. |
| Vocabulary | Learn words inside phrases related to your life. | You can adapt a phrase instead of only recognising it. |
| Review | Return to the same material after a day and a week. | Recall becomes faster and more natural. |
| Feedback | Ask a tutor or speaker to correct a few recurring errors. | You can notice and improve the same pattern next time. |
Hindustani Tongue currently offers live one-to-one online lessons for Indian languages, with language goals, learner level and practice needs discussed through the course process. Review the current language programmes and choose a trial if guided conversation is useful for your goal.
Why should Indian languages be preserved and learned?
Learning a language can help a person communicate, but it can also strengthen access to stories, family knowledge, local history and community life. Preservation is not only about keeping old words in an archive. A language remains alive when people can use it in homes, schools, media, technology, public life and creative work.
UNESCO describes multilingual education as important for inclusion and learning because children benefit when they can learn in a language they understand. The United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages also recognises that Indigenous languages are central to history, culture, knowledge and expression. These principles apply to language planning in India while each community's needs remain specific.
A language does not need millions of speakers to deserve respect. Large languages need good teaching and media; smaller languages may need documentation, literacy resources, digital tools and community-led revitalisation. Both are part of India's linguistic future.
Sources and citations
- Office of the Registrar General, India: Census Language Concepts and Definitions
- Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India: Constitutional provisions relating to the Eighth Schedule
- Department of Official Language, Government of India: Languages included in the Eighth Schedule
- UNESCO: What you need to know about multilingual education
- Census of India: C-16: Population by mother tongue, India, 2011
- Hindustani Tongue: Indian languages learning programmes
Choosing the right way to learn an Indian language
Self-study materials can be useful for exploration and review. Guided lessons add live speaking, correction and help with regional usage.
| Feature | Self-study resources | Live one-to-one lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Language choice | You must decide which variety and level to follow | A tutor can discuss your people, place and purpose |
| Speaking practice | Depends on finding a conversation partner | Lesson time is built around guided use |
| Scripts | Materials vary in script and transliteration quality | The tutor can introduce the relevant script progressively |
| Regional usage | You may not know which phrase fits the setting | A tutor can explain register and local usage |
| Feedback | Often limited or delayed | Pronunciation and recurring errors can be addressed directly |
| Routine | Flexible but easy to postpone | Scheduled practice creates accountability |
Indian languages research and learning checklist
- Identify whether you mean scheduled languages, Census categories, mother tongues or language varieties.
- Do not call the 22 Eighth Schedule languages India's national languages.
- Check the language and script used by the people you want to communicate with.
- Remember that one state can contain many languages and one language can cross state borders.
- Use exact sources when quoting speaker counts, because the result changes by definition and dataset.
- Treat smaller language communities as knowledge holders, not as "lesser" versions of major languages.
Key takeaways
- India's linguistic diversity cannot be represented by one simple number.
- Census 2011 recorded 19,569 raw mother tongue names, 1,369 classified mother tongues and 121 grouped languages in its published classification.
- The Constitution's Eighth Schedule contains 22 languages, but India has no national language.
- Indian languages belong to several families and use several scripts; language, family, region and script are different concepts.
- Multilingual education and community-led language preservation support inclusion, learning and cultural continuity.
Frequently asked questions about Indian languages
How many languages are spoken in India?
The answer depends on the counting method. Census 2011 recorded 19,569 raw mother tongue names, 1,369 classified mother tongues and published 121 grouped languages with 10,000 or more speakers. India also has 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule. These categories should not be treated as interchangeable.
What are India's 22 official languages?
The accurate term is the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Maithili, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Does India have a national language?
No language is declared the national language of India by the Constitution. Hindi is the official language of the Union under Article 343, and English continues for official Union purposes under the Official Languages Act. States can have their own official-language arrangements.
What is the most spoken language in India?
Hindi is the largest mother tongue in Census 2011 data, but the answer changes if second-language use, related varieties or a different dataset is counted. It is better to name the source and measure rather than use an unexplained ranking.
Which language family is Hindi part of?
Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language, a branch of the wider Indo-European family. India also has Dravidian, Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan languages, among others.
Are all Indian languages written in the same script?
No. Indian languages use several scripts, including Devanagari, Bengali-Assamese, Gurmukhi, Gujarati, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Perso-Arabic and Ol Chiki. Some languages use more than one script.
Are Hindi and Urdu the same language?
They are distinct standard languages that share much everyday spoken structure through Hindustani. Hindi is normally written in Devanagari and Urdu in a Perso-Arabic script, and formal vocabulary traditions differ.
Why are Indian languages important in education?
A language learners understand well can support comprehension, participation and the transition from home to school. Multilingual education can build a familiar-language foundation while adding other languages with appropriate teachers and materials.
What is a mother tongue in the Indian Census?
Census 2011 defined it as the language spoken in childhood by the person's mother, with related instructions for infants and cases where the mother died in infancy. Everyday meanings of mother tongue can be broader and people may have more than one home language.
Which Indian language should I learn?
Choose the language connected to the people, place, family, work or cultural goal you care about. Consider whether you need speaking, reading or both, and whether you can find regular practice and reliable materials.
How can I learn an Indian language online?
Use a routine that combines listening, speaking, reading or script practice, vocabulary review and feedback. Live one-to-one lessons can help if you need conversation practice, correction and a plan connected with your goal.
How can families preserve a regional language?
Use it naturally in routines, stories and calls; provide books and media; invite relatives to speak without testing children; and support both the home language and any school or community language the child needs.
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