However, only the villages in the Buldhana district: Jamod, Sonbardi, Kuvardev, Chalthana, Ambavara, Wasali, and Cicari, have kept the usage of the Nihali language today.

One theory suggests that the Nihali people might trace back to the ancient community of Nahalka, an offshoot of the Nishada tribe mentioned in the Mahabharata and the Padma Purana.

[7] Franciscus Kuiper was the first to suggest that Nihali may be unrelated to any other Indian language, with the non-Korku, non-Dravidian core vocabulary being the remnant of an earlier population in India.

[5] Kuiper's assertions stem, in part, from the fact that many oppressed groups within India have used secret languages to prevent outsiders from understanding them.

[8] Linguist Norman Zide describes the recent history of the language as follows: "Nihali's borrowings are far more massive than in such textbook examples of heavy outside acquisition as Albanian."

Zide claims that this is a result of a historical process that began with a massacre of Nihalis in the early 19th century, organised by one of the rulers of the area, supposedly in response to "marauding".

Zide alleges that, afterwards, the Nihalis "decimated in size", have "functioned largely as raiders and thieves ... who [have] disposed of ... stolen goods" through "outside associates".

[13] Below are some Nihali basic vocabulary words without clear external parallels (in Korku, Hindi, Marathi, Dravidian, etc.)