Bundeli (Devanagari: बुन्देली or बुंदेली; Nastaliq: ) or Bundelkhandi is an Indo-Aryan language (claimed as a dialect of Hindi by the government of India) spoken in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and in southern parts of Uttar Pradesh. Bundelkhandi is related to Braj Bhasha, which was the literary language in Central India until the 19th century. It is a descendant of the Sauraseni Apabhramsha language. Bundeli is spoken in the districts of Banda, Hamirpur, Jalun, Jhansi, Gwalior, Bhopal, Sagour, Damoh, Narsinghpur and Hoshangbad. It is also the mother tongue of the Pawari, Lodhanti and Khatola people. Its dialects are Pawari, Lodhanti, Khatola, Banaphari, Kundi, Nibhatta, Bhadauri, Lodhi, Koshti, Kumbhar, Nagpuri.