76 ESSAY ON 



obviously derived from the S'anso'lt ; but is doubtful 

 wbetht'r, in tlieir present state, they ever prevailed, 

 or w ere used in any part of Lidia. Among the nu- 

 merous inscriptions in Baliaj\ only a few in that 

 character have been found. One was kindly sent to 

 me by Mr. Dick of the civil service. It was ob- 

 viously written in the Burmah character, but I could 

 not decypher it. 



The Bards of Magadlia were in great repute for- 

 merly, and the}' are mentioned under the name of 

 Magadlias. They reckon three sorts of Bards in 

 India: the Magadlias, or historians, thus called be- 

 cause those of Magadlia were the most esteemed ; 

 the Siitas, or Genealogists ,- and the Bandis, whose 

 duty was to salute, early in the morning, the king 

 or chief, in selected phrase, and well-chosen words, 

 wishing him long life and prosperity. The usual 

 name in India for ?.Bard is, Bhdt, ^'ulgarly pronounced 

 Bhat. It is not a /S«y?*677V appellation, though asserted 

 to be derived from it. But the original name, as it was 

 pronounced several hundred years ago, was Bdrddi or 

 Bdrdd/ii, though some think it a different name, ap- 

 phed to the same class of people. 



Bhaf, or Bhat, is derived from the Sanscrit Vdrta^ 

 or Bar'ta; and which is the same with the English 

 word and the German xcort, a word. In the west, 

 Bhats were equally called Bardi in Latin, and Bhardh 

 mIFtlsh. They were also called Vates, Worn jdri, 

 fatus sum in Latin, the same with Vdrtd, the letter 

 11 being dropped, as in the vulgar dialects of India, 

 They were also denominated Eubages, from the San- 

 scrit verb Vacha or Bacha, to speak, which becomes 

 Uvacha and Ubacha, through various moods and 

 tenses. Vacha, or Bacha, becomes also Bdga, or 

 Vdga ; hence the Irish word Bogh, rendered Zo^>w, 

 or speech, by General Valla ncey. The word 

 Bardai, or Vardai, comes obviously from the same 



