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Maithili is of the family of Indo-Aryan
languages, which are part of the Indo-Iranian
branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken
in the Indian state of Bihar
and in the eastern Terai region of Nepal. It is considered by many to be a dialect of
Hindi, and thus not a separate language. Nevertheless, a movement to give the language
official status in the Indian Constitution so that it could
be used in education, government, and other official contexts, resulted in Maithili being given official status in 2003.
The term Maithili comes from Mithila, which was an independant state in ancient
times. There is still controversy over whether Maithili is a separate language, despite there being a large Maithili-speaking
community with a rich literature.
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