the opening lines, the closing lines, colophon, contents, owner, place of deposit and remarks, The compilation of the details under the above heads was a work of unceasing labour, and the words of Lt-Col. P. R. T. Gurdon who was associated with the collection of the manuscripts and the preparation of the catalogue may be quoted;—“The descriptive catalogue of Assamese literature which is, I believe, still in the press, was the work of Hem Gosain's alone, and it is on this great achievement that his fame will probably rest and go down to posterity.” Though Mr. Goswami did not live long enough to write a construc- -tive history of Assamese literature, the mass of valuable information supplied in this catalogue will serve as the foundation for all such endeavours in future. The book records the result of Mr. Goswami’s life-long acquaintance with old Assamese literature. It also affords scattered glimpses into the political history of Assam which had always a close relationship with the progress and development of its language and literature.
Ankiya Bara-nat —The antiquity of Assamese dramas as well as its historical literature is a feature conspicuous by its absence in Bengal. The early Vaisnava posts in imitation of their Maithili forerunners and compatriots adopted numerous devices for the popularisation of their creed. Sankar Deva translated Bhagavata and other classics glori- fying Srikrishna, while his chief apostle Madhava Deva busied himself in interpreting and expounding the cardinal principles of his master's creed. Sankar Deva introduced the custom of singing religious hymns to the accompaniment of musical instruments and of reading aloud to a devoted audience-portions of religious and semi-religious classics. One of his most momentous innovations was the propagation of his faith by the spectacular appeal of dramatic performances, and which he might have seized during his extensive travels in Behar and Orissa, having seen the enactment of
