the study of Bengali literature by the people of Bengal; a Bangiya Sahitya Parishad or Academy of Bengali Literature has been formed, and has turned its attention to the restoration of the texts of our old authors; and some excellent biographical works like the lives of Akhay Kumar Datta, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Madhu Sudan Datta have lately been published in Bengali. These encouraging circumstances have reminded me of my duty,—long deferred,—of bringing out a fairly complete account of Bengali literature. And the honour which the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad has done me, by electing me its first President, impels me to choose this occasion to place before my countrymen generally, and before European students of Indian vernaculars, a connected story of literary and intellectual progress in Bengal during the last eight centuries.
It is necessary to say one or two words about my predecessors in this field. Iswar Chandra Gupta, the first great poet of this century, an account of whose life and work will be found in Chapter XIV. of the present book, was the first writer who attempted to publish biographical accounts of previous writers; but his attempt necessarily met with imperfect success. Iswar Chandra was followed by other Bengali writers of lesser note, whose treatises used to be read in the last
