1875.] Babu Rajendralal — Report on Sanskrit MSS. G3 



2. Note on the Alti Hills, Cuttaclc. — By J. Beames, Esq., C. S. 

 Babu Rajenclralala Mitra then read tbe following report on the Re- 

 searches carried on by hiixi. for collecting information regarding Sanskrit 

 MSS. in native Libraries. 



From Bdbio R'ajendrala'la Mitra, 

 To Captain J. Waterhotjse, B. S. C, 



Secretary totlie Asiatic Society of Bengal. 

 Dated Manihtollah, Calcutta, 15th February, 1875. 

 Sir, — I bave tbe bonor to submit tbe following report on tbe operations 

 carried on by me to tbe close of 1874 for collecting information regarding 

 Sanskrit manuscripts in native libraries. 



Objects of the enquiry. — 2. Under tbe orders of Government my 

 attention has been steadily directed — 1st, to enquire and collect information 

 regarding rare and valuable manuscripts ; 2nd, to compile lists tbereof ; 

 3rd, to print all procurable unprinted lists of such codices with brief notices 

 of their contents ; 4th, to purchase, or secure copies of, such of them as are 

 rare or otherwise desirable. 



Enquiry for MSS. Places visited. — 3. The work under the first 

 bead has been mainly conducted by a Pandit who has been deputed to tbe 

 Mufassil to visit the different private Toles, or Sanskrit colleges, and private 

 gentlemen who are reputed to possess collections of Sanskrit MSS., and I 

 have been out on several occasions to help him. I have also been to 

 Benares on three occasions to enquire for and purchase MSS. The places 

 visited by the Pandit include the districts of Dacca, Nuddia, Burdwan, 

 Hoogly, and 24-Purgunnahs. The large collections of Raja Jotindra- 

 mohan Tagore, of the late Sir Baja Radhakanta Deb, of the late Babu 

 Ramcomal Sen, of the late Raja Pitambar Mitra, of Babu Subaldasa Mallik, 

 and of others in Calcutta have also been examined. In Dacca Pandits are 

 the only owners of MSS., no private gentleman- having anything like a large 

 collection, and the few works they have, being mostly such as have already 

 been printed. In Nuddia the library of the Raja of Krishnanagar contains 

 tbe largest number of Tantras, but at tbe time when my Pandit visited it, 

 the MSS. were kept in a very neglected state, and most of them were found 

 to be defective. In Burdwan there are not many Toles, but B.ibu Hitalala 

 Misra of Manakara has a veiy choice collection of works, including a great 

 number of very rare treatises on the Vedanta. In- Hoogly, the Serampore 

 College has a small but valuable collection of MSS. procured principally 

 by tbe late Dr. Carey, and there are also a few Toles owning MSS. In the 

 24-Purgunnahs, several zemindars have good collections of the Tantras and 

 the Puranas, and the numerous Toles on the left bank of the river Hoogly 

 and at Harinabhi and elsewhere contain many old and rare works of which 

 very little is known to European Orientalists. There are no Maths (monas- 



