Hindi is the official language of Bihar. People bordering Bengal speak Bengali as well. English is widely understood though spoken by a few. Other than these languages, many local dialects are widely spoken. These are Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili. People in the districts of Champaran, Saran, and Shahabad speak Bhojpuri.
These three Bihari languages/dialects have over 5 million speakers. These languages once mistakenly thought to be dialects of Hindi, but recent research show that these are part of the Eastern Group of Indic languages, along with Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya.
While people in Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Saharsa, Purnia and Bhagalpur speak Maithili, people in Patna and Gaya speak Magahi. Maithili can be classified as a distinct and uniquely Bihari language because of its rich history of literature. Vidyapati a medieval era Bihar poet composed verses in praise of Lord Krishna with great intensity in Maithili language only. Other dialects spoken in the state of Bihar are Angika, Fiji Hindi, Kudmali, Panchpargania, Sadri, Sarnami, Hindustani, Surajpuri, and Vajjika.
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