by Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi
About 800 years.
The most opportunities for interaction among the largest number of speakers existed as long as agriculture was an important economic activity in Kupwar. There has been a gradual weakening of this interdependence from about 1930s until the 1990s. One can infer that the interaction was the greatest until about 1950s.
Historical records as well as residents in Kupwar indicate that the contact situation is about 600 years old. It might safely be inferred, that K-M and K-K speakers have worked together for as long.
My guess is that the largest number of people had the most opportunities for interaction in the labour domain before the sale of farm lands in Kupwar began (approx. 1920s onwards) The shift away from caste-based economic relations must admittedly have been gradual, spanning over about seventy years from 1920s until the 1990s.
For almost six hundred years.
Contact since the thirteenth century until the present.
Sale of agricultural land in Kupwar presumably increased from 1930s until 1990s. I reckon that the largest number of people had opportunities for interaction in the local community until agriculture was a major economic activity in Kupwar. These opportunities must have steadily declined from 1930s until the 1990s.
For about six centuries.
The largest number of people interacted for trade until about twenty years ago. The lower caste Marathi-speakers are increasingly relying on education and salaried jobs (often outside Kupwar) for better financial prospects.
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