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that the manuscripts collected under the auspicies of the program would remain in India. The search program now had the possibility of evolving into a meaningful vehicle to support Sanskrit research in India.
Since Franz Kielhorn, who headed the searches in the southern portion of Bombay Presidency was on leave in 1871, Bühler's search work during 1871 was minimal. Yet the year marks a great transition in two respects. First the number of manuscripts acquired jumped to 421, amply demonstrating the confidence Indians now placed in the searches and faith that the manuscripts which they parted with would indeed remain in India. Second, the number of Jain titles acquired was 271, almost two thirds of the total. Although Bühler accomplished far less than he had hoped, prospects for outstanding finds were most promising. He concluded his report with some general observations, "I have already acquired several manuscripts which are fully 600 years old, and have full confidence that I shall obtain others which exceed that age by 200 years. The more I become acquainted with Gujarat, the more offers of old and valuable books I get.”? In addition to acquiring manuscripts for the Bombay Sanskrit Collection, Bühler also had lists compiled of the holdings of libraries. His report indicates he concentrated such work on Jain libraries in Randir, Surat, Limdi, and Cambay.
Although most of what is today Gujarat was during Bühler's time Princely India, the inclusion into British India of port cities and major trading centers meant he did have Jain temples to investigate. He reported in his report for 1872-73 visiting collections in the cities of Cambay, Limdi, and Ahmedabad. The nature of these collections pointed out a key difference between these temple libraries and libraries in the west. "The extent and the condition of these libraries prevent me from causing complete lists of their contents to be made, Several of them contain upwards of 10,000 manuscripts, and sometimes hundreds of copies of one and the same work are found in one library. Thus a library at Ahmedabad contains 400 copies of the Avas yakasūtra. This assertion will appear neither astonishing nor incredible, if it is borne in mind that devout Jainas frequently giye, or bequeath, large sums of money to the superintendents of monasteries for copying books, and that the multiplication of sacred writings is held to be highly meritorious. To make complete catalogues of such libraries is
7 Georg Bühler, Report on the Results of the Search for Sanskrit Manuscripts in
Gujarat during the Year 1871-72" in Gough, op. cit., p. 84.
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