1900.] Annual Address. 23 



Hindu Grammar. This work, called the "nectar of Ka9miri words," 

 has been edited by Dr. Grierson and published by the Society. 

 Besides the grammar, there also exists a Ka9miri dictionary, composed 

 by the same l9\rarakaula in tlie style of Sanskrit Koshas. An edition 

 of this dictionary has now been undertaken by the Society. Its 

 publication is intended for the Bibliotheca Indica Series, and the work 

 was at first entrusted to Pandit Govind Kaul, the best modern Pandit 

 in Kashmir. After his death, the Council engaged Pandit Mukund 

 Ram of Srinagar, who will be supervised by Dr. Grierson, to carry 

 on the work. Tlie Society thus may claim the merit of having done 

 a great deal towards elucidating the grammatical structure of an 

 important but hitherto much neglected vernacular of India, and its 

 thanks are more especially due to Dr. Grierson, whose work in this 

 direction is highly appreciated by all students of modern Indo- Aryan 

 vernaculars. 



The ancient topography of Kashmir has been exhaustively dis- 

 cussed in the Memoir by Dr. Stein, published as Extra Number 2 of 

 Journal Part I. This Memoir is accompanied by two excellent maps 

 prepared for the Society by the Survey of India OflBce and primarily 

 intended to be issued together with Dr. Stein's translation of the 

 ancient chronicle of Kashmir, called the Rajatarangini, which was 

 composed by Kalhana in the years 1148-49 A.D. 



Dr. Stein has devoted much time and energy to the study of the 

 history and antiquities of the Kashmir Yalley. He succeeded in dis- 

 covering the Godex Arclietijinis of Kalhana's clironicle, and has brought 

 out a model edition of it far surpassing the earlier editions of the same 

 work. During a series of visits to Kashmir, he has been very successful 

 in identifying ancient places and following up, in the track of the ancient 

 historians, the topography and antiquities of this interesting country. 

 What he now has presented in his Memoir is a systematical exposition 

 of the final results of his studies, as far as topography is concerned. 

 We may be proud to count among our publications what is probably 

 the best treatise published hitherto on any part of ancient Indian 

 Geography. 



The country further to the north of Kashmir, the great Central 

 Asian desert, has of late become more and more important to the 

 student of Indian Antiquities. It appears that the numerous Buddhistic 

 ruins there contain many buried treasures, of which as yet only a 

 portion has come to light. The discovery of the Bower Manuscript, 

 written on birch bark in the fifth century A.D., first drew attention to 

 this fact. Contrary to Indian experience, the dry climate of the sandy 

 desert of Central Asia is very favourable to the preservation of anti- 



