Urdu is the national language and one of two official languages (along with English) in Pakistan, and is also one of 22 of the official languages of India. Native speakers number around 60 million people and there are approximately another 40 million people speaking it as a second language.
The Mughal Empire, an imperial power in South Asia that ruled a large portion of the Indian subcontinent from 1526 to 1858, saw many languages develop due to trade and travel. Urdu was influenced the most during this time because in trade business, a high level of Persian and Arabic was used therefore Urdu was needed to communicate with others.
