Dobhashi

In 1968, Muhammad Abdul Hye and Syed Ali Ahsan published their History of Bengali literature where they coined the name Dobhashi, meaning ‘bilingual’, which came to be the most popular name for the register.

[19] From as early as the 14th century, the use of Persian loanwords in Bengali literature became common, such as the works of Zainuddin, Syed Sultan, Bahram Khan Abdul Hakim and Heyat Mahmud.

The influence also reached Bengali Hindu writers too, with medieval authors such as Bipradas Pipilai and the Chandimangal poets implementing a large quantity of loanwords, as well as the courts of Arakan through the likes of Alaol and Daulat Qazi.

না রবে প্রসাদ গুণ না হবে রসাল, অতএব কহি ভাষা যাবনী মিশাল।mansingh patshay hôilô je baṇī, uchit je arôbī, parsī, hindustanīporiyachhi shei môtô bôrṇibare pari, kintu she shôkôl loke bujhibare bharina rôbe prôshad guṇ na hôbe rôshal, ôtôeb kôhi bhasha jabônī mishalThis translates to: "The appropriate language for conversation between Mansingh and the Emperor are Arabic, Persian and Hindustani.

Shah Faqir Gharibullah of Howrah is considered to be the pioneer of this new strand of Bengali literature, which actively utilised Perso-Arab vocabulary as opposed to only using established loanwords.

Muhammad Khater was a late Dobhashi writer who wrote a puthi about ill-fated lovers in 1864, taking inspiration from the 16th century Bengali poet Dawlat Wazir Bahram Khan.

Dobhashi is considered to have lost popularity as a highly Sanskritised form of Shadhu-bhasha was institutionalised by the British, who worked alongside the educated Brahmins that had chosen to accept English as the official language.

In reaction to Sanskritisation, many Bengali Muslims that refused to learn English took to the initiative to continue Dobhashi literature hoping to maintain their identity and linguistic traditions.

It was during this time that the register came to be known as Musalmani Bengali by the Christian Missionaries in Bengal, who had begun translating the Bible in order to reach the Bengali-speaking Muslim community.

On the other hand, many Hindus such as Rabindranath Tagore also opposed the highly Sanskritised variant and opted for a standard based on the colloquial dialect of Nadia.

The 20th century educationist and researcher, Dr Kazi Abdul Mannan (d. 1994), wrote his thesis on The Emergence and Development of Dobhasi Literature in Bengal (up to 1855 AD) for his PhD from Dhaka University in 1966.