﻿2^S ON THE SANSCRIT 



lect still prevails in the intermediate mountainous 

 tract, but seems to be superseded by other provincial 

 tongues on the eastern coast. A peculiar character 

 formed from the Dcvcuiagar), but like the Tamla^ 

 much corrupted from it through the practice of writ- 

 ing on palm-leaves with an iron style, is called by the 

 same name with the language of Carnatk. Brah- 

 7nens of this tribe have assured me that the language 

 bears the same affinity to Sanscrit as other dialects 

 of the Dacsh in. lean affirm too, from their con- 

 versation, tlmt the Cat? a ?^as, like most other southern 

 tribes, have not followed the ill example of Bengal 

 and the provinces adjacent to it, in pronouncing the 

 Smiscnt language in the same inelegant manner v.ith 

 their own provincial dialects. 



Tailanga, Tetingah, or Tilimga, is at once the 

 name of a nation, of its language, and of the charac- 

 ter in which that language is written. Though the. 

 province of Telingana alone retain the name in pub- 

 lished maps of India, yet the adjacent provinces on 

 either bank of CVi'^/z/m and Goddveri, and those situ- 

 ated on the north-eastern coast olthe peninsula, are 

 undoubtedly comprehended within the ancient limits 

 of Tilanga, and are inhabited chiefly by people 

 of this tribe. The language too is widely spread : 

 and manv circumstances indicate that the TaiUiugas 

 formerly occupied a very extensive tract, in wliich 

 they still constitute the principal part of the popula- 

 tion. The character in which they write their own 

 language is taken from Devandgari, and the Tailanga 

 Brahme7is employ it in writing the Sanscrit tongue, 

 from which the Tailanga idiom is Diid to have bor- 

 rowed more largely than other dialects used in the 

 -south of India. This language appears to have been 

 cultivated by poets, if not by prose writers, for the 

 Tailangas possess many compositions in their own 

 provincial dialect, some of which are said to record 

 the ancient history of the country. 



6 The 



