HistoryModern India: Framing the Constitution

A language was popular with a large section of Indians, and Mahatma G…

A language was popular with a large section of Indians, and Mahatma Gandhi saw it as the ideal language of communication between diverse communities. Identify it and the two languages it blended.

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Hindustani, a blend of Hindi and Urdu

Option (1) Hindustani, a blend of Hindi and Urdu — Correct. The language was <strong>Hindustani</strong>, a <strong>blend of Hindi and Urdu</strong>. Gandhi felt it could unify Hindus and Muslims, and the north and the south.

Option (2) Hindustani, a blend of Hindi and Sanskrit — Incorrect. Hindustani is right, but Sanskrit was not its partner. The move to Sanskritise Hindi came later and pulled Hindi away from Hindustani.

Option (3) Hindi, a blend of Sanskrit and Prakrit — Incorrect. Hindi is not the composite language Gandhi chose. A Sanskritised Hindi was what he did not want.

Option (4) Urdu, a blend of Persian and Arabic — Incorrect. Urdu was being Persianised as communal conflicts deepened. Gandhi wanted a composite language that mixed Hindi and Urdu.

NCERT (2026-27): “5. The Language of the Nation …
By the 1930s, the Congress had accepted that Hindustani ought to be the national language. Mahatma Gandhi felt that everyone should speak in a language that common people could easily understand. Hindustani – a blend of Hindi and Urdu – was a popular language of a large section of the people of India, and it was a composite language enriched by the interaction of diverse cultures. Over the years it had incorporated words and terms from very many different sources, and was therefore understood by people from various regions. This multi-cultural language, Mahatma Gandhi thought, would be the ideal language of communication between diverse communities: it could unify Hindus and Muslims, and people of the north and the south.”