Еastern Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the state
of Bihar, India, and in the Tarai region of Nepal. There are
three main languages: Maithili (Tirhutia) and Magadhi (Magahi)
in the east and Bhojpurl in the west, extending into the southern
half of Chota Nagpur. Maithili, spoken in the old country of
Mithila (Tirhut), was famous from ancient times for its use
among scholars, and it still retains many antiquated linguistic
forms. It is the only Bihari dialect with any real literature
and has been the object of increasing interest since 1947. Magadhi
is considered the modern representative of the Magadhi Prakrit.
The Bihari languages are linguistically related to Bengali
but are culturally identified with Hindi. Most educated Bihari
speakers also know Bengali and Hindi.