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their past. They start studying the achievements of their ancestors with legitimate pride, and take inspiration from them for the building up of a richer future. Since we came to our own nine years ago, we see on all sides a tremendous upsurge of mental effort to know our own past which we had neglected ; and, if today Mr. Roy Choudhury's work had been made possible, it is because of such feelings that animate both him and those who have encouraged and helped him in his work. We should be duly thankful to them all.
I cannot, however, close without paying my own tribute of gratitude and admiration to European scholars who did so much to resuscitate our own past for us, and who really went further than we did and spoke to us of our own glories of long ago when we were asleep and indifferent, It is they who helped us to appreciate true values and derive inspiration from the ancestors and their times that we ourselves had forgotten. In fact, Mr. Roy Choudhury himself has quoted extensively from the works of European writers of the earlier days. We must not in the flush of our new-found freedom forget those who, even though indirectly, helped us to develop that mentality that made freedom possible. As a free people, we should be grateful to all who have in any way helped us to realise ourselves and be what we are today. I have every confidence that this book of Mr. Roy Choudhury will find an honoured place among
