﻿Ott THE PERSIANS. 51 



qulry, which I confine to the ages that preceded the 

 Mohammedan conquest. Having twice read the works 

 of Firdansi with great attention since I applied my- 

 self to the study of old Indian literature, I can assure 

 you with confidence, that hundreds of Parsi nouns 

 are pure Sanscrit, with no other change than such as 

 may be observed in the numerous bhashas, or verna- 

 cular dialects of India \ that very many Persian im- 

 peratives are the roots of Sanscrit verbs ; and that 

 even the moods and tenses of the Persian verb sub- 

 stantive, which is the model of all the rest, are dedu- 

 cible from the Sanscrit by an easy and clear analogy : 

 we may hence conclude, that the Par si was derived, 

 like the various Indian dialects, from the language of 

 the Brahmans ; and I must add, that in the pure Per- 

 siafi I find no trace of any Arabian tongue, except what 

 proceeded from the known intercourse between the 

 Persians and Arabs, especially in the time of Bahrain, 

 who was educated in Arabia, and whose Arabic verses 

 are still extant, together with his heroic line in Deri r 

 which many suppose to be the first attempt at Persian 

 versification in Arabian metre : but, without having re- 

 course to other arguments, the composition of words, in 

 which the genius of the Persian delights, and which 

 that of the Arabic abhors, is a decisive proof that the 

 Parsi sprang from an Indian, and not from an Arabian 

 stock. Considering languages as mere instruments of 

 knowledge, and having strong reasons to doubt the 

 existence of genuine books in Zend or Pahlavi (espe- 

 cially since the well-informed author of the Dabistan 

 affirms the work of Zeratusht to have been lost, and 

 its place supplied by a recent compilation) I had no 

 inducement, though I had an opportunity, to learn 

 what remains of those ancient languages ; but I often 

 conversed on them with my friend Bahman; and both 

 of us were convinced after full consideration, that the 

 Zend bore a strong resemblance to Sanscrit, and the 

 Pahlavi to Arabic. He had at my request translated 



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