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The main languages that are spoken by the people are Hindi,
Urdu and English. There are many dialects, which owe their origin to
Hindi. Urdu, the language of the Nawabs, reached its peak and flourished
during the reign of the Mughals. Uttar Pradesh is the birthplace of Hindi,
India's official language. Although various vernacular forms of the
language developed over the centuries, literary Hindi did not take its
present form of Khari Boli or Hindustani, until the 19th century.
Bhartendu Harishchandra (1850-85) of Varanasi
was one of the first major writers to use this form of Hindi as a literary
medium. Braj Bhasha, the Indo-Aryan language spoken around Mathura, Uttar
Pradesh is commonly viewed as a western dialect of Hindi. It was used as a
literary language until the late 19th century, and much of the literature
in Braj Bhasa deals with Krishna, a deity closely associated with the
Mathura
locality.
In the Uttarakhand region, the prime languages and dialects that are
spoken are Kumaoni, Garhwali, Hindi and English. Among the other dialects,
bundeli is spoken in the Bundelkhnd region. In a few parts of uttar
pradesh, other regional languages are also spoken such as Bengali is
spoken in Varanasi and Punjabi is spoken by
many people in and around Rishikesh.