Hijra Farsi is a secret language spoken by South-Asian hijra and koticommunities. Hijras are a marginalized transgender community that lives in sequestered groups in many cities of India and Pakistan. The language, also known as Koti Farsi, is spoken by the hijra community throughout Pakistan and North India. The language is based on Hindustani and not Farsi, as suggested by the name. The sentence structure is similar to Urdu, but noticeable distinctions exist. Hijra Farsi is mainly spoken by Muslim Hijras; Hindu Hijras speak the Gupti language and its regional dialects. Even though the language is not actually based on Persian, the hijras consider the language to be related to the language of the Mughal Empire, which they associate with the origin of hijra identity. Hijra Farsi is most similar to Hindi, but is not intelligible to Hindi speakers due to distinctive intonation and a large amount of distinctive vocabulary. After the partition of India, the language has come to include words of local languages including Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi and other languages.
History
Hijra Farsi is believed to have originated more than 200 years ago. Hijras enjoyed a high status during the Mughal empire, which may be the reason why the language is named after 'Farsi' despite its dissimilarity with Persian. With the fall of the Mughal empire and start of British colonial rule, eunuchs were pushed into a more marginalized position. Colonial laws criminalized their choice of dress, as well as the public dancing they regularly engaged in. The crackdown caused hijras to become protective of their language, which then evolved into a survival tool. That the language is still in use may have to do with the fact that the community continues to be persecuted in independent India. "Seventy-four percent of the Hijra community has suffered violence and harassment,” says Simran Shaikh, who works with Alliance India, an NGO that works on AIDS prevention.
Community-building tool
Hijra Farsi began and has continued as a learned, as opposed to a mother, tongue. The language is introduced to newcomers when they enter the hijra community, together with the group’s alternative family structure, cultural norms, and other traditions. Having a language that creates a sense of a community is a necessity for hijras, who typically give up a great deal when they join the community. Given the marginalization they face in South Asian society after British colonization brought Western homo- and transphobia to the region, hijras see the language as something that is truly theirs, and speak about it with pride.
