Niya Prakrit or Niya Gāndhārī is a Middle Indian language from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. Having its origins in Northern Pakistan, it came to the southern oases of the Tarim Basin in present-day North-West China, where it was the administrative language of the Shànshàn kingdom, a short-lived state on the Silk Road. The language is named after the archaeological site Niya in the Shànshàn area, w ...