Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Bible" to "Bisectrix"

Chapter XIV: Part 14

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The usual character employed for writing Bihari is that known as _Kaithi_, a cursive form of the well-known Nagari character of Upper India. The name of the character is derived from the _Kayath_ or _Kayasth_ caste, whose profession is that of scribes. Kaithi is widely spread, under various names, all over northern India, and is the official character of Gujarati. The Nagari character is commonly employed for printed books, while the Brahmans of Tirhut have a character of their own, akin to that used for writing Bengali and Assamese. In the south of the Bihari tract the Oriya character belonging to the neighbouring Orissa is also found.

Bihari has to its east Bengali, also a language of the Outer Band. To its west it has Eastern Hindi, a language of the Intermediate Band (see INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES). While it must decidedly be classed as an Outer language, it nevertheless shows, as might be expected, some points of contact with the Intermediate ones. Nothing is so characteristic of Bengali as its pronunciation of the vowel _a_ and of the consonant _s_. The first is sounded like the _o_ in "hot" (transliterated _o_). In Eastern Bihari the same vowel has a broad sound, but not so broad as in Bengali. As we go westwards this broad sound is gradually lost, till it entirely disappears in the most western dialect, Bhojpuri. As regards _s_, the Magadhi Prakrit pronounced it as _'s_, like the _sh_ in "shin." The Prakrits of the West preserved its dental sound, like that of the _s_ in "sin." Here Bengali and Eastern Hindi exactly represent the ancient state of affairs. The former has the _'s_-sound and the latter the _s_-sound. At the present day Bihari has abandoned the practice of the old Magadhi Prakrit in this respect, and pronounces its _s_'s as clearly as in the West. There are political reasons for this. The pronunciation of _s_ is a literal shibboleth between Bengal and Upper India. For centuries Bihar has been connected politically with the West, and has in the course of generations rid itself of the typical pronunciation of the East. On the other hand, a witness as to the former pronunciation of the letter is present in the fact that, in the Kaithi character, _s_ is always written _'s_. In the declension of nouns, Bihari follows Bengali more closely than it follows Eastern Hindi, and its conjugation is based on the same principles as those which obtain in the former language.

Language.

The age of Bihari as an independent language is unknown. We have songs written in it dating from the 15th century, and at that time it had received considerable literary culture. Bihari has three main dialects, which fall into two divisions, an eastern and a western. The eastern division includes _Maithili_ or _Tirhutia_ and _Magahi_. Magahi is the dialect of the country corresponding to the ancient Magadha, and may therefore be taken as the modern representative of the purest Magadhi Prakrit. Its northern boundary is generally the river Ganges, and its western the river Son. To the south it has overflowed into the northern half of Chota Nagpur. It is nearly related to Maithili, but it is quite uncultivated and has no literature, although it is the vernacular of the birthplace of Buddhism. Nowadays it is often referred to by natives of other parts of the country as the typically boorish language of India. Maithili faces Magahi across the Ganges. It is the dialect of the old country of _Mithila_ or _Tirhut_, famous from ancient times for its learning. Historically and politically it has long been closely connected with Oudh, the home of the hero Rama-candra, and its people are amongst the most conservative in India. Their language bears the national stamp. It has retained numerous antiquated forms, and parts of its grammar are extraordinarily complex. It has a small literature which has helped to preserve these peculiarities in full play, so that though Magahi shares them, it has lost many which are still extant in the everyday talk of Mithila. The western division consists of the Bhojpuri dialect, spoken on both sides of the Gangetic valley, from near Patna to Benares. It has extended south-east into the southern half of Chota Nagpur, and is spoken by at least twenty millions of people who are as free from prejudice as the inhabitants of Mithila are conservative. The Bhojpuris are a fighting race, and their language is a practical one, made for everyday use, as simple and straightforward as Maithili and Magahi are complex. In fact, it might almost be classed as a separate language, had it any literature worthy of the name.

(Abbreviations: Mth. = Maithili, Mg. = Magahi, Bh. = Bhojpuri, B. =
Bihari, Bg. = Bengali. Skr. = Sanskrit, Pr. = Prakrit. Mg. Pr. =
Magadhi Prakrit.)

_Vocabulary._--The Bihari vocabulary calls for few remarks.
_Tatsamas_, or words borrowed in modern times from Sanskrit (see
INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES), are few in number, while all the dialects are
replete with honest home-born _tadbhavas_, used (unlike Bengali) both
in the literary and in the colloquial language. Very few words are
borrowed from Persian, Arabic or other languages.

_Phonetics._--The stress-accent of Bihari follows the usual rules of
modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars. In words of more than one syllable it
cannot fall on the last, whether the vowel of that syllable be long or
short, pronounced, half-pronounced, or not pronounced. With this
exception, the accent always falls on the last long syllable. If there
are no long syllables in the word, the accent is thrown back as far as
possible, but never farther than the syllable before the
antepenultimate. Thus, _ki-sa'-n(a)_ (final a not pronounced);
_pa'ni_, _ha-m^a-ra_; _de-kh^a-la-h^u_. In the last word there is a
secondary accent on the penultimate, owing to the following imperfect
vowel (see below). When the first syllable of a word has not the main
stress-accent, it also takes a secondary one, as in
_de-kh^a-li-ai-nh'_. When the letter a follows a syllable which has
the accent (secondary or primary) it is only half pronounced, and is
here denoted by a small ^a above the line. In Mth. (but not in Mg. or
Bh.) a final short _i_ or _u_ is often similarly very lightly
pronounced, and is then represented by the same device. Before such an
"imperfect" ^i or ^u the preceding syllable has a secondary accent, if
it has not already got the main one.

When a word ends in _a_ preceded by a single uncompounded consonant,
the _a_ is not pronounced; thus, _kisana_, sounded _kisan_. This vowel
is sometimes pronounced with a drawl, like the _a_ in "ball," and is
then transliterated _a_. When _a_ has this sound it can end a word,
and in this position is common in the second person of verbs; thus,
_dekha_, see thou. This sound is very frequently heard in Bhojpuri,
and gives a peculiar tone to the whole dialect, which at once strikes
the casual hearer. The usual short form of the letter _a_ is _a_, but
when this would lead to confusion it is shortened in Mth. and Mg. to a
sound like that of _a_ in the German _Mann_, and is then
transliterated _a_. In Bh. it is always shortened to _a_. As an
example, from _pani_, water, is formed the word _paniya_, but (in Mth.
and Mg.) from the word _marab_, to strike, we have Mth. _mar^ali_, Mg.
_mar^ali_, I struck, because _mar^ali_ (_-li_) would mean "I died." In
Bh. _mar^ali_ actually has both these meanings. The letters _e_ and
_o_ may be either long (_e, o_) or short (_e, o_). In Skr. the
diphthongs _ai_ and _au_ (here transliterated _ai, au_) are much
longer than the Bihari _ai_ and _au_, which are contractions of only
_a + i_ and _a + u_ respectively. We may compare the Sanskrit, or
_tatsama, ai_ with the English "aye," and the _tadbkava ai_ with the
English "I." In counting syllables in Bihari, _ai_ and _au_ count each
as two syllables, not each as one long syllable. The Skr. _r_ appears
only in _tatsamas_. Nasalization of vowels is extremely frequent. In
this article it is represented by the sign ~ over the vowel, as in
_muh, mar^ali_ and _dekh^alah^u_.

As regards consonants, _d_ and _dh_, when medial, are pronounced as
strongly burred _r_ and _rh_, and are then transliterated as here
shown. There is a constant tendency to change these to an ordinary
dental _r_ and _rh_; thus, _ghoda_, pronounced _ghora_ or _ghora_. The
semivowels _y_ and _v_ are always pronounced like _j_ and _b_
respectively, unless they are simply euphonic letters put in to bridge
the hiatus between two concurrent vowels; thus _yauvana_ pronounced
_jauban_, and _maliya_ for _mali-a, ghor^awa_ for _ghor^a-a_. The
sibilants _s_ and _s_ are both pronounced as a dental _s_, but (a
relic of the old Mg. Pr.) are both invariably written as a palatal _s_
in the Kaithi character. Thus, the English word "session" (_sesun_) is
written _sesan_ and pronounced _sesan_. The cerebral _s_, when
uncompounded, is pronounced _kh_. When compounded, it generally has
its proper sound. Thus, _sastha_, sixth, is pronounced _khasth_. As a
general statement we may say that Bihari spelling is not fixed, and
that there are often many ways of writing, and sometimes two or three
ways of pronouncing, the same word.

The main typical characteristics of Mg. Pr. are that western Pr. _s_
becomes _s_, and that western Pr. _r_ becomes _l_. We have seen that
the change of _s_ to _s_ occurs in Bengali but not in Bihari, and have
given reasons for the change back to _s_ in the latter language,
although the Mg. Pr. _s_ is retained in writing. In both Bengali and
Bihari, a western _r_ is not now represented by _l_, but is
represented by _r_. This deviation from the Mg. Pr. rule is only
apparent, and is due to the letter _r_ representing two distinct
sounds. In Skr., in the western Prakrits, and in the modern western
languages, _r_ is a cerebral letter, with a cerebral sound. In the
modern eastern languages, _r_ is a dental letter, with a dental sound.
Everywhere, both in old times and at the present day, _l_ was and is a
dental letter. The meaning, therefore, of the change from western Pr.
_r_ to Mg. Pr. _l_ was that the western _r_ lost its cerebral sound,
and became a dental letter, like _l_. That dental character is
preserved in the _r_ of the modern eastern languages. In fact, in
Bihari _r_ and _l_ are frequently confounded together, or with _n_,
another dental letter. Thus, we have _kali_ or _kari_, black; _phar_
or _phal_, fruit; Skr. _rajju-_, B. _leju-ri_, a string; _Lakhnaur_,
the name of a town, quite commonly pronounced _Nakhlaul_; and the
English names Kelly and Currie both pronounced indifferently _kari_ or
_kali_. Compare Assamese _saril_ for _Skr. sarira-_.

The genius of the Bihari language is adverse to the existence of a
long vowel in a _tadbhava_ word, when it would occupy a position more
than two syllables from the end. Thus, _ghora_, but _ghor^awa_;
_marel_, but _mar^ali_. This is subject to various subsidiary rules
which will be found in the grammars. The principle is a most important
one, and, indeed, pervades all Indo-Aryan vernaculars of the present
day, but it is carried out with the greatest thoroughness and
consistency in Bihari. The whole system of declension and conjugation
is subject to it. When _a_ preceding _i_ or _e_ is shortened, the two
together become _ai_, and similarly a shortened _a + u_ or _o_ become
_au_.

_Declension._--Bihari has a stronger sense of gender than the other
languages of the Eastern Group. In the modern language the distinction
is in the main confined no animate beings, but in the older poetry the
system of grammatical, as distinct from sexual, gender is in full
swing. Except in the case of the interrogative pronoun, there is no
neuter gender--words which in Skr. and Pr. were neuter being
generally, but not always, treated as masculine. The plural can
everywhere be formed by the addition of some noun of multitude to the
singular, and this is the universal rule in Mth., but in Mg. and Bh.
it is generally made by adding _n_ or (in Bh.) _nh_ or _ni_ to the
singular, before all of which a final vowel is shortened. Thus
_ghora_, a horse, _ghoran_, horses.

As for cases, the Apabhramsa locative--_hi_ (_-hi_) and the ablative
_-hu_ (see PRAKRIT) terminations have survived in poetry, proverbs and
the like, and each of them can now be used for any oblique case; but
in ordinary language and in literature _-hi_ and _-hi_ have become
contracted to _e_ and _e_, the former of which is employed for the
instrumental and the latter for the locative case. Thus, _ghar_,
house; _ghare_, by a house; _ghare_, in a house. The old termination
_-hu_ has also survived in sporadic instances, under the form _o_,
with an ablative sense. Cases are, however, usually formed, as
elsewhere, by suffixing postpositions to a general oblique case (see
INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES). The oblique case in Bihari is generally the
same as the nominative, but nouns ending in _n, b, l or r_, and some
others, form it by adding _a_ (a relic of the old Mg. Pr. genitive in
_aha_). Thus, _maral_, the act of striking, obl. _mar^ala_ (Mg. Pr.
_mari-allaha_). Another set of verbal nouns forms the oblique case in
_ai_, _e_ or _a_, thus, Bh. _mar_, the ace of striking, _mare-la_, for
striking, to strike. In Mg. every noun ending in a consonant may have
its oblique form in _e_; thus, _ghar_, a house, _ghar-ke_ or
_ghare-ke_, of a house. The _ai-_ or _e-_ termination is another relic
of the Apabhrarhsa _-hi_, and the _a_ is a survival of the Ap. _-hu_.

The usual genitive postposition is _k_, which has become a suffix, and
now forms part of the word to which it is attached, a final preceding
vowel being frequently shortened. Thus, _ghora_, gen. _ghorak_. Other
genitive postpositions are _ke_, _kar_ and _ker_. These, and all other
postpositions, are still separate words, and have not yet become
suffixes. The more common postpositions are[1] Acc.-Dat. _ke_;
Instr.-Abl. _sa, se_; Loc. _ma., me_. The genitive does not change to
agree with the gender of the governing noun, as in Hindostani, but in
Bh. (not in Mth. or Mg.), when the governing noun is not in the
nominative singular, the genitive postposition takes the oblique form
_ka_; thus, _raja-ke mandir_, the palace of the king; but _raja-ka
mandir-me_, in the palace of the king. In Mth. and Mg. pronouns have a
similar oblique genitive in _a_. There is no case of the agent, as in
Hindostani; the subject of all tenses of all verbs being always in the
nominative case.

Every noun can have three forms, a short, a long and a redundant. The
short form is sometimes weak and sometimes strong. Occasionally both
weak and strong forms occur for the same word; thus, short weak,
_ghor_; short strong, _ghora_; long, _ghor^awa_; redundant,
_ghorauwa_. This superfluity of forms is due to the existence of the
pleonastic suffix _-ka-_ in the Prakrit stage of the language (see
PRAKRIT). In that stage the _k_ of the suffix was already elided, so
that we have the stages:--Skr. _ghota-ka-s_, Pr. _ghod-a-u_, B.
_ghora_ (by contraction) or _ghor^a-wa_ (with insertion of a euphonic
_w_). The redundant form is a result of the reduplication of the
suffix, which was allowed in Pr. Thus. Skr. _*ghota-ka-ka-s_, Pr.
_ghoda-a-a-u_, B. _ghorauwa_ (contracted from _ghor^a-wa-wa-a_). The
long and redundant forms are mainly used in conversation. They are
familiar and often contemptuous. Sometimes they give a definite force
to the word, as _ghor^awa_, the horse. In the feminine they are much
used to form diminutives.

As in other languages of the Eastern Group, the singulars of the
personal pronouns have fallen into disuse. The plurals are used
politely for the singulars, and new forms are made from these old
plurals, to make new plurals. The old singulars survive in poetry and
in the speech of villagers, but even here the nominative has
disappeared and new nominatives have been formed from the oblique
bases. All the pronouns have numerous optional forms. As a specimen of
pronominal declension, we may give the most common forms of the first
personal pronoun.

The important point to note in the above is that the oblique form
singular is formed from the genitive. It is the oblique form of that
case which is also used when agreeing with another noun in an oblique
case. Thus, _hamar ghar_, my house; _ham^ara ghar-me_, in my house;
_ham^ara-ke_, to me. In Mth. the nominative plural is also the oblique
form of the genitive singular, and in Bh. and Mg. it is the oblique
form of the genitive plural. In Bengali the nominative plural of nouns
substantive is formed in the same way from the genitive singular (see
BENGALI). The usual forms of the pronouns are _ham_, I; _to_, _tu_,
thou; Mth. _ap^anah_, Bh. _raura_, Your Honour; _i_, this; _o_, that,
he; _je_, who; _se_, he; _ke_, who? Mth. _ki_, Mg., Bh. _ka_, what?
_keo, keu_, any one; Mth. _kicch^u_, Mg. _kuchu_, Bh. _kachu_,
anything. The oblique forms of these vary greatly, and must be learned
from the grammars.

_Conjugation in Maithili and Magahi._--It is in the conjugation of the
verb that the amazing complexity of the Mth. and Mg. grammars appears.
The conjugation of the Bhojpuri verb is quite simple, and will be
treated separately. In all three dialects the verb makes little or no
distinction of number, but instead there is a distinction between
non-honorific and honorific forms. In Mth. and Mg. this distinction
applies not only to the subject but also to the object, so that for
each person there are, in the first place, four groups of forms,
viz.:--

I. Subject non-honorific, object non-honorific.
II. Subject honorific, object non-honorific.
III. Subject non-honorific, object honorific.
IV. Subject honorific, object honorific.

In Mth. all the forms in which the object is honorific end in -_nh^i_.
Mg. closely follows this, but the forms are more abraded.

Forms in which the object is non-honorific may be, as in the case of
nouns, short, long or redundant. The long forms are made by adding
_ai_ (or in the second person -_ah_) to the short forms, and the
redundant forms by adding _k_ to the long forms. Again, if the
_object_ is in the second person, the _ai_ of the long and redundant
forms is changed to _au_. Finally, in the first person the
non-honorific and honorific forms depending on the subject are the
same, and are also identical with those forms of the second person in
which the subject is honorific. We thus get the following paradigm of
the Mth. past tense of the verb _marab_, to strike. The Mg. forms are
very similar. Besides the above there are numerous optional forms.
Moreover, these are only masculine forms. The feminine gender of the
subject introduces new complications. It is impossible here to go into
all these _minutiae_, interesting as they are to philologists. They
must be learnt from the regular grammars. On the present occasion we
shall confine ourselves to describing the formation of the principal
parts of the verb.

In Mth. the usual verb substantive and auxiliary verb is, as in
Bengali, based on the root _ach_ (Skr. _rcchati_), the initial vowel
being generally dropped, as in _chi_, I am; _chalah^u_, I was; but
_ach^i_, he is. In Mg. we have _hi_ or _hiki_, I am; _halu_, I was.
The finite verb has three verbal nouns or infinitives, viz. (from the
root _mar_, strike), Mth. _mar^i_ or Mg. _mar_; _marab_; and _maral_.
All three are fully declined as nouns, the oblique forms being _marai_
or _mare_, _mar^aba_, and _mar^ala_, respectively. There are two
participles, a present (Mth. _marait_ = Pr. _marentu_) and a past
(Mth. _maral_ = Pr. _mari-allu_). The Mg. forms are very similar. The
old Mg. Pr. present and imperative have survived, but all other tenses
are made from verbal nouns or participles. The past tense (of which
the conjugation for a Maithili transitive verb is given above) is
formed by adding pronominal suffixes to the past participle. Thus,
_maral+i_, struck + by-me, becomes _mar'li_, I struck. In the case of
intransitive verbs, the suffixes may represent the nominative and not
the instrumental case of the pronoun, and hence the conjugation is
somewhat different. The future is a mixed tense. Generally speaking,
the first two persons are formed from the verbal noun in _b_, which is
by origin a future passive participle, and the third person is formed
from the present participle. Thus, _marab + ah^u_, about-to-be-struck
+ by-me, becomes _mar^abah^u_, I shall strike, and _marait + ah_,
striking + he, becomes _mar^atah_, he will strike (compare the English
"he's going," for "he is on the point of going"). A past conditional
is also formed by adding similar suffixes to the present participle,
as in _maritah^u_, (if) I had struck. This use of the present
participle already existed in the Pr. age (cf. Hema-candra's
_Grammar_, in. 180). In Mth. the present definite and the imperfect
are formed by conjugating the present or past tense respectively of
the auxiliary verb with the present participle; thus _marait chi_, I
am striking. Mg. (like vulgar English) substitutes the oblique form of
the verbal noun for the present participle, as in _mare hi_, I am
a-striking. The perfect is usually formed by adding the word for "is"
to the past; thus, Mth. _mar^ali ach^i_, I have struck, lit.
struck-by-me it-is. A pluperfect is similarly formed with the past
tense of the auxiliary verb.

There are numerous irregular verbs. Most of the irregularities are due
to the root ending in a vowel or in a weak consonant such as _b_ (=
Pr. _v_). Thus root _pab_, obtain, past participle _paol_, first
singular, past tense, _pauli_. More definitely irregular are a few
roots like _kar_, do, past participle _kail_. These last instances are
cases in which the past participle is independently derived from a
Skr. past participle, and is not formed as usual by adding the
pleonastic suffix -_al_ or -_il_ (Skr., Pr., _-alla-_, _-illa_-, see
PRAKRIT) to the Bihari root. Thus, Skr. _krta-s_, Pr. _kaa-u,
ka-ill-u_, B. _kail_, instead of _kar-al_.

There is a long series of transitive verbs formed from intransitives
and of causal verbs formed from transitives, generally by adding _ab_
(Skr. _apaya_-, Pr. _ave_-). Compound verbs are numerous. Noteworthy
is the desiderative compound formed by adding the root _cah_, wish, to
the dative of a verbal noun. Thus, _ham dekha-ke cahait-chi_, I am
wishing for the seeing, I wish to see.

_Conjugation in Bhojpuri._--The Bh. conjugation is as simple as that
of Mth. and Mg. is complex. In the first and second persons the plural
is generally employed for the singular, but there is no change in the
verb corresponding to the person or honour of the object. The usual
verb substantive and auxiliary verb is derived in the present from the
root _bat_ or _bar_, be, as in _bate_ or _bare_ (Skr. _vartate_, Pr.
_vattai_), he is. The past is derived from the root _rah_ (Skr.
_rahati_, Pr. _rahai_), as in _rah^ali_ or (contracted) _rahi_, I was.
The verbal nouns and participles are nearly the same as in Mth.-Mg.,
the first verbal noun and the present participle being _mar_ and
_marat_, as in Mg. The old present and imperative, derived from the
Mg. Pr. forms, are also employed in Bh. Thus, _mare_ (Pr. _marei_), he
strikes. This tense is often used as a present conditional. When it is
wished to emphasize the sense of a present indicative, the syllable
-_la_ is suffixed. The same suffix is employed in Rajasthani, Naipali
and Marathi to form the future, and in Bh. it is often also used with
a future sense. The past tense is formed, as in Mth.-Mg., by adding
pronominal suffixes to the past participle; thus, _mar^ali_ (_mara +
li_), I struck, as explained above. Similarly, for the first and
second persons of the future we have _mar^abi_, I shall strike, and so
on, but the third person is _mari_ (Pr. _marehi_), he will strike,
_marihen_ (Pr. _marehinti_), they will strike. The periphrastic tenses
are formed on the same principles as in Mth. As an example of Bh.
conjugation we give the present, past and future tenses in all
persons. There are a few additional optional forms, but nothing like
the multiplicity of meanings which we find in Mth. and Mg.

It will be observed that the termination of the present changes in
sympathy with the old present to which it is attached. In some parts
of the Bh. area, especially in the district of Saran, _u_ is
substituted for _^al_ in the past. Thus, _marui_, I struck. The
_maru_- is merely the past participle without the pleonastic
termination _-alla-_ which is used in Bihari, as explained under the
Mth.-Mg. conjugation.

Irregular verbs, the formation of transitive and causal verbs, and the
treatment of compound verbs, are on the same lines as in Mth.

Literature.

_Bihari Literature._--In all three dialects there are numerous folk-epics transmitted by word of mouth. Several have been published at various times in the _Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_ and in the _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlaendischen Gesellschaft_. The only dialect which has any real literature is Maithili. The earliest writer of whom we have any record is Vidyapati Thakkura (Bidyapati Thakur), who lived at the court of Raja Siva Simha of Sugaona in Tirhut in the 15th century. He was a voluminous Sanskrit writer, but his fame rests chiefly on his dainty lyrics in Maithili dealing with the loves of Radha and Krishna. These have exercised an important influence on the religious history of eastern India. They were adopted and enthusiastically recited by the reformer Caitanya (16th century), and through him became the home-poetry of the Bengali-speaking Lower Provinces. Their language was transformed (we can hardly say translated) into Bengali, and in that shape they have had numerous imitators. A collection of poems by the old Master-singer in their Maithili dress has been published by the present writer in his _Chrestomathy_ of that language. The most admired of Vidyapati's successors is Manbodh Jha, who died in 1788. He composed a _Haribans_, or poetical life of Krishna, which has great popularity. Many dramas have been composed in Mithila. The fashion is to write the body of the work in Sanskrit and Prakrit, but the songs in Maithili. Two dramas, the _Parijata-harana_ and the _Rukmini-parinaya_, are attributed to Vidyapati. Among modern writers in the dialect, we may mention Harsanatha, an elegant lyric poet and author of a drama entitled _Usa-harana_, and Candra Jha, whose version of the Ramayana and translation of Vidyapati's Sanskrit _Purusa-pariksa_ are deservedly popular.

AUTHORITIES.--_The Linguistic Survey of India_, vol. v. part ii.
(Calcutta, 1903), gives a complete conspectus of Bihari in all its
dialects and sub-dialects. See also G.A. Grierson, _Seven Grammars of
the Dialects and Sub-dialects of the Bihari Language_, parts i. to
viii. (Calcutta, 1883-1887--these deal with every form of Bihari
except standard Maithili); and S.H. Kellogg, _A Grammar of the Hindi
Language, in which are treated High Hindi... also the Colloquial
Dialects of ... Bhojpur, Magadha, Maithila, &c._ (2nd ed., London,
1893).

For Maithili, see G.A. Grierson, _An Introduction to the Maithili
Language of North Bihar, containing a Grammar, Chrestomathy and
Vocabulary_; part i. _Grammar_ (Calcutta, 1881; 2nd ed., 1909); part
ii. _Chrestomathy and Vocabulary_ (Calcutta, 1882). For Vidyapati
Thakkura, see J. Beames, "The Early Vaishnava Poets of Bengal," in
_Indian Antiquary_, ii. (1873), pp. 37 ff.; the same, "On the Age and
Country of Vidyapati," _ibid_. iv. (1875), pp. 299 ff.; anon, article
in the _Banga Darsana_, vol. iv. (1282 B.S.), pp. 75 ff.; Saradacarana
Maitra, Introduction to _Vidyapatir Padavali_ (2nd ed., Calcutta, 1285
B.S.); C.A. Grierson, _Chrestomathy_, as above; "Vidyapati and his
Contemporaries," _Indian Antiquary_, vol. xiv. (1885), pp. 182 ff.;
"On some Mediaeval Kings of Mithila," _ibid_. vol. xxviii. (1899), pp.
57 ff.

For Bhojpuri, see J. Beames, "Notes on the Bhojpuri Dialect of Hindi
spoken in Western Bihar," in _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_,
vol. iii. N.S., 1868, pp. 483 ff.; A.F.R. Hoernle, _A Grammar of the
Eastern Hindi compared with the other Gaudian Languages_ (here
"Eastern Hindi" means "Western Bhojpuri"), (London, 1880); J.R. Reid,
_Report on the Settlement Operations in the District of Azamgarh_
(Allahabad, 1881--contains in appendices full grammar and vocabulary
of Western Bhojpuri).

No special works have been written about Magahi. (G. A. Gr.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The origin of the postpositions is discussed in the article
HINDOSTANI.

BIHARI-LAL, a name famous in Hindustani literature as the author of the _Sat-sai_, a collection of approximately seven hundred distichs, which is perhaps the most celebrated Hindi work of poetic art, as distinguished from narrative and simpler styles. The language is the form of Hindi called _Braj-bhasha_, spoken in the country about Mathura, where the poet lived. The couplets are inspired by the Krishna side of Vishnu-worship, and the majority of them take the shape of amorous utterances of Radha, the chief of the Gopis or cowherd maidens of Braj, and her divine lover, the son of Vasudeva. Each couplet is independent and complete in itself, and is a triumph of skill in compression of language, felicity of description, and rhetorical artifice. The distichs, in their collected form, are arranged, not in any sequence of narrative or dialogue, but according to the technical classification of the sentiments which they convey as set forth in the treatises on Indian rhetoric.

Little is known of the author beyond what he himself tells us. He was born in Gwalior, spent his boyhood in Bundelkhand, and on his marriage settled in his father-in-law's household in Mathura. His father was named Kesab Ray; he was a twiceborn (_Dwija_) by caste, which is generally understood to mean that he was a Brahman, though some assert that he belonged to the mixed caste, now called Ray, sprung from the offspring of a Brahman father by a Kshatriya mother. A couplet in the _Sat-sai_ states that it was completed in A.D. 1662. It is certain that his patron, whom he calls Jai Shah, was the Raja of Amber or Jaipur, known as Mirza Jai Singh, who ruled from 1617 to 1667 during the reigns of the emperors Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. A couplet (No. 705) appears to refer to an event which occurred in 1665, and in which Raja Jai Singh was concerned. For this prince the couplets were composed, and for each _doha_ the poet is said to have received a gold piece worth sixteen rupees.

The collection very soon became celebrated. As the couplets are independent one of another, and were put together fortuitously as composed, many different recensions exist; but the standard is that settled by an assembly of poets under the direction of Prince A'zam Shah, the third son of the emperor Aurangzeb (1653-1707), and hence called the A'zam-shahi; it comprises 726 couplets. The estimation in which the work is held may be measured by the number of commentators who have devoted themselves to its elucidation, of whom Dr Grierson mentions seventeen. Two of them were Musalmans, and two other commentaries were composed for Musalman patrons. The collection has also twice been translated into Sanskrit.

The best-known commentary is that of Lallu-ji-Lal, entitled the
_Lala-chandrika_. The author was employed by Dr Gilchrist in the
College of Fort William, where he finished his commentary in 1818. A
critical edition of it has been published by Dr G.A. Grierson
(Calcutta, government of India Press, 1896). (C. J. L.)

BIJAPUR, an ancient city and modern district of British India in the southern division of Bombay. It is a station on the Southern Mahratta railway, 60 m. S. of Sholapur. The ancient city was supplied with water by an elaborate underground system of reservoirs and aqueducts, which has been restored in part as a famine relief work. The population in. 1901 was 23,811. The city used to be the extensive, splendid and opulent capital of an independent sovereignty of the same name, but now retains only the vestiges of its former grandeur. It is still, however, the most picturesque collection of ruins in India. The city of Bijapur owed its greatness to Yusuf Adil Shah, the founder of the independent state of Bijapur. It consists of three distinct portions--the citadel, the fort and the remains of the city. The citadel, built by Yusuf Adil Shah, a mile in circuit, is of great strength, well built of the most massive materials, and encompassed by a ditch 100 yds. wide, formerly supplied with water, but now nearly filled up with rubbish, so that its original depth cannot be discovered. Within the citadel are the remains of Hindu temples, which prove that Bijapur was an important town in pre-Mahommedan times. The fort, which was completed by Ali Adil Shah in 1566, is surrounded by a wall 6 m. in circumference. This wall is from 30 to 50 ft. high, and is strengthened with ninety-six massive bastions of various designs. In addition there are ten others at the various gateways. The width is about 25 ft.; from bastion to bastion runs a battlemented curtained wall about 10 ft. high. The whole is surrounded by a deep moat 30 to 40 ft. broad. Inside these walls the Bijapur kings bade defiance to all comers. Outside the walls are the remains of a vast city, now for the most part in ruins, but the innumerable tombs, mosques, caravanserais and other edifices, which have resisted the havoc of time, afford abundant evidence of the ancient splendour of the place. Among its many buildings three are specially worthy of mention. The Gol Gunbaz, or tomb of Sultan Mahommed Adil Shah, which was built 1626-1656, is one of the most interesting buildings in the world. It is a square building, 135 ft. each way, which is surmounted by a great circular dome 198 ft. high. The inside area (18,360 ft.) is greater than the Pantheon at Rome (15,833 sq. ft.). When first built the dome was covered by gold leaf, and the outer walls were adorned with stucco work picked out in gold and blue, but to-day there are very few traces of this ornamentation. Of late years this mosque has been thoroughly restored, and one portion is now used as a museum in which all objects of interest discovered in the surrounding country are exhibited. Next to this comes the Ibrahim Roza, or tomb and mosque of Ibrahim Adil Shah II., which was completed about 1620 and is supposed to be one of the most exquisite buildings in the world after the Taj at Agra. It is said to have cost L1,700,000 and to have occupied thirty-six years in its construction. The Gagan Mahal, or ancient audience hall, is now a mass of ruins, but when complete must have been a beautiful building. The archway remains. It is over 60 ft. span and about 90 ft. high. Through this arch Sikandar Adil Shah, the last king of Bijapur, was brought bound with silver chains, while on a raised platform sat Aurangzeb, the Mogul emperor, who had left Delhi three years previously to conquer the Deccan. This magnificent palace, where so many scenes historic in the Bijapur dynasty occurred, is now the abode of hundreds of pigeons. Their cooing is the only sound that breaks the silence of the old halls.

_History._--The founder of the Bijapur dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah, is said by Ferishta to have been a son of the Ottoman sultan Murad II. When on his accession Mahommed II. gave orders for the strangling of all his brothers, Yusuf was saved by a stratagem of his mother. He went to India, where he took service under the Bahmani king of the Deccan, and ultimately became a person of great importance at the court of Mahmud II. In 1489 he took advantage of the break-up of the Bahmani power to establish himself as an independent sultan at Bijapur, his dominions including Goa on the west coast. He died in 1511 (Goa had been taken by the Portuguese a few months before), and was succeeded by his son Ismail, who reigned prosperously till 1534. The next king worth mentioning is Ali Adil Shah I., who reigned from 1557 to 1579 and, besides the fort, built the Jama Masjid or great mosque, the aqueducts and other notable works in the city. His son Ibrahim (d. 1626) maintained the prosperity of the state; but under his successor, Mahommed Adil Shah (d. 1656), the rise of the Mahratta power under Sivaji began to make inroads upon it, and it was exposed to the yet more formidable ambition of Shah Jahan. On the death of Mahommed the succession passed to Ali Adil Shah II., and on his death in 1672 to his infant son, Sikandar Adil Shah, the last of the race. The kingdom had been for some time rapidly falling to ruin, and in 1686 the Mogul emperor Aurangzeb, who as Shah Jahan's general had unsuccessfully besieged the city under Mahommed Adil Shah, took Bijapur and annexed the kingdom to the Delhi empire. Among the curiosities of the capital is the celebrated monster gun (Malik-i-Maidan), stated to be the largest piece of cast bronze ordnance in the world. It was captured from the king of Ahmednagar by the king of Bijapur about the middle of the 17th century. An inscription on the gun recording that fact was erased by Aurangzeb, who substituted the present inscription stating that he conquered Bijapur in 1686. The city and territory of Bijapur remained annexed to Delhi till 1724, when the nizam established his independence in the Deccan, and included Bijapur within his dominions. His sway over this portion of his acquisitions, however, was of brief duration; for, being defeated by the Peshwa in 1760, he was compelled to purchase peace by its cession to the Mahrattas. Upon the fall of the Peshwa in 1818 Bijapur passed into the hands of the British, and was by them included in the territory assigned to the raja of Satara. In 1848 the territory of Satara was escheated through the failure of heirs. The city was made the administrative headquarters of the district in 1885.

The district of Bijapur, formerly called Kaladgi, occupies a barren plain, sloping eastward from a string of feudatory Mahratta states to the nizam's dominions. It contains an area of 5669 sq. m., and its population in 1901 was 735,435, showing a decrease of 8% compared with an increase of 27% in the preceding decade, and a decrease of 21% in the period between 1872 and 1881. These changes in population reveal the effects of famine, which was very severely felt in 1876-1878 and again in 1899-1000. There is very little irrigation in the district. The principal crops are millet, wheat, pulse, oil-seeds and cotton. There are considerable manufactures of cotton and silk goods and blankets, and several factories for ginning and pressing cotton. The East Deccan line of the Southern Mahratta railway traverses the district from north to south.

BIJAWAR, a native state of central India, in the Bundelkhand agency. Area, 973 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 110,500; revenue, L10,000. Forests cover nearly half the total area of the state, which is believed to be rich in minerals, but lack of transport facilities has hindered the development of its resources.

The state takes its name from the chief town, Bijawar (pop. in 1901, 5220), which was founded by Bijai Singh, one of the Gond chiefs of Garha Mandla, in the 17th century. It was conquered in the 18th century by Chhatarsal, the founder of Panna, a Rajput of the Bundela clan, by whose descendants it is still held. It was confirmed to Ratan Singh in 1811 by the British government for the usual deed of allegiance. In 1857 Bhan Pratap Singh rendered signal services to the British during the Mutiny, being rewarded with certain privileges and a hereditary salute of eleven guns. In 1866 he received the title of maharaja, and the prefix _sawai_ in 1877. Bhan Pratap was succeeded on his death in 1899 by his adopted son, Sanwant Singh, a son of the maharaja of Orchha.

BIJNOR, or BIJNAUR, a town and district of British India in the Bareilly division of the United Provinces. The town is about 3 m. from the left bank of the Ganges. The population in 1901 was 17,583. There is a large trade in sugar. The American Methodists have a mission, which maintains some aided schools, and there is an English high school for boys.

The DISTRICT OF BIJNOR has an area of 1791 sq. m. The aspect of the country is generally a level plain, but the northern part of it rises towards the Himalayas, the greatest elevation being 1342 ft. above the sea-level. The Koh and Ramganga are the principal rivers that flow through the district, and the Ganges forms its western boundary. In 1901 the population was 779,451, showing a decrease of 2% in the decade. The country is watered in most parts by streams from the hills, but a series of small canals has been constructed. Sugar is largely exported. A line of the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway from Moradabad to Saharanpur runs through the district.

_History._--Of the early history of Bijnor even after it passed under Mahommedan rule little is known with any certainty. The district was ravaged by Timur in 1399, and thenceforward nothing is heard of it till the time of Akbar, when it formed part of the Delhi empire and so continued undisturbed, save for occasional raids, so long as the power of the Moguls survived intact. In the early part of the 18th century, however, the Rohilla Pathans established their independence in the country called by them Rohilkhand; and about 1748 the Rohilla chief Ali Mahommed made his first annexations in Bijnor, the rest of which soon fell under the Rohilla domination. The northern districts were granted by Ali Mahommed to Najib Khan, who gradually extended his influence west of the Ganges and at Delhi, receiving the title of Najib-ud-daula and becoming paymaster of the royal forces. His success, however, raised up powerful enemies against him, and at their instigation the Mahrattas invaded Bijnor. This was the beginning of a feud which continued for years. Najib, indeed, held his own, and for the part played by him in the victory of Panipat was made vizier of the empire. After his death in 1770, however, his son Zabita Khan was defeated by the Mahrattas, who overran all Rohilkhand. In 1772 the nawab of Oudh made a treaty with the Rohillas, covenanting to expel the Mahrattas in return for a money payment. He carried out his part of the bargain; but the Rohilla chieftains refused to pay. In 1774 the nawab concluded with the government of Calcutta a treaty of alliance, and he now called upon the British, in accordance with its terms, to supply a brigade to assist him in enforcing his claims against the Rohillas. This was done; the Rohillas were driven beyond the Ganges, and Bijnor was incorporated in the territories of the nawab, who in 1801 ceded it to the East India Company. From this time the history of Bijnor is uneventful, until the Mutiny of 1857, when (on the 1st of June) it was occupied by the nawab of Najibabad a grandson of Zabita Khan. In spite of fighting between the Hindus and the Mahommedan Pathans the nawab succeeded in maintaining his position until the 21st of April 1858, when he was defeated by the British at Nagina; whereupon British authority was restored.

BIKANIR, a native state of India, in the Rajputana agency with an area of 23,311 sq. m. The natural aspect of the country is one desolate tract, without a single permanently running stream. Its surface is overspread with undulating sand-hills of from 20 to 100 ft. above the average level, and so loose that men and quadrupeds stepping off the beaten track sink as if in snow. Two streams, the Katli and Ghaggar, attempt to flow through this dismal region, but are lost in its sands. Water is very scarce, and is raised from wells of from 250 to 340 ft. in depth. A few shallow salt lakes are filled by rain water, but they dry up on the setting in of the hot weather, leaving a thick crust of salt on their beds, which is used for commercial and domestic purposes. The inhabitants are very poor. They live chiefly by pasturage--rearing camels, of which their chief agricultural stock consists, and horses of a fine breed, which fetch good prices. From the wool which their sheep yield they manufacture every article of native dress and good blankets. The other industries are leather work, sugar-refining, goldsmith's work, ivory carving, iron, brass, copper, stone masonry, tanning, weaving, dyeing and carpentry. The principal towns are Bikanir, the capital, Churu, Rajgarh, Ratangarh and Reni. In 1901 the population was 584,627, showing a decrease of 30% due to the results of famine. The revenue is L141,000. The military force consists of 500 men, besides the Imperial Service Corps of the same strength. The schools include a high school affiliated to the university of Allahabad, a school for the sons of nobles, and a girls' school called after Lady Elgin. The railway from Jodhpur has been extended towards Bhatinda in the Punjab; on the northern border, the Ghaggar canal in the Punjab irrigates about 5000 acres. Drought is of common occurrence. The famine of 1899-1900 was severely felt. The city of Bikanir has a railway station. The city is surrounded by a stone wall, 6 ft. thick, 15 to 30 ft. high and 31/2 m. in circuit, with five gates and three sally-ports. The citadel is half a mile north-east of the city, and is surrounded by a rampart with bastions. The population in 1901 was 53,075. There are manufactures of fine blankets and sugar-candy.

_History._--In the 15th century the territory which now forms the state of Bikanir was occupied by Rajput clans, partly Jats, partly Mahommedans. About 1465 Bika, a Rathor Rajput, sixth son of Rao Jodha, chief of Marwar, started out to conquer the country. By taking advantage of the rivalries of the clans he succeeded; in 1485 he built the small fort at the capital which still bears his name, and in 1488 began the building of the city itself. He died in 1504, and his successors gradually extended their possessions. In the reign of Akbar the chiefs of Bikanir were esteemed among the most loyal adherents of the Delhi empire, and in 1570 Akbar married a daughter of Kalyan Singh. Kalyan's son, Rai Singh, who succeeded him in 1571, was one of Akbar's most distinguished generals and the first raja of Bikanir; his daughter married Selim, afterwards the emperor Jahangir. Two other distinguished chiefs of the house were Karan Singh (1631-1669), who in the struggle of the sons of Shah Jahan for the throne threw in his lot with Aurangzeb, and his eldest son, Anup Singh (1669-1698), who fought with distinction in the Deccan, was conspicuous in the capture of Golconda, and earned the title of maharaja. From this time forward the history of Bikanir was mainly that of the wars with Jodhpur, which raged intermittently throughout the 18th century. In 1802, during one of these wars, Elphinstone passed through Bikanir on his way to Kabul; and the maharaja, Surat Singh (1788-1828), applied to him for British protection, which was, however, refused. In 1815 Surat Singh's tyranny led to a general rising of his _thakurs_, and in 1816 the maharaja again applied for British protection. On the 9th of May 1818 a treaty was concluded, and order was restored in the country by British troops. Ratan Singh, who succeeded his father in 1828, applied in vain in 1830 to the British government for aid against a fresh outbreak of his _thakurs_; but during the next five years dacoity became so rife on the borders that the government raised a special force to deal with it (the Shakhawati Brigade), and of this for seven years Bikanir contributed part of the cost. Henceforth the relations of the maharajas with the British government were increasingly cordial. In 1842 Ratan Singh supplied camels for the Afghan expedition; in 1844 he reduced the dues on goods passing through his country, and he gave assistance in both Sikh campaigns. His son, Sardar Singh (1851-1872), was rewarded for help given during the Mutiny by an increase of territory. In 1868 a rising of the _thakurs_ against his extortions led to the despatch of a British political officer, by whom affairs were adjusted. Sardar Singh had no son, and on his death in 1872 his widow and principal ministers selected Dungar Singh as his successor, with the approval of the British government. The principal event of his reign was the rebellion of the _thakurs_ in 1883, owing to an attempt to increase the dues payable in lieu of military service; this led to the permanent location at Bikanir of a British political agent. Dungar Singh died in 1887 without a son, but he had adopted his brother, Ganga Singh (b. 1880), who succeeded as 21st chief of Bikanir with the approval of the government. He was educated at the Mayo College at Ajmere, and was invested with full powers in 1898. He attended King Edward's coronation in 1902, and accompanied the British army in person in the Chinese campaign of 1901 in command of the Bikanir Camel Corps, which also did good service in Somaliland in 1904. The state owes to this ruler the opening up of new railways across the great desert, which was formerly passable only by camels, and the tapping of the valuable coal deposits that occur in the territory. For his conspicuous services he was given the Kaisar-i-Hind medal of the first class, made an honorary major in the Indian army, a G.C.I.E., a K.C.S.I., and A.D.C. to the prince of Wales.

BILASPUR, a town and district of British India in the Chhattisgarh division of the Central Provinces. The town is situated on the right bank of the river Arpa. It is said to have been founded by a fisherwoman named Bilasa in the 17th century, and it still retains her name. The place, however, came into note only after 1741, the year of the Mahratta invasion (see below), when a Mahratta official took up his abode there and began to build a fort which was never completed. In 1862 it was made the headquarters of the district. The population in 1901 was 18,937. It is an important junction on the Bengal-Nagpur railway, where the two lines from the west meet on their way to Calcutta, 255 m. from Nagpur.

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Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Bible" to "Bisectrix"Chapter XIV: Part 14

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