1S73.] H. Blochmann — Cunningham's Bengal Inscriptions. 17 



IV. 



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 ^•^-O^^t- c5 A *i^!*°l er*t(^ is* 1 ^' * J^H v^- L'*' 'H^ (^Jj&>^ ^ bj 



t£?' ** I A fl 1 **""' L5^' I r 11* <5 " UJO 



Mr. Growse says : — ' This inscription is in Hindustani, and is worked into 

 the cornice of the central hall of a very elegant and elaborate building, erected 

 by public subscription at the suggestion of Mr. Mark Thornhill, Collector of 

 the district in 1856. It was intended as a rest-house for native gentlemen of 

 rank, but has never yet been used for any purpose whatever. Indeed, though 

 a good specimen of stone-carving, an art for which Mathura is famous, it is 

 too delicate a work to be converted to any practical use except as a local 

 Museum.' The metre of the Inscription is Long Hazaj. The second line is 

 not clear. 



The following papers were read — 

 1. — General Cunningham 's Bengal Inscriptions (Muhammad an Period). — 

 By H. Blochmann, M. A., Calcutta Madrasah. 

 (Abstract.) 



General Cunningham has sent to the Society a large number of Sans- 

 krit and Muhammadan inscriptions for publication. The former have been 

 taken charge of by Babus Pratapachandra Ghosh and Gaur Das Baisakh, 

 the latter I have myself taken in hand. The Sanskrit inscriptions, 29 in 

 number, are mostly from Bihar. A few of them have been deciphered. 

 The Muhammadan inscriptions consist of 39 rubbings from Dihli, Ajmir, 

 Badaon, Bianah, Irich, Kanauj, and other places in the North- West ; and 

 of 65 from various places in Bengal and Bihar. 



It is my intention to give the members of the Society an account of 

 the use which I have made of this splendid collection ; and I shall give this 

 evening a short resume of the important contributions to our knowledge of 

 Bengal history, which my readings have yielded. The Society owes a debt 

 of gratitude to General Cunningham for the disinterested readiness with 

 which he has placed a truly unique collection of rubbings at our disposal for 

 publication in the Journal. 



I have often drawn the attention of the members to the un- 

 satisfactory state of our knowledge of the Muhammadan Period of 

 Bengal History. Though there can be no doubt that the courts of the 

 independent kings of Bengal attracted writers of distinction, not a single 

 3 



