Many Sanskrit dramas also indicate that the language coexisted with Prakrits, spoken by multilingual speakers with a more extensive education. Sanskrit speakers were almost always multilingual. In the medieval era, Sanskrit continued to be spoken and written, particularly by learned Brahmins for scholarly communication. This was a thin layer of Indian society, but covered a wide geography. Centres like Varanasi, Paithan, Pune and Kanchipuram had a strong presence of teaching and debating institutions, and high classical Sanskrit was maintained until British times. COUNT 5
QSN1 What form of speech shows that Sanskrit and Prakrits existed together? ANS1 Sanskrit dramas QSN2 What type of speakers spoke Sanskrit? ANS2 multilingual QSN3 For what did Brahmins use Sanskrit? ANS3 scholarly communication QSN4 Until what period was high Sanskrit used? ANS4 British times QSN5 How large of a group in society use Sanskrit? ANS5 thin layer