Magadhi Prakrit (Ardhamāgadhī) is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India following the decline of Pali and Sanskrit. Magadhi Prakrit was spoken in the eastern Indian subcontinent, in a region spanning what is now eastern India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. It is believed to be the language spoken by the important religious figures Gautama Buddha and Mahavira and was also the language of the courts of the Magadha mahajanapada and the Maurya Empire; the edicts of Ashoka were composed in it.

Magadhi Prakrit later evolved into the Eastern Zone Indo-Aryan languages, including Assamese, Bengali, Odia and the Bihari languages (Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Magahi languages, among others).

Pali and Ardhamāgadhī

Theravada Buddhist tradition has long held that Pali was synonymous with Magadhi and there are many analogies between it and an older form of Magadhi called Ardhamāgadhī "Proto-Magadhi", which is preserved in the Jain Agamas. Both Gautama Buddha and the Tirthankara Mahavira preached in Magadha.