§ 52. The powers transferred might differ in different provinces according to the local conditions of each. Bombay, presumably, would usually be ripe for a larger extension of self-government than the Central Provinces. The principle is perfectly elastic and in more than one direction. To begin with it would be quite possible to reserve primitive areas to the control of the old governments. In the United Provinces, for instance, the mountain districts of the north and Bandelkhand could be reserved until the elective council and their ministers had found their feet and proved their competence. Nor should it be assumed that the existing provinces are of a size suitable to self-government. Their limits have been defined in response to the accidents of history and the needs of an autocratic régime. They are, in fact, designed as satrapies, and three of them contain populations of over 40,000,000. They are larger than Prussia, Austria, Hungary, France, or Italy. Bengal equals, and the United Provinces exceeds, the population of the British Isles. New York, the most populous state of the great American Republic, contains less than 10,000,000 and the average population of the states is under 500,000. The size of the areas and populations assigned to elective provincial governments may well determine the failure or success of the earliest ventures in self-government. The map of India, as at present designed, is suitable only to a great dependency governed from England. If India is to become the home of one nation, whose peoples are masters of their house, and also of all the rooms of that great edifice, the whole map of India must be reconsidered in the light of that conception. But the problem is so large that it must form the subject of a separate study.1

§ 53. We may now return to the list of functions which might be assigned at the outset to elective councils and ministers. Even the minimum list of functions as outlined above would justify and require at least three portfolios. Vernacular education would have to rest in the hands of one minister, finance in those of another, while the control of local bodies in respect of hospitals, dispensaries, roads, &c., and the buildings required by the new authority would have to rest with a third.

1 A commissioner notes: The regrouping of territory contemplated had much better be postponed till a very much fuller measure of responsible government is given than is likely to be conceded at the commencement.'

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APPENDIX

With reference to the controversy dealt with in § 33, a senior officer of great linguistic attainments writes: 'You have been somewhat misled about the language question. To begin with the word Hindi is used in two very different senses. As you use it in the opening of § 33 it corresponds to romance in relation to the languages of south-west Europe, while in the middle of the paragraph it means a definite language. I would suggest something like the following: Whether literary Sanskrit was ever a spoken language has been doubted by some students who regard it (as indeed its name='polished' implies) as an artificial product for literary purposes. It is at all events certain that a number of variations known as Prakrits were used in northern India before and after the Christian era. One of these Prakrits in turn was adopted for literary purposes, but in the mouths of the people changes continued. When the Muhammadans began to invade India from the north the modern vernaculars were beginning to assume definite form. The term Hindi is sometimes used in a generic way to include all the tongues spoken in the southern Punjab, the United Provinces, Bihar, a large part of the Central Provinces, Central India, and Rajputana. These differ, however, as much as the languages of southern Europe. Up to the end of the eighteenth century the vernaculars were hardly used in literature except in poetry of which a considerable amount exists, including works of high literary value. There is not a single book of prose worth note in any of the group before that date. Muhammadans used Persian or Arabic for prose, and Hindus Sanskrit. The latest scientific classification (Sir George Grierson in the Linguistic Survey of India) recognizes four languages in the United Provinces-Central Pahari in the hills, and Western Hindi, Eastern Hindi, and Bihari in the plains, each with a long history which can be traced. It used to be thought that Hindostani was a mongrel speech made up in the bazars of Delhi by the Muhammadan invaders and the Indians with whom they. came in contact. Inquiry has shown that this was a mistake. The grammatical basis of Hindostani is the dialect of Western Hindi spoken in the tract of country lying between Delhi and Bareilly. It was adopted by the Muhammadans and carried far and wide through India. No other dialect of the Hindi group has travelled far from its place of origin. Hindostani has been used for poetry by the Muhammadans for several hundred years, though the construction of words does not lend itself to the metres used by Hindus. Its use for prose was due to the English professors in the college at Fort William who required text-books. Once started (early in the nineteenth century) the literature has grown rapidly. Up to 1839 Persian was the court language in the province of Agra and Hindostani was then substituted for it. A rural population needs a very small number of vocables, and Hindostani was enriched

freely by borrowing from Persian and consequently from Arabic, as Persian can adopt almost any Arabic word unchanged. Simultaneously with the introduction of Hindostani the professors invented what should strictly be termed High Hindi. Of this Sir George Grierson says: "It was intended to be a Hindostani for the use of Hindus, and was derived from Urdu [a term meaning camp] by ejecting all words of Persian or Arabic birth and substituting for them words either borrowed from Sanskrit (talsamas) or derived from the old primary Prakrit (tadbhavas)." High Hindi also became popular, and is now used as the recognized vehicle for prose by people in northern India who do not write Urdu. The important point to notice is that both Hindostani and High Hindi have exactly the same accidence and almost the same syntax. Grammatically they differ only in a few minor points as Hindostani has adopted a few Persian constructions which do not affect the meaning. These two varieties of language have, however, drifted widely apart in vocabulary. Many writers of Hindostani, both Hindus and Muhammadans, especially in the first five or six decades of its use, overloaded it with Persian and Arabic words. The writers of High Hindi, on the other hand, have shown a tendency to go farther even than stated above. Not only do they substitute Sanskrit for Persian or Arabic words (some of which have been used even in Hindi poetry centuries ago), but they also change a modified Prakrit word into its Sanskrit form, as a French pedant might discard the word "royal" in favour of "régal ". The result is that an undergraduate who knows no Sanskrit and has not studied High Hindi cannot read with ease a book intended for a boy of twelve or thirteen. One who has done his school course in High Hindi finds some difficulty in reading or understanding Hindostani of any polish, though not nearly so much as in the reverse case, because Hindostani is the ordinary medium of conversation, while High Hindi is only used orally between pandits, or pedants, or in set speeches. I have heard a Hindu giving a popular lecture on the progress of mathematical students start out in High Hindi, and unconsciously relapse into ordinary Hindostani within five minutes.

A further complication is that Hindostani is generally written in the Persian character, while High Hindi is invariably written in Devanagari. There is thus a conflict of character as well as a conflict in the choice of vocabulary.

The religion and philosophy of Hindus and Muhammadans differ as completely as it is possible to imagine. As already noted even their metrical systems are not the same. Technical expressions in religion, philosophy, and literature are naturally borrowed from the appropriate classical language. As the court language up to 1839 was Persian, law terms are nearly all Persian and Arabic (in contrast to Bengali, which has adopted Sanskrit). Political terms of similar origin are generally understood. In 1909 I was deputed to the head-quarters of each division to explain the details of Lord

Morley's scheme to prominent non-official gentlemen and to gather their opinions. So many men were unable to understand English that all our discussions were in vernacular and no difficulty was experienced in comprehension. Sir James Meston's durbar addresses, though possessing a high literary flavour with a Persian bias, have always been perfectly understood. So far as science is concerned the position varies. In mathematics separate vocabularies are used. There have been attempts to build up separate vocabularies for new studies, but I expect adaptations from English of such words as oxygen will be made. Hindi poetry is almost universally in a dialect or language differing from High Hindi in accidence. A European or a Muhammadan who knows Hindostani can read the most pedantic prose High Hindi with the aid of a dictionary. He cannot read poetry without learning a new conjugation of the verb and new forms of declining nouns and pronouns.

The important points are:

(a) The two current forms of prose literature owe their origin to European influence.

(b) They are almost identical in grammar.

(c) The grammar is that of the speech of people between Delhi and Bareilly.

(d) The vocabulary differs according to taste, but necessarily in dealing with certain subjects.

(e) Racial prejudice has been imported into character as well as vocabulary.

(f) Hindostani can be used for either prose or verse (Persian metres).

(g) Hindi verse is generally in a dialect grammatically different from that of prose.

(h) There is a modern tendency, especially among Uhdans, to simplify their vocabulary.

'I believe that in time good sense will arrive at a satisfactory compromise including the roman characters.'

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VII

A JOINT ADDRESS

FROM EUROPEANS AND INDIANS TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE VICEROY AND GOVERNORGENERAL AND THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (November 1917).

§ 1. THE following is a record of meetings, held at Darjeeling and Calcutta, to discuss the position created by the pronouncement of August 20 on Indian Policy, by the Imperial Government :

The policy of His Majesty's Government, with which the Government of India are in complete accord, is that of increasing the association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India, as an integral part of the British Empire. They have decided that substantial steps in this direction should be taken as soon as possible, and that it is of the highest importance, as a preliminary to considering what these steps should be, that there should be a free and informal exchange of opinion between those in authority at Home and in India. His Majesty's Government have accordingly decided, with His Majesty's approval, that I should accept the Viceroy's invitation to proceed to India to discuss these matters with the Viceroy and the Government of India, to consider with the Viceroy the views of Local Governments, and to receive the suggestions of representative bodies and others. I would add that progress in this policy can only be achieved by successive stages. The British Government and the Government of India, on whom the responsibility lies for the welfare and advancement of the Indian peoples, must be judges of the time and measure of each advance, and they must be guided by the co-operation received from those upon whom new opportunities of service will thus be conferred and by the extent to which it is found that confidence can be reposed in their sense of responsibility. Ample opportunity will be afforded for the public discussion of the proposals, which will be submitted in due course to Parliament."