xxviii Annual Report. [February, 1910. 



has been pleased to grant a sum of rupees five thousand a year 

 during the quinquennial period. 



During the absence of Dr. Ross from India (February- 

 August) Mr. G. H. Tipper, M.A., F.G.S. r was in charge of 

 the work, and under his supervision a general list of the 

 manuscripts, on the system of the previous catalogue printed 

 under the supervision of Dr. Ross, was prepared. 



On the return of Dr. Ross, travelling Maulavis were sent 



in different parts of India such as Benares, Delhi, Lucknow, 



Lahore and Hyderabad; and some valuable additions have 



been made to the collection. Special attention was paid to 



gathering information about private libraries. In Hyderabad 



the libraries of Nawab Sirtaj Jung, A.D.C. to H.H. the Nizam, 



and of Mulla Abdul Qayyum, deceased, were visited by Maulavi 



Hafiz Nazir Ahmad. The former contains 677 manuscripts and 



2,957 printed books, out of which about 120 manuscripts are 



old and in good condition; among the latter are some rare 



and valuable MSS., particularly the Aurang-namah is of special 



interest. It is a history (in Persian Poetry) of Shah Jahan, 



and of the civil wars among his sons till the accession of 



Aurang Shah better known in history as Aurangzib. It 



was composed in 1072 A.H. and seems to be the autograph 



copy containing some 7,800 and odd verses : the author appears 

 to be one HaqirL 



The authorities at the request of Dr. Ross kindly per- 

 mitted a transcription from the original to be made for the 

 Society. 



During the year under review, 164 manuscripts were 



purchased for the total sum of Rs. 3,434, and the collection 



is representative of almost every branch of literature and 

 science. 



Of the recent acquisition the following manuscripts are 

 of interest : 



1. At-Tahdib-fit-Tafsir, a very old copy, dated A.H. 674, 

 comprising the commentary on the latter half of the eighth 

 chapter to the first half of the eleventh chapter of the Quran, 

 by Abu Sa'ad Muhsin bin Karamat-al-Jashami-al-Baihaqi, who 

 flourished in the fifth century of the Muhammadan era. 



2. Bahrul Madahib, a rare and valuable work on theology, 

 by an Indian author 'Abdul Wahhab al-Qudwa'i al-Qannauji, 

 better known as Mun'im Khan, composed in A.H. 1125, and 

 dedicated to the king Farrukh Siyar (1124-1131). 



3. Tuhfatul-Masiha, an autograph copy of a very useful 

 medical work in Persian, dealing with the properties of simple 

 and compound medicine; ingredients and their chemical 

 solutions; diseases and therapeutics; prescriptions and des- 

 criptions of herbs with their medicinal properties, with some 

 very useful prescriptions and specifics due to the author's 



