Note 40 — P (Continued)

Pandito.—Pandit or Pundit (pandita, a learned man) has been defined40 as “properly a man learned in Sanskrit lore. The Pundit of the Supreme Court was a Hindu law-officer, whose duty it was to advise the English Judges when needful on questions of Hindu law. The office became extinct on the constitution of the High Court (in 1862). In the Mahratta and Telugu countries, the word Pandit is usually pronounced Pant (in English colloquial Punt).” In the countries noted, Pant occurs widely as a title of Brāhmans, who are also referred to as Pantulu vāru. The titles Sanskrit Pundit, Telugu Pundit, etc., are still officially recognised at several colleges in the Madras Presidency. Pandit sometimes occurs as an honorific prefix, e.g., Pandit S. M. Natesa Sastri, and Panditan is a name given to Tamil barbers (Ambattan). In some parts of the Tamil country, Panditar is used as a name for Mādhva Brāhmans, because, it is said, many of them were formerly engaged as pandits at the Law Courts.