SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to study the Portuguese contribution to the development of Bengali prose, grammar and lexicography. The preface merely outlines how we came to choose the topic and the approach we adopted. Chapter I supplies background information on the coming of the Portuguese to India and more especially on the foundation of the Mission of St Nicholas of Tolentino with which are associated our three primary sources, namely Dom Antonio's Dialogom and the Crepar Xaxtrer Orthbhed and Vocabulario Em Idioma Bengalla E Portuguez attributed to Manoel da Assumpcam. Chapter II studies the various comments, opinions and discoveries of earlier scholars in regard to these three works and the issues raised by them in regard to the system of transliteration adopted by the Portuguese and also their doubts concerning the authorship of these works. The purpose of Chapter III is, by a comparative study of the Portuguese and Bengali text of Dom Antonio's Dialogo, to determine the degree to which Manoel da Assumpcam understood Bengali. Chapter IV analyses Crepar Xaxtrer Orthbhed with a view to determining its authorship. Chapter V concerns the authorship of Vocabulario Em Idioma Bengalla E Portuguez. Chapters VI and VII describe and evaluate the various lexicons associated with the Portuguese and the grammatical section of Vocabulario Em Idioma Bengalla E Portuguez. Chapter VIII attempts to evaluate the Portuguese contribution to the development of Bengali prose. The conclusion states in a tentative manner our findings as a result of the various tests and analyses that we made in the course of writing the thesis.