Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Upon The Antiquity Of The Arabians, Their Language And Letters, And The Origin Of The Chinese A^'D Their Empire.
sorts—the Estrangelo , wliich is the most ancient ; and that called the Tshito , the simple or common character , which is most expeditious ancl beautiful . At present the Shanscrit language , as Mr . Halhed , the Editor of a work entitled " The Gentoo Laws , " informs us , is the grand one , that conducts us to every source of Indian literature , and the parent of almost every dialect from the Persian Gulf to the Chinese Seas . It is
, unquestionably , one of the most venerable antiquity , and although at present shut up in the libraries of Bramins , and appropriated solely to the records of the Braminical religion ; it appears to have been once current over most parts of the oriental world , as traces of its original extent may be discovered in almost every district of Asia . There is a great similarity between the Shanscrit words ancl those of the Persian ancl Arabicand even of the Latin ancl Greek . This resemblance
, may be observed in the characters upon the medals and signets of various districts of Asia . The coins of Assam , Napaul , Cashmiria , and many other kingdoms , are stamped with Shanscrit letters , and mostly contain allusions to the old Shanscrit mythology . The same conformity has been observed on the impressions of seals from Bootan and Thibet . That part of Asia between tbe Indus and Ganges still preserves the Shanscrit language pure and invioliate , ancl offers a great number of books to the
perusal of the curious , many of which have been handed down from the earliest period of their civilization . There are seven different sorts of handwritings , all composed under the general term of " Naagoree , " which may be interpreted " writing . " The elegant Shanscrit is styled " Daeb Nagoree , " or the writing of the immortals ; for the Bramins say that letters were of divine ori ginal . It is not improbable that this style may be a refinement from the more simple Naagoree MSS . for their own perusal . The dialect called b
, y us the Moorish , is that species of Hindostanee which owes its existence to the Mahomedan conquests . There are seven hundred radical words in the Shanscrit language , the fundamental part of which is divided into three classes : —1 st , D Huat , or root of verbs ; 2 nd , Shubd , or original nouns ; 3 rd , Evega , or particles . It also contains fifty letters—thirty-four consonants and sixteen vowels . The Indian Bramins contend that they had letters before any
other people . The present learned Rajah of Kishinagur affirms that he has in his possession Shanscrit books wherein the Egyptians are constantly described as disciples , not instructors ; and as seeking that liberal education and those sciences in Hindostan which none of their countrymen hacl sufficient knowledge to impart . The Red Sea was called by the ancients the " Indian Sea , " and they usually denominated the Ethiopians , and the rest of the nations under the torrid zone , " Indians . "
The Indian book called " Bagavadem , " one of the eighteen Pouranem , or sacred books of the Gentoos , translatad by Meridas Poulle , a learned man , of Indian origin , and chief interpreter to the Supreme Council of Pondicherry , was sent by him to Monsieur Bertin , his protector , in 1762 . This Bagavadem , or divine history claims an antiquity exceeding ^ w thousand years . Monsieur Poulle tells us , in his preface , that the book was composed by Viasser , the son of Brahma , and is of sacred authority among the worshippers of Vischnow ; the language of the orignal text is Shanscrit , but the translation was made from a ver-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Upon The Antiquity Of The Arabians, Their Language And Letters, And The Origin Of The Chinese A^'D Their Empire.
sorts—the Estrangelo , wliich is the most ancient ; and that called the Tshito , the simple or common character , which is most expeditious ancl beautiful . At present the Shanscrit language , as Mr . Halhed , the Editor of a work entitled " The Gentoo Laws , " informs us , is the grand one , that conducts us to every source of Indian literature , and the parent of almost every dialect from the Persian Gulf to the Chinese Seas . It is
, unquestionably , one of the most venerable antiquity , and although at present shut up in the libraries of Bramins , and appropriated solely to the records of the Braminical religion ; it appears to have been once current over most parts of the oriental world , as traces of its original extent may be discovered in almost every district of Asia . There is a great similarity between the Shanscrit words ancl those of the Persian ancl Arabicand even of the Latin ancl Greek . This resemblance
, may be observed in the characters upon the medals and signets of various districts of Asia . The coins of Assam , Napaul , Cashmiria , and many other kingdoms , are stamped with Shanscrit letters , and mostly contain allusions to the old Shanscrit mythology . The same conformity has been observed on the impressions of seals from Bootan and Thibet . That part of Asia between tbe Indus and Ganges still preserves the Shanscrit language pure and invioliate , ancl offers a great number of books to the
perusal of the curious , many of which have been handed down from the earliest period of their civilization . There are seven different sorts of handwritings , all composed under the general term of " Naagoree , " which may be interpreted " writing . " The elegant Shanscrit is styled " Daeb Nagoree , " or the writing of the immortals ; for the Bramins say that letters were of divine ori ginal . It is not improbable that this style may be a refinement from the more simple Naagoree MSS . for their own perusal . The dialect called b
, y us the Moorish , is that species of Hindostanee which owes its existence to the Mahomedan conquests . There are seven hundred radical words in the Shanscrit language , the fundamental part of which is divided into three classes : —1 st , D Huat , or root of verbs ; 2 nd , Shubd , or original nouns ; 3 rd , Evega , or particles . It also contains fifty letters—thirty-four consonants and sixteen vowels . The Indian Bramins contend that they had letters before any
other people . The present learned Rajah of Kishinagur affirms that he has in his possession Shanscrit books wherein the Egyptians are constantly described as disciples , not instructors ; and as seeking that liberal education and those sciences in Hindostan which none of their countrymen hacl sufficient knowledge to impart . The Red Sea was called by the ancients the " Indian Sea , " and they usually denominated the Ethiopians , and the rest of the nations under the torrid zone , " Indians . "
The Indian book called " Bagavadem , " one of the eighteen Pouranem , or sacred books of the Gentoos , translatad by Meridas Poulle , a learned man , of Indian origin , and chief interpreter to the Supreme Council of Pondicherry , was sent by him to Monsieur Bertin , his protector , in 1762 . This Bagavadem , or divine history claims an antiquity exceeding ^ w thousand years . Monsieur Poulle tells us , in his preface , that the book was composed by Viasser , the son of Brahma , and is of sacred authority among the worshippers of Vischnow ; the language of the orignal text is Shanscrit , but the translation was made from a ver-