it, to confirm their Indian origin, when all this is found to be literally true of the Suders.
In relation to the emigration of the Gypsies, no cause can be assigned for their leaving their native country, so probable, as the war of Timur Beg, in India. The date of their arrival marks it very plainly. It was in the years 1408, and 1409, that this Conqueror ravaged India for the purpose of disseminating the Mahometan religion. Not only every one who made any resistance was destroyed, and such as fell into the enemies’ hands, though quite defenceless, were made slaves; but in a short time those very slaves, to the number of one hundred thousand, were put to death. In consequence of the universal panic which took place, those, who could quit the country, might well be supposed to consult their safety by flight.
If any of the higher castes did withdraw themselves on account of the troubles it is probable, they retired southward to people of their own sort, the Mahrattas. To mix at all with the Suders, would have been degrading
their high characters, which they consider worse than death; it was therefore morally impossible for them to have united with the Suders in a retreat. Moreover, by putting themselves into the power of the Suders, with whom they live in a state of discord and inveteracy, they might have incurred as much danger as from the common enemy.
Before presenting a vocabulary of Gypsey words, it may be observed, that though the Hindostanie language is fundamentally the same, all over Hindostan; yet, like other languages, it has different dialects in the various provinces. The eastern dialect, spokes about the Ganges, has different names for some things; and inflections of some words different to the western ones spoken about the Indus: There is, besides, a third, varying from both these, viz: the Surat dialect, which has a number of Malabar, and other words mixed with it. To this must be added, that in the Hindostan, as well as in every other language, there are often several names for the same thing.
The particular dialect bearing the closest affinity to the Gypsey language, as will appear hereafter, is the western; and perhaps more especially that of Surat. With respect to the construction and inflections of the two languages, they are evidently the same. In that of Hindostan, every word ending in j is feminine, all the rest masculine; the Gypsey is the same. That makes the inflections entirely by the article, adding it at the end of the word. The Gypsey language proceeds exactly in the same manner
Grellmann.
SECTION VIII.
Comparative view of the Gypsey, Hindostanie, and Turkish languages.
The following collection is extracted from Grellmann’s Vocabulary.