PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
Thanks to the liberality of the Assam Administration it has been possible to publish a Second Edition of “Some Assamese Proverbs.” The first edition, although it met with a favourable reception at the time, contained many inaccuracies which a deeper study of the Assamese language on the part of the compiler and the kindness of various friendly critics, have helped to bring to light. Cer- tain faults in transliteration also which appeared in the first edition have been rectified, the method of transliteration laid down by the Royal Asiatic Society being followed as far as practicable. A large number of the proverbs which appear in this collection are said to be the utterances of Dák, who according to some was a man of humble extrac- tion, being a member of the Kumar caste, who was born in the village of Lehi-Dangárá situated near the now ruined village of Mandiá in the Barpeta mauza. For this fact there is the authority of the “Dák Charitra,” in which occurs the line লেহি ডঙ্গৰা ডাকৰগাওঁ. On the otherhand, a writer in the “Assam Banti” claims that Dák was a Brahmin by caste who was born in a village near Kaliabar in the Nowgong district, and that Dák and his family migrated to Jorhat during the reign of Raja Rudra Singh. This writer adds that the descendants of Dák are to be found to this day at Rangdai in Jorhat, where the family is known under the name of ডাক বামুণৰ ঘৰ. If the sayings of Dák are examined by any one who is acquainted with the Barpeta patois, I think he will be of the same opinion as myself that Dák's language has a distinct Barpeta ring about it. It is, however, not of much moment Dák's birth place, but it is a matter for congratulation that so many of Dák's sayings
