Pali

Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan language used for sacred purposes. It is the primary language of the Tipiṭaka, which are the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. Because of its immense cultural and religious importance, the Government of India designated it a classical language on 3 October 2024. Scholars study Pali to understand ancient Buddhist teachings and history. It serves as a vital link to the spiritual traditions of South and Southeast Asia.

The name "Pali" refers to the language of the Theravada canon. The term likely comes from commentarial traditions. In these traditions, a distinction was made between the original text and the commentary. The word may mean a "line" or a "series." This could describe a lineage of texts or a series of books. Some scholars suggest the name emerged in Sri Lanka during the second millennium CE. There is no single standard spelling for the word today. Textbooks use various spellings involving different vowel lengths and consonant sounds.

There is much debate regarding the geographic origins of Pali. Early Theravada commentaries identified it as Magadhi. This was the language of the ancient kingdom of Magadha in modern-day Bihar. Some believed it was the specific language used by the Buddha. However, modern scholarship suggests a more complex origin. Experts believe Pali is a mix of several Prakrits from around the 3rd century BCE. These dialects were partially Sanskritized, meaning they were influenced by Sanskrit. Most modern scholars believe Pali originated from a Western dialect rather than an Eastern one.

For many centuries, Buddhist teachings were preserved through oral tradition. This changed around the first century BCE. The Tipiṭaka was committed to writing during this time. This shift was motivated by threats to the Sangha, or Buddhist community. Famine, war, and rival traditions made oral preservation risky. In Sri Lanka, the scholar Buddhaghosa played a massive role in the language's survival. He compiled the Visuddhimagga and other commentaries. These works helped codify the Sinhala commentarial tradition. Most known Pali texts today derive from the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka.

Pali spread across mainland Southeast Asia over many centuries. The earliest inscriptions in Pali date from the first millennium CE. These are found in modern Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. By the 11th century, a "Pali renaissance" occurred near the Pagan Kingdom. During this era, royal dynasties sponsored monastic lineages. This period saw the adoption of Sanskrit poetic forms, such as kavya. A notable work from this time is the 14th-century Subodhālaṅkāra. This text was modeled on the Sanskrit work Kavyadarsha.

Researchers have also identified a specific variety called Indochinese Pali. This is sometimes referred to as "Kham Pali." Scholar Peter Masefield studied this form extensively. He suggested it might be an internally consistent dialect rather than a degraded version. The changes in this dialect occurred because certain character combinations were difficult to write in local scripts. The history of these texts is complex. In Sri Lanka, the loss of monastic ordination led to the loss of many texts. Consequently, the Sri Lankan Pali canon was translated into Indochinese Pali and then back into Pali.

Physical evidence of ancient Pali is quite rare. No manuscript evidence survives from the very earliest eras. The oldest surviving Pali manuscript was found in Nepal. It dates to the 9th century and consists of four palm-leaf folios. These folios use a script derived from the Gupta script. Most complete manuscripts of the four Nikāyas only date from the 17th century onward.

This image shows 19th-century Burmese Kammavācā, which are confessions for monks written in Pali on gilded palm leaves.

Western interest in Pali grew significantly in the 19th century. Early researchers included Simon de la Loubère and Benjamin Clough. Robert Childers published the first modern Pali-English dictionary in the late 1800s. Later, the Pali Text Society helped expand English-language studies. Some scholars, like T. W. Rhys Davids, proposed that Pali acted as a lingua franca. This would mean it was a common language used by people speaking different dialects. It may have been a refined vernacular for all Aryan-speaking people in North India.