Select Contents of Oriental Journals
By U. N. Ghoshal
Summary
The journal’s editors provide abstracts of notable papers published in other Oriental periodicals. The Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute feature Sten Konow’s essay on Indo‑European religious ideas, which argues that early Aryan religion revolved around impersonal forces rather than personalised deities; P. D. Kulakarni’s study concluding that the Marathi saints Jñāneśvara and Nāmdev were contemporaries and possibly friends; and J. J. Modi’s account of how Emperor Akbar commissioned Persian translations of Sanskrit classics. Notes from Asia Major include a Chinese philologist’s examination of Tibetan loan‑words and an archaeological report on Parthian coins. Other journals summarised deal with Central Asian manuscripts, the history of the Jain Pātaliputra council and the reconstruction of a lost Kāśmīri chronicle. By reproducing these abstracts, the editors expose readers to research across linguistics, history, archaeology and religious studies. The diversity of topics underscores the vibrancy of Oriental scholarship and encourages cross‑fertilisation of ideas. Each entry provides enough detail to inform scholars whether a paper merits consultation, saving them the time of scanning numerous periodicals.
Conclusion
By cataloguing research in a variety of fields, this section acts as an early bibliographic service. It assists researchers in keeping abreast of developments outside their specialism and promotes an interconnected view of Asian studies.