﻿-AND PRACRIT LANGUAGES. "^6 



"Mait'hila, or Tirhutfj/a, is the language used in 

 Mi t' hilt), that is, in tlie Sircdr of Tirhut, and ia 

 some adjoining districts, limited however by the ri- 

 vers Cusi CCau.'-ici,) and Gandliac (Gandhad,) and 

 by the mountains of Nepal : it has great affinity with 

 Bengali; and the character in which it is written. 

 differs little from tliat which is employed through- 

 out Bengal. In Tirhat, too, the learned write San- 

 scrit in the Tlrhut'iya. character, and pronounce it 

 after their own inelegant manner. As the dialect of 

 Mltlula has no extensive use, and does not appear to 

 liave been at any time cultivated by elegant poets, 

 it is unnecessary to notice it further in this place. 



Utcala, or G (trade's a, is co-extensive with the 

 Subci of O' resa, extending from Medi/iipur to A/d^ 

 nacapattana, and from the sea to Sammall-pur. The 

 language of this province, and the character ui which 

 it is written, are both called Uriya. So far as a 

 judgment can be formed from imperfect specimens of 

 this language, it contains many Sanscrit words va- 

 riously corrupted, with some Persian, and Arabick 

 terms borrowed through the medium of Hindiistdniy 

 and with others of doubtful origin. The letters are, 

 evidently taken from the Devand^ari ; and t\\t Brdh' 

 mens of this province use the Ur'iya character in 

 writing the Sanscrit language : its deviations from 

 the Devandgari may be explained, from the practice 

 of writing on palm leaves with an iron style, or 

 on paper with a pen cut from a porcupine's quill. It 

 differs in this respect from the hand-writing of north- 

 ern tribes, and is analogous to. that of the southern 

 inhabitants of the peninsula. 



Q The 



employed by bankers and others in mercantile transactions. I must 

 here confess that I can give no satisfactory explanation of the term. 

 The common etymolosry of Nagari is unsatisfactory ; unless Nagara 

 be taken as the name of some . particular place emphaiicall^r called the 

 city, 



