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DECEMBER, 1898.)
IN MEMORIAM GEORGE BÜHLER.
379
Mhi palitah nah ag ia-ice bais-rahiô. Mht das hôy6, par phul-gió, jano Then fuse to fire applying he-sat-down. Then explosion became, rock barst, (the)-man udá-chhörió. Ut maikhú kô arman må mar-gið. Was-blown-up. There honey of longing in he-perished.
Garwi. The modern Indian language with which Bühler's name is most closely connected is Kasbmiri. The first scientific account of that language appeared in his famous Kashmir report, and during the years of our intercourse, he was never tired of dwelling on its importance for the linguistic history of India. At length, some three or four years ago, at his earnest solicitation, I took up the serious study of this interesting form of speech, and have been amply rewarded. Similarly, the late Dr. Burkhard's papers on the Musalman form of Kashmiri, which are now appearing in these pages, were undertaken at his suggestion and with his assistance.
One of the result of these studies has been the establishment of the existence of a North-Western group of Indian languages, all closely connected, and extending from Karachi, in Sindh, through the Western Panjab, into Kashmir. The Linguistic Survey, thanks to the kindness of Major Deane, the Political Officer at the Malakhand, has brought forward two more languages, also spoken in the Swat country, which belong to the same group. They had been previously described by Colonel Biddulph, but their affinities had never been established. Their names are Gârwi and Tôrwalt. They closely resemble each other, and, in this paper, I shall only give some grammatical notes, and two of the specimens which I have collected of the former. Other specimens have also been utilised in preparing the notes, but considerations of space forbid their being printed here.
Gârwi is the language of the Ga wâre, a sept of which tribe is named Bashghar, a fact which has led Colonel Biddulph to erroneously call the language Bushkarik,' and to call the entire tribe Bushkar.' The language is closely connected with that of the Torwal, who inhabit the Swat and Panjkôrå Valleys lower down than the Gaward.' It is evidently of Indian origin. Regarding the Gaware, Colonel Biddulph says,
" Bushkar is the name given to the community which inhabits the upper part of the Punjkorah Valley, whence they have overflowed into the upper part of the Swat Valley, and occupied the three large villages of Otrote, Ushoo, and Kalam. They live on good terns with their Torwal neighbours, and number altogether from 12,000 to 15,000 souls . .. The Bushkarik proper are divided into three clans, the Moolanor, Kootchkhor, and Joghior. They say that they have been Mussulmans for nine generations, and the peculiar customs still common among the Shins do not exist among them . . . . The Bushkar dialect approaches more nearly to modern Punjabi than any other of the Dard languages; but in some respects seems to show some affinity to the dialects of the Siah Posh."
With reference to the above remarks, the conversion of the people to Islam began in the time of A khûn Darwêza, about three hundred years ago, and has been carried on up to within the last centary. Garwî, like the other languages of the Swât Kohistên, has one remarkable peculiarity. The verb, except in the Future Tense, and in the Imperative mood, does not distinguish between the various persons. In some of these languages, e. 9., Garwi (as described by Biddulph under the name of Bushkarik) even number is not distinguished. On the other hand, throughout the conjugation of the verb, the distinction of gender is carefully maintained. Thus, in Garwi, the present tense of the verb "to be" is, masculine, tú, feminine, túi. According to the gender of the subject, each of these words means, I am, thou art, he, she, or it is, we are, you are, they are, as the context may require.
It is not possible to form a complete grammar from the specimens, but the following instances of grammatical forms show that the language is closely connected with Kashmiri.
Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh, p. 70. A brief notice of Bushkarik Grammar is given in Appendix E. of the same work.
