192 C. J. Rodgers —Chronicles of the Pathan kings of Delhi, [No. 3, 
may, however, have been issued by one of his successors. The archaic style 
of the coin must come for a good deal in its assignment. 
From the present dearth of coins of any antiquity or rarity it will 
at once be seen that now-a-days to attempt to form a cabinet, an 
Imperial Cabinet for India, would be almost an impossibility. But it is 
an end I have not lost sight of. I think it incumbent on all who care for 
the future of India to make the attempt. India is now fast awaking 
from her lethargy of centuries. Many of her sons are fully awake. 
Some have already given themselves to historical enquiries. It is well 
that all should know something about the pit from which they have 
been digged. I know of no more interesting study in history than that 
of the coins of a country. Especially is this the case in India where the 
first work of a king on ascending the throne is to set his mint to work 
in order that throughout the length and breadth of his province, the 
circulating medium should inform the people as to the name and titles of 
the sovereign. 
But many of the best coins of the country have already gone out of 
it. The cabinets of Sir Edward Clive Bayley, Mr. Edward Thomas, 
Alexander Grant, and General Cunningham contained many coins of 
which no second has as yet been found. It is true many have found a 
resting place in the British Museum. But many, e. g. the whole of the 
coins of Col. Stacey have been purchased for Berlin, and of late years 
St. Petersburgh has been enriched with many rare things from India. 
Now as India is the largest foreign possession of Her Most Gracious 
Majesty the Empress of India I beg to be allowed to enter respectfully a 
protest against this exportation of Indian historical treasures. The 
Director General of the Archaeological Surveys of India has issued an 
order to the effect that surveyors shall not collect for themselves. This 
is excellent as far as it goes. I would suggest that tbe Government of 
India should lay aside a small sum every year, as does the Government ' 
of Great Britain and Ireland, for the purchase of coins only. This sum 
should be distributed amongst the Surveys. The present arangement is 
that the survey shall be carried on during the next four years. If 
during this time each surveyor exert himself numismatically, there is 
a prospect that a good collection may be started even now. 
At home the British Museum possesses many duplicates especially 
in the cabinets of the India office collection. This collection ought of 
course to have been returned to India. I would suggest that at any rate 
the duplicates should be. The Museums in India are beginning to be 
important aids in the matter of education and especially in the matter of 
historical instruction. Lahore, Madras, Kurrachee and Calcutta are 
taking steps in the right direction.. If the duplicate coins in these 
