Mr. A. K.
Fazlul Huq,
Governor of East Pakistan.
EAST PAKISTAN
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
DACCA
November 11, 1956
I have been asked to write a Foreword on Mr. Tal-
foor’s new edition of his popular book, which he
brought out sometime ago in the shape of a short his-
tory of Eastern Bengal and Assam.
I know the difficulties of the task entrusted to me,
but with regard to the services rendered by Mr. Talfoor
to the cause of the history of the province in which we
live, I comply with his request with the greatest possible
pleasure.
I need hardly emphasize the fact that history, after
all, is a record of man’s achievements and of his failures.
Man’s incessant struggle in this world to survive and
forge ahead, and the record of all success and failures,
lend a charm to the pages of history unparalleled in any
other literary productions. A study of history not only
acquaints us with what our forefathers achieved or
failed to achieve in their life time, but it also throws a
flood of light on the complexities of life in bygone years
and gives us a history of events that would be forgotten
in the ordinary course cf worldly affairs. More specially,
a national history brings before the eyes of a rising gen-
eration those forgotten events and glorious names
–1–
which were once the very apogee of our cultural attain-
ments. It is to these records of the past that our na-
tional historians often point in order to infuse a new
spirit in our young men and women.
The history written by Mr. S.M. Talfoor falls in this
national pattern which is peculiar to Mussalmans, His
mastery of the original sources and the endeavor with
which he has collected all the details from tradition and
local accounts, have enabled him to rescue most of the
long-forgotten names and the associated events, and
though a trained historian would have liked to see the
narratives in a more systematic order, there is no doubt
that he will attest the wealth of information gathered in
the pages of this book. It is for this accumulation of
facts that the historian will often turn its pages. But the
main purpose of this book is to bring home into the
mind of our men and women the glory that once be-
longed to them. I have, no doubt, that the publication
of such books will infuse new spirit in our younger gen-
eration. I hope this short history of Mr. Talfoor will at-
tract the appreciation which it richly deserves.
GOVERNOR OF EAST PAKISTAN
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