Kishtwari

Kishtwari
کشتواڑی किश्तवाड़ी
Native to	Jammu and Kashmir
Ethnicity	Kishtwaris
Native speakers	40,000 (2011 census)[1][2]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Prakrit Kashmiri and Western Pahari Kishtwari
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	kish1245

Kishtwari or Kashtwari is a Northern Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Kashmiri language, with strong influences from neighbouring Western Pahari varieties. It is spoken by Hindus in Kishtwar district of Jammu division in Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), India.

Like Kashmiri, Kishtwari is also a language though George Abraham Grierson has called Kishtwari as a dialect of Kashmiri and a mixed dialect. But when the issue of languages and dialects is thoroughly analysed, Grierson's postulation is found untenable. He has not studied Kishtwari and its dialects. He seems to have been influenced by Kishtwari-Kashmiri, spoken by Muslims of Kishtwar and its spectacular resemblance with kashmiri which is not pure Kashmiri but has close affinity to the Kashmiri of valley. So Kishtwari-Kashmiri is a dialect of kashmiri.