Churahi, Mandeali and Keonthali are dialects spoken in which state?

Churahi, Mandeali and Keonthali are dialects of the Western Pahari group of languages spoken in Himachal Pradesh. "Pahari" means "of the hills". These dialects belong to the Indo-Aryan family. Each is named after the region where it is spoken:

Churahi: spoken in the Churah area of Chamba district.

Mandeali (Mandiali): spoken in Mandi district.

Keonthali (Kiunthali): spoken around Shimla district, in the area of the former Keonthal princely state; it is considered close to the dialect of the state capital.

Other Pahari dialects of Himachal Pradesh include:

• Kangri: Kangra district (one of the most widely spoken).
• Kullui: Kullu district.
• Chambeali: Chamba district.
• Sirmauri: Sirmaur district.
• Bilaspuri (Kahluri): Bilaspur district.
• Kinnauri and the Lahauli languages: spoken in the high Himalayan districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti; these belong to the Tibeto-Burman family.

The official language of Himachal Pradesh is Hindi, and Sanskrit was made the second official language in 2019. The various Pahari dialects are often grouped together as "Himachali", and there have been demands to include "Pahari (Himachali)" in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Many of these dialects were traditionally written in the Takri script, which was used in the hill states of Himachal and Jammu before Devanagari became common.

The Linguistic Survey of India by George Abraham Grierson (published between 1903 and 1928) first classified many of these dialects.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Uttarakhand's main Pahari languages are Garhwali and Kumaoni (Central Pahari).
• ✗Jammu and Kashmir's languages include Kashmiri, Dogri and Gojri.
• ✗Sikkim's languages include Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha.