Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/1085

 OPINIONS, 9 long lain hid in the houses of cultivators throughout the rural villages of Eastern Bengal, and whose existence was previ- ously not suspected. As the book is written in Bengali and its contents will be available to comparatively few European readers, a review of its contents and of the conclusions that it leads to may be found to be of interest. It was in 1892, when engaged in writing a treatise on the origin and growth of the Bengali language, that Babu D.C. Sen happened by chance to come across an ancient manuscript of the poem Mrigalabdha by Rati Deb and on further enquiries he ascertained from reliable sources that there were many such ancient books existing in the villages of Tippera and Chittagong. He thereupon set to work to find out and procure such as could be got, and visited many rural villages for the purpose. He succeeded in obtain- ing a certain number and in ascertaining the existence of others, but they were frequently worm-eaten and otherwise ill- preserved and it was sufficiently clear that unless their con- tents could be preserved by means of printing them, the bulk of this valuable material must be ultimately lost. Mr. Sen consequently wrote for advice to Professor Heernie, from whom he received valuable assistance, and also from Pundit Hara Prashad Shastri under whose advice Pundit Benode Behari Kabyatirtha of the Asiatic Society went to Comilla to assist him in his search and continued to do so from time to time for short periods. Together, they discovered several further manuscripts, and in the intervals, the author continued his search by himself throughout the villages of Tippera, Noakhali, Sylhet, Dacca and Eastern Bengal generally. He thus collected numerous ancient manuscripts. The task, however, was one of difficulty, as the peasants in whose houses they were to be found, were unwilling to part with them or even to show them fearing that b