Language of the Newar people, indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala. Newar is a Tibeto-Burman language from the Sino-Tibetan family. It is popularly and officially known as Nepal-bhasha (‘language of Nepal’), which is also the historical term for the language. A few inscriptions from the Malla period refer to the language as ‘Newar’; use of the term in mainstream scholarship was introduced by ethnologist Brian Hodgson in 1847. The earliest manuscripts and epigraphy in Newar date to the twelfth century CE. It was the official language of the Malla kingdom, when it established itself as a prestigious written language prolifically used for literature and scholarship. From the nineteenth century on, Newar and other indigenous languages of Nepal suffered state suppression in favour of Nepali, formerly known as Gorkhali. However, since Nepal’s democratisation in 2006, indigenous languages are constitutionally protected and Newar is now widely used in the public sphere.