Quran Translation in Local Indian Language Published

TEHRAN (IQNA) – A translation of the Holy Quran into Khasi, a local language spoken in northeast India, was published in the city of Shillong, the capital of the state of Meghalaya.

The translation was unveiled in a ceremony in Shillong on Saturday, according to the Shillong Times.

The Holy Book has been translated at the initiative of Seng Bhalang Islam institute into Khasi not from the original Arabic but from English.

Some 3,000 copies of the rendering have been published in 1251 pages.

It took the translators and editorial board some 12 years to translate the entire Quran from English to Khasi.

Khasi is an Austroasiatic language spoken primarily in Meghalaya state in India by the Khasi people.  

Khasi is part of the Austroasiatic language family, and is related to Cambodian, and Mon languages of Southeast Asia, and the Munda branch of that family, which is spoken in east–central India.

Although most of the 1.6 million Khasi speakers are found in Meghalaya, the language is also spoken by a number of people in the hill districts of Assam bordering with Meghalaya and by a sizable population of people living in Bangladesh, close to the Indian border.

Khasi has been an associate official language of some districts within Meghalaya since 2005, and as of May 2012, was no longer considered endangered by UNESCO.