Karkhandari Urdu

Karkhandari
Old Delhi Urdu dialect
Native to	India
Region	Delhi
Ethnicity	Delhiite
Native speakers	50,000 (1961)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Central Indo-Aryan Western Hindi Hindustani Urdu Karkhandari
Writing system	Perso-Arabic script (Urdu alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

Karkhandāri Urdu is a dialect of Urdu historically spoken in Old Delhi (Shahjahanabad, Delhi-6). It is considered a traditional form of Delhi Urdu, though today it is rarely spoken and survives only among a few remaining speakers.

Etymology

The word 'Karkhandāri' is derived from the Urdu word 'kārkhānā' which means factory or workshop. The suffix 'dār' denotes worker or owner. The language label thereby stands for a colloquial language spoken by occupational groups. However, a wider group of people used it.

Distribution

According to literary scholar Gopi Chand Narang, Karkhandari was a sociolect used in the daily speech of artisans, craftsmen, small traders, and labourers living in the old city of Delhi. Despite demographic and cultural changes in the capital, speakers of this dialect remain concentrated in specific parts of the historical city. The areas traditionally inhabited by Karkhandari speakers were geographically bounded by Chāndni Chowk to the north, Faiz Bazaar to the east, Asaf Ali Road to the south, and Lahori Gate to the west. The core population of speakers resided in the southwestern lanes near Jama Masjid and Lāl Kuan Bazaar, including neighborhoods such as Chitli Qabar, Kucha Chailān, Kalān Mahal, Matiya Mahal, Bhojla Pahāri, Pahari Imli, Churi wālān, Tokri wālān, Soi wālān, Phātak Teliyan, Bulbuli Khāna, Mohalla Qabaristan, Gali Shāh Tāra, Kucha Pandit, Mohalla Rod garān, Farrāsh Khāna, and Gali Batāshān. Additional clusters were found northeast of Lal Kuan in Gali Qāsim Jān, Ballimārān Bazaar, Haveli Hissām-uddin Haider, Bāra Dari Sher Afgan Khan, and Ahāta Kalē Sāhib. A few families near Khāri bāoli, in Phātak Habash Khān, continue to preserve the dialect. Beyond the old city walls, Karkhandari speakers have also been identified in areas like Kishanganj, Shīsh Mahal, Qassāb pura, Beri Wāla Bāgh, and parts of Bāra Hindu Rao.

Influences

Karkhandāri as well as old Deccani show several phonological and grammatical similarities now absent in modern Urdu and Hindi.