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THE PEOPLE
|
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LANGUAGES
The distribution of languages by rural and urban areas of the district as per 1961 Census is given below :—
|
Language |
Percentage to total population |
Percentage of each language in |
|
Total |
Rural |
Urban |
Rural areas |
Urban areas |
1. Bhilli |
0.15 |
0.16 |
0.02 |
98.98 |
1.02 |
2. Gujarati |
0.33 |
0.15 |
1.88 |
40.39 |
59.61 |
3. Hindi |
2.57 |
1.64 |
10.47 |
57.04 |
42.96 |
4. Kannada |
0.12 |
0.10 |
0.26 |
76.63 |
23.37 |
5. Marathi |
89.14 |
92.25 |
62.78 |
92.57 |
7.43 |
6. Punjabi |
0.25 |
0.03 |
2.14 |
9.14 |
90.86 |
7. Sindhi |
0.20 |
0.10 |
1.78 |
6.02 |
93.98 |
8. Telugu |
1.89 |
1.39 |
6.17 |
65.54 |
34.46 |
9. Urdu |
4.99 |
4.04 |
12.97 |
72.56 |
27.44 |
10. Others |
0.36 |
0.23 |
1.53 |
55.55 |
44.45 |
All languages |
100.00 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
89.45 |
10.55 |
Marathi was the principal language which was the mother-tongue of 89.14 per cent of the population in 1961. In rural areas Marathi-speakers accounted for 92.25 per cent of the population. They made
only 62.78 per cent of the population in urban areas. Urdu had the second largest number of speakers who constituted nearly 5 per cent of the district total population. Urdu was spoken more in urban areas where its speakers were as much as 12.97 per cent as against only 4.04 per cent for rural areas. Hindi had the third largest number of speakers. They formed 57 per cent of the total population of the district. It was also spoken more in urban areas where its speakers were as much as 10.47 per cent as against only 1.64 per cent for rural areas. Telugu was reported by nearly 2 per cent of the population. About two-thirds of its speakers were in rural areas and one-third in urban areas. Bhilli and Kannada were spoken more in rural areas. The speakers of Punjabi, Sindhi and Gujarati were found to be concentrated in urban areas.
The comparative position of the languages in 1901, 1951 and 1961 is given below:—
|
Language |
Percentage to total population |
|
1901 |
1951 |
1961 |
1. Bhilli |
1.04 |
0.05 |
0.15 |
2. Gujarati |
0.24 |
0.74 |
0.33 |
3. Hindi |
7.59 |
1.87 |
2.57 |
4. Kannada |
0.06 |
0.12 |
0.12 |
5. Marathi |
89.63 |
90.07 |
89.14 |
6. Punjabi |
-- |
0.36 |
0.25 |
7. Sindhi |
-- |
0.17 |
0.20 |
8. Telugu |
0.16 |
1.45 |
1.89 |
9. Urdu |
-- |
5.02 |
4.99 |
10. Others |
0.28 |
0.15 |
0.36 |
All languages |
100.00 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
The proportion of Marathi-speaking population to total population remained fairly constant since 1901. The proportion of Gujarati and Kannada speakers also remained fairly constant. The percentage of
Hindi-speakers decreased from 7.59 in 1901 to 1.87 in 1951 and increased to 2.57 in 1961. Urdu had been included in Hindi in 1901. The proportion of Urdu slightly decreased from 5.02 in 1951 to 4.99 per cent in 1961. The proportion of Bhilli decreased to an insignificant level in 1961. Telugu language speakers increased from 1.16 per cent in 1901 to 1.89 per cent in 1961. |
