A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts of South Assam: The Collections of the Normal School, Silchar, Vol. I

The present publication is a descriptive catalogue of selective manuscripts in the collections of Normal School, Silchar of South Assam. It is a teacher’s training school established in 1906 with the aim to improve primary and middle school level education. In the initial stage the teachers of Normal school, Silchar started collecting manuscripts for preservation of the ancient store-house of knowledge regarding which people were indifferent. The collection continued around 1940. But no attempt has been made during last eight decades to prepare a descriptive catalogue of this collections which is a basic need of manuscriptology. Knowing this, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata (An autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India) has come forward and under the aegis of this institute the first volume of the descriptive catalogue of a portion of manuscripts in the collections of normal school Silchar is being published. This volume contains information of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Gita manuscripts, total number of which are 141. These sources, explored through this descriptive catalogue will surely throw new light on socio-cultural and literary history of South Assam region.