111 The modern paper in Nepal is said to date from 500 years ago (Hodgson, _Essays_). 112 M. M., _History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature_, p. 516. 113 Burnell, _South Indian Palæography_, 2d ed. p. 84 _seq._ 114 See _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. i., Upanishads, Introduction, p. lxxviii. 115 Dr. Bühler (_Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay,_ 1877, p. 29) has the following interesting remarks: “The Bhûrga MSS. are written on specially-prepared thin sheets of the inner bark of the Himalayan birch (_Bœtula Bhojpatr._ Wallich), and invariably in Sâradâ characters. The lines run always parallel to the narrow side of the leaf, and the MSS. present, therefore, the appearance of European books, not of Indian MSS., which owe their form to an imitation of the Tâlapatras. The Himâlaya seems to contain an inexhaustible supply of birch bark, which in Kasmîr and other hill countries is used both instead of paper by the shopkeepers in the bazaars, and for lining the roofs of houses in order to make them water-tight. It is also exported to India, where in many places it is likewise used for wrapping up parcels, and plays an important part in the manufacture of the flexible pipe-stems used by hukâ smokers. To give an idea of the quantities which are brought into Srînagar, I may mention that on one single day I counted fourteen large barges with birch bark on the river.... The use of birch bark for literary purposes is attested by the earliest classical Sanskrit writers. Kâlidâsa mentions it in his dramas and epics; Sustuta, Varâhamihira (_circa_ 500-550 A. D.) know it likewise. As is the case with nearly all old customs, the use of birch bark for writing still survives in India, though the fact is little known. Mantras, which are worn as amulets, are written on pieces of Bhûrga with ash_t_au gandbâ_h_, a mixture of eight odoriferous substances—_e. g._ camphor, sandal, tumeric—which vary according to the deity to which the writing is dedicated. The custom prevails in Bengal as well as in Gujarât. Birch-bark MSS. occur in Orissa. The Petersburg Dictionary refers to a passage in the Kâ_th_aka, the redaction of the Yajurveda formerly current in Kasmîr, where the word Bhûr_g_a occurs, though it is not clear if it is mentioned there too as material for writing on. The Kasmirian Pandits assert, and apparently with good reason, that in Kasmîr all books were written on bhûrgapattras from the earliest times until after the conquest of the Valley by Akbar, about 200-250 years ago. Akbar introduced the manufacture of paper, and thus created an industry for which Kasmîr is now famous in India.” 116 Dr. Burnell, _Indian Antiquary_, 1880, p. 234, shows that Koṅka_n_apura is Koṅka_n_ah_ll_i in the Mysore territory.