SSC
After Hindi, which is the most spoken language in India (Census 2011)?
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Answer: Option C — Bengali
Detailed Solution
According to the 2011 Census of India, the most widely spoken languages (as mother tongues) are:
Hindi: about 52.8 crore speakers, or 43.6% of the population.
Bengali: about 9.7 crore speakers, or 8.0%.
Marathi: about 8.3 crore speakers, or 6.9%.
Telugu: about 8.1 crore speakers, or 6.7%.
Tamil: about 6.9 crore speakers, or 5.7%.
Gujarati: about 5.5 crore speakers, or 4.6%.
Urdu: about 5.1 crore speakers, or 4.2%.
In the 2001 Census, Telugu was third and Marathi fourth; Marathi moved ahead of Telugu in 2011.
About Bengali (Bangla):
- It is an Indo-Aryan language that developed from Magadhi Prakrit.
- It is the official language of West Bengal and Tripura (along with Kokborok), and is widely spoken in Assam's Barak valley.
It is the national language of Bangladesh. The Language Movement of 1952 in East Pakistan, in which students died fighting for the recognition of Bengali, is commemorated on 21 February. UNESCO declared 21 February as International Mother Language Day in 1999.
It has a rich literature, including the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Kazi Nazrul Islam. The national anthems of both India ("Jana Gana Mana", written in Bengali, though in a highly Sanskritised form) and Bangladesh ("Amar Shonar Bangla") were written by Tagore.
Bengali was declared a classical language of India in October 2024, along with Marathi, Pali, Prakrit and Assamese.
It is one of the most spoken languages in the world, ranking around seventh by total speakers.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Telugu was fourth in 2011.
- ✗Marathi was third in 2011.
- ✗Tamil was fifth in 2011.
Quick tip
Remember: Census 2011 order = Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu; 21 February = International Mother Language Day (Bengali Language Movement).
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Languages & Scripts — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Languages & Scripts, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the languages of India, the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, classical languages, official languages of states, scripts such as Brahmi, Kharosthi and Devanagari, and the most widely spoken languages of the world. Questions often ask which languages have classical status, which language is official in a particular state, or how many languages the Eighth Schedule contains. Remember the amendments that added languages to the Eighth Schedule (for example, the 92nd Amendment added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali). Because the list of classical languages has grown over time, check the latest official count before your exam. Practise the languages and scripts questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.