Classical Language

Classical languages (India)

The criteria for a language to be considered "Classical" are:

The language should have "early texts or recorded history" of at least a thousand years; (Earlier, they had to be at least 2,000 years old. Now, languages that are over 1,500 years old will be eligible for being included in that category.)
It should have a body of ancient literature or texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by a generation of speakers;
And its literary tradition should be original and not borrowed from another speech community.

In addition, since classical language and literature may be distinct from the modern ones, it would not be a disqualification if there is discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or offshoots, like Latin versus Roman, Sanskrit-Pali versus Prakrits and the modern Indo-Aryan language.

The benefits to the language declared classical

Two major international awards would be given annually to scholars of eminence in classical Indian languages.
A centre of excellence for studies in classical languages would be set up and the University Grants Commission will establish a number of Professorial Chairs for Classical Languages for scholars of eminence

India had last year decided to create a classical language category and Tamil was the first language to be accorded the status (Friday, Sept 17 2004). And recently the Sanskrit (Thursday, Oct 27 2005). And Telugu & Kannada are in Q.

The following dates are just my views, and don't have any rational basis. I hope Govt. of India will declare Telugu by Wednesday, Dec 6 2006 & Kannada by Tuesday, Jan 15 2008 as classical languages

Friday, Sep 17 2004 -> Thursday, Oct 27 2005 = 1 year + 40days (mandala)
Thursday, Oct 27 2005 -> Wednesday, Dec 6 2006 = 1 year + 40days (mandala)
Wednesday, Dec 6 2006 -> Tuesday, Jan 15 2008 = 1 year + 40days (mandala)

Meanwhile, demand from other languages may come up.