Ma knees
• AND 1
C ustom s.
LaDgifsges.
ppjy a grppdiflpq^im.
doling a court,' with a fmall gajiery fuppoj;tedby flight,wopdenpijlars.
The amufements. confift of rehgiQusproceflipns; but thpugh dancing
jpds abound, yet theatricjal ^exhibitioQS. do not feem lo common as iu
the' countries further to’the eaft.
Hindoftan. is .believed to hayp-bfen
/the Sanlcret, an brigipa^l and refined fpeech, compared by Qir William
. t;heg Greq^ and Latin. fThe. rpore J; coiftmon dialgdts are
chiefly the, folfewing :5
!;/•* pf» RiPf pf Ceylon, which is faid nearly.,to
refemble me .Sanfcret: .
2* ufed in the .Deccan, or fou^er^/p^rt, in Madura*
Myfore. M^lorpe^parts ^tjjedyialabaj; coaft. ,We$inmwho'waS(cpn-
verfaht in it, pronounces, it harmonious and eafijy .acquired. T
3. -The Malaljar language, extending .frora cage Goman to,'the
mountain IHi, which divides^Malabar from Canara. One of alphabets.
is called the Maleyam ’Tamiih ' Perhaps this “filiy ^^^lie'^rfmitive
larigia|e j3but' Mala inJ generai; implils a ihbudtmii,5 as
dbeiha' pafs. ®
4. THatorClL’riMfk^ whfSi" extends gs'far a? [ \
“ 5'v Th'e*Mdrarhda language. Y is .prevale'nt'thrbugfiout the wf ole
countryAof the Marafhdi\ wHo are very1 Improperly calledf maraiias. r
“ Oi The Taiehga,' an '•n^rmoriious, ndryous1,^ mafculineYcopiclus,
and learned 'language, ^ which, like the SamlCred^' has fifty twxT dia-
fafters; and thefe are .fuSicient to write the latter. ^It is fpoke"n' onvllie
coaft of Ortxa, in ;^blfe6^|a,
mountains of Balangat. All thefe languages have their owii alphabets :
To that m every province“ you muft make yourfelf acquainted With a
diftinft kind of characters, if you' willi to exprefs your' thoughts in the
dialed: common in each-
^ 7.. The common Bengal language: a wretched dialed:, corrupted
in the utmoft degree. It has' no V, and inftead of it employs the B ;
fo that inftekd of Ml? you muft write1 ‘Seda. It1 is fpbken at 'Calcutta;
and in Bengal on the banks of the Ganges. *
9 Wadin, :
8. The
C H A PC I. # EN E :ftAL VIEW. . * ' "4 $?
<J 8. The Devangkrie, br Hmdoftan language balk’d by feme Nagru, Language.
NagarV'-ahd PP& 'DevanagapiiJ It fYTpoken ’at* Benares,"or Venares,
and fconfifts of fifty-twobhar^dtersf: ’with which yoh ’-San write the
Satnkred. Its'fhhfie ;©f Writing.has been introduced'into .all-the northern
part of Indian A fpesimen of it may be -ken in the,fisrft volume of
the Afiatic* R'efearches. ■
& «9. The Guzafktlic, -whifch has been introduced not only into the
kingdom- of G'uzarat,; but a'lfo at Bat-obhe, Surat, Taita', and the neigh*- ‘
botifhbbd. of-the Bafengat mountains.*_ Its characters are little different
froin -trhofe of th’e ‘Devadaga'fk.* *!
I : ‘0.j’qu»The Nepalic, whkbife? fpdken in the kingdom- of. Nepal, and
has'aT great Ci cdMatity to’ ffie’ 'Devakagatk? 'f
s .£>0 far Wefdin ; who adds his opinion^ that all thefe languages proceed
fiom-tke- Sahkretj-which'SifWillkm:|ones':imaginfes,!wa:S';tranfplanted
ftoitf ^rftai Hindoftan isdn: truth -aw exeelleht field for the inveftiga-
tfkm of |aotitjuaties, who may here confound hundreds of’ years, with
tfibftfendS^land may difpute for ever; without arriving1 at any: de-
; The “literature of Hindoftan doubtlefs contains-.'feveral valuable and Literatare.
curious monuments; Tut the want of hiftory and chronology senders
thei#«epelbhs:-'ek€reE8ely:utiedttain. 'A 1 ‘la-hguage;may be aitth|U4tei in
the■ •cbdrf6? Pf a £etf-|kiitfiiibs| aatvel-a^ito^feda^k^l^i^feJtkpuialads
'of ydabs# But whild^h'e' Hindooplrterati compute HyAilllons ofagesj j,
*ld^tfpi^Tthat'tele$diti^on called axenturyr -There feems no-rheor
polOgy 'of authors - who Tueceffively quote or puerttiioia each .other f and
•there-is not dMen any grdat*land mark, like the?t^elfef?GahfuciUs among
the Chinefe. Hence little elfe'-thah conffofionj' andheortt-redi^ibn are
•t# be ’found in The’ numdrpus Accounts*'publifhed-' of,,'Hindoo' lit-e- -
tat lire.; w
1 The moft important iftopksfiare the .Vedas f ‘one of which; has nine
€d£fibksf and’-^ another 'Offie tbdufandi.H It is to beihoped that tfiefofoi?-
gSries. are more ancient than'the Puranas, .whichthaYO-been demon-
llrate^ by Mr,. Bentley, nptj to exceed fevejiVcent-Utks'in, ^ntiqpity.'*
Tfiere are fome epic poems which prfetend tor; contain fragments of
Y *« jst.Yer.-vi.“^
VO L, I I . L !■ genuine