<P> English was legislated to be reduced to the status of a "subsidiary official language" after fifteen years . But this provision of the constitution was negated by a provision in Section 3, of the same Article 343 that gave primacy to The Official Languages Act, 1963 . The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists 22 languages, which have been referred to as scheduled languages and given recognition, status and official encouragement . In addition, the Government of India has awarded the distinction of classical language to Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu . Classical language status in Indian constitution is given to the languages which have rich heredity and independent nature . </P> <P> According to Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages . However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in definition of the terms "language" and "dialect". The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people . Two contact languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian and English . Persian was the court language during the Mughal period in India . It reigned as an administrative language for several centuries until the era of British colonisation . English continues to be an important language in India . It is used in higher education and in some areas of the Indian government . Hindi, the most widely spoken language in a large region of India today, serves as the lingua franca across much of North and Central India . However, there have been anti-Hindi agitations in South India, most notably in the state of Tamil Nadu . </P> <P> The southern Indian languages are from the Dravidian family . The Dravidian languages are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent . Proto - Dravidian languages were spoken in India in the 4th millennium BCE and started disintegrating into various branches around 3rd millennium BCE . The Dravidian languages are classified in four groups: North, Central (Kolami--Parji), South - Central (Telugu--Kui) and South Dravidian (Tamil - Kannada). </P> <P> The northern Indian languages from the Indo - Aryan branch of the Indo - European family evolved from Old Indic by way of the Middle Indic Prakrit languages and Apabhraṃśa of the Middle Ages . The Indo - Aryan languages developed and emerged in three stages--Old Indo - Aryan (1500 BCE to 600 BCE), Middle Indo - Aryan stage (600 BCE and 1000 CE) and New Indo - Aryan (between 1000 CE and 1300 CE). The modern north Indian Indo - Aryan languages all evolved into distinct, recognisable languages in the New Indo - Aryan Age . </P>

Name the states of india and their languages