I totally agree with you in this case, it is not only newars...but all people suffered.."
It's not only Newar that have lost newari scripts and bhasa. Even other janajatis have lost their many culture and bhasa."
I still remember reading sanskrit when i was in school...when i had no chance to study my mother tongue..
you are yes, dead right on that singha durbar incident..it was done purposely..
But i have no political affiliation nor political aspiration..I just want people to be aware of history..How nepali people suffered..and i want them to be aware politically
Nepal Bhasa has undergone continuous change through time. The
language can be classified into old era and new era language. Although
there is no specific demarcation between the two, mid-Rana regime of
Nepal i.e. around 966 to 1061 N.S. is taken as the period of
demarcation between the two.
Modern Nepal Bhasa is the most Indianized of the Tibeto-Burman languages. It has had many centuries of contact with neighboring Indic languages.
Ancient era
The earliest known (dated) document in Nepal Bhasa is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates back to 1114AD (235 NS) . A few lines from the script read
छीन ढाको तृसंघष परिभोग। छु पुलेंग कीत्य बिपार वस्त्र बिवु मिखा तिवु मदुगुन छु सात दुगुनव ल्है।
which is a general discussion of business transactions. This
document dates from Lichchhivi period. Hence, it can be inferred that
although the official language of the period was Sanskrit, Nepal Bhasa
was already in use.
Medieval era
The language continued growing in the Medieval period, and enjoyed royal patronage. Noted royal writers include Mahindra Malla,Siddhinarsingh Malla, Jagatprakash Malla etc. An example of the language used in that period is provided by lines of Mooldevshashidev written by Jagatprakash Malla
- धु छेगुकि पाछाव वाहान
- तिलहित बिया हिङ लाहाति थाय थायस
which is a description of Shiva, and the use of a tiger skin as a seat for Shiva.
The language replaced Sanskrit as the administrative language during this period.
Dark ages
The language faced a setback after the unification of Nepal in 17th
century, as the language of the hill people became the court language.
Furthermore, the literature and scripts of the language were put
into shadow during the 104 years of aristocratic "Rana rule" (1846-1950
AD). During this time, legal documents written in Nepal Bhasa were
declared unenforceable and any evidence in Nepal Bhasa was declared
null and void. There was no state support thereafter.
During the autocratic Panchayat rule of King Mahendra, which followed the coup d'êtat
that deposed the democratically elected bodies of Nepal, a new policy
of "Ek Bhasa, Ek Rashtra" (One language, one nation) was enforced. This
policy made Nepali language the only state language, and the other
languages were in shadow as "ethnic" or "local" languages. The
implementation of this policy made Nepali the state language. The
continued primacy of the language over 30 years made Khas or Nepali
language the lingua franca
as well. Oher languages, including Nepal Bhasa, were cast aside, as the
population could not use it for official, educational or legal purposes.
Renaissance era
The era between B.S.1965 to B.S. 1997 is considered as the renaissance era of Nepal Bhasa. During this era, people like Pandit Nisthananda Bajracharya, Siddhidas Mahaju, Jagatsundar Malla, Yogbir Singh Kansakar, Shukraraj Shastri, Dharmaditya Dharmacharya started writing, translating, educating, and restructuring the language.
The publication of a modern grammar, reader, and children's story books by Shukraraj Shastri, translation of the ancient epic Ramayan,
writing about the morals and ethics by Siddhidas Mahaju, "education in
mother tongue" movement by Jagatsundar Malla and other literary
activities in the era marked the renaissance. Also, research on the
language began in this period. It was proven that this language was a
Sino-Tibetan language and not Indo-Aryan language (as was believed) in
this era. Also, the renaissance marked the revival of the word "Nepal
Bhasa" to name the language rather than the Khas imposed term "Newari".
Some of the lines of Siddhidas Mahaju(N.S.987-N.S.1050) read as follows
- सज्जन मनुष्या संगतनं मूर्ख नापं भिना वै
- पलेला लपते ल वंसा म्वति थें ल सना वै
which state that even a moron can improve with the company of good
people just like even a drop of water appears like a pearl when it
descends upon the leaves of a lotus plant.
Modern Nepal Bhasa
A lot of writers and thinkers have contributed to the modern form of Nepal Bhasa. These include Chittadhar "Hridaya", Durga Lal Shrestha etc..
During the Panchayat era, under the slogan of "एक देश, एक भाषा नीति"
(one nation, one language), Nepal Bhasa (and other languages of Nepal)
was prevented from being broadcasted in Radio Nepal or other government
media. As the Government did not allow private broadcasting in Nepal,
this prevented the language from mass media. Also, the term Newari was
used to address the language instead of "Nepal Bhasa" which met fierce
criticism and resistance. This marked the beginning of Nepal Bhasa movement.
Instead of using mass media, people started producing audio cassettes.
Also, the first Nepal Bhasa movie "Silu" marked the beginning of movies
in Nepal Bhasa. Nepal Bhasa movement aimed to end the one nation, one
language policy. Some lines from the famous poet Durga Lal Shrestha of this era are as follows
- घाः जुयाः जक ख्वइगु खः झी
- स्याःगुलिं सः तइगु खः
- झी मसीनि ! झी मसीनि !
- धइगु चिं जक ब्वैगु खः
which translate as "We are crying because we are wounded, we are
shouting because of the pain, all in all we are demonstrating signs
that we are not dead yet".
The restoration of democracy marked the privatization of media.
Various concerned people and organizations are working on the
development of Nepal Bhasa by themselves. Nepal Bhasa has several
newspapers, a primary level curriculum, several schools, several F.M.
stations (selected time for Nepal Bhasa programs), regular TV programs
and News (in Image TV Channel), Nepal Bhasa Music Award (a part of
Image Award), several websites (including Nepal Bhasa wikipedia) etc.
Even after the restoration of democracy and the Loktantra
revolution, the state owned media address the language as Newari. Also,
after the Supreme court banned the use of Nepal Bhasa and any other
language of Nepal in any administrative activities, Nepal Bhasa
movement merged with other languages movements to fight for the right
of language.