18 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S.. XV, 
dealing with, not of the sources from which they were deriving 
their information. In this sense it may be said that the sub- 
ject is still new, for although we know a considerable portion 
of the contents of the chronicles of Rajputana, we do not know 
exactly on which lines these chronicles are composed, nor do we 
know anything about the origins, the growth, and the historical 
value of this interesting literature, which has been so far only 
vaguely and gropingly referred to as the ‘‘ Bardic Chronicles.” 
The term “ Bardic Chronicles ”’ itself is vague and inaccu- 
rate. It was first introduced by Col. Tod, and not without 
reason, for Col. Tod relied for his information chiefly on histori- 
cal poems, such as the Khumana Raso, the Stiraja Prakasa, 
etc., and these historical poems, which he considered not in the 
light of literary works but merely in the light of historical 
sources, could from his particular point of view be described as 
** Bardic Chronicles.’’ The real chronicles apparently remained 
chronicles in prose, which in the best examples leave nothing 
to desire in respect to accuracy, soberness, and even impartiality. 
The existence of such chronicles has been unknown to this day, 
and therefore the pleasant task of introducing them to the 
world is to me a matter of special satisfaction. 
In my “ Descriptive Catalogue ’’ I have divided the bardic 
and historical literature of Rajputana into two great sections : 
(a) Bardic Poetry, and (5) Prose Chronicles. The historical 
within the former section. It is, almost exclusively, the pro- 
. and romances, ete. A peculiar feature of the works under this 
section, as contrasted with the bardic works, is that, with a 
