Bhota Prakasa

Author(s): Vidhushekhara Bhattacharya
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd

Page 9

PREFACE Considering the contiguity of Bengal and Tibet and the close cultural connexion between this province of India and the latter country for a number of centuries, it is only fitting that Tibetan studies should first be undertaken in Calcutta and Bengal. The Hungarian scholar Csoma de Körös began the tradition of modern Tibetology in Calcutta over a hundred years ago. Sarat Chandra Das, the great Indian of modern times to revive Tibetan studies, worked in Calcutta. But Tibetan was rather neglected otherwise. Fortunately, however, Rabindranath Tagore felt its importance and arranged for it in his Viśva-bhārati, and here in the University of Calcutta it was Sir A su tosh Mookerjee who strongly realized its necessity and took steps making adequate arrangements for it. It was in his time that the large collection of Tibetan works including both the Kanjur and Tanjur was acquired for the University Library, and students were given special facilities for studying it, being placed under good teachers and occasionally being sent to Darjeeling for that purpose. His endeavours bore fruit. For, it was when he held the reins of the University that not only the History of Indian Logic of Mahāmahopādhyāya Pandit Satish Chandra Vid y a bhushan, the materials of which were collected from a large number of works on logic in Tibetan, but also the following books were published from the University:
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