The names of how many local dialects are mentioned in the Katha collection called Kuvlayamala ?

Correct — option (1), 18.

The Kuvalayamala is a Prakrit tale by Uddyotanasuri, composed at Jabalipura, modern Jalor. In one episode its hero visits a busy market and sees traders from many lands, each marked by the speech of his region.

The Age of Imperial Kanauj (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) says Uddyotana 'mentions 18 such provincial tongues', quoting two or three characteristic words from each.

A. N. Upadhye's introduction to Part II (1970) of his edition calls these the desa-bhasas and gives their traditional or conventional number as eighteen. V. S. Agrawala's Cultural Note in the same volume lists eighteen Desi dialects by name.

Upadhye adds his own caveat. After the sixteenth people, the Andhras, he writes that the prince observed these '18 (really 16) Desi-bhasas', and the volume's notes say the verses illustrate only sixteen of the eighteen the text refers to.

So the text gives the number eighteen but illustrates only sixteen with sample speech. The number the work gives is option (1), 18.

The idea to remember: Kuvalayamala of Uddyotanasuri, written at Jalor: eighteen desa-bhasas in a market scene.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  17 — Seventeen falls between the two counts in Upadhye's edition. He lists sixteen peoples whose speech is illustrated, from the Gollas to Andhra, and records eighteen as the number the work gives.

  Agrawala's list of eighteen adds the Khasa and Parasa to those sixteen. 17 matches neither count.

• (3)
  16 — Sixteen is the number of peoples Upadhye finds actually illustrated with sample speech; he writes '18 (really 16)' and notes that the prince also observes the speech of the Khasa, Parasa and Barbara.

  But eighteen is the figure the work gives, and the figure The Age of Imperial Kanauj and Agrawala report. 16 answers a narrower question: how many speeches carry sample words in Upadhye's reading.

• (4)
  15 — Fifteen falls short even of the sixteen peoples Upadhye lists with sample speech, from the Gollas and Madhyadesa to Maharashtra and Andhra.

  The work's own figure is eighteen, which Agrawala's list also reaches. 15 matches no count in these sources.

Upadhye explains that Uddyotana recognises three literary languages, Prakrit, Sanskrit and Apabhramsa, and also speaks of Desa- or Desi-bhasas. He reads these as territorial spoken forms of speech, as distinguished from the literary languages.

The work itself is mainly in Prakrit. The Sahitya Akademi's Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature says it gives specimens of Prakrit and Apabhramsha dialects and even Paishachi, in prose mixed with about 4,180 verses, most in gatha metre.

Its date is given as 778 (Saka 700) in The Age of Imperial Kanauj and as 779 in the Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia; Upadhye cites Jacobi's date of completion, 21 March 779.

Key facts

• The Age of Imperial Kanauj says Uddyotana mentions 18 provincial tongues, quoting two or three characteristic words from each.
• Upadhye (1970) gives eighteen as the traditional or conventional number of the desa-bhasas and finds sixteen actually illustrated.
• Agrawala's Cultural Note lists eighteen Desi dialects, ending with Khasa and Parasa.
• The Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia places the Kuvalayamala at Jhalor (Jabalipura) in 779 CE, in the time of the Pratihara king Vatsaraja.
• Upadhye cites Jacobi's date for the work's completion, 21 March 779; The Age of Imperial Kanauj gives Saka 700, AD 778.

Common traps

• Counting only the sixteen peoples with sample words: Upadhye writes '18 (really 16)', but eighteen is the number the work gives.
• Treating the desa-bhasas as literary languages: Upadhye separates them from the three literary languages Uddyotana names, Prakrit, Sanskrit and Apabhramsa.
• Fixing a single year without its source: The Age of Imperial Kanauj gives AD 778 (Saka 700), while the Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia and Upadhye give 779.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2016 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Uddyotanasuri composed the Kuvalayamala at Jabalipura. What is this place called today?

  • (a)Bhinmal
  • (b)Jalor
  • (c)Jaisalmer
  • (d)Jabalpur
  Answer(2) — Upadhye identifies Jabalipura with modern Jalor, and the Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia writes Jhalor (Jabalipura). Upadhye mentions option (1), Bhillamala, as a town 33 km from Jalor, not as the place of composition; options (3) and (4) are not where either source places it.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  In which language is the Kuvalayamala of Uddyotanasuri mainly written?

  • (a)Sanskrit
  • (b)Apabhramsa
  • (c)Prakrit
  • (d)Paishachi
  Answer(3) — The Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia says it was written mainly in Prakrit, and The Age of Imperial Kanauj names Maharashtri as its principal Prakrit. Upadhye says some portions are in Apabhramsa (option (2)), Paisaci is illustrated (option (4)), and the Sanskrit passages (option (1)) are few and, as a rule, quotations.