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PERIODS OF PRAKRIT
SUNITI KUMAR CHATTERJI
Definite dates cannot be laid down in language history, but the period from the time of the composition of the Vedic hymns (? 1500-21200 B.C.) to the times immediately preceding Gautama Buddha (557-477 B.C.) may be regarded as the OIA Period. The MIA period may be said to have extended from 600 B.C. to about 1000 A.C.; of which 600 B.C. to 200 B.C. would be the Early or First MIA stage, 200 B.C. to 200 A.C. the Transitional MIA stage, 200 A.C. to 500 or 600 A.C. the Second MIA stage, and 600 A.C. to 1000 A.C. the Third or Late MIA stage. The first few centuries after 1000 A.C. would be an old NIA period, during which the NIA languages enter into life.
MIA Period : 600 B.C. - 1000 A.C. i) Early stage : 600 B.C. - 200 B.C. (Asokan Prakrit
and Pali as types). ii) Transitional stage : 200 B.C. – 200 A.C. (The
Prakrits of the earlier inscriptions, — Kharoşthi
and Brāhmi as types). iii) Second MIA stage:: A.C. 200-600 A.C. (Dramatic
Prakrits — Saurasēni, Mahārāştri and Māgadhi,
and Jaina Ardhamāgadhi as types). iv) Third MIA stage (Apabhrança): c. 600 A.C. -
1000 A.C. (Type - Western or Saurasēni
Apabhransa). (Adapted from The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language, Calcutta University, Calcutta, 1926.] N.B. OIA = Old Indo-Aryan
MIA = Middle Indo-Aryan NIA = New Indo-Aryan
(Editor)
