586 



Proceedings of the .Asiatic Society. 



[No. 5, 





fieth the Kingdome. Neza or Nizamaluco, the speare or lance of the 

 kingdome. So, Cotamaluco, the Tower of the kingdome. Imadmaluco 

 the Throne of the kingdome, &c. Nizamaluco is also called Nizamoxa, 

 which xa or scha is a Persian title (signifying as Monsieur in France, 

 Don in Spaine), and given by Ismael the Sophi and Tamas his sonne 

 to all those kings that would communicate in their sect, which Nizamoxa 

 only yielded to. Other of them made shew, but soone recanted. Thus 

 farre Garcias. 7 



" Now here we have an intelligent, and certainly an honest traveller, 

 rendering his narrative, as far as the identification of proper names is 

 concerned, not only almost wholly unintelligible, but leading himself 

 Into the commission of serious etymological blunders. By Nizamaluco 

 no doubt is meant Nizam al-Mulh. This to the present day is a popular 

 error for Nazim al-Mulh, a title meaning administrator, or a country 

 governor of a kingdom, and frequently applied to the emperor's 

 Naibs or Viceroys. The other titles I assume to be, Adil Khan, 

 Imad al-Mulk y Kuib al-Mulh, Nizam-Shah. To the last mentioned, 

 Verido, no oriental word that I am acquainted with will approximate. 

 I fully concur in all that is said regarding the advantages that would 

 result from reducing the number of alphabets in which we now find 

 the languages of the world written; and if efforts are confined to 

 unlettered languages, or those which have little or no original literature, 

 probably no harm would result from making the attempt. If, again, 

 the numerous alphabets of cognate languages could be reverted to the 

 existing form of their original type, or that form of the same family 

 of languages which had received the highest development, while in 

 one sense it would be a retrogression, in another it would be an 

 immense stride in advance. But if we were seeking for it, we could 

 not, perhaps, find a more forcible illustration of the mischievous effects 

 which I fear, as those who think with me fear, would follow the general 

 adoption of a principle which, I cannot but think, when it came to be 

 practically applied, would prove wholly impracticable. 



" But to return to our Seraffins. I can find no such word in any 

 oriental history, nor any nearer approach to it than that which, I before 

 mentioned I believe it to represent — viz., the ashrafi, which I may 

 mention is itself etymologically a word of some obscurity. Abu'l 

 Fazl has given very detailed information about the mints and coins of 



