Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c21.16

c21.16

As regards the passage in the *Tūzak-i-Jahāngīrī*, on which Mr. Beveridge relies, I now notice that it is capable of a different interpretation. The word “ummi” in the text has been taken to mean “unable to read or write,” but the *Muḥīṭu’l-Muḥīṭ* (vol. i. p. 40) includes among the meanings of the said word that of “taciturn” (al-qalīlu’l-kalām), and this meaning will be quite in accord with the context of the aforesaid passage. The passage thus interpreted would run as follows:—