India, Languages of. The people of India speak nearly 400 languages, as well as many dialects that are mostly varieties of about 15 principal languages. Some Indian languages have a long literary history. Sanskrit literature is over 3,000 years old, and Tamil is 2,000 years old. India also has some languages that have no written forms.
The number of people that speak each language varies greatly. According to the census of India, Hindi has nearly 350 million native speakers. However, this group includes several other languages, some of which have many speakers and major status. Only specific ethnic groups speak some Indian languages, such as Bhili, Gondi, or Santali. About 5 million people speak Bhili, and more than 2 1/2 million people speak Santali.
