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General Knowledge · Class 4 · Culture, art and sport

Languages of India

Look closely at a ₹10 note. How many languages can you find on it?

Small test at the end: scroll down to the end of this page for five short questions that check what you have learnt. Tap an answer, then press Check answer. Go to the questions ↓

Jump to: Read first · Try it away from the screen · Check it yourself · Check yourself · For teachers

Read first

5 facts. The questions below make you use them, not just remember them.

  1. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India lists 22 languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Maithili and Santali.
  2. Hindi in the Devanagari script is the official language of the Union government, and English is also used for official work.
  3. The language panel on Indian currency notes writes the amount in 15 languages; Hindi and English appear on the front.
  4. India names some languages as "classical" for their long history. Tamil was the first, in 2004; Sanskrit followed in 2005.
  5. Many Indian scripts, including Devanagari, Bengali, Gurmukhi and Tamil, grew from an ancient script called Brahmi.

Offline

Try it away from the screen

Ask your family and neighbours which languages they speak. Make a tally chart. How many different languages did you find in your street or building?

Make it on paper. Keep it with you. Nothing to upload.

Check it yourself

Numbers about languages depend on what counts as a "language" and on the year. Check numbers against an official source, like the Constitution or the Census, and note the year.

Check yourself

Five questions about what this page teaches. Choose an answer and press Check answer, or open "See the answer and why". Nothing is saved or sent: your choices stay on this screen and disappear when you leave or reload the page.

  1. Question 1 of 5How many languages are in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution?

    See the answer and why
    • A. 22 Correct. Yes. The Eighth Schedule lists 22 languages.
    • B. 18 Not this one. There were 18 until 2003, when four more were added.
    • C. 28 Not this one. That is the number of states, not languages.
    • D. 15 Not this one. That is how many languages appear on a currency note's language panel.
  2. Question 2 of 5Which language was the first to be declared a classical language of India?

    See the answer and why
    • A. Sanskrit Not this one. Sanskrit came next, in 2005.
    • B. Bengali Not this one. Bengali was declared classical much later, in 2024.
    • C. Tamil Correct. Yes. Tamil was declared classical in 2004.
    • D. Hindi Not this one. Hindi is widely spoken but has not been declared a classical language.
  3. Question 3 of 5How many languages are on the language panel of an Indian currency note?

    See the answer and why
    • A. 15 Correct. Yes. The panel shows the amount in 15 languages.
    • B. 22 Not this one. That is the number in the Eighth Schedule. The note's panel has 15.
    • C. 11 Not this one. Count them on a real note: there are 15.
    • D. 2 Not this one. Hindi and English are on the front. The panel on the back has 15 more.
  4. Question 4 of 5Devanagari, Bengali and Tamil scripts all grew from which ancient script?

    See the answer and why
    • A. The Indus script Not this one. The Indus script has not been read, and no link to later scripts has been proved.
    • B. The Roman alphabet Not this one. The Roman alphabet is used for English. Indian scripts grew from Brahmi.
    • C. Arabic Not this one. Urdu uses a script from Arabic and Persian, but Devanagari, Bengali and Tamil come from Brahmi.
    • D. Brahmi Correct. Yes. Brahmi is the ancestor of most Indian scripts.
  5. Question 5 of 5Along with Hindi, which language does the Union government use for official work?

    See the answer and why
    • A. Sanskrit Not this one. Sanskrit is a classical language, not a language of daily government work.
    • B. English Correct. Yes. English is used alongside Hindi for official purposes.
    • C. Urdu Not this one. Urdu is in the Eighth Schedule and official in some states, but not used this way by the Union.
    • D. Tamil Not this one. Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu, not of the Union.

For teachers and grown-upsWhere the facts come from, and how to use this round.

Sources and notes
  • Classical languages as of November 2026: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu and Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013), Odia (2014), and Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali (2024): 11 in all.
  • The 22 Eighth Schedule languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.
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