(in Russian, Lendi; also known as Seraiki, Multani, Western Panjabi, Jatki), a language spoken mainly in the western part of West Punjab and in the state of Bahawalpur in Pakistan. Lahnda is related to the Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-European language family. There are 12.5 million Lahnda speakers (1970 estimate). Lahnda is represented by two dialect groups: southern (Multani, Jatki, Thali) and northern (Poth, Cibhali, Awankari). Multani is the main dialect. The first literary texts date from the 12th century (the poet Sheikh Farid). Collections of poetry, songs, fairy-tales, and stories were published in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Newspapers and magazines are also published in Lahnda.