A History of Assam c27.4

c27.4

The labour of preparing the bark and of inscribing the writing is considerable, and, apart from this, much greater value is attached to an old manuscript, or puthi, than to a new copy of it. These puthis are very carefully preserved, wrapped up in pieces of cloth, and are handed down as heirlooms from father to son. Many of them are black with age, and the characters have in places almost disappeared. The subjects dealt with are various. Many are of a historical character; others describe the methods of divination in use amongst the Ahom Deōdhāis and Bāilongs; others again are of a religious nature, while a few contain interesting specimens of popular folklore. A list of these puthis which had come, at that time, to notice will be found in my Report on the Progress of Historical Research in Assam.