INTRODUCTION. 
XX111 
and another product of Calcutta civilisation, of a very different kind, 
was the huge anthology of Krish’nanand' By as Deb, called the Rag- 
Sagarodbhab Rag-Kalpadrum, written in emulation of the better 
known Sanskrit lexicon, the 0abda-Kalpadruma. 
The same period saw the rise of the Hindi drama, 1 which is now 
firmly established, and gives a hope of achieving considerable excel¬ 
lence in the near future. 
The post-Mutiny days this sketch will not touch upon. A brief 
imperfect account will be found in the body of this work. It may 
further be noted that more extended reviews of the literature of the 
principal periods will also be found in the introductions to chapters 
VII to XI. All that has been attempted in the present note has 
* 
been to show the most salient points of a not inglorious past in the 
vernacular literary history of Hindustan. 
# 
(d.) Description of the Plates . 
The frontispiece represents Rama’s childhood in Ka/usalya s house. 
I am indebted for it to the kindness of Raja Siva Prasad, c.s.i., who 
procured the original photograph of one of the illustrations in the 
magnificently-illuminated M.S. belonging to the Maharaj of Banaras. 
To the kindness of the same gentleman I am indebted for the 
other plates, which are photographs of ten pages of the Rdf pur 
Ram ay an, described on page 45, believed to be in the poet’s handwrit¬ 
ing, of three pages of the old Banaras M.S. referred to on the same 
page, and of a deed of arbitration said to be in the poet’s own hand¬ 
writing. A transliteration and translation of the first two will be 
found on page 51 of this work, and of the last in the Addenda. 
The frontispiece has already appeared, I believe, in one edition of 
Mr. Growse’s excellent translation of the Ram ay an ; but as this work 
appeals to quite a different class of readers, and as the picture is 
itself a worthy specimen of Hindu art, I do not hesitate to give it 
here again. 
1 See also section 706 in the body of the work. 
