1867.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society . 87 



I may add that the report would have been finished before I left 

 India, if my time had not been occupied by some communications 

 about the Madrassah, which took off my thoughts from the report. 



I hope the report will be of some use, as it is. I wish I could return 

 for a month to Nuddea, to make it better. 



From E. B. Cowell, Esq., late Principal of the Sanskrit College, 

 to W. S. Atkinson, Esq., Director of Public Instruction, — dated the 



II th January, 1867. 



Sir, — I have the honor to forward to you the following report of 

 my visit, in 1864, to the Toles of Nuddea : — 



In accordance with your instructions I proceeded thither with Mr. 

 Woodrow, and we were accompanied by Pandit Mahesa Chandra 

 Nyayaratna, one of the Professors of the Sanskrit College, with 

 whom I have for some years studied Nyaya, and • to whose wide 

 attainments in Hindu philosophy, as well as general ability and learn- 

 ing, I can testify from personal knowledge in the highest degree. We 

 left Calcutta on Monday the 29th of February, and made Krishnagur 

 our head quarters, whence we made daily excursions to Nuddea, 

 which is about ten miles distant. I must not omit to mention that 

 we received much attention from the Maharaja of Nuddea, who held 

 a quasi durbar of Pandits, which enabled us to make the acquaintance 

 of many who did not reside in Nuddea itself. I returned to Calcutta 

 on the 8th of March. 



The word Tole (ci>T^T) is a Bengali word of uncertain derivation ; but 

 there are at least two Sanskrit words for the thing itself, chatush- 

 pdthi, i. e., a place where the four vedas are studied, and matha. 

 The former does not seem to be an ancient word, as I do not find any 

 authority for it in the St. Petersburg Sanskrit Dictionary, except the 

 Sabda Kalpa Druma of Rajah Badha Kanta Deva ; but matha is an 

 old word and occurs at least as far back as the Amara Kosha. 



The institution is curious and interesting, as being undoubtedly a 

 remnant of old times. It represents, in fact, the same state of feeling 

 in ancient India as that which we find in ancient Greece, and which 

 so continually comes up in Plato's controversies with the Sophists or 

 paid Professors of his day, viz., the popular prejudice against receiving 

 mercenary reward for the communication of knowledge. The Pandit 

 of a tole should properly not only instruct his pupils gratuitously, 



