1895.] E, A. Gait — Historical Research in Assam. 107 



search, and in any case, those three would in themselves furnish a 

 sufficient reason for employing some one to learu the language and 

 furnish us with an account of what they contain. 



Next to the historical hitranjis, the puthis of which it would, in my 

 opinion, be most desirable to obtain translations are those of a religious 

 nature, as from these we should, for the first time, be able to gather 

 some idea of the form of Hinduism which was carried from India to 

 the Shan states before the rise of Buddhism, or, at any rate, of the 

 extent to which the earlier Hinduism entered into the religion pre- 

 viously professed by the Shans. Out of the 28 'puthis in Babu Phani- 

 dhar's list, I think that at least 14 should be translated. The copying 

 of a small putJii is estimated to take 14 days, and that of a large one 

 28 days. On an average, it may be assumed that 20 days would be 

 required for cojijiiig esich. jputhi. This would be done by the deodhais 

 themselves, and the remuneration they would require would be about 

 Rs. 10 per mensem. Consequently, it would cost us about Rs. 100 to 

 obtain copies of 14i putJiis. Assuming that it took the person appointed 

 to supervise the work four mouths to learn the Ah5m language, we 

 should have to pay his teacher Rs. 4x10= Rs 40. Having learnt the 

 language, he would have to go through each of the puthis vv^ith the 

 deodhai who copied it, and hnving got its meaning, he would have 

 to translate it. Assuming that this took about the same time as the 

 copying, the translator would be engaged on the work for 280 days, 

 and he would have deodhais working with hira for the same length of 

 time. Consequently, the total expenditure on the remuneration of the 

 deodhais would be Rs. 240, and to this would have to be added the pay 

 of the translator for 120 days while learning the language and 280 days 

 while translating, or about 14 months in all. I can obtain the services 

 for this purpose of an intelligent young Assamese, who has passed the 

 F. A. Examination, for Rs. 30 j-ier vie)isem, or Rs. 420 for the whole 

 period of 14 months. He would also have to be given a small contin- 

 gent grant for paper, &c. If more huranjis come to light, or if it 

 is decided to deal with all known Ahom puthis, he would be required 

 for a longer period ; in the above calculation, I am only estimating for 

 the cost of copying and translating the more important pi^^Au^ in Babu 

 Phanidhar's list. For this purpose, I think that a grant of Rs. 400 

 this year and Rs. 500 next year would suffice to cover all the charges 

 which are likely to be incurred. 



19. If the above proposals are sanctioned, it may perhaps be 

 thought impracticable to sanction a separate establishment for searching 

 for manuscripts until the translation of Ahom puthis has been brought to a 

 conclusion, but even if no special staff is employed, I think we mio-ht 



