We might farther conclude, that a nation, possessing a language so polished in so early a period, where we are altogether abandoned by the light of history, must be able to boast of a very ancient literature, and it is credible that those who remained in their native country, or more in its vicinity; for it is probable that what we call Sanskrit was spoken also in its primeval form by the ancient Persians and Medes; would think upon means to preserve in their purity the tenets of their religious and civil institutions; that they might deliver to their successors the venerated traditions of their ancestors, they would probably invent means of writing them down before their brethren who wandered abroad, could recover sufficient leisure for that purpose.
- Bopp (1820), Pag. 2