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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[SEPTEMBER, 1889.
An attempt is made, by an analysis of the charac- appended, but plans of some of the Chinese ters, to give a sketch of the old Chinese culture. towns. Perhaps the former is somewhat overThe results already obtained by the study of early crowded with names, but the work is a very valuAryan culture are well known, but these results able one. have been brought about by a comparative study (g) Catalogues of Oriental MSS.; by Rosen. of roots, which are unquestionably connected, ( Catalogue of the Turkish manuscripts in the but even about which scholars are not uniform British Museum, by Ch. Rieu. London, 1888. in their opinions. Our author only investigates (ii) Verzeichniss der persischen Handschriften the Chinese language, and is very fantastic in der Kgl. Bibliothek - Berlin von Wilhelm his explanation of the Chinese combined charac- Pertech. Berlin, 1888. ters. And in the Chinese characters the same (iii) Verzeichniss der arabischen Handschriften group has a different meaning with different keys. der Kgl. Bibliothek zu Berlin von W. Ahlwardt.
There is also this radical fault in his interpre- Erster Band. Berlin, 1887. tation : he accepts the idea that the present style The materials for the study of these three of writing is nothing else than simplification of the Muhammadan languages are constantly increasancient styles. But why should we not believe ing; the British Museum and the Library of Berlin that, as the culture changed, the writing changed, being very active in their purchase. Dr. Rieu's so that in their different conditions the people Turkish Catalogue will be warmly greeted, bewould naturally express their thoughts by cause, with the exception of that of the Viennese different combinations and thus change the old Library by Flügel, there was little to aid our methods P He frequently treats as old characters study of Ottoman literature. those which are late. He attempts to prove, The collection of the British Museum conamong other things, that the Chinese, at the time tains 444 Ottoman M88. (including some from when they settled in the east from Central Asia, Azurbijan) and 39 Chughatai. It is rich in had not black hair, and were of a fair complexion, ancient works preserved in ancient copies. In but not one of the examples introduced confirm this respect it almost surpasses all other col. this. He interprets the combination of charac- lections. Those of Paris and Oxford, of which ters which Vasiliev takes to mean black haired' up to the present time there is no description, as signifying ploughmen, agriculturista,' which perhaps will prove richer. The British Museum he holds the primitive Chinese to have been
has no copy of the Kudatku-Bilik, of which The writer is too fond of seeing allusions to Vienna is justly proud, and manuscripts in the foreigners everywhere. He is led to this by the Uighur character are wanting, but it boasts an fact that the names of foreigners are written with old copy of the History of the Prophets by keys denoting the dog, snake, &c., but this may Rubgusi, compiled A.H. 710, and referred by Dr. point to the custom of calling races after animals, Rieu to the XV. century. The MS. is not dated, and does not show any attempt to look upon them but we can rely upon such a competent scholar as with dislike. Throughout, the author interprets Dr. Rieu. He identifies the Amir Nasiru'd-din the characters from preconceived notions, and Tukboga, mentioned in the preface of Rudguzi, also explains the same character differently into whom the whole work is dedicated, with the different parts of his book. Thus, as explaining Amir Tukboga, whom Ibn-Batata (A.H. 733) saw the earliest unit of the Chinese family, father, in the camp of Sultan Termashirin, near Naksheb. mother and son, he interprets the character tsra, When Rudguzi is edited again, which is much to on page 21, as 'three people under a roof,' and on be desired, the London copy must be compared page 97 he says, "the character tsra, house or with the text. family,' is compounded of mian,' a roof,' and shi, Besides this pearl, we find (p. 290) a rare old swine,' - i.e. each Chinese family had swine. I Chughatai work, Muhabbat nimah, by a certain
To conclude: the Chinese language and its Khwarizmi, compiled in A. H. 754, in a manuscript literature are still too little studied for it to be of the year 914, which also contains the Makhsanpossible to investigate the primitive culture of w'l-serdr of Haidar Telbë, the Gul-i-Nariz of the Chinese people: the analysis which onr Maulana Lutfi and also his divdn, the De-ndma author gives, is arbitrary and can lead to no of Amirt (compiled in A.H. 883), the Qasida of satisfactory results.
Shaibani Khan, the Lalafat-ndma of Khozhdeni (2) 2. Matusovski. 4. Geographioal Survey (a work up to the present entirely unknown), the of the Chinese Empire. St. Petersburg 1888. Ta'ash-Shah-ndma of Sidi Ahmad ibn-Mirin
This work answers & want long felt in Russia. Shah and some other small poetical produc. It is valuable both to the general public and to tions. There is also the Divan of Sakkaki, the specialists. There is not only a careful map oldest oontemporary of Mir 'Alishôr, unfortunately
