JOURNAL 



OP THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL. 



Part I.— HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e. 



No. III.— 1876. 



Popular Songs of the Hamirpnr District in BundelMand, JUT. W. P% 

 No. II. — _% VnrcEHT A. Smith, B.A., C.S. 



In fulfilment of the promise which I made in my paper on the Songs 

 in honour of Hardaul, I now submit to the Society some further specimens 

 of the popular songs of Bundelkhand. Very little attention has hitherto 

 been paid to the variety of Hindi spoken in this province, and few or no 

 specimens of it have as yet been published ; I hope therefore that the speci- 

 mens which I am now placing on record, and which in general accurately re- 

 flect the popular speech, will not be without value to the lexicographer and 

 philologist, and that besides their philological value the songs will not 

 appear devoid of interest on other grounds. 



The songs in common use among the people are almost infinite in 

 number, and might be divided into various classes. The selection which I 

 have made for the present paper, consists entirely of Caste Songs, that is to 

 say, songs which describe, or specially refer to, the occupations and charac- 

 teristics of the caste of the singer. Such songs are sung on various occa- 

 sions, but are I am informed seldom sung except in presence of the members 

 of the caste to which the song refers, and to which the singer belongs. 



Of the twelve songs now translated, eleven were collected during the 

 last rainy season at my request by Pandit Murli Dhar in his native town 

 Maudha and the neighbouring villages. The Lodhi's Song, No. X, was 

 lately obtained by him from a Lodhi resident in Panwari, the south-western 

 parganah of this district. None of these songs appears to have been ever 

 before reduced to writing, and they have now been taken down exactly as 



