18 Annual Beport. [FeB. 



Mr. Gait ; it has proved successful and a number of interesting notes 

 were received from various quarters. 



Among the papers published we may mention one on the Gayd 

 Croddha and Gaydwals, by Mr. L. S. S. O'Malley. The Gaya 9^^addha 

 is a special form of orthodox Hinduism practiced in Gaya by a priestly 

 caste, whose origin it is difficult to trace, called the Gayawals. These 

 priests though almost entirely illiterate claim a very high position 

 among Brahmanas and are treated with great respect and reverence. 

 Their numbers are rapidly dwindling, and to-day there remain less than 

 300 pure Gayawals. Another paper was contributed by the Rev. F. 

 Hahn on the Religious Superstitions of the Oraos, which contains 

 curious details of spirit worship and exorcism. 



Mr. D. Sunder, Commissioner in the Sundarbans, published a paper 

 on the charms and exorcism which are considered efficacious in that 

 district for the dispersion and destruction of noxious animals. The 

 wood-cutters who frequent the Sundarbans forests between the month 

 of October and May never proceed to the jungle, we are told, without 

 their faqir, who is supposed to possess the power to drive away the 

 tigers. Mr. Sunder gives a translation of the various incantations 

 employed by these faqirs. 



Among the contributors of Notes to the Supplement were Major 

 P. R. T. Gurdon ; Mr. H. F. Howard, Mr. Gait, Mr. 0. T. Stevenson- 

 Moore, Babu Harimohana Simha and others. 



Coins. 



Thirty-eight coins were presented to the Society by the Bombay Branch 

 of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Government of the United Provinces of 

 Agra and Oudh, and by Babu Rampada Chatterji, a Sub-Deputy Col- 

 lector at Kishenganj, Purnea. Of these 5 are gold, 31 silver, and 2 

 copper coins. Among the gold coins there are two of Egyptian Kings, 

 of A.D., 1439 and 1447, found at Aden — one of the Mamluk Sultans, 

 found in the District of Ahmadabad, and a padma-tanka. The silver 

 coins belong to the Moghul Emperors. One is a coin struck by the 

 East India Company in the name of Shahjahan II, at Bombay (Mumbai), 

 and there are also several rupees of the Company from the Benares 

 Mint. The copper coins belong to Ahmad Shah I, of Guzerat, and to 

 A^mad Shah II of the Bahmani Dynasty. 



With reference to the proposed amalgamation of the two collections 

 of coins now held separately by the Indian Museum and the Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal, the Council resolved not to sell the Society's collec- 

 tion of old coins but to lend to the Trustees of the Indian Museum so 

 many of the Society's coins as they may require for an indefinite period 



