Synopsis
This is an early account by one of the first adventurers to enter the remote mountains of what is now Northern Pakistan and India and live to tell about it. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner or G. W. Leitner for short undertook adventures and collected data about the people living there, walking as much as 35 miles per day and taking notes in the evenings. He wrote several books about this which unfortunately were printed in limited editions in Lahore and few survive. The book presented here is the first known reprint of any of Leitner's works. In many cases, Leitner created his own names for these languages and places. The name of Dardistan was coined by Leitner himself although it is based on the word Dard found in the works of the famous Greek historian Herodotus. The Language he calls Arnyia is the language known today as Khowar or Chitrali, the language spoken in Chitral and in parts of Gilgit including Yasin, Ishkoman and Gupis. Another Language he studies is Kalasha. This is a bit problematic because according to the researchers there are several Kalasha Languages. The best known is the language spoken in the Kalash Valleys of Bumboret, Birir and Rumbur in Chitral, Pakistan. These books seem to be the original source material for several other books including Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh by John Biddulph ISBN 4871875253. If you look and compare you will see the same words and phrases. I believe that Leitner was the original author. Others copied from him.
About the Author
Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner was born in Pest, Hungary, on 14 October 1840. As a linguist, he is said to have had acquaintance with some fifty languages, many of which he spoke fluently. In 1864, he became Principal of Government College University of Lahore (then British India, present day Pakistan). He was instrumental in the foundation of the University of the Punjab. He founded many schools, literary associations, public libraries and academic journals, while at the same time dedicating himself to the study of the cultures of the Indian subcontinent. During this period, he wrote a scholarly and comprehensive book in Urdu, History of Islam, in two volumes, with the help of an Urdu Muslim scholar, Maulvi Karim-ud-Din, who was at that time District Inspector of Schools in Amritsar, Punjab. These two volumes were later published in 1871 and 1876. In the 1870s, he undertook work for the Austrian, Prussian, and British Governments. His ambition was to found a center for the study in Europe of Oriental languages, culture and history. On his return to England in 1881, he sought a suitable site for his proposed institution and in 1883 came upon the vacant Royal Dramatic College in Woking. For the benefit of Muslim students, Leitner commissioned the construction of a mosque. The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in 1889 as one of the first mosques in Western Europe and the first purpose-built one in Britain. It survives to this day. W. G. Leitner died in London on 22 March 1899.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
