﻿AND prVcrit languages. 231 



almost exclusively in this dialect; :xs the Dhu?'peds 

 and regular R.:gs are in Hindi, and Rekhtah *, in 

 the language of the court of Hindustan. 



The Brij-bhakhd, or Vraja-bhhhd, is the dialect 

 supposed to have been anciently spoken among the 

 peasants in the neighbourhood of Mafhura. It de- 

 rives its ]iame from the cowpens (Vrnja) and dairies 

 in the forest of Vrinda, where Crishn'a M'as edu- 

 cated among the wives and daughters of the cow- 

 lierds. His amorous adventures with Ra'd'ha' and 

 the Gopis furnish the subject of many favourite songs 

 in this dialect. It is still spoken with much purity 

 thtougliout a great part of the Antarhid, or Doab, 

 and in some districts on the opposite banks of the 

 Yamuna and Gangd. 



To these cursor}^ observations might be fitly added 

 a specimen of each language, and of the character in 

 which it is written, together with a list of the most 

 common terms in the various dialects of India, com- 

 pared with words of similar sound and import in th'e 

 ancient languages of Europe. I have indeed made 

 collections for this purpose, but the insertion of a 

 copious list would exceed the limits of a desultory 

 essay. For this reason, and because the collection 

 is yet incomplete, I suppress it ; and shall here close 

 the present essay abruptly, with the intention of re-t 

 suming the subject, should the further prosecution of 

 these inquiries at any future time enable me to fur- 

 nish the information called for by this society, con- 

 cerning the number of Hindnzvi dialects, and the 

 countries where they are spoken. 



Q4 On 



* The author of the Tezcareh Sbuard Hind tx^Vnns Rekhtah as 

 signifying any poetry composed in the laisguage of the royal court of 

 H'tnduitdrti but in che ftyle and metre of Persian poety. 



