Sanskrit is an Indo-Aryan language that dates to about the 5th century B.C. It is also the language in which the Hindu scriptures were written. The Indic languages, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, Tamil, and Gujurati are modern-day descendants of Sanskrit.
Although it is no longer spoken in daily life (and debated whether or not it was even a spoken language), it is still used for religious purposes by Hindus, and it is one of the fifteen official languages of the Indian constitution.
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