▁of ▁an ▁earlier ▁population ▁in ▁India . ▁However , ▁he ▁did ▁not ▁rule ▁out ▁that ▁it ▁may ▁be ▁a ▁M unda ▁language , ▁like ▁K ork u . ▁K ui per ▁suggested ▁that ▁N ih ali ▁may ▁differ ▁from ▁neighbour ing ▁languages , ▁such ▁as ▁K ork u , ▁mostly ▁in ▁its ▁function ▁as ▁an ▁arg ot , ▁such ▁as ▁a ▁th ieves ' ▁cant . ▁K ui per ' s ▁assert ions ▁stem , ▁in ▁part , ▁from ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁many ▁opp ress ed ▁groups ▁within ▁India ▁have ▁used ▁secret ▁languages ▁to ▁prevent ▁out s iders ▁from ▁understanding ▁them . ▁▁ ▁L ingu ist ▁Norman ▁Z ide ▁describes ▁the ▁recent ▁history ▁of ▁the ▁language ▁ ▁as ▁follows : ▁" N ih ali ' s ▁borrow ings ▁are ▁far ▁more ▁massive ▁than ▁in ▁such ▁text book ▁examples ▁of ▁heavy ▁outside ▁ac quisition ▁as ▁Alban ian ." ▁In ▁this ▁respect , ▁says ▁Z ide , ▁modern ▁N ih ali ▁seems ▁compar able ▁to ▁hy brid ised ▁dialect s ▁of ▁Rom any ▁spoken ▁in ▁Western ▁Europe . ▁Z ide ▁claims ▁that ▁this ▁is ▁a ▁result ▁of ▁a ▁historical ▁process ▁that ▁began ▁with ▁a ▁mass acre ▁of ▁Ni hal is ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 th ▁century , ▁organ ised ▁by ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁r ul ers ▁of ▁the ▁area , ▁supposed ly ▁in ▁response ▁to ▁" m ara ud ing ". ▁Z ide ▁alleg es ▁that , ▁afterwards , ▁the ▁Ni hal is ▁" dec im ated ▁in ▁size ", ▁have ▁" function