Language Contestation and Hierarchies: Lost Presences of Kathi Language in Bihar

Abstract

Kaithi, once a widely used script in Bihar before 1947, has gradually faded from public memory, overshadowed by Devanagari and other dominant scripts. Kaithi, rooted in the region’s indigenous cultural landscape, was used for administrative, legal, and personal documentation, especially by non-Brahmin communities. However, colonial and post-independence state policies favored Devanagari, reinforcing linguistic hierarchies and marginalizing scripts such as Kaithi. The decline of Kaithi reflects broader contestations over language and identity in Bihar. State institutions, by standardizing Devanagari for governance and education, erased Kaithi’s presence from official and cultural narratives. Its absence from school curricula and public signage further severed generational transmission, leading to its near extinction. In cultural memory, traces of Kaithi persist in archival documents and folklore, but its functional use has withered. These observations ponder the potential revival of Kaithi as part of Bihar’s linguistic heritage, the impact of language policies on historical memory, and the role of digital technology and grassroots movements in reclaiming lost scripts. By examining the disappearance of Kaithi, This paper address the politics of language contestation and the erasure of indigenous linguistic diversity, prompting a reassessment of Bihar’s linguistic landscape.