February, 1905.] Annual Address. 
and the Council desire to improve and probably enlarge these 
publications and add more illustrations, so as to suit the require- 
ments of the present day better. Lfforts are also being made to 
issue our publications promptly, and the Council hope that mem- 
bers will contribute papers the more readily in that the Journal 
will then supply them with a greater quantity of matter of varied 
interest. These modifications should tend to increase the sale of 
our publications in Hurope; and the Report mentions the change 
which has been made in the Society’s agency in London to secure 
a veadier, larger and more remunerative disposal. Our thanks are 
due to Mr. Macfarlane who arranged the new terms during his 
visit home on leave last year. 
Steady progress has been made in the publication of the Bib- 
liotheca Indica. My. Beveridge has finished his translation of the 
Akbarnama ; fresh work will be placed in his hands, and it is hoped 
arrangements may be made for additional works on the Persian and 
Arabic side, which has of late years rather given way to the Sans- 
kait side. This should be one of the first results. of the systematic 
search that (as I have mentioned) is being made for Persian and 
Arabic manuscripts. Among Sanskrit writings the Society should, 
I think, pay more attention to various old works in future, which 
represent rather the general or popular side of literature. Arch- 
zological discoveries in ancient countries have shewn that the 
accounts handed down from ancient times are not as fictitious 
as was imagined formerly, but contain much substantial truth. This 
should be found true in India also. With regard to the Puranas, 
for instance, recent researches have indicated that they are more 
ancient than was conjectured a generation ago. Professor Wilson 
estimated their age as lying between the eighth and thirteenth cen- 
turies approximately, but it now seems that all of them were com- 
posed earlier, most of them before the seventh century, and some 
at least in the earliest centuries of the Christian era. Similarly the 
Tantras appear to be more ancient than was imagined, and a study 
of them will throw much needed light on a very wide and obscure 
though important subject, namely, on various phases of the popu- 
lar forms of Hindu religion of modern times and of the present day. 
The Society might well turn part of its attention to these and 
other original compositions rather than towards editing commen- 
taries, which are admittedly of comparatively modern origin. 
Much attention has been given to the Society’s house, and 
various repairs and improvements have been carried out. Through 
the generosity of the Government of India the munificent sum of 
Rs. 10,000 was granted for the further improvement of this build- 
ing. Proposals ‘and estimates have been drawn up and are now 
under consideration, and when the Council has decided ‘how the 
fands at its disposal can be best utilized, the alterations will be 
undertaken and should be finished this year. 
The valuable pictures which the Society possesses, either as its 
own or as Trustee of the Home Bequest, required renovation. They 
25 
