SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The opening chapter of the thesis comprises a discussion on the name of the popular speech of India, the development of which has been traced in the following pages. Different names have been applied to the language from time to time both by Indians and foreigners. Tracing back the history of all these names and referring to the original sources for authority I have come to the conclusion that Hindustani is the most appropriate name for the language. Conflicting theories had been advanced on the origin of Hindustani. With the help of the latest investigation I have elucidated the fact that Hindustani by origin is a dialect of the language which had been spoken in Delhi and Meerut for centuries, before the settlement of the Muslims in Delhi. The development of Hindustani from the earliest time to 1700 in its birth-place, i.e., the Panjab, has been discussed in Chapter III, from the scanty sources available, with special reference to Khwaja Masud, Amir Khusrau, Fariduddin Ganj Shakar, Sheikh Usman, Sheikh Junaid, Vali Ram and Abdi. Translations and adaptations from Persian language and literature into Hindustani from the earliest time to 1700 form the subject of discussion in Chapter IV. In this connection I have discovered and studied some manuscipts , which have never been referred to before and have described others which have not been described. The lives of Hindustani authors have been compiled from original sources. Their works , which are mostly in the form of unpublished MSS. , have been discussed in chronological order to give an idea of the development of the literature and language. Persian phrases, idioms, etc., which have helped the development of old Hindustani and most of which are now obsolete have been also included. Characteristics of old Hindustani , which are a special feature of the old language have been discussed in Chapter V to point out the essential differences of the old and modern Hindustani. Copious examples in chronological order from the works discussed in the foregoing chapter have been collected for illustration. The development of language and marked changes in the language affected in different times have been discuseed in the last chapter. Dates with possible accuracy are assigned. A concise grammar of the old langauge is appended to further elucidate the marked development of the language.