The works of these authors, though compiled and published under the superintendence of Dr Gilchrist, Captain Abraham Lockett, Professor J. W. Taylor, Dr W. Hunter and other European officers of the college of Fort William, and originally intended for the instruction of the Company's officers in the vernacular, are essentially Indian in taste and style, and, until superseded by the more recent developments of literature noticed below, enjoyed a very wide reputation and popularity. They may, indeed, be said to have set the standard of prose composition in Urdu and Hindi, and for the first half of the 19th century their influence in this respect continued almost unchallenged. Side by side with them, among the Musalman population of northern India, another almost contemporaneous impulse did much for the expansion of the Urdu language, and, like the work of the Vaishnava reformers in moulding literary Hindi, gave an impetus to composition which might otherwise have been lacking. This was the reform in Islam led by Sayyid Ahmad[16] and his followers. In all Eastern countries religion is the first and chief subject of literary production; and the controversies which the new preaching aroused in India at once afforded abundant material for authorship in Urdu, and interested deeply the people to whom the works were addressed. Entry: 4
The Aryans of India are probably the most settled and civilized of all Asiatic races. This type is found in its purest form in the north and north-west, while the mixed races and the population referred to the Australoid type predominate in the peninsula and southern India. The spoken languages of northern India are very various, differing one from another in the sort of degree that English differs from German, though all are thoroughly Sanskritic in their vocables, but with an absence of Sanskrit grammar that has given rise to considerable discussion. The languages of the south are Dravidian, not Sanskritic. The letters of both classes of languages, which also vary considerably, are all modifications of the ancient Pali, and probably derived from the Dravidians, not from the Aryans. They are written from left to right, exception being made of Urdu or Hindostani, the mixed language of the Mahommedan conquerors of northern India, the character used for writing which is the Persian. From the river Sutlej and the borders of the Sind desert, as far as Burma and to Ceylon, the religion of the great bulk of the people of India is Hindu or Brahminical, though the Mahommedans are often numerous, and in some places even in a majority. West of the Sutlej the population of Asia may be said to be wholly Mahommedan with the exception of certain relatively small areas in Asia Minor and Syria, where Christians predominate. The language of the Punjab does not differ very materially from that of Upper India. West of the Indus the dialects approach more to Persian, which language meets Arabic and Turki west of the Tigris, and along the Turkoman desert and the Caspian. Through the whole of this tract the letters are used which are common to Persian, Arabic and Turkish, written from right to left. Entry: ETHNOLOGY
It is not a little remarkable that, as happened with the Vaishnava reformation initiated by Ramanuja and Ramanand, and with the Vallabhacharya cult of Krishna established at Mathura, the first impulse to literary composition in Urdu should have been given, not at the headquarters of the empire in the north, but at the Muhammadan courts of Golkonda and Bijapur in the south, the former situated amid an indigenous population speaking Telugu, and the latter among one whose speech was Kanarese, both Dravidian languages having nothing in common with the Aryan tongues of the north. This fact of itself defines the nature of the literature thus inaugurated. It had nothing to do with the idiom or ideas of the people among whom it was born, but was from the beginning an imitation of Persian models. It adopted the standards of form and content current among the poets of Eran. The _qasida_ or laudatory ode, the _ghazal_ or love-sonnet, usually of mystical import, the _marsiya_ or dirge, the _masnavi_ or narrative poem with coupled rhymes, the _hija_ or satire, the _ruba'i_ or epigram--these were the types which Urdu took over ready-made. And with the forms were appropriated also all the conventions of poetic diction. The Persians, having for centuries treated the same themes with a fecundity which most Europeans find extremely wearisome, had elaborated a system of rhetoric and a stock of poetic images which, in the exhaustion of original matter, made the success of the poet depend chiefly upon dexterity of artifice and cleverness of conceit. Pleasing hyperbole, ingenious comparison, antithesis, alliteration, carefully arranged gradation of noun and epithet, are the means employed to obtain variety; and few of the most eloquent passages of later Persian verse admit of translation into any other language without losing that which in the original makes their whole charm. What is true of Persian is likewise true of Urdu poetry. Until quite modern times, there is scarcely anything in it which can be called original.[15] Differences of school, which are made much of by native critics, are to us hardly perceptible; they consist in the use of one or other range of metaphor or comparison, classed, according as they repeat the well-worn poetical stock-in-trade of the Persians, or seek a slightly fresher and more Indian field of sentiment, as the old or the new style of composition. Entry: 3
_Language_.--Owing to the diversity of race, the diversity of language is equally great. Thirty languages and a hundred and six dialects are found in the Central Provinces alone, and twenty-eight languages and sixty-eight dialects in Berar. The chief of these languages are Western Hindi, Eastern Hindi, Rajasthani, Marathi, Oriya, Telugu and Dravidian dialects. Of these last the chief dialects are Gondi, Oraon or Kurukh, Kandhi and Kanarese, of which Gondi is by far the most important. There are also the Munda languages, of which the chief are Korku, Kharia and Munda or Kol. The chief languages of Berar are Marathi, Urdu, Gondi, Banjari, Hindi, Marwari, Telugu, Korku and Gujarati. Entry: CENTRAL
"High Hindi" has scarcely adapted itself to modern requirements with the thoroughness displayed by Urdu. It is taught in the schools where the population is mainly Hindu, and books of science have been written in it with a terminology borrowed from Sanskrit, in place of the Persian terms used in the other dialect. But Sanskrit is far removed from the daily life of the people, and the majority of works in this style are read only by Pandits, the great bulk of them dealing with religion, philosophy and the ancient literature. There are thirty-seven Hindi and four Hindi-Urdu journals in the United Provinces; but many of them are exclusively religious in their character, and several, though written in Devanagari, employ a mixed language which admits Persian words freely. The old dialects of literature, Awadhi and Braj-bhasha, are now only used for poetry; High Hindi has been a complete failure for this purpose. Entry: 4
The court of Bijapur was no less distinguished in literature. Ibrahim 'Adil Shah (1579-1626) was the author of a work in verse on music entitled the _Nau-ras_ or "Nine Savours," which, however, appears to have been in Hindi rather than Urdu; the three prefaces (_dibajas_) to this poem were rendered into Persian prose by Maula Zuhuri, and, under the name of the _Sih nasr-i Zuhuri_, are well-known models of style. A successor of this prince, 'Ali 'Adil Shah, had as his court poet a Brahman known poetically as Nusrati, who in 1657 composed a _masnavi_ of some repute entitled the _Gulshan-i 'Ishq_, or "Rose-garden of Love," a romance relating the history of Prince Manohar and Madmalati,--like the _Kamrup_, an Indian theme. The same poet is author of an extremely long _masnavi_ entitled the _'Ali-nama_, celebrating the monarch under whom he lived. Entry: 3
Though Delhi was thus deserted by its brightest lights of literature, it did not altogether cease to cultivate the poetic art. Among the last Moguls several princes were themselves creditable poets. Shah Alam II. (1761-1806) wrote under the name of Aftab, and was the author of a romance entitled Manzum-i Aqdas, besides a _diwan_. His son Sulaiman-shukoh, brother of Akbar Shah II., who had at first, like his brother authors, repaired to Lucknow, returned to Delhi in 1815, and died in 1838; he also has left a _diwan_. Lastly, his nephew Bahadur Shah II., the last titular emperor of Delhi (d. 1862), wrote under the name of Zafar, and was a pupil in poetry of Shaikh Ibrahim Zauq, a distinguished writer; he has left a voluminous _diwan_, which has been printed at Delhi. Mashafi (Ghulam-i Hamdani), who died about 1814, was one of the most distinguished of the revived poetic school of Delhi, and was himself one of its founders. Originally of Lucknow, he left that city for Delhi in 1777, and held conferences of poets, at which several authors who afterwards acquired repute formed their style; he has left five _diwans_, a _Tazkira_ or biography of Urdu poets, and a _Shah-nama_ or account of the kings of Delhi down to Shah 'Alam. Qaim (Qiyamuddin 'Ali) was one of his society, and died in 1792; he has left several works of merit. Ghalib, otherwise Mirza Asadullah Khan Naushah, laureate of the last Mogul, who died in 1869, was undoubtedly the most eminent of the modern Delhi poets. He wrote chiefly in Persian, of which language, especially in the form cultivated by Firdausi, free from intermixture of Arabic words, he was a master; but his Urdu _diwan_, though short, is excellent in its way, and his reputation spread far and wide. To this school, though he lived and died at Agra, may be attached Mir Wali Muhammad Nazir (who died in the year 1832); his _masnavis_ entitled _Jogi-nama_, _Kauri-nama_, _Banjare-nama_, and _Burhape-nama_, as well as his _diwan_, have been frequently reprinted, and are extremely popular. His language is less artificial than that of the generality of Urdu poets, and some of his poems have been printed in Nagari, and are as well known and as much esteemed by Hindus as by Mahommedans. His verse is defaced by much obscenity. Entry: 3
Another excellent writer of Urdu is Shamsul-'Ulama Maulavi Nazir Ahmad of Delhi, who is the author of a series of novels describing domestic life, of a somewhat didactic character, which have had a wide popularity, and from their admirable moral tone have been specially serviceable in the education of Indian women. These are entitled the _Mir'atul-'Arus_ (or "Brides' Mirror"); _Taubatun-Nasuh_ ("the Repentance of Nasuh"), _Banatun-Na'sh_ ("the Seven Stars of the Great Bear"), _Ibnul-Waqt_ ("Son of the Age"), and _Ayama_ ("Widows"). But Nazir Ahmad is a man of many sides; before he took to novel-writing he was the principal translator into Urdu of the _Indian Penal Code_ (1861), which is reckoned a masterpiece in the exact rendering of European legal ideas; and more lately he gave to the world the best Urdu version of the Quran. He has been a popular lecturer on social subjects, displaying a rich vein of humour, and in his old age even ventured upon verse. During the latter portion of his life he was most closely associated with Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Entry: 4
Sayyid Ahmad was born in 1782, and received his early education at Delhi; his instructors were two learned Muslims, Shah 'Abdul-'Aziz, author of a celebrated commentary on the Qur'an (the _Tafsir-i 'Aziziyyah_), and his brother 'Abdu-l-Qadir, the writer of the first translation of the holy volume into Urdu. Under their guidance Sayyid Ahmad embraced the doctrines of the Wahhabis, a sect whose preaching appears at this time to have first reached India. He gathered round him a large number of fervent disciples, among others Isma'il Haji, nephew of 'Abdu-l'Aziz and 'Abdu-l-Qadir, the chief author of the sect. After a course of preaching and apostleship at Delhi, Sayyid Ahmad set out in 1820 for Calcutta, attended by numerous adherents. Thence in 1822 he started on a pilgrimage to Mecca, whence he went to Constantinople, and was there received with distinction and gained many disciples. He travelled for nearly six years in Turkey and Arabia, and then returned to Delhi. The religious degradation and coldness which he found in his native country strongly impressed him after his sojourn in lands where the life of Islam is stronger, and he and his disciples established a propaganda throughout northern India, reprobating the superstitions which had crept into the faith from contact with Hindus, and preaching a _jihad_ or holy war against the Sikhs. In 1828 he started for Peshawar, attended by, it is said, upwards of 100,000 Indians, and accompanied by his chief followers, Haji Isma'il and 'Abdu-l-Hayy. He was furnished with means by a general subscription in northern India, and by several Muhammadan princes who had embraced his doctrines. At the beginning of 1829 he declared war against the Sikhs, and in the course of time made himself master of Peshawar. The Afghans, however, with whom he had allied himself in the contest, were soon disgusted by the rigour of his creed, and deserted him and his cause. He fled across the Indus and took refuge in the mountains of Pakhli and Dhamtor, where in 1831 he encountered a detachment of Sikhs under the command of Sher Singh, and in the combat he and Haji Isma'il were slain. His sect is, however, by no means extinct; the Wahhabi doctrines have continued to gain ground in India, and to give rise to much controversial writing, down to our own day. Entry: 4
The tremendous misfortunes which befell Delhi at the hands of Nadir Shah (1739), Ahmad Shah Durrani (1756), and the Marathas (1759), and the rapid decay of the Mogul empire under these repeated shocks, transferred the centre of the cultivation of literature from that city to Lucknow, the capital of the newly founded and flourishing state of Oudh. It has been mentioned how Arzu, Sauda and Mir betook themselves to this refuge and ended their days there; they were followed in their new residence by a school of poets hardly inferior to those who had made Delhi illustrious in the first half of the century. Here they were joined by Mir Hasan (d. 1786), Mir Soz (d. 1800) and Qalandar-bakhsh Jur'at (d. 1810), also like themselves refugees from Delhi, and illustrious poets. Mir Hasan was a friend and collaborator of Mir Dard, and first established himself at Faizabad and subsequently at Lucknow; he excelled in the _ghazal_, _ruba'i_, _masnavi_ and _marsiya_, and is counted the third, with Sauda and Mir Taqi, among the most eminent of Urdu poets. His fame chiefly rests upon a much admired _masnavi_ entitled the _Sihru-l-bayan_, or "Magic of Eloquence," a romance relating the loves of Prince Bë-nazir and the Princess Badr-i Munir; his _masnavi_ called the _Gulzar-i Iram_ ("Rose-garden of Iram," the legendary 'Adite paradise in southern Arabia), in praise of Faizabad, is likewise highly esteemed. Mir Muhammadi Soz was an elegant poet, remarkable for the success with which he composed in the dialect of the harem called _Rekhti_, but somewhat licentious in his verse; he became a _darwesh_ and renounced the world in his later years. Jur'at was also a prolific poet, but, like Soz, his _ghazals_ and _masnavis_ are licentious and full of double meanings. He imitated Sauda in satire with much success; he also cultivated Hindi poetry, and composed _dohas_ and _kabittas_. Miskin was another Lucknow poet of the same period, whose _marsiyas_ are especially admired; one of them, that on the death of Muslim and his two sons, is considered a masterpiece of this style of composition. The school of Lucknow, so founded and maintained during the early years of the century, continued to flourish till the dethronement of the last king, Wajid 'Ali, in 1856. Atash and Nasikh (who died respectively in 1847 and 1841) are the best among the modern poets of the school in the _ghazal_; Mir Anis, a grandson of Mir Hasan, and his contemporary Dabir, the former of whom died in December 1875 and the latter a few months later, excelled in the _marsiyah_. Rajab Ali Beg Surur, who died in 1869, was the author of a much-admired romance in rhyming prose entitled the _Fisanah-e 'Ajaib_ or "Tale of Marvels," besides a _diwan_. The dethroned prince Wajid 'Ali himself, poetically styled Akhtar, was also a poet; he published three diwans, among them a quantity of poetry in the rustic dialect of Oudh which is philologically of much interest. Entry: 3
One of the first effects of the new literary inspiration seemed to be the extinction of poetical composition as previously practised. With the deaths of Zauq (1854) and Ghalib (1869) of the Delhi school, and those of Anis (1875) and Dabir (1876) of Lucknow, the end of Urdu poetry appeared to have come. The new age was intensely practical and eager to engage in the race for material and political advancement, and had no time for sentiment, or taste for mystical conceits. Moreover, poetical composition in India, as in other Eastern countries, has always owed much to the patronage of courts and princes. The thrones of Delhi and Lucknow had passed away, and the new rulers showed little interest in this form of achievement. Only at Hyderabad in the Deccan, under the patronage of the Nizam, were laureates still honoured; the last of these, Mirza Khan Dagh (1831-1905), enjoyed a wide reputation as a graceful and eloquent master of the poetic art. Entry: 4
For Urdu poets, Professor Azad's _Ab-i Hayat_ (in Urdu) is the most trustworthy record. For the new school of Urdu literature reference may be made to a series of lectures (in English) by Shaikh 'Abdul-Qadir of Lahore, printed in 1898. The catalogues by Professor Blumhardt of Hindostani and Hindi books in the libraries of the British Museum and the India Office will give a good idea of the volume of the recent productions of the press in those languages. (C. J. L.) Entry: BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sauda and Mir Taqi are beyond question the most distinguished Urdu poets. The former was born at Delhi about the beginning of the 18th century, and studied under Hatim. He left Delhi after its devastation, and settled at Lucknow, where the Nawab Asafuddaulah gave him a _jagir_ of Rs. 6000 a year, and where he died in 1780. His poems are very numerous, and cover all the styles of Urdu poetry; but it is to his satires that his fame is chiefly due, and in these he is considered to have surpassed all other Indian poets. Mir Taqi was born at Agra, but early removed to Delhi, where he studied under Arzu; he was still living there at the time of Sauda's death, but in 1782 repaired to Lucknow, where he likewise received a pension; he died at a very advanced age in 1810. His works are very voluminous, including no less than six _diwans_. Mir is counted the superior of Sauda in the _ghazal_ and _masnavi_, while the latter excelled him in the satire and _qasida_. Sayyid Ahmad, an excellent authority, and himself one of the best of modern authors in Urdu, says of him in his _Asaru-s-Sanadid_: "Mir's language is so pure, and the expressions which he employs so suitable and natural, that to this day all are unanimous in his praise. Although the language of Sauda is also excellent, and he is superior to Mir in the point of his allusions, he is nevertheless inferior to him in style." Entry: 3
CHEESE (Lat. _caseus_), a solidified preparation from milk, the essential constituent of which is the proteinous or nitrogenous substance _casein_. All cheese contains in addition some proportion of fatty matter or butter, and in the more valuable varieties the butter present is often greater in amount than the casein. Cheese being thus a compound substance of no definite composition is found in commerce of many different varieties and qualities; and such qualities are generally recognized by the names of the localities in which they are manufactured. The principal distinctions arise from differences in the composition and condition of the milk operated upon, from variations in the method of preparation and curing, and from the use of the milk of other animals besides the cow, as, for example, the goat and the ewe, from the milk of both of which cheese is manufactured on a commercial scale. For details about different cheeses and cheese-making, see DAIRY. From the Urdu _chiz_ ("thing") comes the slang expression "the cheese," meaning "the perfect thing," apparently from Anglo-Indian usage. Entry: CHEESE
The DIVISION OF LAHORE extends along the right bank of the Sutlej from the Himalayas to Multan. It comprises the six districts of Sialkot, Gujranwala, Montgomery, Lahore, Amritsar and Gurdaspur. Total area, 17,154 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 5,598,463. The commissioner for the division also exercises political control over the hill slate of Chamba. The common language of the rural population and of artisans is Punjabi; while Urdu or Hindustani is spoken by the educated classes. So far from the seaboard, the range between extremes of winter and summer temperature in the sub-tropics is great. The mean temperature in the shade in June is about 92° F., in January about 50°. In midsummer the thermometer sometimes rises to 115° in the shade, and remains on some occasions as high as 105° throughout the night. In winter the morning temperature is sometimes as low as 20°. The rainfall is uncertain, ranging from 8 in. to 25, with an average of 15 in. The country as a whole is parched and arid, and greatly dependent on irrigation. Entry: LAHORE
The total area of Baluchistan is 132,315 sq. m. and its population in 1901 was 914,551. The population is largely nomadic. The fact that so many as 15,000 camels have been counted in the Bolan Pass during one month of the annual Brahui migration indicates the dimensions which the movement assumes. The religion of the country is so overwhelmingly Mahommedan that out of every 100,000 inhabitants 94,403 are Mussulman, and only 4706 Hindus, while the balance is made up by Christians, Sikhs and other denominations. Out of the total number 280 in the thousand are literates. The chief languages spoken are vernaculars of Baluchistan, Pushtu, Panjabi, Urdu and Sindhi, The [v.03 p.0294] Baluchi language belongs to the Iranian branch of the Aryan subfamily of the Indo-European family. It is divided into two main dialects which are so different that speakers of the one are almost unintelligible to speakers of the other. These two dialects are separated by the belt of Brahui and Sindhi speakers who occupy the Sarawan and Jalawan hills, and Las Bela. Owing probably to the fact that Makran was for many generations under the rule of the Persian kings, the Baluchi spoken on the west of the province, which is also called Makrani, is more largely impregnated with Persian words and expressions than the Eastern dialect. In the latter the words in use for common objects and acts are nearly all pure Baluchi, the remainder of the language being borrowed from Persian, Sindhi and Panjabi. There is no indigenous literature, but many specimens of poetry exist in which heroes and brave deeds are commemorated, and a good many of these have been collected from time to time. The philological classification of the Brahui dialect has been much disputed, but the latest enquiries, conducted by Dr G. A. Grierson, have resulted in his placing it among the Dravidian languages. It is remarkable to find in Baluchistan a Dravidian tongue, surrounded on all sides by Aryan languages, and with the next nearest branch of the same family located so far away as the Gond hills of central India. Brahui has no literature of its own, and such knowledge as we possess of it is due to European scholars, such as Bellew, Trumpp and Caldwell. Numerically the Brahuis are the strongest race in Baluchistan. They number nearly 300,000 souls. Next to them and numbering nearly 200,000 are Pathans. After this there is a drop to 80,000 mixed Baluchis and less than 40,000 Lasis (Lumris) of Las Bela. There are thirteen indigenous tribes of Pathan origin, of which the Kakars (_q.v._) are by far the most important, numbering more than 100,000 souls. They are to be found in the largest numbers in Zhob, Quetta, Pishin and Thal-Chotiali, but there are a few of them in Kalat and Chagai also. The most important Baluch tribes are the Marris, the Bughtis, the Boledis, the Domkis, the Magassis and the Rinds. Owing partly to the tribal system, and partly to the levelling effect of Islam, nothing similar to the Brahmanical system of social precedent is to be found in Baluchistan. Entry: BALUCHISTAN
The vocabulary of Panjabi and Eastern Hindi is very similar to that of Western Hindi. Panjabi has no literature to speak of and is free from the burden of words borrowed from Persian or Sanskrit, only the commonest and simplest of such being found in it. Its vocabulary is thus almost entirely _tadbhava_, and, while capable of expressing all ideas, it has a charming rustic flavour, like the Lowland Scotch of Burns, indicative of the national character of the sturdy peasantry that employs it. Eastern Hindi is very like Panjabi in this respect, but for a different reason. In it were written the works of Tulsi Das, one of the greatest writers that India has produced, and his influence on the language has been as great as that of Shakespeare on English. The peasantry are continually quoting him without knowing it, and his style, simple and yet vigorous, thoroughly Indian and yet free from purism, has set a model which is everywhere followed except in the large towns where Urdu or Sanskritized Hindi prevails. Eastern Hindi is written in the Nagari alphabet, or in the current character related to it called "Kaithi" (see BIHARI). The indigenous alphabet of the Punjab is called _Landa_ or "clipped." It is related to Nagari, but is hardly legible to any one except the original writer, and sometimes not even to him. To remedy this defect an improved form of the alphabet was devised in the 16th century by Angad, the fifth Sikh Guru, for the purpose of recording the Sikh scriptures. It was named _Gurmukhi_, "proceeding from the mouth of the Guru," and is now generally used for writing the language. Entry: HINDOSTANI