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192
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JUNE, 1875.
we have already spoken. Thus Jugul for Jugal, Anrúd for Aniruddh, Satarjit for Satrujit, gambir for gambhir, Rahas for Rås, gauwdla for gwala, Ranjor for Ranch hor, &c. &c. are barbarous mis. spellings, but they are repeated so often as to leave no doubt that Mr. Atkinson approved of them; some being due to ignorance of the rules of Sanskrit etymology, and others to "fanciful derivations that he has elaborated for himself,"-a practice which he has not been able to avoid, though he condemns it in others. It also appears incon- sistent to use such forms as lambardar and sadr --which, if any, may justly be called pedantic, and have been mado exceptions by Government-and yet to adopt the unmeaning form Lalatpur, which is a halfway-house purely of his own in. vention between the exploded Lullutpoor, and Lalitpur, which latter is not only correct, but has also received Government sanction.
ction As might be inferred from these indications of indifference to etymological accuracy, derivations of words are not often given,-and very wisely so, for such as we do find are quite of the pre-scientific type. Thus. Banda' is said to be compounded of báma, mental desire,' and daatit, given;' though the latter word bas no existence either in Sanskrit or any other language; the former is incorrectly translated ; and the two could never be combined 80 as to give such a result as Bånda. Again, if it had been recognized that Kayan was simply the Hindi abbreviation for Karnavati, the Sanskrit name of the chief river of Banda, its connection with Karna would certainly have been mentioned at page 127, where reference is made to the local names and legends that commemorate him and the other heroes of the Mahabharata. The non-recognition arises from the writer's exclusive use of the Per. sian written character, in which it is impossible to make any distinction between Ken and Kayan; and the similarity of Ken to Karna is, it must be admitted, not very apparent. Again, Sarmán, translated a water-carrier,' really means nothing of the kind, but is the Sanskrit Sraman, 'an ascetic.' In token of his vocation he is always represented as carrying a small earthen waterpot, known as a kamandal, and thus the origin of the error be- comes intelligible, a viva voce explanation in which the waterpot was mentioned having been misunderstood. Further, to translate Kamda-ndththe name of a place of pilgrimage-by Lordly giver of desires' is as little in accord with Eng. lish idiom as it would be to speak of 'The ladylike giver of victory' meaning thereby Our Lady of Victory. The precise intention of the Hindi compound was probably not apprehended; but it is more difficnlt to find an explanation for the disregard of Lindley Murray shown in such
sentences as the following :-"The principal divisions among the Brahmans are the Kanaujiyas," no others being enumerated. Again, "Over these is a row of what appear to be ling or phallus, some bearing a head, others the usual division of the ling or phallus." Again, on the same page : "Mahadeo also appears as Nandigan, with wor. shippers'; Hanumån with his foot on the demon; and there is also a small seated figure with one standing and presenting an offering to it." As a bit of picturesque word-painting the following is also noticeable :-" The houses at Mau are wellbuilt, with deep eaves of considerable beauty be. tween the first and second stories, of pleasing outline throughout, with here and there a balconyhung window quite beautiful." Again, to speak of a market as "held on every eighth day" instead of once a week,' which is what is intended, however literala rendering of the Hindustani document, is calculated to mislead an English reader who is not versed in Oriental idiom. As indications of the writer's slight knowledge of Hindu mythology, take the following passages : “ The sixth temple is dedicated to Chaturbhuj, and the seventh to Vishnu in the boar-avatar;" which should be corrected to
The sixth and seventh temples are both dedicated to Vishnu, in his two forms of Chaturbhuj and the Boar respectively. Again, the sentence "There are two armed figures, one discharging an arrow (Bir Badr) and the other wielding a sword, called Mahadeo ka putr (son)" implies an error; for Virabhadra (to spell correctly) was himself the son of Mahadeva. But the most astonishing instance of the writer's scanty acquaintance with Indian literature is afforded by the following word in his description of Rajapur: "In Akbar's reign, a holy man Tulsi Dâs, a resident of Soron, came to the jungle on the banks of the Jamnâ, erected a temple and devoted himself to prayer and meditation." To judge from the date and locality, the Tulsi Dâs intended by Mr. Atkinson's informant was the famous author of the Randyana, a poet whose works have for the last three hundred years exercised more influence upon the great mass of the population of India than any other book ever written. So curt a notice of so celebrated a personage could only be paralleled by a Warwickshire topographer noting under the head of Stratford-on-Avon 'In the reign of Elizabeth a playwright by name Shakespeare was living in this town.' And with this we conclude, hoping that the next volume of our Provincial Gazetteer may comprise a more Muhammadan part of the country, where the editor's statistical skill may have equal scope, and his moderate acquaintance with Hindu legends and literature may not be quite so severely strained.
