1898.J G. A. Grierson — Gujarati -Dialect discovered in Midnapur. 185 
Note on a Dialect of Gujarati discovered in the District of Midnapur.—By 
George A. Grierson, C.I.E., Ph.D., I.C.S. 
[Read July, 1898.] 
Several interesting facts have come to light during the progress of 
the Linguistic Survey. Amongst them may he mentioned the discovery 
of a number of people who speak a dialect of Gujarati in the Dantan 
thana of the Bengal District of Midnapur. 
Amongst the languages returned to me as spoken in that District 
was Siyalgiri. The Siyalgirs are a criminal, nomadic tribe, numbering 
about 120 souls, who have a language of their own. They are not men¬ 
tioned by Dalton or by Mr. Risley in their Ethnographical works. This 
language was unintelligible to the other inhabitants of the District, and 
was believed “ to resemble Santali.” This was an easy supposition to 
make, as there are some 118,000 Santalls in the District, whose language 
is equally unintelligible to the multitude. 
In order to obtain materials for the second part of the Survey, 
specimens of every language spoken in each District are being collected. 
The specimens are all to consist of translations of the Parable of the 
Prodigal Son, and in order to assist the preparation of these, books of 
translations of the parable which had been already made into the prin¬ 
cipal languages of India have been distributed to the translators. In¬ 
cluded in these last was a Gujarati version. In sending the Siyalgiri 
version to me, the Collector of Midnapur drew attention to the remarkable 
points of resemblance between it and the Gujarati version to which I 
have just alluded. An examination of the Siyalgiri specimen fully 
justified the Collector’s remarks.. The very first sentence is almost 
pure Gujarati. The resemblance was so unexpected that I thought it 
advisable to make further enquiries, so as to make sure that the speci¬ 
men is a genuine one. There can now be no doubt on that point. The 
translation had originally been obtained through the kind offices of 
Babu Krishna Kisor Acharji, the Secretary of. the Midnapur District 
Board, and that gentleman has been good enough to send me the follow¬ 
ing note on the subject. 
J. i. 24 
