A report in a Calcutta newspaper of 1823 alluded to the Freemasons as 'the sons of mystery.' I have borrowed this expression for the title of my book.

Mysterious this institution certainly is. Its origins are shrouded in mystery. Its practices are often esoteric. It has been praised and blamed, accepted and rejected, patronised and persecuted from time to time. Yet it has flourished in different parts of the world, irrespective of caste, creed, colour or race, but, generally, not sex.

Calcutta, as the seat of the British power in India, welcomed Freemasonry from an early date. In course of my study of the city's past, I came across many interesting passages both in original and secondary works, throwing light upon Freemasonry in the Eastern world. I was fascinated by them. I decided to share my sense of fascination with others who would care to consult these passages. But many of them are not readily available. Some of them appear in out-of-print volumes, often with brittle pages, closely preserved in some select libraries, out of reach of ordinary readers. These were written mostly in English, one in Persian, others it Bengali. They found place in news papers, journals, memoirs, travelogue and a few hooks on local history. I have tried to collect them in this book, using translations, where necessary.

In Part I of this book I have endeavoured to discuss some aspects of Freemasonry in Old Calcutta, its origins; ideals, membership, organization, constitution, working, public functions, fun, fancy and festivity. I have also tried to point out the existence of a pseudo-masonic institution in Calcutta. Part II contains original passages having some bearing on Freemasonry in old Calcutta; some, of course, are translations from Persian and Bengali. Some reports on Freemasonry were reprinted in the Calcutta papers from their Madras contemporaries. They afford interesting comparisons. A picture of English morality in old Calcutta was briefly delineated by the Rev. J. Long in 1862. For its comparative value I have set it out.

This book is not a comprehensive history of Freemasonry in Calcutta. But it contains some valuable materials for writing such history. I have. also attempted to correct some errors of earlier European historians on a few matters of facts relating to Freemasonry in the city.

Lodge Anchor and Hope, at present No. I on the roll of the Grand Lodge of India, is celebrating its bi-centenary this year, 1973. It is my Mother Lodge. Five generations of my family have been connected with this Lodge. I propose to bring out this book in connection with this important event.

I thank my brethren for fraternal assistance they have all along given me during my twenty-seven years in the Craft. I am particularly grateful to my younger brother, Worshipful Brother Ranjit Chunder, P.G. Std. Br., P.S.R.G.W., himself a keen ritualist, for his ungrudging help in the production of this book. My thanks are due to Worshipful Brother R. V. Aiyar, who kindly went through my manuscript and offered important suggestions. He and Worshipful Brother P. A. Krishnaswami, Secretary, District Grand Lodge of Bengal, supplied me with rare books on Freemasonry for my persual; for this fraternal help l express my grtitude to them.

Calcutta:
February-March 1973.

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