17. Headings to be printed in a marked type. A dash, instead of indentation, to be used as a mark of repetition. The dash to be kept for entries exactly similar, and the word to be repeated when the second differs in any way from the first. The proper name to be repeated when that of a different person. In the case of joint authors, the Christian name or initials of the first, whose surname is arranged in the alphabet, to be in parentheses, but the Christian names of the second to be in the natural order, as Smith (John) and Alexander Brown, not Smith (John) and Brown (Alexander).
Dashes should be of a uniform length, and that length should not be too great. It is a mistake to suppose that the dash is to be the length of the line which is not repeated. If it be necessary to make the repetition of a portion of the title as well as the author, this should be indicated by another dash, and not by the elongation of the former one.
The reason for the last direction in this rule is that the Christian name is only brought back in order to make the alphabetical position of the surname clear; and as this is not necessary in respect to the second person, the names should remain in their natural order.
The initials which stand for Christian names often give much trouble, particularly among foreigners. Most Frenchmen use the letter M. to stand for monsieur, giving no Christian name; but sometimes M. stands for Michel or other Christian name commencing with M. The Germans are often very careless in the use of initials, and I have found in one index of a scientific periodical the following specimens of this confusion: (1) H. D. Gerling, (2) H. W. Brandes, (3) D. W. Olbers. Here all three cases look alike, but in the first H. D. represent two titles—Herr Doctor; in the second, H. W. represent two Christian names—Heinrich Wilhelm; and in the third one title and one Christian name—Dr. W. Olbers.
The above rules do not apply to subject indexes, and in certain cases may need modification in accordance with the special character of the work to be indexed. On the whole, it may be said that an alphabetical index is the best; but under special circumstances it may be well to have a classified index. Generally it may be said that there are special objections to classification, and therefore if a classified index is decided upon, it must needs be exceptional, and rules must be made for it by the maker of the index.
In the foregoing rules no mention is made of the difficulties attendant on the use of Oriental names. Under "Rules for a Small Library" in How to Catalogue a Library, I wrote:
"7. Oriental names to be registered in accordance with the system adopted by a recognised authority on the subject."
This, however, is only shifting the responsibility. In an ordinary English index this point is not likely to give much trouble, and the rule may be safely adopted of registration under the first name. But where there are many names to be dealt with, difficulties are sure to arise. In India the last name is usually adopted, and the forenames are frequently contracted into initials, so that it is obligatory to use this name. We must never forget the practical conclusion that a man's real name is that by which he is known. But the indexer's difficulty in a large number of cases is that he does not know what that name is. Sir George Birdwood has kindly drawn up for me the following memorandum on the subject, which is of great value, from the interesting historical account of the growth of surnames in India under British rule which he gives.
On the Indexing of the Names of Eastern People.
Confining myself to the people—Parsees, Hindoos, and Mussulmans (muslimin)—of India, I find it very difficult to state an unexceptionable rule for the indexing of their names; and I index them in the order in which they are signed by the people themselves. The first or forename of a Parsee or a Hindoo, but not of a Mussulman if he be a Pathan, is his own personal or, as we say, "Christian"—that is, baptismal or "water"—name; and their second their father's personal name, and not his family or, as we say, "blood" name, or true surname. The naming of individuals in the successive generations of a Parsee or Hindoo, and certain Mussulmanee families, runs thus: A. G., N. A., U. N., and so on, the grandfather's name disappearing in the third generation.
The Parsees only in comparatively recent times adopted family or true surnames derived from the personal or paternal names, or both, of the first distinguished member of the family, or from his occupation or place of residence, or from some notable friend or patron of his, or from some title conferred on him by the ruler whose subject he was. Thus the Patels of Bombay are descended from Rustom (the son of) Dorabjee, who, for the assistance he gave the English in 1692 against the Seedee of Junjeera, was created, by sanad (i.e. patent), patel (i.e. mayor) of the Coolees of Bombay.
The Parsee Ashburners derive their patronymic from an ancestor in the early part of the late century, the friend and associate of a well-known English gentleman then resident in Western India. The Bhownaggrees take their name from an ancestor, a wealthy jaghirdar, who in 1744 built a tank of solid stone for public use at Bhavnagar in Kattyawar, and also from their later official connection with this well-known "model Native State." The Jamsetjee Jejeebhoys and Comasjee Jehanghiers derive their double-barreled surnames from the first baronet and knight, respectively, of these two eminent Parsee families. Other well-known Parsee surnames are Albless, Bahadurjee, Banajee, Bengalee, Bhandoopwala, Bharda, Cama (or Kama), Dadysett, Damanwala, Gamadia, Gazdar, Ghandi, Kapadia, Karaka, Khabrajee, Kharagat, Kohiyar, Marzban, Modee, Petit (Sir Dinshaw Manockjee Petit, first baronet of this name), Panday, Parak, Sanjana, Sayar, Seth, Sethna, Shroff, Talyarkan, Wadia. Some of their surnames are very eccentric, such as Doctor, Ready-money, Solicitor, etc., and should be abolished. There is actually a Dr. Solicitor.
The interesting point about the Parsee surnames is that when first introduced, through the influence of their close contact with the English, they were not absolutely hereditary, but were changed after a generation or two. Thus the present Bhownaggrees used, at one time, the surname of Compadore, from the office so designated held by one of their ancestors under the Portuguese.
The Hindoos have always had surnames, and jealously guard their authenticity and continuity in the traditions of their families, although they do not, even yet in Western India, universally use them in public. Their personal and paternal names are derived, among the higher castes, from the names of the gods, the thousand and one names of Vishnoo and Seeva, of Ganesha, etc., and from the names of well-known mythological heroes, historical saints, etc., the name selected being one the initial of which indicates the lunar asterism (nakshatra) under which the child (i.e. a son) is born; but their surnames have a tribal, or, as in the case of the Parsees, a local, or official, or some other merely accidental, origin.
If, then, we had only to deal with the Hindoos and Parsees, they might be readily indexed under their surnames. But when we come to the Indian Mussulmans the problem is at once seen to be beset with perplexities which seem to me impossible to unravel. The Indian Mussulmans—indeed all muslimin—are classified as Sayeds, Sheikhs, Mo(n)gols, and Pathans. The Sayeds (literally, "nobles," "lords") are the descendants of the Prophet Mahomet, through his son-in-law Allee; those descended through Fatima being distinguished as Sayed Hussanee and Sayed Hooseinee, and those from his other wives as Sayed Allee. The first name given to a Mussulman of this class is the quasi-surname Sayed or Meer (also, literally, "nobleman," "lord"), followed by the personal name and the paternal name; but these quasi-surnames often fall into disuse after manhood has been reached.
The Sheikhs (literally, "chiefs"),—and all muslimin descended from Mahomet and Aboo Bukeer and Oomur are Sheikhs,—have one or other of the following surnames placed before or after their personal and paternal names: Abd, Allee, Bukhs, Goolam, Khoaja, Sheikh. But as Sayeds are also all Sheikhs, they sometimes, on attaining manhood, assume the surname of Sheikh, dropping that of Sayed, or Meer, given to them at birth.
The Mo(n)gols, whether of the Persian (Eranee) sect of Sheeahs, or the Turkish (Tooranee) sect of Soonnees, have placed before, or after, their personal and paternal names, one or other of the following surnames: Aga ("lord"), Beg ("lord"), Meerza, and Mo(n)gol. But in Persia both Sayeds and Sheikhs assume, instead of their proper patronymics, the surname of Aga, or Beg, or Mo(n)gol; while Mo(n)gols whose mothers are Sayeds are given the pre, or post, surname of Meerza.
The Pathans have the surname Khan ("lord") placed invariably after their personal and paternal names. But Sayeds and Sheikhs often have the word Khan placed after their class, personal, and paternal names—not, however, as a surname, but as a complimentary or substantial title, pure and simple.
Again, all classes of muslimin, and the Hindoos also, and even the Parsees, are in the habit of adding all sorts of complimentary and substantial titles both before and after their names. How, then, is it possible to apply any one rightly reasoned rule to the indexing of such names, or any but the arbitrary rule of thumb:—to index them in the order in which the bearer of them places them in his signature to letters, cheques, and other documents? This gets over all the embarrassing difficulties created by the paraphernalia of a man's official designations, complimentary—or substantial, titles, etc. Take, for example, this transcript of a hypothetical Hindoo official's visiting-card:
"Dewan Sahib" (official and courtesy titles).
"Rajashri" (special social title).
"A." (personal name).
"B." (paternal name).
"Z." (family or true surname).
No Englishman unfamiliar with the etiquettes of Indian personal nomenclature could possibly index such a card as this with intelligent correctness. But this Hindoo gentleman would simply sign himself in a private letter, "A. B. Z." (i.e. A., the son of B., of the clan of Z.), and so he should be indexed.
The personal names of muslimin also have for the most part an astronomical association, being generally selected from those beginning with the initial or finial letter of the name of the planet ruling the day on which the child (i.e. a son) is born.
I presume that what I have here said of the methods of naming the Indian Mussulmans also applies to the muslimin of Persia and Central Asia and Turkey and Arabia; but beyond these countries I have no information as to the methods of naming people in the other Oriental Indies, such as Ceylon, Burmah, China, and Japan.
As to the transliteration of Oriental personal names, I always accept that followed by the person bearing them.
I have put the matter as briefly as possible, and almost too briefly for absolute accuracy of expression; and it will be noted I say nothing of local exceptions to the general rule regulating Hindoo names of persons; and, again, nothing of female names, Hindoo, Mussulmanee, or Parsee.
GEORGE BIRDWOOD.
January 9, 1902.