== *158* ==
[Urdu 1859] [4.0] CAUSE IV -- NEGLECT IN MATTERS WHICH SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED CONSIDERATION
FROM GOVERNMENT
[4.1]
[4.1x] Neglect in matters which should
have received consideration of Government.
== *159* ==
In the Urdu text, this section and [4.2] are run together, with no independent heading for [4.2]. Since this first part does seem introductory, and the discussion is launched in more detail in the later part, I've retained the section divisions from the 1873 translations.
The translation says 'many of the ruling race'-- where the Urdu simply says 'some rulers' [ba((.z hukkaam]. The vocabulary of 'race'-- and of course the constant rendering of Sir Sayyid's multivalent word 'community' [qaum] as 'nation'-- are entirely characteristic of English translations of his work. You can find other examples in his anti-Congress speech of 1887, which I retranslate literally on this website; see the Sir Sayyid index page for the link.
== *160* ==
[4.2] [4.2x]
Want of cordiality towards the Indians.
As noted above, this section heading is absent in the Urdu text; in Urdu there instead several sub-headings identifying the New Testament texts that are invoked. Not all the texts themselves are given in the Urdu, so for clarity I've left them in as they appear-- in the King James version-- in the 1873 translation.
Here it's hard to say what 'qaum' represents, since it's named as part of a set that also includes 'religion' [ma;zhab] and 'homeland' [va:tan]. This is an unusually clear example of the flexibility and/or ambiguity of the germ. The 1873 translation offers the set 'religion, race, or country', so 'qaum' would have to end up being equated with 'race'.
The 1873 translation identifies 'Abri' as the name of a special stone, but according to Platts it can also just mean 'mottled' or 'variegated'.
== *161* == *162*
== *163* == *164*
==
[4.3 ] ]4.3x]
In ancient times, as long as cordiality was not observed by the reigning powers,
tranquillity was not established.
As often happens, the break between sections seems to occur at a slightly different place in the Urdu and the translation of 1873. But since the latter is pretty free anyway, it doesn't seem usually to make much difference. Here, however, notice that the passage at the end of the previous section in the Urdu, which applies harshly to the British, has been moved in the translation of 1873 to the beginning of the present section and made to apply to the previous Muslim rulers of India, as part of an inquiry about their behavior, so that it no longer remains a strong criticism of British rule.
== *165* ==
[4.4] [4.4x]
Treating the Indians with contempt.
Sir Sayyid offers a nice little example of wordplay: begaanah yagaanah hotaa hai .
Notice the complex picture of comparative social class at the end of the passage-- an Indian gentleman is considered even more lowly compared to a 'petty' (literally 'small') European, than that same petty European is when compared to a great (literally 'big') duke [;Dyuuk]. Sir Sayyid is clearly eager to win for upper-class male Indians a higher status within this hierarchy; he shows no desire whatsoever to challenge the hierarchy itself. It is shocking to him that 'it is thought'-- he doesn't quite say by whom, but obviously by some or most Englishmen in India-- that no Hindustani is a 'gentleman' [jan;Talmen]. xx
== *166* == *167*
==
[4.5] [4.5x]
The ill-temper and uncourtly address of local authorities towards the natives.
The first Bible verse is referred to in the Urdu text, but isn't quoted. Peter 4:4, however, is also quoted. There are subheadings in the Urdu text that identify the various New Testament passages being invoked. Most are quoted in the Urdu; for clarity, I've retained the King James versions from the 1873 translation.
I don't see why it's tarsaa;N nah thaa . It seems that the nah doesn't belong there. Maybe either Sir Sayyid or some katib was subconsciously thinking of a negative rhetorical question ('were they not afraid?').
== *168* == *169*
== *170* ==
[4.6] [4.6x]
This ill treatment more repugnant to the feelings of the Mahommadans, and its
causes.
== *171* == *172*
==
[4.7] [4.7x]
Exclusion of natives from promotion to high appointments. Lord Bentinck's system
of employing natives in high grades of service an inadequate one.
The issue of competitive examinations for Government positions is a vexed one, and here Sir Sayyid takes a much more moderate position than he did later on in his anti-Congress speeches. But most remarkable is the fact that the 1873 translation contains a concluding set of three questions that compare meritocratic with aristocratic values in England itself:
Now is the passing [[of]] an examination a sine qua non in England? Are the best English statesmen invariably those who have passed high examinations? Are high diplomatic posts not often given to them on account of their birth and practical common sense, and sometimes even without the latter qualification?
These are not present at all in our Urdu text, though they sound like arguments Sir Sayyid might have used. Nor are they present in the Urdu text edited by Salim ud-Din Quraishi. This is the most conspicuous example I've yet seen of what looks to be an actual textual deviation of some kind. Did the translators have before them a slightly longer Urdu text? Or were they somehow concerned to press home the argument for reasons of their own? Perhaps some researcher of the future will look into such questions.
== *173* ==
[4.8] [4.8x]
The not holding of Durbars by the Governor General of India and not conferring
rank and honour due to merit according to the usage of former emperors.
There's a difference in the placement of the section title [4.9] between the Urdu and the 1873 translation. Although the Urdu placement makes more sense, the Urdu also contains some repetitive phraseology. It's a small point either way. Anyway, I've retained the arrangement of the translation, both for clarity and because the Urdu placement makes [4.8] excessively short and [4.9] even longer than it already is.
Here vilaayat is apparently used to mean England alone, not Europe in general.xx
== *174* ==
[4.9] [4.9x]
The observation of these rules by Lords Auckland and Ellenborough a very proper
one.
== *175* == *176*
== *177* ==
[4.10] [4.10x]
The facts of the rebellion in India appeared more serious to the authorities
than they in reality were; their causes.
The inscrutable-looking 'fifth kind' of rebellion appears to refer to hardcore rebels, unlike those mentioned earlier in this section whose 'rebellion' was of a mitigated or halfhearted kind. These earlier rebels aren't explicitly presented as four types, but with a bit of effort they could probably be so arranged. I imagine this is what Sir Sayyid wants us to conclude. For once, the 1873 translation follows him literally without attempting any interpretation.
Sir Sayyid simply says the Government will know 'who', with a plural verb, did the most loyal service. The translation of 1873 dubs in "what race it was and what men," which is really a distortion. If anything, Sir Sayyid means to speak of religions, not races; and surely he's not so crass as to blow his own individual horn in such a way.
== *178* == *179*
== *180* == *181*
== *182* ==
[4.11] [4.11x]
The promulgation of Her Majesty's Proclamation highly commendable, indeed may
be said to have originated under divine inspiration.
The last sentence is a bit oawkward. The verb rah jaate apparently means that they would remain apart from the submissive group behavior described previously, or else that they would would be left over at the end of the discussion. Only on this reading does the rest of the sentence follow, though even then it doesn't follow all that coherently. And the Urdu has .zaruur where it surely means .zaruurii .
== *183* ==
-- Sir Sayyid index page -- *Platts Dictionary Online* -- Glossary -- FWP's main page --
