1866.] Objections to the modem style of official Hindustani. 179 



the word Urdu, which certainly does not err on the side of self-lauda- 

 tion, being literally bazar lingo, and therefore, on its own shewing, 

 unworthy to be brought into competition with Nagari, the refined 

 and urbane. 



If the language were once settled upon a composite basis, it could 

 be expressed equally well by Persian or Nagari ; and here I would 

 make a suggestion, Avhich I scarcely hope to see ever carried out, 

 though I am convinced that it is perfectly practicable. I would 

 reserve the Persian character for epistolary purposes, and records of 

 transient interest ; while I would have all permanent records and all 

 Government printing in Nagari. It is notorious that any proper 

 name, to which the clue has been lost, can never be deciphered with 

 absolute certainty from a Persian document ; and therefore such a 

 style of writing is most inappropriate for the preservation of a record 

 of rights ; at the same time it is preeminently a running hand, and 

 its great praise is its flowing elegance which it is impossible to 

 imitate in print. On the other hand, Nagari, though slowly written, 

 is clear and precise ; and I believe all who have had any practical 

 experience on the point will admit, that it is better adapted even than 

 the Roman character for printing purposes, because the type is more 

 durable. It may be urged against this suggestion that it would 

 involve the necessity of all officials being able to read and write both 

 Persian and Nagari, whereas now as a rule they are familiar only with 

 the former. This is true, but then the language employed would be 

 their own mother tongue, for the acquisition of which no special 

 training would be required. 



4. And this brings me naturally to my fourth point ; which is, 

 that the present kachhari boli is inconvenient, because it is foreign to 

 all and unintelligible to many. And on a point of this kind, we, being 

 ourselves foreigners, must not trust to preconceived notions : the 

 deliberate judgment of one educated native is sufficient to upset all 

 our theories. Some few days ago I came across a brief History of 

 India, compiled by Babu Siva Prasad and published by order of the 

 local Government, called the Timira-nasak (which by the way I may 

 remark is, so far as I am competent to judge, a model of what the 

 Indian vernacular should be, being elegant without pedantry and 

 homely without vulgarity) ; in his preface the Author distinctly 



