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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH.
VOLUME LVII-1928 PROGRESS OF THE COLLECTION OF MSS. AT DACCA UNIVERSITY (1926-27).
BY N. K. BHATTASALI, MA. My first report on the collection of MSS. at Dacca University was published in this Journal in July 1926. The following report will show what progress has since been made -
Number of Additions. The serial number of bundles catalogued stood, on the 31st March 1926, at 1,181, excluding the 579 bundles presented by Babu Krishnadas Acharyya Chaudhuri, which have been separately numbered and preserved. The serial number of bundles obtained up to the time of this report is 2,171, thus showing an addition of 990 bundles during the session. Our collection is gradually growing more and more selective and this accounts for the comparatively smaller volume of our collection during the present session. Taking on the average four MSS. per bundle, the number of MSS. collected up to the time of this report will be more than 10,000.
Donations. A very large number of small donations were received during the Session, mainly through the exertion of our agents. The most notable donation was that of Pandit YasodAkanta Chakravarti of Kasabhog, District Faridpur, who made us a free gift of 109 MSS. valued at Rs. 154. These MSS. belonged to his father, the famous late Krishnakanta Siromaņi, the premier kathaka of East Bengal in his day. MSS. of eight Upanipads with commentaries, and palm. leaf MSS. of some parts of the Skanda-Purana were among the most valuable MSS. in this lot.
Notable Additions to the Sanskrit Section. The usual additions in Purána, Itihasa, Kavya, Nataka, Alankdra, Jyotisa, Dharmma. &dstra, Tantra, Adiparava, Smriti, Nyaya, Vyakarana, Chikitsa, etc., are too numerous to mention. Special mention should, however, be made of the following MSS. :
Purana :-(1) A MS. of the Karma-Purdna in palm-leaf from Birbhum, about 500 years old. (2) A MS. of Visry-Purana from Faridpur, dated in 1432 Saka.
Itihasa :A MS. of the Adiparva of the Mahabharata, from Sylhet, about 300 years old.
Kavya Soveral good MSS. of Raghuvamsa, Meghaddla, Sidupdla-vadha, Ghatakarpparakedvya, etc., were obtained. A new commentary on Raghuvamia by Chaturanana Dhritisimha, composed in 1350 Saka has been found in a fragmentary condition.
Nataka :-Numerous copies of Mahánátaka were obtained. Dr. S. K. De has discovered, by a collation of seven of our MSS., that the drama was known in two distinct recensions. A MS. of Kautukaratna by Lakshmana-måņikya, king of Bhulud (Noakhali) and contemporary of Akbar and Jahangir, and another of Kautuka-sarvvasva, by Gopinatha Sarasvati, are interesting additions. MSS. of Hásyârnava are already numerous in our collection and are no longer accepted.
Alankára : A transcript of Vakrokti-Jivita by Kuntaka has been obtained from the Jaisalmer, Jain Bhandra and another of Dhvanyaloka has been ordered from the Tanjore Palace Library.
Jyotisha :-The most valued addition to this section are two MSS. of Adbhuta-ságara, by Ballala Sena-Deva, one (incomplete) from Nadia district and the other complete) in Devanågari script from Ahår in Bulandshahr district in the U.P. The latter is a particularly valuable MS., dated Saka 1658, and is thus about 200 years old. Both of them give the year in which the work was begun, viz., 1090 Saka. Hailing from widely distant places, they should help to set at rest all controversy regarding the dates of Ballala Sena and Lakshmana Sena.
Dharmabistra : -The most valuable additions are the MSS. of Brihadaranyaka, Taittiriya, Kath. 4itariya, Mandukya, Kena, Atharvq and Ida Upanišade, with commentaries of
