Bhandarkar Report 1904
BHANDAKAR REPORT on the search of Prākṛit and Saṃskṛit manuscripts 1904 [62 of 69]
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62. Still, as Government wanted me to make a tour through those Provinces also, I wrote for information to the Chief Commissioner, as I have already stated. As a result of that and of my separately writing to the Director of Public Instruction, C. P., I got communications from the Inspector of Schools, E. C. Raipur, and the Professor of Sanskrit, Government College, Jabalpur, giving me the names of a few owners of manuscripts and lists of some of the manuscripts in their possession. The manuscripts did not seem to be of much importance, and some of the particulars mentioned made, me surmise that probably many of the collections referred to were identical with, or parts of, collections of which a catalogue was edited by Dr. Kielhorn in 1874.[1] When I was at Ajmer, therefore, I consulted a Hindu Professor of Mayo College who is a native of Jabalpur, and the information he gave me very nearly convinced me of the correctness of my surmise. I, therefore, went through the whole of Dr. Kielhorn's Catalogue and made out a list of all the owners of manuscripts whose collections had been previously catalogued, and, sending it to the Inspector of Schools mentioned above, asked for such information as he could give me on the point, giving up in the meanwhile my intention of going into the Central Provinces, unnecessary as I thought it was. His reply of 2nd March, which he had under a misapprehension directed to Calcutta, reached me on the 13th of that month. Therein he says that he believed with me that most of the manuscripts referred to in his former letter were catalogued previously, that he had written to a friend at Saugor for more definite information, but that up to the time of his writing he had not received any, probably on account of the prevalence of plague at Saugor.
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[1] See last two paragraphs on page 110 of G. Bühler’s letter to the Director of Public Instruction, Bombay dated 23th June 1875 before the list starts Archibald Edward Gaugh’s Papers relating to the Collection and Preservation of the Records of ancient Sanskrit Literature in India : OM-ARHAM.
