Before Translation?

This chapter addresses the question of the existence of a tradition of translation into Hindi prior to the adoption of the term anuvad to mean translation (circa 1870). To this end it examines definitions of the concept 'language' and their relation to the Indic terms bhasa, samskrta and prakrta and explores how the term 'Hindi language' may be understood. The chapter then discusses the history of Hindi medical literature since the late sixteenth century, providing an example of early forms of translation. Finally, developments from the late eighteenth century onwards which led to the adoption of the term anuvad to mean translation in Hindi are analyzed. The chapter concludes that the question of the existence of a tradition of translation into Hindi before 1800 needs to be re-examined, especially in light of medical works, previously available only in Sanskrit or Persian, that were rendered comprehensible to new Hindi Bhasa speaking publics from the sixteenth century onwards.