Certain dialects called after the Abhiras or Ahirs still remain. One,
known as Ahirwati, is spoken in the Rohtak and Gurgaon Districts of
the Punjab and round Delhi. This is akin to Mewati, one of the forms
of Rajasthani or the language of Rajputana. The Malwi dialect of
Rajasthani is also known as Ahiri; and that curious form of Gujarati,
which is half a Bhil dialect, and is generally known as Khandeshi,
also bears the name of Ahirani. [22] The above linguistic facts seem
to prove only that the Abhiras, or their occupational successors,
the Ahirs, were strongly settled in the Delhi country of the Punjab,
Malwa and Khandesh. They do not seem to throw much light on the origin
of the Abhiras or Ahirs, and necessarily refer only to a small section
of the existing Ahir caste, the great bulk of whom speak the Aryan
language current where they dwell. Another authority states, however,
that the Ahirs of Gujarat still retain a dialect of their own, and
concludes that this and the other Ahir dialects are the remains of
the distinct Abhira language.