Prof Hardev Singh Virk
SPNer
Professor Liudmila Khokhlova's Contributions to Punjabi Language and Sikh Literature
Hardev Singh Virk
Professor of Eminence (Honorary), SGGS World University
Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India
e-mail: hardevsingh.virk@gmail.com
Prof. Liudmila Awarded PADMA SHRI by the President of India
Liudmila is a recipient of several awards for her contribution to Indian languages. In 2005 and 2007, she was awarded by the Indian government for her contribution to Hindi literature and teaching of Hindi in Russia. Punjabi Saath, London, honoured her in 2005 for her contribution to Punjabi studies in Russia. In 2026, she was awarded the Padma Shri, a National Award of the Government of India for Distinguished Service, by the President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, on the eve of Republic Day, for her contributions to Indian languages in Russia.
Professor Liudmila teaches ‘General Linguistics’; Hindi at B.A. and M.A. levels; Urdu and Punjabi at B.A. level; Historical Development of Western New Indo-Aryan languages in the 14-20th centuries; Syntactic Typology of New Indo-Aryan languages; Grammatical Structure of Hindi/Urdu; and Semantic Structure of Hindi/Urdu. She is a specialist in Linguistics and Indian Philology.
Prof. Liudmila with her students at Moscow State University
What are her contributions to the Punjabi Language?
To evaluate her contribution, we have to analyze her more than 50 research papers. She is highly critical of the language policy of the Indian Government. Every Indian State follows two language policy: teaching of the mother tongue and English as compulsory subjects. In her paper [1], she opines: “The concept of ‘mother tongue’ is very complicated as applied to Indian reality. The 2001 Census of India defines ‘mother tongue’ as ‘the language in which someone’s mother was talking to a person in his/her childhood’. She cites an example of a Delhi family: Father speaking Kannada, mother speaking Tamil, and offsprings speak Hindi or English. This situation is particular to metropolitan cities of India and the Indian diaspora.
In 1956, the Punjab Govt. adopted a three-language formula, known as “Sachar Formula 1949,” to resolve the mother-tongue controversy in Punjab. Under this Regional Formula, we studied Punjabi as mother-tongue, Hindi as the national language, and English as a compulsory foreign language. It is still in vogue in some states like Haryana, where students study Hindi as mother-tongue, Punjabi as an additional language along with English. In one of her papers [1], she refers to 1961 Census data where Punjabi Hindus recorded Hindi as their mother tongue overwhelmingly and the Sikhs recorded Punjabi as their mother tongue. This shows a religious bias in recording mother-tongue language. This precedent is not valid for Punjab only. Another example is the state of Rajasthan; during the movement claiming recognition of Rajasthani as an official language of the state, some people of Rajasthan discarded Hindi as their mother tongue, in favour of Rajasthani.
In her paper [2], “Majority language death”, Liudmila deplores the attitude of Punjabis of Pakistan who discarded their mother tongue “PUNJABI” in favour of “URDU”, spoken by only 7.57% of the entire population of Pakistan. The Punjabi-speaking community constitutes 44.15% of the total population of Pakistan and 47.56% of its urban population. However, even if Saraiki, a dialect of Punjabi, is excluded, Punjabi has the largest number of speakers in Pakistan; Pashto, with 15.42% of the speakers, and Sindhi, with 11.77%, occupy a distant second and third place. Both Pashto and Sindhi are taught as Mother Tongue in Pakhtunistan and Sindh, respectively, whereas Punjabi has been neglected by Pakistan. During my last visit to Pakistan in December 2024, I learnt that the Punjab Assembly has passed a resolution to teach Punjabi as mother-tongue in schools, but it has not yet been implemented.
Liudmila has contributed to the study of the Grammar and Linguistics of Western Indian languages, such as Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Rajasthani. She is a specialist in the study of “Trends in the Development of Ergativity in New Indo-Aryan languages (Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati and Rajasthani)”. Her papers are listed in the Appendix.
Contribution to Sikh Literature (3-7)
Prof. Liudmila has translated some important texts of sacred Sikh Literature into the Russian language. It includes: Some episodes from Janam Sakhi, Japji Sahib/Bani of Guru Nanak, and Jaap Sahib of Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Master. I studied the Russian language at Punjabi University, Patiala, in 1967 and can read only the cover pages of her translated books. I took the help of Ms. Alina, a Graduate student at Stanford University, to read the translated Russian text for me.
Janam Sakhis are hagiographic accounts of the life of Guru Nanak, and these are not authentic historical accounts. However, their significance as early sources of Sikh history and literature cannot be ignored. The most popular is Bhai Bala Janam Sakhi, which was written by Hindalias of Jandiala Guru for an ulterior motive. Japji Bani is the first text of Guru Nanak in the Sikh Scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS), compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604. Liudmila told me that she translated it into Russian, but her husband, Prof. Boris Zakharyin, rendered it into verse. Prof. Boris is also a Senior Professor at Moscow State University.
JAAP Sahib Translated by Prof. Liudmila in Russian
In the same tradition, Prof. Liudmila translated JAAP Bani of Guru Gobind Singh into Russian. It is a difficult text in Punjabi where names of God are pronounced using multiple linguistic variations, including Hindi, Persian, and Arabic. The cover page of JAAP Sahib is included for reference in this article. In her paper “Ritual transfer in the history of Sikh community” [6], Liudmila displays her vast knowledge about the Sikh religion, its history and development, and its rituals. She writes: “Sikh history is a good example of the development of rituals under such circumstances as the re-emergence of ‘primal identities’, like ethnicity etc.”
Liudmila is aware of Langar [7] as an institution of social symbol of equality. She writes: “Meanwhile, within the lifetime of Guru Nanak, there have appeared two important new rituals really aiming at strengthening the Pānth. The first of them was the institution of the community kitchen (langar). The second one of the new rituals was the appointment of a new Guru. She mentions the construction of a bauli in Goindwal with 84 steps by Guru Amar Das. The purpose was to dissuade Sikhs from visiting Hindu pilgrimage sites like Haridwar and Kashi to bathe in the Ganges. Similarly, Guru Ram Das wrote “Ghorian” (marriage songs related to the bridegroom) and “Lavan” (related to the marriage ceremony, four in number) in his Bani recorded in SGGS. However, Sikh marriages introduced “Lavan” instead of Hindu rites of marriage much later, after the Singh Sabha movement in Punjab.
I wish Prof. Liudmila to undertake a translation of the SGGS into Russian with the help of the Shiromani Gurdwara Committee or a university in Punjab (PU Patiala & GND University, Amritsar). It will be a great service to the cause of SIKHI. I appeal to Sikh Institutions to offer all logistical and financial support to Prof. Liudmila for this translation.
References
1. Liudmila V. Khokhlova (2014). Changing Contours of Mother Tongue-English Bilingualism in India. ВЕСТН. МОСК. УН-ТА. СЕР. 13. ВОСТОКОВЕДЕНИЕ. 2014. № 1.
2. Liudmila V. Khokhlova (2014). Majority language death. In: Language Endangerment and Preservation in South Asia (ed. by Hugo C. Cardoso).
3. Liudmila V. Khokhlova (with B.A. Zakharyin). Janam Sakhi. Collections of Early Religious Texts. Selective Translation with Commentary, Papers of Moscow State University, Oriental Series, N4, 1991.
4. Liudmila V. Khokhlova (with B.A. Zakharyin). Evolution of the Term ‘Guru’ in Indian Spiritual Thought, Papers of Moscow State University, Oriental Series, N 3, 1995.
5. Liudmila V. Khokhlova (with B. A. Zakharyin). Guru Nanak’s Jap ji in Sikh Religious Tradition. Translation and commentary, Papers of Moscow State University, Oriental Series, № 4, 1999.
6. Liudmila V. Khokhlova. Sikh Marriage Ceremony: Ritual and Ritual text. (translation of ‘Lavan’ by Guru Ram Das), Papers of Moscow State University, Oriental Series, N3, 2000.
7. Liudmila V. Khokhlova. Sikh langar – a symbol of social equality. TASTE OF THE Orient. Gastronomic traditions in the history, culture and religions of the peoples of Asia and Africa, MGIMO University publication, 2018.
