ebooks The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem (Classic Reprint) by Dearborn Independent in History

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Excerpt from Catalogue of Bengali Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum Lastly; we come to the consideration of the forms under which names of Bengali authors should be catalogued. There is a tendency amongst English-speaking Bengalis to attempt to assimilate their names to the English system of Christian and surname; as for example; P. C. Sircar (peary Churn Sircar); S. C. Bose (shib Chunder Bose); K. M. Banerjea. In these cases it will be seen that there is no real analogy between the structure of Bengali and English names. In the last-mentioned name; for instance; the word Banerj ea; or its correct Sanskrit form Vandyopiidhyeya; is no surname at all; but a caste-title for one of the four classes of Ra'rhi Kulin Brahmans; and as such is common to every member of that class; totally independent of any actual kinship. Whether it may be convenient or not for English-speaking Ben galis to adopt such caste-titles as surnames; is a question quite distinct from the expediencies of cataloguing. It is impossible to make use of them as surnames; for the natives themselves do not regard them in such a light; as is abundantly clear from the fact that they frequently drop the caste-title altogether; and substitute either the word Sarmz'i if a Brahman; Varma'i if a Kshatriya; or one or more degree titles; such as Vidyz'isa'gara; N yfiyalaukz'ira; Kaviratna; Bhatta'icharya; and the like; or occasionally add them to the caste-titles. Thus we find a grammar written by Prasannachandra Chakravarti; who in a later edition appears as Prasannachandra Vidyaratna. If in the first instance he were to be catalogued as P. C. Chakravarti; or Chuckerbutty; he should in the later edition be called P. C. Vidyaratna. Similarly we have another author under the different forms of Chandrakumiira Sarmfi; Chandrakumara Bhattzichiirya; and Chandrakumara Kaviratna. In the case of some authors; as Lake inara'yana N ya'yalankzira; the translator of the Hitopadesa; and the well-known Sanskrit scholar and author Isvarachandra Vidya'isfigara; the caste title has entirely disappeared; and this appears to be the rule generally when a degree-title is obtained.l A Bengali's real name; his nomen proprium; is that which comes first; and stands before the caste or degree-titles; and in most cases does not consist of two distinct names; as in the case of English Christian names; but of one compound name; generally denoting an epithet or attribute of one or other of the Hindu deities; and formed by the rules of Sanskrit samiisa. In the illustration noticed above the initial letters K. M. Stand for the tat-purusna compound Krishna mohana; i.e. Krishna-pleasin g; though all parts of India the consciousness of this grammatical fact seems to be generally lost. It follows then; that for cataloguing purposes; where a definite system is indispensable; the imitation of a Christian and surname; though it might; on grounds of expediency alone; be attempted in the case of some English-speaking authors; would be found quite impracticable when applied to native authors generally; and as in point of fact in these cases Christian names do not exist; the only clear mode of cataloguing is to take their names as they occur; and to transcribe them according to the system of transliteration fixed upon. It is interesting to notice that Bengalis themselves recognize the propriety of this system; and are generally adopting it in their title-pages. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com"