Descriptive Catalogue of Palmleaf and Paper Manuscripts

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PREFACE. Mahamahonadhvata P. V. Kane in his monumental work ent'tled "History of Dharmasastra" covering fve big volumes has devoted only five pages to the Dharma astra works of Orissa written during the reign of Gajapati Prataparudra Deva, (i) and has also given the names of few other Synrti works of Orissa in the list appended at the end of the volume. The names of some Smrti manuscripts discovered in Orissa fin:] mention in the Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrt manuscripts prepared and published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal (2), Search of manuscripts carried in Orissa during the last three riecades has brought to light a large number of manuscripts on Dharma matra which were either compiled or copied in Orissa. They are mostly preservelin the Raghunandana library at Puri, Mannscripts Library of the Utkal University, Cuttack and the Manuscripts library of the Oriss 1 State Museum, Bhubaneswar. But only the manuscripts preserved in the Museum have so far been classified according to subject-matter and Descriptive Catalogues of the manuscripts acquired by the end of the year 1956-57 have been prepared. This first volume of the Descriptive Catalogne of Sanskrt manuscripts contains: descriptions of about 250 manuscripts on Smrti lyurg in the collection of the Orissa State Museum, Frun the h'story of Dharmalastra, it is known that the ancient Dharnakastras of Gautama, Bauchayana, Apastamla and others and the famous Manusmrti were written cluring the first period cat ng from at least the sixth century B, C, to the bog'nning of the Christian era. The next period when most of the vers:fie:) Szortis were composel ranges from the first century of the Chrisian cra to aboct 800 A, D. The third period crvers about a thousan-l vcars during which the commentaries on okler Sunft works an, digests or Nibandas were compiled, (3). In our collecton there is only one inantisoript (Dh/120) of Manava Dharmasastra or (1) . History of Dharma'astra VI. I, P. 410-414. (2). Descriptive Catalogue, of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Vol. IV. Smsti Manuscripts. (3) , History of Dharna Istra Vol. I. P. 246, For Private and Personal Use Only