2 Contributions to Persian Lexicography. [No. 1, 



Persian lias been a subject of study and the medium of education. 

 The value of the Indian dictionaries is fully acknowledged by the 

 Persians themselves. Surdri's Majrna'ulfurs is indeed the only dic- 

 tionary written by a Persian, which a compiler will have to consult ; 

 and even this book is half Indian. The number of Irani lexicographists 

 is small. The better dictionaries written before A. D. 1400 are 

 mostly of Turanian origin. The very first Persian dictionary was 

 written at Soghd. With 1400 the period of the Indian dictionaries 

 commences. Bach is an improvement upon the preceding ; in each 

 we find the number of words and quotations steadily increasing, till 

 we see them culminating in the Farhang i Jahangiri, which brought 

 the old Turani and Irani dictionaries into oblivion. The practical voca- 

 bulary, entitled Burhan i Qati', which has been acknowledged to be the 



j.^ojb ci>E*"' &i,ji J*-*'™'- 

 closes the first period, the period of gathering, A. D. 1400 to 1652. 



With Rashidi commences the second epoch of the Indian dictionaries, 

 the period of criticism. The two dictionaries of this period, though 

 not yet used by European compilers, must be the basis of a critical 

 dictionary of the Persian language. Bashkli's Farhang — let compilers 

 like obedient murids follow this murshid ! — is a critical work on all 

 Indian dictionaries up to the Farhang i Jahangiri, whilst the Sirdj 

 ullughdt by Khan Arzii is the indispensable Vade Mecum for those 

 who use the Burhan. The Siraj is at the same time the last dictionary 

 of note for the classical Persian. Towards the end of the past century 

 at last, when sufficient time had elapsed since the death of Kalim, the 

 last poet of the silver age of Persian literature, there appeared the 

 Muctalahat ushshu'ara, and the stupendous Bahar i Ajam, two works 

 written by Hindoos on the Isti'mal i Mutaakhkharin or usage of 

 the writers after Jami, the last, though not the least, of the classics. 

 The dictionaries of the present age, with the exception of the Grhias 

 ullughat, deserve no notice. The Shamsullughdt compiled under the 

 direction of a gentleman whose family is known in Calcutta for 

 their liberality, and the Haft Qulzum of Lucknow are too full of typo- 

 graphical errors, to render their use desirable. 



We may notice that nearly every province of India can point to a 

 lexicographist. Bengal is represented by the quaint Farhang i 

 Ibrahimi ; Bahar by the Kashf ; the Dekkhan by the Burhan ; the 



