Conserve: tiveness of Hindu writers. 382 BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [ Chap. shade while those of the Muhammadans flourished. —
The word 44% which means a city was replaced :
by the word 424; the Bengali Bf#1 a rupee (from '
Sanskrit B¥1) when received as revenue by the Mu-
hammadan rulers became 24f{Fat.; the words ভূমি and | 3
ভূঞা (from Sans ভৌমিক) ) signifying land and land- |
owner were replaced by জমি 210 জমিদার. The man-
sions of the rich and all big buildings were no longer —
called Bg tfaa] but became knownas aqtqx. The little
earthen lamp retained its old name 21%, but the
word which once implied all classes of lamps became ~
restricted in sense. Chandeliers and the wall-lamps _
were now called @f{% and দেওয়ালগিরি ০51১০০61৮০1, |
and so in all departments of life, the very words
imported into our tongue by the Muhammadans ~
shew that they were enjoying the cream of things —
and monopolizing all power. The case was the same |
as that of the Saxon language after the Norman |
conquest. The victors who were placed in power :
introduced their own words into the spheres with |
which they were directly connected.
But, curiously, in the vernacular literature of 7
the Hindus, inspite of this common use of foreign
words, our writers showed great unwillingness to
adopt non-Sanskritic words. In the old literature of
Bengal we seldom come across foreign words. In
the pride of what Hindus considered to be their —
own superior civilization, they remained aloof from —
Muhammadan contact as for as practicable, content-
ed with their own social life and the cultivation of —
their classical literature. They cared not who admis if
nistered the country; thus the word 424 (city) is of —
Muhammadan origin, while #1 (a village) remained
true to the Sanskritic form, In the village the Hindu
