Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c10.43

c10.43

² Cf. also *bandah* (slave) = Bengali *bāndā*, *khajānah* (revenue) = Bengali *khājānā*, etc. Just as the word orginally spelt and pronounced in Bengali as *khājānā* has now been modified to *khājnā* (with the elision of the central *ā*), the earlier Bengali spelling and pronunciation of the name *Bāngālā* have now given way to the modified form *Bānglā* (sometimes softened into *Bāṅlā*). That, during Muslim rule, the Bengalis adopted the Muslim pronunciation of the name of their country is probably indicated by the fact that today Bengalis of any education speak, in their common speech, usually of the English *India*, *Bengal* and *Calcutta* in preference respectively to the names *Bhāratavarṣa*, *Bāngālā* (or *Bānglā* or *Bāṅlā*) and *Kalikātā*. Cf. also the popularity of the Anglicised surnames Banerji, Mukherji, etc. The introduction of a large number of Persian and Arabic words in the vocabulary during Muslim rule has further to be compared with the later adoption of numerous English words during the British period.