The Hitopadesha in the Hindi Braj Bhasha dialect

A translation into the Braj Bhasha dialect of Hindi of Raja Niti, a version of the Hitopadesha, a series of fables. The translation was undertaken for John Gilchrist by Lallūjī Lāl Kavi and the scribe was Siva Prasanna Diivedi. it is dated to V.S. 1858/ Sāka 1825 which equates to 1802-3. The work was made for John Gilchrist when he was principal of Fort William College, Kolkata.

Pasted inside the front cover is a handwritten explanation of the Hitopadesha taken from 'Colebrooke's Preface to the "Hitopadesa" in the original Sanscrit'. The last front paper bears an English description of the work, the signature of John Romer, dated 1804, the Royal Asiatic Society stamp, and that the work was presented to the Society by John Romer. Also within the volume is a more modern label giving identification details and where it is noted as being a very early edition of the work.

Please note that the boards and some pages are loose from the binding and the book spine is no longer present. The boards are covered in red leather.

Lallūjī Lāl Kavi was active at Fort William College and it is presumed that Siva Prasanna Diivedi was also associated with the College. John Gilchrist, a Scottish surgeon, linguist, philologist and Indologist, was the College's first principal from 1800-1804.

John Romer was born in 1780 at Ancroft, County Durham, England. Romer held the office of Magistrate of Surat in 1816 and was Acting Governor of Bombay in 1831.He was vice-president of the British Empire Life Assurance Company Ltd in 1839. He wrote articles on Persian and Zand in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay and the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

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The volume was acquired as part of a large donation given to the Society by John Romer on 18 November 1848.

The material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022.

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The work was commissioned by John Gilchrist but came into the possession of John Romer.

John Romer donated manuscripts and books to the Society on 1 April 1837 and 18 November 1848. Details of those still in the collections can be found here.

The Donations Register Nov 1843 to Dec 1857 ( RAS COLL3/3/1 ) records the donation of this volume on p.115. The guard book, available in the Reading Room, gives details of this volume on pp.66 & 88.