Migrants in Vidarbha Are Strengthening the Marathi Language

thenewsdirt
Aug 1
7 min read

Recent incidents in Maharashtra have ignited a heated debate over language and migration. A viral video showing a shopkeeper near Mumbai being assaulted for allegedly refusing to speak Marathi sparked outrage and calls for non-Marathi speakers to adopt the local tongue. Against this tense backdrop, some political voices claim that an influx of outsiders threatens the Marathi language.

However, a closer look at the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra tells a different story. In Vidarbha, immigration from other Indian states has not endangered Marathi. In fact, it appears to have increased the number of Marathi speakers. This multilingual region offers a case study in how newcomers can integrate linguistically, bolstering the local language rather than displacing it.

Vidarbha’s history and geography have made it a crossroads of cultures, fostering a unique linguistic environment. Marathi serves as the principal language of communication across all 11 districts of Vidarbha, used in government, education, media, and daily life. At the same time, Vidarbha borders states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, and it has long welcomed people from these regions. As a result, Vidarbha today is a multilingual society where languages interact without replacing one another.

Unlike parts of India with rigid language identities, communities here tend to be bilingual or even trilingual, with Marathi as the common thread. In cities such as Nagpur, Amravati, and Chandrapur, Marathi remains the default language for administrative and inter-community interaction, even though one often hears Hindi, Urdu, or tribal languages in homes and markets.

This coexistence has deep roots. Vidarbha was historically part of the Central Provinces under British rule, where Hindi and Marathi mingled, and it retains a tradition of linguistic inclusivity. Rather than Marathi being sidelined, the language has adapted and thrived amid Vidarbha’s diversity.

Migrants Adopting Marathi in Vidarbha

Migration into Vidarbha has accelerated in recent decades, bringing in people from various linguistic backgrounds.

Nagpur and other Vidarbha cities have seen growing inflows of migrants from states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat, drawn by industrial and economic opportunities.

Census data show an uptick of people from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh moving to Nagpur in the 2000s as the city developed.

Far from forming isolated enclaves, these newcomers are largely blending in and learning Marathi as a second language.

According to an analysis of the 2011 Census, the number of native Hindi speakers across India who reported they could speak Marathi shot up from about 3.9 million to 6 million in the decade prior.

Experts attribute this jump squarely to migration into Maharashtra, where many Hindi-speaking migrants picked up Marathi out of necessity. “People who have not migrated from their native place are not bothered to learn another language… If a Hindi native migrates to Maharashtra… he or she will be interested in knowing the local language,” observes sociologist G. K. Karanth, explaining that migrants quickly realise speaking Marathi is vital for daily survival and work.

In Vidarbha, this pattern is visible. Whether it’s a construction labourer from Uttar Pradesh or a shopkeeper from Rajasthan, newcomers often adopt Marathi to communicate with customers, neighbours, and officials.

The children of migrants become even more proficient in Marathi. Many immigrant families enrol their kids in local schools, where Marathi is part of the curriculum.

Maharashtra’s government now mandates that Marathi be taught as a core subject in all schools (including private and non-Marathi-medium schools) from the 2025–26 academic year. This policy ensures that second-generation immigrants in Vidarbha grow up reading and writing Marathi fluently, regardless of the language spoken at home.

Long before this mandate, migrants themselves tended to encourage such learning. International population expert P. Arokiasamy notes that migrants’ children naturally pick up the local language, whether on their own or due to schooling requirements so that they can seize opportunities in their new state.

Over time, these bilingual or multilingual youngsters strengthen the position of Marathi in society by using it alongside their mother tongues.

Concrete examples of immigrant communities in Vidarbha embracing Marathi. Consider the Gujarati traders who settled in Vidarbha decades ago. Research finds that they developed a distinct Marathi dialect influenced by Gujarati.

These families integrated into the Marathi-speaking milieu so thoroughly that, while they preserved some Gujarati nuances in pronunciation or vocabulary, they largely converse in Marathi in public. The emergence of this “Gujarati-Marathi” dialect underscores how immigrants can enrich Marathi with new flavours rather than erode it.

Similarly, Telugu-speaking people from neighbouring Telangana have migrated to eastern Vidarbha for farm work and jobs. In districts like Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, one can hear Telugu in some villages, but notably, Telugu-speaking households there often raise bilingual children fluent in both Telugu and Marathi.

By the next generation, these families are part of the Marathi speech community. Even traditionally non-Marathi groups, such as Sindhi or Urdu-speaking communities that arrived in the region, typically learn conversational Marathi to interact beyond their circles.

For instance, Nagpur’s sizeable Urdu-speaking population (largely descendants of migrants or old settlers) is known to be proficient in Marathi and Hindi as well, using Marathi in civic life while maintaining Urdu for cultural activities. The trend is clear. Migrants and minorities in Vidarbha routinely become Marathi speakers, expanding the language’s reach into new social groups.

Integration Strengthening Marathi in Vidarbha

Vidarbha’s experience suggests that immigration can actually strengthen the Marathi language through increased bilingualism and integration.

Local leaders and observers affirm that Marathi remains robust despite, or rather, thanks to, the region’s linguistic mosaic. “Vidarbha will be a Marathi state where Hindi speakers will get their due,” said Devendra Fadnavis (then a state political leader) in response to fears that non-Marathi communities might dominate a separate Vidarbha state.

His statement reflects the reality that Marathi speakers firmly hold the cultural and political space in Vidarbha, even as Hindi-speaking and other groups have a respected presence.

Notably, many so-called “outsiders” are no longer linguistically alien at all. As former Member of Parliament Vilas Muttemwar pointed out, “Most Hindi-speaking public representatives [in Vidarbha] speak Marathi and some are extremely fluent. You can’t call them non-Maharashtrians.”

Indeed, whether one’s family originated in Bihar or Gujarat, participating in public life in Vidarbha usually entails speaking Marathi.

Migrants who settle in the region often come to identify with Maharashtra’s culture and language, blurring the line between insiders and outsiders. The ability of Marathi to absorb newcomers is a source of pride for many ,it’s not uncommon to find second-generation immigrants in Nagpur who speak Marathi with the same native ease as Varhadi dialect speakers from rural Vidarbha.

Crucially, the presence of multiple languages in Vidarbha has not led to Marathi’s decline; rather, it has spurred a spirit of linguistic pride and preservation.

Faced with diverse tongues in their midst, Marathi-speaking communities have remained vigilant about using and teaching their language. Government and civil society initiatives in the region promote Marathi literature, theatre, and media, ensuring that the language thrives in both urban and rural areas.

At the same time, Marathi continues to be the lingua franca that knits together Vidarbha’s heterogeneous population.

In a typical market in Nagpur, for example, a vendor might comfortably switch between Marathi and Hindi to cater to different customers, but Marathi is often the default that everyone understands. Such easy code-switching demonstrates social harmony. Migrants adapt by learning Marathi, and locals often pick up some Hindi or other languages, fostering mutual respect. Rather than Marathi being “endangered” by migration, the language has proven resilient and adaptive, gaining new speakers precisely because migrants see value in it as the language of public life.

The story of Vidarbha offers an enlightening counterpoint to the narrative of language rivalry. Migration has not eroded Marathi in Vidarbha. It has expanded its speaker base and enriched its tapestry.

New arrivals have learned Marathi out of practical necessity and gradually woven themselves into the region’s cultural fabric. Far from threatening the language, migrants have shown that Marathi can transcend ethnic boundaries, becoming a shared medium that unites old residents and newcomers.

Yes, challenges remain, prejudices and political rhetoric can flare up tensions, and some migrants may initially struggle with the language. But the overall trajectory in Vidarbha is one of integration and linguistic growth.

The region demonstrates that a balance is possible, where Marathi retains its primacy while other languages coexist. As Maharashtra debates its linguistic future, Vidarbha’s experience stands as a hopeful example.

When diverse communities engage with openness, Marathi not only survives but thrives. The influx of people from across India has ultimately made more people part of the Marathi-speaking community, securing the language’s vitality in this era of mobility. In the heart of Vidarbha, the Marathi language is not in danger. It is alive, evolving, and spoken by more tongues than ever before, thanks in part to the very immigrants once seen as outsiders.