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Urdu is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family. In Pakistan, Urdu is spoken as a
mother tongue by a majority of urban dwellers in Karachi and Hyderabad and in the southern
province of Sindh. Urdu is the language of prestige, all signage and education. In India, Urdu
is spoken as a mother tongue in the northern and central states by three times the population it
has in Pakistan. Urdu is also spoken in urban Afghanistan.
In India the word "urdu" was used for a military camp (Turkish word ordu = tent, army).
Urdu had a commanding status in the literary courts of Muslim rulers and flourished under their
patronage. Urdu has been the premiere language of poetry in South Asia for two centuries, and has developed
a rich tradition in a variety of poetic genres.
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