Urdu language, member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-European family of languages. More than 100 million people, predominantly in Pakistan and India, speak Urdu as a first language by nearly 70 million people and as a second language. It is the official state language of Pakistan and is also officially recognized, or "scheduled," in the constitution of India. Significant speech communities exist in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States as well. Notably, Urdu and Hindi are mutually. Intelligible so the Urdu Language flourished in the Delhi Sultanate. The origin of the Urdu Language can be traced back to the 14th century. In the 14th century, due to the ruling of the Mughal rulers, especially rulers of Turkish or Afghan descent, the continuation of the Islamic practices and the influence of the diverse cultures led to the flourishing of the Urdu Language. The Rulers in the Mughal era had a special liking towards the Sufi and Persian music and poetry culture. Persian and Sufi literature has a strong background in the Urdu language.