UPSC Maithili Mains Syllabus – Explain in detail

Mithila is the language that is spoken in the north eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Outside of India, the language is popular in the southern part of India’s neighbouring country namely Nepal. The script of Maithili language is also known as the Maithili script or traditionally, in ancient concerns it was more popular as the Mithilakshar script.

Ancient history also has quotes here and there about the mainstream usage of Sanskrit in the place of Mithilakshar and that of Maithili being the common language that people used to communicate with each other. It was more than just a dialect, being the local language of the people for everyday communication purposes.

UPSC Maithili Syllabus for IAS Exam

Paper-I

History of Maithili Language and its Literature (Answer to be written in Maithili) Part A

History of Maithili Language

1. Place of Maithili in Indo-European language family.
2. Origin and development of Maithili language. (Sanskrit, Prakrit, Avhatt, Maithili)
3. Periodic division of Maithili Language. (Beginning, Middle era, Modern era)
4. Maithili and its different dialects.
5. Relationship between Maithili and other Eastern languages (Bengali, Asamese, Oriya )
6. Origin and development of Tirhuta Script.
7. Pronouns and Verbs in Maithili Language.

Part B

History of Maithili Literature

1. Background of Maithili Literature (Religious, economic, social, and cultural).
2. Periodic division of Maithili literature.
3. Pre-Vidyapati Literature.
4. Vidyapati and his tradition.
5. Medieval Maithili Drama (Kirtaniya Natak, Ankia Nat, Maithili dramas written in Nepal .
6. Maithili Folk Literature (Folk Tales, Folk Drama, Folk Stories, Folk Songs).
7. Development of different literary forms in modern era
   (a) Prabandh-kavya
   (b) Muktak-kavya
   (c) Novel
   (d) Short Story
   (e) Drama
   (f) Essay
   (g) Criticism
   (h) Memoirs
   (i) Translation
8. Development of Maithili Magazines and Journals

Paper – II

Answers must be written in Maithili

The paper will require first-hand reading of the prescribed texts and will test the critical ability of the candidates.

Part-A

1. Vidyapati Geet-Shati – Publisher : Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (Lyrics – 1 to 50)
2. Govind Das Bhajanavali – Publisher : Maithili Acadamy, Patna (Lyrics – 1 to 25)
3. Krishnajanm – Manbodh
4. Mithilabhasha Ramayana – Chanda Jha (only Sunder-Kand)
5. Rameshwar Charit Mithila Ramayan – Lal Das (only Bal-kand)
6. Keechak-Vadh – Tantra Nath Jha.
7. Datta-Vati – Surendra Jha ‘Suman’ {only 1st and 2nd Cantos}.
8. Chitra-Yatri
9. Samakaleen Maithili Kavita – Publisher : Sahitaya Akademi, New Delhi .

Part-B

1. Varna Ratnakar – Jyotirishwar (only 2nd Kallol)
2. Khattar Kakak Tarang – Hari Mohan Jha
3. Lorik–Vijaya-Manipadma
4. Prithvi Putra – Lalit
5. Bhaphait Chahak Jinagi – Sudhanshu ‘Shekhar’ Choudhary
6. Kriti Rajkamlak – Publisher : Maithili Acadamy, Patna (First Ten Stories only)
7. Katha–Sangrah – Publisher : Maithili Acadamy, Patna

More information about the language

Maithili is a spoken language, mainly covering the north eastern part of our subcontinent. It has majority speakers in Bihar and Jharkhand. Around 30 million people in the Indian population speak in Maithili. Maithili also shares a close and intimate connection with two other languages with a somewhat similar historical and empirical background, namely Bhojpuri and Magadhi.

Madhubani, which is a language spoken mainly in the Madhubani district of Bihar is the best known dialect form of the language. There are several other dialects of the language, some which are recorded and found in mass populations, some do not have official standing status or recorded anywhere. It is also known that the language is spoken in the southern parts of Nepal, where the language has similar dialects. These dialects that are spoken along the Nepal region are found to be quite different from their Indian counterparts in almost all forms.

In modern day literature, some of the noteworthy names in the language are Rajkamal Chaudhury, Parichay Das, Gajendra Thakur, Bhola Lal Das and Dilip Kumar Jha. In the modern day, a large credit for the development of the once dwindling language has to go the circulation and publication of Maithili content in magazines, newspapers and journals.

The development of the language on the lines of other scripted languages was not so-expected, given the scarcity of interest taken in past glorious years. George Abraham Grierson and Paul R Brass are well known researchers in the Maithili language and it is due to their efforts that a lot of unearthed information from the past glories came into light and people of today know Maithili as a well established language.

Maithili also holds the recognition of being one of the earliest spoken languages in ancient India. In the prose form of literature, we can find significant work curated in the language of Mithila and hence the credit of one of the most prominent literary works in ancient India should be given to Mithila language. Maithili Varnarathnakara is the work that is given due credit in Mithila language that holds the recognition of being the oldest work written in a north Indian language. This absolute work was written in prose form by Jyohirishwar Thakur as early as 1324.

Folk songs, stories, poems, dohas similar to Hindi literature, festival songs, etc formed the basis of ancient Maithili literature. It was in this period that Ramayana and Mahabharata were written in Mithilakshar. Some of the noteworthy names of Maithili literature of ancient period are Umapati and Shankaradattan. This is the period that is recorded before 1350 AD.
From 1350 to 1830, the focus shifted from pure prose and short story writing to something more people centric. It reflected the lives and suffering of the local people, their lives and literature became a means to voice their feelings. Mahesh Thakur, Ratnapani, Nandipati are noteworthy names of this era.

Between 1350 to 1450 is considered the golden period of Maithili literature as the most noted poet Vidyapati n Maithili language rendered some epic masterpieces during this era. He not only wrote in Maithili language but gave his contribution to Sanskrit literature as well. Such was his fame that he always wrote more on mythological characters.

He gave a new meaning and definition to poem writing, especially in Maithili language. According to language experts, it is poet Vidyapati who created a niche in the language, a trend setter, who paved way for more poems and literature works to follow.
Many experts believe that Maithili as such has a distinction from that of Hindi language. In fact they cannot be placed under the same bracket of similar languages. Maithili as they say resembles Bengali and Nepali more than Hindi. Eastern part of India has a different kind of dialects spoken in mainstream Hindi context. So if we study Maithili in this reference, it has a striking resemblance with Eastern India’s Hindi.

Latest developments in Maithili language that are considered important for IAS exam

• Maithili is an ancient language with reference to literature in various forms. Some of the very important factors are to be given importance while studying. Some of the most ancient scripts that are famous have to be covered for their share of information.
• Ancient manuscripts, contribution from poets and literary wizards are essential topics to not miss out on. You also have to go in depth with why they are so significant even in modern day study of languages. The government has taken several remedial measures for their protection, preservation and conservation. So what exactly are the measures taken in this regard needs to be studied in detail. If there are special enactments or laws passed for their preservation, make notes on them as well.
• There have been many reports in the past pertaining to the promotional aspects of Mithila language. The government had appointed a committee to look into various aspects of promotion of the language and how ancient scripts could be preserved. This report was then submitted to the MHRD to be looked further for taking suitable actions. So go in detail about the report quoting studies and recommendations by the committee. Plus suitable actions taken by the MHRD for implementation of the report.
• Study recent developments in the language. A script and Manuscript centre has been recommended to be set up at two prominent universities associated with Mithila language. Study the status of these recommendations.
• Work is going on in the area of creating Unicode scripts related to the language. This work has been largely undertaken by Technology Development of Indian languages. Study the status of work and how many scripts have been transformed to Unicode so far.
• Popularizing Mithila literature and language by using technology tools and aids. Creating online channels of learning, creating media content in the language and encouraging students to study the subject both as a literature subject and a part of history syllabus. Teaching aids such as online classes and exams, scanned manuscripts of Mithilakshar for research, creating online repositories of manuscripts for study and aiding research students to go in depth with the subject.
• Mithila as a language has been treated as a declining language because the script itself is centuries old and there are hardly any prominent protective measures taken by the government. Suggestive measures to the government to be included in your study so that you can answer these questions well in essay forms.