When the Aryan-speaking peoples moved into north India, about 2000 years BCE, they brought with them many variations of the Aryan language. Some of these dialects developed literary forms later. The most important dialect of these was Sanskrit. The word means "the refined language" and its formalization was due to Panini, who lived about 500 years BCE.
Another language to arrive was Magadhi, spoken in the eastern part of north India. This was probably the language preferred and used by the Buddha. It was this language that came to be developed as a written language, which we now call "Pali".
