1 192
2 ▲FGHAUK AUTHORS.
3 The lftiilifeO(H tlumg^ mtlwr rovgh, is a manly langnagc, and not
4 miplraring to an ear accufltomed to oriental taognes. The dialects of
5 the East and West, differ not only in the pfdnunctation, but in the
6 words they make use of, to a de^ppee at least equal to the difierence
7 between Soots and Eng^h. None of the famous Puahtoo authors
8 are of more than a century and half old ; and, I should imagine, that
9 there were no books in the language that can pretend to more than
10 doable that antiquity. What literature there is, has been derived
11 from that of the Persians ; and their compositions would resemble
12 that model, but for their greater rudeness and superior simplicity.
13 I have the names of ei^it or nine A%haun poets,, besides tranaUtors
14 £rom the Persian.
15 Tlie most popular of all the poets is Rehmaun, wliose works ttinsist
16 of ocies, exartlv like th(>s(» of the Persians. T can perceive no merit
17 in those of his poeinK, wluch T have had explained to me; but this is
18 no proof that he is uiiworthv of his reputation. Alost Persian odes
19 arc very unequal ; and, even in ilariz, the beautiftd ainl -.Lihlinie pas-
20 sages, which excite so much, admiration, are almost lost In a mass of
21 verses that are lur below mediocrity.
22 Klioosliliaul appears to me a far superior poet to Reliinaun, and
23 his productions are highly characteristic of himself and his nation.
24 They are more than ordinarily mde, and are often intolerably flat and
25 pfosaic ; but they are often uupired with the unconquerable ^irk of
26 their author j and glow with the noUeat scnthnenta of liberty and in-
27 dependence; Khooahhaul'waa Khaun of the Khnttuhs, a trib^ utn-
28 ated to the east of Peshawer. Hia life was sgiaH in struggleB against
29 the great MogoL AumngBeber and many of his poemB» are intended
30 to animate his countrymen to the defence of their ind^endoiGe^ and
31 an ear, could be derived from the Persian Gosh, fr < m .vlncli however it is clearly deducible
32 tj^ the foregoing rules. The Puahtoo is distinguished from Persian ond Hindostmee by
33 ItsftnchieMlbr <iie letter 8, preceded or Mmrad fay a oonsonant at the begimiijig of a
34 iryiA ; n irmMnntiTm rnilmi"^ iHir irthfr tTwIii^igrii Of dusnatnit^* iufwjpv, aa
35 cy^ and 4p(ai^ wbUe^ ai «dl as jwAar, a iwlt md ift^^
36 Digitizeo by LiOOglc