Archive · 12 Aug 2025
Hindi's True History: Missionary Role in Its Politicization
Some people claim Hindi was made by Christian missionaries, but that's not true.
Hindi has been around for centuries, even before the British came to India.
Missionaries did change Hindi by writing rules for it and linking it with Hindu culture.
They helped separate Hindi from Urdu.
People like William Yates and Rev.
W Etherington made Hindi more about Sanskrit and less about other languages.
They helped the British understand and control India by using language to sort people.
This is still important today because language is part of how people see who they are and how they fit in with each other.
Hindi predates colonialism, originating in the 13th century, but missionaries reshaped and communalized it.
Missionaries codified Hindi, associating it with Hindu identity through grammar, script, and vocabulary choices.
William Yates distinguished Hindi and Urdu, fueling their separation rather than recognizing them as dialects.
Rev. W Etherington created a Hindi grammar emphasizing Sanskrit and rejecting Arabic/Persian influences, promoting linguistic Hinduization.
Missionary efforts aligned with colonial knowledge, using language to classify and govern, impacting modern politics.
- Who
- Christian missionaries and colonial figures.
- What
- The reshaping and communalization of the Hindi language during the colonial period.
- When
- From the 19th century onward during the colonial period.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- To classify, govern, and associate language with religious and communal identity, impacting modern politics.
Early Hindi Emergence
Missionary Intervention
Origin
Early Hindi Emergence
Hindi predates colonialism, originating in the 13th century.
Missionary Intervention
Hindi was "created" by Christian missionaries during the colonial period.
- Early Hindi names
- Hindvi, Dehlavi, Gujri, Dakkani, or Dakhni
- First Hindi verses
- 13th century, by Amir Khusrau
- Key figure
- William Yates, Rev. W Etherington, Samuel Henry Kellogg
- Yates's publication
- Introduction to the Hindoostanee Language (1827)
- Etherington's grammar
- Bhasha Bhaskar
- Kellogg's publication
- Grammar of the Hindi Language (1876)