Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/16

8 Mr. B. C. Mitra, Mr. K. C. De, (I.C.S.), Mr. G. N. Tagore of Calcutta, their Highnesses the Maharajas of Mayurbhanja and Tippera, and the Hon'ble Maharaja of Cossimbazar. In the early years of my research I had obtained considerable help from Mahamahopādhyāya Hara Prasad Shāstri. To these and to all others who have helped me in times of need, my heart goes forth in great esteem and gratitude. I am indebted to my friend Mr. Nagendra Nath Vasu for allowing me the use of his valuable library of old Bengali manuscripts and helping me with suggestions, and also to Mr. Abanindra Nath Tagore for lending me some of the panels with old paintings, which have been reproduced in this book.

Before I conclude, I owe it to myself to offer my special thanks to that great friend and patron of Bengali literature, the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Asutosh Mookerjee, Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University, to whose ardent sympathy and unwearied efforts our language owes its present firm footing in this University. It is to his constant encouragement that these lectures owe their origin and completion. If I have been able even in a small measure to prove myself worthy of his distinguished patronage, I shall consider my labours amply rewarded. In the Convocation address delivered by him on the 13th March, 1909, he made the following kind and appreciative reference to my lectures. "We have had a long series of luminous lectures from one of our own graduates Babu Dinesh Chandra Sen, on the fascinating subject of the history of the Bengali Language and Literature. These lectures take a comprehensive view of the development of our vernacular, and their publication will unquestionably facilitate the historical investigation of the origin of the vernacular literature of this country, the study of which is avowedly one of the foremost objects of the new Regulations to promote."