! PKll>TS S1NGHALKSK TYPES AND COSTUMES-BUDDHIST TII i: EARTH AND ITS INHABITANT ASIA. BY ELISEE RECLTJS. EDITED BY A. H. KEANE, B. A., TE. MKMB. OF COUNCIL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ISSTITt VOL. ra. INDIA AND INDO-CHINA. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS EXGRAVIX',^ A.\'D MAPS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND OOMPAHT, 1, 8, ARD 5 BOND STREET. 1891, JN7 1956 CONTEN"> ! PKll>TS S1NGHALKSK TYPES AND COSTUMES-BUDDHIST TII i: EARTH AND ITS INHABITANT ASIA. BY ELISEE RECLTJS. EDITED BY A. H. KEANE, B. A., TE. MKMB. OF COUNCIL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ISSTITt VOL. ra. INDIA AND INDO-CHINA. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS EXGRAVIX',^ A.\'D MAPS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND OOMPAHT, 1, 8, ARD 5 BOND STREET. 1891, JN7 1956 CONTEN">
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c c - < < < * * C< c < < COLLKOm SI QUIS ME QUER IT. . < < f < C C * 9 t 5 ^ . '< .< . . < '. > ! PKll>TS S1NGHALKSK TYPES AND COSTUMES-BUDDHIST TII i: EARTH AND ITS INHABITANT ASIA. BY ELISEE RECLTJS. EDITED BY A. H. KEANE, B. A., TE. MKMB. OF COUNCIL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ISSTITt VOL. ra. INDIA AND INDO-CHINA. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS EXGRAVIX',^ A.\'D MAPS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND OOMPAHT, 1, 8, ARD 5 BOND STREET. 1891, JN7 1956 CONTEN

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c c - < < < * * C< c < < COLLKOm SI QUIS ME QUER IT. . < < f < C C * 9 t 5 ^ . '< .< . . < '. > ! PKll>TS S1NGHALKSK TYPES AND COSTUMES-BUDDHIST TII i: EARTH AND ITS INHABITANT ASIA. BY ELISEE RECLTJS. EDITED BY A. H. KEANE, B. A., TE. MKMB. OF COUNCIL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ISSTITt VOL. ra. INDIA AND INDO-CHINA. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS EXGRAVIX',^ A.\'D MAPS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND OOMPAHT, 1, 8, ARD 5 BOND STREET. 1891, JN7 1956 CONTEN

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c c - < < < * * C< c < < COLLKOm SI QUIS ME QUER IT. . < < f < C C * 9 t 5 ^ . '< .< . . < '. > ! PKll>TS S1NGHALKSK TYPES AND COSTUMES-BUDDHIST TII i: EARTH AND ITS INHABITANT ASIA. BY ELISEE RECLTJS. EDITED BY A. H. KEANE, B. A., TE. MKMB. OF COUNCIL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ISSTITt VOL. ra. INDIA AND INDO-CHINA. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS EXGRAVIX',^ A.\'D MAPS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND OOMPAHT, 1, 8, ARD 5 BOND STREET. 1891, JN7 1956 CONTEN

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PKll>TS
S1NGHALKSK TYPES AND COSTUMES-BUDDHIST
TII i:

EARTH AND ITS INHABITANT

ASIA.
BY

ELISEE RECLTJS.

EDITED BY
A. H. KEANE, B. A.,
MKMB. OF COUNCIL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ISSTITt TE.

VOL. ra.

INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS EXGRAVIX',^ A.\'D MAPS.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND OOMPAHT,
1, 8, ARD 5 BOND STREET.
1891,
JN7 1956
CONTENTS.
VOL. III.

INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.


BAP.
I. GENERAL Si KYEY
Physical Features, p. 2. Inhabitants, p. 3.
*. ... ..1
Historic TtsJIlMjUUl, 8.
rt^m

II. GENERAL Sf HVEY OF HI.NDI sr.\x


Progress of Geographical Research, p. 14. The Dekkan Tableland, p. 19.
Religions, p. 7.

.....14The Ghats and


Anamalah Mountains, p. 19. Tho Satpura and Vindhya Ranges, p. 20. The Northern
Plains, p. 23. The Himalayan System, p. 25. The Himalaya proper and Trans-
'

lliiiuilaya, p. The Karakorum Range, p. 30. Passes. Geological Formation of


29.
the Himalayas, p. 31. The Sub- Himalayas, p. 33. Glaciers and Krocions of the
Himalayas, p. 35. The Terai, Bhaver, and Doous, p. 37. Tho Panjab Hills. Hmlt,
Suleiman, and Hula Ranges, p. 40.' Hydrography of India, p. 43. The Climate of
India, p. 45. The Monsoons. Rainfall, p. 50. Droughts and Cyclones, p. 64. Indian
Flora, p. 56. Indian Fauna, p. 08. Inhabitants of India, 63.
III. WKSTKKN HIMALAYAS. UPPER VALLEYS OF THE " FIVE RIVEKK." KASHMIR, EAST
DAHDISTAN, HAZAUA, CHAMBA, KANURA, STATES OF THE UPPER SATI.IJ C6
Lingtzhitang and Kuen-lua Plateaux, p. 66. Rupshu lacustrine Region, p. 68.
(il.u i. is of
Kashmir, p. 69. Gilgit Highlands, p. 70. Doos-ii Plateau. Nanff* I'm bat,
p. Panjab and Kajnag Uplands, p. 73. Vale of Kashmir, 75. Inhabitants of
71.

Kashmir, p. 76. Uhe Ladak and Ualtistan Races, p. 77. The Dard Tribe*, p. 79.
Tho Kashmirians, p. 83.
Topography, p. 85.
IV. CENTRAL HIMALAYAS. UPPER JAMNA AND GANGES BASINS. SIMLA, GARHWAL, KIMAO.X,
96
Tho Simla District Garhwul, p. 96. Uardwar, p. 101. Kcpal, p. 107. lulnlitants
of Nepal, p. 111.
Topography, p. 115.
Y. THE EABTEHN HIMALAYAS SIKKIM AND BHITAN
Hydr<'gr:i]ihy and Climate of Sikkim, p. 119.
........
Vegetation and Inhabitant*, p. 121.
118

Topography, p. 123. llhut in, p. 124. AJkha, Abor, and Mi.-hmi Highlands, p. 126.
WIT
VI. THE
IfAJI'l

The Low,
FIVE

r
RIVERS.
TANA, SlND, CATCH
Indus and its
...... .....
INDUS AND DESEUT.

Delta, p. 13-5.
TANJAB,

Tho Thar
DIRAJAT, BAHAWALPIR,

Desert,
.

p. 139. Tho Rann of


130

Catch, p. 142. Inhabitants The Jats and Sikhs, p. 145. The Hindu* and Afghans,
p. 147.
To]n>graphy, p. 150.
VII. KATTYAWAK. ...........
NOKTH GI/JARAT
Inli:ibil:ints, p. .160.

Topography, p. ItiT.
VIII. ARAVALI AM> VI.MHIYA RANGES.
BlIAIiKl KIIAMi
Mount Al.ii and An
............
ali Hills, p.
RvjrtTAXA.

174.
MALWA.

Inhabitants, the Bhils. p.


GWALIO*. BCNDKLKMAXO.

176. The
.

Kajputa,
17J

p. i77.
Topography, p. 180.
iv CONTENTS.

CHAP.
IX. THE GANGES BASIN. NORTH-WEST PROVINCES. RAMPUR. AUDH. BEHAR. BENGAL . 189
The Ganges Delta, p. 193. The Sanderbans, p. 196. Clim.-itt-, Traffic,and Geology of
Hi.' I, .wer Ganges, p. 198. Inhabitants, p. 200. The Santstls, p. 202. The Hindus
;tn 1 Moh.imm.-dans, p. 206. Land Tenure, p. 208.
Topography, p. 209.
X. ASSAM HIGHLANDS AND BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN 234
Garro, Khasi, and Xaga Hills, p. 234. Brahmaputra Hydrographic System, p. 239.
Inhabitants The Garros, p. 242. The Khasia and Nagas, p. 244. The Kuki, Bodo,
and Koch, p. 245. Ihe Assamese, p. 248.
Topography, 250.
XI. SfBARXAREKHA, BAITARANI, BKAHJIANI, AND MAHA N tDDI BASINS. OuiSSA, CHATI8-
OAKH, CIIOTA-NAGPORB 254
Inhabitiints of Orissa the Kolarians, p. 258.
Topography, p. 262.
XII. GoNDWANA, OR CENTRAL PuOVINCRS. UPPER SoN, NARBADAH, 1'APTI, AND GoDAVERI
BASINS 267
The Satpura Range, p. 2C8. The Narbadah and Tapti Rivers, p. 270. Inhabitants
the Gonds, p. 272.
Typography, p. 275.
XIII. WEST SLOPES OF THE PLATEAUX AND GHATS. BARODA, KANDESH, KONKAXS . . . 278
The Western Ghats, p. 279. Iuhabit..nts the Parsis, p. 282.
Topography, p. 284.
XIV. GODAVBRI AND KlSTNA BASINS. THE PKKKAN 294
The Godaveri, p. 296. The Kistna, p. 298. Inhabitants -the Mahrattas, p. 299.
Topography, p. 302.
XV. SOUTHERN INDIA. MADRAS, MYSORE, CURO, COCHIN, TRAVANCORE 316
The Mysore and Nilghiri Uplands, p. 317. The Pal-Ghat, Anamalah and Palni Hills,
p. 321. The Malabar and Coromandel Coasts, p. 324. The Pennar and Caveri Rivers,
p. 327. Inhabitants the Dravidians, p. 330.

Topography, 341.
XVI. CEYLON 361
Geology, Minerals, Hydrography, p. 363. Climate, Flora, Fauna, p 368. Inhabitants
Veddahs, Singhalese, p. 369.
Topography, p. 373.
XVII. LACCADIVES. MALDIVES. CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO 382
XVIII. MATERIAL AND MORAL CONDITION OF INDIA 388
Vital Statistics, p. 388. Agriculture, Industries, p. 393. Railways, Trade, Shipping,
p. 401. Caste, Religion, Social Progress, p. 403. Government and Administration,
p. 414.
XIX. INDO-CHINA. GENERAL SURVEY. CHITTAGONO. ARRAKAX. ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR
ISLANDS 420
Chittasjong and Arrakan, p. 422. The Andaman Islands, p. 427. The Xicobar Islands,
p. 430.
XX. IHRAWADDI AND SALWEN BASINS. MAXIPUR. SHAN AXD KAKHYEN TERRITORIES.
l',i KMA. PEGU. MARTABAN 434
The Irrawaddi, Siitang, and Salwen Rivers, p. 434. Inhabitants the Burmese, p. 441.
Topography, p. 446.
XXI. MENAM BASIN. WEST SIAM, SHAN AND LAO STATES 458
Topography, p. 466.
XXII. MEKOXC; AND SONO-KOI B \SINS. EAST SIAM. TONOKING. SOUTH ANNAM CAMUOJA.
FRENCH COCHIN-CHINA 470
Inhabitants of Cochin-China, p. 477.
Topography, p. 482.

XXIII. PENINSULA OF MALACCA. TENASSERIM. STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. SIAMESE TBBRITORY.


PERAK. PAIIANG. SELANOOR. XEORI SEMBILAN. JOHOR 487
Inhabitants of Malacca, p. 491.

INDEX ...
Topography, p. 49o.
STATISTICAL TABLES
.'
500
505
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

MAPS PRINTED IX COLOURS.

Northern India
1.

2.

3.
Southern India
Kashmir
......
....
14

19
69
4.

5.

6.
Calcutta and Environs

Bombay
Saigon
.

.
.

.
. .-

484

PLATES.
Singhalese
I'lii-sts. ....
Types and Costume*

BandiTp'iiii -li. or Jamnotri View taken from


Buddhist
Frontispiece
Jaipur

The Taj Mahal


View taken

Agra
in the High Street
To fit* p*ft 1M
JI4
the Heights of Barsu, on the south-east. Benares Viow taken from the Ghats . . Sit
To face page 8 |
Calcutta View taken from the Ksplanado . 230
Mahahaleshvar
Elphinstone Point
site .....
View taken in the Ghats, oppo-
62
Kuins of an Ahom Temple at Dinajpur, Upper
Assam 230

taken in Sikkim
Spiti View of
......
Bridge over a Tributary of the Ranjit View

Dunkar . . . . .
68
7 1
,

'
Ruiiu of
Hainpi Wairirn-iihaped Temple,
prototype of the Ja^gnath Car . . .

Gorge of t h- Marble Rocks. Upper Nartxdih .


HA
270

Ladak
Srinagar
........
Type* and Costumes of Tibetan

...
Bridge over the Jhilam
Women of
77
87
Th.-

Bombay
Bhor Ghat
Khandala
Street
Gradient of the Railway near

View in the Xtive Town


2*0
.'

t'l'jMT Satlij Yall.-y


takt-n from near K!?i .....
Route to Tibet View

(it n-T.il Viow of Simla, taki-n from Jitko Hill .


T4
96
Madras -Vi.-w taken fn>m
OoMtruction
Tlie Cotton Market,
<>f th>>

Bombay
th.-

Hnrix.iir
.
Pier U-fure the

. 401
K Temples facing tin- Hoyal Palace.
itmaiidii 115 Temples at 1'nUui ,

Hhutia or lihutam * TVJH* and Costumi-s . !.'*> Yenan-gj-ong View taken from the Irrawaddi
Bridge of Boats over the Indus at Kunhil

'Hi. liaja of Bahawalpur and his Court . . 148


Burmese Artisans
Youths
fliimesti
Boat-racini: on the Mekong
.....
...
414
461

'
47;
Iwitaband Pass Vnll.-y of th.- Shadow of IVath 1 1
MoiTypue
ral Viow of Ixahoro . . . .163 Cambojan Typce-Tho Queen Mother
way of tae Great Mosque at Ahmedabad . 171 Scene on the Chinew Arroyo, near the Saigon
Temple on Mount Abu
.
Interior of a Jaina . 180
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

ILLUSTRATIONS IX TEXT.

TNDIA AND INDO-CHINA.


LIST OF I I.I.I -i RATIONS.

MOT
DO.
91
it.n.i
titfinal

.......
Population

i HI.
c.f

TOWER
Bengal

.
vn 149.
:
i.
hinapoli .

VIEW
:

92. Ainu, M'i" i'ur SiUi .


214 FROM THE r AI.T .

93. Liu-know
94. AlUhabad ......
and

.......
its Environ.* . . . 217
219
I'.l.
Bridge of ICuiitml
Pi til I.,!
.

96. Bonarva
96. Patna .......
.... 223
151.

Ceylon.
Highland* and Coral

M.mirhyr
Mouth
.r

.....
and Boddh Oaya

...
154. LAN|>' M r
THE KMlion Pi
Vll W
>TTION
....
T KE* I R/.M
. 366
99.
100. The Kaniganj Mines
101. Mount
of the Huijli

Kailiw, (latrn Hills


.... . . . 235
1. ',.-,.

166.
157. Jaffna
f
a Lagoon

.......
lUma
300
|67
374
!"J.
103. THE BANYAN .....
Valleys of Erosion in the Khasia Valleys
.
236
237
i

169.
1 From Xegombo to C .Uura
CINNAMON PACKING
. . . 374
375
104 .

putra .......
Unexplored Regions of the Upper Brahma- 240
240
160.
161. Point de (Jail-
Colombo 377
973
105.
106. Inhabitants of ....
Ganges and Brahmaputra Confluence
Assam
. 241
249
162. Coffee
kadi
PlanUtions in the Ceylon High-
379
107.
Dhul.ii ......
The Brahmaputra between Goal para and

...
251
163. K VMIY
HIDE
VlEW TAKEN PROM THE OPPOSITE
OK THE LAKE .... 380
108.
109.
Lake Shilka
Maha Naddi Delta
.

..... . . . 255
256
K>4. Trincomali
165. Mahli-Mahlu Atolls
f|
386
110.
111.
Territory of the Khonds
Sambalpur Diamond Fields
. .

.
.

.
.

.
166.
167.
Chagos Bank
Diego Garcia ...... 386
387
112.
113.
THE "SACRF.H BLOCK" OK VISHNU
Jagganath District .....
.....
. . 264
265
168. Relative Increase of the Population in
India, Europe, and the United State* .
UTAKAMI xi VIEW TAKEN FROM A Srta
389
114.
11").
Paohmari Plateau
Jabalpur and Xarsinghpur . . .
2*9
274
169.
OF THE DOHAHETTA ....
... IN
116. .1 .HU.ITK THE MADAN MAHAL
117. Nagpur and Kam'i ..... . : 276
277
170. JEWIKII WOMRN op COCHIN
171. Density of (he Population of India
..... . .
Ml
392
118. Garhs of the Ghats. -Vis tlg.uh
119. Sandbanks in the Gulf of Cambay
.

.
.

.
281
281
172. FAMINE VtcriMs
173. Famine Zone, (>ri*a .... 394
396
l-'ii.

U 1 .

UJ. Lake Lonar


Underground Temples
Territory of Goa .....
......
in India . . 20
292
295
174. Chief Agricultural Product* of India
175. Irrigation Works of India . .

of India ....
.

.
397
US
399
!_':{. Mouths of the Godaveri

I'JI. Months of the Kistna


.

. .
.

.
. .

.
298
300
176. Geological
177.
178.
Tho Panna Ditmond
Railways of India
Map
Fit-Ms ... 400
402
Mahratta Territory
1 -'.'). . ". . . . 301 179. TYPES AND COSTCMES DAXJAKI MEN AND
WOMEN
KLLOKA PALACE op KAILAH
1 -'''>.

\'27. Cocanada and Coringa

Us. I'lina and its Environs


. .

....
....
. 305
307
308
180. Prescribed
and Outoaste*
Distance* between the Caste*
404

406
1-".'.
Kolhaj.ur mid Punalla . . . . 310 1K1. JAIXA TEMPLE* ON SINAOARH . . . 408
130. Diamond Fields of Knrnul . . . 312 182. Chief Places of Pilgrimage in India. . 409
131. GOLCONIIA
CITADEL
UvMJ'AKTH OF THE ToWN AND
...... 314
183. THE KTTAI. MomifE, DEI.NI DIOTKKT
184. Catholic and Protestant Missions in India
. 419
412
l.TJ. Forvsts of

l.U.
Curg and Mysore
Nilghiri Hills
. .

...... . 319
320
185. THR
186. State* of the Sat lej
PRINCE** OF BHOPAL
Bed*
.

.
.

.
.413
.416
l-'U.

l:J5.

!:<;.
TUK I'IKAKI FAM.-
Anamil:ili Hills
'P.. i
1

.,,
.....
....
hin I'.i.-kwaters
IN THE NIIOHIKIS . 3'22
323
324
187. CITADEL OF ATTOCK AND BRIDGE or BOATS
OTEH THE INDUS
188. Disputed Territories between England ai.d
417

326 France in the Eighteenth ( Yntury . 418


i:js. The r.tv.-ri D.-lta 329 189. I
Hallways .
i:.iropean . 419

11".
141. TYI-F.X
Uke Pulikat
Languages <f Soul hrrn I mlia
AND COSTUMEH GROVPOF TOUAS
. .
330
331
335 191.
China
Ramri and Chcduba
.......
190. Comparative Population of India and Indo-

. <

U.'.
M.-i.lras ....... I!'.
1
. K.ii.ii.ill

'
of the Irrawad.li B-tMH
hit taking and Mouths of the M
. .

Ii6
IN.
14'). Pmi.lii -hiTry ......
T.-ri-itory of Pondirh.-rry . - . 348
349
I'.M.

196.
Akv.ih and Mou h of the Kulad*n
Andaman ArrhijH-lugo .
. .

. 4."

KIUMII\K<>NAM
TEMPLK ...... CHIEF GOPCKA OF THE

Min.-s..f \Vainad
196. Port Blair
197. Nicohar Aivhipvlago
TeresMaO'l BomU.Li
430
31
VU1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

no. AUK
199. LANDSI APE IN CAR-XICOBAR VILLAGE OK
tAWI
200. Roadbteads and Harbours of Num.. \\ry .

'-'01. The Irrawaddi above Bhamo .

202. Irrawaddi Delta


_'<>:{. THE IKKAWAHDI HKI.OW PKOME . .

'201. Shiftings of the Irrawaddi at the Head of


the Delta
Embankments on the Irrawaddi and
205.
Breaches made in 1877 ...
206.
207.
108.
Teak Forests of East Pegu
Population of Burma
BURMESE WAOOON . . .
.... .

209. Bhamo
210. Trade Routes of Burma
211. Ava, Amarapura, Mandalay
....
212. GENERAL VIEW OF MANDALAY, TAKEN
FROM MANDALAY HILL
213. Manipur Basin
214. Prome and its Salt Mines
215. Dykes of the Irrawaddi at Henzada
216.
217.
218.
Rangun
Lower Sittang Valley ....
THE SALWEN, ABOVE MAULMKIN .
219. BOULDER SURMOUNTED BY A PAGODA
220. Maulmuin and Mouths of the Salwen
221. GulfofSiam
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL SURVEY.

is one of those names to which during the course of age* the


greatest variety of meanings has been attributed. Applied origi-
nally to the region watered by the lower course of the Sindhu, that
is, the Indus of Western writers, it was successively extended to all
the Eastern lands either visited bv the ancients or
ti
known to them
by report. In this way it was thus gradually spread to the Ganges basin, to the
Drkkun peninsula, and even to the regions lying east of the Ganges. The islands
scattered along the south-eastern seaboard of the continent came also to be regarded
as
belonging to the Indian domain, in which were likewise included the remote
archipelagoes of Malaysia, where the Europeans were preceded by the Arabs in
their commercial expeditions. In the language of mediu-val writers, India com-
prised Arabia itself, and Ethiopia, that is to say, all the tropical lands of the south
and which in their climate and products presented the greatest contrast to the
east

regions of the temperate zone. Lastly, when Christopher Columbus sailed west-
wards in search of the eastern confines of Asia, the islands and shores of the New
World lying across his path were naturally designated by him under the name of
"
the land which he supposed ho had reached. The new India," that is, the Antilles
and mainland, ha* retained the name thus conferred on it by he CM uuese navi- t

" Wc*t " from


gator. It is, however, now at lea>t dixtingui^luil by the epithet of
the India of the eastern hemisphere, whereas, through a deplorable ethnological
2 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

"
confusion, the American aborigines are still always spoken of simply as Indians,"
a term properly applicable to the inhabitants of the Cisgangetic peninsula alone.
"
The geographical expression " India has at least acquired a certain precision.
lint while applied in a narrow sense and in the singular number to the two eastern

peninsulas of Southern Asia, it also comprises in a more general way all the
archi-

pelagoes stretching thence between the Sea of Japan and the Indian Ocean south-

eastwards in the direction of Australia. This volume, however, will be confined

exclusively to the India of the mainland and the islands directly dependent on it.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

In East India the physical features of nature are in many respects presented
in their grandest aspect. The plains watered by the Indus and Ganges are
encircled northwards by themountains on the globe, nor is the contrast
loftiest

between their glittering snowy peaks and the unbroken sea of verdure clothing their
lower slopes elsewhere developed on such a vast scale. North of the main range
the Tibetan plateaux present interminable solitudes, destitute of water and vegeta-
tion except in the deeper depressions, in which are gathered the mountain torrents,
and where shelter is afforded to men and plants. But towards the south the land
falls in successive terraces down to rich and well-watered plains abounding in
animal and vegetable life. Within the highlands themselves extensive valleys are
developed, like that of Kashmir, which in the popular fancy have been converted
into earthly paradises inhabitedby mankind during the golden age. These delight-
ful uplands are in truth almost unrivalled for their healthy climate and fertile soil,
their lovely landscapes reflected in limpid lakes and running waters, their amphi-
theatres of snowy ranges, and canopy of bright azure skies.
In the archipelagoes attached to the mainland at the other extremity of India,
the energy of the vital forces is displayed by phenomena of a different order. Here
the dazzling snow-clad ranges are replaced by lofty cones towering above pent-up
liquid igneous masses stretching from island to island for hundreds of miles. No-
where else are the fissures in the crust of the earth
covered by such a regular series
of still active volcanic crests, everywhere clothed with a zone of the richest
tropical
vegetation. Elsewhere hard lava streams, producing not a green leaf, pools of
boiling mud, bottomless pits emitting dense
vapours accompanied by underground
thunders, silent vales filledwith deadly exhalations, contrast vividly with forests
of stupendous growth, where the
overflowing sap transformed to gums, frankin-
cense, or poisonous exudations, oozes from the interlaced stems and branches of a
rank vegetation. There was a time when volcanic phenomena analogous to or even
more violent than those of the Sunda Islands might still be witnessed on the Indian
mainland itself. The lava fields strewn over the Dekkan tableland bear eloquent
witness to the prodigious energy formerly
displayed by the plutonic forces of the
peninsula. \ But at present the region of continental India has entered on a period
of repose, disturbed only
by vibrations occurring at long intervals, such as all the
seaboards of the great continents are exposed to. A few extinct craters are said to
INHABITANTS. |

on the plains (.f Konkan, east of


vi-il.le
!1
Bombay. But mi the I) kkan proper
the only true \olcanic emu- i-, that which half tills the lake of Lunar,
although
evni here MO tract' can IK> detected of recent eruptions. An igneous explosion,
h"' I il to have occurrrtl in modern times sonic ten mil.-s ,,M th.
.roiiumdcl < '<

coa>t, near I'ondieherry.

In the Transjrangetic peninsula a few true craters have boeudi*


the most con>pieuous seems to IM- the 1'appa-lung on the Irruwaddi. U-twecn
Arrakan and 1'agau. But even these have all Wn extinct since the miocene

period. The only eruptions recorded by history in this region are those of the
numerous mud volcanoes in the islands of Itumri and Cheduba, and on the r

bouring mainland between Chittugong and the Irruwaddi delta. Ashes and lavas
are also occasionally discharged by Xarcudam and Barren Island, two inlet*
lying
east of the Andainans, which may be regarded as the crests of a submarine chain

running parallel with that group.


Under the Indian climate atmospheric disturbances are more violent than
elsewhere. Within the area stretching from the bleak Tibetan plateaux to the
sultry coastlands of both peninsulas, and from the shores of the Indian Ocean to
those of the China Sea, the variations of temperature, humidity, atmospheric

pressure, and electric tension are occasionally so great that the regular change of
the winds is insufficient to restore the equilibrium. Hurricanes spring up no leas

formidable than those of West India and the Mascarenhas, but still more terrible in

their results, inasmuch as they sweep over regions far richer and more densely
peopled. The track of an Indian cyclone has often been traced by ruined cities
and whole communities buried under the debris. Although washed by the ocean,
the western peninsula has none the less more than one true desert, and the heaviest

downpours hitherto recorded full, not on the plains, but on the slopes of the moun-
tains. In some districts, the rains are on an average twenty times more abundant
than in the wettest parts of France. Hence the rivers, such as the Brahmaputra
and Ganges, have a volume often out of all proportion with their length and the
area of their drainage, and send down vast quantities of alluvial matter, which tends

rapidly to change the form of their estuaries. Although discharging into marine
l>a-ins subject to heavy titles, most of the streams in India and Further India have

consequently advanced their deltas far seawards. Even in the relief of these basins

and the phenomena of which they are the scene, the Indian peninsulas differ from
the other regions of the globe. The Pacific Ocean, the waters of the Antilles and
Bahamas, have their atols, or circular coral formations. But none of these coral line
"
groups can be compared with the Maldives, or ten thousand
j-l :ie a-tnii-

of their annular reefs, themselves composed of other atols, which


ishing regularity
are again divided into rocks of similar form, scarcely ri-ini; ;il>,\c the surface of the

Mil-rounding waters,

IMI VHITVXTS.

The section of the human


family dwelling in the East Indie-,
ami es|Kviall\

Hindustan properly so culled, may claim to rank on a footing of quality with the
4 INDIA AND JNDO-CHINA.

Western peoplrs themselves for the imimrtauce of the part played l>y it in the history

of the world since the dawn of civilisation. Its very numbers ensure for it a fore-

most position amongst the nations of the globe, since fully 300 millions of souls, or
more than one-fifth of mankind, are concentrated in the two peninsulas between the
Indus delta and the Strait of Malacca. Hence these regions are relatively four or

five times more densely peopled than other lands, and in some favoured tracts, such

as the plains of Oudh and Bengal, more people are massed together than in any
other region of like extent outside the large cities. Doubtless the work of nations
is not to be measured by the density of their communities. But it was amongst
the common ancestors of the present Hindus and their neighbours on the northern

slope of the Hindu-Rush that historians have discovered, amongst the first teachers

of cultured humanity, those who most resemble the Western peoples in speech and
mental qualities, and who have left us, in the purest state, the rudiments of our

primitive civilisation.
So late as the last century, writers seeking for the first germs of European culture
stilllooked towards Greece and Asia Minor, while also probing the mysteries of
ancient Egypt and Babylonia. But the discovery of the treasures for which the
modern world is indebted to the prehistoric communities of the upper Panjab was
reserved for the inquirers of recent and contemporary times. After an interval of
"
over 3,000 years the venerable words of the Yedas uttered by the Rishis or " Sages
seem to the living generations like the echoes of their childhood's song. These
utterances they fancy they have heard in the cradle, or repeated in a dream, so

forcibly do the long- forgotten accents awaken earlier impressions in their soul. In
the history of these vanished societies they still recognise a vivid reminiscence of
their own past. The cult of the Yedic tribes settled on the banks of the " Seven
"
Streams is the same that the child instinctively adopts as he trembles before the
storm, appeals to sun and rain, personifies trees, springs, clouds, and all natural

objects. The simple myths associated with this religion of the primitive Aryan
peasant have been handed down from age to age, from one form of worship to
another. Yet amid the thousand changes caused by the intermingling of so many
diverse elements, they may still be clearly recognised. The very names of the
ancient gods still survive, and the legends related during the long winter nights by
the old peasant women of Thuringia, the Abruzzi, or Limousin, resemble even in
their details the stories told of an evening in the rural villages of the Dekkan or

Rajputana. From the Mekong delta to the western extremity of Europe the same
superstitious practices are observed on all important occasions by the husbandman,
who has long forgotten the primitive meaning of these simple rites.
And
while this common inheritance was maintained in the mind of the peoples
from one end of the Old World to the other, the progress made in the higher
" Indian
spheres of thought amongst the kindred nations on either side of the
"
Caucasus was effected in accordance with a corresponding evolution. The Hindu
thinkers approached the great problems of life with the same daring and in. the
same broad did later on the philosophers of Greece and the Wot.
spirit as At the
same time the minstrels sang the deeds of the national heroes, and thus were
I MI. VI', IT A NTS.

gradually eomjM.sed marvellous epi,-s, the distant e, ho of which i- still f.-und it, tin-
fable and story "
Iliad. Ill tl..- \s i-dol.l of India" Ix-ranie |,r.,\,
i l,|.,l. Ti.. -

arose, mingled at lir-t


.sarrilirial with
hymns hut destined soon -oar into I

thought and expression, which for U-aiity of language ami


lufty regions (f
mc-Mt have never Ix-en excelled. And the \.-ry language its. If. in which them
admirable works n- written, is
"
\\ .

closely akin to the Ar\an


tongues which have
gradually prevailed in Europe, and which are now spoken by on r !"0 millions of
human In-ings in tin- \ew World and Australasia. Amongst the inflecting forms
of KjMwh the Ix-autiful Sanskrit idiom, in which
philologists have discovered to
many runts and primitive elements common to the
European branches, is surpassed
by none in wealth, pliability, and euphony. Through language, that is, through
living thought, the Western and Eastern peoples have at last recognised their mutual
affinities. India is the sister of Europe, and since the rediscovery of this forgotten
truth she has more than any other land supplied to Western students the materials
with which they have been enabled to create and classify the three modem sciences
of comparative philology, mythology, and jurisprudence. To the Hindu- we are
indebted for the decimal system and the use of the zero. Except the Phu-nician
alphabet, the supposed common origin of all the Indian as it
certainly is of the
Greek and Roman characters, no other invention has contributed more than this

method of calculation to the progress of the exact and physical sciences.

Nevertheless the Aryan world confined to the Indus and (ianges basins had

always remained perfectly distinct from the kindred Westeni branches of the family.
The Hindu branch is completely limited, if not north-eastwards in the direction of

China, at least westwards and north-westwards in the direction of I rania, by water-


less regions, rugged plateaux, and lofty snow-clad ranges. These natural frontiers
are so clearly drawn that they have necessarily also become ethnical juirting lines,
in spite of numerous military expedit ions and temporary annexations. On either

side of this line the various peoples of kindred speech have followed a different and

independent development. Nevertheless the mountain passes, through which the


primitive Aryans of both slopes had maintained certain mutual relations,
are not

sufficiently elevated or obstructed by


snows to have ever completely interrupted the
communications between the Indian peninsula and Western Asia. Annie's and
caravans were acquainted with the routes by the Bamian and other ]Misses over
the Hindu-Rush, and were able to descend towards the plains of India by the
historic highway following the course of the Kabul Hiver. And if the European
nations ceased from time to time to have direct o- indirect rc-lations with any
two
Hindustan, the cause was due to the wars of invasion intervening between the
extremities of the Aryan world.
Taken collectively, the lands known as the East Indies present a less clearly

defined geographical whole than does the European continent, and their hi
consequently lacks the same character of unity. Doubtless Cisgangvtic India, con-
sideml separately, one of tlm-e regions which present the greatest geometi
is

precision in their contour. For it i* di-p.M-d in an almo-t regular jH.lygonal


and mountains. But Transgangetic India IB far
MM face by the surrounding seas
INDIA AND 1NDO-CIIIXA.

from enjoying equally precise outlines towards the continent. Here the mountain
ranges and river valleys are so that a zone of gradual transition occurs
disjx>sed
everywhere from Burma, Siam, and Annam to the south-western provinces of China.
As indicated by the very name of Indo-China, first proposed by Malte-Brun and
since hi^ time commonly applied to the south-eastern peninsula of Asia, this laud

Fig. 1. LIXOUISTIO FAMILIES OF INDIA.


Scule 1 : 28,000,000.

C Perron

An .in. Druvioian. Tibeto-Buiuuui.

_
Koloriaii. Khasia.
600 Miles.
Tai.

belongs both geographically and historically to both of the adjacent regions. The
neighbouring islands and archipelagoes also naturally form so many independent
domains, some of which are rarely visited, in consequence either of the dangerous
reefs surrounding them or of the impenetrable forests by which they are still

mainly covered. Even on the mainland many tracts are strewn with stagnant
waters or clothed with dense jungle impassable to the traveller or explorer.
IOIONS. 7

Thus divid. d info a mmilcr of distinct section-, tin- Ka-t Indict cannot be com-
pared with KIII..J,,-
in the fulness of their historic lr \va* ever
It
\.lujM-d rivalling tin- \i man \\ ..rid, which embraced the whole of the Meditcr-
ranetin lu-in. and which was limited southwards only ly tl. , :

denerts,
northwards l>y the surf-l>caten shores of tin- Atlantic and the \a-t f.ircsto of
(i. TIH mil. Although the has been di-iurled. and although KurojN-
/-// I: >tnana
is now divided into several independent and at times hostile state*. n> \< ithelcM
most of the continental nations aiv sullieiently allied, morally and intelleetually, to

regard themselves as sprung of a common stock, speaking kindred language*,


drawing their myths and ideas from the same source, sharing in a common civilisa-
tion, whose local disagreements are daily diminishing.

In India, on the contrary, racial distinctions have remained comparatively far


more marked, and even in Hindustan proper there arc no less than five ethnical
"
groups, differing in physique, speech, and usages. The preponderating " Aryan
element, the pure representatives of which dwell in the upper Ganges basin within

sight of the sacred Jamnotri and Gangotri Mountains, would comprise no more
than 10,000,000 souls, were it limited to those only who bear the name of Brahman.
But in spite of the institution of caste, which is in
any case subsequent to the

Aryan invasion, and which was suspended by Buddhism for centuries, the
victorious intruders became diversely intermingled with the aborigines. While
they were themselves being Indianixed, they were gradually assimilating the
natives to the Aryan speech, and in the northern and central regions as well as in

Ceylon there are no less than 170,000,000 who speak Aryan


languages. Southern
India, however, still constitutes a distinct linguistic domain, where the Dravidian
the Kols, Mundahs,
tongues are universally current. In the central provinces, also,
Santhals, and other half-savage tribes, probably the descendants of the old masters

gradually driven to the hills and wooded districts of


of the land, who had been the

interior, speak languages belonging to a third stock, commonly known as the

Kolarian, from one of the chief members of the autochthonous group. The Kha*i,
or Kahsia, an
occupying tract between the Brahmaputra and Irrawaddi
upland
basins, forms a fourth family, differing altogether from its neighbours in speech.

Lastly, the Bod, or Tibeto-Burman of the Himalayas and Western Indo-t'hina, the
Annamese, and the numerous dialects comprised under the
Tai, or Siamese, the
name form so many sharply defined divisions, all
of Malay, attesting an extreme
as two hundred and fifty distinct languages
diversity of origin. Probably as many
transition from the
are current in the East Indies, offering even' imaginable

isolating idioms of Indo-China to the highly inflected neo-Sauskritic group of


Hindustan.

BBJOKUH.

Thanks to proselytising zeal, the domain of the religions which arose on the
that of the Aryan tongues,
northern plains of I ndia. had a far wider expansion than
civilisation. The Brah-
and their diffusion was accompanied by the ronv*|xmding
all
manisin, whi< to the older Vcdic rites, undoubt.-dly sought, like
8 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

other religions, to conquer the world. It reached even to the island of Java and
the neighbouring Buli and Lombok, where its influence still survives in the dialects,
traditions, manners, arts, and political institutions of the people. All the languages
of the East Indies preserve at least the traces of the myths and heroic legends dis-
seminated by the Hindu missionaries. Even amongst the pagan communities of
the Malay Islands and of the Indo-Chinese forests ceremonies are still observed
which here and there recall the rites formerly practised in the Panjab.
But still more active was the propaganda organized by the disciples of Buddha.
With a zeal that has never been surpassed, the heralds of the " Great Doctrine "
went in search of the remotest barbarous or civilised peoples, everywhere proclaim-
ing the good tidings of equality, self-abnegation, justice, and brotherly love. Crossing
the Hindu-Kush, the Pamir, and Himalayas, they undertook the moral conquest of
the vast regions stretching from these lofty ranges away to the Pacific seaboard.
Their faith subdued the peoples of Tibet, Mongolia, China, Japan, while their in-
fluence was felt, under the form of Shamanism, amongst the Chukchis, Tunguses,
Samoyedes, and other tribes dwelling along the shores of the Frozen Ocean. Till

the middle of the present century, before the great convulsions in China and the
enormous increase of the white race in Europe and the New "World, the followers
of Buddha were still far more numerous than those of all the Christian sects com-
bined.
But while it was thus overflowing beyond the land of its birth, and disseminating
in many places Hindu ideas together with a
knowledge of the sacred Pali language,
"
and of the " divine Nagari writing, Buddhism was gradually losing its empire in
India itself, and had already been here and there driven by persecution to the up-
land valleys of the surrounding highlands. The spirit of caste, represented by the
various cults of Brahmanic origin, had once more acquired the ascendency.
Later on a third religion, Islam, was introduced by arms and proselytism from
Western Asia, and acquired its greatest development in the sacred land of the
" Seven now known as the Panjab, or
" Land of Five Waters." Thus it
Rivers,"
is that religions succeed each other on the same soil, just as in the woodlands the
various species of plants change from epoch to epoch by a natural law of rotation.

Following the great trade routes in the wake of the Arab vessels, Mohammedanism
became also diffused throughout the south-eastern archipelago, where it was
super-
imposed upon the various local religions. On the other hand, Christianity became
the prevailing form of belief only where it was imposed by force of arms, as took
place in comparatively recent times in Ceylon and Calicut. But in all these
districts Catholicism lost its apparent supremacy over the national cults as soon as

it ceased to be the state religion.

HISTORIC RETROSPECT.

Since the remote epochs of the first Aryan migrations, the Indian populations
have always played a passive part in the successive wars and invasions of the land.
From the moral point of view the expansive force of Hindu genius was no doubt
HISTORIC RETROSPECT.

..nsideral.le, as shown ly tin-


triumphs ,,f Huddhini throughout Eastern
Aoa,
and the deep intluen' the Indian
l.y -,-d
),y myth* and traditions on the
philosophy and theologies of Western A*ia. l-ypt, and limvr during I
the-
period
\vhi h prepared the udvent of Hut from the material
Christianity. standpoint the

Fig. 2. THE RELIOIOXM or I M.I A.


8d 1

lliutiu. M.i:

n 1
'-
Mob imme<lftiin numtrtxu. Oiriiitiaiu nnmerooa.
i
oT old rrilffioM.

... v.

Hindu populations never havinjr n-uliM-.l their own ix.litie;il unity, were unti^

Utenii>t the ]Mlitieal conquest of the surrounding land-.. And in any case with
other region could have appeared more own
attractive in their eyes than their

beautiful country, with its magnificent forests, highlands, running water*, and

66
10 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

abundant resources of all kinds ? The hills to the north-east held by marauding
tril>rs, the malarious forests and snowy ranges of the north, the rugged gorges and

dismal wastes to the west, everywhere presented formidable obstacles, which were
surmounted only by their zealous missionaries and enterprising traders. No
em ignition in mass of the Hindu populations has taken place during historic times

with the single exception of the mysterious gipsies, who are supposed to be descended
from the Jats, or Banjari, driven from the banks of the Indus by the Moham-
medans in the eighth or ninth century. Although possessing a coast line some
3,500 miles in extent, the Hindus never distinguished themselves as navigators, and
the two higher castes were even forbidden to leave the country. Some Banig-yana
or Hindu Banians, mostly from Gujarat and the neighbouring coast, are no doubt
met Arabian Sea, while several settlements of Klings, or
in all the ports along the
Southern Indians, are found in Malacca and other parts of Malaysia. Nevertheless
most of the foreign trade of the peninsula remained in the hands of the Arabs
from the days of Hiram and Solomon down to the arrival of Vasco de Gama.
On the other hand, how many ambitious rulers, how many captains eager for
fame or fortune, have attempted the conquest of a land whose very name had
become synonymous with boundless wealth For thence came the costly fabrics,
!

the jewelled arms, the carved ivories, the pearls, diamonds, and gold which caused
the Western nations to credit this region with all the treasures of fabulous lands.
Both Semiramis and Cyrus are said to have sent their hosts to the confines of India,

and, according to the legend, all who accompanied the expedition of Cyrus perished
in the deserts of Gedrosia, that is, of Makran or Southern Baluchistan. The
projects of Cyrus were renewed by Darius, son of Hystaspes, and the first really
historical invasion, which Herodotus tells us had been prepared a few years

previously by the explorations of Scylax of Caryanda, was undertaken towards the


beginning of the fifth century before Christ, as appears from various Persian rock
inscriptions.
Alexander of Macedon, conqueror of the Persians, sought to eclipse their exploits
"
by opening to the peoples of the known world regions which nature had long
*
kept concealed." Marching in a south-easterly direction parallel with the
advanced spurs of the Himalayas, and no doubt deviating little from that " royal
"
route now traversed by the railway, which was at all times the great highway
leading from the passes of the Hindu-Kush towards the Ganges valley, he forced the
passage of the Hydaspes Jhilam) probably some 20 miles below the spot where
(
now stands the city of like name. The aspect of the country fully confirms the
descriptions of the ancient writers, and the side valley especially can be identified,

through which Alexander marched by night in order to take the army of Porus by
surprise. The mountain also, which overlooks the whole region from the north, still
bears the name of Balnath-ka-tila, or " Mountain of the Sun," as at the time when
Porus here consulted the oracle.

Beyond the Jhilam, Alexander successively crossed two other rivers, the
Acesines (Chinab) and the Hydraotes in the Mandi dis-
(Ravi), and some heights
*
Quintus Cur lias.
HISTORIC l:
11

trict. t. the north are still known us tin- "


Sikandar-ku-dhar,
Mountain* of
<.r

Alexan.i- Krtrarin^ hi- -t. to the scene of hia on the


]
victory .Ihilain. where
he hud founilitl the city <>f Ni<-;ea on tin- left and Buceplialu* on the right bank, he
descended the river to the Indus, and so on to the m, .Aplorinjf tin: branches,
mouths, and ports of the main stream, and founding eitie* in suitable
jH,-.iti.,nH for

establishing permanent intercourse between the Kurt and t he Went. Thus began tho
scientific exploration of India. From that epoch the routes to the jH-ninimla were
never forgotten by the Western peoples, and down to the time of JuMinian traders
from Rome, Byzantium, or Alexandria continued to follow the direct route to the
Indus opened up by the Mucedoniun conqueror. Megasthenes, of Seleucus envoy

Fig. 3 SI-PPOHEII SPOT WHEKB ALEXAXDBU CUOMBD THE JHILAM.


tie 1 :37MXXVXXX

73'20 E.OfG 75-40'

Alexander's probable line of march.

ttMilea.

Nicator, penetrated much farther into the interior, where he visited the city of

Palibothra on the lower plains of the Ganges. King Saudrocottua, by whom he


was entertained, was doubtless the famous Shandragupta of the Hindu annals. His
is the first name which agrees at once with the accounts of the Greek
and native

historians.
that of the Moham-
After Alexander's expedition the first great invasion was
medans. From the Ix-ginning of the eighth century the Arabs began to make their
Indus valley, and during the ei-ht following centuries,
in the
down to
appearance
" frontier of Hin-
the foundation of the so-called Moghul Kmpire," the north-west
founder of
dustan remained nearly always open to the invader. But Sultan Buber,
12 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

that empire, had scarcely n>ssr<l the passes leading from Turkestan to the Indus

basin, when the European navigators by doubling the Cape deprived the routes of the
Hindu-Rush of much of their commercial and military importance. By his naval

expedition Vasco de Gama had, so to say, obliged Europe to face about, turning
from the direction of Egypt and Persia southwards in order to establish its com-
munications with India. Thus Lisbon succeeded to Venice as the emporium of
the treasures imported from the Gangetic peninsula, and the equilibrium of the
whole world became shifted farther west. Henceforth the maritime states of

Europe found themselves virtually nearer to India than those of Central Asia itself.

Nor did the Portuguese remain satisfied with trading along the Malabar coast.

But they had scarcely gained a footing on the mainland, when formidable rivals
presented themselves on the scene. The Dutch, English, Danes, and French
successively established their trading factories in the country, and for a moment it
seemed as Dupleix was about to transfer the empire of the Dekkan to France.
if

But abandoned by the mother country, the small and scattered forces of the French
were annihilated by those of the English East India Company, which gradually
seized all the chief commercial martsand strategic points, and thus became the
paramount power in the East.
In the year 1803 the English occupied the capital itself of the great Moghul,
and the successor of Baber and Akbar became a simple pensioner of the " Com-
pany." Then followed the rapid submission or annexation of all the lesser states
to the Anglo-Indian empire, and at present the Empress of India holds direct or
indirect sway over upwards of two hundred and sixty millions of people in Hindu-
stan. She is also mistress of the more productive parts of Burmah, and controls
most of the kinglets in the Malay peninsula. At the very extremity of this penin-
sula, and on the direct water highway to the Ohina seas, the British emporium of

Singapore has been thrown open to the trade of the world.


France on her part has occupied in Cochin China and Camboja a more extensive
territory than the whole of her Indian possessions in the last century. Lastly the
Chinese, without having politically annexed a single islet or headland in the Indian
waters, derive more benefit from this region than many European nations. Through
their trade, industry, and colonisation they must, in fact, be regarded as true con-

querors, and Siam may already be said to belong economically more to the Chinese
than to the Siamese themselves. Throughout the East Indies the only reallv
independent peoples are those of Nepal and Bhutan, and some wild or half-civilised
tribes of the Himalayan valleys, the Indo-Chinese forests, and a few islands of

Malaysia.
With Bhutan and
the exception of some tracts on the Tibetan frontier, such as

Upper Assam, the Indian peninsula has already been everywhere thoroughly sur-
veyed, and the maps of some of its provinces rival in accuracy those of Western
Europe. But Indo-China has been regularly explored only in the British and
French possessions and along the seaboard. Here a striking contrast is presented
in this respect between the coast lands and the regions farther inland. While the
Strait of Malacca is yearly traversed by thousands of vessels, most of the Laos
HISTORIC RETROS1-!

country and of North Hunua has hitherto remained unviited )>y Kurojea'
plorers.
and even flit- very <-nir-<- of the gr -at ri\< TS ha* not yet Im-n fully traced.
Hut we can scarcely remain much longer in such a- 1

nice regarding the


interesting, tracts separating the Hay of Hen^al from the up|*-r Vau^t/e-kiong

valley. Impelled by their mutual commercial interests, the peoples are every u h. re

seek! MI; to approach each otlu-r hy the most direct routcn. Tni\ellers. \\ h< n<w
\crland ntute through the Sue/ ('anal to the roundalH.ut \\ayof tin;
the c.

Cape, will one duy follow one or other of the lines of railway destined t,, ,,niie< t<

Kurope and A>ia through Constantinople and the Euphrates valley, or through
Caucasia and AlL.r liani>tan. In the same way Calcutta will sooner or later be con-
nected liy
more than one overland route with the cities of East China, and then the
intervening regions, now
almost unknown, will be traversed by some of the moet

frequented highways on the globe. Meantime the fact that India and China, the
two most densely-peopled regions in the world, in which are concentrated one half
of the human race, still remain unconnected by a single highway, shows how far
mankind still is from having subdued the planet of which he calls himself master.
CHAPTER II.

GENERAL SURVEY OF HINDUSTAN.

HE Persian term Hindustan, that is,


" Land of the Hindus," is merely
another form of the old name of India, which has been applied to
the peninsula from prehistoric times. According to most commen-
tators this name
simply that of the river Sindhu changed by the
is

Western peoples to Hindhu, Indos, Indus, the whole peninsula


having been named from the stream which watered the plains of the first Aryan
settlers. But this etymology has seemed too simple to be universally accepted.
The Chinese pilgrim Hwen-tsang derived the word from in-tu, in the sense of
"
moon," because the priests lit up the land by reflecting the light of the sun, as
does the moon ! Others have identified India with the god Indra, whose arm directs
the course of the moon in the heavens, implying that Hindustan is
pre-eminently
the " Sublunar World." It also bears many poetic names, such as Suda^ana, or
" Fair to look " "
upon Bharata varcha, or " The Fertile Land
; the " Lotus ;

"
Flower ;
Jambu dvipa, from the Eugenia Jftmbotana, a beautiful species of myrtle,
one of which plants described in the Mahabharata as growing on a summit
is
"
of the Himalayas, holy, everlasting, heaven-kissing, laden with fruits which fall
crashing to the earth, where their juice flows in a broad stream."
The "
expressions Arya varta, Arya bhumi, Arya dea, that is, land, region, or
domain of the Aryas," given to the country by the conquering race, are properly
applicable only to the parts occupied by the Aryas, that is to say, the basin of the
" Seven Rivers " and the
plains stretching thence eastwards to the Jamna. For
the history of the Vedic Aryas closes with the epoch when these immigrants reach
the banks of the Ganges. But their successors, the privileged high-caste Brahmans,
could also claim as their special domain all the land occupied by them. Hence
other names of the mentions that of "
amongst present India, Hwen-tsang Kingdom
of thePolomen," that of the " Brahmans."
is,

PROGRESS OF GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH.


So clearly defined are the natural limits of Hindustan, that although occupied
by different races and divided politically into hostile states, the physical unity of
PROGRESS OP GEOGRAPHICAL RKSKARC!!. 15

the peninsula lia- II'\.T IM n <nn'stioiu-d. Like tin-


Italy of JKIH! time, India bad

always tin a "geographical -\j>r


\.ilur of
Along a frontier and seaboard
with a total length of over 14,000 mil.--., it i\
very where enclosed by the sea and
lot't which thus comprise a vast region no lew than 1,500,000 square miles
v ranges,

in extent, or twelve times the size of the British Isles und over one-third of all

Europe, and stretching from the equatorial lands for over twelve degrees of latitude
into the temperate zone. With their mania some learned
for conventional divisions,

pandits and European geographers have doubtless taken the course of the Indus as

Fig. 4. COMPARATIVE AKIA op INDIA xn EKOLAXD.


8o*lt 1 : *>.<0,000.

E.ofG 70-

000 Mile*.

But real gco.rrapb.cal hm.U no bnnrf


the north-wt frontier of Hindustan.

,,v ,1,,. bU of river,, but by mountain -, -U, dr ctoa,

.i.,1 i,,l,,,.
.Lifting
t at. differing in their
habit, from tW of the p ..
have
never be.n a, fault. They
the natives of the Indus ba.in have
understood the contrast pre^nted by
"
the hotregion occup, rM-
the
and upland valley, peopled by
the "cold ro-i..n""f tl,<- plateaux
"***
1, the highlands
as the natural
now kno.n 1, the
"^-
tamer of theu- countrj."Jj
dagh, Khirtar, which they regard
16 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

priests, in their
zeal for the purity of the faith, have forbidden the Brahmans to
cross the Indus, this comparatively recent interdict must be attributed to the Moham-
which have changed the religions in the north-west of India.
iiu-dan invasions,

Hence Brahmanical communities, still numerous in all parts of the Panjab lying
east of the Indus, are very rare in the districts west of that river.

From the earliest historic times the Hindus were acquainted with the true form
of the peninsula inhabited by them. When the geometricians
accompanying

Fig. 5. FORM OF INDIA ACCORDING TO ANCIENT DOCUMENTS.


Scale 1 :
28,000,000

E.ofG 90'

COO Miles.

Alexander's expedition arrived on the banks of the Indus, the


reports received on
the spot, which were afterwards
repeated to the envoys of the Syrian kings, enabled
them to project a map of the
country perfectly correct in its main outlines. Ac-
cording to Eratosthenes, who availed himself of the materials collected
by the
Greek explorers, India has the form of an
irregular quadrilateral, and the length
assigned by him to its different sides coincides tolerably \vell with their real dimen-
sions. But although there is nothing geometrical in the of its contour,
regularity
I'KoQRESS OP OEOORAMII'-AI. l:i:si: ARCH. 17

its well-lKilamvd ]ir..|H,rti.iiis.


! -,, v O a* mi the east and west and a
mtperb
ni.iuiitaiii barrier on tin-
north, naturally tempted the Himlu geographer, to
exag-
gerate the rhythmical harmony of it* outward form. From the description of the
earth jrivrn l>y the sage Sanjaya in the Mahahharata, it lias been supposed that
the peninMila was l>y him i-oiuvivcd as a perfectly regular
(xjuiluteral triangle,
divid.-d into four
secondary triurigles all of equal size. But in the wme punge
"
the " circle of the Juinhu dvij)a is more if less
poetically ootHUllji compared by

Fig 6. FORM or IKIUA ACCOROIHO TO YAUAHA-I! IHIKA.


Scale 1 : 28,OU),OuO.

to a warrior's rounded to a four-petalled lotus.


shield, und even This last
Sanjaya
" flower" seems to have been the
comparison between the country and the sacred
most and is most alluded to by the Duddhist pil-
frequently
commonly accepted,
of the vulgar era abw
grims from China. The astronomers of the sixth century
recur to tin- same figure of tin- lotus dividing I"<li; it " part*, corresponding
to the centre of the flower and its ei-ht The world it.vlf was liknu-d to an
jw-tals.

immense flower formed either of four, seven, or nine dcipat (" islands ") or jK-nin-
18 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

sulas, disposed in concentric circles round about Meru, the "Golden Mountain,"
abode of the gods. Each of these terrestrial circles was surrounded by an ocean
formed by the rut of Priyavata's chariot wheels.
After the time of Alexander and the Seleucides the true form of India was for-

gotten by the Greeks, and the old documents became gradually distorted in the
hands of subsequent naturalists. In the geography of Ptolemy, Cisgangetic India
is no longer a peninsula. Broadening out east and west, it breaks southwards into
numerous promontories, some of which figure more conspicuously than Cape
Comorin itself. In spite of the longitudes and latitudes, India thus became more
deformed by the Alexandrian geographer than it had been by the comparison with
the mystic lotus flower. The degrees marked on the charts merely served to per-
petuate errors, which held their ground until the real outlines of the seaboard were

determined by the Portuguese navigators. Since Vasco de Gama's voyage the true
form of the peninsula has been gradually re-established, and all the observations of
previous explorers are found summed up in d'Anville's admirable map, which was
published in the middle of the eighteenth century. But the first topographical
surveys date only from the year 1763, with the studies of Rennell, "father of Hindu
geography," on the plains of the Lower Ganges. In 1802 Lambton began near
Madras the work of triangulation, which has not yet been entirely completed.
This has been a stupendous work, conducted in the midst of all kinds of hardships
and dangers from jungle fever and other causes more fatal than pitched battles.
The mortality campaigns has always been less than that
of soldiers in the Indian
of the geographersengaged on the Indian surveys. The geodetic operations have
now been extended beyond the Suleiman range into Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
Northwards they are penetrating up the valleys and over the crests of the Hima-
layas, awaiting the time when the measurement of the great arc stretching from

Cape Comorin to the Siberian headlands on the Arctic Ocean may be continued
across the Tibetan plateau. Towards the east the network of triangles has also been
pushed forward from Assam into Upper Burma, and has been connected with
Bangkok through the Irrawaddi and Salwen basins. Two-thirds have already been
completed of the chart in 177 sheets, embodying the surveys of India, of the west
coast of Indo-China,and the Malay peninsula, while thousands of special maps and
plans have revealed the geographical details of the land.
In its
general relief Cisgangetic India consists of two triangular regions with
a common base, but contrasting greatly one with the other. These are Southern
India and the northern Gangetic plains, which Carl Hitter has
compared to the
Italian peninsula and the of the Po, surrounded the semicircular barrier
valley by
of the Alps. Nor is this the only instance in which the Asiatic and European lands
resemble each other in their general outlines. Both continents are indented
by
three southern peninsulas corresponding
severally one with the other in some of
their main features. But while we remain ignorant of the real causes of these
remote analogies, it must suffice to indicate them without recognising, as many do,
a sort of mystic correspondence between the various divisions of the globe.
TI1H OHATS AND ANAMALAH MOUNTAINS. 10

TIIK DKKKAX TAHI.KI.AXD.

The Southern Indian whose coastline stretches from the mouth of tho
triangle,
Nurkiduh to that of the Maha-nuddi, is nn upland region of plateaux and
.highlands,
" "
constituting the section of Indiu to which the name of peninsula should have
Uvii restricted. The Dekkun,
the ancient Dekshin or
DakHhina-patha, that M, the
"
smith, or rather the land to the right," looking eastwards form* the central

portion of this section, and varies in mean elevation from 1,000 to 3,000 feet, with
a general inclination from west to east. The Dekkun cousiMts almost entirely of a
plateau of gneiss with transitional strata, which at one time formed an almot
insular group, when Northern India was still
partly a marine basin. JJut the

primitive format ions are covered for a space of over 200,000 square miles by manes
of basalt traps, in some places more than 3,000 feet thick. These volcanic streams
were accumulated during the chalk period and early eocene ejx>ch, since when
the Dekkan has been free from volcanic disturlwinces. Hut the work of denudation
caused by the climatic vicissitudes of ruins and winds, heat and cold, has in many

places removed all truces of the igneous fonnutions, which formerly covered u fur
wider range than at present. The surface of the traps hus moreover been weathered
and decomposed to a layer of luterite, a species of rock, which seems elsewhere to

occur only in Info-China, Malacca, and the Cape of Good Hope. It is a ferruginous

cluy, with a varying thickness


of from 30 to 100 feet, stretching over interminable

grey or reddish plains, which are clothed with u scant vegetation. The ruin water

rapidly disappears through the pores of this substance, leaving the slight surface
soil always dry and thirsty. Thick layers of this formation, mingled with sand,

gravel, and detritus of all kinds, have been swept by winds and rains from the

plateaux down to the surrounding plains and valleys. Some of this luterite is found
even on the seashore, washed up by the waves. It belongs mostly to a recent epoch,
and is still in course of formation.
probably

THE GHATS AND AXAMALAH Mot XTAIXS.

skirted on all three sides by mountain


The triangular tableland of the Dekkun is
Of these the most regular are the Western Ghats, which, especially
ranges.
towards their northern extremity, also take the name of the Suhyudri Mountains,

Interrupted at intervals by pips and


even broad depressions, the Ghats form
crests running west and east, and merging together
collectively a series of parallel
on their western scarp. From the coast they present the aspect of a continuous
for a distance of 7->0 miles
eminence, whose steep slopes stretch parallel with the sea
ea by
from the banks of the Tapti to Cape Comorin. They are separated from the
or
little more than a narrow strip of lowlands, here and there occupied by lagoons,
of the plateau to
diversified by abrupt headlands projecting from the escarpment
streams of the
the foaming waters of the Arabian Sea. From the ports and coast
of the breaks in the hay
Konkans, as this region is called, a prospect is afforded
is had to the opposite slopes. The verdant terraces,
ranges, through which access
20 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

which are ascended by the sharp windings of the routes and railways, present the
the name of g/uit, or
appearance of the receding steps of colossal stairs, whence
" to these mountains. Above the the ramparts of lava
steps," given passes,
terminate in circular prominences forming many so natural strongholds,
many of
which had been further strengthened and rendered impregnable by the rulers of
the Dekkan.
The Western Ghats have a mean elevation of about 3,500 feet, falling in some

places to less than 1,250, rising in others to upwards of 4,500. About 200 miles
from the southern extremity they merge in the mass of gneiss and porphyry known
"
as the Nilghiri, or Blue Mountains," which attain an extreme altitude of 8,750 feet.
These highlands are abruptly interrupted southwards by the Pal ghat, a broad gap
or depression, which seems to have been an old marine channel, and which is com-
"
manded on the south by the Anamalah, or Elephant Mountain," the culminating
point of India proper. The Anamudi, which is the highest peak of these uplands,

rises about 100 feet above the Dodabetta, the giant of the Nilghiris. When in
search of teak forests in 1851, the English explorer Michael first penetrated'into
these magnificent highlands, whose gneiss and porphyry summits were visible from
a great distance, standing out against the azure sky, but the approach to which was
obstructed by a broad belt of marshy and fever- stricken woodlands. The Anamalah
is continued south-eastwards by the Palni chain, which maintains an elevation
of over 6,000 feet, and which merges in the extreme south in the lower range of
the Cardamom from their chief vegetable product. These hills fall
Hills, so called
in gentle inclines down to Cape Comorin, where, as in the time of the early Greek
still come to bathe in the mingled waters of the two
navigators, yearly pilgrims
"
seas, inhonour of the Kamari, or " Maiden Goddess Durga. The whole of the
land south of the Pal ghat gap and of the river Caveri may be regarded as forming
an independent highland system, almost isolated from the mainland, like the neigh-
bouring island of Ceylon, which is itself partly connected with the continent by
the reefs of Rama's Bridge (Adam's Bridge), and which belongs geologically to the

Ghats.
The Eastern Ghats, which begin north of the Caveri valley, run, like the western
range, parallel with the coast.
But they have a much lower mean elevation, and
are broken into numerous fragments by broad valleys and river gorges. With an
average altitude of about 1,500 feet, these detached ridges form little more than
the outer scarp of the plateau of the Dekkan, which, owing to its general easterly

incline, is here considerably lower than on the opposite side. Going northwards,
the first of these ridges is the Shivarai, which skirts the low-lying plains of

Pondicherry, and the whole system terminates in Orissa with another group
of
" Blue which fall to about half the of the Southern
Mountains," height Nilghiris.

THE SATPURA AND VIXDHYA RANGES.


The northern limits of the Indian plateau are marked not by one, but by two
border ranges, which, with several advanced spurs and groups of hills, form the
THK SAT1TKA AND VINDHYA !
u
In-twrrn thr l>rkkan and thr northrrn plain* of Hindu*tun. Hut the
parting-line
bordrr chain. pro|M-rly >o called, i> that which run* \vc*t and east to tin- M*uth of
thr Tapti lii\er \allry, and which, ton ard. hr p-o^raphical
t nt rr <f thr
jn-nin-ula,
culminates in the Mahadro uplands. 1> t\\< m thr Tapti and the Nurluiduh run*

Fig. 7. ALTITI-DW or THE GHATS AND DUKAH.


Bcmle 1 :
1,OOW)00.

of igneous oripr
the parallel Satpura range, whose western extremity, entirely
in the of the '

blends its melamorphic rocks eastwards nigged j.lnt.-au


tanum TnwanN thr plains of tin- Ganges it m.-rp-s in thr lu.,1'
TanumatlL Thia nature
Rajmahal Hills and in the sacred mountain of
22 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of the plateau also forms an ethnological parting-lino, dividing the Aryan-speaking

populations of the north from the Kolarians and Dravidians of the south.
A study of the relief of the land leaves no doubt that the border chain of the

peninsular plateau was formerly continued eastwards to the Garo Hills and the
other highlands skirting the Brahmaputra valley on the east. The now vanished
intermediate range was evidently pierced and gradually swept into the Bay of

Bengal by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. The gap thus made between the

Ficr. 8. VIEW FROM MOUNT ABU.

two systems is no less than 120 miles wide. The South Assam chain also, which
runs east and north-eastwards parallel with the Eastern Himalayas, is geologically
connected with this system, consisting largely of the same tertiary sandstones and
nummulitic limestones resting on older formations. mean altitude of
It has a

4,000 to 6,000 feet, rising in the Shillong Peak to 6,450 feet. The various
"
sections of these Assam Hills," as they are often collectively called, are named
after the Garo, Khasi, Jaintia, Kachar, Naga, and other tribes inhabiting them.
THE NOHTUEnN PLAINS.

North ..f the Narl.adah river, whit-h i.s somet .rded M th,. dividing-line
en tlu- two great di\isi,,ns of India, other
ranges, gn,uj>ed under tho general
designation of tin- Vindhvas. run from the w, st, ,-n shores of the ]>enin*ulu toward*
the plains of the Jumnu. Hut taken as a whole, this
Hy.Htem forum J(

geographical frontier, none of its erests rising ,,,. t | mn 5<j<j f,

mean level of the surrounding lands. From their western


extremity the Ilujput
spurs project north-eastwards, in the direction of the rocky Aruvulli Hills, while
the almost isolated Mount Ahu, crowned by some of the holiest shrines in
India,
rises above the desert pluins stretching thence towards the Lower Indus. The
Gujarat Hills also be regarded as belonging to the
may system of the Vindhya*.
Nearly all the rocks of Southern India are very ancient, and amongst them are
found the richest carboniferous beds, as well as the most valuable
deposits of
mineral ores. In the Talchir Hills, between Orissa and the Central
Provinces,

Fig. 9. SECTION OF THE INDIAN PEXIXSILV NORTH or THE DSXKAV.


Scale 1 :
12,000,000.

Pt
MOO
1.6-4

Scale of height* five 'old that of diotaace*

"" MUea.

geologists have observed clays of glacial origin associated with rocks scored and
polished by the action of ice. This is a further proof of the existence of a glacial

period in tropical lands lying at slight elevations


above sea-level. The close
resemblance of the fossil flora in the carboniferous strata of Southern India with
that of Australia alsoshows that these regions, now separated from each other by a
distance of over 5,000 miles, must, at some remote period, have formed parts of the
same continent.*

THE NORTHERN PLAINS.

The great northern triangular pluin,


formed by the two basins of the Lower
has a total length of
Ganges and Indus, together with all the intervening spaces,
that of Paris from Moscow. ThU is the region
nearly 1,500 miles, a distance equal to
to which the Persians had specially given the name of Hindustan,
a name now

Jourl of tlu Gtolofieml Sotitty. Xorwnbcr 1, 187*.


Hi-nry Blandford, Quarterly
24 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

commonly applied whole peninsula.


to the Although less extensive than the
southern plateaux and highlands, and although between the Antvalli Hills and the
Indus partly occupied by completely uninhabited arid wastes, this is by far the
most densely peopled division of the country. Fully 100,000,000 souls are
concentrated in the well- watered northern lowlands, while scarcely 100,000,000 are
found in the whole of the Dekkan and its geographical dependencies.
Owing to the great contrast presented by the two regions, the history of their
inhabitants necessarily followed different lines of development. The northern
basin, generally level and by numerous navigable waters, naturally
fertilised

became the centre of culture for all the surrounding nations. These productive
plains were soon occupied by numerous agricultural settlements here were founded ;

many flourishing trading marts


here the industries were rapidly developed here
; ;

civilisation achieved some of its greatest triumphs. But here also successive
invasions led to the most violent conflicts, and brought about a constant inter-

mingling of races. Forming a vast basin, surrounded on all sides by more elevated
lands, the Indo-Gangetic plain, like that of Northern Italy, was necessarily exposed
from the first neighbouring peoples. On the west the
to the inroads of all the

Afghans, and even invaders from beyond the Hindu- Kush, found broad openings
in the encircling ranges leading down to those rich plains and magnificent cities,
which ever overflowed with treasures during each short interval of peace. On the
north the warlike highland populations were separated only by a narrow
marshy
zone from the cultivators of the plains. On the east, also, the wild tribes of the
hills,through which the Brahmaputra escapes seawards, beheld an inviting and
easily accessible field of plunder spread out before them. For ages the inroads
were incessantly renewed, now from one point now from another, while these
hostile incursions at times developed into vast migrations of whole races.

Thus was that throughout the historic period the populations of the Indus
it

and Gangetic plains were till recently subject to constant fluctuations. Hence the
primeval races and languages are now no longer found in these regions that have
been so frequently wasted by fire and sword, whereas the densely wooded uplands
and valleys of Southern India have preserved pure from foreign contact many
communities which still same physique, speech, and habits of two
retain the
thousand or three thousand years ago. But as the hives became too crowded, these
communities necessarily swarmed abroad, and their migrations, whether warlike or
peaceful, were naturally attracted to the fair cities of the plains, whose glittering
domes were visible from their very fastnesses. In this respect a contrast, although
on a smaller scale, has been observed in India analogous to that presented by
France. Both regions have their concentrating focus in the north, their centre of
diffusion in the south. But the emigrants from the plateaux and highlands
gravitated not only towards the north, but also towards the low-lying coastlands
of Coromandel and Malabar. From the upland regions of the interior the popula-
tion increases gradually towards the seaboard, where towns and villages follow
in rapid succession. In Southern India, also, the military expeditions, the shiftings
of the inhabitants, the development of states, in a word the historic movement,
Till: HI MALAYAN SYSTEM.

naturally tMk plaee ehiefly m the slope inrlinin^ toward* the


Bay of Bengal,
where are found the broudeM plains ami valleys, and in which dim -lion flow moat
of the great rivers.

TIIK HIMALAYAN SYSTEM.

The Himalayas which are sometimes regarded as a portion of Hindustan, <

stitute in reality a world apart, Indian in its vegetation, iU climate, and the streams
it gives rise to Tibetan in the vast plateau formation of which it forms the southern
;

escarpment. But the Himalayas also form a continuation of the continental axis,
and the expression " Roof of the World," usually restricted to the Pamir, belongs
in reality to all the plateaux and ranges occupying the heart of the continent from
the Hindu-Kush Alpine region of Sechuen, from the Tiun-shun to the Assam
to the

highlands. These dividing lines, which have a total development of several thou-
sand miles, constitute, so to say, a distinct continent superimposed on that formed

by the surrounding lowlands of Lower Asia. The great geographical di vinous are
naturally those defined by their prominent masses. In the north-west the VMt
the Oxus basin
depression of Asiatic Russia begins with
in the north-east the deserts
;

of the Tarim region are continued eastwards by the low Mongolian plateaux and
the plains of China ; in the south-west, Afghanistan and Persia are sheltered by the
Hindu-Kush ; while the deep basins of the Indus and Ganges open southwards and
south-westwards.
Of all these sections of the ramified uplands of High Asia the most elevated, if

not in mean altitude, at least in the absolute height of their peaks, are probably the
it is impossible to speak positively on this point, pending a
Himalayas, although
scientific survey of the culminating elevations of the Tibetan plateau, of Went
Sechuen, and even of parts of the Trans-Himalayan highlands. At the beginning
of the present century the English explorers were still unaware of the relative im-

portance of the snowy ranges


which they beheld towering above the plains of the
of Bougucr and De la Condamine to the equatorial
Ganges. After the expeditions
of the globe, although it
Andes, Chimborazo was supposed to be the culminating point
cannot claim pre-eminence even in South America itself. Nevertheless Sir William
hud
Jones, in a memoir written in 1784 and published twenty years subsequently,
arc the in the world. In 1805,
expressed the opinion that the Himalayas highest
Crawford for the first time measured some of the giants overlooking the valleys of
Nt and declared them to be far higher than the Andes. But he was contra-
j>ul,
the manuscript of hi* journey having
dicted by some of his own countrymen, and
been lost, the point was not definitely settled till 1845, when the trigonometrical
of the Sikkim highlands was carried out
survey of the Western Himalayas and
under the direction of Andrew Wuugh. The some naturalist also surveyed tad
measured Mount Kverest the "Radiant"), which attains on the
(Gaurisankar,
Tibeto-N, pal.
- frontier the highest known elevation on the globe, that is, nearly
height of Mount Ko*i. At a eorres^mding d.
oj miles, or about twiee the -j

about .*>i miles the ollie,-r of the Tutcnrora diM-,.\.-n<l off the east eoust of Japan
the greatest known oceanic abyss. The extreme divergence of relief between the
67
26 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

culmiuating point and greatest depression on the earth's crust thus nearly 11
is

miles, or some 57,000 Relatively to the globe itself,


feet.* these are perfectly ap-

preciable inequalities, the altitude of Gaurisankar representing about the 720th

part of the terrestrial radius.

Although the Hindus were certainly acquainted with all the great eminences

rising above the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau, they


do not seem to have
had any clear idea of the true form of the Himalayas themselves. Lost in contem-
which they commemorated in song, and peopled
plation of these magnificent ranges,
with a thousand genii whirling round their snowy peaks in the morning light, the
Brahmans could not desecrate such hallowed sites by scientific observation. Hence

Fig. 10. COMPARATIVE HEIGHTS OF SOME OF THE GKEAT MOUKTAIXS OF THE GLOBE.
Scale 1 : 150,000.

1. GaurUankar. 5. Flbruz. 9. Etna.


2. Dapsanp. 6. Ararat. 10. Olympus.
3. Khan-tengri. 7. Mt. Blanc. 11. Puyde Dome.
4. Aconcagua. 8. Maladetta.

3 Miles.

the difficulty of identifying the various mountains whose names occur in the old

writers, and the absolute impossibility of harmonising their descriptions with the
true relief of the land for they are continually in quest of symmetrical forms,
;

which are nowhere to be found in nature.


Nevertheless, it is which modem explorers give the
certain that the masses to
foremost rank were not those which they regarded as the most prominent. Like
the wayfarers of Central Europe, who were led by the course of the great rivers

Rhine, Rhone, Ticino towards the St. Gothard, which they naturally took for the
highest point of the Continent, the pilgrims from India, following their great rivers,

Height of Gaurisankar . 29,002 feet


Deepest sounding of the Tutcarora 28,110 ..

Total 57.112
THE HIMALAYAN SY8TKM.

Sin. Hi u. Satl.-j, Jumna, ft. ncied that tin- inaeoesnble height* between the
sources of those sacred stream* HUM IK- tin- al*xl- of the immortal
goda, whence
they contemplated tin- lowrr ti rivMtriul regions. Here
rise Mcru, the "golden
mountain," Sri<:a\at, "clothed with nil the mim-r.-il-." the Kuilux, " formed of
pre-
cious stones," and Nila, " mude of lapis-lazuli," as deecrihed in the Muhul.hurutu.
The legends associated with this mysterious region
became more numeroun from
age to age, until all the realities disappeared at last beneath a tissue of fable. Thus
when the Chinese pilgrim Hwen-tsang visited India in the seventh century of our
era. Aneuta, or Sumilu, that is, the mountain made of four precious things,

Fig. 11. WINDING or TMB SACKED STHIAIM not xn MOCXT AMI TA.

represented as resting on a golden wheel


and washed by the waters of a vast ocean.
"
From its flanks rushes the everlasting sea," divided into four sacred streams,
which flowed round and round in concentric in order to linger as long as
valleys,
Such valleys are the remains of the rut* traced
possible near the mother mountain.
by the chariot-wheels of the gods.
awe for all things unrivalled, those who iintcm-
Through a natural feeling of
to fall into ecttaw of admiration at the
plate the Himalayas are always ready
which stretch the dreary
incomparable beauty of the glittering crests, beyond
But even were they inferior in elevation to the Andes or
plateaux of Tibet.
the less present one of the most
Caucasus, these stupendous barriers would none
28 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

imposing panoramas in the world. Their magnificence is greatly heightened by


the superb outlines of their summits, soft and hazy as seen from the plains of India,

looking like so much play of light rather than enormous masses of adamantine rock.
Nearly all the famous spots frequented by travellers to enjoy a wide prospect over

the ranges, stand already at great elevations, and often rise sheer above profound
chasms. From the forests of the sub-tropical lands, which seem plunged into deep

abysses, the eye of the observer sweeps upwards to the slopes clothed with the
vegetation of the temperate zones,beyond which still rise the Alpine pastures and
the snowy peaks, whence these ranges take the various names of Himalaya,
Himavat, Himadri, Himachala, Himodaya (Aemodus, Imaus).
In the vast amphitheatre of hills rolling away beyond the horizon, the peaks
and crests up to about the altitude of the European Mount Blanc are still grey

with debris or green with a grassy vegetation for a part of the year but a little;

higher up the slopes are covered with perennial snows. Above the enormous base
of the green or rockyAlps rise other heights, which are always white, except when
gilded by the sun or darkened by the falling shadows, and towering above these
masses of snow-clad pyramids appear the inaccessible topmost summits, whence,
should they ever be ascended, a prospect will be commanded of the Tibetan

plateaux, of the plains of India, of the valleys watered by the Tsangbo, Ganges, and
Jamna.
The parting line between the Himalaya, the Karakorum, and Hindu-Kush,
"
which form collectively the Rocky Girdle of the Globe," is purely conventional.

The vast region, some 240,000 square miles in extent, limited by the plateaux of the
Pamir and Tibet, by the plains of Yarkand and the Panjab, is, in fact, everywhere
intersectedby lofty ranges. "With the exception of a few lacustrine basins still flooded
or already drained, and of some deep river gorges, the whole land forms a labyrinth
of chains and ridges variously connected with the encircling main ranges. Thus
the three orographic systems overlap or interpenetrate each other, either by their

geological formation, the form of their relief, or the mean direction of their axes
and side chains. Nevertheless, the Himalayas may in a general way be said

to terminate south of the Gilgit valley. They scarcely extend beyond the Indus,
and the gorge through which this river escapes from the upper valleys lies nearly
under the same meridian as the nucleus of hills where the Hindu-Kush branches off
to the Karakorum and Kuen-lun. "West of the Indus the normal direction of the
axes south-west and north-east, whereas east of that river they run in the opposite
is

direction, north-west and south-east, parallel with the upper valleys of the Indus
and its tributaries.

The Himalayan system have scarcely yet been definitely


eastern limits of the
determined. writers, accepting RenneU's views on the identity of the
Most
Tsangbo and Brahmaputra, extend it to the gorge through which this river escapes
to the plains of India. But this must remain a mere supposition until the country
has been actually explored. It is meantime certain that in East Bhutan the. ridges
crossed by Nain-Singh belong to the Himalayan system, and that 300 miles
still

farther east the mountains running north and south along the banks of the Lutze-
Till: HIMALAYA PROPKIl AND TKAX8- HIMALAYA, j .

kiang or Salwen form part of a different orographic syst, .,. Further exploration
isneeded to show how the Himalayan aii.l Ivi-t Til* tan fn.uti.-r
highland* are
connected or >epa rated hy intervening ranges.
The -reneral sweep of tlie outer scarp of the Tibetan
plateau has been, com pa red
to that uf a M imetar, with its convex wide turned toward* the southern
plan*. It

xls 1. :{(() miles in length, with a mean breadth of at least I'M mile*
Ix'twccn a<l\anced spurs of the Gangetic
plain and the deep depression tru versed
tlie

by the Tsanglxx The space occupied by these highlands is thus considerably larger
than the whole of France, and taking their mean elevation at no more than
1H,000
the entire mass, if
uniformly distributed, would represent about 60 feet in
thickness of the earth's crust, even excluding the border chain
properly so called
of the lofty plateau of Katchi. This border chain, running jmrallel with the Him-

alayas, forms a continuation of the Karakorum mountains, and is


prolonged under
diverse names north of the source of the Satlej and of the Tsangbo valley, merging
south of the Tcngri-nor in the Ninjin tang la highlands. This range, which is the

Gang-dis-ri of Klaproth and subsequent writers, contains the pyramidal Mount


Kailas, one of the most famous mountains of Hindu mythology. Although lying
beyond the Himalayas of geographers, and reflecting its
snowy crest in the waters

of Lake Mansaraur, Kailas is the most sacred mountain in the poetic and religious

history of the Aryan Indians.

THE HIMALAYA PROPER AND TRAXS-HIMAI.AYA.

Excluding the Gang-dis-ri, the Himalayas consist of two parallel ranges, the

Himalaya properly so culled, that is, the southern chain rising immediately above
the plains of India, and the Trans-Himalaya, limited northwards by the depression
of the Tsangbo River. Of these two ranges the Trans-Himalaya must be regarded
as forming the true parting line, although its chief crests seem to be exceeded in

height by those of the southern range. For a distance of nearly


500 miles its
various sections follow in close succession, without leaving a single gap for the
waters to escape which traverse the depression between the two ranges. On the
other hand, the southern chain, above which rise the colossal Chamalari, Kinchin-

jinga, Gaurisankar, Duvuhighiri, is pierced by deep valleys and gorges, affording


outlets to numerous tributaries of the Ganges Kosi, Gandak, Karnali, Kali
besides two head-streams, Alaknundu and Hughirati ganga. This range is thus
it>

cut up into a number of sections, some of which present the appearance of

completely isolated and irregular masses.


a than any of the
Immediately west of the sources of the Ganges fissure, deeper
but also across the
preceding, is opened, not only across the Himalaya proper,
parallel northern chain. The barrier is thus entirely pierced by the course of the
direction of the main Himalayan axis
Satlej, which, after following the general
from the south-east to the north-wot, through a series of gorges to join
escapes
the Indus towards the south-west. Farther on, the Chinab, a smaller stream than
the Satlej, rises between the two chains, and has, consequently, to pierce the
80 INDIA AND 1NDO-CHINA.

southern barrier only. Such is also the case with the Jhilam, which has its source
in the Kashmir basin. But the Indus itself receives its head waters on the Tibetan
plateau north of the whole Himalayan system. Like the Satlej, it flows first
north-west in search of an outlet, but finds no opening till it approaches the
southern spurs of the Hindu-Kush. The Shayok, or " female Indus," by which it
is joined far above this outlet, has its farthest northern sources in the Karakorum
highlands.
The whole western slope of Tibet has thus been cut by erosions into distinct

fragments generally running in the direction of the two Himalayan main ranges.
But so numerous are the ridges and so intermingled their ramifications, that it
becomes difficult everywhere clearly to recognise their normal direction. The Hima-
laya proper is continued beyond the Satlej by the hills limited northwards by the

sandy deposits and slopes of the Spiti valley, beyond which point it merges in the
chain which traverses South Lahul and Panjal, and which skirts the south side
of the valley of Kashmir. This is the chain to which Cunningham gives the
general name Middle Himalaya, and which for a portion of
of the its course is
flanked on the south by the Dhaola-dhar, or " White Mountains."
The Trans-Himalaya is
similarly continued by the Bara-lacha or Zanskar range,
rising just east of the gorges of the Indus to the superb Nanga Parbat (Diyarmir),
north-western limit of India. In this western section of the system the highest
peaks are found in the Trans- Himalaya, north of which another chain which,
from the town lying at its northern base, might be called the " Leh Mountains "
forms an almost isolated mass, limited on one side by the Indus, on the other by
the Shayok, the Pangkong, and an influent of this brackish lake.

THE KARAKORUM RANGE.

Lastly, the Karakorum itself, which has been broken into separate sections by
erosive action, resembles the parallel Himalayan ranges in the form and direction
of its relief. But its peaks are far more elevated than those of the Western
Himalaya, its passes are much more difficult, and the snows and glaciers, whence it
takes the name of Mus-tagh, or " Ice Mountains," cover a much larger surface than
those of its The Dapsang, its highest point, is exceeded only by
southern rivals.
Gaurisankar, and the passes leading from the Indus to the Kara-kash, or Yarkand-
daria valley, have a mean elevation of no less than 19,000 feet, whereas those

crossing the Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya full to about 18,000 feet, an elevation
which still exceeds that of Mount Blanc by 2,000 feet.

Forming the true water-parting between the Indus and Tarini basins, the
Karakorum has from this very fact become the true northernmost limit of India.
The whole region of highlands and deep valleys forming a north-western extension
of the drearyx plateaux of Great Tibet,and a portion of which is occasionally known
by the names V
" Little
Tibet,"
" "
Apricot Tibet," or Kashmirian Tibet," has
been thus brought within the sphere of Indian history, and now belongs to the
British political System through its present ruler, the Maharajah of Kashmir.
PASSES. GEOLOGICAL FORMATION OF THE HIMALAYAS. 81

regarded as a group of states politic-ally dependent on England, ha*


In.lia,

alsobecome conterminous with Chinese Turkestan, at the


passes over the Kara-
korum. But east of Kashmir tin- frontier of British India, and Bhutan in
Nepal,
marked throughout most of its course not by the continuous chain of the Trans-
Himalava, but by the more fragmentary masses of the Himalaya proper.

PASSES. GEOLOGICAL FORMATION op THE HIMALAYAS.

The gaps through which the rivers escape southwards are too rugged and
rocky
to be followed by the trade routes, which are thus almost
exclusively restricted to

Fig. 12. Ehoeioxs OF THB SPITI RIVER NEAR TMB I'AKAXO PA.

Tibetan plateau. The


the passes between the snowy create in order to reach the
sometimes in the Him:,
lowest depressions between the opposite slopes occur
sometimes in the Trans-Himalaya and the intervening space. These openings,
the advantage of lying
which are lower than those of the Kurakorum, have also
none the
some 6 or 8 degrees farther south. Yet most of them ore completely
1
82 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

obstructed during the south-west monsoon, which is here accompanied by terrific

snowstorms. Such is the difference of climate between the plateaux and the
southern plains, that the inhabitants of the respective regions would be nearer

neighbours were they separated from each other by a broad arm of the sea. The
Hindu lowlanders had in former times to defend themselves, not against the people

of the Tibetan tableland, but against the inroads of the warlike hill tribes of
the outer slopes and valleys, from 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level, beyond
which stretched the almost uninhabited zone of rocks, alpine pastures, and eternal
snows. Those travellers alone, who have been long habituated to the rarefied

atmosphere of great elevations, can venture across the Himalayan passes, where the
least effort becomes extremely painful. The natives say that the wayfarer is

poisoned by the pestiferous exhalation of the bis, or soran, which they suppose to be
either a flower of the aconite order or a peculiar vapour emitted by the mountain.
The brothers Schlagintweit were the first Europeans who, in 1855, crossed the Ibi
Gamin Pass, which stands at an altitude equal to that of the Puy de Dome, super-

Fig. 13. LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE HIMALAYAS BETWEEN THE INDUS AND THE BUAHMAPVTKA.
Scale 1 : 20,000,000.

E- G

;{<X) Miles.

imposed on Mount Blanc. Since then a still higher pass, lying at an elevation of
23,000 feet, has been traversed by Johnston, and this exploit has hitherto been
rivalled only by aeronauts.
The Himalayan system seems to be of more recent origin than the Kuen-lun.
As far as can be judged from the observations of the few travellers who have
visited its western section near Khotan, this backbone of the Asiatic continent

appears to be also its most ancient protuberance. It is said to consist


mainly of
primitive rocks, whereas all the ranges south of it
belong to comparatively modern
geological epochs. Granites, properly so called, are rare in the Himalayas, the
crystalline formations constituting their central mass being mostly either gneiss or
metamorphic schists. In Miocene times some of the Himalayan districts must
have stood at a very moderate elevation above the sea, and were then in the enjoy-
ment of a climate as temperate as that of Central Europe. In Tibet the fossil
remains of a hippopotamus have been found at a height of 16,000 feet, although
fossils belonging to the whole series of rocks from the Silurian epoch onwards have
THE SUB- HIMALAYAS. :.;

also been di>en\,nd in the *t ratified formations. II. re and there igneous
has cropped out through tin- upper <1<
-jH^its. hut no trace has anywhere been detected
of volcanic cones or crater v

THE Si H- HIMALAYAS.

Hut whatever be the age of the two


Himalayan muin range*, the rock* formed
on the southern slopes of the mountains facing the
plains of India date only from
the later tertiary epoch. Running parallel with the chief continental axis, these
sub- Himalayan advanced chains consist almost
exclusively of sandstone masses,
diversely associated with argillaceous clays and conglomerates. From the bunks
of the Brahmaputra to the Indus these chains follow in
regular succession, first
westwards, then north-westwards, interrupted at intervals only by the " gates " or
gaps produced by the torrents escaping from the longitudinal valleys at the foot of
the higher ranges. In some places the water, flowing from the
upper glaciers and

Fig. U. TKAXHVKHSE SBCTIOX or THE WESTKH.X HIMALAYAN.


Boole 1 : 4,500,000.

Scale of height* fivefold that of distance*

130 MOM.

forming shifting streams, alternately uniting and separating their pebbly bed*, has
been sufficient to sweep owuy considerable hilly tracts in the advanced sub-

Himaluyun ranges.
Of these sub-Himalayan ranges, the most important and regular is the Sivnlik,
which runs south-east and north- west for over 180 miles between the gate of the
"
Ganges at Hardwar and that of the Bias, one of the " five rivers of the Punjab.
This section is cut by the Jamnu and Satlej into fragments unequal in size, but all

resembling each other in their geological character, as well us in the form of their
escarpments and ravines. Here the so-culled doon*, or longitudinal valleys, analo-
gous to doars of Bhutan and maru of Sikkim, which are separated by the Sivulik
range from the plains of India, are the beds of old hikes which have been gradually
drained hy the rivers flowing southwards. Some of these deep troughs are too
contracted and too overgrown with jungle to present picturesque landscapes. But
others have been transformed to pleasant tract* resembling the English purk lands
in their rich verdnn-. the of trees scattered along the streams, and the
clumps
charming outline of the hills Formerly the waters of
crowned with rural hamlets.
the now dricd-up lakes frequently washed up the bodies of huge mammals, whose
34 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

remains arc now found in the sandstone strata of the Sivalik, or Sivalaya.
Amongst these animals, some of which have here been discovered for the first time,
the most remarkable is the powerful sivatherium, which, like the hills themselves,
takes the name of Siva, the god, who incessantly destroys and renews the earth by
fresh creations.
Takenas a whole, the Himalayas present a certain uniformity of aspect. They
are more imposing for their massive grandeur than attractive by the variety of
their forms. Those alone who penetrate far into the " Abode of Snow," and who
succeed, with much labour, in reaching elevations as lofty as the highest peaks of
the European Alps, can form any adequate idea of the serene majesty of these high-

lands, which, to the inhabitants of the plains, seem to glitter in the bright sunshine
like mighty walls of metal bounding the distant horizon. In the midst of these
boundless solitudes, at altitudes thousands of feet above the dwellings of man,

peaks are seen still to rise one above the other, commanding unlimited wastes of
on a scale of grandeur elsewhere unrivalled.
rocks, snow-fields, glaciers, moraines,
In the language of the Vedas, here is " a third world," differing altogether from
the other two consisting of the lower valleys and the plain. But between the
region of eternal snows and the forest zone scarcely anything is to be seen except
bare grey crags disposed at different elevations. The rocks have everywhere
been weathered or worn away by water and avalanches, preventing the growth of

herbage like that of the European Alps, except in a few favoured spots. For a
vertical space of several thousand feet whole mountains present from base to

summit a uniform surface, here and there slightly scored, like the tarnished and
scratched facet of some gigantic crystal. Thus the Rakiposh, one of the western
peaks of the Karakorum, raises its naked walls at one spring over 3 miles above
the gorges at the confluence of the Gilgit and Hunza.
At altitudes of 16,000 feet and upwards most of the humidity falls in the form
of snow, and allthe summits of the main range are covered with perpetual snow
and ice. But lower down the south-west monsoon brings mainly torrents of rain,
and even snow scarcely ever falls on the Sikkim high-
at a height of 14,000 feet
lands in summer. Altogether the snow-line descends lower on the slopes of the
Eastern than on the Western Himalayas, although the latter lie much farther
from the equator. This is due to the greater abundance of moisture which falls

on the section of the range situated near the Bay of Bengal. Much of this
moisture takes the form of snow, which never entirely melts, so that snow-fields
have been developed even on the south-eastern portion of the system. On the
Kumaon mountains, in the Central Himalayas, the snow-line lies at about 16,000
feet, whereas in Kashmir it rises to at least 18,500 feet. In the month of October
the brothers Gerard found nothing but fresh snow on Porgyal, a mountain 19,700
feet high close to the Tibetan frontier, and a neighbouring peak over 20,000 feet

high was quite bare. The slopes facing northwards have even less snow than the
opposite side, while some of the lower chains lying between the outer barriers
receive none at all.
\
GLACIERS AND EROSIONS OF TUK HIMALAYAS.
M
GLA| II Ks \M> EROSIONS or Illl

The glaciers of Himulaytu do not yield in extent to th<Mo of Greenland and


flu-

other arctic The most favourable conditions for the


regions.
development of
large in-field.s are tound in the
cirques and valleys of the wotern ft"i.,n, where
the lower limit of IN rjHjtual snow lies at the
greatest altitude ubove sea lev. The I

difference is due to the rapid of the snows in the uplands


melting lying nearest to
the equator, where, although the
snowy masses are thicker and relatively more
extensive, they are transformed under the
sub-tropical suns directly to running
water without passing through tho intermediate
stages of snowfields and long
glaciers. The north-western ranges with their numerous
gently sloping side
valleys, where the snows remain constantly sheltered from the solar
rays, are also
better disposed to develop
slowly moving glacial streams than are the more abrupt
slopes of the Eastern Himalayas. The Zunskar or Bara-lucha chain,
running

Fig. 15. THE BALTIHTAK GLACIER*.


Scale 1 :
1,800,000.

>
Mtln.

north-west towards Kashmir between the tributaries of the Indus and Chinab, is

entirely fringed by glaciers, many of which are over 15 miles long, thus exceeding
in extent the Aletsch, which is the largest in Europe. Hut these frozen riven an
themselves surpassed by those of Bultistan, which drain from the Karakorum down
to the head waters of the Shnyok and Indus. The gaiwe or glaciers of the Suichar.
Baltoro, Biafo, and Chogo are over 30 miles long, and they are themselves
all

joined by do/ens of secondary glaciers, each at least as extensive as the largest in


the Swi.ss Alps and presenting altogether a continuous ice-field probably 90 miles

long at its upper cdjje.


The phenomena observed in the European glacial regions are also
met on a far

larger scale in the Himalayan. Excellent opportunities are thus here also
" "moulins" medial, lut.
presented for the study of crevasses, seracs,"
frontal moraines. Hut the Karakorum and Himalayan glaciers are distinguished
from those of the AJps especially by the vast quantities of debris carried by most
86 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of them, and almost completely covering their lower course. The masses of rock
concealing the ice everywhere except on the exposed sides of the crevasses, are
themselves covered with layers of earth overgrown with herbage and numerous

alpine plants, which often convert the ice-fields into veritable gardens. The
Baltoro glacier, one branch of which rises in the snowy slopes of Dapsang, is

entirely hidden in its lower parts by a vast accumulation of detritus formed by the
confluence of fifteen moraines of grey, brown, yellow, red, or bluish rocks, all

disposed in parallel lines with the crystal stream.


The lower Himalayan valleys preserve the traces of ice-fields far more extensive
than those still
surviving. Here and there may be seen lateral moraines lining
terraces many hundred above the present river beds.
feet Even some frontal
moraines resisting the force of the current have been preserved in valleys no more
than 5,000 feet above sea level. Frozen rivers descended at one time from the
Karakorum down to the Kashmir basin, over 120 miles from their source, and that
of the Nubra, a tributary of the Shayok, was no less than 4,500 feet thick at the

junction of the two streams now dotted over with flourishing hamlets. In the
southern section also of the Himalayas, the Kangra valley, watered by the river Bias,
is strewn with erratic boulders of glacial origin. The central current of this valley,
fed by secondary glaciers from the Dhaola-dhar range, was over 110 miles long.
But the evidences of the former glacial epoch disappear in the Himalayas more
rapidly than in any other highland region, in consequence of the rapid action of
running waters in the tributary valleys of the Indus and Ganges. The silicious
rocks of the higher crests and middle slopes, as well as the sandstones of the sub-

Himalayas, are extremely friable, and easily yield to the erosive action of streams.
The gneiss formations also are readily disintegrated under the alternate influences
of frost, heat, and rains, while the accumulated debris of the old moraines are

swept with every freshet farther down towards the outlets of the valleys.
The beds excavated by the Himalayan rivers either in these debris or in the live
rock attain in many places a depth of 3,000 feet below their old banks, and the
smaller affluents have had to score the hill-sides to depths of 1,500 or 1,600 feet in
order to reach the main stream. Remarkable instances of these tremendous ero-

by the Satlej in its upper course on the Tibetan plateaux, lower


sions are afforded

down by the Indus and its various affluents in Ladak, and by the Ganges above
Hard war. Nowhere else are suspension bridges more necessary, or more ea>ily
constructed, many of the river gorges, although hundreds of yards deep, being

scarcely more than a stone's throw wide. In the southern valleys these contri-
vances, like those ofEast Tibet, are mere c/mka, or ropes with a ring, by means of
which the traveller glides from bank to bank. But most of the J/m/a, or true
cables of bark and twining
suspension bridges, are formed of strong interlaced
plants, ifhich vibrate in the air, yet are so substantial that the steady passenger

may fearlessly cross them. They last usually about three years, and serve even to
transport sheep and goats.
In the greyish sub-Himalayan rocks the destructive action of water is revealed

chiefly by the formation of vertical walls, from which huge masses occasionally
THK TERAI, UHAVKR, AND DO 57

break away, producing tin- ir.ct of artificial stronghold*, with turret*, i-m
I.^UN^
and regular terraces. Many of these natural citadels ore
unsurpuAsed in symmetry
"
of form ritluT l>y the cuhic mosses of "Saxon Swit/rrland or l.y the
rectangular
blocks occurring in certain parts of N.-\v M. \i. ,, and Colorado. Otbrr i

ma-M-s \\ith Mirfaeai Mimd lniii.liv.l ;,i,,| ,-\,ii s,.\cral tln.usaad MN B '...-
in extra t, consist of superimposed needing on all side* the
layers, presenting
appearance of pyramids with gigantic steps.
The work of disintegration, traces of which are everywhere
visible, is still going
on throughout the Himalayas, and remarkable examples are afforded
especially by
the contemporary history of the Indus, Chenab, and Arrested in their
Sutlej.
upper course by avalanches of snow and debris, these three rivers are often con-
verted into lakes, while below their temporary dams the beds soon
dry up. Hut in
a few days, or it
may be weeks, the pent-up stream succeeds in bursting through its
barrier,sweeping down vast quantities of mud and detritus, wasting the riverain
tracts,uprooting trees, razing houses, and spreading ruin far and wide.
From these phenomena of erosion the Himalayan rivers have acquired a normal
curve, while the waterfalls and lakes have all been effaced, which formerly checked
their course. In this respect the Himalayas offer a marked contrast to the European
Alps. They have, so to say, passed their period of youth, all the primitive features
of the valleys' having been already completely obliterated. The rocky ledges at
one time damming up the waters in their lacustrine beds, and over which the stream
fell in cascades and rapids, have been gradually worn down, thus allowing the lakes
to escape, and lowering or sweeping away the waterfalls. At present the Himalayas
proper contain but few of those flooded basins which impart so much charm to
mountain scenery, while most of the falls have been converted into mere temporary
cascades, or simple streaks of snow-water melting in the summer sun, and rapidly

evaporating farther down. The only large lakes are now found in the depression
between the Himalaya proper and Trans- Himalaya, and farther west in the
numerous parallel valleys of Ladak and Kashmir. But even here many lacustrine
basins have diminished in extent, not so much through
the gradual lowering of

their outlets, as through the gradual desiccation of the land. Some of the lakes in
the Western Himalayas have already become closed basins without any outflow, and
have thus been slowly changed to reservoirs of salt water. Extensive depressions
formerly flooded fresh water have shrunk to mere brackish tarns encircled by
by
saline efflorescences, which at times blend imperceptibly with the surrounding
snows.

THE TERAI, BIIAVER, AXD DOONS.


the climatic
On the Himalayan slopes the vegetable naturally corresjMmd with
zones. With every <JOO or 700 feet of altitude the heat diminishes one d-
climate are correspondingly modified.
Centigrade, while all the conditions of the
The tropical and sub-tropical plants at the foot of the ranges are succeeded higher
their turn gi\- place to on arctic
up by those of the temperate /one. which in
as are
vegetation. But belles these great climatic and vegetable divisions, such
88 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

observed in all highland regions, at the base and on the first eminences of the

Himalayas other zones occur, which are sharply defined by the nature of the soil
and its products, and which owe their contrasts not to differences of relief, but to
the disposition of the surface strata and drainage. These zones, with which the
native stockbreeders have at all times been well acquainted, follow in parallel suc-
cession the axes of the hills from the lower plains to the first escarpments. The
southernmost of these belts is the so-called tcrai, taraf, tari, or morong, that is,
" moist
land," a marshy region overgrown with dense jungle, reeds, and thickets,
which impede the atmospheric currents, and confine the miasmatic exhalations
sucked up by a tropical sun from the dank soil. According to the native reports,
the atmosphere in some parts of the terai is too stifling even for the wild beasts
and birds. But north-westwards this zone is gradually contracted, shrinking in the
Pan jab to a sandy tract, where the water rapidly disappears, and intersected at

Fig. 16. Z )NES OF THE TERAI AND BllAVKR.


Scale l :
8,000,000.

E.ofG 85'

ISO Miles.

intervals by numerous The thickets of the terai proper are here replaced
ravines.

by tall grasses, affording a refuge to the antelope.


The parallel zone stretching between the marshy lands and the foot of the sub-
Himalayan sandstone formations presents in its dryness a marked contrast to the

terai. This is the so-called bhaver, bhabhar, orj/iari, a forest region almost entirely
covered with the sal a fine tree, whose symmetrical branches are
(shorea robmta),
interlaced by twining creepers and connected with the undergrowth. The doons,
with the terai and bhaver, from which they are
doars, or man's, stretching parallel

separated by the advanced sandstone ridges of the Himalayan system, are also
almost everywhere insalubrious. Even a rapid ride from the plains across the
three parallel the terai, bhaver, and doons, to the uplands, is not
belts of
unattended with danger, and many an Englishman has fallen a victim to the
fevers contracted in these malarious tracts while escaping to the higher grounds
from the heats of the lower Gangetic provinces. In some places the contrast
between the terai and the arable lands is as sharp as between the sea and a high
rockbound coast.

The insalubrity of these low-lying districts is easily accounted for. The waters
arrested in the doons by the encircling sandstone hills spread out in stagnant pools.
TIIK TKUAI, HHAYKl:, AM. !><>. ; ,

Lower down the bhaver, which consist* of a gravelly soil, is very dry on the

Fig. 17. SIKKIM Him ii HIIL, NOHTH or DAMJILIXO.

surface, thanks to the porous nature


of the ground. But the grovel iUelf rU on
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

an impermeable argillaceous bed, and the vapours rising from the land after the
rains remain confined beneath the dense foliage of the vegetation. Lastly, in the
terai, the water after flowing beneath the gravels of the bhaver reappears on the

surface, where it spreads out in marshes amid the thick growth of jungle. In
this lower zone the Himalayan rivers, after traversing the bhaver tracts in deep
and well-defined beds, also spread over the terai, strewing it with sands, gravels,
trunks of trees, and debris of every sort. All these obstacles form here and there
natural dykes, above which the running waters expand right and left into

permanent or temporary morasses.


As in Europe, the only remedy for this state of things consists in regulating
the discharge of the rivers, in clearing and cultivating the land. Settlers from
the surrounding populations, who have less to fear from the aical or malaria than

Europeans, have already begun here and there to bring under cultivation the more
healthy open spaces in the terai and bhaver. The shepherds also come down
with their families and flocks from the mountains in winter, in order to " eat the
sun," and their camping- grounds are soon occupied by settled communities. Clear-
ings ever increasing in number thus continue to extend the area of the relatively

Fig. 18. GEOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE TERAI AND BHAVER REGIONS.

GraveL Clay. Rock.

south of Sikkim, interrupt the


healthy tracts, which in many places, and especially
dangerous districts of the terai and bhaver. The route leading
from the banks of
the Ganges to Darjiling has in this way long lost its terrors. Yet there was a time
when the peoples of the plains allowed the terai to encroach upon their cultivated
lands, in order thus to place a wider interval between themselves and their eternal
enemies, the marauding hill tribes.

THE PANJAB HILLS. SALT, SULEIMAN, AND HALA RANGES.

In the north-west corner of India the whole upland region of the Panjab be-
tween the advanced spurs of the Himalayas and the Suleiman-dagh is occupied by
and small ridges remarkable for the regularity o their
slightly elevated plateaux
disposition. In Panjal the last Himalayan range, which is skirted on the west by
the Jhilam flowing from the vale of Kashmir, still follows the normal direction of
Till: SALT AND SULEIMAN 41

the whole system from Ninth-east to north-west. The Hazara and Upper
Punjab
chains arc, on the contrary, mostly deponed |>crj>endicularly to the main axis,

running almost everywhere in the direction from north-ea*t to south-weft. 1

the M.n-ri, which is the highest summit of the outer Jhilum region, -**till ranks
with the great p-aks of tin- Himalaya proper. for it attains an elevation of 7,500
eet above the sea. But south of this limit In-tween two distinct regions, the
plateaux have a gradually diminishing mean elevation of 1,500 to 1,000 feet, with
crests rising but little above the average level. Not being sufficiently imponii
strike the popular imagination, these rocky hills have received no special geo-

graphical names, being merely designated from the tribes inhabiting them, from the
towns and villages that have risen in the neighbourhood, the passes by which they
are crossed, the forte commanding tluvn, or some local peculiarity. The bent known
names are applied to whole districts, such us 1'otwar, which includes all the hilly

plateau of Rawul-Pindi.
No other rocky eminences in the whole world have been more cut up by the
elements than the crests of the Potwar and the other chains in the Cis- and Trans-
Indus country. Several terminate in sharp needles so slender and jagged as in
some places to look like so much delicate fretwork. All the softer parts of the
rocks have been carried away by the ruins, leaving nothing but the framework of
the mountain, and the superficial deposits having thus been removed, the geologist
is able at a glance to recognise the churucter of the primitive formations. Hut so
regular are the outlines of some crests, that they might eusily be taken for the
work of man.
In one of the most remarkable chains is the southern scarp of the
this respect

rugged plateaux of the Punjab, to which the English have given the name of the
Salt Range. It runs east and west between the Jhilum and Indus, whose bed it

contracts at the Kulabugh gorge, beyond which point it is continued under the
vurious numes of Chichuli, Shingurh, Kafir Kot, and Sheik-budin. It formed at

one time the southern limit of the Asiatic mainland, and its escarpments, worn at
their foot by the action of the surf, still present here and there the appearance of
a rockbound coast. The Salt Range is one of the most remarkable in India,

containing stratified rocks of almost every geological epoch. Here are represented
both the Silurian, Carboniferous, Triassic, Jurassic, and Chalk formations, all under-
Nummulitic limestones are especially
lying deposits of the tertiary period.
abundant, while diorites crop out occasionally above the sedimentary
strata. No
less varied are the mineral treasures, including in diverse quantity gold, topper.

lead, iron, besides


and ooaL Hot springs
sulphur, alum, saltpetre, petroleum,
bubble up in many places, gypsum abounds, while the whole range justly takes
its name from the vast beds of salt which These beds, white, grey, or
it contains.

red, and varying alike in purity and colour,


attain a thickness of 100 feet, and in

some places the deposits of common salt are upwards of 400 feet thick. In one
contents of several mines at
section of the Panjab chain Wynne lias estimated the
no less than one million cubic feet, a store sufficient to supply the wants
of all

mankind for thousands of years.

68
42 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

The continuing the range west of the Indus are also largely composed of
hills

salt, and here may be seenisolated blocks 120 or 130 feet high,
consisting entirely
of saline crystals. By the infiltration of moisture, the action of the rains on the
outer walls, and the pressure of the upper deposits, the underlying strata have been

disturbed, presenting many faults and breaks often very perplexing to the geologist.

Amongst the other curiosities of this interesting range are huge boulders of rolled
granite, bearing evident traces of glacial action. An erratic block of red granite,
whose original site in the Himalayas has not yet been discovered, was found by
Theobald in the Salt Range, and is now deposited in the Calcutta Museum. The
whole surface of the plateau stretching north of the range is strewn with sands and
gravels, amongst which
are scattered numerous erratic boulders, and similar rocks
are found lining the banks of all the rivers, especially the Sohan and Indus as far
as and even below Attock. During the recent geological epoch considerable
changes have taken place in the hydrography of the country, which probably at
one time formed the bed of a vast lake.
West of the Indus the various chains forming the geographical frontier of
India are, like the Himalayas themselves, rather the escarpment or outer edge of
a plateau than independent mountain systems, always, however, excepting the
eastern extensions of the Safid-koh, running at right angles with the Indus
between the ancient lacustrine basins of the Peshawar and Bannu. The chief
range west of the Indus bears the name of the Suleiman-dagh (" Mountains of
Solomon"), or Koh-i-Surkh ("Red Mountains"). It is rooted westwards in the
uplands of the Waziri nation, and is pierced at intervals by gorges affording
outlets to the intermittent mountain torrents rising on a parallel range, which

might be called the Western Suleiman-dagh, or else the Jadram, from the Afghan
tribes inhabiting its valleys. Of all the streams traversing the eastern Suleiman
range, the Kuram alone reaches the Indus throughout the whole year, all the others

running out in their shifting gravelly beds in the dry season.


Northwards the Suleiman-dagh is connected with the Safid-koh range, which is

separated from the advanced spurs of the Hindu-Rush by the deep valley of the
Kabul River. Towards the east some of its lateral offshoots form a junction with
the western extremity of the Salt range, but south of the Kuram valley it

develops an independent chain running regularly north and south. From the
plains of the Indus presents an imposing appearance, culminating with Mount
it

Birgul, which rises to an elevation of 11,800 feet in the Waziri country. Of


is the more famous or " Throne of Solomon "
nearly equal height Takht-i-Suleiman,

(11,298). But all the crests of this system are alike bare and arid, white in the

noonday glare, almost translucent in the soft evening atmosphere.


Gradually decreasing in elevation towards the south, the Suleiman range,
which has a total length of about 360 miles, disappears altogether towards the
" Five Rivers."
Indus, near the confluence with the After skirting the last spurs
of the Suleiman-dagh, the main stream impinges on another border chain, 'which
forms the eastern scarp of the plateau of Baluchistan, and which figures on most

maps as the Hala range. But this is properly the name of a single pass, and the
1 1 V DROORAPH Y OP INDIA. 43

whole system is more generally known to the natixes a* the Khirtar Mountains.
It N composed of several parallel ridges consisting, like Sind
Hills, m.mtly of
\\it-

nummulitic limestones. The same formation .\,n amongut some of tho


j>i.
\.iiN

rocky eminences east of the Indus rising above the alluvia of tho wtrvum, or
eneireled by the sands of the desert. L-ss rh-xated tluui the Sulcinwn-dugh, the
Khirtur is
only 7,000 feet high in its culminating point, while most of its peaks
scarcely exceed 5,500 feet. The southern section is little more than a chain of
hills some 2,000 feet high, gradually merging in the surrounding plains. Never-
theless the range is
perceptibly maintained us fur UM Cape Munzu, geographical and

political
limit of Indiu, and is even continued seawards
by the rocky Maud of Churna.
Like the Suleiman, the Khirtur is intersected by a river, which rises on the
western plateau, and flows thence to the Indus. This is the Gaj, whose valley
offers an easy access from the plains of Indiu to the Baluchistan uplands. The
border ranges were formerly supposed to present an almost insurmountable obstacle
to the passage of caravans and armies, and but few avuiluble passes were known

to existbetween the pluteuu und lowlunds. The Khaibar and Puiwur north of the
Suleiman-dugh, the Gumul und Sunghur in the centre, and the Bolan in the south,
were said to be alone practicable for military purposes. But the recent explorations
of the English surveyors have shown that the frontier hills are, on the contrary,

pierced by a large number of accessible pusses. Murkhum enumerates upwurds of


fifty,*and others may be revealed by further research. It wus not the difficulties
of the road, but of the commissariat, that have at all times restricted to a few
routes the communications between the two conterminous regions. Here the real
defensive frontier formed not so much by the hills themselves as by the gravelly
is

and sandy wastes, the waterless and uncultivated tracts.

HYDROGRAPHY OF INDIA.

The running waters are very irregularly distributed over India, their course
the direction and abundance of
depending lurgely on the atmospheric currents,
the rainfall. The slope draining to the Buy of Bengal is on the whole better
watered than the opposite side draining to the Arabian Sea. The northern
receives in fact more than half of the whole
extremity of the former basin
in opposite directions,
discharge of the peninsula. Flowing for hundreds of miles
one to the west, the other eastwards, the Ganges and Brahmaputra collect all the
of over 1,200 miles, and discharge them
rivers rising in the Himalayas for a space
channels which they ban
into the Bay of Bengal through the hundred shifting
excavated between the Rajmahal and Garro Hills.
The common delta thus form*
of earth and water
of a region in which the two elements
presents the aspect
in eternal conflict. Low mud or sand banks, islands und strips of land, appei
The very trees plunge their rool
al.ove the surface.
everywhere scarcely rising
round th-
into the liquid domain, while the alluvium gathering
continuous encroachment of the mainland.
1879.
Proceeding! of the Geographical Society, January,
44 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

At the opposite corner of the peninsula the Indus, whence the whole land has
been named, offers a certain symmetrical correspondence with the Ganges and
Brahmaputra. It is fed by the snows of the Western Himalayas, mingled with
those of the Hindu-Kush, Karakorum, Trans-Himalaya, and even of the Tibetan

plateau. Its basin certainly exceeds 400,000 square miles in extent ;


but flowing
in a far drier climate than that of Bengal and Assam, it sends down a much smaller
volume than its eastern rivals. A large portion of its area of drainage even consists
of sandy wastes. Nevertheless it is accessible to vessels of considerable size, and
it thus completes, with the Ganges and the sea, the line of navigation which fully
" "
justifies the title of peninsula commonly applied to the whole of India,
Although frequently spoken of as twin rivers,' the Indus and Ganges present in

Fip 19 - RESERVOIRS IN MADURA.

t.ofG.

Scale 1 : 660,000.

I'-' Milrs.

some respects a very decided contrast. Whilst the latter flows mainly west and
east along the southern spurs of the Himalayas, the former runs chiefly north and
south, at least as soon as it
emerges on the plains. Like its great tributary, the
Satlej, the Indus rises in the Tibetan regions on the inner slope of the Himalaya

proper; lastly, it receives no affluents throughout its lower course, differing in


all these respects from the Ganges. Hence the resemblances discovered by the
Hindu poets, and after them by some modern geographers, between the two
sacred streams, as if
they were connected together by a sort of mystic relationship,
must be rejected as for the most part purely fanciful.
Similar contrasts are presented by the rivers watering the opposite slopes of the
southern plateau soutn\of the Yindhyas. On the west side the twin streams Nar-
badah and Tapti, both rising near the geographical centre of India, flow in parallel
TIIK ci.IMMi: MK IMHA. 45

beds west\\.ml- to the Ar:tl>iun S*a.


Although discharging through ncparato
mouths, they seem to belong to one and the same hydrographie sysj, n, H u t these
an- tin- only -t reams of any magnitude draining to he west coa.-t tin- WeMi-m Ghats
t
,

running elsewhere near the sea to allow any large basins to be


t<*>
developed. hi <

the other side all the large rivers Mahanaddi, Oodaveri, Kriohna, the two Panar,
and the Ka\eri form large alluvial deltas along the Hay of Bengal.
Few other rivers alternate more regularly between the
periods of low and high
watrr. All their oseillutions ore controlled by the
atmospheric currents, so that
before appearing on the surface of the earth these streams nmy be ha id to have been
fonned in the aerial spaces, like so many meteorological phenomena. In no other
region are the tillers of the land more careful to regulate the discharge, and thus

render themselves independent of the alternating seasons. Crowded together as

they are on the comparatively narrow arable tracts, this becomes for them a ques-
tion of life or death. In Northern India the slight fall of the land has required
the construction of an endless network of canals for irrigation pur]K>ses, whereas
the uneven character of the surface on the Dekkan plateaux and slopes draining to
the Coromandel coast has necessitated the formation of numerous reservoirs. The
inhabitants have thus, as it were, restored the land to its original state, such as it

existed before the streams had regulated their course, and while they still descended

through falls and rapids from one lacustrine basin to another. Thus has industry
in Southern India reproduced conditions which, at least in the relief, recall those of

Scandinavia. Some of the 35,000 lakes restored by the peasantry of the Dekkan
andlCoromandcl coast are hundreds of square miles in extent, and are larger than
any of the natural basins of India proper outside the Himalayas. The so-called
anicnts, or dykes, serve to retain the water in the reservoirs for the dry season, while
the overflow escaping through the ca/iiigatas, or outlets, serves to feed the series of

tanks at different levels, which farther down mark the course of the irrigation
canals from their source to their end, and which have been comjMired to the ganglia
of the nervous system. The anicuts, falling out of repair during periods of oppres-

sion, war, or distress, often give way during the rains at some weak point. Then
the reservoir is suddenly emptied, and the water, mingled with stones, mud, and
de'bris of every sort, rushes into a lower tank. Unable to resist the pressure, this
reservoir in its turn bursts its barriers, and the liquid mass, thus swollen from stage
to stage, carries widespread ruin down to the lowlands.

TIIK CI.IMATK o*- INDIA.

All degrees of temperature follow in succession from the shores of Ceylon, lying
near the equator, to the Karakorum snowfields, which cover lofty mountains from
to the pole. Thus
20,000 to 28,000 feet high, situated some 2,000 miles nearer
while in some regions we seem to breathe the heated air of a furnace, others are
to the extn-n.e .-old and r.ir- ti.-d Mate of tin-
atmo-
rendered uninhabitable owing
the mountain barrier ri>ini? alve the plain- of the Indus
sphere. Nevertheless, if

and Ganges be regarded as belonging to a separate geographical area, the ones of


46 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

mean temperature will be fojmd to succeed each other with tolerable uniformity

from Ceylon and Cape Comorin to the first valleys of the Himalayas. Although
less parched than certain regions of tropical Africa, the Cisgangetic peninsula is

none the less on the whole one of the most sultry lands on the globe. The line of
greatest meanheat passes immediately south of the peninsula, and even the iso-
thermal of 24 degrees is deflected in the northern plains up to the very foot of the

Fig. 20. ISOTHERMALS OP INDIA.


Scale 1 :
80,000,000.

LofG
600 Miles.

advanced sub-Himalayan hills. Throughout the peninsula, for a distance of over


1,800 miles, the annual variation scarcely exceeds 8 F. if, discarding the differ-
ences of relief, be uniformly reduced to sea level. But from season to
all stations

season the inverse variations are more considerable, over 13 F. during the heats,
and as much as 17 F. in the cold months. Yet even these are but slight differences,
regard being had to the vast extent of the land. Upwards of 250 meteorological
THE CLIMATK OF INDIA. 47

stations established in >rt of the peninsula enable us to study its climate,


und trace its isothermal* with more precision than in
poiwible in many countries in

West Europe.
Thanks to the neighbourhood of the equator und tho moderating influence of the
ocean and sea breezes, the temperature is naturally most uniform in the southern

regions. Thus at Colombo, capital of Ceylon, the variation from mouth to month

Fig. 21. SUMMER IdlTHEkMAU OF I Ml! A.


It 1 : 30.ooo.noO.

82 F. On the Malabar coast


is about 3F. only, oscillating between 79 and
between Mangalore and Cochin the discrepancy
is less than f
fi
inland it becomes much greater. During the hot sea**, ldpcially
Dekkan plateaux than on the
toMay, the heat is far more intense on the
b the same tin,, drier, so th.t
, I

Yet the air at


Malabar and Coromandel.
than on the coast, where the atmoq*
of the uplands is much less oppressive
48 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

like a furnace blast, especially when the sea breezes are succeeded "
by the land
wind."
The variation of temperature between the seasons naturally increases north-
wards in direct ratio with the latitude until we reach the Satpura range, which

may be regarded as forming a secondary meteorological parting-line between


Northern India and the Dekkan. Thus at Dera Ismail Khan, in the Panjab, which

Fig. 22. WIKTER ISOTHERM ALS OP INDIA.

Scale 1 :
20,000,000.

70*

600 Mile*.

lies far inland and nearly 600 miles north of the Tropic of Cancer, the deviation is
about 47 F. between January and July, the coldest and hottest months, which are
48 F. and 95 F. respectively. Here the heat exceeds that of any other part of
India in summer, when the equatorial thermal is deflected northwards so as to pass
over the Panjab. It is then as sultry in this region as in the most torrid lands, not
THE CLIMATE OF INDIA. 49

excluding the Sahara itself.* The


extremes of heat and cold observed at varioua
periods reveal in the Panjab a total deviation of <-\. r
! }'
.
\uryingfn.m f r.
,

point to exceptional heats of from 120 to 124 F. In Madras, where an equatorial


and marine climate pn \ails, the long series of t la rmometrical
observations, ranging
from the tir>t period of the Knglish oeeupation.
l.truys discrepancies of no
than 4o F., oscillating between 63 and 108 F.

Subjoined is a table of the temperature of the chief Indian towns in


the
direction from north to south :

fit.tioni.
60 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

October, which ripens the fruits with its heats, still humid from the recent rains.
Then comes the himanta, or winter, answering to the two last months of the
European year, when the mornings and evenings are chill, but the days bright,
allowing the husbandman to reap and harvest his crops. Lastly, the sasi, or sitsira
that is, the period of fogs and night dews ends with the month of February,
after which the cycle of the seasons begins again.

THE MONSOONS. RAINFALL.

But the clearly-marked climatic divisions for the whole of India may really be
reduced to the three seasons of heat, rain, and cold. The great annual crisis, the
drama described in the old songs, and occupying a leading part in Hindu mythology,
isushered in with the rainy monsoon. As indicated by its Arabic name of maitsitn,
the monsoon is pre-eminently " the season." Now the great heats accompanying
the solar procession expand the atmosphere, causing it to rise in vertical columns
to the higher regions ;
the whole land is converted into a fiery furnace ; the aerial
masses resting on the deep, and laden with moisture, are dissipated and borne
.landwards over the peninsula. On the coasts of Malabar, the Konkans, and
Bombay, the current of the rainy monsoon comes from the south-west, and moves
in the inverse direction to the north-easterly trade winds. It seems to be developed

by the counter-currents descending from the upper regions to replace the rarefied
air on the heated surface of the land. But it is also, probably, to some extent due
to the trade winds of the southern hemisphere, attracted northwards by the heats,
and gradually deflected north-eastwards by the diurnal rotation of the earth. The
observations taken at the various meteorological stations, as well as on board ship,
show that the southern monsoon is also partly caused by a local reflux of the air

above the Indian Ocean, where it often happens that a zone of calm or irregular
winds completely separates the south-eastern and southern monsoons from each
other. The direction of the latter is not uniformly from the south-west quarter

along all the Indian seaboard, for it frequently "shifts round to the south, while in
the Indus and Irrawaddi valleys, as well as on the Sanderband and Orissa coasts,
it blows occasionally from the south-east.
But to whatever causes it may be due, the monsoon is one of the most majestic
of terrestrial phenomena. The spectacle presented at its first approach may be
easily contemplated from Matheran, near Bombay, from Mahabaleshvar, or any of
the other headlands of the "Western. Ghats, which command at once a view of the
and the mountain gorges. The first storm-clouds, forerunners of the
sea, the coast,

tempest, usually gather between the 6th and 18th of June, according to the year.
On one side of the horizon the coppery vapours are piled up like towers, or,
" "
according to the local expression, are massed together like elephants in battle;
and as they move slowly towards the land, one half of the firmament becomes

densely overcast, while not a speck sullies the deep azure in the opposite direction.
On the one hand, mountains and valleys are wrapped in darkness on the other, ;

the outline of the seaboard stands out with intense sharpness, the surface of sea and
T 1 1 1 :
MONSOONS. RAINF A II. 61

rivers assumes the metallic hue of steel, the whole hind, with iU scattered
towns,
glitters with a weird glare. As tl,,. .-loudi strike the crags of the Western
OhaU,
the tli under begins to ruml.le, the- whirlwind bursts ,,\-r the the land, lightning*
grow more frequent and prolonged,
flash incessantly, the peals the rain is
discharged
in tremendous downpours. Then the l.la.-k clouds are
suddenly rent asunder, the
light of day gradually returns, nil nature is
again bathed in the
rays of the setting

Jig. 23, TKADI ROVTE* BETWEEN MADRAS AXD BOMBAY ix TMI EIGHTEENTH CEKTVT.
Seale 1 : 40,000.000.

EofG 60'

J,*.x> Mil'*.

sun, and of all the lwmked-up masses nothing remains except some fleecy vapour

ascending the valleys or drifting over the tree-tops.


Such is usually the first outburst of the monsoon, after which follow the regular
rains. But the watery miMs will at times present themselves unescorted by the
and then a midnight darkness unc\|*vtedly
majesty of thunder and lightning,
the whole land i* deluged by torrential rains. At
overspreads the horizon, and
for hours
times also the dense masses drift along the mantling headlands
slowly
of war-ships sailing by a line of strongholds, each cloud iu its
together, like fleets
52 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

turn discharging its electric shocks as it doubles the capes. The heavens seem
then to be at war with the frowning cliffs of the seaboard.
Theregularity of the monsoons between June and September has certainly
tended to control the arrival and departure of the inland tribes, while it has also
for ages directed the movement of commerce along the shores of the peninsula.
Before the introduction of steam navigation in the Indian waters, the fleets of

trading vessels on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts were entirely guided by the
return of the seasons. Long before the time of Nearchus, the Arabs, who brought
the wealth of India to the ports of the Red Sea, were familiar with the course
of the winds, regularly alternating from coast to coast. Nor could this remarkable
phenomenon the imagination of seafarers from the first beginnings of
fail to strike

navigation, encouraging them to spread their sails to the favourable winds, teaching
them to rely on the never- failing monsoon for the homeward voyage.
But the influence of the monsoon in the development of Asiatic commerce
cannot be compared with its importance in irrigating the land, which, but for it,
would be neither capable of cultivation nor even inhabitable. The north-east
trade wind, descending from the Tibetan plateau, after crossing the deserts of
Central Asia, brings no moisture at all. The few winter showers that fall on the
northern plains of India during the prevalence of this wind are entirely due to
local disturbances, and especially to the humidity brought from the Bay of Bengal
by counter-currents blowing in the upper atmospheric spaces. To the summer
rains is entirely due the existence of the Indian rivers, which water the forests and
arable lands alike, and which have thus been the great civilising agent in the
peninsula. Such is the incessant burden of the early songs of the Rishis, invoking

Indra, who
rends the clouds, to deliver the herds of heaven and pour down wealth
and abundance on his worshippers. " Rain comes from the gods," repeats the
" rain
Mahabharata ; gives us the plants on which depends the well-being of
mortals."
The quantity of moisture brought by the summer monsoon varies from year to
year, and differs greatly in the different regions of India. On the Western Ghats it
isvery considerable, amounting, on an average, to a rainfall of perhaps 200 inches.
Driven by the wind against the escarpments and up the narrow valleys of the
mountains forming the edge of the Dekkan plateau, the clouds precipitate
tremendous torrents, which flow rapidly back to the sea, thus completing within a
few days the circuit of waters developed between the ocean, the air, and the
mainland.
But during their short course seawards the streams of the western slopes give
rise to a dense vegetation along their banks, and renew the soil of the low riverain
tracts by washing down the detritus of the crumbling lavas and laterites. To the
action of these heavy rains and impetuous streams are due the deep gorges and
precipices, the fantastic towers and peaks, occurring along the slopes of the Ghats.
But beyond this mountain barrier the clouds of the monsoon, already relieved of
most of their moisture, have little left except for the highest summits of the hills,
which here and there break the general level of the plateaux on the Dekkan.
THE MONSOONS. RAINFALL. M
While tin- in. MM r;iinf;ille\eee<U -J7n iiiehes on some points of the MaluW
it is les> than Hiii at Mereara on tin- ru-r-fed plateau of Kurg, and diminUhi
more as we proceed eu-t\\.mU. Kxen on tin- two slopes of the aamc mountain the
diil'erence is oiten considerable. Thus ,,n Mount Cliamltra. lying wc*t of the
Nilghiris. the east slope receive* nearly Jo in.-h,-. less than the Midi-
faring the
Indian < >eean.

The quantity of moisture also diminishes from llombay southwards, a circum-


stance doubtless due to the gradual contraction of the peninsula towards
Cupe
Comorin, wln-rchy a continuously less extent of lund surface is left for boating and
rarefying the air. A
better equilibrium is thus maintained in the south between
the continental and marine atmospheric currents, and to this again is doubtlc*

Fig. 24. ESCAHPMENTS or TUB CJHATS WENT or TUB So LUCES or TUK KKIMI.XA.
SoUe 1 : 330,000.

direction of the monsoon. It is also remark-


partly due the normal north-easterly
able that a rainfall, sufficient in more temperate regions to maintain a vigorous
of
forest vegetation, will not suffice in Southern India to nourish large growths
timber. As in Russia and Xerth America, where the contrast between woodlands
less supply of moisture, so in the basin of
and depends on the greater or
prairies
to the
the Upper Kaveri dense forests alternate with bamboo thickets in proportion
rainfall of the several districts.
in the
In North, in India the humidity diminishes in the inverse order, that is,
and in the
direction from east to west. Along the foot of the Suleiman-dagh
both rare and
deserts stretching eastof the Indus as far as Mount Abu. hhow.-rs are
aon wit
irregular. Here the period of continuous rains is n-plan-d by* dry
often looka in
intermittent storms. Even in the 1'anjab the anxious husbandman
54 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

vain for the much-needed rain-cloud, and the fervent appeals of the ancient
Aryas to the storm-gods show that even then as now the supply was deficient.
But farther east the monsoon, which is normally deflected towards the north-east,

brings copious rains, whose arrival coincides with the melting of the snows on the
Himalayas. Nevertheless the quantity of moisture derived from these combined
sources is greatly exceeded by the discharge on the north-eastern highlands, where
the summer monsoon is arrested. At Calcutta the mean rainfall is scarcely more
than 80 inches, whereas it amounts to considerably over 600 on the Garro and
Khasi Hills skirting the Brahmaputra valley. The heaviest rainfall hitherto
registered in any part of the world occurs at the Cheraponji station, in one of the
Khasi upland valleys, where the mean is about 620 inches, and where it reached
790 inches in the year 1861. Like the Western Ghats, the Assam Hills have been
deeply scored by ravines and gorges, and few other rocky regions betray greater
evidences of the erosive action of rains and running waters.

DROUGHTS AND CYCLONES.


The least irregularity in the annual vicissitudes of the climate is often
attended in India by the most serious consequences. "When the rains fail, or are
deficient in abundance, the rivers and irrigating canals dry up, famine becomes

inevitable, and the lives of millions are imperilled. Long droughts are formidable

especially in Sind and the Pan jab, on the Gangetic plains, and on the east coast
of the peninsula ;
that is, in all the regions where the mean annual rainfall varies
from 40 to 60 inches.
These lands would be periodically depopulated but for the
irrigation canals, which supply the deficiency of atmospheric moisture. Meteo-

rologists have sought to discover a constant relation between the recurrence of


solar spots and the oscillations of the pluvial discharge. The cycles of the two
orders of phenomena are supposed to correspond, each being about eleven years,
so that the danger of drought might be partly averted by anticipating its occur-
rence. But the complete utilisation of the streams, which rise mostly in regions
of abundant moisture, is the only sure means of securing the harvests and conse-
quently the lives of the ryots in Sind and throughout the eastern regions of the
peninsula.
Although less disastrous than the droughts, the cyclones nevertheless inspire
more terror, because their destructive action is more sudden, while the scenes of
desolation left in their track present a vivid picture of appalling ruin. And if

famine destroys millions in a few months, the cyclones have at times swept away
over a hundred thousand souls in a few hours. These tremendous meteoric
disturbances are moreover inevitably followed by fatal epidemics and local famines.
In the Indian seas north of the equator most of the cyclones are developed to the
north of the Andaman Islands, between the Orissa and Arakan coasts. But they
alsosweep the waters along the Coromandel coast and in the Arabian Sea.
They take place either at the beginning or more frequently at the end of the
Bummer monsoon, and are usually preceded by calms, with a nearly uniform baro-
DROUGHTS AND CYCLONB9.
55

; .l
pressure over a wide area. The heatl vapours in the*
ruing region*
being unable to expand to tin- right or left, are
again condoned, the latent heat
becomes liberate!, nu.l the .-old air rushes in
from all quarter* t.. tins focus of
high
temperature. Thus is
produced the tornado from this conflict of the a,-rial mnmm.
Tlu- most disastrous effects
naturally take place on the low-lying coostlonds, where

Fig. 26. PLUYIAL ZOXM or Iou.


Soalcl : SftjOOOOon.

... n -

a rise of a few yards above the mean high-water level suffices to WMte the plain*

far into the interior.

The sort have occurred about the mouths


greatest recorded catastrophes of this
of the Kistna, Godaveri,Mahanaddi, Ganges, and Hrahuwputni. The moat
r the eastern
terrific hurricane of which history has any knowledge,
1.

in 1876. It ia known as the Baker-


Sanderbands on both sides of the Meghna
56 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

ganj Cyclone," from the name of the district which it wasted. About midnight on
October 31st three successive waves from 10 to 20 feet high approached the mouth
of the river,and in a few hours three large islands, all the neighbouring islets,
and 150,000 acres on the mainland were engulfed, together with upwards of
200,000 souls. None were saved except those who had time to take refuge in the
trees. Nearly all the villages were levelled and all the animals perished. Then
followed the cholera, caused by the putrefaction of the dead bodies, and still further

decimating the survivors. The works necessary to protect the land from a recur-
rence of these disasters have scarcely yet begun along the low-lying shores of the
Sanderbands.

INDIAN FLORA.

With its from the dripping hills of Assam to the waterless


diversified climate

deserts of Sind, India naturally contains a rich and varied flora, without, however,

constituting a special division of the vegetable kingdom.


Far from being a centre
of dispersion like South Africa, Malaysia, or Australia, it forms a sort of neutral

territory where the floras of


the conterminous regions are intermingled. With
the exception of a few species that have here become differentiated, all the Indian

plants belong to the domains either of Irania, the Mediterranean basin, Egypt,
Malaysia, China, or Central Asia. These various elements may be disposed in four
divisions the Himalayan
distinct regions, corresponding to as many climatic
slopes, the almost rainless Indus basin, the superabundantly watered province
of Assam, and the Indian peninsula proper without extremes of moisture or

dryness.
The Himalayan and especially the Kashmir highlands, offer the
division,

largest proportion of European species. In many valleys the traveller from the
West might fancy himself still in his native land at sight of the surrounding vege-

tation. Included formerly in the same domain, and then gradually separated by

changes of climate, the European and Himalayan plants have, in spite of the
distance, preserved their original physiognomy and affinities. The pines, firs,

junipers, yews, and other conifers forming the large forests to an altitude of 12,000

European congeners. The lovely deodora,


feet, bear a striking resemblance to their
" Tree of the which has been introduced from Kashmir into the parks and
Gods,"
forests of the West, differs little from the cedar of Lebanon and the Atlantic sea-

board, especially when it has attained its full


growth. In the Eastern Himalayas
the magnolia, aucuba, abelia, and other typical plants belong chiefly to the Chinese
zone, and the tea shrub, which grows spontaneously in the forests of Assam, is

merely a variety of the Chinese species.


Owing to its deficient moisture, the north-west region of India has naturally a

poorer flora, and here the chief types are common also to Irania, Arabia, and Egypt.
More than nine-tenths oK the Sind species are indigenous in Africa, while the
of the same thorny scrub as
jungles skirting the desert consist almost exclusively
that of Western Asia. The populus Euphratica, which lines the irrigation canals,
is identical with the " willow of Babylon," and the ascfcpias acida, or sarcostema
INDIAN FLORA. 67

riminafift, the pre-eminently which yielded the "di\ine" /torn, Jtoma,


Aryan plant,
or 9Otna, is quite as much Iranian as Indian, and has lx-en ceh-lirated with u* much
enthusiasm l.y the sages of the /end A vesta as l.y the Yedic ri-hiv Hut for th-m
the intoxicating juice of the hoinu is no longer the sacred nee tar, imparting life

and immortality. It is no longer gathered by moonlight, mingled with cluriti.^1


butter, and invoked as a deity; for in Persia the worship of the soma had already

yielded to that of the vine, the juice of which was poured out in libations to new
divinities.

The flora of the humid regions contrasts with that of Sind in its
brilliancy and
exuberance. Amid much
specific variety, the upper Assam plain, the swampy
tracts skirting the sub-Himalayas, the Khasi upland valleys, Lower Bengal, the

Fig. 26. VEGETABLE ZONES AND AUEAB OF CI-LTIVATIOM ox THK SIKKIM

- Upper Limit LL . Lower Limit

lands of the
Konkon and Malabar Ceylon and the other well-watered
coasts, penin-

sula, all present a general resemblance in their vegetable forms,


which rival those
of Further India and the Sunda Islands in richness and variety. In the hotter
and besides cotton,
parts flourish the pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, gum-trees,
and numerous medicinal while the forests yield teuk and sol,
indigo, sugar, plants,
" like
the most highly valued of timbers. The various palms, straight and firm,
darts shooting heavenwards," which supply food, drink, clothing, furniture,
and
In the
chiefly on the
utensils of all kinds to the inhabitants, coast lands.
grow
aud especially along the tributaries of the Ganges, the mhowa (batM
AI/I-
interior,
nourishment to
>//>/) produces
enormous quantities of sweet flowers, which serve as

many periods of distress have saved


th.
men and animals, and which during
of whole communities. Ilere also are found several varieties of the sacred banyan

69
58 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

(ficus Indica),
whose branches bending do nrn take root in the ground, thus
forming
fresh stocks about the parent trunk. Wherever the annual rains are insufficient
for the development of forest trees, the bamboo grows in dense jungle, administer-

ing to all the wants of the people, who wonder that there can be any civilised beings
in the benighted lands destitute of this useful plant.

The natural vegetable zones are being yearly encroached upon by the tillers of
the soil, who have already succeeded in raising crops of cereals almost to the very
limit of the snow In some of the sheltered parts of Ladak, barley is reaped
line.

at an altitude of over 14,000 feet, and villages are found at 13,000 and 13,500 feet

whose inhabitants depend entirely on this produce. Nearly all the hamlets in the
upper Satlej valley as far as 11,500, and in some places 13,000 feet, are surrounded
by the willow and apricot, intenningled
here and there with the junipenis excelsa,

the sacred plant of the Buddhists. In the Himalayas the upper limit of natural and
cultivated growths rises gradually from the outer slopes facing the plains to those

overlooking the valleys in the heart of the highlands. Some species, which stop at
6,500 feet in the district south of Darjiling, reach altitudes of 7,000 and 8,000 feet
in the pent-up and well-sheltered Sikkim valley.

INDIAN FAUNA.

Like its flora, the fauna of India differs little from those of the neighbouring
lands, being allied with the Tibetan, Chinese, and Indo-Chinese on the northern and
eastern frontiers, elsewhere with the Iranian and Malaysian.
The southern Himalayas is naturally occupied by the same species
slope of the
as the Trans-Himalayan valleys and Tibetan plateaux, the 'southern limits here

being such as are presented by the climatic conditions at the various elevations.
Thus the wild and domestic yak, the antelope, gazelle, chamois, musk-deer, wild
goat, sheep, ass, bear, white, black, and red wolf, jackal, fox, and wild dog of Tibet
are all met either in the snowy regions or in the forests of the
Himalayan slopes.
But they upon the dry zone, and as a rule the mountain species
scarcely encroach
stop short where the woodlands begin, which are fed by the moist air of Sikkim.
At the foot of the great range the forest region of the terai, and farther east the
thickets of Assam and of the frontier highlands towards Burma are the chief refuge
of the wild animals of India. Some of these, such as the dwarf pig
(porculia
sal-

viania}, weighing no more than 12 or 13 pounds, and scarcely 10 inches high, have
elsewhere disappeared altogether from the peninsula.*
Even the elephant, driven from most other parts of India, is still able to hold
his ground amid the swamps and jungle of Assam and the terai. Unlike the
African elephant, the Indian species avoids the plains, everywhere preferring hilly
districts and even rugged mountain uplands. He roams the Sikkim forests to an
altitude of 4,000 feet, and a specimen was even captured at an elevation of over
10,000 feet. He would have probably already disappeared from all the Indian

* Several
specimens of this animal were brought, in 1882, to the London Zoological Gardens, where
they thrive well.
INDIAN FAUNA.

forests, had not elephant hunting been regulated (In- (i..\. rninrnt, which reaerre*
by
t> itself the absolute
ownership of l><,.h varieties, tin- /// tkn<t and </<in<dt, tin- lutt. r

of which alone is armed with tu.xks. Scxeral hundred are now annually captured
and employed chiefly in road building and tran|)orting timber and other
heavy
loads. Many are also kept by the native princes, who use them both for hunting
and <>n -late occasions.
The rhinoceros has also become rare, although four varieties with one or two
horns still survive. He
found chiefly in the Jittatong forest* east of the Meghna
is

delta and in the


muddy region of the Sanderbands. Formidable ruminants, such as
"
the gayal, the gaur (Ao* called a " bison by hunters, and the
gaurux), commonly
wild buffalo, still frequent the forests and jungle of Central India, Assam, and the
Burmese frontier. The capture is attended with UH much risk as
of these animals
that of the tiger and elephant. Of all wild beasts the buiTulo alone, besides the
carnivora, does not hesitate to attack human beings, and especially Europeans. Even
in captivity betrays an extraordinary hostility to the white man.
it But the wild
boar, although he rarely faces the hunter, is even more detested than the tiger

himself, in consequence of the depredations he commits on the cultivated lunds.


He is on this account regarded by the husbandman as the real enemy, and in many
districts the tiger is looked on as a sort of tutelar deity, because he preys on the
wild boar, the great ravager of the crops.
The " royal " tiger, so called on account of his strength and ferocity, has of all
carnivorous animals best preserved his empire in every part of the j> niii-ula, from
the plains and hills up to a considerable altitude on the Himalayan slopes. He
attacks especially the gazelle, antelope, ibex, wild boar, and all the smaller forest

animals, and as long as this game abounds he seldom falls on cattle or other tame
beasts. But when the jungle begins to become de]x>pulated, or the tiger grows old
and weak, being no longer able to hunt the deer and gazelle, he preys on the herds
of the peasantry and even on the villagers themselves. As in prehistoric times,
the struggle is thus still continued between man and wild beasts, and in many dis-

tricts ofIndia the latter might till recently have claimed the victory. A single
tigress in the Chanda country, Central Provinces, destroyed one hundred and
" "
thirty-two persons during the years 1867 and 1868, and another man-eater is

said to have annually devoured as many as eighty human beings. The people of
the district came at last to look on him as a sort of deity, in whom was embodied
all the strength and courage of his victims. The proximity of these marauders
often causes the public roads to be completely forsaken, and one of them inspired
such terror that thirteen villages were abandoned and a space of about 260 square
miles leftuncultivated.
" "
The leopard, or panther as he is by the hunter
commonly called, is regarded

aa even more formidable than the tiger himself. He is more daring, more cunning
and nimble, qualities which more than compensate for less muscular strength.
Once he has tasted human flesh, he becomes the of the district, for he n in-
scourge
stantly rcquiro fre-h victims wh..M- 1.1 1 In- Micks without always consuming the
The chita, another species of leopard indigenous in the iK-kkan, has become
body.
60 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the ally of man, having been trained to hunt the gazelle and other game, which he
falls upon with amazing rapidity.

Several other feline species infest the Indian jungle, but the lion, largest of all
and in the popular fancy regarded as even more powerful than the tiger, has abnost
ceased to exist on the mainland since the beginning of the present century. So
recently as 1810 he was still hunted in the Panjab; but the Indian lion, which is
destitute of mane, is now restricted to the rocky hills of the Gir district towards
the southern extremity of the Kathiawar peninsula, where the natives give him the
name of " camel-tiger." Near the same district the wild ass also has found a last
retreat in the neighbourhood of the Rann of Katch, where it associates with the

nilghau (portax pictim), although the latter still survives in some other places. The
wolf holds his ground in all the open regions of the peninsula, and although less
formidable, he often commits more ravages than the tiger. Hence he is worshipped
as a god by some of the wild tribes, who forebode the greatest calamities when his

blood shed in their territory by the passing sportsman. The hyena is also dan-
is

gerous to the cattle, and in time of famine even to the children of the peasantry.
The jackals, which are very numerous, make the night discordant with their hideous
howls, and from the cunning displayed in their marauding expeditions have ac-

quired the same reputation in Hindu fable for wisdom and intrigue that the fox has
in Europe. The dhol or wild dog is also numerous in the wooded districts, where
it hunts in packs without barking. It will even attack tigers, and never fails to run
down the quarry, even though the chase should last for days. Multitudes of flying
foxes {pteromys} swarm in the forests, and numerous species of monkeys are met
almost everywhere. Owing to- the veneration with which they are regarded, they
have in some places become the true masters of the land, freely entering the houses
and helping themselves to whatever takes their fancy. To protect their provisions
the villagers are obliged to cover them with thorny branches.
The statistical tables published in the various provinces contain lists of the
large carnivora killed during the year, as well as the number of their human victims.
Thanks to the prizes offered by Government and to the use of strychnine, the wild

beasts are steadily diminishing ;


but it is found much more
keep down difficult to

the poisonous snakes, which are probably more destructive in India than in any
other country. The annual official returns speak of thousands of deaths caused by
these reptiles, whose victims Fayrer estimates at upwards of twenty thousand
every year.*
Gunther reckons whole of India as many as seventy-nine species of veno-
in the

mous ophidians, over one half of which are aquatic. It is remarkable that all the
species living in salt water (the sea and coast lagoons) are poisonous, whereas those
frequenting the fresh-water streams and tanks are harmless. The bite, especially
of the cobra, daboia, ophiophagus, and some other varieties is almost inevitably
"
fatal, and of these the naga tri/nidians, or copra di capello," so named by the
* Carnivora killed in
Bengil between 1870-75, 18,196; i.e. 7,278 tigers, 5,668 leopards, 1,671
ounces, 1,388 wolves. Men killed during the same period, 13.416. of whom 4,218 by tigers and 4,287 by
wolves, lien killed by snakes in 1877, 16,777. Snakes killed in the same year, 127,295. Human
victims of snakes and wild beasts in 1880, 21,990.
IN hi AN FAUNA. :

from the hood formed by the out -tr. t. h. <1 'kin of it- nn-k. i- at ..!,< tl u
'
.

most dangerous and one of tin- nio>t numerous. According to Dr. Nieholaon tlu-re
are at least two hundred to the square mile in the Bangalore district. Owing to
its susceptibility to music, this species is most in favour with the serpent charmer*,
uud is emblem of the God of Destruc-
also a sacred animal, being regarded as the

tion. Hence when the devout Hindu Brahman discovers one of these pecU about
the house, instead of disturbing, he brings it milk and JKIVS it homage as to a
domestic divinity. Even if it slays a member of the family he will merely remove
it to the fields with many apologies, and should the sacred reptile happen to
gat
killed by a less reverent hand, he will purchase and burn the body with many pious
ceremonies. Thus is still perpetuated the serpent worship which in India pre-
ceded Brahmanism itself, and which is found under diverse forms in o many parts
of the Old and New
Worlds. Creeping out of the fissures of the rock, the naga
seems to emerge from darkness as the representative of the underground world
and of the inferior powers. It is the dragon of fable who vomits fire and smoke,
the monster who carries off the wicked and plunges them into the burning lake,

the sacred animal that wears a precious gem embedded in the fokls of its head,

the possessor of the mysteries concealed in the bowels of the earth. The great art
of the sorcerer consists in extracting from him his secrets, which shall reveal the
hidden mine, explain the virtues of the herbs and roots that heal from all disorders,
or even point out the road that leads to wealth and power. The diadem of Siva is
formed of seven intertwined snakes' heads darting forward, us if to threaten the
votaries of the god. Vishnu also is worshipped, guarded by the thousand-headed
In nearlv all the Hindu temples isfound this symbolic ornament, whose
serpent.
primitive sense has been gradually lost,
and which has at last become a mere deco-
rative motive. Even the umbrellas, objects formerly reserved for princes and
nobles, have a form recalling that of Siva's snakes.
The Indian fauna also includes some formidable saurian* two species of the
crocodile and the gavial of the Ganges. But these animals have tended to disappear,
since manufacturers have begun to utilise their skin and fat, and since modern science
In this imixmt
has placed more weapons in the hands of the hunter.
efficient
exterminate or domesticate the
struggle of man with nature, he
finds it easier to

large animals,than to contend with the countless multitudes of small rodent* and
insects.While he destroys the lion and tiger, subdues the elephant, peoples the
and stocks the Nilghiri
Himalayan forests with game imported from England,
reservoirs with fishfrom the north, he remains as powerless as were his forefathers
of rats, the ants and termites, and all the
against the clouds of locusts, the legions
hosts of creatures which
microscopic prey on his crops, destroying them in the
on the aid of other
fruit or the bloom.Against these foes he has to depend
o
minute beings, or animulculu, which swarm or disappear with the vicissitude*
sure
the climate. But in the vast of the feathered tribe he has, at least,
kingdom
in the
allies which help to get rid of allthe refuse that might engender epidemics
Indie*
large towns. Amongst the species of vultures there are two the gyp*
" d whkfc,
the gyps Bcngafaui*, which well deserve the name of scarengere,"
62 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.
" "
from theirgrave demeanour, are familiarly known as philosophers and
"adjutants." In Calcutta especially, where these public benefactors are pro-
tected from attack by heavy fines, they may be seen in large numbers perched in

melancholy rows along the walls of the streets and courts.


The Indian poultry is much the same as the European ;
the ubiquitous sparrow

has followed the English to the settlements in the upland valleys of the Himalayas ;

Fig. 27. VISHNU GUARDED BY A SVAKE. SCULPTURE IN THE JAINA TFMPLF OF SAT>HI

but songsters of all kinds are far rarer in the Indian than in the "Western forests.
The falcon trained for the chase, especially in Sind, and in Central India a
is still

bird is the maina, a species of starling, which becomes


very favourite quite tame
in captivity, and is taught to articulate a few words, such as the name of the
god
Krishna and others.
I \ II ABIT ANTS OF INDIA. ,

I Ml MUTANTS OK INDIA.

KM -hiding a few lril>e.s of unknown origin, who arc said to be autochthonous, in

ignorance <>t thi-ir true allinities, till the Indian races arc connected with those of
the conterminous regions. Like the animal and vegetable species, the inhabitants
of the peniiiMila In-long to wider areas of evolution than the narrow limits of the
laud where they are now found intermingled. The Arya*, while conscious of their
common culture, recognise their mutual kinship of blood, speech, and thought on
both -ides of the " Indian Caucasus." Towards the west gradual transitions of
ra<e. idioms, and traditions connect the Mohammedan populations of Irauia and
India. On the northern and north-eastern border-lands the relationship is also

recognised from community to community between the valleys of both slopes.


Lastly, the Dravidians themselves, although now driven from the Indian plains to
the southern plateau of the Dekkan, seem to have come originally from the north-
west. Traces of their migration are supposed to be still found in Baluchistan,
where the Uruhui language is considered to be of Dravidian origin, while the
ancient Medic has been by some allied to the same linguistic group. The
trilingual inscriptions of Behistan, recording the history of Darius Hystaspes,
has supplied plausible proofs of a fundamental connection of the Dravidian
"
with the so-called " Scythian family, now chiefly represented by the Finnish
dialects.*

The great differences now prevailing between these various races must be
attributed partly to the remoteness of the periods of dispersion from common

centres, partly to the rapid changes of structure and glottology to which the

languages, especially of barbarous and migratory tribes, are liable. Besides the

proofs derived from history itself, the innumerable archaeological


remains abun-

dantly attest the vast antiquity of man in the peninsula. Like Europe,
India has

her dolmens and menhirs, her stone implements, and depots of manufactured flints.
Here is found the whole series of transitional epochs, from the lowest palalithic

age upwards, and India has even yielded the very oldest traces hitherto anywhere
discovered of the existence of man on the earth. East of Goa geologists have

discovered, half buried under a superincumbent mass of basalt and laterite,


a

petrifiedforest ofpalms and conifers, some of the fossil trunks of which still bear
evident marks of the axe by which they were felled. Thus the woodman was
still overflowing from the craters
already at work in an epoch when the lavas were
of the Dekkan, craters which have been so long extinct that they can now be

scarcely recognised. Hence these inhabitants of Western India must be referred


to eocene times, even to the close of the chalk period. There has thus
possibly
been abundant time for the populations to become intermingled and diversely fond,
casting and recasting over and ovc-r again the primitive types.
Nevt -rtheloss the of races is far in India than on the
greater
persistence
the coocltMioM of
The original text ia far more positive on thu point thn U at all warranted by
moJ.rn migrative philology.
,-.. Much .earthing study U .1.11 nqmnxl cuncluY.frll

the Brahui, not to .peak of the Medic and ]

organi. r, lati.,,,ship of the Dravidian with


families. KDITOB.
64 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

European continent, a circumstance partly due to the relatively uniform contours


of the Gangetic peninsula, compared with the aggregate of islands and peninsulas

constituting the north-western region of the Old World. In any case agricultural

populations must under otherwise like conditions remain all the


less sedentary in

proportion to the greater facilities afforded for shifting their settlements, and
according as the surroundings themselves are more changing and varied. In many
respects the Hindus represent an almost changeless
element compared with

Europeans. Throughout the period of some three and twenty centuries, during
which the barbarous tribes of the West have risen to the very highest stage of civi-

lisation hitherto reached, the inhabitants of the peninsula might almost seem to have

remained stationary. The broad descriptions left by early writers are still largely
applicable to the natives. Even the institution of caste, partly abolished by Budd-
hism, has been revived. Thanks to this remarkable stability, the types of the various
tribesand races grouped together in the peninsula have been far better preserved

than those of the more restless Western peoples.


Hence each special region contains still distinct barbarous or civilised popula-

tions, which must be studied apart. Here attention will be paid, as far as possible,

to the different ethnical groups, while describing the land according to its natural

divisions, which have here and there been rudely modified by conquests and
administrative changes.
CHAPTER III.

"WESTERN HIMALAYAS.

UPPER VALLEYS OF THE "FIVE RIVERS."


KASHMIR, EAST DAHDISTAN, HAZAIIA, CHAMBA, KAXGEA, STATES OF THE UPPBH SATLU.

HIS highland region constitutes collectively a sort of neutral zone,

belonging geographically neither to Tibet, India, nor Turkestan.


The prominent ridges form a continuation of the Tibetan ranges,
while the intervening valleys prolong the depressions of the plateau.

Although the drainage is towards the plains of Sind and the Arabian
Sea, the deep river gorges, the scarps and passes leading to the up|>er basins,
completely separate the two regions of the highlands and lowlands, just as the former
is
separated from the domain of eternal snows. In the language of the old Hindu
" three worlds " are found here
poets, super i in jx)sed one above the other.
Nearly the inhabitants of Kashmir and of the conterminous valleys present
all

It was at the foot


analogous contrasts with those of the oj>en plains of the Panjab.
of the mountains that in this direction the land of the Aryans was limited in the
first historic times, and Kashmir has since then often followed political vicissitudes
" Even so recently as 1811) was under
independent of those of the Five Rivers." it

the sway of the Afghans, nor was the English supremacy aeknowl<>dgixl by the

Maharaja of Srinagar till the year 1846". In other respects the jxilitical limits
of his states coincide accurately enough with the natural frontiers. Kashmir is
separated from Chinese Turkestan northwards by the Kan;korum range, with its

difficult snowy passes, while towards the south its


frontier is sufficiently indicated

by the last parallel spurs of the Himalayas. Here, however, a strip of territory from
3 to 18 miles broad, known by the Persian name of Daman-i-Koh, or "Skirt of
the Mountains," encroaches on thr plains. Each of the natural divisions of the

land has n -reived similar general designations. Thus, the advanced .suit-Himalayan
"
chain in Chamba and Spit i, as well as in Kashmir, is called the Kanti, or Edge."
this all the hilly tracts of the interior ore collectively known as
Beyond line,
"
Pahar, or the Highlands."
66 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

LlXOT/HITAXG AND KuEN-LUN PLATEAUX.

By far the largest part of this vast upper basin of the Five Rivers consists of

uninhabited spaces.* Such must naturally be the case


in a region formed by an

inclined plain, whose upper edge stands at an altitude of 20,000 feet above the sea.
The mean elevation of the whole land must be estimated at over 13,000 feet, an
elevation exceeded by very few Alpine peaks in Europe. The whole north-eastern
division consists of a vast plateau about 16,000 feet high, which may even be
regarded as belonging geographically to Tibet, for the ranges here rise to com-
paratively slight elevations above the surrounding uplands, which present wide
stretches of perfectly level plains. Here Schlagintweit, Hay ward, Shaw, Drew,
and other explorers have found open spaces which have not even the necessary
incline to discharge the drainage from the melting snows either southwards to the

Shayok or northwards to the Kara-Kash basin. These tracts, known as the

Lingtzhitang (Changchenmo) and Kuen-lun Plains, occupy altogether an area of


at least 7,000 square miles.

These intermediate plateaux between the Karokorum and Kuen-lun form the
western continuation of the Tibetan province of Kachi. The moderately elevated
fossiliferous Lokzhung ridge, which divides them into two distinct plains, runs
first east and west, and then trends north-westwards. The few travellers that have
traversed this region describe it much same way that Nain-Singh, Hue, and
in the

Prjevalski speak of the East Tibetan plateaux. In midsummer, the only season
" land of death " has hitherto been
during which this visited, the snows have

everywhere disappeared except in certain places where they form snowfields or


even crystalline masses looking at a distance like saline wastes. The white or
greyish land stretches everywhere beyond the horizon, without presenting any
visible obstacle to the wayfarer. But the rarefied air, the intense heat during the
day, the violence of the regular afternoon gales, the sudden night chills due to
radiation, all combine to render the least effort extremely painful. The mirages
constantly rising in the quivering atmosphere, and mocking the eye with phantom
lakes, also tend greatly to increase the traveller's fatigue. The ponies, yaks, or

pack sheep of the caravan have their own


fodder to carry as well as the camp

fittings, for these bleak plateaux are almost entirely destitute of vegetation.
Nothing is found beyond a few patches of herbage here and there, which, neverthe-
less, suffice for the sustenance of some wild asses, antelopes, and yaks still

frequenting these dreary uplands.


There can be no doubt that the Lingtzhitang and Kuen-lun plateaux were
* Areas and
populations of the Western Himalayas :

Area in Squire Miles. Population in 1872.


Kashmir 71,1.00 1,535,000

Hazara ....
Independent Dardistan .
14,000
3,000
400,000 (P)
367,200
Chamba.
Kangra ....
Upper Satlej States
3,500
9,300
8,350
130,000
743,900
729,700

109,150 3,905,700 (P)


L1NOTZIIITANO AND KH N-I I N l LATEAUX. 67

formerly under water. The soil is evidently alluvial, regularly stratified, nnd still

revealing slight traces of the vegetaUr remain* which were debited with tin-
mud on the bottom. The erosions formed on the edge* of the plateaux, and h-n-
and then- in the interior of the basins, enable us to understand how the lake*
gradually filled in. They must have at one time formed a common basin,

Fig. 28. Li.xoTziuTAxn AMD KI-EN-IVN PLATBAVX.


Scale 1 : 1.000.000.

30 Mil.-

for water-marks are visible up to the depression in the Lok/hung ridge running
between the two Then the water fell below this level, and the two lake*
plains.
thus formed gradually dried up. A
few pool/ still remain, some permanent, otheri
whieh
intermittent, surn.undrd by saline efflorescent-* und depositing a sandy clay,
" the lake*
becomes hard as a biscuit in the wind and sun. Drew supposes that

drained northwards to the Kara-kash .Kiver, and southwards to the Chang-


chenmo.
68 INDIA AND INDO-CUIXA.

RUPSHU LACUSTRINE REGION.

The Rupshu district, forming the south-east corner of Kashmir on the Tibetan
frontier, bears some resemblance to the north-eastern plateaux. But it is less
elevated, falling to a mean altitude of 15,000 feet, and is intersected by more
numerous ridges, some running parallel, others at right angles or obliquely to the
axis of the Himalayas. Nevertheless Rupshu may still be regarded as a plateau,

supporting ranges of diverse height and edge by the valleys of the


fissured at the

Upper Indus, Zanskar, and several tributaries of the Satlej. Like the Lingtzhi-
tang and Kuen-lun plains, Rupshu was formerly to a great extent covered with
lakes, some remains of which have become saline or at least brackish. Such are

Fig. 29. ANCIKNT LAKES ov THE RL-PSHV PLATEAU.


Scale 1 : 1.200.000.

E.ofGr. 78'

30 Miles.

the two so-called " Sweet Water " and


" Salt "
Lakes, which occupy a depression in
the north-west, and the vast Tso Moriri in the south. At over 300 feet above the
present level of the Salt Lake old water-marks are visible, showing that at one time
it drained
through the Zanskar to the Indus. The Tso Moriri also, formerly at
least 50 feet higher than at present, discharged through the Para River to the
Satlej. Other cavities on the plateau are also occupied by lakes or marshes, the
remains of larger basins. Thus everywhere between the Kuen-lun and the
Himalayas we find the effects of a climate which has been constantly becoming
drier during the present epoch. Everywhere the waters have subsided, and*saline
substances magnesia, carbonate of sodium, common salt -have everywhere been
deposited on their beds. Sulphur and borax mines are also worked by the Kashmir
Sea

NTEW V
> 000

MlfilM

LZTor.
GLACIERS OF KASIIMII: ,
.

rnmmt. When Cunningham vi-it-d Hiinlr iii 1*17 a. .1,1,. freshwater


lake still occupied a ]M>rti.>n of the plain: in 1804, that i, eveutcen
afterwards, this la>in hud entirely disappeared.

GLACIERS OF KASHMIR.

With the exception of the Vpi>er Shayok Valley, the whole northern region of
the Indus basin is occupied by almost inaccessible glaciers. For a
space of 180 mile*
the Karakorum or Mustagh, here running south-east and north-west, seems to be

everywhere blocked by ice-fields, which stretch for some twenty-five or thirty mile*

south of the main range. Even before the surveys, the chief peaks of this range
had long been known to the natives. Such are the three-crested Masherbrum, the
Gusherbrum, and the two-crested peak Dapsang, which had long been indicated on
the maps as K and which, having an elevation of 28,278 feet, ranks next to Mount
2
,

Everest as the highest on the globe. The


leading over the range WMt
difficult pass

of this peak practicable only for a short time during the summer. No European
is

has yet crossed it, and it seems not to have been used even by the natives since the

year 1863.
The southern glaciers of the Karakorum, covering about one half of the old
kingdom of Baltistan, are the largest not only in Asia but in the whole world

beyond the polar regions. It is remarkable that the Leh range, rising in isolated
majesty between the deep depressions of the Shayok and Indus, contains very few,
and those of small size, while the Karakorum on the one hand and the Zanskar
chain on the other send down such vast frozen rivers to the lower valleys.Although
its peaks have a mean height of over 10,000 feet, some
and in
places even 20,000
Leh range is still rather less
feet, the elevated than the Zanskar. Hence the moist
winds from the sea and the plains mostly pass over it, reserving nearly all their

remaining humidity for the still higher Karakorum farther inland. Hence also a

great contrast in the vegetation of these neighbouring mountains.


Most of the
Leh valleys are stony and arid, the few patches of herbage and brushwood being
all the more conspicuous amid the surrounding rocks and sands. Hut in the Kara-
korum in spring with a great variety of
valleys the rich grassy slopes, decked
the side
flowers, reach to the very foot of the moraines, and even higher along
The flourish in close proximity to the glaciers,
glens. cypress, birch, and willow
and, as in the Swiss Alps, the cultivated lands are seen overlooked here and there

by seracs.

In Upper Baltistan the lower ice limit is estimated at ubout 10,000 feet. The
Biafo glacier near the village of Askoli descends rather lower, and the upper limit
of trees exceeds it by at least 1,000 feet. Thanks to the great length of theae
that several lakes are confined between the ice
glaciers, their mean slope is so slight
and the neighbouring cliffs. But, as in the Swiss Lake Moerill on the edge of the
of the
Al-tsch glacier, all the water sometimes suddenly escapes, when the melting
ice farther down crevasses to the
pressure.
The Karakorum crotalluif
opens deep
masses also present the same phenomena of progress and retreat aa those of Europe.
70 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA,

The moraines of the Arandu glacier are gradually encroaching on the pastures,

turning up the grassy surface like the shear of


an enormous plough. Those of the
Palma Valley have also entered a period of expansion, while the moraines in the
Tapsa Valley have already been abandoned by the glaciers, which are now retreat-
ing in that direction. But whatever be their present vicissitudes, there can be no
doubt thatall of them formerly descended much farther down their valleys, as is

evident from the numerous traces of glacial action observed by all travellers far
below their present limits. Copious hot springs abound in the Upper Baltistan
valleys close to the glaciers,
and even in the heart of the snowfields.

GII.GIT AND ZANSKAR HIGHLANDS.


The western section of the Mustagh, where it merges in the ITindu-kush and
is one of the least known
Kuen-lun, regions of Asia. Being occupied by tribes hostile
to theirmore civilised neighbours lower down, the country has remained unexplored,
and the published maps are based on more or less vague native reports, and on the
distant views of the hills obtained by the English surveyors. But this region also
certainly abounds in glaciers, especially about the sources of the Hunza and Nagar
Rivers, whence two petty states take their name. These two streams, which flow
through the Gilgit to the Indus, skirt the north side of "West Baltistan, thus
separating it from the mountains that form the border range of the Great Pamir.
But the Gilgit flows in a valley which forms a direct north-western continuation of
the depression traversed by the Indus. For a distance of about 660 miles in a
straight line between the Kailas and Hindu-Kush, the Indus and Gilgit thus jointly
reveal the presence of a probable line of fracture parallel to the Karakorum and
Himalayan ranges. Below the confluence the Indus, abruptly changing its course,
passes in a series of gorges through the highland region commanded by the Nanga
Parbat, or Diyarmir Peak.
In Kashmir proper the most prominent range is the Zanskar, or Bara-
lacha (Bara-latse), which may on the whole be regarded as a continuation of
the Trans-Himalaya, whose western limit is the Raldang Kailas, famous in Hindu

mythology. But at the foot of this mountain lie the deep gorges of the Satlej
and its affluent the Para, through which the one descends from the Tibetan
plateau, the other from the Rupshu uplands. At the point where the Satlej is
joined by the Spiti, so profound the abyss, that the confluence of the two
is

rivers can scarcely be perceived from the neighbouring bluffs. From the path
winding along the upper terraces little is visible, except a yawning chasm between
vertical or slightly inclined rocky walls. '
Through these schistose masses the
united stream has gradually excavated its bed to a depth of no less than 1,150
feet.

Immediately west of the Satlej gorges, the range running to the north-west
rises to elevations of over 20,000 feet in its
highest summits, and from every
fissure sends down snows and ice. But the Zanskar Highlands are not seen in all
their savage majesty till we reach the Bara-lacha Pass, near the sources of the
DEOSAI PLATEAU. NANOA PARBAT. 71

Chandra and Ha^lia. the two head-streams of the ('hinah. Heing competed of
gneiss jxirphyries, schists, and quurt/ose conglomerates, they arc elsewhere unri-
valled for their brilliant tints bold outlim-s and endless
variety of fanciful forms.
Domes, towers, needles, shurp peaks and pyramids, follow in seeming disorder all
along the line, and every stage has its special shade of green, purple, yellow, or
other colour glittering in the sun, or breaking the monotony of the sombre hue*.
But few travellers venture to fuce the fatigue und perils of long journeys to admire
the sublime scenery of these bleuk uplands. Arable tracts und putiiBi, at a mean
elevation of 13,000 feet, are here watered by the two hcad-strcums of the Zanskar ;

the houses with their brushwood roofs are scarcely to be distinguished from the

surrounding slopes; and not more than three thousand persons altogether are found
scattered over a space some 120 miles long. Lying fur from the natural trade
routes, the Zunskur district could scarcely support a lurger populution, unless the
rich copper deposits, which give their nume to the country, attract the serious
attention of the Kashmir Government.
The districtof Spiti, or rather Piti, as it is pronounced by the natives, is
scarcely
than Zanskar, from which it is separated by the main range. Here the
less elevated

hamlets stand at an average altitude of 13,000 feet, and so destitute is the land of trees,
that the solitary apricot-tree of the valley was shown to Wilson as quite a won-
derful sight. A
somewhat more hospitable land is the neighbouring district of

Darsha, or Lahul, where ull the villages are surrounded by trees and cultivated

plots, although still at elevations of 9,000 or 10,000 feet.

The Zunskar range dominated eastwards by the twin mountains Nun und
is

Kun (Mer and Ser), whence numerous glaciers descend southwards to the Ward won
Valley, northwards to those of the Suru und Dras. But the range fulls continually
north-westwards, and is here crossed by numerous pusses lending from the vale of
Kashmir to the Upper Indus Valley. The one of these passes dedicated
Zoji-bul,
to Siva, is only 11,400 feet high, and is consequently the lowest in the whole
Trans-Himulayun system, apart from the deep gorges excavated by the Upper
Satlej and other mountain torrents. The neighbouring Mechihoi glacier descends
to 11,000 feet above the sea, which is fur below the upper limit of cultivution.

These highlands probably receive a greater abundance of snow than any other
Himalayan district. Here it snowed almost incessantly from October, 1877,
to

still 150
May, 1878, and on the Zoji Puss the snow was in the mouth of August
feet thick in many places.

DEOSAI PLATEAU. NAXGA PARBAT.


feet, is con-
The main ridge, which has a mean elevation of 15,000 or 16,000
tinued to the north of the Kinshun-gnnga, or Krishnn-gungu (Krishna Itiver),
affluent of the Jhilatn, und here ramifies into a number of branches
ol OM
whieh plateau of Deosai.
-kirts the broad This plateau forms a basin 12.0C
the
13,000 feet above the sea, full of pebbles and gravels formerly deposited by
all of which fall at prenot
glaciul toj^cnts from the surrounding hills, nearly
72 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

below the limit of perpetual snow. The cavities of the Deosai arc filled with a few
scattered lakes, and from the south-east corner of the tableland the Shigar River
washes down a little gold dust to the Suru, a tributary of the Indus. This " Pla-
teau of the Devil," as its name means, is summer, but the snow-
easily crossed in
storms render very dangerous in winter.
it There are no human dwellings, no
plants beyond some short herbage in the hollows, and few animals except the
"
marmot, which resembles the " tarbagan of Central Asia and Siberia in its
watchful ways and troglodyte habits.
The Deosai separated by the deep gorges of the Astor, or Hazora, and its
is

affluents from the Nanga Parbat, which stands on the extreme verge of British

India. This giant of the Western Himalayas seems all the more imposing that
the whole western- section of the Trans-Himalaya beyond the Nun and Kun falls
below the snow-line. The " Naked Mountain," as its Hindu name is interpreted,
towers some 7,000 feet above the surrounding crests, and on the east and south its
walls, which are too steep to retain the snow, except in a few crevasses, rise at one

spring above the glaciers. From nearly all the summits of Kashmir the Nanga
Parbat, known also as the Diyarmir, stands out boldly against the horizon, and is

also visible from the plains above all the intermediate eminences. From Ramnagar
in the Pan jab, a distance in a straight line of 200 miles, Cunningham was able to

distinguish it One of its northern glaciers descends near the


in clear weather.

village of Tarshing in the Astor Valley down to 9,500 feet above sea level, probably the
lowest limit reached by any of the glacial streams throughout the Himalayan regions.
The Tarshing glacier, which is fed on both sides by others of smaller size, impinges
at its lower end on the base of the mountain, against which its whole weight is
compressed. In 1850, when it was much more elevated than at present, it dammed
up a lake considerably over a mile long and 300 feet deep at one point. To guard
against the threatened danger, the natives had placed sentinels near the spot, and
as soon as the barrier began to yield, all escaped to the neighbouring heights. But
their dwellings were swept away, their fields wasted, and the very topography of
the Astor Valley became modified. Since then another lake has been forming
under similar conditions, and must be followed sooner or later by similar results.
Whenever disasters of this sort become imminent, the inhabitants of the upper
valleys send warnings to those lower down written on bark leaves.
The Nanga Parbat was also the scene of the tremendous landslip which com-
pletely blocked the course of the Indus in 1841. Godwin- Austen, Shaw, and
others

fancied that the stoppage had been caused by an obstruction formed by the Shayok

glacier. But this obstacle could nothave prevented the Indus Proper, the Gilgit,
and so many other tributaries from flooding the bed lower down, where nothing
now flowed except a shallow stream fordable all along its course. Hence it became
evident, as pointed out by Montgomerie and Becher, that the phenomenon could

only have arisen from a barrier formed below the upper affluents, that is, south
all

of Gilgit, and it was accordingly at Hator Pir, near the village of Gor,, that the
remains of the enormous chaotic accumulation were afterwards discovered by Drew.
When the huge mass of water, shingle, and mud, estimated by Cunningham at
JAB AM> KAJXAG UPLANDS. n
20,000,000,000 tons, rushed down from tin- upjM-r gorge*, a small army of Sikh*
was enruiniMMl on the banks of the Indus, near Attok. <>\,r ti\- hundred in. n
were swept away In tin- flood, which rose 30 feet; villages perched on the high
llu IF* were r;i/l to the
ground; the current of the Kahul River was driven hack
over 20 miles from its mouth, and a layer of mud more than a foot thick was
strewn over the plain.

PAXJAB AND EAJNAG UPLANDS.


The Chamba and South Kashmir Hills, between the Satlej and Indus Valleys,
and separated from the higher inland ranges by the Chinab and Jhilam Valleys

Fig, 30. TEMPORARY LAKE, UPPIK INDUS VALLEY.


Scale 1 : f,800,V>

Nil

are mere secondary spurs compared with the Nanga Parbat and Zanskar Mountains.
The advanced eminences forming the natural limits of the country above the Pan-
or 1,200 feet high, and running
jab plains are little more than ordinary hills, 1,100
the tonvnt*,
in continuation of the Sivalik chain. Rugged and rocky, fissured by
in parts destitute of vegetation, with no trees U-yond a few MMM
mingled with
difficult to cross except where modern romds
hare
prickly undergrowths, they are
70
74 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

been constructed, and travellers still echo the complaints of Bernier when he fol-
lowed in the cortege of the Emperor Aureng-zeb. Their outer scarps present a
series ofabrupt terraces towards the doons, while the northern slopes are compara-
tively gentle and regular. Their vegetation already belongs to the temperate zone,
and in winter all the summits are snowclad. Here the land often assumes a Euro-
pean aspect, and the forests, especially on the north side, recall those of the West.
These hills, which form the western extension of the Himalaya proper, and which
are cut up into unequal sections by the Satlej, Ravi, Chinab, and Jhilam, are
crowned by peaks with a mean altitude of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, and are con-
sequently about the same height as the European Alps. To this system belongs
the Panjal ridge, by which the lacustrine basin of Kashmir is limited southwards,
" "
and which is crossed by numerous passes, here usually called pir, from the holy
recluses who established themselves at these points, to bless the wayfarers in return
for their offerings, and for the remains of the sacrifices made to the mountain genii.
The Panjal connected by a transverse chain with the Ward wan Hills, and
is

through these with the Zanskar system. "West and north-westwards the Kajnag
Mountains, with those enclosing the Kinshaii-ganga Valley, complete the amphi-
theatre of snowy crests, and of pine-clad, leafy, grassy, or cultivated slopes encirc-

ling the lovely vale of Kashmir. According to the geologist Verchere, they are mostly
old volcanoes, but none except a few in the north reach the line of perpetual snow.
From theHaramuk Peak a prospect is commanded of Nanga Parbat and Dapsang,
and lower down in the hazy distance the level plains of Srinagar, with their clusters
of trees, winding streams, and lakes reflecting the azure sky in their limpid waters.
Farther on, the hills are interrupted by the Kinshan-ganga and Kunhar Valleys,
and again by the gorges of the Indus. But beyond these fissures the whole land is
covered with mountains attaining elevations of 15,000 or 16,000 feet and upwards.
West of the Indus they run parallel with the main stream and its tributary, the Swat,

terminating at last in the Mahaban, which, seen from the plain, seems almost isolated.
Subjoined are some of the chief mountains, passes, and towns of the Western
Himalaya, with their relative positions to each other :

Rnki Poch
VALE OP KASHMIR. 75

VAI.J MI K \SIIMIR.

Tho vale of Kashmir is one i.f the J<.\. li.-t


spots in the whole world. It has
Ming ly tin- Hindu anil Persian
poeta as an earthly Eden, and the
very name
of Kashmir has throughout the West become
synonymous with a land of nmrveU
and enchantment. Modern travellers, furnished with the elements of
comiari*on
derived In. in an almost complete
exploration of the globe, confirm all that tho
native poets have said of this
heavenly region. And even were its magnificent
prospects elsewhere rivalled, those who have the true sentiment of nature fully
understand that there is no
country whose real beauties do not surpass all the
discretions of poetry, all the most truthful pictures of the artist. The
impres-
sion produced by the sight of the
delightful valley is all the more profound that
the contrast is more marked with the surrounding Unless we reach it
regions.
through the romantic gorges of the Jhilain, it am be approached only by difficult
and tedious paths over the rugged crests of the Punjal, or down from the northern
highlands and plateaux blocked with snow, ice, and rocks, and swept by keen blunts,
which at times become fierce gales and snowstorms. After weeks or even months of
such a journey through wild gorges and trackless
pusses, after the hardships of the
camping-ground, intensified by extreme cold and even hunger, we suddenly enter
this smiling land, where we may at lust hope for rest from all our toils. Kvon the
fatigue of ordinary travelling is now at an end. On reaching the Hehut, as the
natives cull the Jhilam, the Vitusta of the Aryans and
Hyduspes of the Greeks, we
glide smoothly with the current down to Srinagar, where the full l>cauty of the

valley is revealed. The stream broadens here and there into blue lakes ; the fields
and scattered hamlets reposing in the shade of the walnut and other fruit trees
are almost screened from view by the
wide-spreading branches of the leafv elm
and plane the vista changes with every turn of the stream, and still in the dis-
;

tance rise the eternal mountain ranges with their endless variety of snows, crags,
and wooded slopes. The presence of rnun is everywhere recalled by towns, palaces,
and gardens, while the ruins of temples and strongholds crowning every solitary
eminence add the perspective of bygone ages to the realities of the present.
The climate of Kashmir is unique in India, resembling that of Western EurojK*,
but with more stability. The year opens suddenly with the spring, but, as on the
North Atlantic seaboard, there are equally sudden returns of chills and storms.
The really pleasant season lasts from May to September, when the skies remain
clearand bright, even while the south-west monsoon is sweeping over the plains of
India and the Himalayan ranges. The moisture-charged clouds are seen rolling
over the surrounding hills, but no rain falls in the valley except after a change of
wind, or after an unusually hot day. The mean summer temperature is higher
than on the Atlantic coast of France, and in the neighbourhood of the lakes and

mar-hy lands clouds of mosquitoes often add to the lassitude felt by strangers in
tin-
tepid atmosphere. But in summer most of the European residents, limited by
diplomatic convention to 350 for the year 1SS-J, withdraw to some of the neigh-
bouring upland valleys, amid flowering meadows and winding streams. Snow
76 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

seldom falls on the plain till December, and for about two months it melts and

reappears alternately. During this season thick fogs often prevail, and may be
seen from the surrounding heights rolling up the valley in successive, waves, like
those of the lake which formerly flooded the country. One of the most remarkable

phenomena of the climate is the normal stillness of the atmosphere, whence a surpris-
ing calmness of the waters, in which the panorama of trees, mountains, and sky is

nearly always vividly reflected.


There can be no doubt that the valley was really at one time a lacustrine basin,
some 60 miles long by 36 miles broad, and running south-east to north-west in the
same direction as the Himalayan system. But the traditions current amongst the
natives regarding the discharge of this reservoir have no historic foundation, and
are simply explained by the geological evidence itself. The inhabitants of the

plain, like so many others elsewhere, were induced to associate with some heroic

name, and assign a definite epoch to what was in reality the slow work of ages. The
soil of Kashmir consists of alluvia, mingled with volcanic ashes from long-extinct
craters commanding a section of the vast amphitheatre. The geological evidences
of the varying water-level along the primitive shores are everywhere visible. Such
are the Karevas, terraces standing at a mean height of from 250 to 300 feet above
.

the basin, resting on one side against the mountain, and scored by temporary
torrents or permanent streams on the side facing the plain. The Baramula gorge,
through which the Jhilam escapes, shows similar terraces, the banks of the river
at a time when it flowed at a much higher level than at present. All that now
remains of the old reservoir are the lakelet of Srinagar, draining intermittently to
the Jhilam, to the Manasbal basin, and the large Lake Walar, whose sedgy banks
afford a cover to myriads of waterfowl. The "VValar, which is from 10 to 14 feet
deep, washes the foot of the mountains on its west and north sides, and thus assumes
the aspect of an Alpine lake, like that of Geneva. It is yearly encroached upon

by the and the upper stream must sooner or later


alluvial deposits of the Jhilam,

reach the level of the emissary which escapes to the Baramula gorge. From this
point it descends from rapid to rapid towards the plains of the Panjab, 4,000 feet
lower down, and 180 miles distant following the course of the river. There are
few more romantic valleys than this approach to Kashmir, with its rocky peaks,
magnificent timber, sudden windings, and foaming waters.

INHABITANTS OF KASHMIR.

The inhabitants or\ the Western Himalaya are distributed according to the
slope of the land and tne course of its streams. "While the northern and north-
eastern districts are too elevated to be peopled, except by a few nomad tribes, the
middle zone, where the snow remains only for a part of the year on the ground,
has already a few towns and large villages in the sheltered spots. But there are
no large masses of population till we reach the vale of Kashmir and the broad

valleys opening southwards towards the Panjab.


The whole of the eastern region, which still forms part of Tibet geographically,
TYPES AND COSTUMES OF TIBETAN WOMEN OF LADAK.
THE LA DAK AND BALTISTAN RACE8. 77

also belongs to that country in resect of tin- origin, speech, ,,,, ( | n -lip..n ..f it*

inhabitants. Amount those are the Khampa, or Champa n>nwd, about 500 in
IlllinlN-r. who occupy the wholf of the Kupshu plateau. some 4,000 square Iin
extent, and who change their omping-grounds four times with the seasons.
Their
head-quarters the village of hora, which stands at an elevation of
is
14,000 feet
above the sea near the Tihetan frontier. These nomads, whose chief
occupation is
the transport of merchandi.se between Tibet and Laclak, are
noted, like theii
Tibetan kindred, for their cheerfulness, good-humour, and indifference to
hunger,
fatigue, and hardships of all kinds. Below an altitude of 11,000 feet
they are no
longer in their native element, and begin to suffer from the heavier atmosphere of
the lower regions. A few Buddhist monks also reside in the
monastery of Hani.'-,
which stands on a steep eminence rising to a height of over 15,000 feet on the
marshy plain of like name. Next to the gold-washing station of Thok-yalung,
in Tibet, this is probably the highest point in Asia
permanently inhabited.

THE LADAK AND BALTISTAX RACES.

Like the Ehampas, the Ladaki people of the Leh district, those of Kunwar, in
the Upper Satlej Valley, the natives of Spiti, and to a large extent of Lahul, are all
of pure Bod or Tibetan stock. The Ladakis have nearly all small, thick-set figure*,

broad features, high cheek-bones, oblique eyes. They are also distinguished by
their kindliness, cheerful disposition, love of work, and friendly feeling towards
strangers. They allow themselves to be oppressed by the lamas, for whom they
build monasteries, temples, and mnni inscribed with the sacred formula. But the
difficulty of finding candidates for the priesthood appears to have increased of
recent years to such an extent, that several monasteries have been abandoned.
The small extent of inhabitable land checks the increase of population, which is
further arrested by the prevalent practice of polyaudria. Lower down half-castes,

sprung of unions between Tibetans and other races, are numerous, and till the year
\^~\ these were still slaves of the government; but through the intervention of
the geologist, Drew, they were all emancipated in that year. The only class still
regarded as pariahs are the musicians and smiths, with whom marriage is strictly
forbidden.
In other respects Hindu influences have already affected the I^adaki people, who
now no longer expose their dead to be devoured by wild beasts. Several Sanskrit
words have even penetrated into the current speech, which, however, differs so
little from Tibetan, that the two peoples are able to converse together with perfect
ease. Even the Khamba mendicants from the extreme east of Tibet can make
them- I\ ex understood by the Ladakis. The
natives of Spiti also speak pure

Tibetan but in the province of Lahul several idioms are still struggling for the
;

ascendency. In some valleys the current speech is the Buiuin, akin to the Tilt-tan
of I'pper Satlej Valley, but with some
the marked p< -uliariti. -s of structure.
KUewhere the Maiichat. a Tibetan dialect mixed with Hindi and words of
unknown and the Tinan also of diverse elements, are current.
t composed
origin,
78 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

In Lahul, Buddhism is already threatened by Brahmanism. Most of the lamas


are little more so than in name, and in 1878 not more than seven in more than a
thousand amongst them were engaged in religious matters. To propitiate the gods
Brahmans and lamas indifferently. They also invoke
the natives have recourse to the
the trees and snakes, and perform special rites in order to obtain the aid of the
demons. Even Christianity has found its way into Lahul, since the establishment
of a Moravian mission at Kailang, in one of the Upper Zanskar valleys. Instruc-
tion is more general amongst the Tibetans of Kashmir than amongst the most

Fig. 31. POPULATIONS OF KASHMIR.


Real* 1 : fi..VX),000.

55! .'*..". 'J

Champas. Ladakis. lialUs.

Dardus. Kashmir ians. Paharis. Chibalis. Dogras. Kashgarians. Uninhabited


Regions.
_^^_ 120 Miles.

inhabitants of the kingdom. Most of them can read ; they prepare rude mips
with great ease, and are excellent guides to the English surveyors. According to
Harcourt, a nun in a Lahul convent is said to have acquired sufficient knowledge
of astronomy to calculate eclipses.
The Balti-pa people of Balti, living on the Shayok, the Upper Indus,
that is,

and its tributary, the Suru are regarded by most observers as akin to the Ladakis.
They speak a Tibetan dialect, differing little from the others, and are distinguished
by the oblique eyes, high cheek-bones, and other physical peculiarities of the Bod
Tin: IAHI> Tim. 7 ,

Tin- |M>iiiN in which they differ fnmt thi-ir m-ighlx.in* ,. u ld *ocm to Lo


due partly t., their milder elin.ate, t.. the ehan-re Hf,.
partly >f
,,
,,-!, ,,1 |, N

conversion f. Mohammedanism. There rail Ho


IK' (luijl.t that t here is aim a OOD-
nderal.le a.ln.ixt.uv ,,f and M. do Ujfalvy regards some of $hc triU-
Aryan blood,
as even of purer Aryan stock than the Dardu people.
neighbouring are
tail, and
i - thiek-set, with larger nose and fuller beard than the They
1.

ordinary
Tibetans, while the mixture of blood is also shown in their mental
qualities. They
lack tin g-ntlr and cheerful
disposition of the Bod-pa, and are aim less generous
and in.. iv w..rldly-wise, although still inferior to tho Kashmiri in shrewdnen
Mi
capacity for trade. They are fond of violent exercises, and addicted to the g*-yff
of polo, which has recently been introduced into
England. Baltistan is a favourite
recruiting-ground, and the Maharaja has here raised a of
complete regiment
soldiers, all dressed in the Highland costume. converted to the Shiah
Although
sect by missionaries from Khorasun, the Haiti people still
practise many Hindu
rites, and preserve the three sharply-defined castes of and
priests, agriculturists,
artisans. been replaced by pilygainy, and the women, who
Polyandriu lias
enjoy
complete equality in Ladak, are reduced to a state of thraldom in Dardistan. Here
the narrow valleys no longer afford space for the so that
growing jx>pulation, large
numbers of Baltis are yearly driven to seek their fortunes in Kashgaria, Ix>wer
Kashmir, the Panjab, Simla, and other districts where there is a demand amongst
the English for masons, "navvies," and labourers.
They emigrate in gangs,
taking with them loads of dried apricots, which they dis]x>sc of along the route,
and after years of hard work perhaps return with a small stock-in-trade,
chiefly
copper wares, to their upland vallej's.

THE DAKD TRIBES.

Below the Balti country, the Dard or Dardu people occupy the whole bend
described by the Indus round the Nanga I'arbat. They are also found in the
Gilgit basin, and beyond the spurs of the Hindu-kush, in the Mastuj and Chitral
draining to the Kabul River. Scattered settlements occur in the upper
districts

Kishan-ganga, along certain parts of the Indus, and in the Pros district of Baltis-
tan. Several villages in the neighbourhood of Ix?h are even peopled by Dardu
colonists traditionally from Gilgit. Whatever be their customs, religion, and
political system, all observers are unanimous in classifying the various Dardu
trilxs with the Aryan family. Leitner, who first explored the Gilgit Valley,
led all the inhabitants as of one racial stock. Yet Biddulph has shown that
come of the trills present considerable physical differences, while their Aryan

dialects are often very distinct. Nevertheless the Dardu, whom their Tibetan
"
Highlanders," form on the whole
a tolerably
neighbours Itrok-pa, that is,
call

well-marked ethnical group. They are generally of middle size, strung and well
coarse features, but with
proportioned, with aquiline nose, straight brow, and rather
uoj), an oval form. In intelligence and courage they yield in no respect to

the Haiti-, and are also noted for a great love of freedom.
80 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

The caste system prevails in Dardistan, and as in India, it is here due to the

intrusion of a conquering race. The highest caste is that of the Rono, who command
royal princes, and from amongst them
the same respect as the ruling chiefs

choose their ministers. Next to the Rono come the Shin, who form the
generally
west of the Nanga Parbat and in a part of
majority in the states on the Indus
Upper Gilgit, and from them the whole country takes the name of Shinkari. They
are probably to be identified with the Shina mentioned in the Mahabharata and
in the Laws Menu, who were confused by the early European commentators
of

with the Chinese. They formerly occupied the Indus valleys much lower down,
whence thcv were gradually (Jriven to their present snowy abodes. Proud of their
ancient origin, they despise all pursuits except agriculture and the chase yet they ;

are said to be extremely avaricious, and most of them have their hiding-places in
the hills, where they hoard up copper vessels, jewellery, and other valuables.
coins,

Although Mohammedans, they abstain from the flesh of cattle and birds, and even
from cow's milk. But if this is due to former Brahmanical practices, it is remark-
able that, unlike the Hindus, they entertain the same horror of the cow that other
Mohammedans do of swine. An ox-hide placed in one of their springs is supposed
to inevitably bring on a fierce storm.

Far more numerous than the Shin are the Yashkun (Yeshkun), or third caste,
who call themselves Burish, Burishaski, or Urishki. They form the bulk of the
Dard race, constituting nearly the whole of the population in Hunza, Nagar, Yasin,
and the majority in Gilgit, Darel, and Astor. The fourth caste of the Kremin,
answering to the Sudras of the Hindus, includes the potters, carpenters, and other
artisans, and are probably descended from the aborigines, who offered the least
resistance to the invaders. Below them are the Dum or Dom, who are met under
diverse names in all parts of Kashmir, where they still stand in the relation of a

conquered race to the rest of the inhabitants. They are the gipsies of the country,

and, like the gipsies elsewhere, are mostly smiths, tinkers, and strolling minstrels.

Except those of Ladak, who have become Buddhists like their neighbours, all
the Dard peoples are now Mohammedans. But while some are Sunnis or Shiahs,
others belong to the sect of the Mollai, or " divine." Remains of the old paganism
also survive in many villages, especially in the southern districts towards the

Afghan frontier. The Chilasi, who occupy the western slopes of Nanga Parbat,
are at once the most recent and fanatical of all the Moslem communities. Not
satisfied with enslaving their captives of other cults, the rajahs of Yasin and Hunza,
in the Upper Gilgit basin, have established a regular slave trade, and when
strangers cannot be had, they or exchange their own subjects for dogs.*
sell

According to Biddulph it is no exaggeration to say that about one half of the


inhabitants above forty years of age have passed a considerable portion of their
existence in slavery. The man-hunting wars, combined with the victorious and
disastrous expeditions of the Kashmir armies, have largely tended to depopulate

the land. In the province of Gilgit, where there are at present only 4,500 souls,
there must have formerly been six or seven times that number, judging at least
" Journal of the 59.
Becher, Bengal Asiatic Society," iii.
TIM. IAIM TRIBES. 81

from the now abandoned cultivated terraces to bo seen evcrywl, over .

the mountain slopes. Still undeciphered rock


in.scriptions occurring on either side
of the valley attest the ancient civilisation of (iiljjit, while HUMUTOU.S stone circles,
like those of Brittany, occur higher up in tin- Ya-in <li>tii<t. \\
1 .

Himalayan
lands enjoy a finer climate or more fertile soil than the Lower Gilgit Valley. The
riverain tracts, which are only 5,000 feet above the sea, yield all the products of

the temperate zone, and maize, cotton, the fig, pomegranate, and mulberry are here
also cultivated. The Gilgit silk fabrics, both pure and mixed with wool or cotton,
are noted for their great firmness.
Since the year 1847, when the English officers Young and Vans Agnew
crossed the Indus at Bunji (Bowanji), Gilgit has been explored by Leitner, Drew,

Biddulph, and others. Here Hayward was killed near the hamlet of Darkot in
1870, and his body having been redeemed by his fellow-countrymen, was laid under
a clump of trees near the walls of Gilgit. At present the villages of Bunji, Sai,
Gilgit, and Sher, with their cultivated lands and orchards, are overawed by Kash-
mir forts, which, with their castellated walls, square towers, and donjons, look like
mediaeval strongholds. But beyond their range the Dardu tribes are either

politically independent, or merely pay a nominal tribute to the Muhuraja. In the


north the Nagar tribe, occupying the northern slope of Raki-posh, is compelled to

pay a double tribute of gold dust and apricots to its more powerful neighbours of
Gilgit and Hunza. The Ilunza people themselves, who hold the Hiudu-Kush
valleys as far as the frontiers of Sirikol in Chinese Turkestan, are dreaded on
account of their courage and predatory habits. They levy bluck-mail on the
caravans passing through their territory, and make frequent raids into the

surrounding lands. Yasin, lying north-west of the Punial, a tributary of the


Kashmir, being defended by its rugged mountains and almost impracticable defiles,
has nearly always succeeded in maintaining its political independence, but suffers
from the oppressive despotism of a local raja. At this point of the Himalayas
the British and Russian political systems approach nearest through their respective

feudatory states. Here the line of separation is formed by a mountain range and a
few narrow valleys.
The Dard unexplored section of the Indus between the confluence
tribes of the

of the Astor and the Hazara district, seem of all others to have best preserved the
ancient usages and traditions, although several of them have taken refuge here
from the Afghan valleys. Their territory is distinguished by the name of
"
Yaghestan, that is, Rebel land," from the fact that it has never acknowledged
a foreign master. The Chilasi, Koli, Herbandi, Sazini, Palasi, east of the river, the

Hudari, Dareli, Tangiri, and people of Seo, Puttun, and Kandia, west of the river,
besidessome others, form so many petty republics, one of which, Thalicha, consists
of seven houses only. According to the information collected by Biddulph, the
Gilgit, in the whole of Yaghestan there are 63,000
male adult-,
English resident in
which would give a total population of at least 300,000. The men of each village

are summoned by the beat of the drum to the signs, or general assemblies, at which
all questions of general interest are discussed. After electing the jmhtcro or
82 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

delegates to settle the details, the meeting is dissolved by the sound of a whistle, and
all absenting themselves from the gathering are subject to a fine. All important
decisions require the unanimous vote of those present, a single protest being
sufficient to adjourn the debate. In case of foreign invasion the communities com-
bine against the common enemy. The chief wealth of these highlanders is derived
from their flocks of sheep, for which they are sometimes obliged to seek fresh

Fig. 32. YAGHBSTANI PEOPLES OF EAST DARDISTAK.


Scale 1 : 2,000,000.

15 Miles.

pastures amongst other tribes, and especially in the Yasin district paying a tribute
of salt, tobacco, gold dust, or animals, for the privilege. payment impliesBut this

no Thus the Tangiris, who have frequent relations with


sort of political subjection.

Yasirl, boast of having been the refuge of all the rulers from time to time driven
out of that territory, the incursions from which they have always successfully
resisted.

In the Upper Swat valleys, known more particularly by the name of Kohistan,
THi: KASHMIIlIANS. -.;

tin- chief tril' dik and I'.n-hkar, are also of Dtird st<x-k, Imt
they have not
been able to maintain their jMilitical independence. Although now Mohamm.
of the Shiah and Sunni sects, the Yaghistani tr: retained of their old
many
national customs. Thus women- ^o alwut uncovered, and enjoy a large nhare
their

of personal freedom. The mollahs a No in administering justice are to required


con form to the local traditions. Murder, which is a very rare crime, ia
punished,
not by the community, but by the friends of the victim.
The several tribes have euch their own patois connected with Kashmiri through
the dialects current amongst the peoples on the west side of the Jhilum River. The
Burishki, however, which is spoken in Hun/a, Nagur, and Yasin, is said by
" Turanian "
Biddulph to be of origin, although he hesitates to class it with the
Turki languages. Amongst all the Durd i>eople the Pushtu ( Afghan has become
j
the literary standard, and south of Puttun, which is perhaps the most flourishing

community in Yaghestan, Pushtu alone is employed. The people of Boueir, an well


as of the Lower Swat Valley, being pure Afghans, their s]>eech differs little from
that of Kabul. But those residing on the left bank of the Indus, in the ravines
" Half
above Derbent, are known as Ilimcha, that is, -Castes," and from them the

neighbouring Yuzufzai Afghans keep quite aloof. The Palosa or Parusa settle-
ment, on the right bank, consists of Wuhubites from India, who are supjxirted by
and who are the implacable enemies of British rule. Number-
their co-religionists,

ing about 500, they practise the exercise of arms, build forts, and send their spies
and prophets to every part of Mussulman Asia. Recently the Aklnind, or spiritual
chief of the Sunni clans in Swat, had acquired an almost undisputed authority
amongst the faithful in Afghanistan and the Indus regions. He received envoys
from every part of India, and even from Constantinople.

THE KASIIMIRIANS.

Like the other river basins of this region of the Himalayas, the Upper Jhilam
Valley has its distinct populations. The Kashmiri, who have given their name to
the whole kingdom, but who themselves obey masters of on alien race, occupy
the lacustrine plain above the Barumulu gorge, beyond which narrow district they
are found only in small communities. Physically the Kashuri, as they call them-
selves, are perhaps the finest of all the Hindu peoples. Of middle size, well propor-

tioned, strong and they are also distinguished by regular features, high
active,

forehead, slightly aquiline nose, delicate mouth, brown and soft eyes. The women,
who have earned a universal reputation for beauty throughout India, are specially
retain even in old age.
dNtinguished by their pure and noble traits, which the)
The wit, shrewdness, and good taste of the Kashmiri are proverbial ;
intelligence,
but being exposed to the attacks of tierce mountaineers on all sides, their chief
fawn on their con-
weapons of defence have been cunning and flatter}'. They
querors, who leave them scarcely enough of the fruits of their labour to keep them
from starvation.
dialect consists of Sanskrit and
Although two-thirds of the Kashmiri Aryan
Persian elements, strangers have great difficulty in learning it It* only direct
84 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

relations are with the idioms spoken towards the south-east in the Upper Chenab
Valloy, which serve as a connecting link between the Srinagar and Panjab forms
of speech. In other respects the Kashmiri are good linguists, acquiring the

languages of their masters with the greatest ease. Nearly all speak either Dogri
or Hindustani, and many understand Persian, the " French of the East," which
since the epoch of the Moghul Empire has been thelanguage of the Court
official

of Kashmir. One alone of the native castes has preserved with its religion the
memory of its origin. This is the caste of the lirahmans, who are here called
"
Pandits," as if they had specially merited a title in India proper reserved for the
lettered classes. Most of them at any rate are public notaries or scribes in the
government offices. Others betake themselves to trade, but never to agriculture
or handicrafts. Notwithstanding the conversion of the great majority to Islam,
the caste system has been uphold in various professions ; but it is far less rigorously
adhered to than elsewhere in India, which is probably due to the fact that the

Aryan immigration took place before the strict separation of classes in Hindustan.
At the lowest extremity of the series is the caste of the Batals, who are held to be
so impure, that they would be regarded as blasphemers were they merely to invoke
the name of Allah. Like the Doms of Dardistan, they are probably the
descendants of the conquered aborigines. The dialect of the shawl- weavers also
contains, according to Leitner, a considerable element derived from a language
anterior to all others in North-west India.
West and south-west of the vale of Kashmir, the hill region watered by the
Jhilam, after junction with the Kishan-ganga, is inhabited chiefly by Chibhali,
its

that is, by Rajput immigrants who have become Mohammedans. They are mainly
to be distinguished by this circumstance and its attendant social changes from their

eastern neighbours, the Brahmanical Dogras, who occupy the foot of the hills on
both sides of the Chinab in the district from them called Dugar. The Chibhali
and Dogra Hindu dialects are closely related, and in fact merge from district to

imperceptibly one into the other.


district In spite of their adopted Mohamme-
danism the Chibhalis have even preserved the old castes, based originally either on
racial antagonism or on differences of professions. The bulk of the peasantry still
belong to the subjected Jats, descendants of the old owners of the land, while other

immigrant tribes have hitherto maintained a certain pre-eminence. The Rajput


masters, proud of their warlike habits, mostly despise a life of manual labour or
trade, preferring to serve either as soldiers or as government officials. In other
respects they have greatly changed since their immigration from Rajputana, and
have long ceased to practise female infanticide. The Moslem Rajputs have so little
religious zeal, that they have often allowed their Hindu wives to retain their house-
hold gods, and some places of pilgrimage are frequented by Mohammedans and
Brahmans alike. Till recently Islam was gradually encroaching on the peoples at
the foot of the hills, but Brahmanical influences now appear to be again in the
ascendant.
East and south-east of the vale of Kashmir, the valleys sloping towards the
Chinab, as well as the banks of that river, are also inhabited by tribes amongst
TOPOGRAPHY OF KASHMIR. 80

whom the various castes represent BO many original racial m. -UN. I;\ their
!

"
nei^hlnmrs known l.y th' eolh-et ive nurac of Pahari or Highlander*,'* tin-*- tnl* *
in stature and feature- resemble the Paiijahi llindu.s, but their hubiu of lift- have

rendered them hardier and more robust. Their dialects, unintelligible to the
Dogrm
and neighbouring lowlanders, form a transition between those of the
Punjab and
Kashmiri. The language changes with every valley, and 20 miles off the Pahari
no longer understand each other.
Besides the settled communities of the Pahar, who live on agriculture and the
produce of their orchards, there are others, who migrate regularly with the seasons.
Such are the Gaddi, shepherds and goatherds, whoso villages lie in the mountains,
but who insummer descend to the outer hills skirting the plains. The Gujar, on
the contrary, who live in the low-lying districts, drive their buffalo herds to the
mountain pastures during the fine season. The woodmen, who cut up the deodars
in the forests and send them floating down the Chinab, also lead a nomad life

between the cold uplands and the plains of the Punjab. Some of the Puhari are
Mohammedans a few families in the north-east have remained Buddhist*, like
;

their Lahul neighbours but the great majority have accepted the Bruhmunical
;

cult, while retaining many of the old pagan rites.


still In the Padar district on
the Upper Chinab temples are still raised to the nag-dectas, or " Snake Gods," who
rank with the other divinities of the Hindu mythology. In the Drugar Mountains
west of the Chinab the iron smelters never open u furnace without erecting an altar
to the god Drugur, burning in his honour clarified butter, and leaving on the altar
the spoons and other objects connected with the sacrifice.

TOPOGRAPHY OF KASHMIR.
In Laduk there are no towns except Lc/t, capital of the old kingdom, and now
"
annexed to the Indian Empire under the " mediatising government of the
Maharaja of Kashmir. Leh lies over 11,000 feet above the sea, some 2 or 3 miles
north of the Indus, where it is commanded by u citadel, serving also as a palace,

with its white walls resting on a concave base, in the


Tibetan style of architec-
high
ture. The old quarter with its narrow winding streets is grouped at the foot of the
castle, while the modem
bazaar occupies the lower part of the town at the head of
the route from Srinagar. The surrounding slopes are laid out in gardens and corn-
fields, interspersed with a few willow and poplar groves. Ix?h is the centre of the

trade of Kashmir with Tibet and Chinese Turkestan. Here is the starting-point of
the yearly caravan which takes to Lassa silks, shawls, saffron, English goods, and
which brings in exchange Chinese teas, woollen stuffs, and turquoises. According
to Drew, imports and exports amounted in 1873 to 95,000
its and 82,000 respeo-

tively. At the departure and return of the caravans, in spring and early winter, the
Kashmiri, Yarkandi, and portersof all races form large encampment* round about
Leh. route taken by the caravans is commanded at intervals by the ruins of
The
the forts where the agents of the former ruler of Laduk exacted the transit due*.
Thus Fort Khalxi below Leh a wooden
guards thrown over a gorge of the
bridge
Indus, which is here only 65 feet broad. In a mountain valley 18 miles south of
86 INDIA AND INDO-CHIXA.

Leh stands the largest monastery in the country, inhabited by 800 lamas and
nuns.
Skardu (Iskardo), capital of Baltistan, known to the inhabitants of the sur-
rounding districts by the name of Balor or Pa/or, is a mere cluster of hamlets lying

Fig. 33. THE ZQJI PASS.

at an elevation of about 7,500 feet above the sea, in a rocky plain stretching north-
east of Leh, and watered by canals from the Indus. Two rocks about 1,000 feet
high, and polished by ancient glaciers, rise over against each other on either side
TOrOORAPUY OP HASH Mil:. 87

of tli. are crowned, one by recent fortifications, the other


:nl
l.y the ruin-*
of a citadel. Nearly all the In. llat-r.M,t,-d. with ..mall mud structures CO

the terraces, which >erve us suinmcr roidenecs. J|, re aUo an- dried the
ap:
ii HIT
chief resource of the conntry. and from which it taken the name of
tin-

Sari-Bhutan, 0* "Apriool Tibet." I'ndcr a more hospitable clime its convenient


situation would soonraise this place to considerable
importance. The two valleys
of the Indus und Shayok, the Tsu-fo or "male river," and the Tsu-mo or "female
river," form a junction higher up, while close to Skardu lies the fertile
Shigar
Valley, with running waters, clusters of plantains, and distant view of the
its

glaciers. Numerous caravans take this route, and weavers from Kashmir have
settled hen- to work up the valuable pashm or
silky wool imported from Tibet.
A lew gold-washers are also employed in the neighbouring glacial torrents, where
the gold is said to be liberated by the action of the glaciers against the rocks. A
certain importance as stations and trading-places is also enjoyed by the romantic
villages of Karyil and Draft, lying south-east of Skardu, on the route between
Srinagar and Leh. Here the track from the Baltistan uplands down to the
" "
golden prairie watered by the Upper Indus and to the vale of Kashmir crosses
the Xoji Pass, where "Siva sits on his snowy throne."
"Abode of Islam," the chief town in East Kashmir, was formerly
Ixldinafxul, the
known by the name of Anat-nag or Anant-nag that is, the " Lake of Vishnu's
Snake," a name recalling the old serpent worship. The boats ascending the Jhilam
stop a little below this place, where the upland valleys, each traversed by a foaming
ton cut, begin to spread out like a fan. This is the natural starting-point of the
traders proceeding to the Upper Chinab basin, and Islamabad also derives some
importance from its saffron industry. In the distance are visible the ruins of the

temple of Martand, dedicated to the sun,and traditionally said to have been built
by the sons of Pandu, the heroes of the Mahabharata. The building, with its
graceful colonnade, ornamental friezes, and bas-reliefs, evidently dates from the
period of Greek art introduced in the time of the Seleucides, and imitated by the
Hindu architects. It is the finest monument in Kashmir, and one of the most
remarkable in the East, grandeur being much enhanced by the isolated position
its

it occupies on a bluff rising above the vale of Kashmir over against the snow-clad

mountains of Panjal. The course of the Jhilam, flowing by Bijbahnra, ancient


capital of the valley, leads to other ruined temples of the same period near the
village of Arantipur, and at Padrant/ian, where Srinagar formerly stood. In the
whole of Kashmir there are over seventy religious edifices in the same Gnrco-
Iiaktrian Myle.
" the Maharaja, stands on
Sriiiayar, City of the Sun," and summer residence of
both banks of the Jhilam, whose rapid current is here traversed by seven wooden
hridy^s resting on stone foundations. The city is intersected by numerous canals,
one of which communicates with the dal, or "lake," which ramifies farther east
" Indian Venice"
into
bays and straits, with a mean depth of 8 or 10 feet. This
while
is enlivened
by boats, suggestive of gondolas, gliding about in all directions,
a number of ghats, or " lead down to the main stream. But although sur-
steps,"
88 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

rounded by water, the city completely above the level of the inundations.
itself lies

High blocks of stone, which break the force of the current, serve as foundations
for the brick or wooden houses and these structures also resist the shock of the
;

frequent earthquakes much better than stronger buildings. Every house is


isolated, rising, without any regular plan, either in confused groups or in the

Fig. 34 SRINAOAR.
Scale 1 : 100,000.

74-55' E.OfG'

2 Miles.

midst of large trees. As in Tiflis, most of the roofs are covered with grass plots,
which in spring aredecked with bright flowers. Hence at this season Srinagar,
seen from the Hari Parbat, an eminence lying to the east, looks like a vast hanging

garden stretching away beyond the horizon. It is the most populous city in the
Himalayan regions, and abounds in temples and palaces. Since its foundation, at
the beginning of the sixteenth century, it has often been a state capital and ;
TOPOGRAPHY OF KASHMIR. gg

<>f tin-
Moghul rmjx-rors. h.M-r rr.vt.-d :

pl,.aaiit retreat *. whim


.IIHI,.

still rank amount the mam U of the " Vale of Roae*." Tht Tbkht-i-Sulaiman, or
"Tlirnin- i.f
ri>ing to the south-east, between the present Krinagar and
Siliiiin.il,"

.nt him. is crowned by the ruins df the oldest temple in


Kashmir, dating,
ucci.rding to thr natives, from the third before the
century Christian era. From
this eminence the finest prospect is afforded of the vale, with its -parkin.- water*,
palaces, and shady avenues.
Kvery foot of the surrounding plains i.s under cultivation, and flouting gardens
have even been established on the luke itself. These are formed of rafts bound
long
together with the roots of aquatic plants, and covered with earth, on which melon*
and cucumbers are chiefly cultivated. The average price of one of these
plots,
which are fixed to the bottom of the lake by means of a stake, is from a shilling to
half-a-crown for a strip 30 feet long by 8 or 10 broad. The roots of the
nenuphar
and the fruit of the water-chestnut bupittO9O\ are ground into flour, which
(fsajui

supplies the bread of a large portion of the people. The chief manufacturing
is still that of the <ttix/ui/(i, or shawls woven from the
industry />i*/inia (/nn/imiiia or

pashm), the soft down of goats imported from Luduk, Til>et, and Kushguria. Thou-
sands of wretched artisans, whose daily earnings do not average more than six|>enceor
seven pence, are employed in a foul atmosphere, weaving those narrow strips from
which are made the famous Cashmere shawls so highly esteemed, esjHt-iully in
France. Four-fifths of these goods were, till
recently, sold in Paris; but during
the last ten years the industry has been much affected by the competition of other

manufacturing towns in the Punjab, and especially by the change of fashion in


the West.* Here are also some silk-spinning, filigree, and papier-mache works ;

and the trade of the place,


although greatly reduced, is still considerable.
" "
Unfortunately, notwithstanding the laws, one of the staples of traffic ure young

girls, smuggled away in their infancy to the lurge cities of Northern India.

Between Srinogar and the Pan jab the chief trading stations arc Sopur, the
" Golden
City," and Bm-annila, both lying west of the vale. Above Baramulu still
rise the ruined walls of a Buddhist tope.

In the hilly region of South Kashmir and Huzuru, where conrmunities of Hindu
origin are now settled, there are few large towns, ulthough several occupy im-
portant positions along thegreut historic highways. Miiznfnrabad, whose fort com-
mands the Jhilum and Kishan-ganga confluence, stands ut the outlet of the chief
route from Kashmir by the Buramulu gorges, and enjoys easy communication with
Attok and Peshawar. Man', in the British district of Huzara, and near the
mountain whence it tukes its name, is one of the health resorts founded by the

English on the outer Himaluyun hills. It stands on a ferruginous crest over

7,000 feet ubove the sea. Abbotabad, lying farther west and neur the frontier, is
" rebel " tribes of
important only as a military station, sen-ing to overawe the
Yughestun, who hold the western valleys draining to the Indus. The military
cantonment stood formerly farther south, at Uaripttr, on the plains and near

*
Yearly value of the shawl* woven in Srinagnr from 1860 to 1870 .

exported to Euroje , . . 90,000

71
90 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Torbela, where the Indus escapes from the gorges. The most savage point in thio
wild riverain tract still preserves its Persian name of Derbend, or " Gate." *

Panch (Punch], situated 3,300 feet above sea level, on a fine plain at the
confluence of two small tributaries of the Jhilam, is the most advanced town of
Kashmir towards the south-west. It communicates with the capital by the Panjal
and Ratan Passes. Mirpur, in a hilly district near the important station of Jhilam,
on the Panjal railway, has monopolised the export trade in corn in this region.

Bhimar was the starting-point of the Moghul emperors on the route Kashmir, to

and every stage along this route has preserved the palace where they stopped on
the way. Of all the stages on this imperial highway, the largest now is Rajaori,
or Rainpur, as it is now called. In this district, which has so often changed
hands, almost every hill is crowned with a
fort, and most of these mediaeval strong-
holds have still their garrisons, composed of Dogra troops, who are at once rural

police and custom-house officers.

One of the largest and strongest of these forts is that of Akhnur, which com-
mands the Chinab at the point where it enters the plains of the Pan jab. At
certain times of the year the people of this district are chiefly occupied in collecting
and forming into rafts the planks of the deodar and pine trees which the woodmen
throw into the rapids higher up the river.

Jammn, official capital of the Maharaja's states, cannot compare with Srinagar,
either in the picturesque beauty of its situation, its climate, industries, or popula-
tion. It does not evenoccupy a convenient central position in the kingdom, for it
lies on the extreme southern frontier towards the Panjab. When selling Kashmir
to Gulab-singh for 750,000, the Company was not sorry to have its ally residing
in the vicinity of the British encampments. He is master in his own territory, but
from his capital he can perceive on the southern horizon the dust raised by the
tramp of the English troops. Jammu lies on the very skirt of the plain, some
40 miles from the Tavi, a small tributary of the Chinab, on its left bank. Its high

palaces and the gilded roofs of its temples are visible from a great distance by the
few travellers who beyond the trade routes, and which
visit this place, which lies

is, moreover, badly supplied with


water from tanks. These evils, however, will
soon be remedied by a canal, which will convey an abundance of pure water
from the Chinab, and by a branch line intended to connect it with the Indian

railway system.
There are no other large towns in the south-eastern districts of Kashmir.
Ramnagar, on the Upper Tavi, and Basoli, on the right bank of the Ravi, are both
old capitals, now almost deserted. Parmandal, however, which lies north of
Jammu, is still a famous place of pilgrimage, where devotees assemble in multitudes

to wash out their sins in the waters that well up at the foot of its sandstone rock?.

In the hilly region watered by the Upper Chinab the most animated place is
"
Bradawar, or Bhadencah, the Fortress of Buddha," whose wooden houses stand
at an elevation of about 5,500 feet above sea level. Hither the Gurkha.officers of

* " bolt or door and band which are


Literally, the fastening of a door," from dar bolt, Persian,
not Turki words, as stated in the original. EDITOR.
TOFOGRAHIY OF KASHMIR. 01

tin-British regiments resort with their families to l.n-athe on


atmosphere a* pure
&S that of their native valleys in Nepal. h'i'x/,f,nir, the Knrtmrnr of the K .-h-

mirians, lies at the same altitude as IJruduwar, on a fertile


plain eneircled on all
sideshy wooded and snowy mountains. Although regarded as the capital of the
Chinab Valley, it is little more than a village, whose importance is
entirely due tr

Fig. 36. AKHM-K AND JAMMU.


: 415,000.

:: V

position at the junction of the routes from Lahul, the Ward


its wan Volley, and the
vale of Kashmir. It affords a view towards the south-west of a mountain torrent
It is the
falling in successive leaps a total height of over 2,500
feet. highest
cascade in the whole of the Himalayas, and from Kishtwnr, 2 miles distant, may
bo heard the roar of its waters, which sparkle in the morning sun with all the hues
92 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

" These are the scarves of the


of the rainbow. fairies," say the native Faharis
" in the flood."
bathing
The State of Charaba, which comprises the hilly district east of Jammu and
Kishtwar, in the Upper Ravi Valley and in parts of the Chinab basin, is inhabited,
like the Pahari country, by Hindu Rajputs, Thakar peasants, and Gujar and Gaddi

nomad pastors. This territory, which at the time of the treaty of 1846 was still
included in Kashmir, was soon after transferred from the Maharaja to a petty

prince with merely nominal power. The state takes its name from its capital,
which, although standing on the banks of the Ravi, 3,000 feet above the sea, is
almost as hot a place as the neighbouring plains. Yet the British Government
has established a sanatorium towards the south-west on an eminence in the last

ridge of the Himalayas. Lying at a height of 7,450 feet above the sea, this superb
station of Dalhousie commands a fine view of the Ravi Valley, the pine-clad Kangra

Fig. 36. TRACES OF ANCIENT GLACIERS is THE KANGRA VALLEY.


: 870,000.

[.OfGr 76' 76'50

Erratic Boulders.
15 Miles.

Hills, and the plain stretching away towards Amritsar and Lahore. The p.easant
retreat of Dharmsala occupies the slopes of the Dhaola Dhar, or " White Mountain,"
in the south-east. This sanatorium has become the chief town of the Kangra
and of the numerous tea plantations covering the slopes of the surrounding
district,
hills. From Dalhousie and Dharmsala the English command Nurpur and Kangra,
the ancient Nagarkot, which are the two most important cities in the valley of the
Bias River. Although twice plundered by the Mohammedans, the temple of
Kangra is still one of the richest in India. Some of the surrounding hills are
crowned by imposing fortresses, which were supposed to be impregnable before the
introduction of modern siege tactics. The locomotive will soon enter the Kangra
Valley at Patltankot, which is to be connected by rail with Amritsar.
The territory of Kulu, comprising the tipper Bias Valley, is directly adminis-
tered by the English, while the region of low mountains and outer hills, above the
TOPOGRAPHY OF KASHMIl:. .,.;

point whore tin- river enters tin- K.-m^ri district, is


occupied l.y the tributary
states of Mandi, Suket, and some other jM-tty principalities, whoso rujun enjoy a
nominal independence. The term Kulii, a contract.-d form of Kulut Pit. i-

" World's
tlie Knd," although iN-yoncl It the still more clevato*! lands of I.ahul and
away to the nninhal.ited wilds of Khuc-hi. But seen fnmi the plains.
Spiti stretch
Kulu must have scorned to the Hindus like a barrier to farther
progreiw in that
direction. Northwards the Rohtang range, forming a continuation of the Hima-
laya proper, rises to heights of 17,000 or 18,000 feet, while towards tho west the
I!ai -a
Bungahal Mountains, which send down glaciers to the Upper Ravi Valley,
.

maintain an equal elevation as far as their junction with the Dhaolo Dhar chain.
Kveii here the peaks exceed 11,000 feet, and the whole
region is divided by
numerous narrow valleys of difficult access, but often present ing
cross ridges into

magnificent highland views. Not more than the twenty-fifth part of the surface u
arable the cultivated parts have a mean altitude of at least 5,000 feet, and some
;

of the villages stand at an elevation of Nevertheless, Kulu is traversed


1 1,000 feet.

by one of the great trade routes leading from India to Central Asia. The track
running from Amritsar, up the Bias Valley, to Yurkund crosses the Rohtang Pass
at a height of 13,370 feet, beyond which it winds
through the rugged and glacial
district of Lahul, and over the Bara-lacha Pass, to the Xanskar, one of the head-

streams of the Indus. In 1863 seventy-two highlanders were overtaken by a


fierce storm, and buried in the snows on the Ilohtang Puss.

Like those of the neighbouring lands, the natives of Kulu belong to several
raceswho have successively occupied the country. The Rajputs and Paharis are
of small size and very dolichocephalic, with low cheek-bones but prominent

zygomatic arches. Amongst them are also found some of a very dark type, pro-
bably representing a still more primitive stock. The prevailing dialect* are the
Pahari and Hindustani, with some Til>etun elements either derived from un abori-
lands.
ginal population or introduced through intercourse with the neighbouring
The old usages have been best preserved in the little-frequented southern district
of where polyandria is still maintained, as
Sioraj,
in so many parts of Tibet.
Several men, generally brothers unwilling to divide their inheritance, have one

wife in common, spending all their savings in decking her with rings, bracelets,

necklaces, pendants, and other gold and silver ornaments, often of very remarkable
workmanship. Even amongst the peasantry of Kulu and other West Himalayan
valleys many artistic treasures are still found. On the banks of the Bias, Chinab,
and Jhilam some of the household utensils consist of copper vaws marvellously
eml>. -llishi-d and covered with Persian inscriptions two hundred or three hundred

years old. such highly-finished artistic objects can now be produced in the
No
country, whose rich silver lodes have scarcely yet
been worked.
Brahmonical religion, yet in
the
Officially, the natives of Kulu belong
to the
district tlure an no Hindu cm pies older than the eighteenth century.
t
Theam-icnt

shrines all suggest the form of the TiU-tan Buddhist temples, nor hn snake-worship
loe.d .:
even yet entirely disappeared. Kvcry preserved its
villa-.- has, in fact,

now Hindu name introduced by the Rajput HfN tin-


disguised under some
94 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

" devil "


god is also worshipped under the form of an arm-chair.* The numerous
hot springs are also much venerated by the natives, who undertake pilgrimages to
bathe in these waters. And now fresh changes are in course of preparation under
other influences. Some English speculators have already penetrated into the
lower valley, to develop the tea culture, as in Kangra, and houses of Anglo-Indian
structure are here and there springing up by the side of the native cottages.
The former capital of Kulu, although bearing the title of Nagar, or "city,"
still

is in reality a mere village. Nor is Sultanpur, the present capital, a much larger
place. Lying below Nagar, but still at an altitude of 3,900 feet above the sea,
and on the right bank of the Bias, at its confluence with another mountain torrent,
it consists merely of a number of houses crowded together within the narrow limits
of an outer enclosure. From this point a recently constructed mule-path leads
"
westwards over the " White Mountain and across the Babba Pass (10,230 feet)
down Mandi, thus avoiding the long detour of the Bias
to the tributary state of
"
valley. Mandi, that
is, the mart," capital of this isolated territory, is a larger
and more modern-looking place than Sultanpur. It has even a suspension bridge
over the Bias, besides regularly-constructed carriage roads. In the neighbourhood
are some iron mines and salt pits opened in the sub-Himalayan Hills. The range
skirting the west side of the Mandi and Suket Valleys, and separating the former
from the region of low hills, is the famous Sikandar-ka-dhar, or " Alexander Moun-
tains," where some ruins observed by Vigne are supposed to be the remains of
altars raised by the Macedonian conqueror on his return to the West. Near these
hills is the celebrated mineral Lake of Jawalamuki, or the " Fire God," frequented

by some fifty thousand pilgrims every year.


East of Kulu and Spiti the Satlej basin, between Tibet and the lowlands, is

peopled by numerous petty subject states. Of these the most important is Bashahr
(Bussahir), which stretches along both sides of the river from the outer Himalayan
gorges to the Tibetan frontier. Its Rajput raja claims a royal ancestry of one hun-
dred and twenty generations. But he is now under the control of a British agent,
and his territory is little more than a narrow ravine about 120 miles as the bird
flies. Yet this confined space enjoys every variety of climate, with a corresponding
diversity of vegetation, from the dwarf shrubs of the uplands near Tibet to the
splendid vines of Chini, still flourishing at an altitude of 8,750 feet, and the banians
and tropical plants of the lower districts. But the pent-up atmosphere is every-
where oppressive, and the summer heat, reflected by the bare rocks, almost unendur-
able. The clearing of the forests on the slopes has also deteriorated the climate,
rendering it more extreme, while the side terraces offer less resistance to the tropical

rains. The vegetable humus, and with it the population, thus slowly disappears.
Ethnical, linguistic, and religious transitions, analogous to those of the climate,
take place along the valley. The upper region is occupied by peoples of Bod
all

origin, speaking Tibetan and practising Buddhism, while Aryan- speaking Hindus
have penetrated into the lower districts. The Satlej Valley itself may be regarded
as simply a transverse fissure between India and Tibet, which the British Govern-
*
Kulu, the Silver Country, and Vaziri rupi."
'
Calvert,
TPPKR 8ATLEJ VALLEY-ROUTE TO TIBET-VIEW TAKEN FROM NEAR BOOL
TOPOGRAPHY OF KASIIMIK N
ment i\ n<>\\ converting into a commercial
highway. Tho raja* along thin route
renounced all transit dues, and from the station of Simla, IH-I\\.
and .lanina l>a>ins, the track wind-* round the flank of the mountain-*, rising
gra-
dually alon: tlu Satlej to the Tiboturi frontier for a total distance of I/id mile*.
Sooner or later it with a brunch ascending the Para Valley north
will reach Lassu,

of the I.eo 1'oriryal to the Rupshu plateau towards the Upper Indus, Luke Pang-

kong, and the Karakorum range. Scarcely any serious obstacles are presented by
this natural route, which must become the future highway of Central and Southern
Asia. But only pack animals employed in the Upjier Satlej Valley
at present the

are the mountain sheep, which, after being shorn at Rampur, return to Tibet laden
with corn.
There are no villages either in the Upper Sutlej Valley or in that of its tributary,
" Cold
the Spiti. Dankar, or rather Drankltar, that is, Fort," capital of this Hima-

Fig. 37. Rot-Ti TO TIBET FROM SIMLA TO SIIII-KI.

Pcnle 1 : S.000,000.

'

30 Mile*

as it is, like an eyrie, on a crag


layan province, well deserves its name, perched
1,000 feet above the Spiti torrent and 12,730 feet above sea level. But Rampur,
the " City of Rama," capital of a native state in the Lower Sutlej Valley, is a much-

frequented mart, especially for the purchase


of Tibetan wools. Bilatpur, capital of

another potty state, and lying at the entrance of the plain some 1,000 feet below

the level of is also a of some importance.


trading-place
In the year 1762
Rampur,
the Satlej, a landslip in the gorges above Simla, entirely ceased to
dammed up by
to the neighbourhood of
flow, and developed a lake 400 feet deep, stretching
river suddenly reappeared in a
Rampur. After an interval of forty days the
and lower down
huge wave 100 feet high, which swept Biluspur completely away,
of the Punjab.
changed the hydrographic system on the plains
CHAPTER IV.

CENTRAL HIMALAYAS.
UPPER JAMNA AXD GANGES BASIXS. SIMLA, GARHWAL, KUMAON, NEPAL.

Y piercing right through the whole Himalayan system, the Satlej


and Indus Valleys enabled the Rajput conquerors to turn the
mountain barriers and take possession of West Tibet. But farther
east the upper valleys of the Jamna and of the Ganges head- streams
give access only to the southern watershed of the Trans-Himalaya.
This is in fact the parting-line which forms the political frontier of the Hindu
states, and of their common
heir, the Anglo-Indian Empire. Still farther east

the southern Trans-Himalayan slope does not even belong entirely to the Indian
state of Nepal. In this direction the Chinese Empire, represented by partly
Tibetan garrisons, encroaches as far as the Himalaya proper, and consequently

comprises the sources and upper courses of many streams which flow through
the Kosi to the Ganges and Bay of Bengal. Still the natural region of the

Gangetic slope of the Himalaya forms on the whole a sufficiently well-defined


political area. About three-fourths of the whole land constitutes a distinct state,
that of Nepal, which attached by a diplomatic fiction to the Anglo-Indian
is

system. Most of this region is uninhabitable, being covered in the north with
snows and glaciers, in the southby the marshy forests of the terai. Between these
two zones, the parallel Himalayan chains and cross ridges form a labyrinth of steep
and rocky slopes, where all tillage is impossible. But relatively to the limited
stretch of arable land along the river banks and on the first mountain terraces, the

country is
sufficiently peopled, at least in the British districts. As to Nqwl, for

which there are no available statistics, the population is variously estimated by


different writers at from 2,000,000 to 5,000,000.

THE SIMLA DISTRICT GARHWAL.

The city of Simla, surrounded by some twenty petty Hindu states which have
preserved a semblance of political independence and whose frontiers are as intricate
as those of the former Germanic Confederation, occupies a separate domain between
THE SIMLA DISTRICT OABHWAL. 7

the provinces of the Western and Central of


Himalayas. Although re, -,. Mt f,,ni.
its favourahle j)o>iti..n and the
caprice of an Indian ha\e made it the
summer capital of the whole empire. As soon as the hoi Mijoal
begins the roads
hading from the plains towards Simla become crowded with equipages and
vi -hides of all sorts
conveying the Calcutta officials and their suites to this health
resort in the sub-Himalayan hills. Some of the chief branches of the administra-
tion thus migrate yearly between the two cities. The English settled in India
naturally sought, amid the advanced spurs of the convenient sites where
Himalayas,
they might recover the vigour and muscular strength lost on the bum ing plains of
the Ganges and Indus. In this way a complete cordon of new stations,
forming a
sort of Indian England, stretches
along the outer Himalayan ridges at a mean
elevation of 6,000 or 7,000 feet. Nowhere is the hold that these Western

Fig. 38. SIMLA.


Seal* 1 : 600.000.

IS MilM.

conquerors have on the land so vividly realised as in these pleasant retreats, so


from the cities of the plains, whose castellated walls and glittering
different in aspect

temples are visible on the distant horizon. Simla, the largest of all these English
towns, is also geographically the most important. It is not merely a city of

pleasure, as might be supposed by the casual spectator of its fetes and durbars.
Standing on a ridge between the Satlej and a tributary of the Jumna, it marks the
head of the triangle formed by the two basins of the Indus and Ganges; it guards
the only relatively easy approach to Tibet and the Chinese Empire lastly, it lies ;

between the two large states of Kashmir and Nepal, and by the numerous canton-
ments on the hill- ides and neighbouring plains it overawes the formerly warlike
Sikh and Rajput populations.
of Simla, which
The English dwelling was erected in 1819 on the heights
first

had, so to say, been rediscovered two years previously by the brothers Gerard.
98 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

But the place remained even without a name till 1826, and it had still only sixty
houses when visited by Jacquemont in 1831. Yet it has ranked since 1864 as the
second capital of British India. Standing on the summit and slopes of a crescent-

shaped ridge, it covers a space of about 6 miles with its palaces, hotels, and pleasure-
grounds, which terminate eastwards in the rounded crest of the Jako Hill, overgrown
with deodars, oaks, and rhododendrons. The city has already outgrown the
natural water supply of the district, which will soon have to be supplemented by
conduits from more distant Himalayan streams. South of Simla, which is defended
on the west by the Jatok batteries, several other health resorts are dotted over the
crests or slopes of the hills. Subathu, Kasaoli, Dagxhai, and Kalka are mainly

military stations guarding the approaches to Simla. But the whole of the hilly
region commanded eastwards by the wooded Chaur, forms an almost isolated
mountain mass between the Sivalik and the Himalaya. Here every eminence affords
a glorious view of the forests and snows of Garhwal, right away to the magnificent

highlands, where rise the farthest head-streams of the Jamna.


This region of welling waters one of the sacred lands of Hindu mythology.
is

Here are grouped many of the peaks celebrated in old Aryan song, but now known

by other names. The Jamnotri, at the very source of the river, is overshadowed by
the Banderpunch and Sargaroin, culminating points of the system, which, although
over 20,000 feet high, are entirely free from glaciers.
The Jamna,
traditionally supposed to rise in the immediate vicinity of the
Ganges, flows, not from the main Trans-Himalayan range, but from the rugged
slopes of the Himalaya proper. Judging from the respective volume of their
waters, the true head-stream is not the branch known as the
Upper Jamna, but the
Tonse, which, after making a wide sweep round to the west, joins the Jamna near
its entrance on the plains. The latter came to be regarded as the main branch,
probably on account of the hot springs, which bubble up near its source about
9,700 feet above the sea, and which are the resort of numerous pilgrims. Accord-

ing to the legend, it formed by these springs that the Ape-god


was in the lakelet
Hanuman one day extinguished his burning tail, since which event the water has
remained hot hence also the name of Mount Banderpunch, or the " Ape's Tail."
;

The Jamnotri thermal springs are the hottest in the whole of the Himalayas, their

temperature being 224 Fahr., or about three degrees below boiling-point at this
altitude.

The inhabitants of Garhwal are essentially Hindus. The few Tibetan elements
found amongst the Khasiya, or native Rajputs who have lost caste by alliance
still

with aliens, are daily disappearing before the constant stream of immigrants from
the south. The possession of the valleys was formerly contested by rival chiefs,
who erected on every eminence one of those garh, or fastnesses, whence the country
takes its name. Under this feudal system Garhwal could not prosper, but the
people were reduced to a still more deplorable plight, when the land was overrun by
the Gurkhas of Nepal at the beginning of the present century. Decimated Jby war
and sold into bondage, the Khasiya were much reduced in numbers but they have ;

now begun again to increase, and their cultivated plots are everywhere encroaching
THE SIMLA DISTRICT OABHWAI,

on the waste or fallow lands, and rvt-n mi th<-


pastures and jungles of the tend.
Hut thnv a iv no Hindu towns in tl,,-
r,, lM -r Jaimia Vail, | ,u the centres of :

population are of Hriti.sh on>in. '11,,,, are at once health resort* and
military
lantunnu-nts, wln-iav tin- are able
Knglish easily to overawe the surrounding

Fig. 39. DiiiRA-D6f, THI SITALIK, GATM OF TMI QAXOU AD JAMXA


: 730.000.

Central triKonomeinc station of India.

lg Mile*

tribes, while enjoying the pure mountain air and magnificent scenery of this

region.
Amongst these stations are Chakatra, standing at an elevation of over 7,000 feet
above the sea, on a plateau overlooking the Juuina and Tonse confluence, and
Mannuri, which lies at about the same altitude, on a perfectly regular ridge lining

immediately above the Dehra or Dehra-dun ValK-y. Next to Simla, it is the most
100 INDIA AND IXDO-CHINA.

important place in the Central Himalayas, and is defended on the east by the
military station of Landur, both now forming a single municipality. Northwards
the Tibetan frontier range is shut out from view by intervening chains, but the
dun of Dehra, the broadest and most regular in India, together with the Sivalik
mountain barrier, a typical sub-Himalayan chain, present a most remarkable
tableau. The two romantic gorges forming the gates of the Jamna and Ganges are
both visible, one to the west the other to the south, while the Dehra cantonments

occupy a central position on the plain between the Massuri and Sivalik Hills. The
climate of Massuri is very equable, the temperature varying little throughout the

year, and even from day to night. But during the wet season it is exposed to the
fullfury of the monsoon, when the rains sometimes last for eighty or eighty-five days
uninterruptedly. Hence many English residents have preferred to settle lower
down in the Dehra Valley, which, although warmer, is much better sheltered from
the winds and rains. This delightful retreat, which is only 2,270 feet above the
sea, sprang up, during the seventeenth century, round about a temple built by a Sikh
apostle, who claimed the power of being able to die and rise again at pleasure. The
and enamelled dome of the temple, which still exists, render it the most
lofty portico
conspicuous object in the valley. The English town has been chosen as the head-
quarters of the trigonometrical bureau, chief centre of geographical studies for
India and the Himalayas.

Although within the area of drainage of the Ganges, Dehra lies close to the
water-parting of the dun, whence numerous streams flow down the wooded slopes
of the Sivalik, on the onehand to the Ganges, on the other to the Jamna. This
lovely valley, thus draining to two different basins, cut off from India by the
"
Sivalik ridge, and communicating with the plains only through the two " gates
of the great rivers, could not fail to play an important part in Hindu mythology.
Here is the refuge of the sons of Pandu ;
here also Rama came to do penance ;

every hill, fountain, and grove is associated by innumerable legends with the
memory of the Snake-god, of Siva, Indra, and other divinities. The sacred
character of the district is attested by one of the oldest monuments of India an
erratic quartz boulder on a terrace overlooking the right bank of the Jamna near
its junction with the Tonse. This famous block, or " rock of Kalsi" as it is called
from the name of a neighbouring village, bears the features of an elephant and the
tables of the Buddhist law, inscribed on its face 2,150 years ago by order of King
Asoka. The spot where the Jamna, swollen by the waters of the Tonse, enters the
dun, was even then regarded as the limit of India in this direction. The much
more accessible gorge, through which the Jamna penetrates to the plains after
traversing the dun, seems to have been held in much less veneration. Here stand
the ruins of the Badshah-mahal, or hunting palace of the Moghul emperors ;
and
the neighbouring hills, as in the days of Akbar and Jehanghir, still serve as a

refuge for the elephant, tiger, leopard, and other wild beasts.

Having become one of the centres of British influence in India, the Dehra-diin
has also recovered the agricultural importance which it had lost under the Gurkha
administration. The canals, which traverse the valley in all directions, have been
THK UITKR GANGES BA8IN-I1ARDWAR. 101

restored. the jungle has again Ix-en eh-an-d. and the mttugrs
,,f tl lo
peasantry hare
;>nee more sprung up Iwneath the .shade of the mango groves. allure has 'I .
, .

l*-en successfully introduced, and immigrants have been attracted to the planta-
tions from all the surrounding provinces, and even from Afghanistan itnelf. Since
M when the Gurkhas were expelled, the population has trebled, while new
"..

lements have been grafted on the old Brahman and Hujput stock. Here and
then- an- still met a few survivors of the Mcltra and Dum tribe*, who seem to have
been the aborigines of the country. The Mehru keep aloof in the wooded districts
near the Ganges, while the dark, crisp-haired Dum have been scattered over the
whole valley, where they formerly worked us slaves. Through hatred of their old
oppressors, iome of them have been converted either to Islam or to Christianity.

THE UPPER GANGES BASIN HARDWAR.

The Upper Ganges which is larger than that of the Jumna, begins at the
basin,
Tibetan frontier, on the southern slope of the Trans-Himalaya. The Bhagiruti-
ganga, or northern branch, even receives its chief uffluent, the Junevi, from Tibet

itself, through the formidable Xilung gorges. The stream, which though not the

largest, is nevertheless regarded as the true Upper Ganges, rises 1>'),GOO feet above
the sea, at the foot of a glacier, terminating with crevassed walls over 'JOO feet

high. This is the "mouth of the cow" mentioned in Hindu mythology, but
probably never witnessed by any of its worshippers till Hodgson reached the spot
in 1817. Here is the first step of the throne of Siva, the five great mountains

bounding the horizon on the east and north-east being venerated us the special seat
of the Muha Deo, or "Great God." From these Kuilus, or Kudru Hinmlah
Mountains, one of which rises to a height of 21,NOO feet, the snows descend in a
vast cirque, filling every valley with a mass of ice and moraines. The peaks are
even higher farther south, where the Kidurnath, or Mahapunth, also dedicated to
Siva, attains an elevation of 2*2,750 feet. The isolated Tharlasagar, or Moira, is
nearly as high, while several other summits of the
chain skirted on the west by the

Bhugirati-ganga exceed 20,000 feet. The three last snow-clud crests have
"
received the name of Trikantu, or Three-headed Mountain."
The venerated Gangotri, in the Upper Bhugirati-ganga Valley, is the highest

point which the Bruhtnuns have been


nble to occupy ;
and although no pilgrimage
ismore meritorious, few devotees of the goddess venture to jx?rfonn it. The great
of the route
majority of the pilgrims are arrested by the difficulties and hardships
at the less elevated shrines on the banks of the sacred stream. They formerly bore
" which leads to name of
the flag of Yama, death," and called themselves by the
(tnirnrtlina that is, "those who return not." All are obliged to perform their
firstablutions in the united waters of the Bhagirati and Junevi, both of which here
flow in tremendous gorges. Here they receive the bread blessed by the hand of A
Brahman, and cast into the foaming torrent a tuft of herbage symbol of their
sins. Farther down, every station. every spring and bluff, is a hallowed

where the faithful perform preparatory rite- U-iore reaching the highest shrine.
102 INDIA AND IXDO-CHINA.

Although held in less veneration than the Bhagirati, the Alaknanda is never-
theless the main upper branch of the Ganges. It is nearly twice as broad, and the
mountains whence it receives its first feeders are more elevated than those of Gan-
gotri. The Ibi-Gamin, rising to a height of 25,280 feet, is the loftiest of all the
Trans-Himalayan peaks that have yet been measured. Its Tibetan name, meaning
" Great Mother of
Snow," shows that it is held to be unrivalled in this part of the

Fig. 40. SOURCE or THE GANGES.

system. Like all it has been dedicated by the Hindus


the other surrounding peaks,
to one of their
divinities, by them known
and under the general name of Nanda
is

Parbat, although on most English maps called Kamet. The Ibi-Gamin Pass,
crossed in 1856 by the brothers Schlagintweit, stands at a height of 20,260 feet,
and is the most elevated ofthe Himalayan passes utilised by the nomad pastors.
all

Even the most frequented passes of. this region, the Mana in the
(Chirbittia-la)
west, and the Niti
(Chindu) in the east, are many hundred feet higher than Mount
Blanc. The Bhotia, of Tibetan stock, although claiming to be Hindus and speaking
THE UPPEB GANGES BASIN HABDWAB. 108

lx)th languages, are the sole intermediaries of trade between the two slope*. They
number alxmt three- thousand, and in summer are
always met in dri\iuu' gangs
their pack-she. |>
<>VT the mountain j
Hisses.

In (he (iarhwal and Kumuon highlands the most frequented


temple is tliat of
HttdriHtit/i, which has been enriched by the offerings of the numerous*
pilgrims
viMting it,
especially every twelfth year, when the planet Jupiter enters Aquarius.
At this \\ rind i'rom forty to fifty thousand devotees flock to Budrinuth, when the

surrounding district is converted into a temporary fair. I/totimat/i, or Jhwiiiiath,


}'ixltnHi>rni,ng on the Alaknandu, and Kittarnnth on a tributary of the same river,
are also popular places of pilgrimage, where Brahman communities live on the gene-

nity (d tin- faithful. But the only town worthy


of the name in the whole
country
is Srinagar, which near the entrance of the Aluknundu Valley. It is not the
lies

capital of Gurhwul, a distinction that haw been conferred on the village of Paori,
situated in a more open district further south.

A
much-frequented temple stands at the junction of the Bhugiruti and Aluk-
nanda, where the two streams take the name of Ganga. From its position this
trmple takes the name of Dtoprayag, or " Divine Confluence." But farther down
lies the fur more famous group of shrines known as Hard tear, or Huri-dtrara, that
" Vishnu's "
is, Gate," or else Hara-dicara, that is, Siva's Gate," the followers of
each sect claiming for their chief divinity the honour of having opened the " gate
of the Ganges." But it is probable that temples were erected in the gorge even
long before the names either of Vishnu or Siva hud begun to be invoked. Several
carvings discovered amid the ruins of Jfayapur, the city which preceded Hurdwur
and which was visited by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Hwen-t'sang, are evidently
anterior to the present forms of the Hindu religions.
At this point the already a fully-developed river. After issuing
Ganges is

from the highland regions a Jittle below the Bhugiruti and Aluknundu confluence,
it traverses the district of the duns, where it receives on both bunks the waters of

the lateral valleys. But to reach the plains it has still to pierce the hills through
a gap some miles wide, where its branches wind round a number of wooded islets.
Here stand the temples of Hard war on the right bank, over against another sacred
edifice crowning a hill on the opposite side. Southwards stretches the handsome

by rich Brahmans and traders from every part of India.


JCunkitt quarter, occupied

Multitudes of much-venerated monkeys disport themselves among the trees of the

surrounding gardens.
The pilgrimages begin in the middle of March, and last for nearly one month.
Hardwicke, Raper, and other early English visitors estimated them at upwards of

two millions, a number which Johnson found in 1827 to be actually below the
reality. In 1867 the camping- grounds occupied an area of no less than '23 square
miles. But this vast concourse consists not only of the faithful, who come to kiss

the imprint of Vishnu's foot and bathe in the sacred tank or in the Ganges itself,
but also of traders of every race and caste from all parts of India. Of late yean,

however, the visitors seem to have greatly fallen off, notwithstanding the general
increase of population in the peninsula. The construction of roads and railway?
104 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

has tended to concentrate traffic in the large cities, while religious zeal has dimi-

nished to such an extent that the pilgrims now seldom exceed seventy thousand,

except every twelfth year during the feast of Aquarius. The interference of the
British authorities to isolate the sick during epidemics and for other sanitary pur-

poses could not fail also to diminish the number of visitors to the shrines. In
1819, so great was the press of the crowd eager to bathe in the sacred waters, that
four hundred and thirty were drowned or trampled to death. Formerly faction
fights occasionally broke out between the rival sects, and as many as eighteen thou-
sand dead bodies are said to have been strewn over the ground round about the
sanctuaries on one of these occasions in 1760. But while losing its importance as
a religious town, Ilardwar has taken a high position as an agricultural centre. It
now stands at the head of the great irrigation canal of the Doab, which, notwith-

standing the opposition of the Brahmans, is fed by the sacred waters of the Ganges.
,
The main stream is joined on the plains by the Ram-ganga, which flows from
the Kumaon Hills south of the Alaknanda for a total distance of 400 miles. Almora,

Fig. 41. THE KUMAON LAKE.


Scale 1 :
200,000.

79-30' LoG 79' 35:

3 Mile*.

capital of Kumaon, lies in this basin, on an eminence commanding an extensive


view of the surrounding lands. This ancient stronghold, which often changed
hands during the local wars, has now become a favourite health resort, thanks to
its pure atmosphere and elevated position of 5,360 feet above the sea. It is
rivalled in these respects by the modern town of Ranikhet, situated 500 feet higher
up on a plateau, which offers the advantages, rare in the Himalayas, of abundant

water, a level site, and excellent wood and stone building materials. It has been

proposed to remove the military convalescent cantonments of Simla to Ranikhet,


where the more wholesome, and where several military establishments have
air is

already sprung up near the Nepal frontier. But most of the civilians follow in
the suite of the Governor of Allahabad, who has chosen for summer residence the
still more elevated town of Naini-tal
(6,320 feet), so
named from a lake dedicated
Tin: 11 VOE8 BASIN XAIXI-TAL. UN

to the Goddess Xa in i, or Hindu \Ynus. In 1*15 nothing *\>**\ on


1'arvatti, tin-

this sj>.t \.-.-pt


a
iiiplr surrounded
t.
by a few hovels. N.,\v a d li^htful little
town stivtrh-s aloni; the narrow strip forming a north-western continuation of tin-
lukc. Harnlsonic buildings i-rown -\.ry -uininit, and j>lcuMunt retreatM are tlntt^l
o\ r tin- ainj)hitlt-atn- !' vmlant -.lujM-s
u p to the crest of the hilla. The Kiirround-

ing height- M-am-ly exceed 8,000 feet in elevation above the sea, but few other

Fig. 42. XAIM-TAL.


BoOe I :
26,000.

U. 05 feet 65 and npwanl*

___ 1,100 Yards.

spots in the Hiinalayus present a more charming prospect, the European character
of which endears it to the English residents.
Several other cavities in the hills south-west of Naini-tal are filled with other

to/, or lakes, all the emissaries from which flow to the


river Gola near it* entrance

on the plains. All these fresh-water reservoirs are of small size, the >*aiui-tal
no more than 50 with un extreme
acres, of 100 feet, while the
depth
covering
mile Imig.
Bhim-tal, or Siva's Lake, the next largest, is only three-quarters of a
and even narrower than Naini-tal. The very rxi*tem-e of these little lacu*trim

basins in the Central Himalayas is a remarkable phenomenon, the cause of which


79
106 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

has been much discussed by geologists. Here landslips are frequent, and in 1880
one of these avalanches buried a part of the town of Naini-tal, together with one
hundred and eighty of its inhabitants.
The Kali, Sarju, Sardah, or Gogra, one of the most copious streams of the
Central Himalayas, was adopted in 1816 as the limit of British India towards

Nepal. Like the Alaknanda, this head-stream of the Ganges receives its first waters
from the Trans- Himalaya on the Tibetan frontier, and all its upper affluents are
fed by glaciers. This rugged region of ice and rocks is commanded by the Nanda
peak, so named from Nanda-devi, or
the " Goddess Nanda," most revered of all
the local divinities. After crossing a dangerous pass within sight of this queen of
" the
snows, which they till recently spoke of as highest mountain in the world,"
the Bhotia natives never fail to sacrifice a goat in her honour. The Nanda-devi

Fig. 43. NANUA-DEVI AND MILAM GI.ACIKKS.

Scale 1 : 250.000.

LofG 60- 80-15-

6 Miles.

nas an altitude of 25,661 while the Kiungar Pass, which lies nearest to the
feet,

frontier, is 1,550 feet higher than Mount Blanc. It is much frequented, notwith-

standing the difficult ascent through the rugged Gogra-ganga Valley and over the
crevasses of the Milam glacier. The village of Milarn, which lies at an elevation
of over 11,000 feet near the foot of the terminal moraine, is crowded with travellers
during the short season of traffic. But, like Martoli and other villages situated
farther down, it is completely abandoned after September, when the whole
popu-
lation takes refuge in the lower valleys. The famous pandit and Himalayan
explorer Nam-singh was for a considerable time a schoolmaster in Mi lam.
NEPAL. 107

NEP \ i .

Nepal is one of the " unknown lands" of India. Although British suzerainty
i
;irknowledged by the mj:i, and a British resident is stationed in the capital with
a body-guard of sepoys, the frontier is strictly closed to ordinary travellers, and
-vcn to the staff of the topographic bureau. Hence the altitudes of the
Himalayan
giants t<>\\vring above Central Nepal have had to be calculated from the plains,
while to obtain accurate descriptions of the interior, it has been necessary to employ
Hindu pandits, disguised either as traders or monks. The history, languages, and
inhabitants of the country have been chiefly studied by the few Englishmen settled
in Katmandu as physicians or political agents.
The existence of Nepal as a state distinct from the rest of India is
explained
by its geographical features. Here, better than elsewhere, it becomes obvious how

Fig. 44. or Ei inn-KAN TRAVELLERS AND PANDITS IN NEPAL.


Scale t : 9.000.0(10.

89'

1HO Mile*.

" natural " divisions traced


purely conventional often are the so-called solely

to river basins. is traversed from north to south by several large


according Nepal
from
tributaries of the Ganges, such as the Karnali, Gandak, and Kosi, separated
each other by lofty ranges. The very highest elevations on the globe are even
found between the Bhotia-kosi and the Arun, head-streams of a Ganges affluent.

Yet the limits of these fluvial basins nowhere serve as frontiers to Nepal. This
and east for over 4'JO miles,
state, forming a vast rectangle which stretches west
with a mean breadth of less than 80, develops its frontier lines in a direction at

The upper section of these rivers belongs to


right angles with its river valleys.
limits of
the Chinese Empire, while their lower courses are comprised within the
The true natural frontiers of Nepal are formed on the north by
British India.
south
the vast desert between the Himalaya and Trans- Himalaya, on the
plateaux
The populations of every valley lying between
by the marshy forests of the terai.
108 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the snowy ranges and the southern swamps tend to form distinct political commu-
nities, which have been grouped by conquest alone in one state. This state
consists,broadly speaking, of vegetable zones rising in terraces on tin- Hanks of
the Central Himalayas, and its geographical unity depends rather on climate than
on its areas of drainage. Its political limits have been diversely modified by wars,
invasions, and But notwithstanding all these changes of frontier, the
treaties.

geographical contrasts, with their effects on the social life of the people, are none
the less real. the beginning of the century Nepal stretched much farther
At
westwards than at present. It would even occupy the whole of the Himalayan
slopes but for their great length and the consequent difficulty of maintaining the
communications from one end of the kingdom to the other.
The surface of Nepal presents greater contrasts of relief than are elsewhere
found in the crust of the earth. Between the lowest depressions and highest peaks
the vertical distance is nearly 5 miles, so that the atmosphere of the snow-clad
crests ismore than half lighter than that of the lower districts. As in the Western
Himalaya, the Nepalese mountains are separated from the plains by an advanced
buttress of hills forming an eastern extension of the tertiary Sivalik range. The
Cherriaghati, as this section of the sub-Himalayas is called, is pierced at intervals
by mountain torrents flowing to the Ganges basin. The outer hills are thus
separated by the intervening longitudinal depression of the duns or maris from the
Himalayas proper, which rise terrace above terrace to the supreme scarps of the
Tibetan plateau.
In West Nepal the almost isolated Narayana ridge skirts the deep valley of one
"
of the " seven Gandak rivers. Here the culminating point is the Dwalaghiri
(Dhaolo ghiri), or "White Mountain," which was long supposed to be the highest
peak on the globe, but which is rivalled eastwards by the Morshiati, Barathor, and
Yassa. The Gosainthan, or Kirong group, whose most elevated crests are the
Deorali and Dayabang, is 3,000 feet lower than Dwalaghiri, but is more venerated,

probably because it lies nearer to cultured populations. From the fissures in its
rocky sides spring the three sacred cascades which form the Lake of Nilkhiat, the
" Blue-necked
god." From this reservoir flows the Trisul-ganga, so named from
who caused it to spring from the rock.
the trident of Siva,
Since the recent surveys, Mount Everest
(Gaurisankar or Chingopamari), the
magnificent peak of East Nepal consecrated to the divine couple, Siva, God of
Force, and Parvatti, Goddess of Beauty, takes rank as the culminating point of
the globe. To Nepal also belongs Kinchin jinga, which from its vast girdle of
snowfields takes the name of the " Five Glittering Crests." It stands between this
state and Sikkim, at the northern extremity of the Singhalila transverse ridge.

Several other peaks in this region exceed 23,000 feet. Yet there can be no doubt
that they are rivalled by other summits in the Trans-Himalaya, which here forms
the water-parting between thr Tsangbo and Ganges basins, but which lies mainly
within Chinese territory. \ The pandit who made the circuit of Gaurisankar in

1871, had constantly in view other lofty crests, wliich seemed fully as elevated as
tliose of the Himalaya proper. In fact, the highest of all seemed to belong to the
NEPAL, '

Tran-Ilimal 'in. It was \jsiM,.


<li-t;.nee townii.-r towards the
j n tin-

north-eat almve the great Pin^ri Maidan plain.


With Midi enormous dillerrnees <,f relief, the communications arc
naturally
.litlieult let\veen tin-
valleys an<l the plateau, an well n* between vullr\ :

valley. Mo-t of tin- streams flowing from Tibet pierce the advanced barrier of the

Himalaya through gorges so deep and precipitous that no traveller has yet ventured
to explore them. Hence the routes are continued by
ascending the neighbouring

Fig. 45. Mot-XT EVEKEKT (<;.u HISAMCAK).


lad* 1 : 1,700,000.

67'

ou Mil. .

heights tliioujrh a succession of pusses over 13,000 feet above the sea. Some of the
<r;ii>^
in the range have even to be avoided by detours of 30 or 40 miles to the right

and left. Kl>c\\ lit -ivcurried througli the ravines themselves, but is too
the track is

formidable for any cxrcpt the native hillmen. Below Choksam, where the copious
ii\ r lUiotia-kosi is crossed a bridge some 65 feet long, the jMith consists of
by
]s fn.m 10 to 20 inches w i<le, resting on iron supports sunk in the
ut a height of 1,500 feet alx.ve the framing torrent. K\en tin- mountain

sheep or goats seldom venture to follow man across these dangerous passe*.
110 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Of the passes which might be utilised by traders between India and the plateau,
a few only are opened to traffic by the Tibetan custom-house officers, who are
all the more severe that the entrance of a spy or a
missionary would render them
liable to capital punishment. At the western extremity of the kingdom one of the
most important passes is that of Nialo or Thukla-khar, which gives access to Lake
Mansaraur and the water-parting between the Satlej and Tsangbo basins. This is
pre-eminently the sacred region of Hindu mythology, where the mysterious animals
concealed in the Kailas grottoes were supposed to discharge the four great Indian
rivers. Here at all events stands Mount Gurla Mandhata, source of the Satlej
Tsangbo and Karnali, while the Indus rises a little to the north of the Kailas.
The P'otu Pass, leading from the Kali-Gandak Valley to the monastery and
station of Tadam on the banks of the Tsangbo, is also one of the most frequented

in Nepal. Farther east access may also be had to the plateau by the more difficult
No-la Pass, which rises to an altitude of over 16,000 feet. But what may be called
the royalhighway runs from Katmandu through the Trisul Valley by Jonka-jong
northwards to the depression partly occupied by the great Tibetan Lake Pagu.
Although the easiest of all, this route has hitherto been closed to the pandits
employed in the work of survey by the Indian topographic bureau. But through
it the Chinese penetrated in 1792 down to the interior of Nepal, and since then it
has been reserved for the use of high functionaries and their suites. Ordinary
traffic follows the formidable gorges of the Bhotia-kosi arid the Thung-la, Kuti or

Nilam-jong Pass to Tibet. Still farther east the Ganges and Tsangbo basins are
connected by several other passes, such as the Hatia, Tipta, Nila, Tinki, and

Dango-la. The altitudes and respective positions of the chief mountains and passes
in the Central Himalayas are contained in the subjoined table :

O
2160
Simla
Djanraotri
6700
Ivulis
6250 - Ibi Gamin
Kidarnath 7780
6960 Badrinatb
O
Mapouri
-7074

2267 Nandi-devi Gurla Mandhata


7823 7686
Pass of \i:il. .

Api 4000
6907
Almora 1650
N Mill t:ll

1946
O Djoumla
2144
Fotn-la
4599
No-la 6000
DwalHghiri
8180
Morohiadi 4626
7657 Thung-la
Dayabang
7247 Gaurisankar
Tchnml-uig SM:>
Q
Katmandu
6771 Kinchinjinga
8483
1327

Of the Nepalese river basins the most extensive is that of the Arun (Aran),
the main branch of the Sapt Kosiki, or " Seven Kosi." The Dingri-chu a/id Tinki-

jong, two copious streams rising in the depression between the Himalaya and
Trans-Himalaya, after flowing in separate beds for 120 miles, and receiving the
I MI MUTANTS OF NEPAL-TIIE GURKHAS. Ill

drainage of Gaurisankar and Kinchinjinga, plunge in a uniti-d >tn-am into profound


gorges 20,000 feet below the hills skirling tlu-ir right and 1,-ft kink*. JU-yond
:
thispo nt their waters are mingled with thorn of the Kosi and Tumru or Tambur.
Formerly these tonvnU were collected in u lurge lacustrine Win lying, parallel
with the Himalaya and outer ridge. But this lake of the Seven Koftiki
escaped
through its emissary to the plains apparently in prehistoric times, although
traditions of its desiccation survive in the
Aryan legends. The Gandaki, or Sapt
" Seven
Gandaks," also at one time a vast reservoir before
filled
piercing the outer
chain of sul>-
Himalayan hills. An inspection of this basin, and of so many other
tars occurring in the Nepal river valleys, at once reveals their lacustrine origin.
But nearly these reservoirs have been emptied, and with the
all of
exception of the
Pakra lakes in the Sweta-Gandak basin, nothing now remains beyond a few ponds,
and here and there some marshy tracts near the terai. Till they emerge from the
highlands, the current of all the Nepal rivers is too swift to be navigated, hence
they are utilised only for irrigation and floating down lumber.
The population of Nepal, very sparse in the upland valleys near the Tibetan
frontier, increases in density towards the southern openings of the river basins, and

again suddenly diminishes as we approach the terai. Pent up in their mountain


homes, the natives have brought under cultivation not only the level tracts and
gentle slopes skirting the valleys, but have also reclaimed the steeper inclines by
means of artificial terraces. The escarpments of Central Nepal have in this way
been transformed to a succession of gigantic steps, each of which bears a crop of
corn. The lower slopes and plains are overgrown with dense thickets of fruit-
trees,enveloping the villages with their foliage and fragrance. All the central
zone of the mountains is covered with forests, chiefly of conifers. In Nepal the
English might find hundreds of favourable sites for the establishment of such
health resorts as those of Garhwal and Kuuiaon. They would, however, be cut off
from the Gangetic plains by the most dangerous region of the terai, where the
population is decimated by fever, and where thousands are affected by goitre. The
hillmen also suffer from this complaint, which is by Hooker attributed to the
across the forehead, throw-
general habit of carrying burdens by means of a strap
whose
ing the weight on the muscles of the neck. The pack-sheep and goats,
loads are disposed in a similar manner, are also subject to goitre.

INHABITANTS OF NEPAL THE GURKHAS, NEWARI AXD CHEPAXOS,


In Nepal there is still a great variety of races. Except in seaport towns, it
would be difficult anywhere to find more varied ethnical elements than in this
West of the river Gandak the predominant people are the Aryan Hindu.-*.
region.
As in Eumaon, Rajput invaders overran the country, according to the traditions,

about the fourteenth century. These were followed by other immigrants from the
these th-
south, especially Brahmans flying from Moslem fanaticism, and by

primitive population has been slowly modifid


H-re the Hindu conquerors h Id
their all comers, and the Nepalese are now the only inhabitant* of
ground against
112 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

India who have never accepted a Mussulman dynasty. Those of the western
provinces bear Hindu names, and speak idioms allied to the common Sanskrit

family. They also consider themselves as belonging to the two higher castes of
Brahmans and Kshatryas. But they are really a very mixed people, and many of
the Nepalese Rajputs are distinguished by their Tibetan features. The existence
of such a large number of Brahmans and Kshatryas in the Karnali and Sapt
Gandaki Valleys is due to the regulation according to which the children follow
the caste of the father in Nepal, whereas in India proper they follow the social
condition of the mother.
The language current amongst the majority of the Parbattia, or "Highlanders "
.ofWest Nepal, is from them called Parbattia, and also takes the name of Khas, from
the warlike tribe using it. Even east of the Kali Iliver, as far as the Trisuli (Trisul-

ganga), it is quite as generally spoken as the dialects of Tibetan origin. It has

also acquired an exceptional influence since it has become the speech of the rulers
of the land. It is a clear, vigorous, concise idiom, suited to a warlike race, but

little cultivated. Exclusively Aryan in its grammatical structure, it has borrowed


about a fifth of its words from the aboriginal languages.
The Khas are commonly, but incorrectly, called Gurkha, a term applicable

properly to all the inhabitants of whatever race occupying the district in which is
situated the city of Gurkha. They allow no one to call in question their Hindu
descent or their rank as pure Kshatryas. But there are other military tribes, who,
while calling themselves Hindus, have far better preserved their traditions and

usages. Such are the Magars (Magyars) and Gurungs, who occupy several valleys
north of Gurkha draining to the Trisul-ganga. The national speech is a Tibetan
dialect, although they converse in Khas with their rulers, and practise some Hindu
rites. The Nepalese army is almost entirely recruited from the Gurkhas, the
Magars, Gurungs, and Limbus of the eastern districts, and these warlike tribes,
like the Swiss in medieval times, also seek service abroad. They are collectively
known as Gurkhas in the Anglo-Indian army, where they are both numerous and
highly esteemed for their courage, endurance, and discipline.
The Limbu, Kiranti, and Yakha, who hold the eastern valleys towards the
Sikkim frontier, seem to represent the Kolarian element in the Himalayas, for,

according to Hodgson and Dalton, they resemble the Kols of Chota Nagpur and
Orissa in their physical appearance, as well as in their customs, and to some extent
their language and religion. All the other tribes of Central and East Nepal are
still pure Tibetans in features, speech, usages, and religion. Most of the people in
these districts are much fairer than the Hindus, with broader head and features,
oblique eyes, more depressed at the base, and strong, thick-set frames. They lack
both the intellectual capacity and cunning of the Hindus, and are generally noted for
their mild and cheerful disposition. They are divided not into castes, like the
immigrants from the plains, but into tribes, which, while resembling each other in
their agricultural or pastoral habits, are distinguished
by their peculiar. dialects,
local customs, and In Nepal, Hodgson reckons no less than twelve
traditions.

Tibetan languages, each spoken by a perfectly distinct tribe, which never inter-
INHABITANTS OF NEPAL-THE NEWARI AND ,Q3. 118

marries with any of tin- others. Amongst these peoples of Ka-t


Nepal thrro are
:t -1111.11, the tra<lc> In-ill-: here carri.-d on by isolated column:.
differing in no respect from their in;i-i.i>, \,i held by them in the
greatest
contempt. Slavery in tin- strict sense is also still recognised, and the father has
even the IM>\VIT of M lling his children, and thus
causing them to lose both their
social positionand nationality.
Of
the Nepule.se tribes of Tibetan stock the most civilised ore the
Newars, who
dwell in the Katmandu district on the bunks of the
Bughmuti, between the Trisul-
ganga und Kosi basins. The Newuri is the only Tibetan dialect in
Nepal
whieh has a speciul character and literature, both of which are based on Sanskrit
models. The Newars, far more than the Gurkhas,
represent the national element
between two conflicting forces contending for
the.
supremacy in Nc]>ul. In the
south and west the Hindus have prevailed, while elsewhere the Himalayan tribes

merge gradually in the rival Tibetan element. But the Newurs, who hold the
central plains about the capital of the kingdom, have maintained u certain
origin-
ality distinguishing them both from the Hindus and Tibetans. Some traces of the
matriarchal state are even said to survive amongst them, and,
according to Kirk-
pat rick, the Newur women have the right to take as many husbands us they like,
and to dismiss them on the least pretext. About the second century of the new
era some Buddhist missionaries, escaping from the persecution of the Brahmans,
took refuge among the Newurs, whom they instructed in the sacred
writings, arts,
and sciences of India. Literary treasures dating from this epoch, and hitherto
known only by name, have been found by Hodgson in the libraries of Ncjwl.
Nevertheless, while adopting the Hindu culture, the Newurs never forgot their
mother tongue, into which they admitted only such Aryan terms us were needed to
express new ideas. The adopted religion was also gradually modified. About
two-thirds of the Newars are nominally Buddhists; but while the neighbour-
still

ing tribes on the east and north have lamas, as in Tibet, the Ncpulese projxr huv3
no monasteries, and admit certain Hindu divinities and symbols in their temples.
" "
They have even accepted the caste system, their Banhru answering to ths
Brahmuns of India. They have also their trading and artisan castes, but no
Kshatryas, and in case of caste disputes the decision lies, not with the Tibetan
Dalai lamas but with the raj guru, or high-priest of the Brahmans. Altogether
Buddhism is dying out in Nepal, und in a hundred years, says Oldtield, it will
have disappeared from the Katmandu Valley, as it has from India. The very
architecture of the two thousand temples or shrines erected in thi* district attests
the struggle going on between the rival northern und southern influences. The
mixture of the two styles has, however, been effected with a certain originality, the
earved ornamuiN recalling those of the temples, while the Chinese taste is
Hindu
M-nted in the employment of wood, in the projection of the upjier storeys, and
other structural featun <.

A marked contrast to the civilised communities is presented by the Chepangs


and Kusundus of the wooded uplands west of Katmandu, who, according to
maintained
Hodgson, have been debased by conquest. They have, at all events,
114 INDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

their independence, paying no and refusing military service. Like their


tribute,

Majhi and Kurabar neighbours, they live on wild fruits and the produce of the
chase, and build themselves huts of branches loosely interlaced. Other less savage
where known "
tribes occupy the terai, they are collectively as Awlia," from their
" and marshy region,
indifference to the awal," or malaria, of that hot so fatal to

the surrounding Hindu and Tibetan peoples. For an unknown number of genera-

tions they have here resided, cultivating the clearings and hunting the wild

Fig. 46. KATMANDU HAXUMAN GATB OF TUB ROYAL PAI.ACB.

elephant. But this animal has become so rare, that they are no longer able
to pay the tribute of five hundred till
recently exacted of them by the Nepal
Government.
The tribes of Lower Nepal have been assimilated in speech to the Khas, and
all

even call themselves Hindus, although they do not practise Brahmanical rites.

Amongst the Denwars the


priestly office is discharged by the sons-in-lawnd the
sister's In many respects these communities seem to form an ethnical
sons.

transition between the Kolarians of Central India and the Tibetans of the
TOPOGRAPHY AND TRADE OF NEPAL. 115

Himalayas. In the trrai districts bordering on thr Briti-h prummiopi the


pre-
dominant triln-s arc tin- Tharu ami M.-ch, who call themselves li.xl.. ..and
who must be affiliated to the Bodo or Kachari nomads scattered over north-east
India as far as the Hurmun Wherever they come in contact with the
frontiers.

Hindus they become rupidly assimilated, and have already adopted the
worahip of
Si\a. modified by local superstitions. They sell their daughters in marriage to
their neighbours, and thus grow rich, the Mech women
having a reputation for
beauty.

TOPOGRAPHY AXD TRADE OF NEPAL.

Katmandu, capital of the kingdom, and the chief place in the valley which ha*
given its name to the whole of Nepal, stands at an elevation of 4,5300 feet above the
sea at the confluence of the Vishnuraati and Baghmati, whose united waters flow
directly to the plains of India. The town straggles irregularly along the river
banks, the winding streets are often blocked by heaps of rubbish, and most of the
red brick houses arelittle better than sinks.
Many of these houses have two or
three storeys, communicating not by stairs but by trapdoors. The darbar, or
royal
palace, consists of low buildings irregularly grouped, and approached by porticoes
covered with fantastic carvings. So numerous are the pagodas, that from a distance
the place seems like one vast temple, adorned with glittering roofs, or gilt bronze
domes and belfries. Everywhere are seen these little shrines smeared with the
blood of animals offered in sacrifice to the gods, while here and there rise huge

monoliths, surmounted by the statues of princes or divinities guarded by formidable-


looking bronze snakes.
Three miles east of the capital stands Baddhnath the largest Buddhist temple
t

in Nepal, forming a vast cupola, surmounted by a tower, on which is painted the

figure of a god, and by a pyramid with steps terminating in a sort of tiara. This
temple is
kept in good repair by the Tibetan lamas, who visit Nepal ever)- winter.
Numerous towns, villages, and temples, often embowered in the rich foliage,
are scattered over the surrounding plain, which stretches some 12 miles north and

south, and whichis


everywhere encircled by hills rising from 1,000 to 8,000 feet
above the old lacustrine basin. One of the most delightful spots in this romantic
region is occupied by the villa of the British Resident, which commands a fine view
of the whole country. A
grand prospect is also obtained from the summit of the
elegant Barera column, which rises to a height of 240 feet above the ground.

According to Oldfield, the population of the Katmandu Valley has risen from
186,000 to about 250,000 since the beginning of the present century. Its fruits,

flowers, and vegetables are unsurpassed in the whole of Asia.


The cities otPalan, two miles south-east of Katmandu, and Bhatgaun (Bhatgnoy),
8 miles farther east, are still more richly endowed with temples of every epoch

subsequent to the introduction of the Hindu religions. But most of these buildings
are in a very dilapidated state, and often overgrown with rank vegetation. At the
date of the foundation of Katmandu in the eighth century of the new era, Putun was
already a considerable place, and is still the second city in the kingdom. Both
116 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

here and in the capital the X'ewars form the majority of the population, while the
lirahmans are centred chiefly in Bhatgaun. Kirtipur, another city, now almost
in ruins, crowns a small hill west of the valley, where, over a hundred years ago,
it formed the bulwark of the Xewar national independence. When at last taken
by treason, the Gurkhas, in revenge for their long resistance, slit the nose and lips
of all the inhabitants, sparing only infants at the breast ; and from this circum-

stance Kirtipur was long known by the name of Xascatpur, or "Slit-nose-town."

Nayakot (Naokofy occupies a crater-like depression north-west of Katmandu,


near the confluence of the Trisul-ganga with one of its tributaries. This town was

formerly the winter residence of the Ncpalcse rajas, but the palace is now

Fig. 47. THE KATMANDU BASIN


6cule 1 : 300.000-

85'lCT

ti Miles.

abandoned, and Xayakot has lost much of its commercial importance. Nevertheless,
a yearly fair is still held in the neighbourhood, which is noted for the excellence
of its rice, sugar, pine-apples, mangoes, and other
produce. The oranges of
Nayakot and the western districts round about Gurkha are considered to be
unrivalled. Xayakot marks the extreme point to which the Chinese and Tibetans
penetrated during their victorious campaign against the Gurkhas in 17!'J.
There are no large towns in the western division of Xepal, which is bounded
by the Trisul-ganga, and which was formerly divided into forty-six petty feudal
principalities the Ba'isi raj, or "Twenty-two kingdoms," and the Chaubisia raj,
or " Twenty-four kingdoms." Here the chief centres of
population are such walled
TOPOGRAPHY AND TRADE OF Mil A I. 117

villages as Jam/a (JWA/), capital <>f tin- I


Mich in.uk.'' oa
ij, -placet
Loltmantany (Oldfidd'l Ma*tnnti), on the path leading up to the l''itu-la 1'a-... ami
such popular places of pilgrimage as Muktinnlh. Towards tho Tibetan frontier tin-
most commercial town is Kiroity, situated to the north of Katmandu, at an altitude
of Ji.niw feet ubove the sea, in a valley which is overlooked towards the west by
the Gosainthan Mountains. At this elevation wheat and barley still flourish, but
i ice has to be imported from the plains.
The trade of Nepal greatly hampered by the vexatious custom-house arrange-
is

ments. Dues are levied not only on the frontiers, but also at several inland

stations, while some articles are prohibited altogether. Tho state thus seeks to
defend itself
against powerful neighbours by a system of exelusiveness, which
its

however does not prevent foreign traders from entering the country. Tly> Tibetans
come buy opium, which they smuggle across the border, and hundred* of Hindus
to

attend the annual fairs of Katmandu. The English wares, which become from
year to year more indispensable to the natives, are paid for by local produce, such
as timber, cateshu or cashu gum, iron, copper, wool, horses (a small patient and
hardy breed), besides salt, gold dust, turquoises, borax, and various ores imjx>rted
from Tibet. Nepal is even able to export to India some of its own manufactures,
notably rugs, and a kind of paper, strong as parchment, made of the fibre of the
(laj)hne cannnbina. In spite of its exclusive policy the government is thus unable
to prevent its
subjects from entering into constantly increasing relations with their
Indian neighbours. It is obliged to keep the already existing roads in
repair and
open others, and
has even
it
pro]x>sed to the Brahmans the establishment of stations

along the main routes. Meanwhile the highway leading from Katmandu to Siyauli,
the frontier railway station, is a mere track traversing u wide belt of the terai and

crossing the Sisaghari and Chandragiri Pusses at the respective elevations of C,.'}50
and 7,100 feet above the sea.

The Nepalese emigrate in large numbers to the plains, and especially to


Benares, whence they return with new ideas and new habits, which are gradually
assimilating the country to the rest of India. The majority of the rich landed
proprietors of the terai districts even reside permanently on British territory.
At the same time the political independence of Nepal is in no way threatened.
On the contrary, the Katmandu Government is treated with every courtesy and
consideration by the viceroys of India, who have even consented to keep Nepalese
under arrest in the fortress of Chanar, on the Ganges. The raja
state prisoners

has at his command an army of 100,000 men noted for their courage, and to
a large extent armed with European weapons, besides being supplied with excel-
lent war materials. Hence, while valuable as an ally, he might prove himself a
formidable enemy.
CHAPTER V.

THE EASTERN HIMALAYAS.


UPPER VALLEYS OF THE BRAHMAPUTKA AFFLUENTS SIKKIM AXD BHUTAW.

OTWITIISTANDING its proximity to Calcutta and to large navig-


able rivers, the eastern stillremains less known than the other
sections of the Himalayas. Many valleys inhabited by savage
tribes have not yet been explored, and the rivers traversing them

are not even known by name. A


few summits only, visible at
distances of 80 or 90 miles from the plains, have been measured, and may serve as
the first fixed points of more detailed surveys. The chief cause of the prevailing

produced by the
ignorance respecting this region is certainly the excessive rainfall
southern monsoon. Thanks to this superabundant moisture, torrents, which would
elsewhere be mere rivulets, acquire the proportion of large rivers, while a rank

vegetation of dense thickets, matted together with twining plants, everywhere


presents the greatest obstacles to explorers. The infiltration of the surface waters
also causes frequent landslips, and the least depression becomes converted into a dan-

gerous quagmire. Thus the forces of nature have hitherto remained too powerful
to be controlled by civilised man, and the land is still mainly occupied by rude
capable of adapting themselves to all the conditions of the environment,
hill tribes,

and indifferent to the wants or comforts of the more civilised peoples of the plains.
The by these fierce hillmen has also naturally contributed not a little
fear inspired
to repel strangers from visiting their rugged upland valleys.

Nevertheless a portion of the Himalayan slopes draining to the Brahmaputra


has already been indirectly annexed to the Indian Empire, and the limits of the

tributary state of Sikkim have even been extended to the Trans-Himalayan range.
The upper basin of the Arun River, the most important in Nepal, is marked on
several maps as belonging to the English, although, being totally uninhabited, it
has really no owners. Between the two states of Nepal and Bhutan British
military and trading stations have been established, and farther east, without

actually conquering Bhutan, the English have also annexed the eighteen doar which
"
naturally depend on British India. These " gates of the Himalayas are the only
parts of the country possessing any important products or large centres of popula-
HYDROGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF BIKKIM. 110

tion. To secure tin-


tranquillity of the frontier, tin- Briti-h <Jov.-rnm.-nt allows the

Raja of Bhutan an annual suli.ly, tin-


punctual payment of which depends on the
conduct of the jM-nsimiary.
-t wards llhutan is Ixmndcd hy the Tuvan^
country, the COHI:IIT. il -i i

through which has become Tibetan property, thanks to the influence of the lama*,

at once priests, political agents, and But hero also the English have
traders.

occupied the doars skirting the plains, so that at this point the British and Chinese
Empires are now conterminous. Farther east begins the unexplored domain of the
wild tribes, who have been pensioned by the Government on condition of abstaining

Fig. 48. Biri-ECATiox op THB TISTA AND MAHA NADDI.


8<le 1 : 000.000.

LofG u -

from plundering the Assam tea plantations, which are continually creeping higher
up the mountain valleys.
A rough estimate only can be formed of the total population of the Himalayan

slopes between Kinchinjinga and the eastern highlands. Bat judging from what
is known of the western districts, it can scarcely exceed half a million.

HYDROGRAPHY AXD CLIMATE OF SIKKIM.


The the " Throe Springs," wnose upper basin
river Tista, or Trisrota, that is,

comprises the region known as Sikkim, might to a


certain extent be regarded M
the main branch of the whole Oangetic system; for it flows directly south toward*
the Bay of Bengal along the lino of most rapid drainage, whereas the Ganges and
120 INDIA AND INDO-CUIXA

which approach each other from opposite dmrtions, run parallel with
r>ralnn;i])utr;i,

the Himalayas, only taking a southerly direction on reaching the plains that have-
been already levelled Ly the Tista. During the historic period the Tista has con-
tinually oscillated between these great streams, shifting its course more frequently
than most other rivers. Evenstill one of its branches joins the Maha Naddi, a

tributary of the Ganges, which retains the namo of the " Great River," from its
former copiousness. The Kosi also, now a Ganges affluent, is traditionally supposed
to have at one time flowed south-east to the Brahmaputra. In this vast alluvial

Fig. 49. SIKKIM.


Scale 1 :
1,500,000

69' E Cf Gr

30 Miles.

plain all the streams tend to change their beds, the new continually effacing the old

windings.
The basin of the Upper Tista is sharply limited by an amphitheatre of lofty
mountains. Eastwards rises the imposing mass of Kinchinjinga, which is
continued southwards by the Kubra and other summits separated by a deep fissure
from the Singalila range on the Nepal frontier. Here all the passes connecting
the two regions have an altitude of at least 8,500 feet. North-east of Kinchinjinga

(the Lambutsinga of Jules Remy) stretch the Himalayas proper,


wfth the
Chomiomo, Kinchinjhan, Donkiah, and other peaks, enclosing snowy cirques and
IETATION AND INIIAIUTANTS OF SIKKIM. 121

small laeustrine basins, where the farthest head-streams of the Tista have
source. Although than Kinehinjin^a, the Donkiah in
less elevated
broader, and
forms a more important mass in the whole -y-trm. It is ennneeted
by a croM
ridge with the Trans- II imalaya, and by a lofty range eastward* with ('humulari,
whose sharp peak exceeds it in altitude. South of the Donkiuh another chain,
higher than Singaliluh, and commanded by the Guarium, Chola, Gipmochi, and
other peaks, separates Sikkim from a long strip of Tibetan territory, which here

penetrates to the southern area of drainage. The long rectangle formed bv the
basin is confined on the south
I'pjMT Tista by advanced ridges fulling gradually
in height towards the plains, but still maintaining elevations of 6,000 to 8,000

feet. Here the Tista escapes through the narrow Sivok-gola gorge southward-*.
Within the great circuit of highlands comprising Sikkim and the English
district of Darjiling, secondary ridges branching off in all directions from
the outer ranges form a vast labyrinth, in which it is difficult to determine the

original disposition of the hills running east and west parallel with the Himalayan
axis.

Explorers are prevented by the excessive moisture of the climate, the frequent
rains and fogs, from venturing far from Durjiling towards the Kinchin jinga and
Einchinjao crests. During the summer monsoon it rains almost incessantly, and
even in winter the prevailing north-easterly dry winds are counteracted by a moist
under-current sweeping up from the Bay of Bengal towards the Sikkim valleys.
After the rains, dense vapours seem to roll up like volumes of smoke from the
forests. The firmament is now frequently overcast with dense fogs several thou-
sand yards thick, through which the landscape seems to be lit up by pale lunar
rather than by solar rays. The hills assume a weird, spectral aspect, and ap|>cur
all the loftier the farther they seem removed in the watery atmosphere. In this
moist climate, with an almost uniform temperature throughout the year, the wind
seldom blows hard even on the mountain tojw. But when the clouds are scattered,
revealing the mountains standing out against a blue >ky the surrounding currents
.

are attracted to local centres of heat, and then from the lower valleys the snows

may be seen rising in flaky wreaths above the highest summits.

VEGETATION AND INHABITANTS OF SIKKIM.

Such a humid region isnaturally but sparsely peopled.


Even walking is diffi-
to the clayey nature of the rocks, which dissolve to a clammy mud, and
cult, owing
during the rainy season there is no escape
from the myriad* of little threadlike
leeches, which swarm on the foliage of the forests up to an
elevation of 10.000

feet The narrow of the Tista and its affluents


valleys
are exposed to such sudden
freshets, thatno human dwellings can here be erected. Hence the beat sites for
the water flows away in all directions. The
villages arc the hill-tops, whence
luxuriant vegetation, which grows with surpri-inj: rapidity during the raiiw and
often stifling the cultivated
fogs, also presents a great obstacle to field operations,
which mostly need long intervals of tine weather. The flora rwes
plants, tropical

78
122 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

to a greater altitudeon the Sikkim mountains than in any other region under the
same latitude. On
the slopes facing southwards palms and bananas still flourish at
an elevation of 7,000 feet above the sea. In the Darjiling forests the plants of the
torrid are intermingled with those of the temperate zone, the walnut growing by

the side of the palm, the rhododendron associating with the tree-fern, parasitic
orchids springing from the wide-branching oak. Ferns especially are richly repre-
sented in this region, where Hooker counted as many as thirty species on a single
mountain south-east of Darjiling.
Above the belt, where the two zones intermingle, rises the great forest of leafy
trees, conspicuous amongst which are the oak, magnolia, chestnut, and walnut. But
edible fruits are extremely scarce, the excessive rains preventing the apple, pear, or

peach from arriving at full maturity. The upper slopes are occupied mainly by
conifers, above which a few willows are still seen at an altitude equal to that of
Mount Blanc. A
little lower down all the torrents are
fringed with thickets of
the rhododendron, one of the characteristic arborescent plants of Sikkim. Dense
masses of phanerogamous plants are even found on the high passes leading to Tibet.
Over two hundred species were collected by Hooker on the Kangra-lama Pass

(15,550 feet), west of Kinchinjao, and on the Bhamso (17,850) he still found as
many as eighteen. Unlike those of the European Alps, these mountain plants,
apparently indifferent to the cold, are unprotected by any woolly down. Beyond
the crest of the water-parting begin the salt deserts of the plateau. While the
forests on the southern slope reach almost to the snow-line, the opposite side pre-

sents nothing but rugged bare rocks of a blue or reddish hue. Yet this desolate
region is frequented by large herds of ruminating animals, attracted by the
saline tracts.

The inhabitants of Sikkim are almost exclusively of Tibetan stock. The


Lepchas, who are the most numerous tribe, differ from their northern kinsmen only
in their less sallow or complexion, which is due to the humid climate.
more florid

Compared with the reserved, wily, and obsequious Hindus, the light-hearted and
confiding Lepchas seem to the English the pleasantest of fellow-travellers. Their
favourite instrument is the flute, which they play with great sweetness and grace.
Unlike those of India, their language is absolutely destitute of abusive terms. The
dialects of the variousSikkim tribes, although presenting considerable variety, all
belong to the common Tibetan stock. In religion and national usages the people
also resemble the Bods of the Tsangbo Valley. As in Tibet, the sacred formula
Om mani padmi hum echoes from every village, and is inscribed on the rocks by
the wayside.
Some of the finest sites in the country are occupied by about twenty lamaseries,
where young men escaping from the oppression of the rajas enter the priesthood, to
enjoy a peaceful life without being burdened with taxes. About 800 persons
reside in these refuges, one of the most famous of which is that of Pemiongchi,
situated at an altitude of 7,000 feet on a terrace,where formerly stood one of the
capitals of Sikkim. Tanilung, the present residence of the raja, lies in the eastern
division of the country, on a bluff 5,400 feet high, overlooking a tributary of the
TOPOGRAPHY- DARJILINO. tfl

Tista. This place is partly abandoned


during the rainy season, when the raja
retires with
hit* Court to the Til* -tan
Valley of Clmmbi, which is faltered from the
rains by an intervening mountain
range.

TOPOGRAPHY DARJILINO.

the chief town of the English


Darjiliiig, portion of Sikkim, has acquired
exceptional importance as the temporary capital of the province of Lower Bengal.
Founded in 1835, when this territory wae ceded to the that is,
Company, Darjiling,

Fig. 60. DARJILINO.


Seal* 1 : S96.000.

6 Mile*.

the " Holy Place," stands on the narrow ridge of a crescent-shaped mountain about
7,000 feet above the sea, at a point commanding a view of the gorge, through
which the Great Ranjit escapes to the Tistu. Like all the other health- resorts in
tin-
Himalayas, it is flanked by barracks and batteries, but otherwise presents the
appearance of a group of palaces and villas. Compared with Simla and the other
124 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

English settlements in the hills, it has the great disadvantage of an excessively


moist climate. But during the morning hours, before the clouds have banked up
to discharge their daily rains, Darjiling often presents a marvellous panoramic view

of the Himalayas, from Gaurisankar, seen in the hazy distance, to the majestic
Donkiah and Chamalari peaks. In the centre rise the twin crests of Kinchin jinga,
always capped in clear weather by fleecy clouds scudding eastwards under the
influence of the prevailing upper currents. Towards the south are seen the
wooded slopes of Senchal, stretching away above the vapoury plains of the Ganges.
Centre of the British rule in the Himalayas, and occupying a remarkable

position at the of the parting angle between the Ganges and Brahmaputra
summit
affluents, Darjiling could not fail to become a busy emporium of the trade between
India and Tibet. From Sikkim it receives large supplies of lumber, floated down

by the mountain torrents, from Tibet wools and horns, from Nepal live stock, in

exchange for English goods. But so jealously are the Tibetan frontiers guarded,
that none of the tea produced since 1856 on the Darjiling plantations has yet
found its way to Lassa.* Cinchona was also recently introduced, and the planters
have even endeavoured to cultivate ipecacuanha and cardamoms in the neighbouring

forests. Other sources of future wealth are the coal, iron, and copper mines
which has already been connected with the Indian railway system.
of the district,
Numerous roads also traverse the tea and cinchona plantations, winding along the
flanks of the hills and terminating at present at the villages of Sikkim. The
Hungarian traveller, Csoma de Koros, who has contributed so much to a better

knowledge of the Tibetan language, lies buried in Darjiling.

Like Simla, Darjiling possesses " The road descends


great route to Tibet."
its

eastwards to the Tista Valley, crosses the river by a handsome suspension bridge,
and ascends north-eastwards to the Jyelap Pass, north of the Gipmochi peak. This
comparatively easy pass leads over the Chola range, at a height of 12,860 feet, down
to the Tibetan Valley of Chumbi, which, like Sikkim, belongs to the southern

drainage of the Himalayas. It affords one of the best means of access to Tibet,
and was followed in the last century by Bogle, Turner, and Manning, the English
envoys to the Court of Lassa.

BHUTAN.

Since the cession of the eighteen southern doars to England, Bhutan, or rather
Bhut-ant that is, the end of the Bhut, or Bod country consists only of some narrow
upland valleys separated by intervening lofty ridges, which are crossed by difficult
tracks. The western
valley of the Tursa, bounded on the north by Chumbi, is
almost completely isolated from the rest of Bhutan, to which it belongs politically

only through the condescension of the English. The first genuine Bhutanese
valley is that of the Chin-chu, which rises on the slopes of Chamalari. The Saukos,
flowing parallel with the Chin-chu, is also fed by the snows of the Himalaya. One
of the peaks in this still imperfectly explored section of the main rangfe exceeds

*
Darjiling tea plantations (1876), 121 ; yearly yield, 5,000,000 Ib. Exports to Sikkim (1877),
14,160 ; imports from Sikkim, 80,260 ;
total exchanges, 94,420.
BHUTAN

f'hamalari itself in altitude. Hut farther east the Himalayan Ian -reed,
as in so many other places, by the gorge of the river Maim*, which Howx from tin-

broad depression separating tin- two chief ranges of thr Hiiiiala\an xystera.
The Bhutiu, or Bhutunesc, belong 'to the Tibetan family, uml their nut:
name is derived from the same root as that of the 15. K! and of tin- Kuinami and
lese Bhotia. Tin v are also collectixely known by tin- p m-ral name of L..

They are a small but robust j>eoplc, ami but for the prevalence of goitre amongst
them, they mi^ht even be regarded as one of the fine races of the peninsula.

Unfortunately, they appear to suffer much from the oppression of the native
: iiinent.
They own no property, and their lot depend* entirely on the caprice
of the noliles and monks, who administer the country. The English envoys who
vi>ite<l Bhutan describe their condition as extremely wretched. The State inherits
all their possessions, and of the crops they retain only sufficient to keep them from
absolute starvation. All the rest goes to the governors, who receive no direct salary.
In order to escape from this dire oppression, thousands of Bhutancsc emigrate
yearly to the imperial domain, and especially to British Sikkim. Here they ore
regarded as much inferior to the Lei>chus in cheerfulness, honesty, and love of work.
Under such a regime it is not surprising that the country has become
impoverished. Trade, which is a state monopoly, has remained stagnant, or even
diminished, the exchanges with India having fallen in 1877 to less than -3*2,000.
Yet Bhutan has great natural resources, and possesses an excellent breed of hardy
little ponies. When free
from spoliation the people are industrious enough. They

carefully cultivate the terraced lands


on the slopes of the hills, weave substantial
fabrics, manufacture artistic objects in iron and copper, make paj>er and even a
kind of satin from the bark of the diah (daphne papyrifrra}, carve wood with taste,
and erect spacious and convenient dwellings, not unlike the Swiss chalets. Several of
the towns possess rich pagodas in the Chinese style of architecture, and a chain

bridge crossing the Chin-chu at Chuka seemed to Turner an admirable piece


of

workmanship. It was unequalled in Europe for years after his time, and
many
this monument is attributed by the natives themselves to the hand of a god.
The government is modelled on that of Tibet, except that the Chinese ministers,

at Lassa, have not yet made their appearance in Bhutan. The titular
supreme
sovereign, who is a sort of grand lama, has received the name of Choigyal (in
"
Sanskrit Dharmarajn) ;
that is, King of the Law." At the death of this buddha
the council of lene/ien, or ministers, seeks for a child in whom the deity has oon-

descended to become incarnate, and generally finds him in the family of one of the

native magnates. the side of the spiritual sovereign there reigns another
By
raja, the t/t-li, who is also appointed by
the ministerial council, or rather by the
of the
faction for the time being in the ascendant. Strictly speaking, the authority
deb lasts three years only, but he can always keep his seat on the throne a* long as
he enjoys the favour of the nobles. The two chief provincial governors, or jx*lot
are those of West and East Bhutan, who reside in the towns of Puro and Tongso,

respectively.
Tatisudon (Tasicho of Bhutan, lies in a mountain cirque on the
SOIKJ), capital
126 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

banks of the Chin-chu. But Panakhn, or Punakha, the winter residence of the
temporal raja, is situated in a much lower valley to the east, but still in the heart

of the mountains. The palace is surrounded by mango and orange groves, and,
but for the proximity of the snowy ranges on the north, one might fancy oneself
on the plains of Bengal. Paro lies in another valley west of Tasisudon, and
Tongno, capital of the eastern province, is a mere hamlet, which communicates with
the plains of Assam by the difficult Rudu Pass, 11,920 feet high.
The rule of the Dharmaraja is limited eastwards by the Manas basin, and even
some eastern tributaries of this river lie beyond his jurisdiction. Between his
official domain and the independent tribes of the Eastern Himalayas there inter-

venes the territory of the raja lamas, or "priest kings," who call themselves
vassals of the dalai lama, but who are practically independent, thanks to the great
distance and difficulty of communicating with Lassa across the Himalayan ranges.
They even occasionally make war on each other, changing the limits of their
possessions according to the decision of the sword, without consulting their
suzerain. But notwithstanding these rivalries, the country of the Khanpo Bhot
possesses some importance as a commercial highway between Tibet and Assam.
The whole eastern zone of the Himalayas being blocked by fierce wild tribes, the
caravans are compelled to follow this route through the town of Tocang. North of
this mart, which lies at an altitude of 10,150 feet, nearly the whole country
depends on the Tibetan monastery of Chona-jong, whereas the southern valleys as
far as the British frontier belong to the lamas of Tovang. Some even of the
districts now
included in the imperial domain were formerly under the rule of the
lamas. By order of the Keto, or Supreme Council of the Monastery, the Tibetan
caravans are now obliged to stop at Chona-jong, where the transit dues are paid.
This route to Tibet, which skirts the shores of several large lakes, is carried over

passes from 13,000 to 16,500 feet high.


The British military station of Devangiri lies at an altitude of 1,460 feet, on an
advanced spur of Mount Tasgong (13,600 feet), whence it overawes both the
Khanpo Bhots and the inhabitants of East Bhutan. Here is yearly held one of the
largest fairs in Assam. At the other extremity of Bhutan the Western Bhutias
are in the same way held in check by the ancient fortress of Buxa, erected on an

artificially levelled rocky platform. The question of directing a stream of

European immigration to the slopes of the doars near these forts has often
been
discussed, but no attempt has yet been made to carry out any of these projects.
In the region of the terai, bordering on these doars, extensive tracts belonged
formerly *to different masters, according to the seasons. During the summer
heats they were occupied by the Assamese and Mech tribes, and for the rest of the

year by the Bhutanese.

AKHA, ABOR, AND MISHMI HIGHLANDS.

East of the petty frontier states governed by the Buddhist monks the country
is distributed amongst various hill tribes, who have hitherto kept off both the
AKHA, ABOR, AND MIMIMI HIGHLANDS. 127

, and Knglish, but who have ceased to make marauding


Hiiulus.
to tin- Brahmaputra riverain districts, through fear of losing the subsidies granted
tin-in by the British (iovernment. The western part of this territory i-
occupied
ly the Akha, who call themselves Ilrusso. and who number about 100,000 souls.
One of their clans has accepted from the Assamese Government a
grant of lands
on the plains, where their ancient fetish practices are
gradually being replaced by
Hindu rites. Although stock-breeding was till recently their only industry, the
Akhas, like most of the Indian wild tribes, abstain from
drinking milk, which

Fig. 51. THE DAPLA TERRITORY.


Scale I : 1,400,000.

93*50'

JO Mile*.

they hold in abhorrence. According to Ilesselmeyer, their speech resembles


that

of the Shans and natives of Manipur, whence they are supposed to have migrated
to their present homes. North of the Akhas the valleys are occupied by the Miji.
of whom known beyond
little is
/
their name. Farther east dwell the various tribe*

collectively known to the lowlanders as Dapla, or Daffla, but who call themselves
" of the
Banghni that is, Men." They were formerly the most dreaded all

that they
marauding tribes, but they are divided into such a multiplicity of clans,
have been unable to present a united front to the encroachments of the planters,
128 INDIA AND INDO-CIUNA.

supported by British troops. In 1872 no less than two hundred and fifty-eight

independent chiefs were in receipt of government grants, in exchange for the


immemorial right of pillage claimed by them, but these yearly grants scarcely
amounted to more than a pound sterling per head. Like the Akhas, the Doplas now
supply a continually increasing number of hands to the Assamese planters, and
are thus being gradually brought under the influence of their Hindu neighbours.
As in Tibet, every form of marriage is practised polyandry by the poor, polygamy
chiefly by the rich.
The Padam, or Pagdam, known to the Assamese by the general name of Abor
"
or Abar that is, " Savages occupy jointly with the Miri the valleys watered
by the Dihong and Dibong, in the Eastern Himalayas. Belonging to the same
Tibetan group as the Akhas and Daplas, and speaking similar languages, they have
better preserved' their independence, although still accepting from their powerful

neighbours annual subsidies, as pledges of their submission. In their vicinity dwell


the Miri, or " Middlemen," so called because they are employed in the transit
trade between the peoples of the plains and highlands. The Padam call themselves
the elder brothers of the Miri, and consider themselves specially privileged amongst
all the surrounding tribes. They recognise no political musters, and all male adults
take part by right in the communal assembly, which meets every evening to discuss
all matters of general tribal interest. Voluntary submission to the decrees of these
meetings After the gathering young men traverse the village, pro-
is absolute.

claiming the programme for the next day, and to this all conform, whatever be its
tenor. On grand
occasions delegates are appointed to meet in the village of Bor-

Abor, but even then the decisions are valid only after being ratified by the
communes. The villages are kept very clean, the roads are lined with fruit-trees,
the rivers are crossed by good and tasteful ratan bridges, and the cultivated lands
might serve as models for those of the Assamese planters. The Abor priests are
not hereditary, but chosen amongst the elders whose predictions have been most

frequently confirmed by the event, and who have been most successful in curing
the sick. The Padam practise tattooing, the cross being the chief ornament, with
which they mark the forehead or nose. The women also wear necklaces, bracelets,
and heavy iron pendants, which, after extending the lobe of the ear, rest upon the
shoulders. From Tibet come these objects, as well as the breastplates for the men,
and their metal helmets, embellished with the beak of a bird or a boar's tusk.
The less explored upland region about the sources of the Dibong and Brahma-
kund is inhabited by the Mishmis, whom Dalton affiliates to the Chinese Miaotze,
and one of whose tribes bears a most surprising resemblance in physique to the
lower classes in the central parts of the main island in Japan.* Those with whom
the English have relations are skilful traders, bringing to the Assamese markets

musk, aconite, various drugs, and even strong cloth woven from the nettle fibre.
Most of the Mishmis are of tawny complexion, with flat features, although an
almost Aryan type is often met, which they themselves attribute to crossings with
the Hindu pilgrims who yearly visit the Brahmakund river. Their religion is

Leon Mechnikov, MS. notes.


AKIIA, ABOB, AND MISUMI HKilil.AXDe. I-.!'.

littlr more than a system


of witchcraft and conjuring, and thrir prieato, like the

Tungus shamans, understand the urt of exorcising the demons and curing m^ladkn

by means of dunces, contortion-, and drum-beating. The M i-lnuis arc polygamiU,


and thrir chiefs take prido in procuring numerous wives, at prices varying in u
rcniarkuble manner from one pig to twenty oxen. Xejtt to their wive* their chief
ri -lies are cattle, especially the mithun (boxfroHluli*), whieh lives in an almost wild

state, but which never fuiU to answer the voice of master when tempted by a
its

little salt. The large Mishmi houses, each occupied by a hundred inmates or
upwards, are decorated in the interior with the horns of the mithun and with the

trophies of animals slain in the chase. The word " head " is employed for all
" so
objects of exchange, as in the English expression many head of cattle," a

possible reminiscence of the old head-hunting days.


Bui the Mishmi tribes dwelling in the interior are known only by name, and
according to the reports of the traders many years must elapse before their territory
can be opened up. The country is of an extremely rugged character, and its

will be all the more difficult that the villages have no fixed names, being
exploration
indicated by those of the various tribal chiefs.
CHAPTER VI.

MOHAMMEDAN INDIA.

THE FIVE EIVERS. THE INDUS AND THE DESERT.


PAXJAR, DERAJAT, BAHAWALPUR, WEST RAJPUTANA, SIND, AND CATCH.

HE whole country forming a rough quadrilateral between the


Kashmirian Himalaya, the Afghan and Baluch escarpments, the
and the Rajputana Hills, is a natural region quite distinct
sea
from the rest of India. Formerly a marine inlet, as shown by the
salt-water fossils collected here and there, Punjab and Sind are
now watered by streams all issuing from the same snowy ranges, and all converging
in one river basin. The now almost waterless district stretching from the Lower
Indus eastwards to the Aravalli Hills and Mount Abu, was also at one time
traversed by these streams, traces of whose old beds still survive in the numerous
littlewinding lakes or swamps here fringed by dunes. The river Luni, which flows
parallel with the Indus to the Rann of Catch, was formerly connected with the

labyrinth of Himalayan watercourses.


In this sultry region agriculture and population depend entirely on the
distribution of water. If a single stream runs dry or shifts its bed, whole com-
munities are condemned to exile or to perish. Hence all the inhabitants of North-
west India have been necessarily concentrated in the territory of the Five Rivers
and along the Indus down to the coast. Farther east small settlements alone have
been established along the canals and in the humid depressions. At most one half
of the country is inhabited, and although certain parts of the Panjab are covered
with towns, the population is on the whole far less dense than elsewhere in India.
The Indus basin is separated by a desert from the peninsula, and the two regions
are commercially and politically connected together only by the belt of cultivated
lands skirting the Himalayas between the Ganges basin and Panjab. Hence the

great strategic importance of this strip of territory, by which the Anglo-Indian


Empire is connected with the outer region of the river basin, which gives ks name
to the whole peninsula. From their very geographical position, the north-west
provinces traversed by the Indus have always been the vulnerable part of
HYDROGRAPHY OF THE PAN JAB. 131

Hindustan, and tlicir ]x>litiral destinies bave IMTH 1110*1


frequently changed.
'lers have often -H. .-,, .!.<! in jx-m-t rut ing into India through the breach pre-
sented liy the valley of the K<>]>hen <>r Kabul River, ami this very route WO
followed by tlu- Aryus tbemselvex, when driven gradually eastwards by thepreMure
of fresh continental migrations. From the western plateaux also came the Persian,
Greek, Arab, Turki, and Afghan conquerors, and in the same direction the
modern inhabitants of India have their gaze still turned, asking whether the
Muscovite is to be the next intruder.

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE PANJAB.


The term Panjab, Panchanada, or "Five Rivers,"
in Sanskrit, which has
replaced the older expression, Sapta Sindhavah, or " Seven Streams," shows that
within the historic period the hydrography of the north-western plains has under-
"
gone a change. Rivers have been dried up, or lost," as the local expression
runs ;
vast districts formerly populous have become deserts sand dunes driving
;

before the winds have swallowed up many a town, whose ruins have since been
recovered. The
climate has probably become drier, and the soil consequently more
arid. Doubtless the early Aryas themselves had frequently to suffer from pro-
tracted droughts, and never ceased to invoke Indra, beseeching him to pour down
the rain for the sacrifice. But at that time the wilderness, or " land of death,"
was less extensive, and the regions fertilised by running waters occupied a
correspondingly wider area. The gradual absorption of the Himalayan lakes
indicates a change of climate, which must have also been felt on the plains.
While the snows diminished on the higher ranges, the rainfall fell short on the

lowlands.
The hydrography Panjab must have also been affected by the natural
of the
"
action of the torrents, which, on issuing from the Himalayan gates," have to
work out their sluggish seaward course across an almost level region. Here the
fall of a sandy bank at a given point, or a snag drifting with the current, may
suffice to displace the river-bed, or even direct it to another basin. The water-

parting, 800 feet high between the Satlej and Jamna,


is in appearance a perfectly

level plain, rising so gradually that the intermediate ridge, some 86 miles west of

the Jamna, only about Go feet above the mean level of


is that river. Most of the
streams flowing from the outer Himalayan chain all lie so even with each other and

with the plain that they communicate through natural and artificial canals, forming
a liquid labyrinth during the floods. They ramify liko the ribs of a fun,
developing, in the midst of the lowland plains
and forests, a sort of delta, which
loses itself, not in the sea, but in the desert. A
good instance of this phenomenon
is afforded by the vagaries of the Gola Xaddi, through which the lakes
of Kuraoon

send their superfluous waters to the plains. The Jamna itself, now tributary to
the Ganges, probably flowed at one time to the Indus, fertilising the now desert
districts of West Rajputana. On the other hand the Sarasvati, which at prv-
sent runs out in the sand* between the Jarana and Satlej, is mentioned in the
Mahabharata as an affluent of the Ganges.
182 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

The feeble survival of the Sarasvati or Sarsuti seems little entitled to the songs
addressed to it by the ancient Aryan poets.Rising in the advanced Himalayan
brings down to the plains little
hills, it beyond the rainfall, which is abundant only
during the monsoon. At other times the stream, diverted right and left by the
irrigation canals, soon runs dry. It is no longer able to join the parallel river

RAMIFICATIONS OF THE GOLA NADDI. Ghaggar, with which it formerly flowed,


Fig. 62.
1 : 200.000. either to the Indus or directly to the
sea at the Rann of Catch. The dis-

appearance of the Sarasvati must have


taken place at a very remote time, for
the event is spoken of in the old
Hindu poems, and associated with a
thousand local legends. Traces of its
former bed have been followed as
far as Bahawalpur, 180 miles beyond
Bhatner, the southernmost town now
reached by it
during the floods. Doubt-
Aryas attributed an exceptional
less the

importance to this river, which long


formed their frontier line. Still, they
could never have described it as they

do, had it not really been a consider-


able stream. The Rig Veda speaks of
it as
" the fairest, the most loving and
"
honoured amongst the seven, sisters ;
it is
" swifter than the and
chariot,"
" its own like a wall of iron."
protects
Elsewhere a vast stream, piercing
it is

the mountains, and surpassing all other


rivers with echoing waters.
its Its

impoverishment cannot certainly be


attributed either to the irrigation canals
now fed by it, or to a change of climate,
or destruction of the upland forests,
for these causes have necessarily been
79*34' fl.ofGr 79' T 9'
felt throughout the whole Indus basin.
3 Miles.
Hence the present Sarasvati must either

be different from that of the Hindu poets, which by no means agrees with a general
view of Yedic geography, or else the phenomenon must be referred to one of those
" "
displacements of wl^ich so many instances have occurred at the gates of the

Himalayas. As the ^Tista formerly joined, not the Brahmaputra, but the Ganges,
so the Satlej, or one of its branches, flowed not to the Indus directly, or through
the Bias, but, trending more to the south, received the waters of the Ghaggar and
Sarasvati. It probably flooded the broad waterless bed now crossing the desert,
HYI'KO'iKAHlY OF 'I Hi: PANJAB,

and thus formed a continuation of the "holy" river. On tin- other hand, Fer-

^u->"ii con-idors that tin- ancient Saras\ati wa> formal ly a branch of the Jumna.
Hut however this IH>, the whole of the Panjal) i- furrowc<l in tin- direction from
north-cast south-west by watercourses, some full, Home altogether or
to
partly
empty, and here and then- interlaced with artificial canal*. Some of these river*
have belonged successively to two different basins, others have shrunk from the
rank of a main stream to that of a simple tributary. Hence the great difficulty of
reconciling tradition and historic records with the present hydrographic system,
which has been incessantly modified during the course of ages. In this system the
only fixed points are the gorges opened in the Upper Panjab Hills, thanks to
" Five
which, notwithstanding all the vagaries of their lower courses, the Rivers"
have not deviated from their upper valleys since the expedition of Alexander.

Fig. 63. DISAPPEARANCE OP THE SAKASTATI.


Scale 1 : 1,400.000.

M Mile*.

No doubt entertained by the commentators on the identity of the old and modern
is

names of these streams, which, taking them in the order from west to east, are as
under :

Sanskrit Name*. Greek Xaaaa. Modern Nhinaa.

Vitasta Hydaapea, Bidaapea Jhila-n, H- h it.

Aukni, I 'ii in ir i- I!:i r_r t Akesinea . Chit.ab. Chandra- Bhaga


Parushni, Iravati Hydraotea . . Ravi, Rawa, lUwali

Yipaaa Hyphaaia, Hypnaia, Bia, Beyah


Satadru, Sutudri. Ziidudroa . . j. (Jharrnh,

these rivers, the most important both in length and volume


is the
Of all

which li-cs near the Tibetan Kailas n..t far from the sources of the Indus,
Satlej.
Ilia* in 1'pji.T Panjab, it flow*
Ganges, and Tsnigbo. junction with the After its

or "Three Kivers," fonuwl by the Chinab,


directly south-west to the Trinab,
134 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Jhilum, and Ravi. The main stream thus formed by the confluence of the five rivers,
and variously known either as the Satlej, Chinab, or Panjnad, soon effects a junc-
tion with the Indus, whose volume they double,* and by which their course is

continued towards the south-west. The converging point of the whole system is

only 250 feet above the level of the Arabian Sea.


During the floods these rivers assume majestic proportions, and their beds, often
some miles wide, become accessible to large vessels. Steamers then ascend the

Satlej as far as Firozpur, below the mouth of the Bias. But during the dry

Fig. 64. OLD BEDS OF THE CHINAB.


Scale 1 :
1,000,000.

"'''
r) ' '

fc> _x_J-

C-OfGr 7*'

Old Bads.
18 Miles.

season the Pan jab streams dwindle to narrow watercourses, winding sluggishly
between islands and sandbanks, and often too shallow to float down the timber
rafts. They are frequently fordable, and the discharge is yearly diminished by the
*
Discharge of the Panjab rivers at their entrance on the plain* during low water :

Satlej 3,250 cubic feet per second.


Bias
Kuvi
Chinab
....... 3,150
2,760
4,600
.

Jhilam 3,9.50
Mean discharge of the Indus at the confluence, 158,000 cubic feet per second.
THE LOWEB INDUS AND ITS DELTA. 135

irrigation works, which, on th- other hand, constantly bring under cultivation
larger iM.rtions of tin-
unproductive doab*, as the space* are called lying between any
tw streams/ ( Mi
issuing from the hills thr Ravi in twice as as at Lahore,
copious
and three times more than at Multan, nor would any of the five .streams reach the
const independently. Like the Sarasvati, all would run
dry but for the Indus
into which they now fall.

THE LOWER IMM-S AND ITS DELTA.

Below the little known gorges which it traverses after


skirting the Nanga-
" Father of "
Parbat, the Indus, or Aba-Siud that is, Rivers
I 'an
jab enters the

through a sort of triumphal gateway, the so-called Derbend, commanded on the


\\t-t
by the Mahaban Hills. This gate is the spot formerly known as the "Source
of the Indus," although the river is here over 780 miles from its true origin, and has

already accomplished nearly half of its entire journey seawards. After traversing
a vast plain forming an old lacustrine basin, it is joined by the Kabul River, which
here seems to be of equal volume, and which is historically far more important, for
this is the great highway to India, followed at all times by migrations, trade, and

invading hosts. A little below the confluence the main stream impinges on cliffs,
"
whence the town of Attok that is, " Barrier takes its name. Beyond the
broad railway viaduct, which now replaces the old bridge of boats at this point, the
Indus again plunges into a long scries of steep defiles, where, for a distance of
about 100 miles, travellers were formerly compelled to make long detours, either
north or south, in order to cross the river. Hence the great strategic importance
of the position of Attok, which guards the only route from the Hindu- Kush to the

Ganges. The Indus itself has often taken the name of Attok, or else of Nilab,
from a below the town at a narrow part of the bed. In order to
fort erected

strengthen their frontier towards Afghanistan, and to move in two parallel lines
on Kabul, the English have built south of Attok a second railway, which rejoins
the river at Kushal-garh, and which will later on be continued towards Kohat and
the southern slope of the Sefid-koh.
At the Kalabagh (Karabagh) gorge the Indus escapes at last from the hills, and
in its
winding course through the plains receives only one permanent tributary,
the Kuram, from the west. Hence its volume gradually diminished through
is

the
evaporation as far as Mithankot, where it isjoined by the Panjnad, formed by
confluence of the " Five Rivers." At this converging point of the whole system
the vagaries of the united streams during the floods are more dangerous than
elsewhere. Mithankot itself was swept away in 1863, and had to be rebuilt on an
eminence five miles from the present river bank. But the high-water level

diminishes constantly southwards, falling from 50 feet at the Attok defile to 16


at Rohri. Here its bed is contracted in ita passage through a small ridge of chalk
hills,which somewhat break the monotony of the plains. The cliff on which
Rohri stands ii> (S some 40 feet above the mean water level, and the current is
broken by tho rocky islet of Bakkar (Bukkur), whose summit is crowned by a
From do two, and 06 = water, river.
136 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

strong castle. At this convenient point the stream will again soon be crossed by
another bridge now in progress. Geological considerations tend to confirm the
tradition, otherwise unsupported by any historic evidence, that the Indus was
formerly deflected by the Rohri Hills directly southwards to the Rann of Catch,
where it was joined by the river which was supposed to have formed a continuation

Fig. 55. THE INDUS HELOW THB KALABAOH GOKOE.


Scale 1 : 600.000.

7i
c
lO 7IMO- E.OfG

12Mfles.

of the Satlej and Sarasvati through the now dried-up Hakra


(Wahind) canal.
"
The depression of the ancient river bed is commonly known as the " Eastern

Narra, or simply Narra ("River"), and this watercourse is still flooded during the
rains, expanding here and there into lakes and morasses. The communication
between the Narra and Indus is at present effected by a canal constructed with

locks; but during exceptional floods the waters of the Indus overflow into the
eastern desert and become absorbed in the Pat
plains, or even in the saline desert
of the Rann. Other deep and broad channels traversing the desert farther south
still attest the incessant shiftings of the main stream in its search for the most
THE LOWER INDUS AND ITS I>;

favourable seaward outlet. Areording to Hums a braneh of th,. Indun known as


the Purano,or " An. ient," .still Mowed in HJ7J aUut 120 miles east of the
present
mouth.
The constant shift ings of the river-bed
always towards the west have, had the
effect of rendering the eastern regions
continually more arid, and of changing
many fresh-water channels into saline reservoirs. Analogous consequences have

Fig. M.-TMK EAKTH*


Soalel:

of regulating the discharge.


^
. Limit'* of Inundation

been pnxluced by the works carried out by


daring the llooda of the InJa*.

. 1S2U1M.

the English engineers fur the purpose


At one point the Narra skirts the sandy dunes of
the Thar desert, and in the dry season the intervening hollows, uniformly disposed
in a north-easterly direction, are converted into isolated lakes.

by the Nurra,
fresh,
many of them became
Ceasing to be lad
salt-water basins, while others, remaining
were much frequented by the gazelle and inland water-fowl In order to
utilisr
every drop of water for irrigating purposes, the engineers have now
dammed
the entrance of these depressions, most of which have thus been dried up and

changed to salt pits.


188 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

The Indus delta begins 90 miles from the sea, and forms a triangle about 3,000
square miles in extent, with a coast-line 120 miles long. But many of the inlets
between the principal mouth and the port of Karachi are improperly described as
" Mouths of the
Indus," and
Fig. 57. THE INDUS DELTA. ought to be regarded as alto-
Scale i : 700,000. the of
gether independent
Indus. During the floods they
doubtless receive some small
emissaries from the delta, but

nearly all are quite saline, and

penetrate inland under the


influence of the winds and
tides. They are in fact marine
estuaries resembling those
which occur at so many points
along the coast of Guinea.
Still these creeks were pro-

bably at different times real


branches of the Indus, for the
soil evidently consists every-
where of alluvial deposits
brought down by the network
of channels in the delta.

During the present century


mouth itself has
the principal
been several times displaced.
In 1800 it was formed by the
Jiaghar, which was succeeded
at intervals by the Sata (
Wan-
yani),
the Kedewari, the

Kakaiwiri, and lastly by the


Ilajanro, the present chief
branch.

Owing to these constant

shiftings it is impossible to
determine the actual number
of navigable mouths, which

may be said to vary on an

to 16 Feet. 16 to 90 Feet. 90Feenuulupwn.iU. average from two to ten

^ __ 12 Miles. throughout the year between


the dry and rainy seasons.

The trading-places situated on one or another of these temporary branches, have also
necessarily been displaced. Thus Shah-bundar, that is,
the " Royal Port," formerly
accessible to men-of-war, now lies far inland to the east of the present main channel,
TIIK THAR DESERT. 189

and a similar fato baa overtaken (ihoru Mari or Vikkar. Kcti. and other place*. Since
the opening of tbe Karachi railway north of tin- delta most of the town* nituated
in th< 'ri( k M
mar>hy lands traversed by these sluggish branches have been
abandoned. At low water tbo bars at their mouthH buve a mean depth of from 4 to
8 feet, while the tides rise on an average 16 feet.

Although so littlo accessible to large vessels, the Indus is none the lew* one of
the great rivers of Asia. At the same time its volume is far exceeded by that of
the Yangtze-kiang, Mekong, Irrawaddi, Brahmaputra, Ganges, and apparently even
the Shat-el-Arab.* But the mean discharge is greater than that of the Hoang-ho,
and the quantity of sedimentary matter brought down is relatively very great,
being sufficient to form in a single year an island GO square miles in extent and over
one yard in depth. Every fresh survey introduces new inlands and sandbanks on the
marine charts. Yet the delta itself projects but little beyond the normal coast-line,
a circumstance due to the vast quantities of matter distributed along the coast

by the marine currents. Most of the alluvium not so disposed of is lost in a


profound submarine trough lying due south of the river mouths, where the
"
plummet has revealed of feet and
depths 1,'JOO This
upwards. or " swatch
chasm,
as it is called, corresponds exactly with another bearing the same name, which lies

at the opposite side of the peninsula over against the Ganges delta.

THE THAR DESERT.

The eastern section of the depression which stretches to the Aravalli Hills is

largely occupied by the desert. The wilderness begins a little south of the
cultivated and inhabited zone which skirts the foot of the advanced Himalayan

ranges. Arrested by the perfectly level surface or absorbed by the irrigation


works, the streams soon run out, while the moist-bearing clouds are driven north-
wards during the dry season. Still the water continues to percolate for some
distance beyond the point where the rivers disappear, and wells sunk along their
100 to 300, and at
underground course reach it at depths steadily increasing from
Jaisalmir 550 feet. But for 300 miles thence to the Indian Ocean no water is
"
anywhere to be had except Ljm the old emissaries of the Indus and Luni, or Salt

liiver," which latter flows from the Rajputana Hills.


This formidable Thar desert is by no means a uniform plain, as it is often

represented. It is rather a region of dunes, a vast sea of sands, whose billows,


like those of the Atlantic, roll along in parallel lines under ihe influence of the

trade- winds. According Burnes, they are disposed near Jaialinir north-west
to

and south-east. But the maps published by the Indian Survey Office show them
and ocCMBonally
running in the normal direction from south-west to north-east,
north and south. But whatever be the direction, they even-where preserve an
almost geometrical regularity in their general disposition. If these sand-hills

have been caused by the winds, the atmospheric currents must have blown from the

Mcond :-During tbe flood., 813000, at low water,


Discharge of the Indu* in cubic feet per
41,000; mean J 95,000.
140 INDIA AND 1NDO-CHINA.

north-west, that is, precisely at right angles with those now prevailing during the
north-eastern and south-western monsoons. But it can hardly be admitted that
such a great change has taken place in the direction of the winds, which depend

primarily on the rotation of the globe itself. The dunes may possibly be due
rather to the vibration of the ground, which is so frequently disturbed in the
Indus region. The highest ridges, which are movable only on the surface when

Fig. 58. THE KOIIKI GORGE AND THK DUNES OF THE THAH.
8cale 1 : 1.000.000.

18 Milei,

disturbed by man or animals, rise some 430 feet above the surrounding plains, thus

exceeding by one-third the largest on the French landes. But the mean elevation
is
scarcely more than 150feet, and even less in many parts of the Thar. The zone
occupied by the dunes is encircled by the plain known by the name of Pat, a vast
yellow or red expanse, here and there dotted with white saline efflorescence.
"
Although usually spoken of as a desert," the Thar is not altogether uninha-
bited, for it has beczi encroached upon by settlers from many parts of the surround-

ing over-peopled districts. The mean rainfall scarcely exceeds 7 inches, and the
THi: THAR DESERT. 141

supply of moisture is so irregular that years will occasionally pass without a si


showir. Thru the flora of the Thar resembles that of Arabia,
consisting of a few
thorny shrubs and almost leafless plants with long trailing roots. With the
tion of the IJhil aborigines and a 'few Hindus, who took
formerly refuge here
from the Mohammedan persecution, the inhabitants withdraw to the more favoured
regions of the Indus and Aravuli Hills. But with the return of the ruins the

teini>orary colonists reappear, and the pastors of the neighbouring districts hasten
with their herds to take advantage of the rich herbage which
rapidly coven the
hollows and even the slopes of the dunes. So vigorous is the vegetation, that

enough remains to make provision of fodder for less prosperous seasons. Unfor-
tunately the cattle are decimated by the wolves, which hunt in ]racks, and are so
sagacious that the only means of getting rid of them is to hunt them down in the

Fig. 59. CAXAU OP THE I'ANJAH.


Pf\e 1 : R,nno,nno.

" burn their feet " in the hot sands.


sultry season, when
the animals, so to say,

They are then easily overtaken by the Hhil hunters, whose feet are protected by
fresh sheepskins.
Certain parts of the Thar will probably soon become permanently settled by an
and
agricultural population. Although the rainfall is deficient, the Sutlej, Chinab,
Indus discharge copious streams, which might be largely utilised for irrigating the
arid soil. At all seasons the volume of the Satlej is at least 5,000 or 6,000 cubic
which it would not bo difficult to collect at the issue from the hills. During
the floods it sometimes sends to the Indus as much as 212,000 cubic feet per second,

which ought to be directed by a canal to the heart of the Thar, where the parallel
chains of dunes offer exceptional facilities for constructing reservoirs. The
Jarana

in the same manner by restoring the canal cut in 1351 between


also might be treated
142 INDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

been
itsupper course and the old bed of the Sarasvati. These works have already
taken in hand, and the Satlej is now dammed at Rupar, where it emerges
partly
from the hills. A portion of its stream is thus diverted to a canal, which ramifies
over a hitherto waterless tract.Similar works are in progress at Firozpur, farther

down, and thus are being revived under another form the glories of the Sarasvati,

formerly the most renowned of rivers. The old langhars,


or alluvial lands, where

traces of culture artificial works are everywhere visible, are already


and of other
beginning here and there to resume their former garb of verdure. But the land
has so far been reclaimed only in the so-called Khadurs, or alluvial tracts in the
riverain valleys of the Panjub and the Indus. In Bahawalpur alone the network
of canals has already a total length of over 4,000 miles. In the five years from
1867 to 1871 the value of the crops was more than doubled, and new towns have
spriin^ up in the midst of the wastes thus brought under cultivation. One of these

towns, founded in 1868 on the banks of the Fordwah Canal, bears the hybrid
name of Minchinabad, in honour of the English governor under whose administra-
tion the works of restoration were undertaken. After every harvest over ten thou-
sand workmen, chiefly from the Rajputana States bordering on the Thar Desert,
are occupied in clearing the irrigation rills, half choked by alluvial deposits.

THE RANN OF CATCH.

The region stretching south of the dunes isscarcely less remarkable than the
Thar itself. It forms a vast expanse, which is neither land nor water, and which,

partaking partly of the desert, partly of the lagoon, is known as the Rann, or
"
Wilderness," of Catch, from the crescent-shaped rocky island bordering it on
the south. Opening seawards through a narrow channel, the Rann stretches west-
wards for a distance of about 140 miles, with a breadth at some points of 60 miles
from shore to shore. West of Catch the Northern Rann communicates through a
second channel with a similar formation, which connected with the low-lying
is

coast of the Gulf of Catch. The Rann consists altogether of a saline plain per-

fectly uniform, and in appearance absolutely even, the elevated spaces in the centre
scarcely rising 10 or 20 inches above the general level. In winter and during the
dry season the ground, here and there white with saline efflorescences, is as smooth
as a mirror, firm and hard to the tread. The rains, finding no natural incline in
any direction, form temporary sheets of water, drifting with the wind and encircled
by a fringe of foam. In the vast expanse no trace of vegetation is anywhere
visible except towards the south, on the more elevated tract known as the Banni,

where a few acacias give a scanty shade to the shepherd and his flocks. Some
isolated spaces and the shores of the rocky islets are also covered with a thick

herbage during the rainy monsoon. But this waterless and grassless plain is care-
fully shunned by animals, and is frequented only by the wild ass, which
is of the

same species as that of the Turkestan steppes. .

The Rann is a region where the mirage has full play. The smallest object

left on the ground, a stone or a dead camel, is visible for many miles, not in its
TIN: RAXN OF CATVH. 141

true form, hut with strange fantastic- outline*. It will often a-,,,,,,, the
shape of
a tower, or dissolve in floating images, which si-em attached to the Around onl\ !,y
a slight conl waving in the wind. The villages of the
peninsulas and distant
where they become associated with ueriaj
inlands np]>ear alMive the hori/oii,
palaces
and tempi.- turned upside down.
According to the legend, a city inhabited by
the just flouts above the Ronn, but it has not
yet been able to reach heaven, and
so gives rise to the mirage.
The Rann undergoes a change in the
rainy season, when the marine waters are
driven hy the south-west winds into the interior
through the two channels lying
north and south of Catch. The hitherto waterless
plain is now covered by a liquid
mass about 3 feet deep,and the vast estuary now also receives the sweet waters
brought down by the Bunas, the Luni, the Nairn, and the eastern channels of the

Fig. 60. CAMELS CHOUSING THE RAM* or CATCH.

Indus delta. Nevertheless, so level is the ground, that the Rann is never deep

enough to arrest the caravans, which cross it at all seasons. But the journey is

seldom made by day, when man and beast would run the risk of losing their senses,
under the joint action of the great heat, the refraction of the solar rays, and the
illusions of the mirage. Hence the caravans cross nearly always by night, under
the guidance of the stars or the compass. The eastern section of the Rann will

Huiderabad.
probably soon be traversed by the direct railway'line from Bombay to

What is was certainly at one time flooded


the origin of this saline plain ? It
of vends
by the sea, as shown both by the abundance of salt and by the remains
here and there dug up near the surrounding villages. Old seaports are eren

pointed out in the of


vicinity Purkur, on the eastern side of the Rann.
Nagar
to a vague tradition, the sea retired about the beginning of the
According
144 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

fourth century. But how has the upheaval taken place with such absolute regu-
presented by ordinary alluvial or diluvial deposits
? In 1819
larity, which
never
is

an earthquake, which was felt over a space of at least 100,000 square miles, is said
to have considerably increased the area of the Rann by swallowing up certain

paddy-fields near Lakhpat. The tower of Sindri, occupied by a body of coast guards,

was suddenly surrounded by a lake stretching on all sides some 15 miles, while

towards the north another branch of the Indus, formerly reached by the Narra,
was dammed a cross dune about 30 miles long, several miles broad, and from 10
by
to 20 feet high. To gave the name of Allah-bund, or
this barrier the natives
" from those raised by the hand of man across
Dyke of Allah," to distinguish it

the channels of the Indus. The Allah-bund, which since the earthquake has been
in every respect the dunes of the Thar Desert.
pierced by erosive action, resembles

Fig. 61. THE RANN OF CATCH.


: 3,000.000.

Projected Railway.

60 Miles.

Hence same underground disturbances should probably be attributed the


to the

formation of the vast level plain and of the parallel ridges of the Thar. According
to the intensity and direction of the shocks, the surface becomes in one place

levelled, in another broken into furrows and ridges.


According earthquakes which have visited
to the local traditions, the frequent

the Indus regions have overthrown several towns and depopulated the country.

Among the ruined cities were Balmir, on the southern edge of the Thar, and the
far more famous Brahmanabad, which stood 50 miles north-east of the present

Haiderabad, on an old branch of the Indus, west of the Eastern Narra. When this
place was destroyed, the river itself was displaced, leaving the ruins strewn over
the desert. This was the cause which prevented the repeopling of Brahmanabad,
some of whose buildings have remained almost intact. This ancient capital had a
circuit of about 5 miles, and was connected by extensive suburbs with two other
INHABITANTS OF TIIK 1 'AN JAB Til K JATS .\\!> >1KMS. 145

towns, residence of the king and hi-, \i/ir. From tin- explorations made among
the ruins the inhabitants seem to have been skilled ]Mittrr-, ji.iint.-rH on
glaM,
i
\.-ry r.irvrr-., and gem-cutters. Cunningham identifies Brahmanabad, ir i

Brahmana, with the ancient city of tlic Brahmaiis captured by Alexander when he
invaded India. But according to Rcinaud, Bahmana, the true name of the city, is
The "
of Persian origin. by which it was overwhelmed, in punishment of
disaster

the kind's iniquities," seems to have occurred in the eleventh century. Other
traditions of earthquakes in this region do not appear to be confirmed
by raemt
retouch. The trapps and other plutonic rocks, which glitter with the brightest
colours in the sun, must have cropped out in still more ancient epochs
through the
chalks and Jurassic formations of Catch. The Dhcnodur Hill, in the western part
of this island, which has an elevation of over 1,000 feet, has by some geologists
been wrongly described as a volcano.

INHABITANTS OF THE PANJAH THE JATS AND SIKHS.

Most of the inhabitants of the Panjab and Lower Indus basin are Mohammedans,
but all are far from being the descendants of the
conquering races who penetrated
from the Afghan plateaux into India. Thus among the peoples occupying the
skirt of the Himalayas are the Awans and Gakkars, supposed by some writers
to have sprung from the Yavana, or lonians and Greeks, but who, in any case,

peopled this region long before the Moslem invasions.


Everywhere Panjab, in the

except in the Trans-Indus districts and the rugged Pot war plateaux, the sub-
stratum of the population consists of the Jats, who have embraced Islam wherever
the Mohammedans are in the ascendant, but who have elsewhere remained Hindus,
or else have conformed to the Sikh religion, according to the local preponderance
of these cults. The who
evidently represent ethnical elements of diverse
Jats,

origin, are perhaps descended from the pre-Aryan aborigines, but are now so
mixed that they no longer bear any resemblance to those Dasyu, or black peoples,
whom the Aryan invaders conquered and reduced to slavery. Racial animosities
have been gradually weakened during the course of ages, only the Jats are now
collectively classed by the Brahmans in the Sudra caste. Numbering altogether
over 20,000,000, they present many varieties between the Iranian plateaux and
the Arabian Sea. Some are almost black, others of a yellowish complexion, scarcely
to be distinguished from that of the Rajputs and Brahmans. Some such as the
shepherds of the Thar solitudes are regarded as barbarians, while others display
great intelligence and mental capacity. The term Jat is synonymous in Baluchistan
with "robber," in Sind with or on the banks of the Middle Indus
Banjari, gipsy,
"
it meanslandowner," and on the Rajputana frontiers it is applied to the Rajput
and Sudra half-castes. But the bulk of the Jat populations seems everywhere to
:it much the same ethnical characteristics, and should be physically affiliated
Baluchistan. Tempe-
to the Aryan stock. They probably reached India through
rate, indu-trious, skilful, and very brave, notwithstanding the conquests and oppres-

sion of so many successive masters, the Jate form altogether one of the moat
146 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

interesting racial elements in the peninsula. To this stock belong those valiant

Sikh warriors who made such a determined stand against the British in North-
west India.
The "
Sikhs, that is, Disciples," formed originally a group of sectaries rather
than a distinct nationality. Their religion had its rise towards the close of the
where a daring reformer attempted to reconcile the
fifteenth century in Panjab,

Hindu and Mohammedan systems. Nanak, founder of the new sect and author of
"
the chapters of the Granth, or
first Book," revered as their Bible by the Sikhs, pro-
fessed lit tie more than a belief in one God, rejecting most of the rites peculiar to the
different cults. But to reconcile Mussulman, Brahman, and Jat, was not enough
it

to convince them of the fundamental unity of their religions. They had also to be
brought into closer relationship by the suppression of all racial and class distinctions.

Although himself a Hindu of the Kshatrya, or military caste, Nanak proclaimed


the equality of mankind. But being reluctant to be classed with the common herd
" "
who know no ancestors, the Disciples were fain to declare themselves nobles in

order to remain free, and all now regard


themselves as Kshatryas. This title they
also amply vindicated by their valour in all the local wars by which their power

was finally established towards the end of the seventeenth century. Fully armed
for the struggle, disembarrassed of false friends by persecution, proud of their
common share in the government of the community, the Sikhs justified the pro-

phecy comparing them to sparrows, at the same time


of their founder, who, while

promised them victory over the eagle.


Pre-eminently warriors, all were required constantly to wear a coat of mail, a
dagger, or some other defensive or offensive weapon. Usually very fine men,
covered with glittering arms, with their long uncut hair streaming in the wind,
the Sikhs easily recognised each other at a distance on the battle-field, and by a
natural play of words they soon came to be known by the name of Singh, or
" Lions."
Constituting a federal republic, they elected their common chief, who
was bound on all serious occasions to consult the Khalsa, or " National Assembly,"

formed of the elders and leading captains. Notwithstanding their religious and
intestine wranglings, they gradually acquired the political supremacy throughout
the whole region stretching from the Indus to the Ganges, nor did they yield to
the superior armaments of the British without a protracted struggle and many a

fiercely-contested pitched battle.


Atpresent the Sikhs, who form scarcely a tenth part of the population in the
Indus basin, have ceased to be a nation, and have again sunk to the position of a
religious sect, grouped chiefly round about the holy city of Amritsar. But they are
kept united by their heroic traditions, nor have they ceased to exercise great
political and religious influence over all their neighbours. The Brahmans them-
selves read with reverence the " Book of the Disciples," and some Englishmen,
amongst whom the famous traveller Burton, have been initiated in the doctrines

preached by the prophet Nanak. The agricultural Sikh communities are the most
interesting in India, both for their industrious habits during peace and valour
in arms. The Sikh troops are perhaps the best in the British service, equalling
very
THF. H IN ITS ANI> AFGHANS. 147

the Gurkhas them-ehes prowess, while Mirpa-.int: them in diM-iplincand nobility


in

of character. <M an extremely adventurous disjHtsitinn, they have


always volun-
fd to follow the British arms to China, Aby.vsinia, and quit*- recently to Kgypt ;

and such is their love of learning, that their principal scientific association at

Lahore has petitioned the Ciovennnent to secure for all Sikh children the benefit
of school instruction. No other ethnical group in the north-west supplies an equal

proportion of pandits.

THE HINDUS AND AFGHANS.


The Hindus proper, whether Brahman* or Vaisyas, are relatively less numerous
in the Indus basin, although the religions ofAryan origin here comprise at least
one-third of the whole population, while the current languages Panjabi in the
north, Sindi in the centre, Guzerati in the south, Marwari in the south-east are
all of Sanskrit origin.
Grouped chiefly in the towns, where they are engaged
in

trade and industry, and where they occupy the most remunerative positions, the
Hindus have gradually recovered the superiority over their former Mussulman
oppressors. These nwhajan, or " great citizens," as they are called, constitute the

moneyed classes, and for their advances to the surrounding Mohammedan peasantry
they are too frequently inclined to exact extortionate interest. The Baniuhs, or
Banyans, also of these regions, are the shrewdest traders in India. Under the
general name of Multani, from tho central mart of the Indus Valley, these Hindu
merchants from the Panjab are met in all the cities of Central Asia. They are
the chief disseminators of news and of warlike rumours, which travel with such

surprising rapidity from the banks of the Ganges to the Oxus. They unwittingly
form a sort of Russian vanguard on the Indian frontier, everywhere proclaiming
the power of the White Czar. In Central India, in Bengal, and us far as the
Burmah and Chinese frontiers, the Banyan element is supplied by Marwari, or
Hindus of the Rajput state of Marwar, who represent in these regions the Jewish
and Armenian money-lenders of the West.
The Hindus of the north-west are mostly worshippers of Vishnu, although the
red mark on their brow is often traced horizontally, as if Siva were their chief

deity. Surrounded by Mohammedans and Sikhs, and remote from the Brahmanic
centres, they are not over strict observers of their religious forms, and thus become
a stumbling-block to the more zealous Sepoys from the east, who garrison their
towns. The use of strong drinks, and especially of bhang, a more injurious drug
than is
opium, common
very them. In most of the Panjab villages a
amongst
quarter is Chum, a low-caste people, differing little from their
set apart for the
even by the Mohammedans.
neighbours outwardly, but who are regarded as impure
The office of night watchmen is hereditary amongst them.
Farther east the Bhils of Rajputana have advanced far into the oasea of the
Bokhariots,
desert, while from the west, Afghans, Baluchis, Brahuis, Persians,
into the land,
Turks, and Arabs have since the hijra penetrated at various epochs
either as conquerors, settlers, or mere adventurers. These immigrant*, diversely
with the form the bulk of the Moslem communities on tho
intermingled aborigines,
148 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

banks of the Indus and throughout West Panjab, whereas in the eastern
districts the followers of the Prophet are chiefly converted Hindus. But the line

is far from being distinctly drawn between the two great classes of Indian Moham-
medans. Owing to the suppression of caste by Islam, zealous Mussulmans can
easily claim any convenient origin. Thus hundreds of thousands in Panjab call

themselves descendants of the Prophet, and consequently take the title of Sayd and
Shah. The Daudpotra, or " Sons of David," who rule at Bahawalpur, are amongst
those who suppose themselves members of Mohammed's family. Others claim the

Mongols, and these seem, at any rate, to belong to a distinct group, for in
title of

the towns where they dwell they keep entirely aloof, and follow special pursuits.

Many of these beg, or mirza, as they are called, even betray the broad and flat
features characteristic of the Mongol nomads of the Gobi. The Mohammedans of
Afghan race, nearly all known as Pathans or Rohillas, are very
collectively
numerous in the Trans-Indusdistricts, where the heads of each family claim the
title of khan. All the other non-Hindu Mussulmans, whether of Persian, Turki,
or Baluchi stock, call themselves sheikh, a name which has become so common that
it has ceased to be distinctive. All the wealthy classes replace it
by some higher
title, whence the ironic local proverb

To-dny a sheikh, yesterday a cheat,


Suyd to-morrow, with the rise of wheat.

The system of small holdings prevails in the Panjab, although in many places
the old communal right has been preserved. All tillers of the soil are regarded as

simple farmers of the commune, to which they pay a yearly rent. They are,
moreover, collectively responsible to the State, and the impost is paid for the
whole village. It also happens that a portion of the lands become alienated
and farmed out to strangers. In this case all the members share in the profits of
the sale, in proportion to their rights to the common property. They have the
further right of redeeming the land on more favourable terms than the people of
other communities. Amongst the Afghan tribes of the Dera-Ismail-Khan district
the soil is redistributed every six years. Even where the land has been seized by
conquest, the village has often preserved its communal constitution. The necessity
of irrigating the ground naturally obliged the inhabitants of each district to
combine for the purpose of digging canals hence the unity of the commune has
;

almost everywhere for its material cause the existence of a common canal, tank, or

spring. Great political convulsions and intestine wars were needed to destroy this
system and break up the interests of the joint proprietors. In some districts the
canals and springs belong to different owners from those of the land, who have
been obliged to become feudatories under the contractors of the irrigation works.
Nevertheless, of all Indian ryots those of the Panjab may be regarded as having
preserved the greatest degree of independence, and to this relative freedom is
certainly, in part, due the pride and spirit by which the Jats are distinguished.
In Sind, on the other hand, the Baluch rule, combined with the usury of the
Hindu money-lenders, has reduced the peasantry to a real state of serfdom,
attended for the Jats, as well as for others^by much moral debasement.
TIIK II IN ITS AND AFUIIANS. 141

Amongst the immigrants from the Iranian plateau, some have maintained the
tribal organisation in full vigour. Such an- the Swat-*, M..munds, and Vu-ufzatN,
who dwell north of lY>ha\\ar in the plainand on the neighbouring hill*. ]
arc of Afghan stock, akin to those who crossed the Indus and penetrated to the

Ganges basin, where they founded at the foot of the Himalayas the petty warlike

states known by the geuenil name of llohilkhand, or " Country of the 1 1 ill men."

The Yusuf/ais (Yusafzais) are one of those Afghan tribes which have been most

Fig. 62. PLAIX OP PESHAWAR.


Scale 1 : 460,000.

71* 30 EofG 7IM5.

!- Mile*.

and many missionaries have even accepted


frequently compared to the ancient Jews,
to Assyria.
the Mussulman tradition of their descent from the Israelites led captive
that their customs and
It is at least certain religious practices strongly resemble
of some three
those of Palatine during the time of the Judges. At an interval
thousand years they are still in the same transitional state of culture. Recently
but with impatience at
nomads, and now agriculturists, always warriors, chafing
the recital of their heroic deeds, the Yusuf zais are divided into a large
numberof clans.
150 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

themselves subdivided into secondary groups, often at feud with each other. Long-

standing family quarrels are transmitted from generation to generation, and to ter-
minate their disputes they will often engage in mortal combat at the tribal gatherings,
thus giving rise to fresh hereditary feuds. Zealous Sunnites, the Yusufzais are

distinguished by their fierce fanaticism, and the punctuality with which they pay
the tithes to their numerous mollas. These priests, like the Levites of Israel,
form a exempt from taxation, while their holy cities serve as
distinct tribe,

sanctuaries for criminals. But notwithstanding these points of resemblance with


the Israelites, the Yusufzais are pure Afghans, their Pushtu speech differing little
from that current on the plateau.
The Afridi, another large Afghan tribe occupying the highlands skirting the
south side of the plain of Peshawar, are, like the Yusufzais, divided into khels,
or septs, often hostile to each other. Farther south the Sulaiman upland valleys
are occupied by the Marwatti, an agricultural and pastoral people, of a much
milder character than the Afridi, and specially distinguished by their simple
habits, love of truth, and respect for the female sex. On the other hand, the
Baunuchi, or people of Baunu, long enslaved to a number of petty chiefs, have lost
allthe pride and manliness of the neighbouring tribes. In their emaciated forms
and debased habits they present a striking contrast to the free "VVaziri of the high-
lands to the west of Dera-Ghazi-Khan. Always armed, like their Pathan neigh-
bours, the Waziri still remember the days when their forefathers warred in India,

captured Delhi, and imposed their mandates on kings and Brahmans alike. Even
now they prefer military service, and at the first summons hasten to rally round
their chiefs, bent on warlike or predatory expeditions.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Towards the north-west frontier Pesliaicar forms the bulwark of the British
Empire. Lying by the Lander, or Kabul River,
in the middle of the plain watered
above its confluence with the Indus, this place occupies a vital position on the main
trade and military route from the Iranian plateau. Yet it is merely a city of brick
and mud houses, defended from marauders by an earthen rampart. But on the
north side stands the formidable fortress of Bala-hissar, while the British canton-
ments occupy the neighbouring slopes, commanding a view of the whole plain and
of the distant Afghan hills. Other fortified posts complete the outworks of the
vastencampment which the Indian Government has been compelled to form at this
weak point of the frontier, and towards which the shadow of Russia has already
been projected. Towards the north Fort Alazai guards the entrance of the Swat
River gorges, and other works have been erected at intervals along the foot of the
hills. On the north-west the main approach through the Kabul River Valley is
commanded by Fort Mishni, at the converging point of the two great canals
watering the plain. On the west and south-west the Peshawar cantonments are

protectedby the Jamrud and Bara forts, while Fort Makeson guards the plain on
the south from the raids of the Afridi Afghans. South of this fort passes the
TOPOORAIIIV.
161

route connecting the two British towns of Peshawar


and Koluit over the hilln
which form an eastern continuation of tin-
Sefid-koh, or Whit,- Mountains , lu
Spingharof the Af-hans. This route has often been closed ,
n,-l,, ,,^i j', v th',.
ill, notwithstanding the tn a ties obliging them to keep it
ojM-n and in good
fr. But the politiral frontiers ure still somewhat vaguely laid down- in thi
region, whose independent and warlike tribes reject the
suzerainty of the Afghan
Amir, while on its part the British Government has abandoned
the " scientific
"

drawn through the Lataband and


frontier reeently
Shutar-gardan Passes, emit of
Kabul, and along the water-parting parallel with the
Sulaiman-dagh. Nevertheless,
England may be considered as the true puzerain of the
country beyond the limits
marked by the line of frontier forts, for the chiefs of all the
surrounding tribes

Fig. 63. AXOHAK PASSER HETWKE.H PESHAWAR AND KABUL.


Scale 1 :
3,800.000.

CO JiiJw.

are her pensioners. In return for their subsidies, they engage to keep the roads
and tracks in repair, and thus gradually become imperial vassals.
The ancient Ghandara country, of which Peshawar is the present chief town,
has preserved but few of ite historic monuments, the conquerors following this
route to India having destroyed the buildings erected by their predecessors. Of
Puthkalacnli, the Penkhclaotis of the Greeks, nothing remains except a heap of
de'brisnear the confluence of the Kabul and Swat Rivers, where now stand C/iar-
muMa and Prang, two of the Hasht Xagar, or " Eight Cities." Ohiml, on the
Indus, supposed to be the old Emlolima, has been partly swept away by the stream,
and now beyond a few medals and bronze object*
to treasure-seekers yields little

buried under the crumbling banks. The famous rock of Aornos has remained
unidentified, and the chief Buddhist monuments have disappeared like those of the

Aryan and Greek periods. The tope, 400 feet high, seen by the C'him-M- travellers
"
near Peshawar, exists no longer ; but the " inscribed rocks are still visible in tin-

upland valleys north of the plain. In the Yusufzai country old ruins, and
152 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

especially fragments
of Gracco-Baktrian architecture, are also very numerous.

Here huge monoliths, disposed in circles, like those of Stonehenge, stand at the
entrance of the mountain gorges, and near this frontier may still be seen one of the

pillars on
which Asoka had his imperial edicts inscribed.
South-east of the bridge over the Indus at Attok, the historic route from tho
Hindu-Kush Ganges, now accompanied by a line of railway, traverses the
to the

chief cities ofPanjab. Rawal-Pindi, on the Upper Sohan, is a modern place, but
the British military station stretching southwards occupies the site of the ancient

Fig. 61 KNTRANCK or THK ATI UK GOUGE UK FORK TH*. GuMttO<8IM Of xiut RAILWAY.
Pel 1 :

i; Miles.

Gaj\pur\ while on the north stood the famous Takshazila the most
(Taxila},
important of all the Indian cities visited by Alexander. Its position has been
determined by Cunningham near the town of Shah-deri, but its ruins cover a
space of about 6 square miles, while the remains of vast suburbs are visible in
every direction. Temples, monasteries, and upwards of fifty topes, some amongst
the largest in India, recall the days of Buddhist fervour, when Takshasila became
the residence of Asoka, builder of the grandest monuments dedicated to Buddha.
Another famous tope, that of Manikyala, discovered by Elphinstone east of the
TOPOGRAPHY. 1 ,

Sohan Valley, stood not in a city, but in tin- midst of a


group of IluddhUt *
tfinpli
and mona.storMfc
J/iihtm, on the right bank <>f tin- river rf like
name, is not a large place, but
the neighbourhood is strewn with the ruins of sonic ancient eitie*. Those founded
.:. -\ander on both banks Ilvda^K's (Jhilain), in honour of his' \itory
<.f tin-

annot be identified with any certainty. The Gneco-Itaktrian coin*


found amount the debris near Jaluljmr differ in no respect from those
picked up in
other parts of the north-west. At present the largest and most cominer* ial town
in this district is Pind Dadan-khan, on the right bank of the Jhilain, and at tin-

foot of the southern slopes of the Salt Range. Here are built most of the boats
for the Jhilain, and at Miani, on the opposite side, is the vast depot of salt,
brought
by from the Kheura mines, which are now officially known as the Mayo mines,
rail

in honour of the viceroy of that name. The works, which are government
property, give employment to a low-caste tribe, which suffers much from goitre
and other ailment-.
The towns situated on the Chinab along the line of the great historic
highway
have flourished and decayed with the shiftings of the stream. Gujraf, at present
over 4 miles south of the river bed, is chiefly an industrial town, producing
beautiful gold and steel filigree objects of great artistic merit. Wazirabtid, on the
leftbank of the Chiuab, at the head of a railway bridge no less than 3,000 yards
long, and resting on 64 piers sunk over GO feet in the sand, is mainly a modern
town. Built on a regular plan by the Italian General Avitabile, in the service of
the Sikh Raja Ranjit-singh, it has become the chief arsenal and centre of navigation
for the Chinab. The passage of the river at this point was till recently guarded
by a military cantonment, but the troops have been removed farther east to the
town of Sialkot, whence the frontier and the capital of Kashmir can be more easily
commanded. Sialkot has some cotton and paper mills, and ita fairs attract many
thousand visitors, at once pilgrims and traders. It is mentioned in the old Hindu
poems as the capital of the country over 2,000 years ago. Taki, the chief town of
Upper Panjab at the time of the Chinese pilgrimages to India, stood farther south,
in a now desert district condemned to sterility by the shiftings of the Ravi and
exhaustion of its canals. The ruins of the ancient city, identified by Cunningham,
lie near the village of Anantr, north-east of the Sangal (Sangola, Sakala) Hill,
where Alexander gained one of his victories. At present the chief place in the
doab between the Chinab and Ravi is Gujrainra/a, a station on the Panjab railway.
Although bare, sandy, and treeless, the surrounding district, occupied in the last
now a populadon of over half a
century only by a few predatory bands, has
million.

Lahore, the Lo/iairar of the ancient writers, succeeded Taki as capital of Panjab.
For three centuries it was the centre of resistance against the Mohammedan
invasion, and afterwards became the residence of the Ghaznevide sovereigns.
Under the rule it was also
frequently resorted to by the emperors, and
Moghul
here the Sikh rajas built their palace. Now the English have made it the centre
of administration for all the north-west provinces. After a period of decadence
75
154 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

Lahore has thus entered on a fresh epoch of rapid increase. An English quarter
has been built south of the Hindu city, along a cliff formerly washed by the Ravi
but now displaced farther west. An elegant boulevard leads thence eastwards to
the Mian mir cantonments, giving Lahore a total length of over 7 miles between
the tomb of Jehanghir at Shar-dara on the north and the last outposts of Mian
mir. Its future prosperity is henceforth secured more even by its commercial

position than by its administrative privileges. At this point the Karachi railway
forms a junction with the main line between Peshawar and Calcutta.
The finest monuments of Lahore date from the period of the Great Moghuls,
and although many have been stripped of their marbles and enamelled faiences or
else partly demolished, enough remains to excite the astonishment of the visitor.

Standing in the midst of palm groves, gardens, and fountains, the palaces and
mosques present a noble sight, with their spacious vestibules, peristyles, bay

Fig. 65. LAHORE AND AMRITSAR.


Scale 1 : 700,000.

E.ofGr; 74'30 75'.

12 Milw.

windows, verandahs, pavilions, minarets carved like ivory, and coloured marble
cupolas. Amongst the recent buildings are the university and the museum, which
contains the finest collection of Gracco-Baktrian, Buddhist, and Hindu artistic
objects in India. Thanks to the enlightened spirit of its Sikh inhabitants, Lahore
has become the centre of letters and learning for the whole of Northern India.
Yet the true metropolis of the Sikhs is rather Amritsar, which lies some 30
miles farther east, in a small depression traversed by an irrigation canal from the
Ravi. This site had been occupied by the ancient city of Chak, which, however,
had disappeared, when a Sikh apostle built here the sanctuary which takes the
name of Amritsar, or " Lake of Immortality," from the tank reflecting its marble
walls and steps. Pilgrims flock every year in hundreds of thousands to worship at
the bridge connecting the temple with the mainland, and at the elegant archway
surmounted by a wide gilded copper dome. Amritsar was long the "common

property of the Sikh confederation, and each of the clans had here a special quarter.
TOPOGRAPHY. UM

The concourse of faithful from all jwirtn has given to tin- Amrit*ir fair* great com-
il
iin|MrtaiuT. Tliis city is also the depot of the goods forwarded from
Ilombay and Calcutta tn Kashmir and the markrN <.f Vntral Asia. Iiiuni-<

from Kashmir have introduced the shuwl, cloth of gold, and embroidery indu

Fijj. 66 Oou>ut TBMPLB AND LJLX.K or IMMORTALITY AT AMRITVAE.

feasts all
which employ over 4,000 looms. During the great
in prosperous years
the streets are hung with shawls and costly fabrics.
North-east of Amritsar lies the commercial and industrial town of Matala,
and

on the banks of the on the plains stands Anamijmr, the


Satlej near its entrance
"
also one of the holy places of the Sikhs. Their Granth, or UH>1'.
ity nl
( 1

is carefully preserved in a temple at Ktirtarpur, near Jallandnr.

East of Lahore the cultivated and inhabiu-d /<>m- IH-<-,IIH-> mun- and iimn-
..n-

tracted between the foot of the hills and tlu> arid southern plains.
Hm- 1
156 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the district which has in a military sense been called the "Belgium of India."
In the ancient poems are described the deadly struggles which here took place
between the Kurwides and the children of Pandu. Since the mythical times this

region, forming a natural route for armies and migrations, became the actual scene
of all the decisive battles fought in Northern India. The English have accord-
ingly taken care to establish here a chain of entrenched camps, in order to secure
their communications. Firozpur, lying on the right bank of the Satlej, south of
Amritsar, has become the largest arsenal in India. Jallandar, a group of towns
within one enclosure, also occupies an important strategic point towards the north-
east on the main trunk line of railway. cantonments cover a larger space than
Its

all the Hindu cities of the country. Farther on Ludianah, with its citadel on the

right bank of the Satlej, guards the passage of the river, which is here crossed by
a viaduct 3,000 yards long. All the garrisons of the Panjab are supplied with corn
from the granaries of this place. Beyond it stands Ambnla on the Ghaggar, with
a vast encampment covering 7,000 acres of ground. A whole military division
guards this central position, which is doubly important as the chief intermediate
station between Lahore and Delhi, and as the bulwark of Simla, summer capital of
British India. Forming the starting-point of travellers proceeding in the hot
season to the hills, the bazaars of Ambala are better supplied than any other in the
north-west with English merchandise. To remedy the deficient supply and bad

quality of the w ater an Artesian well, 450 feet deep, has recently been sunk in the
r

neighbourhood.
The British military stations of East Panjab already far exceed in population
the ancient Hindu cities of the country, not even excepting Kapurthala, Pttfiala,
and the other capitals of the petty tributary states. Of Sarhind, formerly capital of
the kingdom of Satadru or Satlej, nothing remains except ruins, which however
still give their name to the surrounding district. By a play of words common
enough in geographical nomenclature, the term Sar-hind has acquired the sense of
" Frontier of
Hindustan," as if indicating the approximate limit between the
Mussulman territories of the north-west and the Hindu domain properly so called.
But in its reminiscences of the past no district of the peninsula is more thoroughly
Indian. The traditions have not yet perished of the days when it was pre-eminently
the Holy Land of the Aryas. Hence pilgrims still flock in thousands to Thanesar,

Pihoia, and the other sanctuaries fringing the uncertain course of the Sarasvati.
all

As many as 300,000 devotees gather at times to bathe in the muddy basin of

Thanesar, while thousands of widows the open spaces of Pihoia with their
fill

doleful lamentations. Sirsa, near the ruins of Sarsuti, lies far to the south, on
the verge of the desert, but it still receives during the floods a little water from the
sacred stream whence it takes its name.
The " Five Valleys " of the Panjab present the form of a fan. Broadening out
at the Daman-i-Koh, or " Skirt of the Hills," they gradually contract towards the

ferry of Mithankot. Hence in the well-watered northern region large cities are
distributed all along the old historic route, at the passage of the various streams
or in the intervening doabs. But not more than one trading centre is found in the
TOPOORAI'IIY r.7

much narrower ;iii(l far IIH.IV arid corner of South I'anjah. Thi* JM J/M//-/

capital ..f fin- Malli vanquished Alexander. It, origin. {,, Kil .l
.
l.y \ ,

tiin.s, is attributed to the fatln-r of the Gods and Titan,, and 'under
Solar
Aurengzeb the citadel still enclosed a- temple of the Sun, which waa renio\,-d 1,\-
that emperor to make room for a mosque. Multan formerly occupied t\\o islands
in the channel of the Ravi, but this river ha shifti-*! courae to the Chinah.
long it

~> miles farther north, .sending down during the floods nothing but a fn-l.le
current to its old bed. At present the nearest river to Multan is the China!),

Fig. 67. MHLTAX AWD OLD Coi-tut or THE RATI.


ftwle 1 :
4SnflOO.

12 Mil,*.

flowing 4 miles to the west. Here have been constructed the port and dockyards
of Sher SJiar.

Bahawalpur, capital of one of the largest dependent states in the north-west,


is

one of those places which have most benefited by the general restoration of peace
under the British rule. The Sind railway makes a long circuit to the east in order
to traverse this place, which it reaches by a magnificent V-ridge over
the Satlej.

The surrounding plain is intersected in all directions by irrigation rills from the
main stream, and new towns have sprung up in the wilderness which has thus
heen reclaimed. The prosperity of Bahawalpur has also been promoted by it* -ilk
the exports to
industry, introduced from Benares, and already swelling Afghan
and Central Asia.
Some important in the I>erujat. along the course
places have also been founded
or in the vicinity of the Indus, towards the Afghan frontier. Here the street* of
158 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

" Black
Kalabagh, or the Garden," rise in terraces on a salt rock at the issue of
the gorge by which the river pierces the Salt Range. The houses are so disposed
that the terraces of each row serve as the streets for the next, and above these

crescent-shaped stages rises a salt cliff, whence the fiscal authorities watch over the

Fig. 68. PARALLEL RANGES NORTH OF DERA GHAZI-KHAN.


Scale 1 :
1,630,000.

!_' Miles

inhabitants, to prevent them from helping themselves from the stores of salt lying

at their feet. The salt works are carried on at the village of Mart, on ike other

side of the river, and might be more productive were the government monopoly to

cease. The surrounding hills also yield alum and iron ores.
TOPOGRAPHY.

Dhulipnagar, or Kd \\ardesabad, UM it is now officially called, although a small


, derive* great commercial and strategic important-*- from its ignition in the

hilly Hanmi district at the


converging point of several routes from Afghanistan.
Nearly all the surrounding heights ore crowned with the ruins of ancient raonu-

Fig. 69. THE KACHI GANDATA PLAIN.


Boat* 1 :
800,000.

toffr-

.30 Miles.

raente dating from every epoch since Buddhist times, and now collectively known
as the Kafir Kot, or " Forts of the Infidels."

Dera Ismail-Khan, a modern town, heir to one of like name destroyed by a rising
of the Indus in 1843, also occupies a strong position at the issue of the Gomul Paaa,
and not far from the Takht-i-Sulaiman. Here the caravans of the warlike
Povindah traders assemble twice a year for Afghanistan. AJ many as 12,000
160 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

and 35,000 camels annually t-averse the pass, representing a trade of about
350,000. A brisk trade is also carried on by Dem Ghazi-Khan, the outlet for
Multan on the Indus. As the emporium of southern Dora jut it has succeeded

Mithankof, which has been compelled, by the inundations of the Indus, to withdraw
farther inland, and which has consequently been abandoned by traders. large A
fair, frequented by Hindus and Mohammedans, is also held near the famous temple
of Sakki Sen-war, which is guarded by a tribe numbering over 1,600 persons, who
share between them the offerings of the pilgrims.
The commercial centre of the Indus region between Mithankot and the head of
the delta is Shikarpur, founded in the midst of gardens and orchards in a well-
watered plain, which was formerly a marine inlet. The great importance of
Shikarpur is due to its position on the route which penetrates to Baluchistan either
through the Harnai or the Bolan Pass, south of the Sulaiman-dagh. It has thus
become the chief entrepot for the merchandise forwarded from all parts of India,
and even from England; and this export trade is increased by the carpets and
cotton stuffs made on the spot. Shikarpur was chosen in 1880 as the starting-
point of the railway whichis destined one day to connect India with the

Mediterranean, through Kandahar and the Euphrates Valley. The works of the
first stage were commenced with a vigour which promised soon to see the section

completed as far as Kandahar. The first stage of 130 miles was actually finished
in 101 days, and the pass up to the plateau was being taken in hand, when the
accession of the Liberal party to office caused the works to be abandoned. The
line, beginning at Sakkar, communicates with JRohrt, the ancient Aror, by a steam
ferry, which is soon to be replaced by a viaduct. Northwards it stops, at present,
at the foot of a mountain gorge near Sibi, the old capital of Sewestan ;
and
although not intended to be carried farther than the fort of Kettah (Quettah),
it is

in Baluchistan, it will at least spare travellers the painful journey across the
Kachi-Gandava desert. Most of the territory stretching to the foot of the hills is
officially a political dependence of Baluchistan, but British rule is practically here
established, and the whole plain is guarded by the Jarobabad cantonments near the
nominal frontier.

Haidembad, the ancient Nerankot, stands on an eminence near the head of the
Indus delta. About 12 miles above this point the Puleli channel branches off from
the main stream and flows thence to the Lakhpat estuary at the entrance of the
Rann. But when the' Indus passed farther east through the Purana channel, the
ramification seems to have taken place at the foot of the Nerankot eminence itself.

According to Cunningham and other commentators, the modern city occupies the
site of the ancient Patala, capital of the
country at the time of Alexander's expe-
dition. It became, subsequently, so famous as the port of the sacred river, that its
name became synonymous with the " Gate of Salvation," and from it the Buddhist
temple of Lassa is said to have been called Potala. At present, Haiderabad has
little importance except as a strategic position, although its arms, gold and silver

embroidery, enamelled gems, and other artistic objects are much appreciated in
Europe. It stands nearly 7 miles from the river, where its outpost is the village
TOPOGRAPHY. 161

fejMNbr, which roimm.n.Yatrs by steam ferry with Kotri, on tho


tt
right
.nk of thr ri-.-r. Tl,,
places are protected by high .inbaiikiiM-iiU from *th,.
l. :

Middm inundation* ,,f the Indus and its


tributary the Buran.
Thanks to thr
niilwayconnecting.it with Karachi, the *,, rt of the whole
Indus ha-in. Kutri has long
enjoyed a large trad.-, which, however, has been
consid.-i ably reduced since the line has been connected
with the In.liun
system.
lying further down, near the most frequented passages of the
Tiittn,
Indus, has
even suffered still more from the
completion of tho network. Towards tho end of

Fig. 70. HAIHERAHAD.


Scale 1 : 4*0,000.

II HUM

the seventeenth century, 80,000 persons are said to have been carried off
by the plague
at this place. Yet when seized by Nadir Shah, in the middle of the next century,
Tatta is have contained as many as 60,000 merchants, 40,000 weavers, and
said to

20,000 other artisans. At present the whole population of this fever-stricken place
is
scarcely more than 8,000.
Karachi resembles Marseilles, Venice, Alexandria, Odessa, Barcelona, and other
great seaports lying beyond their proper river basins, for its only connection with
the Indus is through a recently constructed canal. Owing to the intricacies of the
river navigation, the English naturally opened one of their first railways from
Karachi to the head of the delta. The craft plying on the Lower Indus draw
scarcely more than five feet ;
nor has the increase of navigation been so great as
162 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

might have been expected, even since the introduction of steamers in 1835. In
India, as in West Europe, the water highways have been unable to compete with
the more expeditious railway traffic.* The Indus fisheries are still important,
especially in the delta, which yields the pa/a, differing little from the hilsa of the

Ganges, and supplying the staple food of all the riverain populations. In the
neighbouring seas are also taken a species of herring and a shark, whose fins are
forwarded to Bombay for China, where they are regarded as a delicacy. The caste

Fig. 71. KARACHI.


Scale 1 : 120,000.

i^sr^^r7?w &* u
*"*
>t-^_i?>c^ii.*-
v.ii.*.
!

'
'

to 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet, aa Feet and upward*.

"j Miles.

of fishermen are distinguished by their intelligence and daring from the other
inhabitants of Sind.
Karachi calls itself the "Bombay of Sind." mere village at the beginning A
of the last century, it acquired no commercial importance till after the
silting of
the sands at the port of Shah-bandar on the Indus. But the sandbanks and shallows
rendered it inaccessible to large vessels until an outer harbour was constructed at
a vast expense east of Manora Point, sheltering the bay from southern gales.
Thanks to these works, ships drawing 25 feet can enter the port at hfgh water,
Steamers on the Indus (1874), 13; goods imported, 1,108,000; goods exported, 604,000.
TOPOGRAPHY. ,,.
,

and t-v,n ,h, r , ar,


U -,
|| ,1,1,

!.
Mill ov,r -JO f,,, .
, Mir Sfill |he j^^
x>m the
,,,a,,,tai,,,,l
only l,y n.i.Manf HFurls to
Up i, ,l,,, r (> ftll , .,,.,
In.lu.s, whirli M carried along thmurth-wert coast ma rin t bore
l.y th,-
.

" tl,,. l?ri.i,h Karachi rrliM


chiefly on Uie tmffic
,H....,,,iin,,
in negro or
AI,vs, II11; m slaves brought
by the Muscat dhow* from Africa. Now tile ,hi,f
ar.u s1, ,nde are ceroaU and cotton.
!

Being an Englwh-buUt town, Karachi


owes lU Eaatern aspect
chiefly to the glare of the sunshine and to the feature*
and

Fig. 72. RI-INID TOPI IK TIIK KHAIBEH

dress of the Hindus, Baluchis, and


Afghans crowding quays and caravanserai*.
its

CVi/?0w, the English watering-place, lies east of the bay, on a rocky peninsula

exposed to the surf and sea-breezes. Five miles farther north are the Pir Mangho
hot springs, said
by the priests to communicate by an underground channel with
the Ravi, and wh > ;l n collected in a sacred tank full of crocodiles, who
are carefully fed
by fakirs. Beyond the heights overlooking Pir Mangho stn-uh
the desert plateaux of Baluchistan, where the ruins and
places bearing Hindu
104 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

attest the former presence of Buddhist missionaries. Several points on the west
frontier are marked by topes, none of which, however, are as large as those of the
Khaiber Pass.
East of the alluvial lands of the Indus, Bikaner, Jaisalmir, and Marwar, the
three Rajput states of the plains, present vast tracts unoccupied even by a single

village. For hundreds of square miles nothing meets the eye except sandy dunes,
salt pans, or stunted scrub, and here the desert is gradually encroaching on the
cultivated lands. Marwar well deserves its name, which means " Land of Death,"
and the inhabitants of the two other states are even in still more wretched condition.
Most of the villages are mere groups of hovels made of branches in the shape of

beehives, and the natives are often driven to live on bark-bread, roots, or wild
berries.

Nevertheless Bikancr, of the state conterminous with Panjab and


capital
Bahawalpur, is a considerable place, whose walls and temples, crowning the summit
of an eminence, present from a distance a really imposing sight. Its inhabitants

are noted throughout Rajputana for their stone, wood, and ivory carvings, carpets,

rugs, and confectionery. Jaixalmir, built of a yellow stone, is also a picturesque


town commanded by palaces, towers, and Jaina temples. Jhodpur, capital of
Marwar, resembles Bikaner in its position and the bold appearance of its buildings.
The citadel, which enclosed the maharaja's palace, stands on a sandstone mass
"
rising 800 feet above the plain. Farther east the Godwar or " garden of East
Marwar supports a considerable population, being watered by numerous streams,
which rise on the west slopes of the Aravali Hills, and either flow to the .in or I i i

run dry in the desert. Here are Nagar, Merta, Palli, Sojaf, and some other towns.
Before the completion of the railway running across the Rajputana plateau between
Ahmedabad and Delhi, Palli was the chief centre of the Marwar trade with
Gujerat and the Ganges basin. The camels of this district are famous for their
swiftness and endurance. Burton speaks of no less than fifteen varieties of this
animal in Sind and the Thar desert. The Marwar cattle are also amongst the best
in India. During periods of drought they are sent in hundreds of thousands to
graze on the Rajputana and Malwa plateaux.
The petty dependent state of Catch, which describes a crescent round the south
side of the great Rann, is better watered than the Rajputana principalities, and
supports a proportionately larger population. Btutj, its capital, which still bears
the name of the snake-god to which it was dedicated, abounds in interesting

archaeological remains. But a more important town is Mandvi, or Mandfiri, on the


south side, at the entrance to the Gulf of Catch, which is the chief seaport between
Karachi and Bombay. But vessels drawing more than 10 feet being unable to
200 native craft are all of small size, with a total capacity of
cross the bar, its
about 10,000 tons. Mandavi trades directly with Zanzibar, whence it imports
ivory and rhinoceros hides. The vessels, mostly undecked, start in December and

return with the south-west monsoon.


CHAPTER VII.
KATTYAWAR PENIXSCLA AND SLOPES DRAINING TO THE GULPS OP CATCH AXD CAMBAY. BRITISH AND
NATIVE TKURITORY OF UVJEUAT XOKTH OP THE MAIII.

TIE Kattyawar peninsula reproduces on a large scale the form of the


island of Catch, and although not yet
entirely surveyed, enough
has already been discovered to show that the deposition of the
rocks presents a certain analogy in both regions. The seaboard of
both lies in the same direction from north-west to south-east, at

right angles with the course of the wet monsoon, and the two coasts present the
same monotonous aspect, varied only by the slight indentations of the creeks and
nullahs from the interior. Kattyawar also has its crescent-shaped south coast,
fringed in the same way by recent chalk cliffs and a belt of trap. Even the neck
of land connecting it with the continent between the Rannand the Gulf of Cum bay
rises scarcely more than 45 or 50 feet above the sea, and the centre of the isthmus is

occupied by the swampy and brackish lake or lugoon of Nal, about 100 miles long, and
evidently the remains of an ancient strait. The soil is still strewn with shells of
the same species as those of the surrounding seas. With every tide from the Gulf
of Cambay the land is flooded to a depth of 28 or 30 feet, so that were these tides
doubled or trebled in height the Kattyawar peninsula would be again reduced, like
Catch, to its original insular character.

KATTYAWAR.

Kattyawar, which is considerably more elevated as well as larger thnn Catch,


is traversed on the south side by the Gir chain, with summits 1,500 or 1,000 feet

high, and culminates in the centre with the granitic Ujuyanta or Revati, now better
known by the name of Girnar, which has an extreme altitude of 2,800 feet. Other
ranges of hills varying from 1,000 to 1,600 feet occupy the western parts, but the
land falls gradually north and north-east towards the Rann and the plains of

Gujerat. These plains, hemmed in betwivn the ;ulfs and the plateau of Rajputana,
are watered only by short streams, such as the Malii and SuKinmitti, flowing from
Mount Aim and the Malwa heights to the Gulf of C'ambay. Two intermittent

streams also reach the Rann of Catch in the rainv season. In this direction the
166 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

transition is very gradual from the fertile lands of Gujerat to the Thar wilderness,
the desert zone everywhere advancing or receding according to the greater or less
abundance of water.
In Gujerat the population is very unevenly distributed. The plains exposed on
the south to the wet monsoon are most densely inhabited but the northern districts,
;

deprived of moisture by the central Kattyawar uplands, contain but few towns
or villages.

Lying apart from the main historic highway, Kattyawar became the natural
refuge of all the tribes driven from the plains of Gujerat. On the other hand, by

projecting far seawards, the peninsula attracted trade and foreign settlers, who
became diversely intermingled with the natives. Amongst these immigrants \\ITC
some Arabs and even Africans, and the island of Diu on the south coast became a
Portuguese settlement in 1535. These conflicting elements, who struggled for the
possession of the peninsula, were unable to blend in one political group, and down
middle of the present century the country was still divided amongst no less
to the

than two hundred and sixteen petty states. Under British rule these have
gradually been reduced to one hundred and eighty-eight principalities, all differing
in their political and administrative status. Some even are exempt from tribute,
although none the less subject to the supreme jurisdiction of England.
Surashtra, the old name of the peninsula, is still current amongst the Brahmans
and various nativetribes.
^But has been mostly replaced by that of Kattyawar,
it

from a conquering people who penetrated from the north through the island of
Catch during the thirteenth and two following centuries, when the Katti became
the dominant power. These Katti, whether Aryan Kshatryas or Afghan tribes,
traced their origin to the banks of the Indus, and were distinguished from the
natives by their tall stature, more regularand lighter complexion. They
features,
became variously intermingled with the Jareja and other Rajput tribes, who had
acquired fiefs in most of the Gujerat states. But the old populations held their
ground, and still cultivate the land either as small holders or as labourers.

INHABITANTS OF KATTYAWAR.

Towards the east the Gujerat mainland north of the Mahi River is occupied

chiefly by the Koli, who resemble the Bhils of the plateau, but who claim to belong
to a higher caste, because
they are more civilised and have been more assimilated
to the Hindus. The Koli are divided
into various clans according to their

professions, some being the land


tillers of
or cutters of bamboo, others shepherds or
water-carriers. The general name of the tribe which supplies numerous day
"
labourers to the Bombay traders has at last come to be applied to all " coolies of
Indian and even Chinese origin employed by Europeans throughout the colonies.
The Charuns, a Rajput tribe in Gujerat, were formerly supposed to enjoy the
special favour of Siva. They were regarded as sacred, and any injury inflicted on
them was sure be avenged a hundredfold by the deity.
to Hence many made
away with themselves, in order to draw down the divine vengeance on the families
TOPOGRAPHY. 167

of their eneimY*. In tlie di-irict- infected ly l.riganda


they were employed M
escorts to travellers, who were thus secured from all risk.
<N-rii|Nition hoc
Hut this

ceased since civil war and pillage have been suppresM-d, and infanticide,
formerly
universal unionist tlie Jureju tribes, has also beco'ue
very rare since it has been
prohibited l>y
the law.

Kuttyuwar. tlie
refuge of many tribes driven from the mainland, also became
the asylum of persecuted religions. Here Buddhism has left some of its most

remarkable monuments, and has even been continued by the Jaina sects, who have
mingled so many Buddhist practices with their Bruhmunicul rites. In the
jH-ninsula are found the largest and most famous groups of Sarawak or Juina

temples, and in this region whole cities are consecrated to the gods. typical A
instance is Pulitanu, capital of a petty state crowning the twin crests of Mount

Satrunjaya, in the south-east corner of the peninsula near the Gulf of Cumbuv.
The city stretches to the foot of the sacred mountain, and is connected by flights
of steps with the large temples on top. A
few priests reside within the precincts,
to keep the buildings in order, and to feed the pigeons, doves, parrots, peacocks,
and squirrels which live on the bounty of the faithful. The Juinas ore distin-
guished above all the Hindu sects by their zeal for building temples, where they do
homage to their tirthamkunis, that is, to those who have crossed the abyss
separating apparent life from absolute existence. On Satrunjaya edifices of this
sort are counted by the hundred, dating from every epoch since the eleventh

century, and forming collectively a magnificent architectural museum. New


buildings are yearly added to the old, which they often rival in elegance and purity
of style. Like the mediaeval guilds in the West, the Jainas take the greatest pride
in decorating these temples,and whole generations have been successively employed
in embellishing the porticoes and altars with rich carvings. In proportion to their
numbers, amongst whom are many merchants and bankers, the Jainas possess more

religious edifices than the other Hindu sects, which form the great bulk of the

population in Gujerat. Here the Mohammedans are numerous only in the towns,
while the Parsis are found only in isolated groups. The current speech is the

Gujerati, one of the Neo-Sanskritic literary dialects least affected by Persian or


Arabic elements.

Gujerat is one of the richest countries in India, its


prosperity being largely
due to the sixty seaports fringing the coast, and to the fertility of its rrgar, or
" black
earth," on which cotton Horses, sheep, and grain are
is chiefly grown.

regularly exerted to Bombay and other parts of India, although the crops are
occasionally destroyed by a species of brown rat, which
swaims at times in pro-
digious numbers. The people were decimated by famine in 1815,
the "year of
the rats," which seemed to spring like noxious weeds from the ground, and which
neither fire nor water could extirpate.

TOPOGRAPHY.
the
Although Kattyawar is officially divided amongst a multitude of kinglets,
a central position
English have chosen as the general capital Rqjkot, which occupies
168 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

on the slope draining to the Gulf of Catch. Here they have established their

military cantonments and founded a college, in which all the Gujerat princes are
educated under the direction of European professors and officers. But this admin-
exceeded in commercial importance by several other places, such
istrative centre is

as Nawdnagar (Jamnaf/ar), close to the Gulf of Catch, noted for its dye-works.
Better harbours might, however, be established farther west at Serai/a, or Poshetra.
Those of Pur-bandar, JIangrol (JTangalpur), and Veratral, on the west coast, are all
too small and exposed, although their numerous monuments show that they have
for centuries enjoyed a considerable trade.Mangrol boasts of the finest mosque in
Kattyawar, and near Verawal on the opposite side of the creek are seen the palaces,
temples, and ruined mausoleums of Somnath, or Deo Pattan, the old capital dedi-

Fig. 73. GULF OF CATCH AND ITS POHTS.


Scale 1 : 1,700,000.

69' 70' E-OfGr

u4 Feet. 61 to 160 Feet. 160 Feet and upwards.


-it Mile*.

cated to Siva, which was captured by Mahmud the Ghaznevide in the first half
of the eleventh century. From this place he carried off the famous gates, which
the English claim to have brought back from Ghazni in 1842, although the authen-

ticity of the trophy has been called in question. At Somnath, according to the
legend, the body of Krishna was burnt at a place still shown near the confluence
of three streams. About 18 miles from the coast stands the city of Jiinagarh,
equally famous for its temples, some of which are cut out of the live rock. A
terrace near the summit of the neighbouring Mount Girnar is covered with a city
of Jaina temples, second in splendour and reputation to those of Palitana alone.
One of the peaks of Girnar is exclusively inhabited by a tribe of fakirs* dedicated

to Kali, Goddess of Blood, who have become almost savages. They live on carrion,
TOPOORAIHY

and are publicly accused of havim; devoured the bodies of travellers. Thene rocks
are also visited by men whom their parents have devoted to death, and who in

fulfilment of the maternal NOW hurl themselves from tin- summit of the red granite
el ill'-. On a rock at the base of the mountain a famous inscription, in whieh
is

over two thousand one hundred years ago King Asoka dedicated his states to the
Iluddhist faith. Another, more than two thousand years old, commemorates a vic-
tory gained over a king of the Dekkan while a third, six hundred years more
;

recent, records certain public works undertaken in the district. Unfortunately,

Fig. 74. BHAUNAOAR AND GOOHA.


Bade 1 : 400,000.

to 64 Feet. 64 to 160 Feet. 100 Feet and upwards .

these precious monuments have been partly destroyed by some engineers employed
to repair the highway.
the Portuguese city associated with the great deeds of John de Castro,
l)in,
small island at
although greatly decayed, still occupies a convenient position on a
the southern extremity of the peninsula between the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of
is too
Cambay. Its port is accessible to vessels drawing 10 feet, but the territory
limited to support a large trade. The natives are occupied chiefly with fishing
and shipping, and occasionally migrate to Mozambique in search of fortunes.
76
170 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

withstanding its fallen state, Diu still presents an imposing appearance, with its

lofty citadel commanding the European and native towns at its foot.
The Portu-
guese also possess the village of Gogola on the neighbouring coast. The colony
has a total area of 12 square miles, with a population of 13,898 in 1876.
The -
seaport of Jajfarabad, lying east of Diu, belongs to a prince of Al>\
little

sinian descent. It has lost much of its traffic since trade has been diverted to the

Fig. 75. NORTHERN EXTREMITY OF THE GULF OF CAMBAY.


Scale 1 : 000.000.

72*15

to 32 Feet. Si to 64 1 eet. 64 Feet and upwaidc.

12 Miles.

west coast of the Gulf of Cambay. Here the sheltered port of Bhaunagar, acces-
is

sible to craft of light draught. The modern town is the capital of one of the largest
states in Kattywar, and is enterprising spirit and the daring of its
noted for its

Lascar sailors. Heirs to the commercial prosperity of the neighbouring seaport of


Gogba, or Gogo, whose roadstead is protected by the island of Perim, the inha-
bitants of Bhaunagar have constructed a railway to Joraji, in the centre of the

peninsula, and to Waddan, thus connecting the place with the Indian system. Here
TOPOGRAPHY. 171

are also some cotton-spinning mills. Dholera, lying farther north, ha* given it*
mime to awell-known variety of cotton. Due east of it *tnn<h tin* min'rnt hut
decayed city A"//W//, or rw-///. which LTIV.-- ii> HUM. t., :h,
<>!'
;.;, .
i: ,,| .},
julf,
is mention, (1 liy Marco Polo. The dangers of the bar and violence of tin-, tide* no
longer allow vessels to venture amid the shoals obstructing the north end of the
iilf and the entrance of the rivers Mahi and Sabarmatti.
Imposing ruins attest
industry now consists in cutting the
the ancient splendour of Cambay, whose chief
carnelians and agates from the Western Viudhyas. The fertile tracts stretching
northwards between the two rivers yield an excellent tobacco, which contributes
to the wealth of the towns of Kaira, Nariad, and Kapadiranji.
Ahmedabad, metropolis of Gujerat, and, next to Bombay, the largest city on
the western seaboard of India, has under British rule recovered some of its former

prosperity. Founded, or rather rebuilt, at the beginning of the fifteenth century,


it is said to have had a population of 900,000 at that time, when it exceeded in
size the largest cities in Europe. Although subsequently wasted by wars, ita
favourable position in a rich plain, on the great historic highway, and at the
junc-
tion of the route to Delhi by Rajputana, soon enabled it to regain its industrial
and commercial activity after the restoration of peace. Some of its monumenst
were overthrown by an earthquake in 1819, but there still remain some of the
finest temples, mausoleums, palaces, and triumphal arches in India. Owing to the
blending of Jaina and Moslem influences, the style of architecture of these build-
ings is altogether unique. The Hindu taste has generally prevailed even in the
construction of the mosques, which, however, are free from the symbolism of hideous

deities, with their hundred arms and animal heads. Standing mostly on terraces in
the midst of thickets, they present a fine effect from the ramparts, which have been
converted into public promenades. The British military station, lying 3 miles to
the north, has been made attractive by its avenues of large trees and its beautiful

gardens.
According to the local proverb, the prosperity of Ahmedabad hangs on three
threads those of cotton, silk, and gold. Although these threads have more than
once threatened to snap, the inhabitants are still chiefly occupied with the
weaving
and embroidery industries. The raw silk is imported from Bengal, China, and
Central Asia, and the woven goods exported to Bombay and Southern India. The
local potteries are also the best on the west coast, and the paper more substantial

than that imported from England. This ancient royal residence also excels in the
manufacture of enamels, lacquer-ware, chased metals, and other artistic objects.
Ahmedabad, having become the central station of the railway system, has rapidly
become a great commercial mart, and its merchants, entirely independent of those
of Bombay, have established direct relations with all the great market* of the
world. By the railway, which connects it with the Ranii through Viramyam,

Patri, and Khnragora, and which is to be continued across the Ilann of Catch,
Ahmedabad has also become a chief depot of the salt trade.
Ahmedabad is surrounded by several towns, of which Dholht is the largeat, and
Patan one of the chief Jaina centres. Here they have over a hundred temples,
172 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

besides libraries of books written on palm leaves, and jealously guarded by the
priests. Towards the west, Railhanpur occupies an oasis near the spot where the
Banas joins the Rann. Lastly, Palanpur, at the northern extremity of Gujerat,
near the wooded slopes of Mount Abu, is the starting-point of the railway running
across the Rajputana plateaux. Here the frontier tribes are kept in awe by the
neighbouring military cantonments of Disa.
CHAPTER VIII.
ARAVALI AND VINDHYA RANGES.-SOUTHERN TRIBUTARIES OP THE GANGES.
RAJPVTANA, STATE* OK MALWA, GWALIOR, BI-MUELKHAKD, AND BHAOELXHAXD.

of the triangular space comprised between the Aravali Hills, the


|OST
Jamna, and the long depression traversed by the Narbadah and the
Son, consists of political states still enjoying a nominal independ-
ence. Lying beyond the great historic highways, these Medya-
"
desa, or " Midland states,remained for some time without any direct
relations with the European conquerors of the peninsula. The rajas, protected by
many natural obstacles, relied on their formidable strongholds and armies, which
latter were the bravest and best organised in India. But although they have pre-
served an appearance of autonomy, the British Residents govern in the name of the

rajas, many of whom are minors or women. The whole country has been divided
"
into Agencies," the administrative organisation of which corresponds to that of
future provinces. Rajputana and the eastern districts forming the Central India
Agency comprise over eighty petty states, often broken up into a number of
detached fragments, like some of the Scotch shires. Recently, however, the Govern-
ment has allowed the rajas to consolidate their states, by exchanging distant fiefs
for others lying nearer to their respective capitals.
But while leaving the Rajput and Mahratta princes in possession of their thrones

and of a large portion of their revenues, the English have acquired the direct
administration of a strip of territory which traverses the whole extent of the
from the plains of the Ganges to the Narbadah valley. Bombay is also
])l:tt-aux
now connected by two lines of railway with the cities of the Jamim and Ganges
across the Rajputana and Malwa uplands, and one of these lines lies almost
entirely within the British possessions. The political and commercial union of the
States of the plateau with the Indian Empire is complete. Nevertheless, the
have the
peoples of these regions preserved their distinct physiognomy amongst
inhabitants of India. In the general history of the peninsula their influence has

always been considerable, although greatly inferior in numbers


to the teeming

populations of the plains. The Malwa uplands seem almost wildernesses when
compared with the crowded regions of Audh and Bengal.
174 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

MOUNT ABU, ARAVALI HILLS, AND VINDHYAS.

Towards the west the plateau is limited by the almost isolated Mount Abu,
whose granite heights command the Gujerut and Marwar lowlands. This moun-
tain is separated by the deep valley of the Banas from the Aravali Hills. But its
upper portion is still extensive enough to form a plateau varied by smiling hills
and pleasant vales. Thanks to the rain-bearing clouds arrested by the upper slopes,
a rich vegetation has here been developed, forming a green oasis in the midst of
arid hillsand valleys. One of the depressions on the plateau is filled by the waters
" Lake of the
of the island- studded Nakhi-tal, or Precious Stone." The beauty of
its position, rising in majestic solitude above the surrounding plains, has rendered
Mount Abu one of the holy places of India, and its old name of Ar Buddha recalls

the sage or god formerly worshipped here. The pure air of its atmosphere has
also caused the village situated on this eminence to be selected as the British

centre of administration for the whole of Rajputana.


The border rangeof the Aravali Hills begins in the vicinity of Mount Abu,

stretching thence north-eastwards for a distance of 300 miles, beyond which a few

isolated eminences indicate the direction of the main axis across the Jamna plains.

The western slopes rise from 1,500 to 3,000 feet above the Marwar lowlands,
whereas on the opposite side they are scarcely more than 800 feet high, and at

many points even merge in the plateau itself. The character of the chain is also
lost here and there, the crests being scarcely indicated, or forming a labyrinth of

parallel ridges, in which it is impossible to distinguish the main axis of the system.
Composed almost entirely of gneiss, syenites, schists, and other old formations, the
Aravalis are mostly destitute of vegetation. Scarcely a bush is to be met on their
slopes, which from a distance seem covered with snow, and in the evening are all

aglow in the light of the setting sun, quartz veins of a slightly pink hue producing
the same luminous effect as the glaciers of the Alps. Some of the intervening
valleys exposed to the moist winds are occupied by lovely oases, while others are
filled with sand or brackish waters. Thus Lake Sambhar, so named from a goddess
whose statue stands on an islet, fills a depression of the Northern Aravali Hills,
where the prevailing formation is Permian rocks abounding in salt. At the
beginning of the present century this lake appears to have been 36 miles by 10
in the rainy season, but is now scarcely half that size and not much more than
3 feet deep. In August or September, after the rains, the water gradually subsides,
until in June little is left beyond a muddy bed and a thick saline incrustation,

coloured blue, red, or white, by the vegetable matter mixed with it. Masses of
thisimpure salt are detached by the labourers of the Barrar caste engaged at the
works, and forwarded to the Panjab, Rajputana, and the central provinces. The
works are conducted for the benefit of the Rajput rajas, but under the control of the
British Government, which has occasionally suspended this industry in the interest
of the salt monopoly.
On the plateau stretching east of the Aravalis, the irregular surface is here and
there studded with fresh-water lakes, but they are all artificial basins, whose
INHABITANTS THE BHILS. 175

<li
-chargeregulated by sluices.
is Such is Luke Debar, near IMaipur, which has A
circuit of no less thuu 30 miles, and is C<MS-<JU< -ntly <me of the
largest reservoir* in
the world.
The Mulwa plateau, source of the Chambul ami other atilm UN ..f the Ganges,

slopes gently north-east wards, while towards the south-west the plains of'fiujrrat
are bounded by the abrupt scarps of border chains known by various local names.

They form the transition from the Aruvuli Hills to the Vindhyas proper, skirting
tin* north side, first of the Nurbadah and then of the Son Valley. According to the
old legend, these mountains made strenuous efforts to rival the Himalayas in
But although the attempt failed, they none the lets possess A vital
leva tin] i.

importance as the transverse diaphragm of the peninsula and as an ethnical parting-


line. The sandstone, schist, marble, and other azoic formations of the Vindhyas
are amongst the oldest in India, and are connected eastwards with the gneiss rocks
of Bundelkhand, geologically the most ancient in this region. The system stretches,
in a series of ridges, for about GOO miles, from Gujerut to the frontiers of Bengal.

Under the name occupies the peninsular space limited by the Ganges
of Eaimur, it

and Son Valleys, and terminating eastwards in a long plateau, whose surface is
varied by numerous fertile depressions. The crystalline rocks of Bundelkhand are
in many places surmounted by sandstone crests, themselves crowned by manses of

lava. Most of these isolated blocks serve as foundations for formidable strongholds,

where the feudal lords of the land have often defied the most powerful sovereigns.
Although the Vindhyas contain rich argillaceous and mineral deposits, scarcely
any mining works have been opened, except in the quarries of white and red sand-
stone. In Bundelkhand also the gravels brought down with the torrents from the
Panna Hills are washed for diamonds.
The triangular plateau comprised between the Aravalis and Vindhyas has a
general north-easterly inclination. Hence all the streams flow in this direction,
nothing escaping from the southern scarps of the ranges except a few small nullahs
which reach the Narbadah intermittently. The Chambul, which is the chief river
in Mulwa, rises at an elevation of 2,000 feet, near a pass commanding a view of

the Narbadah. The main stream, soon swollen by numerous affluents, descends
through a series of cascades down to the Mokindura gorges. After its junction
with the Banas it becomes a broad river, sending down more water in the rainy
season than the Jumna which
joins after a total course of
itself, it 550 miles.

Immediately below the confluence, the Sindh, another large tributary, reaches the
Jumna at one of the most venerated spots in India. Still further down, the Betwa,
Ken, and Tons flow also from the pluteuu towurds the Jamra and Ganges. But
none of these rivers are much available for navigation, and are utilised chiefly for
irrigation purposes.

INHABITANTS THE BHILS.

ethnical groups distributed into tribes and castes are extremely


The numerous
in Rajputana and the other regions of the plateau and border ranges. Here the

physical inequalities of the surface are reflected in the great (In f its
176 INDIA AND IXDO-CHINA.

inhabitants, amongst whom are some communities which have hitherto kept almost
entirely aloof from the Aryan and Moslem invaders. These may be regarded as
practically the aborigines of the country, their arrival being antecedent to all

history and tradition. The Bhilla, or Bhils, for instance, are quite aware that

they formerly possessed the fertile plains and valleys surrounding their present
mountain fastnesses, and that they have been gradually driven into the more inac-
Their very name is said to mean " proscribed," but it is
cessible parts of the land.

uncertain whether they are of the same Dravidian stock as the populations of
Southern India, or Kolarians, like most of the tribes of the plateau. Various

usages still recall their ancient pre-eminence. At the coronation of the Rajput

princes, a Bhil, representing the former rulers, marks the forehead of the raja
with blood drawn from his thumb and great toe, thus transmitting to him the right
of inheriting the supreme power. Most of the Bhil tribes, deprived of their former

lands, and reduced to a state of barbarism, were long driven to brigandage as a last

resource. The "Robbers of the Great God" established their dens on fortified
heights, whence they swooped suddenly down on the Hindu villages and passing
caravans. At the approach of armed forces they escaped by withdrawing from
mountain to mountain, but also often showed a bold front to the smaller expeditions
led by the Rajput princes. By a combination of stratagem and daring they have
thus succeeded in preserving a large share of tribal independence. portion of A
the Aravali Hills, Baghur, Kandeish, south of the Narbadah, and most of the upland

valleys of the Vindhyas, are occupied by Bhil tribes, enjoying self-government,


still

on the condition of henceforth abstaining from plundering the neighbouring


districts. Many also find scope for their warlike propensities by taking service in
the Anglo-Indian army.
The full-blood Bhils are estimated at about a million altogether. They are
generally of middle size, and of less symmetrical build, but more robust and active
than the Hindus. The complexion is
nearly black, the nose very flat, eyes
perfectly straight, cheek-bones slightly prominent, hair long and lank, with sparse
beard, growing in small tufts on the chin. The usual dress is a simple loin-cloth,
and they go about still armed with the spear, dart, and bow. Although they
cultivate the land, their favourite pursuits are fishing and hunting. They imitate
the cries of animals with great skill, and are thus able to signal to each other without

arousing the suspicion of strangers. There are no castes, but the authority of the
chiefs named by the elders is universally acknowledged. Their religious practices
date mosth' from pre- Aryan times. They sacrifice animals to the sacred trees,
sprinkle blood on the rude altars raised by the wayside, or smear them with red
ochre, another symbol of life. metal which supplies them with
In gratitude to the

arms and implements of industry, they hang the branches with iron spear-heads or
fragments of ploughs, to which they make offerings. Amongst the deities of the
Brahmanic mythology, they pay most respect to the Ape-god Hanuman, as if he
were regarded as representing the old dispossessed races. After the suppression of
c recent revolt the British authorities have consented to abolish half the taxes,

to appoint no police-stations in the country, and prohibit the Mohammedans from


THE RAJPUTS AND OTHER HINDU ELEMENTS. 177

entering certain sacred villa-. > l;\ ,, M c rl;niM> of this curious


treaty, they aim
engage not to compel any Bhil women U- \v -i^ln <l.
t

The Hliils have IM< ii di\< i-dy mingled with the surrounding jMipulationa, and
various groups have thu> Kern developed, which form insensible transitions to tin-

civilised peoph-s of the plains. The Mhairs


or Mugri, occupying the northern
Aruvuli Valleys, are usually regarded as forming a distinct nationality,
numbering
from 300,000 to 400,000, and giving its name to the Mhairwura district But
most of them present the same type as the Bhils, whom they also resembled in their
usages until they became gradually assimilated in this respect to the Hindus. Like
"
the other wild tribes of the they were formerly known as jaliia, or people of
hills,

the pal," or fortified enclosures, within which their dwellings were scattered about.
But under the direct administration of the British most of the Mhairs have
"
abandoned their " pals and settled in the valleys, where roads have been con-
structed, and reservoirs formed at favourable points for irrigation purposes.
They
now themselves Hindus, and practise the Bruhmanical rites, but with so little
call

zeal that those even of the higher castes eat flesh and drink fermented liquors.
"
The Minas, another " pulitu community, have departed still more from the
aboriginal type. Scattered over the Jaipur territory, between the Aravali Hills
and the Jamna, and especially in the valley of the Bqnas River, they have become

intermingled with the Jat peasantry, whose dialect they speak, and whose usages
they have adopted. They are said to number upwards of 200,000.

THE RAJPUTS AND OTHER HINDU ELEMENTS.

The Rajputs, who have given their name to one of the plateau formations, as
well as to the lowlands lying west of the Aravali Hills, are probably immigrants
who arrived subsequently to the first Aryan invasion. Although claiming descent
from the warlike Kshatrya caste, and tracing the cradle of their race to the sacred
Hindu Ajodhya, on the Gungetic plains, they are connected only in an
city of
indirect way with the true Eshatryas. Driven from the banks of the Ganges towards
the plateaux, they did not occupy the Malwa district till the period from the tenth
tillthe twelfth century of the vulgar era. All the tribal chiefs became Rajputs,
" sons of one father " but
; many amongst them, claiming descent from a cow or
a snake, are either Bhils, Gonds, or of some other aboriginal stock. Their valour
and success in in the eyes of the local Aryans, and in most
arms soon ennobled them
of the states the " Sons of Kings," as the term Rajput really means, take prece-
dence, if not by right, at least by might, over the Brahmans themselves. Nor
can

there be any doubt that they soon contracted alliances with the old Hindu families.
There is scarcely a royal house in India unconnected with the Rajputs, and in

families take
il
parts but especially in the Himalayan valleys, the reigning
the title of Rajput Kshatryas. But, however widespread throughout the peninsula,
majority of the population, and
the Rajputs nowhere constitute the arc numerically

important chiefly in Mewar and the Northern Rujputana


States.
" "
Since the period of the invasion the thirty-six A'u/a, or royal races, sprung
178 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of the Sun and Moon, have maintained their division into mclia
(tribes), gotra

(clans),
and campa (sub-clans), all distinguished by special traditions. In the
north and north-west the most numerous are the Rahtor, descended from the rahf,
or " backbone," of India, and often known as the " Fifty Thousand Swords." In
the Thar oases of the west are grouped the Bhatti ;
in the north-east, the Kach-
whala ;
in the east, the Chauhan ;
and in Bundelkhand, the mixed Bundela tribes.

Mewar, in the south, is the home of the Sasodia, who claim to be the purest of all

the Rajputs, as the direct descendants of Rama, hero of the Aryan epic poems.
"
The rana, or " great king of Udaipur, is venerated by all Hindus as the repre-
sentative of the ancient solar race. Although far inferior in power and wealth to
" Sun "
many other native rulers, he is still a among kings, and of all rajas he
alone is at once priest and sovereign. The marriage of the secondary rajas with
his daughters formerly constituted the only political tie between the different royal
houses nor would he ever deign to honour even a Mohammedan emperor of Delhi
;

with the hand of a royal princess, in return for titles, treasure, or territory. At

royal assemblies he takes precedence, and all Rajputs regard him as an infallible
"
judge in matters of etiquette, rank, and points of honour things held by the Sons
"
of Kings in far greater esteem than questions of doctrine or religious rites.

Notwithstanding their adoption of Brahmanism, the Rajputs display, as a rule,


for the Hindu deities, but they still venerate the Sword, the goddess who
little zeal

led them to the conquest of India. Soldiers above all, their only care is to keep

the subject races under control. As sons of conquerors, all are noble, and even
the poorest amongst them maintain a certain equality in their relations with the
rich. Mostly tall, well made, handsome, and of haughty carriage, they still present

the appearance of true rulers of men amid the surrounding races. They fight
only on horseback, preceded by banners and other martial circumstances. Their
women have the reputation of being great coquettes, and extremely fond of
finery.
The warlike Rajput proud of their royal blood, have preserved many
tribes,
customs which recall the feudal times of the West. In most of their States the
land is whose holders dispose absolutely of the crops, merely
divided into fiefs,

paying the sovereign personal homage and military service in time of war. On
state-days the vassals, with their traditional emblems peacock, lion, or other
animal rally round their chief, at whose side stands the family minstrel, singing

his ancestral glories, his battles, loves, and splendour. He also consults the stars, casts
lots, and the bearer of challenges or friendly messages.
is The chivalrous Rajputs
certainly equalled the paladins of the West in their heroic devotion to the fair sex.
" It is the
part of man to perform great deeds, of woman to inspire them," was a
sentiment which they shared with the knights of the Courts of Love. They also
faced death to recover a flower or a favour, or engaged in tournaments, or even

battles, for the prize of a bracelet. A


persecuted princess sends a ring or some
other symbol to her champion, and the flame of war is at once lit up among the
rival tribes. Even still no marriage is concluded until the betrothed sends to the

bridegroom a cocoanut, emblem of her choice, or places a wreath of flowers around


THE RAJPUTS AND OTHER HINDU ELEMENTS. 179

Once a "
his neck. wife, she takes the title of and the husband undertake*
divine,"
nothing without consulting lu>r. Tin- n I'procul duties
.
are those of mutual
till death, with the reserve that the wife alone mounted the
fidelity fiery pyre at
the death of her partner in life. The history of Kajputana in little more than a
" "
long series of wars undertaken for the Helens of India. The last great \. nt of
English conquest, was concluded by the murder of the princes*
this sort, before the

forwhose hand the great feudatories were contending.


Marriage always began by an elopement. Being strictly cxogamous, the
Rajputs could not marry within their own clan hence they took, and still take,
;

their wives from another tribe, either by real or simulated force. But in their
excessive pride of race they were reluctant to contract alliances with men of
on the other hand, these events were accompanied with so
inferior birth, while,

much display that whole fortunes were often dissipated. The only means of
avoiding this double danger was female infanticide, which practice had become
universal before its suppression through the influence of the British Residents.
According to a report published in 1818 by a Bombay literary society, scarcely

sixty girls had survived amongst eight thousand families in one Rajput district
The only tribe that had remained faithful to human instincts were the Moslem
Sodas, who had consequently long acquired a sort of monopoly in supplying wives
to the noble families of Catch and Rajputana. The women of this tribe having a

great reputation for beauty and intelligence, the chiefs of the remotest tribes
eagerly seek them in marriage, offering as much as 1,000 purchase-money.
The almost complete dearth of women amongst the Rajput tribes of the plateau
gave rise to a large number of half-castes, Rajput on the father's, Bhil, Mhair, or
M ina on the mother's side. Amongst these half-breeds the customs and institutions

were the same as amongst the pure Rajputs, and infanticide, as well as human
sacrifices, were till recently practised by them. Down to the year 1833 a Rajput
and Bhil half-caste was immolated every time the Rana of Udaipur prepared to
cross a river. The blood of the victim, mingling with the stream, was expected to
satisfy the evil spirits, and divert their wrath from the
head of the sovereign.
Some of these mixed tribes are nominally Mohammedan, although their conduct
is regulated less by the laws of Islam than by the national usages. Opium, one of
the chief crops on the Mulwa plateau, is the great scourge of the inhabitants.
Besides the Rajputs and aborigines, all the other Hindu races are represented
in this region. are very numerous, and one of their families has
The Brahmans
boon entrusted with the custody of the archives of the Rajput nobility. Trade is

chiefly in the hands of the Juinas, and in the north the land is tilled by Jats and
In the east the peasantry are also Hindu immigrants of various castes,
Gujars.
and in the south the Kurnbi, Sudia, and Koli, or Kuli, have penetrated from the
of ransoming
Gujerat lowlands. The Grassia caste, which claimed the privilege
all travellers, is represented by a few tribes in Mulwa as well us in Gujerat, and there
are also the Charuns, descendants of those guides and protectors who guaranteed
the life and of all entrusted to them. Before the opening of roads and
property
the traffic of Rajputana and Malwa was carried on by the Banjari,
railways, all
180 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

a nomad caste whom many have identified with the European gipsies. They are

distinguished above all Hindus by their strength, handsome appearance, and


activity, and they are grouped in tribes or bauds
of escorts to caravans, whose only

home is the public highway. From time immemorial these Banjari, Gohar, or
Lambadi have been charged with the transport of supplies, and as distributors of
corn they have acquired an almost sacred character. Their convoys, often com-
the god of the herd, decked
prising several thousand oxen, are preceded by a bull,
with ribbons and ornaments. To him are brought the sick, to recover their health,
and in his presence the marriage tie ismade binding. Such was their reputation
for honesty, that the Banjari had only to attach the invoices of their goods to the

horns of the oxen, in order to pass freely through the hands of the custom-house
officers at the entrance of the towns.

TOPOGRAPHY.

In these States, where the outward forms of the feudal system have been
preserved, the cities have retained their warlike appearance, like those of mediaeval
times in Europe. All are the capitals of kings or princes, grouping their houses
on the slopes of a hill, or round some isolated crest crowned by the frowning walls
and towers of a castle. The picturesque buildings of this citadel seem to have
more importance than all the rest of the city, which usually consists of a chaos of

hovels, interspersed with a few temple domes. Nevertheless, since the pacification
of the land, many feudal lords have come down from their strongholds, and built
themselves palaces on the hill-side, or even on the plain, in the midst of verdant

parks, or on the banks of the sacred tanks. The suburbs, like the central parts,
are grouped round the residence of the chief, while on the plains themselves the

glory of the Rajput princes is commemorated by the little Chathi, or domes


supported by columns, which mark the spot where their bodies were formerly
consumed, together with their devoted wives and slaves. The Rajput architecture
presents in its ensemble an original character. Far from being mere copies of the
Pan jab,Delhi, or Gujerat buildings, the Rajputana palaces have a style of their
own, combining the simplicity of grand lines with the elegance and finish of the
details. A
special feature of this architecture is the crescent-shaped eaves

encircling the upper part of the windows, or fringing the base of the domes.
The small town of Mount Abu, summer capital of the British administration, is
one of the most famous for its architectural splendours. The Jaina temples of

Deicalra, lying a little over a mile to the north of the English station, are con-

spicuous for their rich sculptures. Two especially, built of white marble between
the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, are marvels of ornamental work, unsurpassed
for the delicacy of their stone carvings. C/iandracati, one of the first cities in the

peninsula, stood formerly on the plain to the south-west of Mount Abu, but the
ancient temples and palaces is now marked only
site of its by heaps of rubbish.
Sirohi, capital of a petty Rajput State famous for its manufacture of arms, occupies
a spur to the north of Mount Abu, and close to the desert stands the British outpost
IMKHIOK OK A JAIXA TEMPLE ON MOt M
TOPOGRAPHY. 181

of Erinpur* guarding the frontier towards Murwur. One of the highest orwto of
the Anivali* i-. <T. \\ned by the fortress of Kumnlnrir, a vast accumulation of
bastions, towers, temples, and palaces, the whole suniiunt-<l \>\ th- llailulmabal,
or " Palace of Clouds," at an altitude <if :i,400 feet above the tea.

Udafjmr, the prenent capital of Mi-war, lies further east, near the source of the
Banos, and at some distance from the Rujputunu Railway. The "City of the
Dawn," as its name means,
is a
comparatively modern place, dating only from the
latter the sixteenth century.
liulf of But it boasts of the largest and most
sumptuous palace in India. Built of marble and granite, resting partly on arcades,

Fijf. 76. MOCST ABO CKILINO or A JAINA SAHCTCAHT.

this magnificent pile, with its terraces, pavilions, and gardens, is reflected in the

waters of an artificial reservoir supplied by the river lianas. In the neighbour-


hood is Ahar, the city of the dead, occupying the site of an ancient capital. Here
are deposited the ashes of the " Sun-Kings," beneath marble domes between richly
and on the banks
sculptured columns and balustrades. In the north-east of Mewur,
of the Banas, are the ruins of the marvellous C/iittor, which was long the residence
of the Susudia sovereigns. Thomas Roe, English ambassador at th<? Court of the
Great Moghul early in the seventeenth rentury, states that in his time this place
contained one hundred thousand stone houses. The old citadel crowned the summit
" EM* Indie*."
So named by some patriotic son of Erin,
a* mentioned in GUrdon's Journey to the
182 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of a narrow ridge, 3 miles long, and rising from 300 to 400 feet above the
surrounding plain. Amidst the rank vegetation there still stand three hundred
temples, palaces, columns, and tombs in a good state of preservation, forming a
striking contrast with the wretched hovels of the present inhabitants. Chittor,
" built
by the great Indra himself," is altogether a labyrinth of monuments, all
remarkable for their fine proportions But absolutely unique
and exquisite details.

is the Khirat
Khumb, or " Tower by King Khumbu at the
of Victory," erected

beginning of the sixteenth century. It forms a prism, 120 feet high and 32 feet
broad, divided into nine columnar storeys, which are separated one from the other

by sculptured friezes, and surmounted by a sort of tiara. The stone face of the
monument is covered with thousands of statues in relief.

Tulati, at the foot of the Chitt, or rock, has succeeded the ancient capital, but is
a place of no importance. The commercial activity of the country, formerly centred

Fig. 77. PLATEAU OP MOUNT ABU.


Scale 1 : 64,000.

2,200 Yards.

in Bhilwara, north of Chittor, has been attracted southwards to the British military

station of Nimach, central cantonment for the Rajput States between the Banas

and Chambal Rivers. In the Aravali region the chief place is also an English
station, the ancient Ajmir (Ajamida}, now capital of the British enclave of Mhair-

wara, and converging-point of the three railways traversing Rajputana. Like its
neighbour Nasirabad, it is a city of bazaars, and some of the palaces recently built
here by the Jaina merchants in the florid Rajput style rank with the finest in
India. The few ancient monuments of are worthy to compare with those
Ajmir
of Chittor,and amongst the rural attractions of the vicinity is the " Garden of

Splendour," where the Moghul emperors erected a castle, now residence of the
British governor. On the verge of the desert, 9 miles farther west, lies the famous
sacred Lake Poshkur, one of the most frequented places of pilgrimage in the penin-
TOPOOBAI'HY

tula. It is surrounded by temples, pavilions, turrets, galleries, and white marble


glints, while older buildings ore seen In-low its
present le\el. Ajinir in the lit.

city of I!aja>tan, and tin- Hritish Government has here founded two of the mcxit

important scholastic Mteblilhniaitl in the Empire. One of these i* tin- M;i\.,

Fig. 78. JAIPUR AMD AMHEK.


1 : 10.000.

75-50 . 76'

,6 Mile..

College, exclusively reserved for the sons of rajas,


who ore here instructed by

European teachers.
is one of the
Although only the capital of a petty dependent State, Jaipur
and the " Paris of India," claiming to be
largest cities on the plateau,
calls itself

the most elegant and best-regulated place between the Indus and Ganges. Dating
of the older capital*
only from the year 17'J!>, it lacks the picturesque appearance
bl.n ks. by broad streets running at right
of Rajastan, but disposed in regular
it is

angles, and flanked by granite or


marble houses. Hut there are no fine buildings,
and the palace is a mere aggregate of tasteless edifices standing in the midst of
184 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

lovely grounds. But some remarkable monuments are found at Amber, 4 miloa
to the north-east on the east slope of the Kuli-kho, or " Black Mountains," and
" Universal
connected with the modern city by fortified lines. Formerly the
Mother" and "Queen of the Mountains," Amber is now abandoned to the fakirs

and monkeys, while nature has formed a green setting to its gilded domes and
many-coloured pavilions. Magnificent palaces, some in ruins, others still
standing,
are also met and Bhartpur (Bharatpur}, which lie farther north,
in Altcar, Dig,
near the plains of the Jamna, and which combine to make Rajastan the Promised
Land of Art. The fortress of Bhartpur, after long resisting the English, was
finally reduced by an army of 25,000 men in 1826.

Scarcely less rich in monumental structures is the Chambal basin to the east of
Rajputana. Mandu, one of its now forsaken cities, is unrivalled for its vast extent
and picturesque position on a southern spur of the Vindhyas, which rises 1,600
feet above the deep valley of the Narbadah. Mandu has a circuit of no less than
36 miles, and covers twice as much ground as Paris but within the ramparts ;

nothing now remains except a small hamlet lost in the jungle. A few Bhil savages
and religious mendicants are the only human inhabitants of what was once the

capital of Malwa, whose overgrown ruins are now tenanted by the tiger, leopard,
and bear. Nevertheless, there still remain some fine edifices, palaces, mosques,
and especially baoli, or storied colonnades, carried down the rocky walls of the
mountain to the level of the running waters. During the first half of the six-
teenth century Mandu lost its rank as capital of Malwa, and although the Moghul
emperor Jehanghir resided here for a brief interval, it was finally abandoned after

being wasted by the Mahratta freebooters. Its marbles are now converted into
lime for the buildings of Dhar, a small territorial capital lying farther north on
an affluent of the Chambal.
The modern town of Indore is at present the most flourishing place in the Upper
Chambal basin. Capital of one of the most powerful native states on the Malwa
plateau, has become the centre of the opium trade.* Here is one of those royal
it

colleges where the heirs to the native thrones are instructed in the art of wise
government under British control. Mhao, or Mhow, one of the largest military
stations in India, lies a little to the south of Indore, and is connected by rail with
Nimach and Nasirabad, the chief British cantonments in Rajputana. This line,
constructed mainly for strategic purposes, leaves to the right the most important
" seven "
city in the country, the famous Uj jain, one of the holy places where
reigned the renowned Vikramaditya, the date of whose birth forms the starting-
point of the Hindu era. It was through Ujjain that the Indian geographers traced
their first meridian, which ran thence southwards to Lanka (Ceylon) and north-
wards to Mount Meru. The
ruins of the old city are scattered over the gardens to
the north of the present enclosure, although a gate is still shown near the palace
which is said to have formed part of Vikramaditya's castle. Of the great temple
of Barolli, on the Middle Chambal, nothing remains except a few wonderful frag-

ments, amongst which are some columns whose shafts are formed by four female
Value of the opium consigned in 1873 to the British Government 1,045,000.
!
TOPOGRA1 11Y

statues. Farther we*t lies ]lum/i, residence of a Itajput and ovenhadowed


raj.-i,

by a group of palaces rivalling in U-auty tho*e <.f


Fdaipur.
In part nf India the nio-i considerable native Slat.- is that governed bv the
tlii-.

of the Sindhiaa, descendants of. the Mahratta "


dynasty slipper bearers," who
ran Northern iJajputana. Tlu-ir capital, (i.r.ilt,,,-, lies close to the
plainx of tJie
.lainiri iM-twrt-n tlu-Chaiiibal and Sindli Ki\ .T \ ALuve tin-
all.-y v i.r rather the
c-iiy.
twin rises u sandstone rock about a mile and a half
c-iti-<,
long and .'iOO yards wide.

Fig. 79. OWALIOR AND MoUAH.


Scato 1 :
800,000.

EjofG- 78*5'

6 Mu. .

which commands the whole country ior a distance of over 60 miles in every direction.
Of all the isolated crags scattered over the land, crowned each with a fortreas, not
one was so well suited for the construction of a vast citadel, and the works of all

kinds piled up at this spot show that the natives were at all times alive to its

strategic importance. They were no less stnu-k with the singular beauty of theae
precipitous white cliffs standing out amidst the verdure and pigmy dwellings of
the plain. Colossal figures of Hindu divinities hewn out of the live rock attest

their veneration for this hallowed spot. Since the eighth century of the vulgar
77
186 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

era the stronghold of Gwalior has been one of those for the possession of which
the masters of India have most fiercely contended. In these latter times the
English, after having twice stormed the rock, have added greatly to its defensive
works. A
portion of the summit is crowned by a magnificent palace, dating from
the grand epoch of Hindu art at the close of the fifteenth and beginning of the
sixteenth century, and connected with other buildings which, with their gables,

towers, domes, terraces, colonnades, and sculptured fa9ades, form the most pictu-

resque group of edifices in India. Jaina and other Hindu temples of various epochs
also form part of the vast architectural museum of Gwalior. Even in the interior
of the rock about a hundred excavations of all sorts contain curious Jaina sculp-

tures, amongst which is one no less than 55 feet high. The British military town
of Morar, lying on the plain about 4 miles east of Gwalior, keeps watch over
Sindhia's capital. Towards the south-east British cantonments have also been
established near the cities of Dhatiya and Jhami, both of which are commanded by
rocks crowned with ancient fortresses. On a hill 6 miles north-west of Dhatiya
stand the four-and-twenty Jaina temples of the Sunagarh, or " Golden Castle,"

dating from various epochs subsequent to the twelfth century, and all differing
from each other in their style. The line of the horizon is thus broken by hundreds
of domes, shatryas, spires, clock-towers, and bulging cupolas like those of the

Russian churches.
Travellers are attracted to the valley of the Upper Betwa by monuments of
more ancient date than those of Gwalior. Here are the most complete and interest-
ing remains of Buddhist architecture in the peninsula, some of which are altogether
unrivalled for the delicacy of their sculptures. Between the two cities of Bhopal
and Bhika stretches an almost uninhabited region, in which are grouped about
sixty distinct Buddhist topes, rediscovered, so to say, by some English travellers
in

1822. These " Bhilsa topes," as they are called, were by no means the largest
raised by the Buddhists, for several others are mentioned of far grander propor-
tions. But those strewn over theplains, or erected along the military highways,
could scarcely escape destruction, whereas the Bhilsa mounds, lying off the great
routes, in the midst of savage populations, remained for centuries sheltered by the

jungle. The chief tope is that of Sanchi, which forms a semicircular dome over
300 feet in circuit, pierced here and there by narrow openings now overgrown with
shrubs. The outer terraces are strewn with the debris of richly sculptured pillars,
but much still survives of the stone enclosure. Two of the entrance porticoes are
still standing, and one of them is almost intact, with its marvellous series of carv-

ings, representing elephants, lions, chimseras, gods, and divine emblems, besides
valuable historic records, religious and civil ceremonies, scenes illustrating local

usages, the whole popular life of Buddhist India over two thousand years ago.
The Sanchi porticoes, evidently imitated from old squared timber prototypes, are
found in a scarcely modified form in China, and especially in Japan. They are
the so-called ioriyi, such as those standing at the entrance of the Naitsi temples,

which, but for the Bhilsa monuments, might be referred to a local Japanese or else to a
Polynesian origin. Amongst the numerous antiquities of the Bhilsa district there
TOPOGRAPHY. 187

are some, such an the sculptured


grottoes of Udghiri, which are associated with cults
<lijfrrent from that of Buddha.

The triangle formed by the Ganges and Soneast of the Betwa contains several

capitals of British districts or of natiye States, either


commercially important or
else possessing some of those beautiful structures
which, in any other less
country

Fig. 80.-. EAST OATI OP THE SA.VCHI Tori.

rich in grand monuments of the past, would suffice to render them famous. Sagar,
one of the great military stations of the Central Provinces, has several temples,
while Chatarpur groups its houses, paper-mills, and other factories round the ruins
of a palace. The decayed city of Kajraha still contains 18 perfectly preserved
yellow sandstone temples, marvels of sculpture. Naogaon (Xowgong), the military
188 INDIA AND 1NDO-CUINA.

cantonment of Bundelkhand, has developed a considerable trade. Pannah and


several other places work the diamantiferous gravels mostly lying several feet below
the surface, and yielding diamonds to the yearly 'value of 60,000, which are for-
warded chiefly to the Allahabad and Benares jewellers. West of Rcwah, which
has some coal mines, Cunningham and Beglar discovered in 1872 the remains of
the Bharahut tope, the balustrade of which is covered with figures illustrating
events in the life of Buddha and local social customs. Almost every stone bears
an inscription, so that no other ancient monument has been more useful in

reconstructing the history of the first Buddhist ages.


CHAPTER IX.

THE GANGES BASIN.


DELHI: NORTH-WEST PROVINCES, EXCLUSIVE or KVMAON AND GARIIWAL; BAMPCR; ArDH , BENAI ,

LOWER BENGAL, WEST or THE BRAHMAPUTRA.

|
HE elongated plain following the foot of the Himalayas, from the
Jamna and Ganges " gates " to the alluvial Sanderban district, is
about the size of France, but far more densely peopled. Here are
concentrated nearly 100,000,000 persons, which at the same propor-
tion would give for the whole of Asia about 25,000,000,000. Yet
this region is far from being entirely under cultivation. The usar, vast tracts lying
above the level of high water, and thus deprived of irrigation, are mere solitudes
covered with reh, a saline efflorescence resembling snow at a distance. The riverain
districts also are often interspersed with irreclaimable lagoons or morasses, while in

the low-lying region of the great delta much consists of half- submerged lands

entirely unsuited for human habitations. Altogether the country is still far from
being adapted to the wants of its occupants, and more than once in recent times
disastrous famines have resulted from defective irrigation. On the other hand, a
succession of good harvests causes a rapid increase of population, estimated at about
one million annually in the Bengal presidency during the ten years between the
returns for 1871 and 1881.

TfiE GANGES CANAL AND LOWER GANGES.

At Hard war, whereit enters the


plains, 1,000 feet above
sea level, the Ganges,
" River " in a
or Ganga, that is, the pre-eminent sense, is already a considerable
stream, formed by the junction of the Alaknanda and Bhagirati, flowing from Mount
Moira and other Central Himalayan crests. Although over five-sixths of the mean
discharge diverted to the navigable and irrigation canal, which ramifies through
is

the doab, enough remains to allow light craft to ascend as far as the Hardwar

gorge. This great canal, which again joins the river at Cawnpore, after having
fi Ttilised a space over 7,000 square miles in extent, is the grandest work of the
kind ever constructed. The main channel has a length of 300 miles in a straight

line, and at the first lock the mean discharge is 8,000 cubic feet per second, or
190 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

about four times that of the Muzza in the Po basin, which is the largest irrigating
canal in Europe. The main branch alone, apart from its numerous ramifications,

required a displacement of earth about equal to that of the Suez Canal, or upwards
of 2,450,000,000 cubic feet altogether. At Rurki, near Hardwar, have been con-
structed the chief workshops, the principal lock, the basins, and the college of the

engineers by whom this great undertaking has been carried out.


After junction with the canal, and farther on with the Jamna, the Ganges
its

impinges near Chanar on the last escarpments of the sandstone hills belonging to
the Vindhya system. But beyond this point it flows henceforth in an easterly
direction as far as the breach opened by the united Brahmaputra-Ganges waters

Fig. St. CANALS OF THE GANOBTIC DOAB.


Scale 1 :
8,500,000.

EofGr

180 Miles.

between the Rajmahal and Garro Hills. Above this breach the Ganges is joined
by all its the
great tributaries Gogra or Sarju, Gandak, Baghamati, and Kosi
from the Himalayas, the Son from the Amarkantak uplands in the Yindhyas.
This southern affluent, which flows through a depression forming a north-eastern
continuation of the Narbadah Valley, differs greatly in its character from the
northern feeders. While these send down a considerable volume throughout the

year, the Son is occasionally almost completely exhausted during the dry season.
But after the tropical rains its discharge is sometimes equal to that of the Ganges
itself, the flow thus oscillating between 600 and 1,720,000 cubic feet per second.*
" '
Hunter, Imperial Gazetteer of India.
THE GANGES CANAL AND LOWER GANGES.
191

At low water the river


bed, at some
point* several miles wide, is occupied by dune*
shifting with the winds, and rendering the passage extnm, U dilhYult f,, r traveller*.
Hut it is now crossed by a
railway bridge 1,380 yard* long, in 28 section*, and
resting on piers sunk 33 feet into the ground, altogether one of the
grandest
engineering triumphs of modern times, the execution of which occupied no lew
than fifteen years of incessant with the forces of nature.
struggles Owing to it* Bcklc

F\K. 82. MutitT MUIBA.

character the Son is unavailable for navigation but it floats down vast quantities
;

of buraboo lumber from the plateaux to the plains, and recent works regulating the

discharge have also rendered it useful for purpose*.


irrigation
A transverse aittcut
or embankment, 4,000 yards long, retains the stream at it* issue from the hill* near
the village of Dehri, and diverts a considerable portion to two large canals skirting
both banks and ramifying far into the plains. The western or largest of the*e
canals receives a mean supply of 4,450 cubic feet per second.
192 INDIA AND 1NDO-CHINA.

During the twenty- two centuries great changes seem to have taken place
last

in the hydrography of this region. Mcgasthenes, envoy from the court of Seleucus
Ts'icator, places the city of Palibothra at the confluence of the Ganges and Erannoboas.

But unanimous in identifying Palibothra, the Pataliputra of the


historians are
Chinese pilgrim H'wen Tsang, with the modern city of Patna, while most archaeo-
" the third river
logists agree with Ravenshaw in recognising in the Erannoboas,
in India for the abundance of its waters," not the Gandak, which discharges over

against Patna, but the Hiranyabaha, the "yellow," or "auriferous," a


name for which
the Son is indebted to its golden sands. But this river no longer reaches the
Ganges at Patna. Between the years 1780 and 1835 it seems to have been deflected
about 3 miles higher up, and the confluence lies now nearly 10 miles above Patna.

Fig. 83. CANALS OF THE SON BASIN.


Scale 1 :
1,400,000.

84' EGfGr
30 Miles.

Between these two points old watercourses and uncertain cnannels, flooded only in
still show the traces of these continual shif
the rainy season, tings westwards.
Other equally important changes have been accomplished during the historic
period in the course of the Ganges itself. All its present windings intersect the
older meanderings as laid down on the early charts, from which it appears that the
main stream constantly shifting its bed by eating away, and withdrawing from, both
is

banks alternately. Thus in the middle of the last century the Ganges wound through
the plains at a long distance from the Rajmahal Hills, but in 1788 it had not only

approached, but had actually cut for itself a new channel through these hills, so
that isolated rocks previously on the right now stood near the left bank. Ten
years later on all vestige of these reefs had disappeared, while the place where the
TIIK GANGES I) I

main current formerly How ed .

i|.il l>y an inland 8 miles long and i

J miles l.nud risinir ;il'\r tin- highest \\n\>-r \.l.


1. Tliis di-j.la. m. nt of the
,

<! and the continual cnmioOftod tin- l;;ijm; li;il Hills explain th<
alines t

the citic* of I'amhvah ;inl (i;mr. LakiKiuti or .lanatalud, \\hich ha\.

sivrly iiliaiuliuird lv tin- main Mi-ram. At the-


beginning of the prewnt century
the Ganges cunn- imwherc nearer than 7 <.r 8 miles to the ruins of Oaur, and the
villap-s that have succeeded this place communicate with the river only through
it- the Maha Naddi, or else through a brook navigable in the
atilurnt, rainy season.
Most of the 20 square miles over which the ruins can be traced are now covered
with swamps and jungle. A few walls and portals of mosques are all that now
remain of the edifices which have been destroyed by the vegetation, storms, and espe-

Fig. 84. WINDINGS or TUB GANGEH AT COLOOSO.


: 40.ono.

EoG 87*20' 8750

HflH

Malduh and Murshidabad. Analogous changes


cially the builders of the cities of
have been produced throughout the whole alluvial region of the Ganges and its
tributaries, whose shiftings have compelled the people constantly to abandon and
rebuild their cities.

THE GANGES DELTA.


Gaur marks the spot where the upper branches of the delta formerly bifurcated.
But the delta itself has been bodily displaced gradually towards the south.
According as tin- alluvia encroached seawards, the upper plains became more

consolidated, confining the current to a more permanent bed, and preventing it

from ramifying to the right and left. At present the head of the delta stands
17 miles south of the ruins of Gaur, and 210 miles from the sea as the bird flie,or
194 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

290 miles following the windings of the stream. The whole region comprised
within the farthest channels of the Ganges and Brahmaputra exceeds 32,000 square
miles altogether. Here the main branch, which takes the name of Padma, or
Padda (" Lotus "),
winds south-eastwards to
junction with the Jamuna, which
its

is the true Brahmaputra. The secondary branch retains the name of Bhagirati, as
the sacred source of the Ganges, and, notwithstanding its reduced size, this is, in
fact, still the most venerated stream.

Fig. 85. RUINS OF GAUR. Although now closed even to small


Scale 1 :
600,000. craft for a great part of the year,

there can be no doubt that the


main current flowed formerly
through this channel. But the
rupture of the embankments, for-

merly confining the Padma to a


narrow bed, enabled that branch to
overflow eastwards to the Brahma-

putra, which was till then distinct


from the Ganges. Such is probably
the meaning of the legend, which
relates how at this point the sacred

stream was swallowed up by a


demon. Continuing its
southerly
course through almost perfectly
oval meanderings, the Bhagirati,
after receiving the Jellinghi and
Churni (Mata Bhanga) from the
main branch, takes the name of
Hugli thence to the sea. Towards
the east the whole region stretching
to the Brahmaputra is intersected

by channels continually shifting


their beds and even their names,
so that with every fresh inundation

the topography and nomenclature


88' E.OfGr
of this district become modified.
1-2 Mik-.-..
Towards the west traces also remain
of old watercourses, and here the
Rupnarayan estuary regarded by the natives as one of the Gangetic mouths.
is still

The Hugli itself has undergone remarkable changes since the Europeans first
established their factories on its banks. Several towns which formerly enjoyed
direct relations with the western seaports are now accessible only to light craft.

But while the channels of Satgaon, Chinsurah, Chandernagor,


formerly
or still

belonging to other European powers, became choked with mud through neglect,
the English have taken all the greater care to keep open the Hugli at least as far
THE CANOES DELTA. 1M
as Calcutta. No
expense has been spared to deepen the channel, strengthen the
banks, prevent the shoals from shifting, and by nkilfully controlling tin- till,-,
th-y
have converted one of the most dangerous branches into a
comparatively eacv
way. The bore, rising 6 or 7 feet above the ordinary level, and
i

rushing
up stream at the rate of 26 feet per second, is
still formidable to sniull craft. But ships Fig. 86. Cot; MI or THEBH Annum,
to 2o or 26 feet now JILLIXOHI, AMD MATA BHAMOA.
drawing up easily sail by
the Damuduh and Rupnarayan estuaries, where
so many vessels were formerly swallowed in
the quicksands.

If, commercially speaking, the Hugli has


become the Ganges, if it must even be
regarded
historically as the continuation of the sacred
stream, the true mouth in respect of volume is

certainly the Meghna, which also receives the


Brahmaputra, and which follows the direction
of the Padma from north-west to south-east.
Of the delta channels the Meghna, with its
all

island-studded estuary some 60 miles broad, is


best entitled to give its name to the common
bydrographic system of the Ganges and Brah-
maputra. Through this branch flow the un-
governable waters of the united streams
sweeping away old and forming new landmarks
along their impetuous course, building up or
destroying islands, blocking ancient and pierc-
ing fresh channels seawards. The tides also
penetrate through the Meghna farthest inland,

reaching to Rajmahal and even to the Gogra


confluence, and rising at the mouth some 13
or 14 feet. l^he phenomenon of the bore,
formidable enough in the Hugli, is fur more
tremendous in the Meghna, where it ascends
the stream in a liquid mass 20 feet high, with
a velocity of 15 miles an hour. The sound of
the rushing waters is hoard many miles away,
and to cause is probably due the local
this
.. MUn.
"
legend of the Barisal Gun," whose booming
is wafted by the winds to the banks of the Meghna. During the monsoon vessels

seldom venture on the waters of the estuary at night.

Through the Meghna large marine animals ascend hundreds of miles from the
ocean. But a species of sweet- water dolphin known as the platanitta, and said to be
of marine origin, is found in the Indus as well as in the Ganges and Brahmaputra.
How this cetacean, which reaches nearly to llardwar, has gradually adapted itself
196 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

to its present habitat, and bow it lias crossed the space now separating the Ganges
and Indus basins, are questions which some have endeavoured to answer by the
north-cast wards to the
hypothesis of an old inlet of the Arabian Sea penetrating
Himalayas, and gradually transformed to estuaries and fluvial plains. The inter-
vening land between Saharanpur and Ludiana is in any case only 910 feet above

sea level, while the streams descending towards this water-parting have often
modified their course, flowing now to one, now to another, of the two river basins.*
Another remarkable phenomenon of the Gangetic fauna is the* isolation of the
bombifrons crocodile, which is met only in the duns above Hard war, while the
gavial frequents the lower reaches of the river.
The mean discharge of the Ganges has certainly diminished since the middle of
the present century, mainly owing to the small quantity of water now returned to
it
by the irrigation canals in the plains. Nevertheless it is still able to send past
the Rajmahal Hills over 1,750,000 cubic feet per second during the floods. But
it falls to 21,000 in times of long drought, so that the mean is estimated at from

420,000 to 525,000, a quantity representing about half of the annual rainfall in the
basin. During the inundations the banks overflow far and wade on the plains.
But instead of contending with the forces of nature, the riverain populations have

adapted themselves to its laws. Except near the large cities, they have abstained
from constructing costly embankments, which require to be constantly strengthened
with fresh works, and raised higher and higher according as the bed of the river
becomes elevated by alluvial deposits. Being thus unable to shelter themselves
behind a barrier of dykes, like the inhabitants of the Hoang-ho, Loire, Po, or
Mississippi, they cannot till the land with a view to tardy harvests. Hence two
crops are raised, one during the period of low water, the other immediately after
the floods have abated, while the soil is still muddy. The great danger of sudden

eruptions is thus avoided, while the land is allowed incessantly to renew its fertility.
In the absence of natural eminences, artificial terraces have been constructed for
the riverain towns and villages above high- water level, which is about 45 feet at

Benares, diminishing gradually seawards. The centres of population are thus


transformed to temporary islets during the floods. Unfortunately these works are
carried on without much method, the excavations made to procure the necessary
materials long remain the receptacles of all sorts of noxious refuse, and thus become
hotbeds of disease, until they are at last filled by the alluvial deposits.

THE SANDERBANS.
A very large proportion of these deposits are also precipitated on the low-lying
banks, and on the chars or tct/s of the Sanderbans. Fresh sandbanks and islands
are thus continually formed about the mouths of the delta, requiring the marine
charts and the instructions of the pilots to be modified after every survejf Towards .

the east, about the Meghna estuary, the land is rapidly encroaching on the Gulf of

Chittagong, while in the west the delta seems to have undergone no increase in
"
Medlicott and Blanford, " Manual of the Geology of India
T1IH SANDEBBANS. 107

llrre the fresh accumulations an- often swept the ryclanflt,


away by
he-ides which the middle delta, like the low-lying tracts ulout the I'M, Amazon,
and several other laru'e rivers, seems to be included in an area of slow nulwidence.
Nowhere In-low the upper alluvial dejKwits has the least truce been discovered of
the marine formations \vhieh we .should expect to find if the sea had within u
recent ^enln^ical 'i>och occupied t he j.l.
lins .,!' l.ou.-r I',, n- : ,| \ _!..,)( .
u: .k -,,.,

depth of 470 foet at Calcutta


brought up nothing hut the remains of a land flora,
thmal shells, and fresh-water sedimentary matter. A bed of crystalline jr
was even penetrated, which must have come either from the Rajmuhul Hills or
from rocky eminences, which erosions have since caused to disappear from the
region of the delta. Hence throughout the modern geological epoch the Gangetic
delta must have always stood above sea level. The most recent marine formations
found towards the north at the foot of the Garro Hills all belong to the tertiary
get
But although dry land for such a vast period, the soil of Calcutta has never

ceased to subside, for the old vegetable deposits penetrate to depths fur below th

present level of the sea. This phenomenon of subsidence, all the more remurkuble
that the opposite movement has been observed on the Orissa and Arrukan seaboards
on both sides of the Bay of Bengal, probably continued south of the delta ill the
is

direction of the central depression in the bay. This " swatch of no ground," as it
is called, lies about 80 miles to the south-east of the mouth of the Hugli, but close

to thebanks obstructing the entrance of the Mutluh and neighbouring estuaries.


The waters surrounding it are only from 130 to 2oO feet deep, whereas in the
interior of the cavity the sounding-line sinks l,tfoO and even 1,050 feet without

reaching the bottom. According to Fergusson, this crater-like formation must be


attributed solely to the rotatory action of the tides and marine currents which meet
at the northern extremity of the bay.
The southern region of the delta is a sort of neutral zone between land and
water. It is connected with the terra firina by its vegetation, with the sea by the
liquid masseseverywhere penetrating through it, and even completely submerging
it
during the spring-tides and storms. This tract is known by the name of
Sanderhan (Sunderband), a term variously explained by etymologists as the "Red
Forest" (Sindurban), the "Superb Forest" (Suderban), the "Suiters' Lund"
" that is, the heritiera littorati*, the
(Chandubhanda), or else the Forest of Sundri,"
most characteristic tree of these half-submerged lands. From the hugh: (typlia
is ulso said
ekpltHttica\ another plant peculiar to the Sunderbun, the river Hugli
to take its name. This watery region stretches west and east over 120 miles,
and has a total area of 8,000 square miles. The vast labyrinth, intersected

by fourteen considerable streams und by hundreds of channels with innumer-


able ramifications, is accessible only to the boatman gliding in his f rail bark of
red sundri wo<xl amidst the reeds, or under a canopy of overhanging foliage.
Numerous islands under the shelter of sand dunes are covered with dense forests
administered by the Government, while others produce nothing but dwarf pulms
a retreut for wild beasts. The ruins
(ptutnit jxitmlosa) or brushwood, affording
198 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

found here and there show that the Sanderbans were inhabited, and even contained
some large towns at the time when the Europeans appeared on the scene. The
early Portuguese writers unanimously assert that these tracts were thickly peopled
in their time. But the limit between the cultivated districts and the uninhabited
coast lands seems to have remained unchanged for centuries. During the last

hundred years, however, the cultivated area has largely increased, especially in the
direction of the Meghna, where the mean elevation of the land is somewhat higher.
In 1872 the reclaimed soil had a total extent of 700,000 acres, but being mostly
exposed to inundations, extensive embankments have had to be constructed for its

protection. The cultivated parts are thus often converted by the high tides into

countless islets of polygonal form.

CLIMATE, TRAFFIC, AND GEOLOGY OF THE LOWER GANGES.

This region of shifting estuaries, where the fresh and salt waters intermingle
with their diverse floras and faunas, and which are surrounded by marshy depressions
known as bhils,jhil8, orjhullas, is the hotbed of the so-called "Bengal" or "jungle
fever," one of the most dreaded endemics in India. It attacks people of all races

natives and foreigners indiscriminately, choosing its victims in Calcutta especially

amongst the boatmen, sailors, porters, custom-house officers, and others engaged
along the river banks, elsewhere amongst the hunters and planters occupied on the
low-lying grounds. most prevalent in September, when the waters begin to
It is

subside, leaving wet slimy surfaces exposed to the sun. Cholera is also endemic in
Lower Bengal, from which centre it spread early in the present century over the
rest of India and throughout the whole world. It has probably existed from the

remotest times along the banks of the Lower Ganges, although regarded as a new
disorder at the time of its sudden appearance in Europe. The superabundant
moisture of the country and the putrefaction of the decayed substances saturated
with water, which is everywhere found at a few inches below the surface, are the
causes of this terrible pestilence.
The thousands and even millions of dead bodies formerly thrown up by the
Ganges along its banks also contributed to corrupt the atmosphere. But since the
introduction of sanitary arrangements under the British administration, this great

artery has ceased to be the universal receptacle of its votaries after death. Never-
theless the police regulations are still too often eluded
devotion eager to
by filial

secure for the departed the blessings attending a watery grave in the sacred stream of

immortality. For the Hindu, the Ganges, which waters his rice-grounds and brings
his crops to maturity, is more than a goddess she is a divine mother, who consented
;

to descend on earth only to wash and purify the remains of King Bhagirati's
ancestors. But her source is still in the heavens, and in her pure stream the

immortals still delight to sport. When the waters burst from the firmament, the

mighty Siva alone, whose head and shoulders are the rocks of the Himalayas, had
"
strength to bear the weight of the river, falling from his brow like* a pearl
necklace whose string is broken."
< l.l MATE, TRAFFIC, AND GEOLOGY OF THE LOWEB GANGES. !'.

Along the Ganges banks every spot is sacred, and iu very name,
reverently
uttered hundreds of miles from its course, suffices to wipe out sins committed during
one or more previous existences. Devout
pilgrims fill their viul.s with the di\im-
water, which are then placed in two panniers joined
together by u bumboo, und
with peacocks' feathers.
Charged with this burden, like the
-1

Auvergne
water-curriers, they traverse the whole peninsula, retailing the mrtd fluid at
a high price and the rich are thus enabled to
;
enjoy the inestimable privilege of

Fig. 87. BXNOAL SCKHBRT Vitw WA* OATTCTTA.

purifying themselves with the holy stream without journeying to its banks. At
the same time, this pilgrimage to "mother Ganges" is indispensable for the

acquisition of perfect sanctity, and its merits are greatly enhanced by performing
the pradakshina, which consists in travelling for six months up and down the banks
between its source and its mouth. Along this route the specially sacred rpots are
naturally indicated by the confluences, isolated bluffs, sudden windings, wild
gorges, and the like. At such places the ablutions have their full cleansing
200 INDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

efficacy and here, consequently, the pilgrim tarries, the trader establishes himself,
;

and towns spring up under the shadow of the temple. In no other land has

religion had such a large


share in the foundation of cities.
Next to the Yangtze-kiang, the Ganges is, of all rivers, undoubtedly the most
important economically. The land, tilledby the hundred million inhabitants of its
basin, is extremely fertile, yielding in abundance every variety of produce their;

citiesare wealthy and industrious light craft are crowded in thousands about the
;

riverain ports. Till within recent times, this waterway, with the channels of its

delta, was the only commercial highway in Bengal ;


and although now deprived
by the railways of much of its traffic, the Ganges still remains one of the most

frequented in the whole world. Calcutta alone receives from the inland ports over

16,000,000 worth of merchandise yearly. At certain points several hundred


loaded barges pass the ghats in a single day, and the annual movement in the ports
of the delta must be estimated by millions of tons. The Ganges cannot, of course,

compare with the Thames, the Hudson, or Mississippi for steam navigation, but
nowhere else, except on the Chinese rivers, are smaller craft more numerous.
West Lower Ganges the most important stream is the Damudah, which,
of the

owing much dreaded by the riverain populations, but


to its frequent inundations, is

which is all the more venerated by the wild tribes of the surrounding hills. During
the floods of 1757 the Damudah opened for itself a new channel southwards

directly to the Ganges estuary, and the old bed connecting it with the Hugli has
been completely abandoned since 1762. In the region of the Upper Damudah and
its affluents are found the only hilly tracts in Bengal proper; and these hills,

while continuing the Vindhya system under diverse names, differ from it in their

geological formation. The sandstones forming the eastern escarpments of the


Bhagelkhand plateaux are replaced by metamorphic and carboniferous rocks. A few
isolated groups alone still attest the former eastern extension of the Vindhyas.
Above the great bend of the Ganges the Rajmahal Hills consist of basalt traps,
much more recent than the lavas of the Dekkan and about 20 miles
;
south-east of

Colgong are seen some small trachyte and porphyry cones, which were probably
the nucleus of the old plutonic ranges.

INHABITANTS OF THE GANGES BASIN.

Although approaching close to the most densely peopled regions of India, the
hills
lying west of the Bardwan and Patna railway are amongst the least known in
the peninsula. Here towns and villages occur at rare intervals, while certain
districts tiger, elephant, and other
have been rendered almost uninhabitable by the
wild beasts. Nevertheless, the populations of these rugged tracts contribute their
share towards the increase of wealth in Bengal. They prepare the cashoo of com-
merce from the sap of the catechu acacia, gather white vegetable wax, and collect
from the branches of certain trees the gum-lac secreted by the insect called
coccus lacca.

The great bulk of the multitudes dwelling on the Gangetic plains, whetner of
INHABITANTS OF THE GANGES BASIN. ji 1

Aryan, Dravidian, Kolarian, or Indo-Chinese origin, may lx$ clamed among*! the
more or less civilised members of the human family. Hut within the burin iUelf
there still exist a immlxT of tribe* and castes, some subdued, others rvlativi lv

independent, which have preserved their racial churucteristics without accepting


even the outward forms of Hindu or Mohammedan culture. Amongst the**? eom-
some may be regarded as barbarous or savage. Driven from the plain
inuuities
by
the Aryan and other invaders, they have taken refuge either in the marshy forests,

skirting the foot of the Himalayas, or in the hilly districts along the lower course
of the Ganges. Others again, like the European gipsies, have escaped destruction

by adopting a nomad life, without any fixed abodes, and moving about incessantly
from place to place. The Nats, Kanjars, Badyas, Bazigars, as these Gangetic
gipsies are variously called, form temporary villages of wooden huts, covered with
foliage or matting, and graze their flocks by the wayside. They themselves live
on offal, carrion, and other refuse, when their thousand occupations, such as

fortune-telling, exhibiting bears or monkeys, horse-dealing, minstrelsy, fail to


yield them Like
better sustenance.
their European kindred, they secure immunity
from persecution by always keeping prudently aloof from political or religious
strife. The local rajas have no more faithful subjects than these erratic tribes,
whose religion is always that of the majority, or, rather, whose only faith consists
in promoting the common welfare.
In Audh, and farther east along the Nepal frontier, the Bhars and Tharus, who
claim Rajput descent, live in scattered groups, cut off by their marshy territory
from all communication with the peoples of the plains. But others, who were
unable to escape from the conquerors, have been reduced to a state of serfdom, or
else made outcasts. Thus the Kori and Chamars, tanners and weavers in the

towns, have remained little better than slaves in the rural districts, where they
continue to till the land for their Rajput or Brahman masters, now legally free.
Any appeal to the courts could avail them little.
Despised as they are, they could
not escape from the hovels they share with the swine, and would everywhere be

repelled as unclean beasts. A somewhat higher position is held in Audh by the


Pasi, who are said to be descended from the old masters of the land, and who have
become half Hinduised. They supply most of the rural police in Audh, where about
one million of the whole population is still classed among the aborigines.
This element is much more numerous in the Bengal provinces, where they are
estimated at 3,000,000, exclusively of the low castes representing the old races,
which have become variously mingled with the Hindu intruders. Several tribes
have succeeded in preserving a nominal independence in the hilly districts south of
the Son and Ganges. Thus the Malers, or Pahariahs that is, "hillmen" who
number about 400,000 in the upland Rujmahal valleys, still enjoyed a certain
autonomy down to the middle of the present, century. Since, then, the English, after
several useless military expeditions, have induced the chiefs to become state pensioners,
and their territories are now carefully circumscribed. All have discontinued their
raids on the surrounding districts, and now appear on the plains only as pcueeful
traders. Nor can the Pahariahs be regarded in any sense as savages. Their cabins

78
202 INDIA AND INDO-CniNA.

are neatly constructed of bamboo canes, and fitted up with carved furniture, while
the approaches are tastefully laid out. Their fields and gardens are well tilled, and

usually yield enough to supply a small export trade. As dealers they are
" Rather die than lie."
scrupulously honest, one of their national proverbs being,
Like most of the Assam and Indo-Chinese tribes, they set apart a common dwelling
in every village for the young unmarried men. Before the houses and near the
sacred trees are planted tall bamboos, to scare the evil spirits, who take advantage
of the absence of the sun to steal the great god of the universe by night. Most
anthropologists affiliate the Pahariahs to the Dravidians of Southern India, to whom
they have, at all events, been assimilated in speech. The statement that they are

rapidly diminishing in number seems to have no solid foundation, and is due


probably to the errors of the census returns, caused by the change of names common
amongst these clans.

THE SAXTALS AXD OTHER ABORIGIXES.

The Santals, or Sontals, who number perhaps 2,000,000, are concentrated

chiefly inthe valleys and first eminences rising from the plains towards the
Pahariah Hills. Hence the term Daman-i-koh, or "Skirt of the Mountains,"
applied to the part of their territory near the Rajmahal uplands. Although
agriculturists, the Santals still retain some of their old nomad habits, settling
on one spot until the land becomes impoverished, and then removing to fresh
clearances in the jungle. But in several districts, and especially in the Daman-i-
koh, where they had increased from 3,000 in 1790 to over 200,000 in 1840, most
of the land has already been reclaimed, so that they have here become sedentary in
spite of themselves. No people in India have had to suffer more from heavy land-
taxes, fiscal regulations, and especially the usury of money-lenders. Driven to
desperation by these exactions, and failing to obtain redress from the British
tribunals, they resolved to quit their homes in a body, and seek for justice from
the viceroy himself in Calcutta. The eastern Santals, who had suffered most from
imposts and usurers, set out on June 30, 1855, men, women, and children, with a
vanguard of 30,000 armed men, preceded by heralds and drummers. They had
advanced some distance into the plains, wasting the plantations and firing the
houses of the money-lenders, when they came into collision with the British troops.
A massacre rather than a battle was the result, and when the country was occupied
all the male adults of several villages were found to have perished. After the

catastrophe the authorities set about examining their grievances and affording
them some redress. The lands were restored to those who cultivated them, certain
usurious agreements were cancelled, and slavery, hitherto tolerated
by the tribunals,
was solemnly abolished, although afterwards too often revived under another form.
The railway, penetrating into the Santal territory, attracted " navvies " in tens
of thousands, the tea-growers of Assam
required labourers for their plantations,
fair promises were held out to them even by the large landholders of Mauritius
and Reunion. But everywhere the result was nearly always the same real
slavery under the disguise of contract labour. Ever fond of change, the Santals
THE SANTAL8 AND OTHER ABOIUOI

.emigrate freely. Thousands seek employment for a season, or even for yean, on
the plains; others allow thcm>d\-* to !>< carried beyond the was. But few ever
ti'iil thrir way back to their native land.

The national type isamongst the most remarkable in India. While lacking
the delicate traits of the Bengali, the Suutals have more energy and moje of the

beauty inspired by frankness and courage. The features are generally broad, with

prominent cheek-bones, rather thick lips, flat forehead and round head. Their

Fig. 88. KAJMAHAL HILLS PAH A RI AH AMD SANTAL TIHHITOKIES.


! 1 1 400,000.

87-50 67*43' Lo&

appearance betrays altogether great bodily vigour and robust Quick,


health.

animated, always cheerful and good-natured, they have unfortunately learnt to


" more
distrust strangers, and the arrival of a Hindu in their country alarms them

than the presence of a tiger or leopard." Nevertheless the traveller is always sure
of a friendly welcome, and will find before every house a seat of honour, the
" whatever be their race, colour, or religion,
stranger's bench," where wayfarers,
are invited to share the family board. Having no artisans of their own race, they
have been obliged to invite from other parts smiths, weavers, and other craftsmen,
204 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

who are always treated as equals and allowed to intermarry with them. These
Hindu strangers thus gradually become completely naturalised.
Of the twelve Santal tribes seven have preserved themselves almost pure,
without any caste prejudices. But many communities near the plains have already
become half assimilated to the Bengali, losing their national dignity as freemen,
and sinking to the position of half-bred low castes despised by those of pure blood.
The Santal speech is a member of the Kolarian group, in which it is distinguished
above all others for its highly developed agglutinating forms. It seems to have
borrowed many roots from the Sanskrit, to which it has in return given several
expressions, and apparently even
some of its peculiar sounds. But there is no
native literature, nor even an alphabet. A few religious tracts and translations of
the Bible prepared by the missionaries are the only literary treasures of the natives,
who in the schools learn the language of their hated Bengali oppressors.
Amongst the Santals the family circle is placed on a solid foundation. Mar-
riages are not arranged beforehand by the parents, as amongst the Hindus. The
young men choose for themselves, but always in a different clan from their own,
and the father intervenes only in a formal way, to arrange for the reception of the

new bride in the tribe. Although not forbidden, polygamy is rarely practised, and
never except when the first wife proves barren. Divorce is also rare, and the

respect shown to woman is revealed especially in their courteous and decorous


demeanour. are fond of decking themselves with flowers, feathers, false hair,
They
and other finery and they delight in covering their wives and daughters with
;

metal ornaments, iron when poor, copper or even silver when they can afford it.
The houses, which usually stand apart, are painted in alternate red, black, and
white and are always neat and tidy. Each has its own special cult, which is
lines,

performed in common under the direction of the head of the family. On his death-
bed the father reveals to his eldest son the name of his god and the words with
which he is to be addressed, and at his decease he himself is enrolled amongst the

deities,with all his ancestors. After burning the body, the eldest son or nearest
akin takes three fragments of the skull and casts them into the sacred river
Damudah, in order that they may be borne to the ancestral home beyond the grave.
"When a Santal falls a prey to a wild beast the nearest relative, abstaining from all
food and sleep, follows the animal until he has recovered some remains of the

victim, to be sent after him on the same waters.


The patriotic sentiment is as highly developed as the family life. Special
ceremonies celebrate the young man's introduction into the clan, and the elders

expound to him his duties towards the community. Crime and breach of honour
involve expulsion from the clan ; that is, civil death. In ordinary cases the right
of citizenship may be recovered but when the charge is serious, for the delinquent
;

l
\ ake his bow and arrows and
nothing is left except to escape to the jungle, whence
he never returns. Suspension of rights and banishment are the only coercive
measures in the Santal tribfl, and the British authorities are quite aware that their

system could have no result except to disturb the notion of right and wrong, and
"
diminish the influence of the " fathers and other representatives chosen by the
THE SANTAL8 AND OTHER ABORIGINES. J :,

Santals tin-in^ l\rs. I'n.t.-tant and Catholic missionaries have been more
HBOessflll amongst tin in than i K'\\ hen- in In.li.i, alt 1,< .:i_;!i 1 1.. 1 ...il.. ,| t)., :.,;-:,

remains lnyal ti> th- ancient cult. Several time* during the year the villagers
still

Bather beneath the shade of a sal (ttiorea roltinsta), pre-eminently the national tree,
.md dance in a circle, sinirini: hymns in honour of their forefather*, who are
sui>]K)sed to look on from the branches above. To them also sacrifices are offered

of goats, fowls, or even red fruits and flowers, whose colour may produce the illusion
of blood. The same offerings are brought to the sun, and to the " Great Mountain."
a divinity often confounded with Siva, god of the snowy peaks, and this rite would
seem to point at a former residence of the tribe in some upland Himalayan valley.

Fig. 89. AHOKIOIXAL POPVLATIOX or BENGAL.


Scale 1 : 6,000,000.

i. :<:.. v

The elephant worshipped as a protector of the clans,


is also and the young mother

delights to lay her babe


at his feet and ask a blessing on its head. Amongst the
"
Kols and Khonds the elephant takes the title of grandmother."
" of the
The Oraons, or Dhangars that is, Highlanders" another native tribe
and
Chota Nagpore districts, are, like the Pahariahs, of Dravidiau stock and speech,
They call themselves Khuruk.
claim to have come with them from Western India.
and numbers of this tribe seek employment either on the public works in
large
^or else as coolies in distant colonies. The Oraons, who number about
h with its distinctive t,,k
"00 altogether, divided into several clans, ea.
of giving
themselves the "tribe of labour," and ure fond
call
symbolic animal,
on them. They are a simple,
proof of skill and strength in the tasks imposed
208 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

light-hearted people, easily amused and given to much dancing and merry-making.
The type is somewhat repulsive, very dark, with projecting lower jaw, thick lips,
low narrow forehead, long and slightly crisp hair, often smeared with cow-dung.
Nevertheless they greatly delight in finery of all sorts, and tattoo various parts of

the body. The dwellings are mostly mud huts, with the dum-kharia set apart
in every village for gymnastic exercises. Like the Santals, they worship the sun,

spirits, and their ancestors, to whom


they sacrifice small animals like them, also,
;

they are exogamous, choose their own wives, and allow the women a considerable
share of influence. "When two girls become sisters they exchange necklaces in
" "
presence of witnesses, and to the end of their days call each other my flower or
" smile."
my
On
the plateaux west of the Gangetic delta are some other tribes, such as the

Munda, akin to the Kols of Orissa, and the Karwar, akin to the Santals, who roam
over the forests south of the Son, living partly on wild fruits and roots, which they
share with the monkeys. But most of the aborigines have become largely assimi-
lated to the Hindus, from whom they differ little, except in the inferior position
held by them in the caste system. The Chandals, the most despised of Hindu
castes, and numbering about 1,500,000, are evidently descended from these ancient

occupiers of the land collectively known to the Aryan invaders as Dasyas. The
Rajbansi or Pali, who speak a Bengali dialect, the Malda, the Kotch and other
peasant castes even more numerous in the Brahmaputra than in the Ganges basin,
are also aborigines probably of Burmese stock. Other representatives of the old
populations are the Bhuyas, tillers of the soil; the Bagdi, fishers; the Bari,
palanquin bearers the Muchi, tanners. To these have been referred many religious
;

practices of pre- Aryan origin, notably those human sacrifices which the British
authorities have had such trouble in suppressing. The sanguinary cult of Siva and
of Kali continued to cost the lives ofmany young persons down to the year 1866 in
Jessore, Dakka, and the Chota Nagpore forests. Along the river banks tradition
still shows the spots where the victims were immolated
by the priests.

THE HINDUS AND MOHAMMEDANS.


The purely Aryan Hindu element seems to be most numerously represented in
the province of Audh. Here the priests, professional classes, artisans and peasants
of the Brahman caste constitute at least one-eighth of the whole population, while
most of the landed estates are held by the Rajputs and others claiming to belong
to the warlike Kshatrya class. The Kayasths, " shrewd, subtle, and false as the
Byzantines of the Lower Empire," have become mainly scribes and notaries, and
in combination with the Vaisyas have monopolised the whole trade of the country.
The Ahir or Gopa peasants, descendants of shepherds, boast of their kinship with
the divine race of Krishna himself. The Kurmi, who were amongst the earliest

settlers, and the Muraos, who with the Ahirs constitute the bulk of the people,
all claim unmixed Hindu origin, as do also the Aryans, who descended to the
lower plains of the Ganges at the time of the primitive migrations. Like the
HINDUS AND MOHAMMEDANS. - 7

colonists of most races, they call themselves "twice-born,"


pretending to a higher
rank of nubility than they are really entitled to. The Brahman* of Aiulh, and

especially those of Kanoj, the ancient Hindu capital, even consider thi-inwlves
superior to those of Bengal, l*th socially and religiously. They refuse to cat at
the same table with them, and an Alluhubud or Benares criminal will Moically
suliniit to the lash in his prison cell rather than swallow a single grain of rice
prepared liy
a Calcutta Brahman. Till recently a
pure Aryan of Audh, although
a mere peasant, could not contract lawful marriage with a Brahman woman of
Bengal, however wealthy her father might be. To the provinces on the upper
plains of the Ganges and Jamna, where the pure Hindu Brahmans predominate,
the Moslem founders of the Moghul Empire have in a special manner given the
term " Hindustan," a term afterwards applied generally to all countries where the
Hindu languages and religions prevail that is, to the whole of Cisgangetic India.
The Mohammedans, so numerous in the North-West Provinces, are in a minority

in the Ganges basin. Yet they were long the political masters of this region,
where they often adopted violent measures to compel the people to accept Islam.
In the Upper Gangetic plains they comprise a seventh only, and in Audh not more
than a tenth of the population. Somewhat more numerous in Behar, they ore

scarcely found at all in Chota Nagpore, where pre-Aryan religions still


prevail.
But the census of 1872 made
the unexpected revelation that in the single province
of Lower Bengal they were more numerous than in the whole of the Turkish
Empire. Here the Mohammedans form one-third of the population, but they are
of a very different type from their Arab co-religionists. In many districts they
are ignorant of the simplest precepts of the Koran, and being divided into castes,

practise the same rites as the Hindus, from whom


they differ chiefly by the
observance of circumcision. Recently, however, a religious revival has taken
place, zealous itinerant preachers have proclaimed the fundamental doctrines of
Islam, inducing many to withdraw from the Hindu temples and discontinue their
superstitious practices. Their spirit of solidarity with the Mussulmans of the rest
of the world has thus been increased, and they are now more alive than formerly
to the importance of their religious and political role in Asia. Although still
divided into castes, they present a relatively compact body, compared with the
thousand irreconcilable elements of Hindu society. In Behur and Audh, the
Mohammedans belong mostly to the upper classes, while in Bengal they form chiefly

peasant communities. In several districts there are even racial as well as

religious distinctions. Thus the Rohillas of Rohilkhand south of K unman and


most of the
Nepal, formerly masters of this region, are of pure Afghan stock, and
" or are also of
other Mohammedans, whether Sayids, Sheikhs, Mongols," Pathans,

foreign origin, being descended at least in the male line


from the conquering hosts .

of Mahmud, Baber, and Akbar.


To this Mohammedan element is due the birth of the language now current

amongst the majority of the people in the Ganges basin. This Hindustani speech
had its origin in the Urdu, or "Camp" of the Great Moghul at Delhi, whence
its name of Urdu, or of the "Horde," by which it is still commonly
language
208 INDIA AND 1NDO-CHINA.

designated.* But at first a mere camp jargon, or lingua franca, like the "Sabir"
of the Franco-Arabs, it soon became a true language, which, thanks to its inex-
haustible Arabo- Persian and Hindi vocabulary, to its facility of adopting foreign
elements, its harmony, pliancy, and simple structure, has gradually displaced most
of the older Hindi dialects. It is now the most common medium of intercourse

throughout the peninsula, spoken habitually by probably over one hundred millions
of people, and more influential than its Panjabi, Sindhi,
as a cultured idiom far

Gujerati, Marathi, or Nepali sisters. Hindustani has thus inherited the position

formerly held by Pali in the civilisation of the East, and although it has freely
adopted vast numbers of Arabic and Persian words, it has none the less remained
a pure Sanskritic tongue in its grammatical structure, relational forms, and phrase-

ology. But notwithstanding its Hindi origin, it is commonly written in the Arabo-
Persian characters, although as capable of being transliterated in Devanagari as is

any other neo-Sanskritic language.

LAND TENURE.

For more than a century the lower Gangetic regions have been directly admin-
istered by the English. Since 1769 special agents have bee"n appointed to each

province to control the taxation and regulate the assessments. But since that
time great changes have been introduced into the local administration. The old
communal institutions, differing little from the Great Russian Mir, have almost
entirely ceased to exist, at least in Bengal, under the of land tenurenew system
"
introduced by the English. Formerly every village was a brotherhood," holding
the forests and pastures in common, and distributing to each member the yearly
allotment on which to raise his crops of rice and other cereals, of indigo, fruits,
and vegetables. In spite of political changes and religious conversions, enforced
or voluntary, the little village republic preserved the common possession of the

soil, with the attendant moral responsibility towards the state. It raised the taxes
for which it was collectively answerable ; it organised the local police, administered

justice, modified its internal organisation at its own pleasure. Even when the
village was destroyed continued virtually to
it exist. The members of the brother-
hood, escaping to the woods, still maintained the union, and often after
twenty or
thirty years of exile they have availed themselves of some fresh political revolution
to rebuild their village on the same spot, and resume the unchallenged occupation
of the lands assigned to them by tradition.
But the British heirs to the old rulers of the land have almost
everywhere
changed its tenure in favour of the farmers- general. Even in 1798 they
completely renounced the possession of the the benefit of contractors respon-
soil to

sible for the taxes. Some estates were sold or ceded absolutely but most of them
;

were transferred to zamindars


(talukdarx} or revenue farmers for a yearly rent. In
the old kingdom of Audh the whole land was thus distributed amongst 256 holders.
.
From the Mongolo-Tatar yurt, wrt, WM, that is, tent, camp, encampment, comes the English word
Horde, a warlike nomad tribe dwelling in tents. EDITOR.
TOPOGRAPHY.

The /umindars in their turn sublet or muke over the noil to agents, who do not
themselves cultivate it. hut employ rayats (ryotn) for the purpose. The net produce
is in this way manipulatnl hy a whole scries of middlemen, and even when the future
labour of the peasant is not forestalled or hit* stork of rice supplied hy u-urcrnat the
normal charge of 50 per cent, per annum, he
required to juiy the impost
is still

three or four times O\<T to the /.amindar's sub-agent*. In most districts the

rayats are not even guaranteed the right of residence on the land they cultivate,

although a residence of 12, 20, or 30 years, according to the provinces, gives them
a prescriptive protection against summary ejectment.
In the Upper Gangetic provinces a large number of the old agricultural
"
hhayachara, or brotherhoods," still survive, but even here the Jaina and Banyan
traders and money-lenders have got possession of whole villages, which they
administer for their own profit. In Behar especially the condition of the peasantry
ismost deplorable, the accumulated burden of their debts having here made them
the serfs of the usurers. In the eastern and northern districts of Bengal things
are somewhat better, some especially of the Mohammedan rayats enjoying a really
comfortable position. But even here the old communal organisation is recalled
"
only by a few idle ceremonies. The Panchayat, or Council of Five," still meets
here and there, but its decisions are ignored by the tribunals and landholders
alike. Still most of the villages continue to appoint their official councillor, who

is usually chosen as umpire in disputed matters. Such, in spite of repeated revo-


lutions, is the persistence of usages bused on the sentiment of right, that the
members of the commune generally recognise as nntndnl, or hereditary village chief,
a man of low caste representing the old pre-Aryan owners of the hind. In the
Calcutta district 15 only of the 6,000 heads of villages belong to high, and 1,300 to
intermediate castes, while 3,600 are low-caste men. Two thousand years of
possession have not yet conferred on the Aryan intruder complete rights of
citizenship.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The two divisions of the Gangetic plain, whose respective capitals are Delhi and
Calcutta, present great contrasts in the distribution of their inhabitants. In one

large urban communities are numerous, while in the other the population, ojmrt from
the chief town, almost exclusively rural. The Doab provinces, where trade and
is

hive become
industry have been attracted by a succession of imperial capitals,
from
thickly studded with cities in which industrious immigrants Persia, Afghan-
istan, and Bokhara have settled in numbers. Bengal, on the contrary, has
large
remained an essentially agricultural region, although its capital has become the

administrative centre of the Anglo-Indian empire. It is the only large city in

the province, where most of the native Bengali live in small villages surrounded
on the
hy clumps of trees. Although one of the most densely- peopled regions
globe, the passing traveller might
almost fancy it uninhahited, so completely are
the hamlets embowered in their tropical foliage.
limit of Panjab
Near the right bank of the Jamna, here forming the official
210 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

and the North-West Provinces, stands the ancient city of Kama., which dates from
the mythical times of the Mahabharata, and which figures largely in all the
Mohammedan and subsequent invasions. Panipat, which lies farther south, is
famous in the history of Indian warfare as the scene of the five decisive victories
gained by Timur, Baber, and Akbar in 1398, 1526, and 1556, by the Persians, led
by Nadir Shah in 1739, and the Afghan Ahmed Shah in 1761. Here was usually
decided the fate at once of Delhi and Northern India. The great trunk road
traverses both of these places, but the railway passes farther east through the
heart of the Doab, and the strategic points have consequently become displaced.

Along this line follow in succession from north to south the towns of Saharanpur,
"
Dcobanil, the Holy," Muzajfarnayar, and Miraih (Merut), the last named being
one of the .chief British cantonments in the Doab. Here began the terrible Sepoy

mutiny in 1857, although the English troops were able to hold the place during
the war. On a bluff commanding an old bed of the Ganges, 33 miles north-east of

Mirath, are some heaps of rubbish marking the site of Jlastinapura, the " Elephant

City," famous in Hindu legendary history.


Delhi (Dehli, Di/ili, Dili), also one of the old Indian capitals and recently chosen

by the British Government as the most appropriate spot to raise the throne of the

Kaisar-i-Hind, has been more than once destroyed, not like Hastinapura, by fluvial
inundations, but by the hand of man and time. The present city, officially named
Shahjahanabad, from its Moghul founder, dates only from the first half of the
seventeenth century, but the ruins of its numerous precursors are strewn over a
distance of 12 miles from its ramparts, and cover a total area of about 46 square
miles. Of all these cities, the oldest is Indraetpatha, the site of which is still marked

by the walls of Indurput, 2^ miles south of the present enclosure. Its foundations

are attributed to the legendary Yudishtira, and thirty-four centuries are supposed
to have elapsed since the sons of Pandu wrested this region from its primeval Naga
snake-worshippers. But the successive cities have borne the name of Delhi for
nineteen centuries only.
The modern city, forming a crescent along the west bank of the Jamna, covers
a space of about 3 square miles, at the very apex of the triangular plateau, limited
on the one hand by the Gangetic plains, on the other by the Thar desert and Indus
basin. The tablelands of the Vindhyan system, although broken on the south by
numerous till we reach the
valleys, are not completely terminated ridge of Delhi.
Here at last disappear all the obstacles offered by the roughness of the surface to
the progress of caravans and armies. Delhi thus occupies the exact spot where all
the great historical routes of the peninsula converge from the Lower Ganges basin,
from the Hindu-Kush passes, the Indus delta and the Gulf of Cambay. Before
the construction of these highways it was pre-eminently the strategic centre of the
whole of Northern India ; hence it naturally rose rapidly from its ruins after every
fresh disaster. At present it has become the chief centre of trade and of the
railway systems between the three extreme points, Calcutta, Peshawar, and Bombaj-
Even the local hydrography attests the great part played by Delhi as the connecting
link between the east and the west. Above its walls the Jamna ramifies into two
TOPOGBAH1Y. 211

branches, one of which flows south-west as if to join the Indus. But after filling
the marshy depression or JHl of Najafgarh, the stream seta
during the flood
to the Jumna.

Withinit>
present enclosure Delhi forms two distinct riti,-*. The northern
quarter, where thr railway penetrates from a tin.- viaduct over the sin.U. M, .,
-

narrow ehannel of the Janma, forms the English


city, which is separated from that
of the natives exten-ive grounds and broad avenues. The old
l,y
palace of the
Moghul emperor Shuh Jahan, commonly known as the " fort," is also isolate! from
the rest of the city by squares Now transformed to a barracks,
planted with trees.

Fig. 90. DRLHI.


) 1 : 800.000

.77*5

6 Mile*

it has much of its beauty, although the vast parallelogram, covering no less
lost

than 120 acres along the bunks of the Jumnu, still encloses some of the most
remarkable buildings in India. The entrance-hull, 380 feet long, forms one of the
grandest apartments in the world, and the audience chamber, whose pavilions are
seen from the river, is a marvel of grace and elegance, justifying by its arabesques
and mouldings the inscription running round the ceiling " If there be a heaven
:

"
on earth, it is this, it is this ! The Grand Mosque, standing on a rocky eminence
in the native town, is also one of the nrchiteetural glories of India. Hy the side
of this magnificent structure, with its noble proportions, carved porticoes, minarets,
212 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

and three white marble domes, the English buildings college, museum, hospital,
barracks, and churches seem like the work of barbarians.

Fig. 91. ENVIRONS OP DBLHI. TOWER OF KUTAB.

But outside the enclosures, amongst the debris of the older Delhis, are still to be
found the most interesting monuments, temples, tombs, mosques, columns, dating
TOPOGRAPHY. ji;j

from every epoch of Hindu art for the lust 2,000 The palace of Ferozabad,
years.
containing tin-
pillar of King Asoka, the tomb of Huinayun, son of UuluT,
observatory raised by the raja of Jeipur in 172H, art' scattered over tin- plain to the
south of the i-ity, and (be
long line of-edifices terminates 9 mile* from tin- walls of
Delhi with K utab's
group of mosques and colonnades. All are ovcrtopjN-d by the
"Tower of Victory," dating from the thirt. -enth century, and of a
consisting group
of columns divided into five storeys by circular
galleries, sculptures and inscriptions
in relief. The tower diminishes in diameter upwards, so that its absolute
height of
230 feet is apparently increased by the laws of
perspective.
Iteasy to understand the pride felt by Indian patriots at the sight of all
is

these eloquent witnesses of their past glories. After recovering the city in 1857,
the English obliged all the natives, Hindus and Mohammedans
alike, to retire
beyond its walls while martial law lasted. Now they are more numerous than
before the war, and to them chiefly belong the
elegant magazines of jewellery, cloth
of gold, carved cabinet-work, which are the
special industries of Delhi, but which
have unfortunately been debased by the imitation of
European models. Towards
the south-west the large town of Reicara forms the advanced
depot of Delhi for
supplying the industrial wants of all the petty states on the plateau.
In tbe south-east the doab, here intersected by the great historic route, the
trunk line of railway and the Ganges Canal, is
thickly studded with large towns,
such as Bulandxhnhr Sikandarabad, Kliurjn, with its magnificent Jaina.
(Bnran),
temple, Koi/, Aliyarh, a former bulwark of the Mahratta power, and Hathra the t

chief centre of trade between Delhi and Cawnpore. It is connected by rail with
Muttra (Jftitfra), on the west bank of the Janma, one of the holy cities of India,
whose inhabitants are chiefly engaged in quarrying and dressing the stones used in
the erection of their innumerable shrines and other religious Muttra,
buildings.
the ancient JUathura, capital of one of the " Lunar " dynasties, was one of the
great
centres of Buddhism, and is mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of Jfodura, as a
"
city of the gods." Amongst the heaps of debris dotted over the district, many
sculptures of the Buddhist period have been found, attesting Gncco-Baktrian influ-
ences in the disposition of the groups and flow of the draperies. After the
expulsion of the Buddhists the names of the temples were changed, the style of
architecture modified, the legends transferred to other mythical beings, but the

city remained none the less one of the sacred places of India. In the neighbour-
hood was born Krishna, patron of shepherds, and since worshipped as the Christ of
the Hindus. KM TV spot in the district has its legend associated with some episode
of his life, and most of the monuments round about hav3 been erected in his

honour. Brindaban, the ancient Vrindacana, marks the spot, 4 miles farther north,
where Krishna seized the snake king coiled round a tree, and hurled him into the
Janma. A temple has recently been by some Jaina bankers, at a cost of
built here

over 240,000. The whole country round about Muttra and Urindaban has br-
left
by the piety the faithful in the possession of the monkey*, squirrels,
of

peacocks, parrots, and other animals, from whom the inhabitants have respectfully
to preserve their provisions.
214 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Agra, or Akbarabad, which stands on a winding of the Jamna, 30 miles south-


east of Muttra, is scarcely 350 years old. But having been chosen as a residence
by Baber, and as the imperial capital by Akbar, it soon attracted a large
population,
and, in spite of frequent disasters, is still next to Delhi the first city in the Upper

Ganges basin. A few traces of a town previous to Baber's time are seen on the
right bank of the Jamna, and the present enclosure is surrounded by extensive
waste spaces. The heaps of ruins and fragments of walls attest the former import-
ance of the place. The present city, reduced by one half since the time of Akbar,

Fig. 92. AGRA, MUTTRA, FATEHPUB SIKUI.


Scale 1 : 600,000.

77'40' 78' EofGi

12 Miles.

but flanked on the south by the British cantonments, has at least preserved most
of the handsome buildings which make it the pearl of Indian cities. The red
sandstone walls of the fort, with their white marble carvings and towers, rise nearly
70 feet above the banks of the stream, and within their circuit of 2,650 yards they
contain, besides the palace, now a barracks, several structures still noted for their

pure style, their bright marbles, and graceful arabesques. Over against the
entrance of the fort the Jamna Mas] id, or " Grand Mosque," raises its three

majestic naves above an elevated terrace, while the series of fine monuments is
completed within the enclosure by the famous Pearl Mosque, built entirely of
TOPOGRAPHY -jl ,

white inai Lie. This edifice, although of moderate trize, is one of the mo*t imposing
luniks to the solemn
in India, t
harmony of its naves and the pitch of iu arches.
Beyond the ran>i>arts there are some magnificent imi>erial tombs, conspicuous
amongst which is that of Akliar, lyii>g to the north near St-cundra. With its

minarets, kiosques, avenues, this tomb covers a large space, and, Ifkc most
structures of the period, built of red sandstone, and
richly ornamented with
is

exquisite marble sculptures. But the marvel of Agra, and one of the gems of art
of world- wide fame, is the admirable Tajmahal, the tomb raised
by Shah Jahan to
his wife Arjaman Bcnu, better known by the title of Mumtaz, the Honoured. As
the word Parthenon immediately suggests the ideal type of the Greek
temple with
its peristyle, 1'rie/es, metopes, and sculptures, the name of the Tajmahal conveys
the idea of the most finished monument of Persian art, with its
lofty pointed portals,
enframed in a rectangle of arabesques, its carved cupola and graceful minarets.
Built entirely of pink sandstone and white marble, the Tajmahal glitters all the
more by contrast with the sombre foliage of the surrounding cypresses. WitB the
harmony of its lines it combines a lavish wealth of costly materials and exquisite
details, although many of the precious stones decorating the surface, together with
its chased silver gates, were carped off by the Mahratta invaders. The chief
industries of Agra are still those which its artisans learnt during the erection of
this sumptuous monument marble inlay work, gem setting, the prejwiration of
mosaics. The school of workers in mosaics at Agra was founded by the Bordeaux
artist Austin, on whom the natives conferred the title of Xadir el Asur, the
"
Prodigy of the Age."
About 21 mites farther west stands Fafchpur, the " City of Victory," former
rival of Agra, and for a few years capital of Akbar's empire. It occupies the

extremity of a red sandstone ridge, which supplied the materials for its buildings,
but the remains of the old city, or rather the two villages of Fatchpur and Sikri,
are now almost lost within the enclosures, some 5 miles in circumference. Most of
the monuments, however, raised by Akbar and Jehanghir, are still in an almost

perfect state of preservation. Conspicuous amongst them are the imperial palace,
the tomb of the recluse Selim, the Panjmahal, a sort of pyramid formed by five

superimposed colonnades, the Elephant Portico, the Antelope Minaret, and the
Women's Palace.
as Etaicah, Kalpi, Hamirpur, and Rajapur,
Below Agra some large towns, such
follow in succession along the banks of the Jamna, while in the fluvial basin are
situated the old capitals Jalaon and Banda. But the political changes, and
especially the commercial revolution brought about by the railways, have displaced
the stream of traffic from the Jamna towards the Ganges. Banda, formerly the
great depot of the Bundelkhand cottons, is a decayed place, having been deprived
of its trade by the port of Rajn^nr, which in its turn has been replaced by the

railway stations between Allahabad and Cawnpore.


The fertile of Rohilkhand, stretching south of the
plains
Kumaon Hills between

surrounded by mango and


the Ganges and Gogra Rivers, are covered with towns
bamboo thickets, and commanded by old forts attributed to the Bhars, former
216 INDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

"
rulers of the land, but rebuilt by the Afghans, or Pathan Rohillas, that is, High-
landers." Barcli (Bareil/i/), the largest of these towns, originally a military station
founded about the middle of the sixteenth century, has preserved its essentially
strategic character, and has little to show except its fort and cantonments. Nqji-
Amroha, Moradabad, Sambhal, Chandausi, Budaon, Sahaswan,
babad, Nagina, Bij'nor,
and the other towns of Rohilkhand nearly all resemble Bareli in their uniform
structure mere groups of houses which have rapidly increased with the development
of agriculture in this part of the Gangetic basin. Moradabad and Chanduusi are
large centres of the sugar industry, while Najibabad, lying nearer to the hills,
trades chiefly in timber. Rampur alone, capital of a petty native state, has pre-
served a certain originality, and its shawls and damasks are highly esteemed

throughout the peninsula.


Shahjahanpur, the chief station and largest town between Bareli and Lucknow,
has become a thriving commercial mart at the expense of its neighbour Farrukha-
bnd on the Ganges. The latter may be regarded as forming a single town with
the British military station of Fatchgarh, whose fort commands the passage of the

Ganges Another important place west of Farrukhabad is Mainpuri,


at this point.
on the route to Agra. But Kanoj, formerly the most celebrated city in this region,
is now a decayed place. For nearly 600 years down to the end of the third century
of the old era it was the capital of the most powerful Aryan kingdom in India, and
when Mahmud the Ghaznevide came to lay siege to it in 1016, it still
" raised its

head to the skies," recognising no rival for strength and solidity. The citadel,
which encloses the whole of the modern town, appears to have been one of the most
formidable in India ;
but its strategic importance disappeared when the Ganges
shifted its course 4 miles farther west, leaving Kanoj on the banks of the insignifi-
cant Kali-naddi, or Chota Ganga, that is, " Little Ganges." Most of the space
enclosed by the old walls is dotted over with villages, varied here and there by
ruins of temples and mosques. According to a local tradition, all the Brahmans
of the Gangetic delta descend from families resident in Kanoj in the ninth

century.
Cawnpore (^Kanpor, Ka*tipttr\ one of the most modern places in India, has com-
pletely eclipsed the ancient city of Kanoj. A mere military post in 1778, it

gradually rose in importance both as a strategic and trading centre, and is now one
of the most flourishing cities in the empire. Cawnpore was the scene of the most
sanguinary struggles and massacres of the Sepoy mutiny in 1857. Here the arch-
rebel, Nana Dundhu Panth, better known as Nana Sahib, caused the British troops
to be butchered after their capitulation, and then threw into a well the women and
children of the garrison. For these atrocities a terrible retribution overtook the

insurgents, after being twice driven from Cawnpore, and the memory of these
fearful deeds still separates conquered and conquerors. No native is even now
allowed to. penetrate to the interior of the somewhat tasteless monument which
has been raised over the mouth of the fatal well. The English quarter, which
stands on the right bank of the river, here crossed by a railway bridge on the
Luckuow line, is completely separated from the native town by parks, gardens,
TOPOGRAPHY. 217

and manoDuvring-grounds. Close by is an industrial suburb, with some cotton-


spinning mills.
Lucknow (Lnl'nau, Lakhnao], capital of the ancient kingdom of Andh, which
became a British province a modern place, dating only from the
in 1856, is also

sixteenth century. The site, however, hud previously been occupied by u


Itujput
" thousand-
village standing on an eminence sacred to Sesnag, the headed snake who
bears the world." In the time of Akbur, Lu< -know had already become one of the

Fig. 93. LOCKNOW AND m ENVIRONS.


Boalel : 840,000.

80-50

finest cities in the empire, but it acquired no exceptional importance till the

eighteenth century, when it At


became the residence of an independent dynasty.
present it is the, fourth city in India for population, and is in some respects
still

regarded by the Hindus as a metropolis But it has lost much of its importance
and has ceased to be the centre of taste, fashion, music, and general culture since
the revolt of 1857. In that year the English garrison, driven from the interior,

had to take its stand in a fortified garden in the neighbourhood, while the city was
occupied by 30,000 Sepoys and 50,000 volunteers, with 100 guns. The relief of the

79
218 INDIA AND INDO-CFTINA.

garrison by Havelock and the subsequent rout of the rebels is perhaps the most
memorable military event in the history of the war. Since then the European popu-
lation has become more numerous than in most other peninsular towns, numbering
in 1872 as many as 4,222, exclusive of Eurasians.
Froma distance Lucknow presents a more imposing appearance than most other

places. Seen amidst the foliage shading the course of the Gumti, the gilded
domes, minarets, and belfries of its mosques and tombs seem to hold out promise of
a second Agra, but a closer inspection dissipates all this architectural parade.
Most of the palaces are vulgar plagiarisms of Hindu monuments, decorated with
ornaments borrowed from all styles, and painted in the gaudiest of colours. Here
Corinthian capitals support Persian arcades there Italian villas are capped by
;

pointed tiaras elsewhere the worst English imitations of Greek and Roman
;

monuments are, in their turn, imitated by the native builders. And it was to
erect such monstrosities that the resources of the State were squandered for over
half a century, while its ten million subjects were exposed to the most grinding

oppression, until the government of the country was taken over by the East India
Company. Nevertheless, some of the older buildings are not lacking in a certain
character. The Imambara, or " Holy Place," now converted into an arsenal, and
stripped of nearly all its
sculptures, is a noble palace, with graceful and simple
proportions, approached by a massive gateway of imposing appearance. The
palace of the Residency, the strategic centre of the city and the converging-point
of the avenues radiating in all directions, is also a handsome building, while the
commercial quarter contains several numerous elegant houses with carved balconies,
and coated with a species of stucco, brighter than marble itself. One of the most
curious structures in Lucknow is the La Martiniere College, so named from the
French General Claude Martin, who built it in the hybrid Italian, Hindu, and

Persian style adopted by the raja of Audh for his own palaces. The three cities of

Lyons (Martin's native place), Calcutta, and Lucknow, were named by him as his
heirs, and in each of them a college perpetuates the memory of this eccentric soldier
of fortune.
" Garden of
Besides Lucknow, which lies in a rich district called the India,"
there are but few towns in Audh, nor have any of them more than a local import-
ance as stations and markets. Such are Sitapur, Hai Bareli, Bahraich, Khairabad,
and the ancient Shahabad. Faizabad, the chief town next to Lucknow, occupies
the site ofthe city which gave its name to the kingdom. The ancient Ajodhya
"
founded by Manu, the father of men," formerly capital of the kingdom
(Audh),
"
of Kosala, and residence of the " Solar king, Dasaratha, father of Rama, has
preserved no vestige of the monuments whose splendour is sung in the Ramayana.
Even its old Buddhist monasteries have disappeared, for its Jaina temples are all
of recent origin. The Mohammedan mosques erected after the conquest are in ruins,
but they mark the spots of all others most hallowed in the eyes of the Hindus, where
Rama was born, where he celebrated one of his great sacrifices, where he died.
The annual fair of Ajodhya is said to attract half a million of persons, although

the modern city is much smaller than its neighbour, Faizabad, lying farther west,
TOPOORAIIIY.

on the right bank of the saim- ii\. T Gogra. Both of them find ample room in
vast space of about 100 square miles, said to have U- .1
l.y th- ai
:

Ajodhya. The present imi>ortanre of Faizubud is due mainly to the jx..jti.,n it

l>et\veen Benares and Luckuow.


t, the "City of God," which the Hindus call 1'myny, from the
" confluence " of the
Ganges and Jamna at this jxiint, h IH.V n l.\- tin-

English as the capital of the North- West Provinces. The selection wu* due
to its strategic and commercial position at the converging-point of the main

routes from Audh, Nepal, Delhi, the Panjab, the Central Provinces, and the
Arabian Sea. Here also the North Indian trunk line of railway has its chief
central station, whence it radiates towards Calcutta, Bombay, and Peshawar. But

Fig. 94. ALLAHABAD.


Scale 1 : 380,000.

this great administrative and commercial centre has been shorn of some of its
former architectural splendour. The fort, which stands at the confluence, on the
site of structures dating from legendary times, has lost the towers erected here by

Akbar, although it still comprises a fine palace, now transformed to an arsenal,


besides some remnants of older buildings. A pillar standing in the garden bears
the famous proclamation issued by the Buddhist Emperor Asoka two hundred and

fifty years before the vulgar era,


and this inscription is followed by two others
commemorating the victories of Samudragupta four centuries thereafter, and the
accession of Jehanghir to the throne of the Great Moghul. Near this pillar is tlu-
entrance to atemple which alluvial deposits and debris have <-.nvertil into cata-
combs. Here, according to lie Hindu legend, thr Saia^ati ends
1
its mysterioun
course, and blends its waters with those of the (ian-re> and
Jamna. In a court of
220 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the underground temple are shown the remains of the trunk of a banian tree, in
whose branches dwelt a man-devouring demon. The ground was formerly covered
with heaps of bones the remains of pilgrims, who came in thousands to immolate

themselves, in order to appease the hunger of the monster. In the time of Akbar,
the Ganges having eaten away its banks to the foot of the sacred tree, the victims
found it more convenient to drop from its branches into the stream below.

Although still one of the holy places of India, 'Allahabad has, at present, certainly
lostmuch of its prestige in the eyes of the Hindus, doubtless owing to the guns
which now appear in the embrasures above the banks of the two sacred rivers.
But although the fair at the beginning of the year attracts fewer traders and

pilgrims than that of Ajodyah, as many as 250,000 have occasionally encamped

on the plain skirting the right bank of the Ganges above the confluence.
Like all the administrative centres of the empire, Allahabad consists of two
one containing the English barracks, villas, parks, and gardens, separated
cities,

by a wide space from the other, occupied by the natives. In the English quarter,
near the fort and close to the Ganges, is situated the recently founded Central

College, a sort of university for all the North- West Provinces. Above the city the
Jamna is by an iron bridge over 3,300 feet long, but since the opening
crossed
of the railway steamers have ceased to ply between Allahabad and Calcutta.
Below the confluence the first large town on the main stream is Mirzapur,
whose fine ghats, domed
temples, towers, and richly sculptured palaces produce an
imposing effect from the river. Before the opening of the railway Mirzapur was
the first corn and cotton mart in India, but since then it has been largely super-
seded as a trading centre by Allahabad, Cawnpore, and Delhi. But its local
industries chiefly copper ware, carpets, woven fabrics of various kinds, and

lacquer ware are still flourishing. The houses, like those of Benares, are built of
excellent sandstone from the Chanar quarries, situated lower down on the banks of
the Ganges. On the rock of Chanar, famous in Hindu mythology, and forming
a last spur of the Vindhyas, stands a famous citadel, which the English have
converted into a state prison.
Benares, or Kasi, the ancient Varanasi, is the metropolis of the Brahman
religions, a city holy beyond all others, the mere sight of which suffices to remove
the heaviest burden of sins. The very saints themselves return at times on earth
in order to complete their purification at this spot. From the earliest
Aryan epoch
Benares already appears as a city of sanctuaries. Here Sakya-Muni proclaimed his
doctrine, and for the next eight hundred years it remained the chief centre of
Buddhism. Then the Brahmans returned, and rebuilt their pagodas, which had,
in their turn, to make room for the mosques of the Mohammedan conquerors. At
present the city contains over 1,700 temples, mosques, and lesser sanctuaries,
besides the altars, shrines, statues, and holy images set up at the corner of every
street. Churches and chapels of various Christian sects have also been built by the
missionaries,and the religious toleration now everywhere proclaimed throughout
the British dominions has even allowed a Buddhist temple to reappear on a spot
where its half Chinese architecture now forms a striking contrast with the sur-
TOPOGRAPHY. in
rounding mosques and Brahman pyramidal temples. Amongst the ruins of
tope*
situated at Sanuit/i, miles to the north, and
nearly probably t. ni\ -f,,., r
I
uturiea
,-,

old, conspicuous is the Dhainak, or Dharmu that is, tin- Law "a - l;d magg
110 foot high, encin-lrd by a richly carved It marks the exact
plinth. spot where
the divine liuddhu first " set the wheel of the Law in motion."
Since the Buddhist epoch Benares has been
gradually displaced southwards.
At that time it lay north of the little river
Barna, whence it takes its name, and

Fig. 95. BENARES.


:
840,000.

where the ruins of Sarnath indicate its


original site. Then it occupied the spot
farther south, where now stand the barracks of the British military station, and at

present its houses are crowded along the left bunk of the Ganges. The interior is
a labyrinth of narrow winding streets, rendered almost impassable by the crowds
222 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

with the pack animals, camels, horses, asses, and the sacred bulls. Even monkeys

mingle with the multitude near some of the pagodas. The arcades, galleries,
carved balconies, coarse frescoes, trees rooted in the walls, flowers at the windows
and on the terraces, all combine
impart a special physiognomy almost to every
to

house. Seen from the river, which here develops a magnificent crescent 3 miles

long, this unique city unfolds a superb panorama of palaces, temples, towers, and
cupolas of a thousand different forms, some solid and massive, others fretted,
gaped, or leaning from the perpendicular. The ghats, descending 100 feet from
the edge of the cliff down
the river, are always crowded with pilgrims and
to

fakirs indulging in their self-imposed macerations, or performing their ablutions in


the sacred stream. At the foot of one of these ghats the dead, enveloped in white
shrouds and tossing on the troubled waters, await their turn to be cremated on the

adjacent pyre. During the great feasts the broad stream, with its hundreds of
light craft and steamers, is scarcely less animated than the streets themselves, and
at sunset the vast crescent of palaces, illumined with a thousand lights, presents a

marvellous picture. All these buildings are overtopped by the observatory, erected
here by Jaising at the end of the seventeenth century.

Depending chiefly on the alms of the pilgrims from every part of India,
Benares is one of the least industrial places on the Ganges. It has even lost much
of population since the middle of the century, and will probably soon cease
its

to be the largest city in the Xorth-West Provinces. The chief local industries are
brocades and shawls, jewellery, and filigree work. Large quantities of cotton
stuffs are imported in exchange for sugar, indigo, and saltpetre. The main railway
passes east of the city over the first permanent bridge above the delta a viaduct
with seven piers and a total length of 850 yards. At the other end stands the
castle of Ramnagar, residence of the nawab, who still retains the title of Maharaja
of Benares.

Ghazipur, lying, like Benares, on the left bank of the river below the confluence
of the Gumti, has acquired considerable importance as a commercial centre, and
the Government has here erected works for the preparation of opium.
vast 1

Ghazipur is also noted for its essence of roses, and exports tobacco, saltpetre, and
carbonate of soda to Calcutta. Chopra, on the left bank, at the junction of the
Gogra and not far below the confluence of the Son, loses much of the advantage it
might otherwise derive from this convenient position at the converging-point of
three large river valleys by its low position exposing it to frequent inundations.
The navigable channel has also been recently displaced to a distance of over a mile,
while the stream of traffic has been diverted by the railway, which passes by
Arrali on the opposite side of the Ganges. Arrah has thus also inherited the trade
of Sasscram, which lies in the hilly district farther south. North of the Ganges
are the agricultural towns of Jaonpur, Azamgarh, and Gorakpur. Near the last

mentioned, on the banks of the Gogra, probably stood the famous Kapilarasta,
birthplace of Buddha.
Between Benares and Calcutta the largest and most flourishing place is Patna,
that is, the " City," in a superlative sense. The Mohammedans now call it
TOPOGRAPHY.

Azimalnil, and in tho Buddhist times, over 2,000 years ago, it bore the name of

hanged by the Greek Megasthenea into 7',///W/,/v/. At that time it


was the "chief city in India," and with its suburbs it is still one of the largest in
A-ia, itshouses, dockyards, und warehouses stretching for over 1'J mile* along the

right bank of the Ganges. On the west are the military station, cantonments,
parks, and manamvring-grounds of Dinapttr, south of which succeeds the adminis-
trative centre,
]i<nikij>ni' occupied almost exclusively by Europeans and their
t

households. Patna, rather than Chapra, must be regarded as the true converging-

point of the natural highways in this region. It lies below the junctions of the

Gogra and Son with the Ganges, while it faces the confluence of the Gandak
flowing from the richest valleys of Nepal. It is, moreover, now connected by two

Fig. 96. PATXA.


Scale 1 : 986,000.

E of G- eve

6 Mile*.

as the central terminus of a network of secondary


railways with Calcutta, and serves
lines here branching off from the main system.
its ancient historic memories, Patna is destitute of any
Notwithstanding
monuments of the past. Its chief architectural curiosity is a granary, which the
to display its extraordinary acoustic effects.
English have never utilised except
The more recent depots of opium, wheat, oils, and other produce an remarkable
are found some of the most interest in.?
only for their size; but in the district
The region south of Putna was pre-
religious structures and
ruins in India.
while the Brahraans have skilfully turned
eminently sacred to Buddhist worship,
to their the ancient of the temples and monasteries of the rival cult.
sanctity
profit

According to the local legend, here lies buried a spirit cursed by the gods, whose

i
224 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

only crime was his too great love of mortals,


whom he saved too easily from hell.
This is the vanquished spirit of liuddhism, whom the victorious gods have induced

to abstain from shaking the earth by promising salvation to all pilgrims worshipping

in the temple built over his body. A


railway, traversing the industrious town of
Jahanalad, now connects Patna with the holy city of Gaya, so named from the

mythical being here confined


below the surface. Gaya is encircled at intervals by
sacred stations, at each of which the pilgrims must present their offerings,
forty-five

Fig. 97. BEHAR AND BODDH GATA.


Scale 1 : 600,000.

12 Miles.

and no less than thirteen days are required to perform all the ceremonies of purifica-
tion. Of all the stations the most meritorious is Buddh Gaya, or Boddh Gaya, on the
river Lilajan, the " Immaculate," six miles south of Gaya. Here Sakya-Muni
resided for five years, absorbed in contemplation beneath the shade of a banian, the

decayed trunk of winch is still shown. The lodhi or " Tree of


drum, Knowledge,"
as this tree is called, is
supposed to have become, in a slightly modified form, the
collective name of all the sacred monuments, although it is derived *by some
"
etymologists from the epithet of Buddha, or the Sage," attributed to the reformer
v
TOPOGRAPHY.

The temple, restored iu 1805 and again in 1*77 by the envoys of the king of
Burma, rests on the foundations of a building erected _<.!:
still
preserves some curious sculptures of the time of Asoka, whirh n produce not
the Aryan tyi>e, but features resembling those of the present Kolurians. Near
tin- t.'inj.lr are also the ruins of the
palace inhabited by Asoka and his successor*
on the throne of Magadha.
Gayanot merely u religious city, but also does a large trade in sugar. Iltlfir
is

also, lying south-east of Putna, has become far more important for its trade and

industry than as a pluce of pilgrimage. It gives its name, derived from ViJiara,
or " Monastery," to the whole province, of which the Tirhut division, north of the

Ganges, yields large quantities of grain, opium, and other agricultural produce.
Its tobacco and indigo are of the finest quality. Bettiya, Jitizfiflarjnir, and
Dabangha, the largest towns in the district, forward their produce to Calcutta bv a
network of railways constructed for the purpose of giving employment to the
starving natives during the famine year 1874. These lines, fed by a large
converge on the Ganges over against Barh, one of the chief stations
local traffic,

on the trunk line from Calcutta to Peshawar, llajipur, also a busy place, may be
regarded almost as a suburb of Putnn, with which it is connected by the mouth of
the Gandak. The cultivated tracts of North Behar are continually encroaching on
the marshy terai district on the south frontier of Nepal, which is guarded by the

military station of Sigauli on the route to Katmandu.


Monghyr, one of the busiest ports on the Ganges, presents a highly picturesque
appearance, thanks to its rocky bluff crowned by an ancient fort, within which the
European town has been built. At the foot of the rock is grouped the Hindu
quarter, in the midst of a district which assumes the aspect of a wooded park from
the mhowa (Bassa latifoliri},
whose blossoms supply food to men and animals.
Nearly half a million of these plants grow in the district, yielding a yearly crop
of about 100,000 tons of flowers. A
still more commercial and populous place than

Monghyr is Bhagalpur, which covers a space of nearly 2 miles along the right
bank of the river. The surrounding country, with its innumerable Juina temples,

presents one of the most curious sights in India. As many as 640 temples
formerly stood on the granite tableland of the Mundar ghiri) Hill,
(Mundar which
rises 650 feet above the surrounding plains some 30 miles south of Bhaghalpur.
The whole mountain is completely encircled by the coils of a snake cut in relief on
the rock. But of older buildings nothing remains except the agates and other fine
stones still strewing the ground.
ancient city of Colgong (Ko/iatgaon), lying below Bhaghalpur, and till
The
recently doing a large trade with Calcutta, has been ruined by the capricious
current of the Ganges, which by shifting its course has obliged most of the inhabi-
tants to remove farther down to the modern town of Sahibyanj* North-west of
this place, and on the opposite side of the river, stands the thriving station of

Karagola, whose fairs attract large numbers of dealers. These fairs are held on a
vast low-lying alluvial plain, where the crowds have been more than once decimated

Shipping of Sahibganj (1877), 43,020 boat* ; trade, 450,000.


226 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

by the cholera. Rajmahal, the first town to the south of the great bend formed
by the Ganges round the Pahariah Hills, has also frequently suffered by the

displacements of the stream. Throughout the greater part of the seventeenth


century this place, which at that time stood near the chief branch of the Ganges,
was the principal town in the region of the delta. In the middle of the present
century it was still a populous and flourishing place but in 1863 the channel
;

"
shifted farther east, and the " Garden of Kings became a mere aggregate of huts

Fig. 98. MONOHYB.


Scale 1 : 380,000.

86M5

6 Miles.

surrounded by ruins. In 1880 the Ganges returned to its old bed, and Rajmahal
at once recovered its wonted prosperity.

Mahlah, lying at the confluence of the Mahanaddi with a branch of the Ganges,
has lost all the importance it formerly possessed as a French and Dutch factory.
It has ceased to produce the substantial cotton goods known as maldi, and is now
noted chiefly for its delicious mangoes. The English factory, founded farther
south in 1686, has on the contrary become one of the secondary towns of Bengal,
under the nume of Angrazalad, or English Bazaar. In this treacherous region,
where the very ground disappears with the fickle stream, the fate of cities changes
far more rapidly than on the more stable lands of the interior. Here are still to be
seen the famous ruins of'Gaurand of Pandua/i, residence of the Afghan rulers
towards the end of the fourteenth century. Its edifices, being all built of stone,
are in good repair, and are extremely interesting as examples of Afghan architecture
TOPOGRAPHY.

in Bengal. On the other hand, the very site of Tondan or Tanyra,


Gaur and I'anduah as the capital, has not yet been identified. Farther north, the
towns .f tin- alluvial plains traversed by the torrents from Nepal and Sikkiin alw
.shift their jMisition with the shifting (breams. Thus Purnia/i, formerly one of the
chief centres of the jute trade, has had to be abandoned since the erratic 'Kali Ko*i
has left nothing but noxious swamps along its river front.
low the head of the delta a few towns follow in succession along the alhnial
I'M

plain of the 1'adniah, the great branch of the Ganges which flows to the Meghna.
Here Ihimjnn- llaoleah is a much-frequented riverain port, exporting chiefly silk,
rice, and jute, and importing sugar, salt, and woven goods. Its exchanges

amounted in 1877 to a total of over 540,000. But Badnah, although capital of


a district, has
nearly all its trade since the channel has been displaced farther
lost

south. Between these two towns a steam ferry connects the two sections of the
railway between Calcutta and Darjiling. But trade has naturally been diverted to
the small arm of the Ganges chosen by the English for the site of their imperial

capital. On the same western branch of the river the rulers of Bengal had already
fixed their residence at the head of the delta in the eighteenth century. ^lurxhi-

dabad, the seat of government at that time, soon became one of the great cities
of the world. When Clive reached it in 1759, after the decisive victory of

Plassey, seemed to him as large, populous, and wealthy as London, with the
it

difference that the great landowners of the district were far more opulent than
those of the Valley. Murshidabad was then over 30 miles in circumference,
Thames
and even after the establishment of British rule it still preserved many of its
privileges, together with the official title of capital,
till the
year 1790. From that
time forth it diminished rapidly in importance and population." But it still
remains the official residence of the Nawab, who enjoys a government pension of

160,000, and who here possesses some magnificent palaces. One of these,
recently built in the Italian style, contains a carved ivory throne, a masterpiece
of local art, and another is mainly constructed of costly materials taken from
the monuments of Gaur. Almost embowered in foliage and bamboo thickets,
the place presents the ordinary aspect of a city only along the river bank and in
the quarter devoted to the silk-spinning industry. But the stream of traffic flows
chieflynorthwards to the towns of Jiayanj and Azimganj, which face each other
on either side of the Bhagirati. In the commercial world Murshidabad is known
only for its banking operations.
"NVhile this place has fallen into decay, others in the district have disappeared

city of Badriltat, on the west bank


Of the ancient Buddhist of the
altogether.
the site of Kasiintxisar is indicated
Bhagirati, nothing remains but ruins, while
of a few wealthy natives. This
only by some hovels grouped round the dwellings
town, which lies 3 miles to the south of Murshidabad, was the most flourishing

place in Bengal during the v\ utet nth century. From it the very river took its
" Island of Kasimbazar." In IM-t trade
name, while the delta was known as the

Population of Murshidabad during the 19th century : 165,000 in 1816 ; 146,176 in 1829; 124,804
in 1837; 46,140 in Iv
228 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

had already been to a great extent diverted towards the new town of Harhanipur
(Brahmapur), where the English
had established their military cantonments, when
a sudden shifting of the Bhagirati left Kasiinbazar in the midst of the swamps.
The whole population had to take to flight, and a large spinning factory belonging
to the East India Company was abandoned. The battle-field of Plassey
(Pa/asi),
south of Barhampur, was on the same occasion completely washed away by the
inundations.

Nadiya, one of the precursors of Murshidabad as capital of Bengal, was in the


eleventh century the residence of the last Hindu sovereign who ruled over this

region. Originally founded on the right, it now lies on the left bank of the
treacherous stream, and it has in recent times been altogether eclipsed by
Krishnagar, which is situated some 6 miles farther east on the Jelliughi. The
towns of this district were formerly famous for their schools, and Krishnagar is

even still noted for its Sanskrit college. Of Tribein, also a seat of learning,

nothing remains except its ghat. of Tribeni that is, the " Three
The name
Rivers," from the confluence of the Ganges with two other streams has remained
unchanged for over one thousand eight hundred years, and it is mentioned by
Pliny and Ptolemy as one of the chief marts of India.
At this point we enter the district of Calcutta. The ancient port of Satgaon or
" "
Saptagram that is, the Seven Villages was long the commercial capital of
the delta. But the channel having become choked with mud, the Portuguese,
who arrived in the year 1547, founded the town of Hugli and the church and ;

monastery of Bandel, still visible north of this place, are the oldest Christian
buildings in the north of India. In 1629 the Emperor Jahanghir took Hugli by
assault, captured the greater part of the Portuguese fleet, and either massacred

the prisoners or compelled them to become Mohammedans. Next came the


English the Portuguese, soon quarrelled with their guests.
in 1642, and, like

Hugli, the prize of victory, thus became a starting-point for fresh conquests. The
Dutch had also established themselves at Chinsurah, which lay to the south of
Hugli, and which was not ceded to Great Britain till the year 1826. At this
point a permanent bridge over 1,200 yards long will soon connect the two lines of
railway skirting the Hugli.
The French Chondan nagar that " Sandalwood
factory of Chandernagor is,

Town" or Chandra nagar that is, "Moon Town" recalls the days when Dupleix
contended for the supremacy of France in India. Occupied in 1675, and purchased
from the Great Moghul in 1688, Chandernagor became a considerable place
during the half of the eighteenth century, but it was surrendered to the
first

English by Terraneau in 1757. Ruined by the wars, the cordon of custom-houses


encircling it, and by the silting of the river, Chandernagor nevertheless still remains
one of the pleasantest places in Bengal. Farashdunga, or the " French Commune,"

occupies with its whole territory an area of no more than 2,350 acres, and its trade
is insignificant since the French shipping has been obliged to stop at Calcutta.*

Trade of France with the Hugli in 1X8 :


Imports to Calcutta, 261,000 ; exports from Calcutta,
2,136,000.
CALCUTTA

)
'

I <\
{

I. '--I
S "S V%
>\

\ V

> ^-*
t

Sulkhi

/n / r >-^
! iv'. / 1 A/>;
^

\
Sea.

WFW .
ENVIRONS

12 Mil.*

LETON 8t C9
TOPOGRAPHY. jj i

All the trading nations of Europe were anxious to possess a


factory on tin-
great river of Bengal. On the west bunk of the Ilugli In-low Chandernagor the
Danes had acquired the town of Si-ntnijiur, which they renamed / ,/,-.
But they sold it to England in !M-">, and Serampur has now become a dejM-ndeney
of Calcutta, where numerous merchants have taken uj> their residence. This
place was long the centre of the Protestant missions in India, and in the library
of its theolojrji-al college are
preserved some rare Oriental manuscripts. On the
leftbonk of the Hugli over against Serampurlies the beautiful park of Barrackjmr,
one of the residences of the Indian viceroys. This hybrid name of Barrack pur

(" Barracks
Town ") indicates the neighbourhood of the military cantonments
which have replaced the old Syamnagar, erected here by the raja of Bardwan.
fort of

Calcutta, metropolis of the Anglo-Indian Empire, and next to Bombay the

largest city in southern Asia, is of recent origin. In an official document of the

year 1596 mention is made of the hamlet of Kalikota on the right bunk of the
river. But towards the end of the following century the English traders removed
from this factory to the opposite side of the Hugli, where they were less exposed
to the raids of the Mahiattas. Their warehouses and dwellings were erected on
the site of the three villages of Sutanati, Kulikota, and Goriiulpur, and the name
of the central village, devoted to the worship of the sanguinary Goddess Kali,

ultimately prevailed. This term was by seafarers and strangers transformed to


Gofgot/ia, in allusion to the frightful mortality of the place, which was at that
time surrounded by swamps, and which was partly below high-water level. At

present an extensive system of drainage, fine plantations, and an abundance of pure


water have rendered the district healthy enough. In 1871 the mortality was lower
than in Naples, Florence, and many other European cities, although marshy tracts
and paddy-fields, often under water, still stretch south and east of the city. Here
"
the so-called " Salt Lake of Dhapparaanpur, occupying a space of 30 square miles,
has become the receptacle of the town refuse, which is conveyed to this spot by a

special line of railway. Since 1871 the mortality has again risen, and now exceeds
the average birth-rate, so that the urban population has steadily diminished, while
that of the rural districts has enormously increased.*
It was not without a struggle that the East India Company secured perma-
nent possession of this watery district. In 1756 the citadel of Port William was
besieged and captured by Saraj-ud-Daula, Nawab of Bengal. The European
prisoners to the number of 146 were shut up in the famous Black Hole, where not
more than 23 lived through a night of indescribable horror*. The following year
this outrage on humanity was avenged by an expedition from Madras under Clive
and Admiral Watson, who reoccupied Calcutta, gained the memorable victory of
over the
Plassey, appointed a new Nawab, and obtained from him sovereign rights
From Smtli
district. epoch dates the history of the modern city of Calcutta.
this

of the old fort Clive erected the new citadel of Fort William, which is
nearly 'J
miles in circumference, and which includes a whole town and gardens. North and
east of the tnaidan, or public esplanade and reviewing-gnmnd. were built those

Death-rate of Calcutta :
1871, 23-9 per 1000; 1873, 25-8 ; 1877, SI*.
230 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

"
pretentious edifices which have earned for Calcutta the title of City of Palaces."
The contrast till recently presented by this quarter with the adjoining native " city
"
of mud was most depressing. But broad open streets now admit air and light into
the " black town," as it is called. Some fine houses have even sprung up here,
while in the European district several thoroughfares are lined by buildings in

simpler and better taste than those of the esplanade. Calcutta has also overflowed
to the right or opposite bank of the river, where the suburb or town of Haurah is

occupied chiefly by sailors, mechanics, and artisans of all classes. The two sides of

the Hugli are here connected by a bridge of boats, which is opened two hours daily
for the shipping. At intervals along the banks, access to the river is afforded by
numerous ghats, constantly crowded by picturesque groups of natives of all ages and
who here assemble for their silent ablutions. The Nimtolah Ghat, north
both sexes,
of the bridge, is
specially set apart for cremations.
The choice made of Calcutta as capital of the Indian Empire clearly attests the
foreign origin of its founders. whole Cis-Gangetic peninsula, it
Relatively to the
occupies quite an exterior position, as an emporium of trade rather than the seat of
a political system, such as was Delhi, centre of the Moghul power. Even in
Bengal itself, Calcutta is far from occupying the geographical position of a native
capital developed by the concentrated energies of the nation. The head of the
delta was the natural site for such a metropolis, and here, under the various Hindu
and Mohammedan Asiatic dynasties, Nadiya, Kasimbazar, Murshidabad, and the
other great cities of Bengal succeeded each other with the incessant shif tings of the
stream at this point. But Calcutta is merely a trading station raised to political
supremacy by foreign influences. Hence the question has frequently been dis-
cussed of removing the seat of government to Delhi, Agra, Allahabad, Jabalpur,
or some other more central position. Bombay has also been suggested, on the
ground of the exceptional advantages offered by it for furthering the relations with
Europe. Mention has even been made of Nasik, at the north-west corner of the
Dekkan, as occupying a healthy and convenient situation near the port of Bombay,
and almost at the converging-point of all the main peninsular routes. Still Calcutta
enjoys, if not the
privileges derived from time, at least the vast resources acquired
by invested capital. Through its lines of railway and navigation it is now in easy
communication with all the provinces of Hindustan while the conquests and
;

peaceful annexations in further India have given it somewhat central position


a

relatively to the whole empire. It stands about midway between Aden and Hong
Kong, and nearly equidistant from Ceylon and Singapore.
is But since the
establishment of the health resorts on the advanced sub-Himalayan Hills, the seat
of government may be said to have acquired a nomad character. In summer the
officials withdraw from Calcutta to Simla, which then becomes the centre of the

empire, while Darjiling is


temporarily constituted the capital of the Bengal
Presidency.
During the last hundred years of its political supremacy Calcutta has been
embellished by many stately buildings, such as the government palaces, the town
hall, the law courts, posttoffice, mint, several clubs, cathedrals in Greek or Gothic
Tnr<.<;i:AniY.

style,
more or less affected by local influences. Here have also been founded
several important scientific institutions, including the
Royal Sci t\ of Asiatic

Bengal, whose publications, rontinue<l from the year 1788 to the present time, have
become a vast depository of valuable papers bearing on Oriental studies. Ito

Fig. 90. MOCTH or THE UIOLI.


Scale 1 : 1,*,000.

31

E.of.Gr. 88'30:

to 16 Feet. 16 to 82 Feet. 83 to 64 Feet. 61 Feet and upward*.

Lighthotue* or Lightship*.

library has been enriched by some unique documents, while the Indian Museum
contains a complete collection of Indian rocks and fossils, and notably the interest-

ing remains of the tertiary fauna collected in the stratified deposits of Sivulik.
Amongst the parks of Calcutta is a zoological garden, which, however, is less exten-
sive than that of the ex-raja of Audh, whose estate extends for nearly two miles
232 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

along the left bank of the river below the city. On the opposite side are the Botanic

Gardens, which cover a space of 2JO acres, and which, notwithstanding the ravages
of the cyclones, still contain some marvels of the vegetable world, such as a
baobab from Senegal, with a circumference of over 50 feet. Under the manage-
ment of Hosker, this garden, which was founded in 1786, has acquired great scientific
importance, and its herbarium is at present certainly the most complete in Asia.
As an industrial city, Calcutta is inferior to Bombay, possessing little beyond
the factories and workshops common to all large cities. But the suburb of Haurah
on the west side already presents thex aspect of a European manufacturing town.

Fig. 100. THE RANIOANJ MINES.


Scale 1 : 225,000.

Pits.
, 3 Miles.

Here are some extensive jute, cotton, and sackcloth weaving mills, while in the
district there are several government industrial establishments, notably the Kosipur

gun foundry above the city. For its trade and shipping Calcutta has become
one of the chief ports in Asia. Its yearly exchanges are estimated at about

100,000,000, with a tonnage of 2,500,000, exclusive of the river and delta traffic.
Some idea may be formed of this vast riverain movement from the fact that during
the course of the year as many as 100,000 boats visit the port of Klntlna, which
"
occupies a central position amid the network of canals in Lower Bengal. Fearing
the silting of the Ilugli, the Calcutta merchants have recently connected the capital
TOPOGRAPHY.

with Port Canning, a now station on tin- Matlah estuary, which is from 25 t<> v <> 1

feet (1 ]),
and imt exposed to the bore. But foreign vessels have hitherto avoided
this j>ort, near which are the Tnnln mines, which wen- \i-ited by the Portuguese
mariners before the foundation of Calcutta. North-east of thi* jMint is Jeutor, or
/\'i.Ji>i. wiiicli, though a small place, is the chief town of a district containing over

200,000 inhabitants.
From Calcutta to the sea, a distance of 75 miles, there are no more towns, which
are here replaced by hamlets hidden in the foliage, by forts, signal- towers, and
lighthouses. But west of the capital lies the populous basin of the Damudah
(Damodar), which flows out of the Chota Nagpore Hills to the
estuary of the Rupnar-
ayan. Here the chief placeBardtran, residence
is of a maharaja, but one of the
unhealthiest places in India. The neighbouring town of Bmhnapur, mentioned in
the chronicles of the eleventh century as " the most famous city in the world," now

presents little more than a mass of ruins, which cover a vast


sj>ace. Chandrakona,
Bankura, and the other towns of this district possess some local industries, of which
the most important are silk weaving and metal works. But English capital has
been chiefly attracted to the rich carboniferous basin of Raniganj, which contains
at least 14,000,000,000 tons of available coal, and which already supplies two-
thirds of the entire annual production of India. Mines have been worked here
since 1777, but the quality is fur inferior to English coal.* The best in India is

yielded by the mines of Karharbari, near Mount Parasnath, in the Chota Nagpore
uplands. Other coal-fields follow in succession along a line stretching through
Hazaribagh and Falamao westwards to the valley of the Son. One of the chief

advantages of Calcutta is its proximity to the only carboniferous basins which have
any real economic value.
Notwithstanding the unhealthy climate of its marshy tracts, the population of
Chota Nagpore has increased more rapidly than that of any other district in Bengal.
Hazaribagh, noted for pure and bracing atmosphere, is steadily increasing in
its

importance as a summer retreat for the English merchants of Calcutta. At several


points in this district, and especially on the slopes of Parasnath, tea plantations
have already encroached on the jungle but the idea of founding a health resort
;

on the summit of this mountain has been abandoned. The plain stretching thence
northwards, and traversed by the direct railway from Calcutta to Patna, contains
the temples of Dcogarh, consecrated to Siva, and frequented by more numerous

pilgrims than the shrines of Parasnath.


We-t of Calcutta the only large place is the industrial town of Midnapur, which
lies on the river Kasai, and which is connected by a navigable canal with Calcutta.

Tan fak, on the right bank of the Rupnarayan, is the ancient Tamralapti, a royal
capital and much -frequented port during the Buddhist epoch.
The Chinese pilgrim
as a large city abounding in fine-
H'wen-T-s-uig speaks of it in the seventh century
monuments. But the silting of the river has cut off Tamluk from access to the sea,
and reduced it to the condition of a large village, whose houses and temples are

gradually sinking in the treacherous soil.

Yield of the Raniganj mine* in 1868, 664,930 tons ; in 1879, 628,100 ton*.

80
CHAPTER X.

ASSAM HIGHLANDS AND BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN.

HIS north-eastern region of India is a land of transition. Owing


to its positionon the frontier of several geographical domains, it
also belongs ethnically to different historic epochs. The plains
comprised in the province of Bengal have for centuries formed
part of the Hindu world, whereas the ranges forming the water-

parting between the Brahmaputra and Irrawaddi basins, that is, between India and
Indo-China, are occupied by tribes which have reached diverse stages of culture.
On the unexplored southern slopes of the Himalayas and of their eastern extension
into the Chinese Empire, the aborigines belong, some to the Tibetan, others to the

Indo-Chinese stock. Compared with most of the other provinces of India, Assam
is thinly peopled, not only in the
upland valleys, but even on the plains. Before
they were wasted by the hill tribes and the Burmese invasions, the lowlands appear
to have supported a much larger population along the banks of the Brahmaputra.
The jungle still
everywhere reveals the traces of buildings, of mounds which seem
to have served as tumuli, of bamboo thickets and groves of fruit-trees, which have
reverted to the wild state. At present the country is being repeopled by Bengali,
Oraon, Santhal, and other colonists, who settle on the fertile plains and surrounding
uplands, where they find employment on the tea plantations. But the neighbour-
ing Bengali districts of Dakka, Tipperah, and Noakhali, lying on the right bank of
the Brahmaputra, are still relatively six or seven times more populous than Assam.

GARRO, KHASI, AND NAGA HILLS.

The Garro Hills rise immediately to the east of the great bend formed by the
Brahmaputra at its entrance on the plains of Bengal. These uplands, which gradu-

ally ascend from west to east, consist of parallel ridges separated from each other by

deep valleys, still mostly under dense forest or jungle. Towards the south the first
ridge is commanded by Mount Toura, whose summit, 4,550 feet high, affords one
of the most extensive panoramas in India. The vast plains stretch away beyond
GARRO, KIIASI, AND NAOA II 1 1
in

the horizon, while on elear days the giant* of Sikkini an- \i-il>le towering above
I)arjilinu
p Here and then-. sj, ,rkling amid the forest vegetation, aji>ear the v.
. ;

of the Amawari (
Brahmaputra), whose windings may be followed by the eye for
o\er 100 miles. Towards the eentre of these highlands ries the lofty ere-t on

\\liich tin- Hindus have conferred the name of Kuilas, from that of the venerated

Himalayan peak.
Watered by abundant Garro Hills are clothed with an extremely dense
ruins, the

vegetation, noted especially for its vigorous creepers and parasitic plants. The
valuable sal and other useful timbers abound in these forests, which are govern-

Fig. 101. MOINT KAILAR, GARKO HILLS.


Scale 1 : 900,000.

'

, .

Lofb
M7 l\

6 MiU*.

nient property, and which must become a fruitful source of revenue as soon as the

country opened up by good roads.


is Here also the State claims a monopoly of the
wild elephants, which are numerous enough to yield 200 yeirly for domestic use.
Another large deni/en of these forests is the rhinoceros, which is generally so
gentle that it is often kept in herds like other tame animals.
Fanning the western extremity of an orographic system stretching for
ioo miles towards the Yunnan Highlands, the Garro Hills are connected eastwards

with other and more elevated ranges, known in the west as the Kha^ia (Khasi), in
the east as the Juintiu Hills. Although the same geological formation pr
all these uplands, the aspect of the two slopes j.i.-,
nts considerable
throughout
286 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

diversity. The northern section consists everywhere of crystalline and meta-


morphic rocks sloping gently towards the Brahmaputra plains. But the south
side is formed chiefly of chalks, sandstones, and other tertiary deposits rising

abruptly above the valley, or ancient marine inlet, which is now traversed by the
tributaries of the Meghna. While the Garro Hills are cut up by erosion into a

number of parallel valleys, the Khasias present the general aspect of plateaux,
with a mean elevation of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet, rising here and there to a

height of 6,000 feet, and, according to the Schlagintweits, attaining an altitude of

Fig. 102. VALLEYS OF EEOSION IN THE KHABIA VALLEYS.


Scale 1 :
685,000.

9T40"

9,400 feet inMount Mopat, their culminating-point. But on the map prepared
under the direction of Thuillier, Mount Chilling (6,500 feet) figures as the highest
peak in the Khasia system. Some of the escarpments limiting the Khasia plateaux
on the south are so precipitous that they can be scaled only by means of ladders, or
by wooden steps attached horizontally to the surface of the rock. AVhere the cal-
careous formations rest on a sandstone basis, they are pierced -by grottoes and

underground galleries, whose supports have here and there given way, resulting in
vast heaps of ruins, which present the appearance of colossal strongholds. These
debris afford an inexhaustible supply to the lime-burners of the plains.
OARRO, KHAM. \\'D NAOA HILLS.

The work of eiWm. which has here produced an endless


variety of fantastic
forms, is still
going on, and after every
rainy season fresh gorges and gullies are
xated, especially on the southern slopes. Nowhere else are the
tr..|,ir
; ,l down-
pours exceeded which the Chera-jMmji di>trict
full in
among the Khasia HilU I,,
this part of Assam the
ruiny season also lasts much longer than in any other
part
of India. Beginnin" in March, it docs notecase till the middle of N<>\ ember, so

Fig. 103. TH BAN TAX.

that near the rivers the remain for eight months under water. On these
plains
watery lowlands the air is
nearly always heavy, dank, and charged with miasmatic
exhalations. Even in the cold and dry season, from November to February, a
dense fog rises towards midnight from the
depressions, and the open country
remains during the early hours a
wrapped in ha/y, fever- breeding atmosphere.
W liile the rains last all land communication is interrupted, even In-tween neigh-
bouring villages, and to this enforced isolation must be chiefly attributed the present
288 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

minute ethnical subdivisions amongst the inhabitants, who were doubtless originally
of one stock and speech. They are kept more apart by their swamps, quagmires, and
inundated lands than they might be by broad marine inlets. Nevertheless, besides
the natural routes, there exist here and there a few elevated causeways dating from
an earlier period of civilisation, and now carefully preserved by the British adminis-
tration. Except along these highways, all travelling is impossible without the
aid of elephants. The and valleys are even more impene-
forests of the lowlands

trable than those of the Garro ifills but the plateaux have been mostly cleared
;

and occupied by the Khasia and Jaintia tribes, who cut down the timber and
prepare the land for tillage during the short dry season.
The flora of these Khasia Hills is the richest in India, and probably in the
whole of Asia, including no less than two hundred and fifty species of orchids
alone. This amazing vegetable wealth is due
extreme variety of soil within
to the

a narrow compass. Marshes and quagmires, decomposed rocks, weathered surfaces,


bare or wooded slopes, all intermingle their special flora, while on the plains the

banyan alone often forms a whole forest. Higher up flourishes the gigantic
garjan, whose straight and stately stem throws off huge branches, overshadowing

the ground for a space of 140 feet round about.


The Upper Brahmaputra Valley is now connected with those of the Surmah
and Barak by means of great military routes across the Khasia Hills. But east of
the Jaintia territory the highland system is completely interrupted by a profound

depression, beyond which begin the Naga Hills, whose scientific exploration was
undertaken in 1872 by the geologist, God win- Austen. These hills, which form a
north-easterly continuation of the South Assam orographic system, are pierced at
intervals by the broad and deep valleys of rivers flowing towards the Brahmaputra.
Here traces have been detected of old glaciers, although the highest peaks
scarcely
exceed 3,000 feet. But southwards the range is connected with other and far
more elevated chains, which form the water-parting between the Meghna and
Irrawaddi basins. Here the Barel range has a mean altitude of nearly 7,000 feet,
while one of its peaks, which is often snow-clad, rises to a
height of 12,250 feet,
thus forming the culminating-point on the Indo-Chinese frontier. The system
falls gradually towards the north-east, where the Patkoi Hills afford
easy access
from the Upper Brahmaputra to the Upper Irrawaddi through numerous depres-
sions ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in height. Here the chief obstacles to free
communication are caused not so much by the elevation of the land as by its dense
forests and extensive marshes.

North of the Dihing, one of the great affluents of the Brahmaputra from the
we approach a terra incognita, which is known to be very mountainous. The
east,

Dupa Bum peak rises to a height of 13,850 feet above the north bank of the
Dihing, and the few travellers who have traversed this region unanimously
describeit as of an
extremely rugged character and of very difficult access, owing
to the absence of roads, the steep slopes, and tangled vegetation. The village of
Sime, the farthest point hitherto reached, lies already in the heart of mountains
belonging to the East Tibetan system. In this region the various ridges forming
Till: I'.KAIIMAITTKA IIYDEOORAPUIC SYSTEM.

the eastern continuation of the


Himalayas are separated from each other onlv l>v
the narrow valleys of Brahmaputra waters. Sime was the scene of the
tin-
I'I.JM r
murder of the two niissiunanV-. Krick and Boury, who had ventured in 1854 to
penetrate into these savage uplands. .

THE BKMIMMM -ncv HYIIROORAPIIIC S\XTKM.

The Hindus do not regard the main branch of the Upper Brahmaputra as the
most copious of all its eastern affluents. The " Son of Brahma," the Siang of the
Abors, the Talu-ka of the Singpo tribes, the Haraniya of the Assamese lowlnndere,
lu Amawari of the Garro hillmen, and the
t
Burham-puter of the Bengali, is regarded
as rising in the Brahmukund
(" Brahma's Lake"), which is formed by a winding
of the river Lohit round a romantic bluff. According to the Mishmis, this Lohit,
or " lied Iliver," flows from a snowy Tibetan mountain some days'
journey north-
wards, and is said to be fordable above the Chinese village of Rumah. Compared
to the other streams, whose junction with it on the Sadiya plain forms the true
Brahmaputra, it has but a feeble volume. Of all these rivers the largest is the
Dihong, which flows from the north-west, and whose discharge rises from 39,000
cubic feet per second, at low water, to 250,000 and even 300,000 during the great
inundations. Since the time of Rennell, most English geographers regard the

Dihong as identical with the Tibetan Tsangbo, which has been traced to within
90 miles of the farthest point reached on the Dihong. few miles above the A
Lohit confluence the Dihong is joined by the Dibong, which by some has also
been regarded as the continuation of the Tsangbo. Another claimant to the same
honour is the Subansiri, which reaches the Brahmaputra far below the general
converging-point at Sadiya. However, it is now certain that neither of the two
last named can pretend to this distinction, the volume of both being inferior to

that of the Tsangbo, where it has been gauged near Chetang, south-east of Lassa.
On the other hand, both the Dihong and the Irrawaddi have a mean discharge
exceeding that of the Tsangbo ; consequently the discussion is now restricted to
these two rivals. was hoped that the question might have been set at rest
It

by the blocks of wood which the Hindu explorers of the Tsangbo threw into the
stream some years ago but these numbered logs have hitherto failed to make
;

their appearance in the lower reaches of either river.


At the Sadiya confluence the Brahmaputra is already a more copious stream
than the Rhine or Rhone, even in the dry season. Where its waters are collected
in one channel it
usually about three-quarters of a mile wide, while it ramifies
is

here and there into a multitude of branches, presenting at some points a total width
of from '24 to 60 miles. Its great size might seem to be sufficient proof of its

identity with theTsangbo; but a more important consideration than mere expan-
sion from bank to bank is the volume of liquid sent down during the wet season.
Now the Brahmaputra basin certainly exposed to one of the hi-a\ie-t
is rainfalls of

any river system in the world. A


portion of its valley is no doubt partly sheltered
from the tropical downpours by the Garro and Khasia Hills. But these ranges
240 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

have a mean altitude of little more than 3,000 feet, so that a large portion of the
reach the more elevated
moisture-charged clouds remain unintercepted
till
they
chains which form the eastern continuation of the Himalayas. No measurements
have been taken of the rainfall in this region, but its abundance is sufficiently
yet
shown by the relief of the land, and the direction of the atmospheric currents from
the Indian Ocean.
The Dihong,* which, whether connected or not with the Tsangbo,
certainly is

the chief affluent of the Brahmaputra, presents the rare phenomenon of bifurcation
in a mountainous region. At the point where it ramifies its valley is nearly 1,200

Fig. 104, UNEXPLOKBD REGIONS OF THE UPPER UK.UIM.UTTKA.


Scale 1 :
1,700,000.

Off

^^
Hills seen in the Distance.

120 Miles.

feet higher than that of the Brahmaputra. The Bori Dihing, or main stream,
flows south-west to its junction with the great artery on the alluvial plain, while
"
the Noh Dihing or " New
Dihing branch runs north-east towards the Lohit
above Sadiya, so that between the two confluences there is a distance of no less
than 66 miles in an air line. The other tributaries also join the Brahmaputra
through several mouths, uvt their ramifications take place on the alluvial plains,
and are shifted with every^ inundation. In their erratic vagaries the Dihong,
Dibong, Subansiri, Manas, Tista, and other affluents resemble the main stream to

The syllable Di, which forms the initial of so many of the Brahmaputra head-streams, means river in
the Bodo (Kachari) language.
TlIK BRAHMAPUTRA IIYDIIOGIIAI'IIIC SYSTEM. 241

which they flow from the Himalayas. But tin- most remarkuUe -placement i

was presented l>y the Brahmaputra itself at the end ..f the lust century,
skirting the west foot of the Garro Hills flowed formerly south-ea-t. ,r,U, U nd
it

was directly joined by all the streams .from the Sailhet and Caehar districts; but

Fig. 105. GANOU AND HRAIIMAI-I TRA COXFLVEXCE.


Scale t : mono.

<s
vv\
/yso .poA
v,*
B

89* 30' ft9'45

1-' Mile*.

at present it runs, under the name of the Jamuna, due south to its junction

with the Padma branch of the Ganges. The old bed is now traversed only by a
small current, the two channels enclosing a space of no less than 6,000 square
miles.

The Meghna, which receives most of the united water* of the Brahmaputra
and Ganges, is nothing more in its upper course than the natural drainage of the
South Assam swamps, mingling with the old branch of the Brahmaputra and with
242 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the winding streams of the delta region. South of the confluence the Meghna
is at once a river and an estuary, which is studded with islands and
shifting
sandbanks, and regularly visited by the bore. Its mean discharge has not yet
been measured, but it can scarcely be less than 750,000 cubic feet per second, or
three times that of the Danube. But for the habit of regarding the Ganges and
Brahmaputra as two distinct streams, the Meghna, formed by their junction, would
rank as the first river in Asia. ,
Its volume exceeds even that of the Yangtze-Kiang,
and elsewhere surpassed only by those of the Amazon, Congo, and Parana. Of
is

the two streams contributing to its formation, the Brahmaputra is certainly the

largest. At Gaohati, which lies 480 miles from the coast and about 160 feet above
sea level, the section of the river measured by Hermann von Schlagintweit at low
water has a width of 5,000 feet, and in winter a discharge of 225,000 cubic feet

per second, which during the summer inundations is increased three or four fold.
The mean discharge cannot be less than 375,000 cubic feet at this point, below
which its volume is still further increased by such tributaries as the Manas, Tista,
and Barak. Its alluvial deposits are at least double those of the Ganges, yet
the elevation of the recent formations is far less on the east side of the common
delta than in the Gangetic Sandcrbans. This contrast js attributed by Fergusson
to the subsidence of the land in the basin of the Barak. The whole of this district

would appear to have been till


recently a sort of inland sea, which has been
gradually filled in by the Brahmaputra deposits, which before reaching the coast
were arrested by this lacustrine reservoir.

INHABITANTS OF ASSAM. THE GARROS.

The inhabitants of the Assamese highlands are still for the most part in the
savage state. In the east, towards the Burmese frontier, numerous rude tribes have
hitherto maintained their independence, and even in the western uplands, surrounded
on three sides by the plains, the British rule has only been acknowledged during
the last few years. So recently as 1871 the Garros rose against the English
authorities, and held out for a space of two years. But as soon as the country had
been thoroughly explored by the topographic officers, the Garros were compelled
to yield, and receive the fiscal agents in their villages.
The Garro tribeshave formerly occupied the lowlands, whence they
seem to

were gradually driven into the heart of the mountains by the Bengali, towards
whom they still entertain feelings of intense hatred. Nevertheless some of the
outlying clans have already become more or less Hinduised, so that here a gradual
ethnical transition takes place from the Brahmaputra plains to the upland forests.
The Garros of pure descent are usually of middle height, active and robust, with
almost black complexion, broad features, flat upturned nose, slightly oblique eyes,

straight forehead, prominent cheek-bones, thick lips, and altogether a somewhat


Mongoloid appearance. The scant beard is carefully plucked, so as to leave the
chin perfectly smooth, but the hair of the head is never cut. Most of the Natives

go nearly naked, while a few wear clothes imported from the lowlands, consisting
1MIA1UTANTS OF ASSAM. THE GARROS.

of drawers and blankets, to which occasionally added a sort of cloak made of


is

bark fibre. Like nxt


:., l^.th sexes are fond of ornaments, such as necklaces,
snv;i

earrings, bracelets, and a coronet of C..JJKT plaques, rescrvtd c.\du>ivt ly for those
who have sluin an enemy. They bear a high reputation for courtesy, good-nature-,
hospitality, truthfulness, and perfect horn-sty, in this respect contracting fa\.urally
with the fawning and treacherous Bengali of the plains. They are good husband-
men, although their only instrument is a simple knife, with which they dig, mow,
reap, and prune the trees. The object noticed by a stranger approaching
first

their hamlets is the watch-house, which is built on a platform overlooking the


other huts, and which commands a view of the surrounding cotton, corn, and
sweet -potato plots. After two or three crops the land is allowed to lie fallow
for seven or eight years, and the least pretext suffices to cause the community to
shift its quarters. In this way eight or ten successive hamlets will be founded
during a single generation, and in the forests traces are everywhere met of
abandoned dwellings overgrown with herbage and brushwood.
The Garro language, of which several vocabularies have been collected, is
related to that of the Mech tribes of the terai and others of Tibetan stock. They,
however, themselves the brothers of the English, by which they simply mean
call

to claim political independence. In their manners and customs they resemble the
numerous communities belonging to the same stage of culture in South-west China,
farther India, and the Dekkan.
In some respects they may even be regarded as
presenting a type of primitive society, which has hitherto resisted all the outward
influences surrounding it. Nowhere else have the matriarchal institutions been
"
better maintained. The clans have preserved their mahari, or " maternal name,
and the wife is still regarded as the head of the family. The maiden woos the

youth, who must always be chosen from a different mahari, and permission to

marry him is sought, not from his father, but from his mother. Should he himself
presume to make the first advances, his whole mahari is condemned to a heavy
fine for such a breach of propriety. Amongst most wild tribes the nuptials are

preceded by a real or feigned abduction of the bride, but amongst the Garros the
reverse process takes place, the future husband being forcibly carried off and
introduced to the " maternity," of which he remains henceforth a member.
Nevertheless, in the cose of heiresses the bridegroom is chosen and the contract

prepared by the two respective maternities. The son does not inherit the paternal
which passes to the sister's son. But this nephew also inherits the widow,
estate,
and must marry her, even though she be the mother of his own wife. Traces of
custom are found also amongst other native communities in India.
this primitive

Although they do not actually govern, the women aro always consulted in
the

village gatherings. The laskar, or chief, while indebted for his position to the
favour of the maternity which lie represents, must always be a man, and resides in
the large house reserved for all unmarried men according to the general Indo-
Chinese custom. Some of these laskars own more than fifty slaves,
all descended

from a conquered race, which comprises perhaps two-thirds of the whole imputation
but which has become almost completely assimilated to the Garro type. Amongst
244 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

the free men there are no castes, and in most other respects these hillmen have
hitherto resisted the social influences of the surrounding Hindu populations. They
eat the flesh of cows, and with the exception of milk, which they detest, they reject
no article of food, devouring even rats, frogs, and snakes. A choice national dish
are dogs specially " fattened for the table." Their religious ceremonies, conducted

by those who best remember the oral prayers, somewhat resemble those of the
Hindu Siva sect. But in their shrines no images are tolerated, although the spirits
are worshipped under the form of silk or cotton flocks attached to bamboos fluttering
in the wind. The dead are burnt, and the ashes preserved in a sort of bamboo cage
embellished with grotesque figures. Formerly the departed were commemorated
by the capture of Bengali lowlanders, who were solemnly sacrificed at the funeral
pyre; but since 18G6 these sanguinary rites seem to have been completely
suppressed.

THE KHASIA AND NAGAS.


East of the Garros and of the obscure Migam tribe are the Khasia, Koziya, or,

as they call themselves, the Khyi. Having been subject to British rule for over
fifty years, and having established close commercial relations with the surrounding

lowlanders, the Khasia are much more civilised than the Garros, and several of
their tribes have even become partly Hinduised. Before their reduction by the
English they formed a confederacy of petty republics, each consisting of a certain
number of villages governed by a local aristocracy. This political system has been
to some extent preserved side by side with the British administration. The Khasia
and their eastern neighbours, the Jaintia or Sainteng, are distinguished from all

the other inhabitants of Cis-Gangetic India by their monosyllabic speech, which,

however, already shows some traces of transition to the agglutinating form. Like
Basque, this language is
completely isolated, presenting no distinct relation to any
other known tongue. In their physical appearance the Khasia and Jaintia differ
but slightly from the Garros and other members of the Tibetan stock. According t

to Hooker, some of their tribes have preserved the practice of tattooing, and nearly
all chew leaves, which have the effect of
"
dyeing their teeth red. Dogs and the
"
Bengali have white teeth is a local saying, often heard in excuse for this habit.

They are honest, trustworthy, and of an extremely cheerful and animated disposition.
They are constantly singing, and almost alone amongst Asiatics they whistle tunes
with surprising accuracy. As amongst the Garros, matriarchal institutions still

flourish,and traces of polyandry have even been preserved amongst several tribes.
In case of divorce, which is very common, the husband returns to his maternal clan,
and the children remain with their mother, whom they alone recognise. All the
dead are burnt, but cremation being a very difficult operation during the rainy

season, the bodies are preserved in honey till the fine weather. The age of dol-
mens still survives in the Khasia Hills, where the approaches of all the villages are
encumbered with monumental stones, disposed either horizontally on piles, or

vertically, as in the west of Europe. Monoliths of fantastic form are also erected
along the highways in memory of great events.
TIM: KIKI. BODO, KOCH, AND OTHER ABORIGINES. J ! :,

The plateaux :nnl valleys east of tin- Kliasiaand Jaintia Hills are occupied by
the Bo-call.-d Nagu triUvs Hut this term N
ossibly associated with the old
Naga, or "Snakes" of Aryan tradition, is a collective name,
applied somewhat
vaguely to communities diMering greatly in np*v<-h, habits, dress, and many other
respects. Towards the north-east they merge in tin- Sin^-jx) of l'mnn;i. while <>n
the south they are connected by intermediate links with the Kuki race. One of
their tribes was sprung of the dew, another hutched from an
egg, a third rose from
the waters, a fourth self-produced from But pre-eminent amongst them
nothing.
a IT the Angami, or "
Uuconquered," who hove scarcely yet been completely
reduced by the English. They recognise no chief, and,
thrusting a spear into the
earth, exclaim with savage pride,"Behold our Muster!" The Nugus ure fur
more sedentary than the Garros, occupying permanent villages, defended, like
so many strongholds, by ditches,
thorny palisades and cheraux-dc-fri*e on the
The approaches to these fastnesses are scarcely wide enough to
crests of the hills.

admit two men abreast, and in time of war are strewn with all manner of obstacles.
Till recently the face could not be tattooed until a head was procured either by
stratagem or in open combat, and presented to the betrothed. Hence head-hunting
was as universally practised as amongst the Dyuks of Borneo. Nevertheless, the
Nagos are endowed with some noble qualities. They respect their pledged word,
devote themselves willingly for the common safety, and piously preserve the
enclosures guarding the graves of their dead. They till the land skilfully, are
highly esteemed as coolies on the tea plantations, which are gradually encroaching
on their territory, and which must eventually absorb them fur more effectually
than the armed expeditions of the British authorities. The collective population
of all the Naga tribes is estimated at about 70,000.

THE KUKI, Bono, KOCH, AND OTHER ABORIGINES.

The hilly tract stretching south of the Xaga domain as far as Tipperah and the

Chittagong district is occupied by the Kuki tribes. This generic term, applied to
them in an offensive sense by the lowlunders, is not recognised by these hillmen,
who lack all national cohesion, and have no collective name for the clans and septs
scattered over their forests. Most of them have a certain physical resemblance,
and are easily known by their low stature, muscular and thickset frames, flat

features, and almost black complexion. Some aro said to be noted for their dispro-
port innately short legs and long arms. The national costume is limited to a loin-

women, a turban for tho men, und a few metal


cloth for both sexes, a scarf for the
ornaments. The Luntka tribe go almost naked, as their name implies, u wicked
rlothes to
stepmother having, according to the tradition, stripped them, to give their
her own children. of and barbarous life is represented by the
Every stage savage
multitudinous Kuki clans, some of which are in direct relation with the Burmese,
some with the Ilcnirali Hindus while others are still in a state of complete isolation.

Some are said still to obtain tire by friction, and to season their food with bamboo
ashes instead of salt; whereas others, such us the Tipperuh hillmen, claim the title
240 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of Hindus, and practise rites of Brahmanic origin. Of all the Kukis the most

powerful are the Lushai, who dwell in the south of the


Manipur country, amongst
the mountains separating Tipperah from Burma. The British authorities have had
to send repeated expeditions against these marauders, who display remarkable skill

in defensive warfare, and who


fight with great courage in the presence of the

enemy. Nowhere the practice of vendetta so scrupulously observed.


else is

Vengeance must even be taken on animals and trees, so that the man-eating tiger
is
pursued and his blood drunk by the victim's nearest relative, while the tree falling
and crushing a native down and torn to pieces.
is cut
The hilly regions on the Assam frontier are inhabited by other Indo-Chinese
peoples, such as the Khamti and the Singpo, or Kakyen, which, however, are found
chiefly in the Irrawaddi basin. The marshy and wooded low-lying districts of
Assam are also occupied by some primitive tribes, such as the Mikir, who number
over 40,000 in the forest clearings between the Khasia Hills and the Brahmaputra.

They are a peaceful and industrious people, residing mostly in large houses, each
of which affords accommodation for several families. A still more numerous
nation are the Bodo, whose tribes, with a joint population of probably more than
200,000, are scattered all over Assam, as well as throughout the Barak and

Brahmaputra basins. Some are even found in Upper Bengal and the Nepalese
where they have
terai, for neighbours the Dhimals, who number about 15,000 in
the sal forests along the foot of the west Bhutan mountains.
The Bodo, whose domain thus forms a vast semicircle round the Assam high-
lands, are generally known by the name of Cachari, and from them the district on
the Manipur and Burma the name of Cachar.
frontier probably takes The
"
national designation Rangtsa, or
is Celestials," and the race is grouped in

compact communities chiefly in the peninsular Kamrup country lying between the
Brahmaputra and the Manas. In this extensive tract they have been variously

modified by their commercial relations with the surrounding populations. Several


of their tribes have adopted certain customs from their Hindu neighbours, and
have taken the title of Soronia, or " Purified," because they abstain from the
prohibited articles of diet, and practise the prescribed ablutions under the direction
of the guru, or priests. Others, living in East Assam near the Buddhist populations,
have their lamas; but all alike, whether Sivaists, Buddhists, or Pagans, have
preserved their primitive usages, by which they are almost everywhere distinguished
from the other races surrounding them. Their physical type differs in every
respect from the Aryan, their prominent cheek-bones, flat nose, broad nostrils,
small eyes, thick lips, and olive complexion suggesting a relationship rather with
the Dravidians of Southern India. Hodgson, their speech also
According to

presents the same features as that of the people of the Dekkan, while the few words
borrowed from the Sanskrit show that, before their contact with the Aryans, they
had no knowledge of agriculture properly so called, and possessed neither horses,

ploughs, money, nor abstract terms.


Like the Garros, the Bodo are still of somewhat nomadic habits, 'seldom
cultivating the same plot for more than two years consecutively, or residing more
THK KUKI, BODO, KOCH. \\I> oHIKU ABORIGINES. JIT

than six years in the same village. Kven after returning to their fallow lands,
they never build their huts on the old sites, for fear of tin- spirits, nor do they ever
seek to heroine the absolute owners of the ground which they cultivate. Hence
\\vlierefnunil in the position of tenant-., paying the rent eitlier in

money, the produce of the soil, or manual labour. Notwithstanding the unhealthy
climate of the marshy tracts usually occupied by them, they are more vigorous and

energetic than their neighbours, from whom they are also distinguished by a higher
moral standard. According to the unanimous testimony of travellers, they an at
once gentle and respectful without servility, honest, truthful, industrious, of frugal
hahits, and always cheerful. Their women are held in great respect, being treated
with remarkable deference, and consulted on all important matters. But although
often regarded as of the same stock as the Garros, they have preserved no matri-
archal institutions. All considering themselves as perfectly equal, they recognise
neither tribal divisions, castes, nor any other social distinctions. Each member of
the community takes his share in the necessary domestic and out-door work,

building their own houses, tilling the land, weaving the materials for their dress,
and importing from the Hindus only such articles as they are themselves unable to
manufacture. Village disputes are rare, although occasions arise requiring the
intervention of the council of elders. In such cases the delinquent is publicly

reproved, or even banished, should his presence in the commune be regarded as a

public danger. There is no hereditary priesthood, nor any remuneration


is

awarded to those who voluntarily assume the sacerdotal functions. These are, on
the other hand, of an extremely simple nature, being restricted to invoking the
" "
army of the stars, forests, mountains, of all great natural objects, and especially
of the rivers; for, like the Hindus, the Bodo worship the ganyax of their country.

They also resemble their Dhimal neighbours in their veneration for certain plants,

and especially the sij, a species of euphorbia abounding with a milky sap. As
amongst the aborigines of Orissa, this plant is universally cultivated in all their

village plots.
The Koch or Kuch nation is still more populous than the Bodo, numbering in

North-east India considerably over a million souls. They are spread over the
whole tract lying between the Ganges, the Himalayas, and Burmese frontier hills ;

but they are chiefly centred in the semi-independent state of Koch-Behar in Bengal.
The Pani-Koch, who dwell at the foot of the Garro Hills, resemble these
highlanders in many respects, have the same matriarchal usages, and are probably
of the same stock. But all the other branches of the race arc distinguished from
the various peoples of Northern India by their marked prognathism, curly beard,
thick lips,and almost black complexion. They are usually grouped with the
of the
Dravidians, although some anthropologists affiliate them to the Negritoes
in Archipelago. Those who do not speak dialects of Hindu origin h
form of speech resembling that of the Mech. But their mixture with the Hindus
and various Assamese peoples has produced such a variety of typos, that it i- no
affinities with any certainty. The wealthier
longer possible to determine their true
members of the race would regard themselves as insulted by being called Koch ;
248 INDIA AND INDO-CHIXA.

they pretend to be descended from Siva, and claim the ambitious title of Rajbansi,
or "Sons of Kings."

THE ASSAMESE LOWLAXDERS.


The civilised lowlanders of Assam, who have become largely intermingled with
the nomadic Dhimals and Bodo, as well as with the Koch and Mech immigrants
from the west, belong Indo-Chinese ethnical group. The
to a large extent to the

north Brahmaputra basin affords such easy access over low passes to the Irrawaddi

Valley, that invaders from the east have frequently been able to penetrate into
Assam, where they have become intermingled with the aborigines. The Chutiya,
who were the dominant people of East Assam at the beginning of the fourteenth
century, were probably of Siamese origin, although the dialect of one of their tribes
in Upper Assam seems rather to be related to the language of the Bodo. Now
almost completely Ilinduised, they are distinguished from other Hindu races by
their round face and flat features. The Ahoms, who succeeded the Chutiya as
masters of Assam, were originally of Shan stock but since their immigration in
;

the thirteenth century, they have been profoundly modified by mixture with the
native and Hindu women.Under their rule the inhabitants of Assam were subject
to great oppression but since the loss of their political supremacy, they have been
;

gradually fused with the Hindu castes except on the Upper Brahmaputra, where
they are still grouped to the number of 130,000 round their old capitals. Assam
was also subject during the quarter of the nineteenth century to the Burmese,
first

whose sway, however, was of too short duration to leave any permanent settlements
in the country.

While the Indo-Chinese penetrated from the east over the border hills, the Aryan
Hindus of a more or less pure type, advancing by the broad valley of the Brahma-
putra, gradually subdued or absorbed most of the native Assamese lowland tribes.

The oldest traditions of the country speak of the Hindus as already settled in the

kingdom of Kamrup, between the Manas and Brahmaputra. Their empire was
overthrown by the Mohammedans in the fifteenth century, when the indigenous
Koch element for a time resumed the ascendency, without, however, effacing the
Aryan culture. Many of the aboriginal tribes even became grouped amongst the
Hindu castes, and a Bengali (Neo-Sanskritic) dialect ultimately prevailed through-
out the lowlands. In Assam the pure-blood Brahmans are not numerous, and the
most important Hindu group are the Kalita, who have been settled from the
remotest times in the country. With their fine oval features, prominent nose,
large eyes often of an iron-grey colour, and pliant members, they bear a striking
resemblance to the Rajputs, and although regarded as of the Sudra caste, they
themselves claim a higher origin. In several districts the best cultivated lands
belong to the Kalita, whom the Brahmans sufficiently respect to accept the water
of purification from them. Another widespread Hindu caste are the Dora, who
enjoy un^er the British rule a monopoly of the Upper Brahmaputra fisheries.
The population of Assam is almost exclusively rural, and comparatively far less
dense than elsewhere in India. Hence the arable lands, which yield rice and fruits
THE ASSAMESE LOWLANDBR& Ml
in superabundance, still remain to a large extent unreclaimed. Resides rice,
and jute an- extend ely grown for tin- Calcutta market, un<l in recent years large
ten plantations have been established, especially in Cachar and on the Houthcni
dopes
of the sul>- Himalayas in Upper Assam. Owing to the scarcity of hands in the
country, lar^r numbers of coolies are engaged on these plantations from tlie Suntal
district and Orissa. The mortality is excessive amongst these immigrants, who
are attracted by high wages, but who have to work in a marshy land and a
stifling
atmosphere, far from their native homes. Of 1,200 coolies imported by a planter
from Madras, all but three hod perished in four years. Nevertheless the victims
are constantly replaced by fresh arrivals. As many as 34,000 were introduced in
1876 alone, and at present there are about 200,000 altogether at work on the
plantations. The frequent attempts to open trade route between Upper Assam
a

Fig. 106. INHABITANTS OP ASSAM.


Scale 1 : 8,000,000.

E of Gr
I'.'O Mile*.

and the Yangtze-Kiang basin have been stimulated by the planters, in the hope of
lowering the labour market by the introduction oi Chinese immigrants from the
western provinces. Assam has been parcelled out into vast landed estates like
those of Ireland and the Scotch highlands, and in the whole district there are only

eighteen domains paying an impost which scarcely amounts to one-fiftieth of their


nuo.

Most botanists regard Assam as the native home of the tea plant. Above the
Brahmaputra Valley it is found everywhere growing wild to a height of from
fifteen to twenty feet, and in the Xuga hills it attains a height of nearly seventy
It was first discovered in this region by Robert liruce in 182-3; but twelve
M-d In-fore the first "garden" was established noar Lakhinpur, on the
alluvial plain of the Subansiri. The Government, to which this estate belonged,
81
250 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

introduced Chinese cultivators from Fokien, and in 1838 twelve chests had already
been consigned to the London dealers. A
few years afterwards private enterprise
obtained vast concessions for the cultivation of the precious shrub, and then began
the era of reckless speculation. Nevertheless the ruin of a large number of planters
failed to check the production, which continued to increase from year to year, and
the exportation from Assam alone is now equal to one- sixth of that of China to the
whole world.* The plantations have a present area of over 150,000 acres, and the
concessions already made for their future extension cover altogether about 450,000
acres. Of the three varieties Chinese, native, and hybrid the planters prefer the
last, which is more vigorous and leafy than the Chinese, and grows to a larger
size than the native.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Assam, still a commercial cul-de-sac, with no outlet except towards Calcutta, is

destitute of large towns. Sadiya, which occupies an admirable position at the


confluence of the three great Brahmaputra affluents the Dihong, Dibong, and
Lohit and which was formerly the capital of the Ahom conquerors, is merely an

open market for the surrounding hill tribes. Until the routes to China and Tibet
are opened up through the Abor, Mishmi, and Khamti territories, Sadiya will be
unable to benefit by its unrivalled commercial site. At present it is exceeded in

importance both by Dibrugarh, at the head of the steam navigation during the
floods, and by Sibsagar, which lies on an alluvial plain some 10 miles south of the

Brahmaputra. Sibsagar, now the chief town of a district, has succeeded to the

populous which were formerly capitals of the Ahom kingdom. Such were
cities

Garhgaon, towards the south-east, whose ruins are now overgrown with brushwood,
and Rangpur, on the south, whose remains cover a space of over 20 square miles.
In the very heart of the forest stand the mouldering ruins of the Sivaite temptes
of Dinfy'pur, with their carved stones symbolising the creative power of nature.
These crumbling remains of palaces, forts, and shrines attest the wealth and culture
of the ancient Assamese, and contrast strangely with the scattered groups of hovels
now passing for towns. Few countries in India have been subject to greater
devastations than the watery plains of the Brahmaputra.

Tezpur, like Dibrugarh, an important market-place but the busiest town in


is ;

the Upper Brahmaputra region is Gaohati, on the left bank of the river. The site
of this ancient capital of the Hindu kingdom of Kamrup is everywhere strewn with

ruins, now overgrown with brushwood or aquatic plants. At Gaohati we enter the

region of great pilgrimages. An eminence rising 650 feet above the stream
immediately west of the town is crowned by a much- frequented temple, to the
service of which were formerly attached five thousand young girls, and which
even still contains several hundred. A shrine on a rocky islet in the middle of
the river is also visited by thousands of devotees, and on the right bank of the

Brahmaputra stands the temple of Haju, consecrated to Buddha, or Maha Muni,


which attracts both the Buddhists of Bhutan and the various Brahmanical sectaries.
Tea exported from Assam in 1851, 256,000 Ibs. ; 1871, 12,800,000 Ibu. ; 1881, 43,000,000.
TOPOGh.miY. 251

This sanctuary, which the two great religions of India thus meet on common
in

Around, marks the site of the city of AZII, which contained the tombs of the Assam
kings, with their gold and silver idols and the remains of their numerous wivet,
oHieials, and animals of
all sorts sacrificed on their
graves. Till recently Gaohati

was the capital of Assam, but the insalubrity of its climate compelled the English
authorities to withdraw to the plateau of Shillony, in the Khasia Hills. Here the
new capital and health resort was founded in 1*74, and was soon connected with
Gaohati by a splendid highway 04 miles long. Military cantonments have been
established in the neighbourhood, and native Garro, Khasia, and Jaintia colonies
have sprung up under their shelter. Shillong, which lies at an elevation of nearly
5,000 feet on the water-parting between the Brahmaputra and Dakar basins, enjoys
the administrative advantage of occupying a central position in the province of

Fig. 107. TUB BiUHMAi-iTHA BETWEEN OOALI-AUA AND Durum.


Soak 1 : 240.000.

rj Mile*.

which it is the chief town. West of it Mount Tura is crowned by another


sanatorium.
below
Qoa/para and Dhubri, following in succession along the Brahmaputra
Gaohati, are chiefly important as entrepots of lumber and agricultural produce.
A
to Upper Assam, already connects Dhubri
railway, which is soon to be continued
with the Ganges Valley. Beyond the A ssam frontier the plains watered by the
Dharla are mostly included in the native state of Koch-Behar, whose capital of like
name is a mere cluster of huts grouped round the raja's brick palace. larger A
is which lies farther south within the Bengal frontier, where are
place Ranypur,
also situated Duiajpur and Bogra formed by the Ganges and
in the triangular space
mart is
Brahmaputra above their confluence. In this region the most important
Sirajganj, the chief port of the Jarauna branch
of the Brahmaputra. Although
has already had to be rebuilt 5 miles from its
scarcely a century old, this place
the floods. Its export trade in
original site, after having been swept away during
the hands of the
seeds, salt, and rice, is chiefly in
jute, tobacco, oleaginous

Kajputaua Jaiua merchants, here known by the name of Marwari


252 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Goalaiuta, another riverain port at the Ganges and Brahmaputra confluence,


stands on such treacherous ground that it has to shift its position with the seasons.
In winter and spring a temporary railway is continued for nearly 2 miles beyond the
permanent terminus ;
in summer the rails are removed, and the locomotive yields for
is visited by over
a time to the rising waters. This place fifty thousand boats, exclu-
sive of fishing-smacks, and large curing stations have been established along the shore.

The Meghna which receives the drainage of the Manipur Hills and the
basin,

ranges stretching from the Garro to the Patkoi Mountains, has no market-town

comparable to Sirajganj or Goalanda. Silchnr, a military station near the Burmese


frontier, holds a much- frequented annual fair, and Sailhet, on the Surma, is an
industrious trading-place, the most populous in the province of Assam. Unfor-
tunately its climate is so unhealthy that the European residents are
frequently
compelled to seek a purer atmosphere at Chera Ponji and amid the pine forests
surrounding Shillong.
Several important towns are scattered along the shifting channels of the low-

lying region comprised between the Meghna and Jamuna. Here Jarnalpur stands
on the now almost abandoned old course of the Brahmaputra. Maitnensinh, or
Nasimbad, is the chief town of a district which yields the best jute in Bengal.
Kisoriganj attracts to its fairs thousands of Marwari, Bengali, and Burmese dealers.
But trade and population have been diverted chiefly to the southern region about
the junction of the streams. A
little north of the Meghna and Padma
(Ganges
and Brahmaputra) confluence formerly stood Bikrampur, capital of a Hindu state,
and here is still shown the spot where its last sovereign and his wives threw them-
selves into the flames at the approach of the Mohammedans. Here are also still
maintained several schools devoted to the study of Sanskrit and the old writers.
The neighbouring town of Firing hi Bazaar (" Market of the Franks ") recalls the first
establishment of the Portuguese in the district, dating from the year 1663. Sonar-
which succeeded Bikrampur, is now a mere collection of cabins buried amidst
(jnon,
the surrounding palms. But Dakka, which became a royal residence in the seven-
teenth century, is still a large place, with a population of 200,000 in 1880. At
one time it stretched about 18 miles north and south, and the ruins of its palaces
are still scattered over the surrounding jungle. In the eighteenth century it was
replaced as capital of Bengal by Murshidabad, but it still preserved its local
industries. Here the English, French, and Dutch had factories for the purchase
of its silks embroidered in gold and in silver, and especially its fine muslins. The
introduction of the Manchester cottons has ruined these manufactures, but Dukkn
has acquired great importance as a market for agricultural produce. Its two ports
of Narainganj and Madangcmj, lying on a deep affluent of the Meghna, 8 miles
farther south, have a vast export trade, and the exchanges amounted in 1877 to

nearly 1,200,000. Amongst the inhabitants of Dakka are some Armenians,


" "
Greeks, Portuguese, and other Feringhi of more or less pure blood, descended
from traders who settled here during the last century.
Near Sonargaon, a city of Bcngalla is said to have formerly existed, whence the
province of Bengal is supposed to have taken its name.
TOPOGRAPHY. Ml
East of the Meghna the two largest places in TipjMTah are Rralinmnlmria and
A'nniif/tt/i, which enjoy a coii-ideral>le local trade. Xntikhtili, or Sin//ntnim, a <li

capital, lies now nearly 10 miles from the sea, although originally founded on tin-
coast near the mouths of the Me^hna,- whose dcjxjsits arc constantly encroaching on
the Hay of Bengal. Kumillah is one of the future stations of the ptojeded railway
from Calcutta to Burma. Agartalta, capital of the reduced Tipperah tribes, is a

mere hamlet grouped round a military station.

NOTE. The native explorer, who returned early in 1883 to Calcutta after s^me years' nhaence in
Tibet, baa at last practically settled tho Brahmaputra- Irrawaddi controversy. This traveller got as far
north as Saitu in 40" N. 92' E., whence he returned to Bating and endeavoured to reach Assam by the
direct route but at Santa, which seems to be Wilcox's Sim6, where the missionaries Krick and Boury
;

were murdered in 1864, he changed his mind, and, in order to avoid falling into the hands of the Minhmi
savages, took the circuitous Lassa roule ri<J A Ian to and Ojamda. At tho latter place
he turned down to
Chetang on the Tsangbo, whence ho made his way through Giangze Long and Phari to Darjiling. Now
it is evident that if the Taangbo flows to the Irrawaddi, he must have crooned it between Datang and

Sama, between Sama and Ojamda, and again at Chetang but he is positive that hn crossed it once only,
;

that is at Chettng ; and he adds, that on the road between Sama and Gjinvla then is A gmt mountain
range to the west, separating the affluents of the Tsangbo from those flowing east. One of these may
possibly reach the Irrawaddi, but
the Tsangbo itself could do so only by flowing over a lofty range. It
is therefore clear that the Tsangbo flows, not to the Irrawaddi, but to the Brahmaputra, there being no

other alternative. EDITOR.


CHAPTER XI.

SUBARXAREKHA, BA1TARAXI, BRAHMANI, AND MAHA NADDI BASINS.


OKISSA, CIIATISGAKH, CHOTA-NAGPORE NATIVE STATES.

LTHOTJGH of small extent and sparse population in comparison with


the vast Gangetic basin, this section of the peninsula constitutes a
distinct natural region, both in its history, its hydrography, and other

natural phenomena. At the same time the jungle and forest-clad


uplands of the interior nowhere present any well-defined limits,
while the wild tribes occupying them stretch northwards into Bengal, west and
south into the Narbadah, Tapti, and Godaveri basins.
The highlands of Central India, some of which are covered with lavas, form a
vast cirque round the plains where the Maha Naddi receives the waters of the Seo,

Hasdu, and other large The Maikal Hills, which form the highest
tributaries.

border range of this amphitheatre, have a mean elevation of 2,000 feet. The

orographic system, which is cut up into numerous sections by the running waters,
and which enclose many dried-up lacustrine basins, is continued north-eastwards
from the Maikals, and here and there attains a height of over 3,000 feet, the Perta
peak, on the Chota-Nagpore frontier, rising to 3,650 feet. Towards the middle of
its course the Maha Naddi, here
already navigable, impinges on an old rocky
barrier, which stretches south-west and north-east parallel with the Orissa coast.
Below the first defiles and rapids the stream is deflected southwards through a
fissure in the hills, which
continued south-westwards by the valley of the Tel, a
is

tributary of the Maha Naddi. Beyond this point the main stream again trends
eastwards, and pierces the Eastern Ghats through the Barmul Pass, which winds
for nearly 40 miles through rugged gorges and wooded slopes. On the north the
chains are broken into short segments by the Brahmani, the Baitarani, and their
confluents. Here are the Talchir Hills, which contain rich coal-fields, differing
little from those of Australia. The culminating-point is the
of this region
or " Seat of the which has an altitude of and
Maghasani, Clouds," 3,870 feet,
south of which a small range known as the Nilghiri, or " Blue Mountains," rises

abruptly above the alluvial plains of Orissa.


The Subarnarekha, or, " Golden Ribbon," which rises on the Chota-Nagpore
TIIK MAHA NAI'I'I. Ml

uplands, forms an independent rivor basin, whereas tin- Baitarani, Ilrahmani,


and Maha Naddi unite in a common delta beyond tin- hills. <M (hrse three ri\. rs

tin- Uaitaraiii is the smallest, although its ulluvial di-jm -its stretch farthest seau.ird-

t< the dreaded Palmyras headland. I-t.s delta in further increa-M-d


ly ontrihution.s
from the lirahmuni and various channels of the Lower Maha Naddi, whHe towards
the south the chief branches of the Maha Naddi are also continually enlarging the
area of the mainland. All these alluvial encroachments on the sea beyond the

Fig. 108. LAKE SHILKA.


! 1 : 600.000.

ofGr85 IO

OtolOOlM. 100 Feet and opwanU.


is:

ancient rock-bound coast-line extend for a distance of nearly 200 miles along the
Orissa seaboard, and the new lands thus developed have a total area of no les* than

5,000 square miles. Yet much of the sedimentary matter washed down from the
central plateaux has been carried beyond the new coast-line, forming submarine
deltas at the rivermouths and sandbanks along the shore. A large quantity of
the Maha Naddi and other fluvial alluvia is carried away by the tides, which here
rise from 10 to 15 feet, and which by their normal north-wcsu rly dine ion deflect t

all the river mouths northwards.


256 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

But although the land thus tends constantly to increase, the whole space com-

prised within the natural limits of the new encroachments has not yet been

completely filled in. Of the lakes, or lagoons, which thus still survive, as the
remains of old bays and inlets, the largest is Lake Shilka, which lies south of the

delta, and whose area increases from 360 square miles in the dry to 480 in the wet
season. But it is scarcely mo,re than six feet deep, and is everywhere studded with
islets and sandbanks. At low water it is quite salt, but during the prevalence of
the rains becomes a fresh-water reservoir. The alluvial strip enclosing it seawards
is becoming constantly broader and firmer, having increased from little over half a

mile to nearly two miles during the last eighty years, while the deep and spacious

Fig. 109. MAMA NADDI DELTA


Scale 1 :
1,850,000.

E.ofGr. 86

24 Jiiles.

marine channel with which it communicated a hundred


years ago with the sea has
been replaced since 1825 by an artificial canal often obstructed by the sands.
Hence under ordinary circumstances its level is scarcely affected by the tides. But
when the ebb is arrested by the monsoon during the rainy season, the surrounding
cultivated lands are flooded, and the crops frequently destroyed. The salt collected
on the Parakud sands near the emissary is reserved for the service of the temples,
and the lake is navigated by a few flat-bottomed craft, which carry the pilgrims
from the Circars to the famous shrine of Jagganath.
The geological work accomplished by the Maha Naddi probably exceeds that of
any other river in the world, regard being had to the extent of its drainage and its
TIIE MAIIA NAI'M TKLTA. 257

moan discharge. Although 540 miles long, with a basin exceeding 1 '>,"<K) square;

miles, or rather more than one-third of the British I-lands, the "<ir< at l;i\.-r," aa
it- name iniplie-*,
i\ in M
JN normal ry modi -t water-course compared with
the Ganges, Ytngto-Kiai$ and the other great Asiatic streams. During the
greater part of the year a mere rivulet, sluggishly creeping through a di-j-n.-
it is

portionately wide channel, and at times reduced to a volume of no more than 775
riil iir IWt per second. But during the great summer floods the Muhu Nuddi fully
vindicates its title, Rhone, the Nile, or even the Mississippi in magni-
rivalling the
tude. Where it
emerges from the Eastern Ghats it now rises 65 feet above its
winter level, and occasionally sends down a liquid muss of over 1,250,000 cubic
feet per second, or one-third more than the Mississippi at high water. At this
period the Brahmani and Buitaruni also discharge 282,000 and 140,000 cubic feet

per second into the common delta raising the total volume at this point to nearly
double that of the Mississippi.

During the rainy season the inhabitants of Orissa are exposed not only to these

tremendous fluvial inundations, but also to those of the sea driven inland by the
cyclones, deluging the paddy-fields and often leaving behind them extensive saline
incrustations. At other times the land suffers from long droughts, when the Muha

Naddi is reduced to an insignificant channel, while the other rivers ore completely
dried up. The natives of the delta are thus constantly subject to the risk of two oppo-
site evils. Should the annual rainfall prove deficient, the crops are burnt up before
arriving at maturity ; should the monsoon prevail too long, the fields are wasted by
marine floods. In the more exposed districts the natives keep boats moored to their
dwellings, in order to be always prepared for such sudden emergencies. Yet at times
all escape is cut off, and then the foaming waters are strewn with countless bodies,

which attract the hungry vulture from the four quarters of the heavens. After the
subsidence the helpless survivors find their harvest ruined, their live stock swept
away, and they thus become a prey to famine and fever. Fully one-fourth of the
whole population perished from these causes in 1HGG, when 690,000 acres of rich
lands were flooded, and the villages of over 1,200,000 natives completely submerged.

Every resource of modern science has been applied by the English administra-
tion to prevent, or at least diminish, the ruinous consequences of these disasters.
The first embankments erected for this purpose proved, however, more dangerous

than useful, by raising the level of the streams above the surrounding plains. Then
three dykes with sluices were constructed at the head of the delta, in order to
retain a portion of the overflow as a reservoir for times of drought. An upper
canal skirts the north-east foot of the hills, as far as the Urahmani, and will ulti-

mately be continued to the Midnapur Canal, thereby opening up a navigable artery


U-tween Cattak and Calcutta. Taking advantage of the mean incline of the delta,
which about two feet to the mile, the engineers have cut many other canals,
is

which now radiate in every direction, and bring about 800,000 acres under a
regul in of irrigation. But the habits of the native peasantry arc slow to

change, ami these canals are to a large extent still used only for the purpose of

regulating the overflow during the inundations.


258 JNDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

INHABITANTS OF ORISSA. THE KOLARIANS.

Although the majority of populations in the basins of the Maha Naddi and
other rivers of Orissa is Hindu descent, the uplands of the interior are still
of

occupied by aboriginal tribes. The Kols of South Chota-Nagpore, of Chatisgarh,


and the Orissa highlands are eVen regarded as representing a formerly widespread
autochthonous element, and this term Kolarian has been applied to a large group
of languages fundamentally distinct both from the Aryan and Dravidian linguistic
families. Judging from their physical aspect and the nature of their dialects,
isolated Kolariancommunities seem to have held their ground in many places in
the midst of the conquering races. Such communities are met in the Himalayas,
in the Assam highlands, in farther India, but they are found in most compact
masses in the Maha Naddi basin. Here also they present the greatest number of
tribal divisions representing every stage of civilisation.
The hilly district between the Upper Brahmani and Baitarani is occupied by
the Juangs, or Pattwas, called also Jangali, or "jungle people," who number 3,000

altogether, and are probably the rudest of all the Kolarian tribes. They claim
themselves to be " the first of men," and still show the place about the sources of
the Baitarani where their forefathers were born. They are still
ignorant of the
potter's and weaver's which most savage tribes have some knowledge.
arts, of

Their arms are the bow and arrow, and especially the sling, while most of the stone

implements found in the show that till quite recently they were still in the
district

neolithic age. Owing low stature, averaging little over 5 feet in the men
to their

and under 5 feet in the women, some anthropologists have affiliated them with the
Negritoes of the Andaman Islands. But this affinity is unhesitatingly rejected by
the geologist Ball, who resided fifteen years in Chota-Nagpore, and paid two visits
to the Andamans.* The Juangs, who call themselves
"
Hindus," now wear clothes,
but so recently as 1866 their women had no other dress beyond a tuft of foliage
fastened with a string round the hips, necklaces, and a few other ornaments.
Far more numerous than the Juangs are the Kharrias and Birhors of Singbhum,
some of whom have already been assimilated to the Hindus of the lowlands, while

others still roam the forests like wild beasts, living on roots, berries, and animals of
all sorts. they still devoured their old people, and although some,
Till recently

questioned on the subject by Dalton, denied the charge, they did so with so much
hesitation, that he remained convinced of its truth. t No less savage are other
Kolarians, such as the Korwahs or Kaurs, who dwell on the water-parting between
the Son, Maha Naddi, and Brahmani basins, and whom the local legend derives
from scarecrows animated by a prowling demon. Their neighbours, the Bhuyia,
are the "Sons of the Wind," like the Ape-god Hanuman, and all these forests
and hill tribes are mentioned in the old Hindu legends under the name of Saura or
Savara.
The Kolarians occupying South Chota-Nagpore are traditionally
at present

descended from a people who formerly resided in Behar, a region of the Gangetic
"
"Jungle Life in India." t Ethnology of Bengal."
INHABITANTS OP OBISSA. THE KOLARIANS. MH
baain at one time known by the nume of Kolariu. Whm Sukya Muni
preaching his now doctrine, the natives of Gaya were prolmMy of K<il st.uk, for
the old carvings on the temples reproduce their v|>e, and not that of the Aryans.
t

Driven from the Ganges Valley, they took refuge in the southern valleys and
on the plateaux forming an eastern extension of the Vindhyas. Mot of them
are doubtless now merged with the Hindu ]K)pulations, and grouped no longer in
tribes, but in castes with the Sudras of mixed origin. But those who have
preserved the national speech, usages, and traditions, and who keep aloof from the
Hindus, still number about a million. Of these the most important are the Munda
or Mundari, who comprise the Agariah, or nomad blacksmiths of the country, and
who are estimated at over 400,000 the Bhumij, or Muri, 300,000 and the Ho, or
; ;

Larka, 150,000.
All the Kolarian peoples are fully conscious of their long residence in their

present homes, and regard the surrounding Hindus as intruders. According to


"
their legends, they are Nagbhansi that is, snake-born," the true owners of the
;

soil and of the hills. Till recently the natives of the


Sambalpur district yearly
offered a goat to an enormous fetish serpent, who they believed was coeval with the

world, and would perish with it. The very name of Bhumij means " Sons of the
Soil," and the Ho are " Men," in a pre-eminent sense. In any case these last may
be taken as typical representatives of the Kol family, and the district occupied by
them in Singbhum has been specially designated Kolehan or Kohlun. They are
generally taller and stronger than the other members of the race, and notwith-
standing their broad they have a very pleasant expression.
flat features, The
women alone are tattooed, but only on the forehead and temples by simple parallel
lines, whose size and disposition indicate the clan or tribe to which they belong.

According to locality and diet the complexion varies from a reddish to a black tint.

They rarely mingle with other races, but they are so far exogamous that marriages
cannot be contracted within the individual clan itself, but only in some other group
of the same tribe. They are organised in little republics, which send the taxes
regularly to the local commissioner, without permitting the collectors ever to
penetrate into their forests. The only strangers tolerated in their com muni ties are
the weavers, potters, and other craftsmen of Aryan race descended from former

captives. They are good husbandmen and workers in iron, but practise no other
art. the Santals, Oraons, American aborigines, and so many other
As amongst
primitive peoples, the totem system prevails in all the Kolarian tribes, each of
which has its own symbolic animal. They venerate the ancestral shades; propitiate
" father of
tln tiger and other wild beasts by offerings ; worship the sun, men," the
i i\ rs, mountains, and nil Every hamlet has it sacred grove,
the forces of nature.
a n-lic of the oldprimeval forest, where the gods still dwell, and which must not
therefore be desecrated by the axe. Animals are at times offered to the sun, in
whose honour no altar can be erected by human hands. In the absence of any
matriarchal institutions, the Eolarians present a striking contrast to the Garros and
other Assamese wild tribes. Amongst them the inheritance passes directly from
the father to his sons in even shares, and to the exclusion of the daughters, who
260 I MI A AND 1NDO-CHINA.

are to them as so much cuttle. Yet marriages, which are contracted at a


more advanced age than elsewhere in India, are generally happy, which is due
to the fact that the wife becomes the equal of the husband, who consults her in all

important matters. The funeral rites resemble those of the Khasia hillmen with :

the body are burnt whatever objects the departed was attached to in life, and over
the graves are placed dolmens, so that many Kol villages may be recognised from
a distance by their monoliths. But, like the Santals, the Kharria commit the ashes
of the dead to the stream.
In general intelligent and anxious to please, the Kols have accepted the
more readily than perhaps any other native
doctrines of the English missionaries
race. Hostility to the Hindus has also in many places aided the efforts of the
Protestant preachers, who have
already formed numerous flourishing Christian
communities in the Kol districts. English influence has also made itself felt at

Fig. 110. TERRITORY OF THE KHU.NDS.


Scale 1 :
4,500,000.

igr

er ,f Gr

-
120 Miles.

amongst the Khonds or Khands, who are scattered over the Eastern
least indirectly

Ghats, and especially south of the Maha Naddi, in Kalahandi, Bastar, and some of
the northern districts of the Madras presidency. Although they have preserved
the national religion, these Khonds have abandoned the horrible practice of human
sacrifices, and even infanticide, formerly so common amongst them, is now regarded
as a crime.
The Khonds, who are very numerous, are of Dravidian speech, but are ethnically
a very mixed people. Unlike their Kolarian neighbours, they take no pains to

preserve the purity of their blood, and readily form alliances with the
thousands of
low-caste Hindus settled in their midst. The prevalence of female infanticide

also obliged them formerly to seek for wives in all quarters, amongst their Kol
neighbours, the Hindus of the plains, or the Gonds of the Central
Provinces.

They are, on the other hand, tenaciously attached to the land, which belongs to
INHABITANTS OF ORISSA. THE KOLARIANa J- 1

thrm "from tlu> Ix'^jiminjr," and they have hitherto successfully resisted the
attempts of tlie /emindars to annex this territory to their domains. In order the
better t> maintain the tribal privileges. tin-Khond* have orguni.Md tlieinaelvee in
confederacies, which meet from time to time in national gatherings under the
abbayt, or chiefs, towards whom they show great respect.
was through the same love of their natal soil that the Ehond tribes offered
It
human sacrifices to Turi, Goddess of the Earth. By means of the hulf-caste
itinerant dealers, they procured from the surrounding districts children destined

to become " meriah," and in Ehonds themselves would


times of distress the
sell The meriah, or toki, as they were
their offspring for these sanguinary rites.

called in the Ehond language, were often supposed to consent to their own

immolation, and the sacrificial priest would often reason with them on the
" We have " we are blameless
subject. purchased you," he would say of your ;

death." Then he invoked the goddess, asking her to fill the granaries, to make
the cattle, swine, and poultry thrive, to drive away the tigers and venomous snakes ;

after which he struck the victim, who was then torn to pieces by the multitude, or
else burnt to death at a slow fire, so that his copious tears might produce abundant
rains during the year. Each head of a family received a piece of the consecrated

flesh, with which he smeared the floor of his burn and afterwards buried it in his

garden, or fixed it to a stake planted in the neighbouring stream. The ashes of


bones and entrails were scattered over the fields, or mingled with the seed corn.
A single sacrifice made by order of the raja of Bastar comprised twenty-eight

victims, and a regular postal service was organised, so that all the neighbouring
tribes might have a share of the flesh and ashes.
When these frightful practices were discovered in 1833 by Mucpherson and
other British officers, public opinion in England demanded their suppression, and

military expeditions were even made to punish the refractory. In the years 1859
and I860 nearly 550 meriah were thus rescued yet the Ehonds ultimately yielded
;

only on condition of being allowed to make the British authorities responsible


for the cessation of the sacrifices. The permission was officially granted; an
abundant harvest fortunately ensued the Goddess Tari was evidently satisfied with
;

the arrangement, and all were pleased. Since 18GO no human sacrifices seem to
have been made in the country, and the Ehonds are already beginning to wonder
that they could have ever believed in the necessity of such horrors. Nevertheless
the snake is but scotched, and might revive at any moment. During the rising
which took place in the summer of 1882, the Ehonds of Ealahandi combined
together and massacred hundreds of the Hindu peasantry of the Eulta caste, who
had gradually encroached on their territory ; and they are said to have summoned
the kindred tribes to the holy war by sending to each clan a piece of the
victims' flesh.
The Hindu the valleys skirting the
inhabitants of the delta region and of all

amphitheatre of hills are connect IH! by imperceptible transitions with the Bengali.
and s]>eak the t'riya, a language of Sanskrit ic origin, which is also current in
Southern Bengal and in the conterminous districts of Madras and the Central
262 INDIA AND INDO-CI1INA.

Provinces. The Hindus who speak this idiom belong to all the castes, some of which,
such as the Pan, or petty traders, and the Telinga, or fishers of Lake Shilka, are

evidently of mixed Dravido-Kolariun stock.


In many respects Orissa forms a sort of
border-land between the Aryan and Dravidian worlds, and to this circumstance it

in which it is held by both races, who


is probably indebted for tbe x special sanctity
here often struggled for the supremacy, and raised monuments in memory of their

conflicts. Noteworthy amongst the Hindu castes of this region are the Chamar and
rose from the opprobrium by which they
Chatisgarh, who by their resolute action
had been crushed for ages. Rallying round a prophet, who proclaimed the abolition
of caste and the equality of all men, they refused to recognise any superiors
amongst the other Hindus, and they gained their point. By their determination
they secured to themselves an honoured place in society, and now form one of the
most respected and industrious sections of the community. They number altogether
nearly 300,000.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Being still mostly occupied by wild tribes, and unconnected by rail with the

great centres of population, the upper basins of the Subarnarekha, Baitarani,


Brahmani, and Maha Naddi contain no towns of any magnitude. Yet the numerous
ruins and heaps of scoria? near the gold and copper mines show that the country
was formerly in the possession of a civilised people. The Ramyarh, or " Castle of
Rama," a prismatic sandstone mass, resembling a gigantic fortress, near the sources
of the Subarnarekha, bears, at an elevation of 2,600 feet, the remains of a city,
whose double enclosure presents some remarkable features of a mixed Hindu and
Arab style. The natural grottoes of this mountain are also covered with carvings
and inscriptions. Chaibasa, capital of the Singbhum a small place on a
district, is

head-stream of the Baitarani ;


but its market is much frequented by the surrounding
wild tribes.
In the Upper Maha Naddi basin the most considerable town is Raipur, which lies

at an elevation ofless than 1,000 feet, almost in the centre of the old lacustrine basin,

now comprising the fertile district of Chatisgarh, or the " Thirty-six Castles." In
the same district Donyaryaon, till recently a mere hamlet lost in the jungle, has
become the chief centre of the corn trade. During the fairs here are gathered over
100,000 strangers, with 40,000 oxen and 13,000 carts. Sambalpur occupies an
advantageous position on the Maha Naddi, which according to the seasons here
varies from 130 to 5,300 feet in width. It has long been famous for its diamond

mines, which were visited by Motte and which are found in greatest
in 1766,
abundance near the confluence of the Ib or Hebe. At low water about 5,000 jhara,
or " washers," hasten to dam up the branch of the Maha Naddi which flows over
the Hira-kund, or " Diamond Spring," where the precious crystals are found

interspersed with the pebbles of the stream. In the hands of European speculators
these works have never paid their expenses. Sambalpur has by some geographers
been identified with the diamond mart of Sumalpur, which, however, seems to have
been situated farther north on the Goal, a head- stream of the Brahmani. Lower
TOPOORAMIY.

down arc Sonpur and BoJ which, although


t
capitals of two native states, are mere
villages.
Cattak, that the " Fort," capital of Orissa, occupies the triangular head of
is,

the delta between the Maha Naddi proper and the Kajuri branch. This would be an
excellent geographical position but for the dangers and uncertainties of "the navi-
gation in the shifting streams of the delta. Cat talc has been enclosed by lofty
embankments, which during the floods it is
1\ converted into an island in the midst
of the waters. The fort, from which it takes its name, is a mere heap of rubbish ;

but in the neighbouring mountains are found many interesting monuments of the

Buddhist, Brahmanic, and Mohammedan epochs, including images cut in the live
rock, and grottoes converted into temples. Every religious revolution in India has

Fig. 111. SAMHALPI-K DIAMOND FIELD*.


Scale 1 :
900,000.

47-50 48' E of &

its trace on the sacred and the most picturesque sites have
soil of Orissa,

generally been chosen for the display of the artist's genius. The most remarkable
group of temples lies some twenty miles south of Cattak, near Bhurutwhrar, a
small place which was formerly the capital of a kingdom. Most of the architec-
tural remains found in the surrounding caves are of Buddhist origin. Here is one
of theEmperor Asoka's numerous rock inscriptions, and another still more ancient,
which records the history of a king of Mugadha said to have flourished twenty-two
centuries ago. Some of the temple sculptures reproduce the human figure with
such truth and grace, that archaeologists have felt inclined to attribute them to
Gnoco-Bak trian artists.
"
As a " sacred land of the Hindus, Orissa is divided into four regions, all of

which are alike vestibules of heaven, ami the inhabitants of which cannot fail after
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

death to enter into the realm of happy spirits. As soon as the pilgrim from the
north has crossed the the "
Baitarani, Styx of Hindu mythology," he enters a new

world, and the Brahman priest warns him that he is about to penetrate into the

domain of the terrible Siva and Parvati. South-eastwards, about the mouths of the
Maha Naddi, the "Region of the Sun," at present
lies little visited,
notwithstanding
the shrines which here still fringe the river banks.
The shores of Lake Shilka, according to the tradition formerly encircled
by 7,000
temples, are also sacred to Siva. But of all lands the most hallowed, whose glory
Siva himself cannot conceive, is the Puri district lying between two
marshy strips
on the coast, and beyond the route followed by invading hosts. Here Vishnu has
reigned supreme for the last 1,500 years, and here stands the renowned temple of
Jayganath, which has at times been visited by 300,000 pilgrims in a single year.
Thrice blessed is he who has the happiness to die in sight of the " Gate of Heaven,"
and the tower surmounted by Vishnu's
Fig. 112. THE "SACRED BLOCK" OF VISHNU. wheel and flag. So great is the efficacy
of the sacred temple, that it effaces all

In presence of the god,


caste differences.

Brahman and flayer of oxen are alike


"
The faithful dear to me," says
equal.
Vishnu, "are not the wise, learned in
the four sacred writings, but the humble
believer ;
to him you must give, from him
receive ;
revere him as you would revere
myself." In the temple court, the devotees,
mingling without distinction of race or
class, share in common the maha prasad,
the consecrated food.
The sacred edifice, which is surrounded

by an enclosure about 700 feet long


on all sides, stands on the Nilghiri, or
"Blue Mountain," a mere mound probably formed by the debris of an earlier
Buddhist temple. It dates from the end of the twelfth century, the Moham-
medan conquerors, who destroyed most of the Hindu sanctuaries in Orissa,
having spared that of Jagganath for the sake of its rich revenues. The
trade popular superstition is in fact the only industry of Puri, whose
in

20,000 inhabitants live directly or indirectly on the credulity of the faithful.

The priests and servants of the shrine, who number about 6,000, divided into 36
orders and 97 classes, are under the control of a raja, who bears the hereditary office
of temple- sweeper. They send agents into every province to gather the pilgrims,
to whom they promise salvation in exchange for a few presents made to the
god and his ministers. A
yearly income of nearly 40,000 is thus raised, and
this is swollenby the revenue of the lands granted to the temple by the British
Government. The famous Koh-i-Nur diamond had been bequeathed to the Puri
" Lion of the
sanctuary by Ranjit Singh, Paiijab ;" but the Crown jeweller refused
KIINS OP IIAMPI-W\ \ ^HAPED TEMPLE. PROTOTYPE OK THK JA(... \N\III < Mt
TOPOORA1IIY

to surrender it without a written warrant from tin-


flying king.* The rude
statues of Vishnu, of his brother sister,and above which
highest pinnacle ri- > tin-

of the temple, are the most venerated images in India. In .June or July
every
year 4,200 of the ministers yoke themselves to the famous car of Jagganuth, a
wooden structure !; fWt high, resting on 16 win-els, and draw it to the'" temple

garden," which lies on the shore about 1$ mile from Jagganuth. This ancient
Buddhist ceremony doubtless recalls the birth of Shakya Muni, KO that the two
great religions have become blended together under the name of Vishnu. The
huge vehicle, which sinks deeply in the sand, takes several days to reach the grove,
and it is commonly believed that numerous devotees throw themselves under
its wheels in order to secure eternal bliss by dying in a state of grace. But such
cases are quite exceptional, and when they occur the car is immediately stopped

Fig. 113. JAOOAKATH DISTRICT.


: EfiQ.000.

I ofGr 86-15

OtolOOVnt. 100 Feet and upward*.

19 Miln.

while the priests perform the ceremonies of purification. The rirn'r, or practice of

suspending the devotees by means of hooks inserted in the fleshy parts of the buck,
has also entirely disappeared, and was probably always prohibited by the priests of
"
Vishnu, who is a god of love," holding the sight of blood in abhorrence. At
present religious zeal is waning, the number of pilgrims is yearly diminishing,

and of these nine-tenths are women. Like Mecca, Jugganath is a hot-bed of


infection ; but the sanitary arrangements recently introduced tend to diminish the

danger of epidemics.
Some 20 miles east of Puri, and near the shore, stand the ruins of Kanarak, a

temple dedicated to the sun, and known to Europeans as the " Hlack Pagoda."
y are by curiosity-seekers, and covered with the names
Mutilated as tin of vulgar

sight-seers, the Kanuruk sculptures are still amongst the finest, dating
from the best

A. H. Ktane, MS.
266 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

periods of Hindu art and the building itself, which seems to have been erected
;

towards the end of the ninth century, is regarded as the gem of native architecture.
"
Jajpur, or Yajpur, the City of Sacrifice," lying on the right bank of the
Baitarani, is also noted for its ancient monuments, dedicated mostly to Siva and
Parvati. Jajpur preceded Cattak as capital of Orissa.
European vessels were long prevented from approaching the Orissa coast by
the shifting sandbanks fringing the shore, and the bars obstructing the mouths of'
the Maha Naddi. But in 1860 the French merchants of Calcutta ventured to send
their ships up the Maha Naddi through the False Point branch, and soon after the
supplies forwarded from Calcutta
were discharged at the same place. False Point
has since been thoroughly surveyed and provided with buoys and lights, so that it
is now one of the most accessible ports on the east coast. Vessels drawing twenty-
five or twenty-six feet find
good anchorage in the harbour, which is sheltered by a
tongue of land from the southern monsoon. But it is constantly in danger of being
choked by the sands and mud, which are encroaching on the sea at an average rate
of 120 feet every year. Nevertheless False Point* still remains a more important

seaport even than Balasor, which was much frequented before the foundation
of Calcutta,and which remained the seat of a Danish factory till the year 1846.
Near formerly stood the city of Subarnarekha, at the mouth of the river
this place

of like name, where in 1634 the English founded their first factory on the Indian
mainland. The Portuguese factory of Pilpip had already been established in
the same district.

Trade of False Point, 1875: 110 vessels of 118.375 tons; cargoes, 265,000.
CHAPTER XII.

GONDWANA, OR CENTRAL PROVINCES-UPPER BASINS OF THE SON, NARBADAH.


TAPTI, AND GODAVERI.

ILL the middle of the present century this region was still to a large
extent an unknown land. Away from the cities and main highways
there stretched the dreaded regions infested by the Pindari

marauders, or occupied by the Gond wild tribes. Some district*,


wasted by the Mahrattas, had become complete wildernesses, where
the jungle had overgrown fields and villages. At present the Central Provinces
have been everywhere thoroughly explored, except in the south-east corner,

bordering on the native State of Bastar. Gondwana is crossed by the most


important line of railway in India, connecting Bombay with Calcutta, through
Allahabad and Benares. Another line, penetrating into the southern portion of
this region, will soon afford more direct communication between the two capitals.
And although still one of the least densely- peopled countries in India, the

population of these provinces is rapidly increasing.


"
Gondwana, or Territory of the Gonds," whose natural limits correspond

roughly to the administrative division known as the Central Provinces, occupies


the culminating-point of the peninsula in respect of its drainage. The three
great rivers, Tapti, Godaveri, and Maha Naddi, have their sources south of the great
transverse depression formed by the Narbadah and Son Valleys between the Gulf of

Cambay and the plain of the Ganges. Nevertheless the Gondwana Mountains are
far from being as elevated as was at one time supposed. The Satpura Hills,
which form the chief range of the whole region, have a mean altitude of scarcely
more than 2,000 feet. Their past historic importance was due, not so much to

their absolute height, as to their disposition, rising, like the second breastwork of a

fortress, south of the Vindhyas and of the deep valley of the Narbadah. They ure
themselves supported southwards by a third defensive line, forming beyond
the Tapti the border chain of the Pekkan plateau. The waves of Hindu migration
were thus stemmed by a triple barrier lin extending for over 600 miles east and
with a breadth of about 300 miles north and south. Long ages of warfare and
intercourse were needed by Aryan culture to force these raiuparte,
peaceful
268 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

and penetrate from the northern plains through the river valleys and gaps in the
mountain walls to the upland plateaux. This slow work of conquest has not yet
been completed.

%* THE SATPURA RAXGE.


" Sevenfold "
The term Satpura, that is, Range, is applied by geographers to

the whole orographic system of the Central Provinces, although restricted by the
Hindus to the western section comprised between the nearly parallel valleys of the
Middle Narbadah and Tapti. No general name for these highlands is known to

the aborigines, who designate each isolated mass or prominent peak by the nearest

village, by the trees growing


on the slopes, or the tutelar deity of the land. Nor
do the heights themselves form a continuous unbroken range. They stand on a
plateau of trap rocks, with a
mean elevation of 2,000 feet, above which they rise in
separate masses, or even secondary plateaux, also of volcanic origin. Several of
these abrupt tabular formations are hollowed by deep depressions, where the
rain-water is collected in natural reservoirs, which were taken advantage of by the
feudal lords, who here crowned every summit with their impregnable strongholds.

East of the Satpuras, properly so called, broad erosive plains isolate the central

group which contain the highest crests, including Mount Dhapgarh


of highlands

(Deogarh),
which attains an elevation of 4,560 feet. These romantic uplands have
been specially consecrated to Siva, and from this circumstance take the name
" The
of Mahadeo, or the Great God." greatest variety in the disposition of their

valleys and in their vegetation is


presented by these granite, metamorphic,
limestone, sandstone, and basalt formations. The normal line of the upper plateaux
is broken here and there by granitic peaks, whose sharp jagged sides form
conspicuous objects in the landscape. But of all these mountain masses, at once
the most remarkable and imposing are the precipitous slopes of Mahadeo, as seen
from the southern valleys. Above the dense vegetation at its base rise its ruddy
walls, scored with fissures giving shelter to a few patches of herbage, and
terminating with quadrangular towers and pinnacles. From certain points of view
the whole mass presents the aspect of a gigantic edifice raised by the hands of
man. The flank of the mountain is broken by enormous chasms, formed, according
to the local legend, by the trident of Siva, who hurled into these abysses the snakes,
former masters of the land. From certain resemblances in their flora and fauna,
the Pachmari plateau, lying north of Mahadeo, has received the
-
title of the
" Northern
Nilghiri."
The highlands, which continue the main axis of the system beyond Mahadeo,
are separated from this group by the Upper Narbadah Valley. Like the western
Satpuras, they present the same character of terraced plateaux, and like them are

in many places overlaid with rocks of trap formation. From west to east the
land rises on the Mandla plateau through a series of terraces to the Maikal border
chain, which skirts the north-west side of the extensive Chatisgarji plafn.

Although the Maikal range has a mean elevation of scarcely 2,000 feet, it attains
in the Lapha peak a height of 3,500 feet. Farther east, at the angular extremity
THK SATPUBA RANGE. Ml
of the whole system, Lapha is rivalled by Amarkaiituk, source at once of the
Nurbudah and of several streams flowing to the Sou and Maha Naddi. A
large por-
tin of this hilly region was formerly covered with forests of sal
(thorea robuta\
a tree which also <<< -upies a narrow bolt of land at the foot of the sub-
Himalayas
with the terai formation, extensive tracts in the
parallel Itajmahal and
Chota-Nagpore Hills, in the East, rn (ihatw as far as the Godaveri, and in the
Maikal range wheiv\.r these uplands are free from trap. Being covered with
but a slight layer of humus, this igneous rock forms everywhere an impassable
barrier to the encroachments of the sal. But the range of this useful tree is
generally succeeded by that of the still more valuable teak (tectonia grandti).
The distribution of the animal species
corresponds in a general way with that of

Fig. 114. PACHMAUI PLATEAU.


Seal* 1 : 440,000.

78' 50' EofGr

1.' Mile*.

the vegetation. Thus the wild buffalo (bubalus ami), the marsh deer
jJbMMfftlY the jungle fowl (gallu* ferrugineiu), are limited westwards by the
domain of the sal. But they are again found in the Mahadeo Valley, where this
tree has penetrated through the alluvial valley of the Narbadah.

Most of the sal and teak forestshave disappeared from the more accessible
districts of Gondwana. The natives had already cleared large tracts by their rude
methods of tillage. At the beginning of the dry season they hew down the trees

forest, in order to get rid of them by fire before the


on the skirt of the rains set in.
v h
Then they sow amid the ashes, trusting to nature for the is
i<
their grain r

the fertility of the soil first year's crops are generally


thus enriched, that the

great falling off, and in order to


Next year there a stn-ure
extremely abundant. is

a fresh harvest, the nomad husbandman clears by fire another strip of the forest.
270 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

The abandoned clearings become overgrown with bamboo and dense thickets of
brushwood and thorny scrub, preventing the growth of large timber. Thus, not-
withstanding the small area under tillage, the face of the country has already
been completely changed in many districts, and unfortunately the most valuable
forests have suffered mosfc. The sal had also been tapped for its resins, and the teak

cut down, to be converted into charcoal or sold for building purposes, when a still
more wholesale waste began with the first appearance of the railway contractors in
this region.Aware of the intention of the Government to take possession of the
they committed such ravages that it
forests, was soon found necessary to import
from England and Norway the timber required for the works.
to find in these latitudes, are nowhere
Tropical woodlands, such as one expects
to be seen. But for the few palms or other characteristic trees visible here and
there, the scenery might be taken for that of temperate Europe. During the dry
season the foliage disappears except that of the sal not a flower is anywhere to
all ;

be seen, and all nature presents a dreary, monotonous aspect. In the cultivated
districts the mhowa is the only large tree which, thanks to its edible flowers, is

always respected.

THE NARBADAH AND TAPTI RIVERS.

The Narbadah, which is often taken as the limit of North India and the Dekkan,
descends from its now exhausted upper
lacustrine basins, through a series of
romantic gorges, to the point where it assumes its normal south-westerly course to
its estuary in the Gulf of Cambay. The natural limit between its upper and middle
course is indicated by the "Marble Rocks," a narrow gorge, where the stream
forms a magnificent fall 30 feet high. For a distance of about two miles it flows
between its marble walls, carved by nature's hand into huge pillars and other
fantastic shapes, and rises to a height of 100 feet on both sides of the rapid

current, which is here contracted to a width of scarcely more than 60 feet. Varied
here and there with veins of dark volcanic rocks, intensifying by contrast their

dazzling whiteness, these bright marble walls blend in perfect harmony with the
blue sky and blue waters of the stream. Not a shrub or tuft of herbage finds a
footing on ledges of bare rock, which are relieved only by the swarming bees,
which have here built their hives. The narrowest part of the gorge is crowned by
the circular temple of Bheraghat, which, with its colonnades formed by female

regarded as one of the gems of Hindu art. The Marble Rocks are
statues, is justly
also famous in Aryan mythology. The legions of snakes following Hanuman are
fabled to have leaped across this abyss, and the heavenly elephant on whom Indra
was mounted imprint of his foot on the hard rock. At this spot the
left the

Narbadah is accordingly held in special sanctity, and the bodies of the dead are
brought from great distances to be cast into its waters, where they often become
the food of crocodiles. Next to the Ganges the Narbadah, or Rewa, is the most
sacred stream in India, and according to an ancient prophecy it is destined
to remain holy for ever, whereas the Ganges is doomed to lose its efficacy about
THE NARBADAH AND TAPTI RIVERS. 271

the end of the present century. The very pebbles of ita bed are sacred, and worn
as amulets by the worshippers of Siva. No oath is more binding than that
uttered by the Hindu standing in mid-stream, wreathrd with a garland of red
is, and holding u few drops of the divine waters in his right hand. As on the
1 tanks of the Ganges, here also arc met pilgrims, who have undertaken the task
of ascending along one side from the estuary to the temple at the source of the
Ainarkantak, and returning on the other to the coast. This i>ni<lk*hina t or complete

pilgrimage, about 1,500 miles long, usually takes two years, owing to the numerous
stoppages at the sanctuaries lining the whole route. The central regions have
thus been gradually opened to Hindu influences fur more effectually by religion
than by commercial or military expeditions. The pilgrims who penetrated into
the Qond territory were sure of protection, whereas the traders were plundered
and invasion resisted by anned force.

Below the Marble Rocks, the river enters an alluvial plain, which was formerly
a vast lacustrine basin that has been gradually filled in. Similar formations
follow in succession, thus developing a broad and fertile valley, which runs for a
distance of about 240 miles east and west between the Mulwa plateaux and the
Mahadeo highlands. Through the extension of agriculture, the formation of
settled urban communities, and the construction, of highways, a sort of inner Aryan

India has here been formed in the heart of the Druvidian domain and by the ;

absorption of the side valleys the country has been gradually brought within the
influence of Hindu culture. But the lacustrine plains traversed by the Narbadah
have no direct outlet towards the Gulf of Cambay, from which they are separated
by a series of gorges through which the river forces its way from rapid to rapid
seawards. Hence it is obstructed by too many fulls, and far too irregular in its

discharge to be available for navigation. Its long narrow basin may be compared

to a deep ditch running from the west coast into the heart of the peninsula. In
the northern section of its basin there are no side valleys, or any important
tributaries. All its affluents come from the south, and are subject to the
same climatic influences as the central valley, so that during the monsoons the
whole fluvial basin receives its due share of the rainfall. Thus the floods take

place simultaneously or at short intervals on the main stream and all its
feeders.

The discharge at the entrance to the Konkan plain has been estimated at 1,700,000
cubic feet per second, or twice that of the Mississippi at high water. But it is
hard to believe that some error has not crept into the calculations of the English
engineers, and in any case the Xarbadah, which reaches the sea through
an estuary
12 miles wide, shrinks in winter to an insignificant stream sluggishly winding

through the sands.


The Tapti, whose farthest source is on the west slope of Mahadeo, flows
first through a slight depression in the plateau, but soon plunges into a deep basalt
rhasm with numerous secondary fissures on both sides. The whole country is thus
broken into trap or greenstone masses, varied with irregular eminences, whose
weathered surfaces glitter with fount leas nodules of white agate. These plati aus
are partly clothed with forests of salei (Bosiceilui thurifera, or incense tree), mingled
272 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

with and brushwood, which is fired in winter by the peasantry. On


scrub

emerging from the upper gorges the Tapti, like the Narbadah, penetrates into a
deep valley or lacustrine depression now
filled up by its alluvia. Here it is joined
which also traverses an old bed of a lake, which
by its great tributary, the Purna,
at all times afforded communication between the west coast and the Upper
Godaveri basin. Below thealluvial plains the Tapti has also, like the Narbadah,

to pierce a series of gorges in order to reach the coast region. The resemblance to
the parallel stream is maintained even in the extreme irregularity of its annual

discharge, which rises from 150 cubic feet per second in the dry season to 635,000
often very disastrous, and, from their effects,
during the monsoons. Its floods are
Surat and the other riverain towns have to protect themselves by a triple line
of embankments.
South of the Mahadeo highlands stretches the vast irregular plain of Nagpur,
which has a mean elevation of 850 to 1,000 feet. Here rise the Wardha, the \Vain-
ganga, and other affluents of the Pranhita or Upper Godaveri, which are broken
into secondary basins by detached spurs of the Satpura system. This region,
which is one of the most fertile in the peninsula, contains extensive tracts of
" black The Upper Godaveri
lands," where cotton is chiefly cultivated. plains,
which with the old lacustrine reservoirs of the Tapti and Narbadah,
lie parallel

and which were themselves at one time flooded basins, naturally attracted the

surrounding civilised populations of India. Hence here also, as well as in the


neighbouring uplands, the wild aborigines of the plateaux were gradually reduced
or absorbed.

INHABITANTS. THE GONDS.

Nevertheless numerous communities have still


preserved their primitive speech,
habits, and customs. Doubtless three-fourths of the entire population of the
Central Provinces consist of Hindus speaking Aryan tongues, and regarding
themselves as completely distinct from the wild tribes of the interior. Neverthe-
less certain districts still deserve the name of Gondwana, or " Land of the Gonds,"

a word which, like Khond, is derived from the Telugu konda, or highlands.
Where they have come in contact with the Hindus of the plains, the Gonds or
Koi have partly adopted their speech and usages some of their tribes have even
;

passed the transitional period, and have ceased to speak or understand the old
Dravidian tongue. Those who have preserved their ethnical independence are
still numerous
enough to constitute the most important of all the uncivilised
aboriginal groups. They number over 1,500,000 in Gondwana, and at It ;i>t
2,000,000 in the whole of India. But they have lost all political cohesion, and
are now broken into isolated sections by the intervening Hindu plains and valleys.

During the last century the various Gond states had already been reduced by the
Mahrattas, but they still remember their former national glories, and several
descendants of their royal families are still pensioners of the British Government.
The Gonds must certainly be regarded as a people who have fallen from a
higher state of culture. The early sacred writings already speak of their cities,
IN!!. Mill A NTS. TILE GONDS. 278

and the history of more recent times shows them as the rivals of the Hindu* in
the arts of peace and war. In the forests and jungles are found many remains of
their palaces ami tnnplrs. while the raees of routes, dykes, und irrigating canals
t

attest their aneient civilisation. Hut ppres>ion. jxiverty, und an enforced forest
lifehave necessarily modi tied their customs, and by mingling with Uie jungle
tribes they have gradually lapsed to the savage state. Those known by the
"
designation of Assul, or the Pure," have built their villages in the heart of the
forests, as far from the main routes as possible. They carefully avoid all contact
with strangers, und many English explorers have traversed Gondwana in every
direction without meeting any pure descendants of the former musters of the hind.
One of their tribes consents to pay the taxes only on condition of not being obliged
to see the collector. On arriving near their village he beats the drum, then
withdraws, und on his return finds the amount duly deposited on a stone. tut 1

when brought face to face with their former conquerors they show a haughty
carriage, and condescend neither to flattery nor falsehood, like most of the Hindus.

They ure generally distinguished by tlieir courage, uprightness, und truthfulness.


Nearly all present the same physical traits short thick-set frames, broad fuce, flut
nose, thick lips, bluck bushy hair. The men wear one earring only, but the
women are loaded with jewellery bracelets, rings, necklaces and ulso tattoo the
face and legs, i^oine of the tribes wear nothing but a tuft of foliuge, and even
thisrudimentary costume is said to be a modern innovation. Others are satisfied
with smearing the body with mud and ashes, und when the keen blust prevails on
their uplands they kindle great fires to keep themselves warm. Some are even
ignorant of agriculture, and when the game fails they ure driven to live on roots,

berries, wild honey, reptiles, and vermin, often disputing the carrion with the
vulture. They have been accused of killing the old members of the tribe, and
devouring them at their public feasts. In any case it is certain that human
sacrifices were formerly offered to their gods, but these victims are now replaced

by dolls or straw puppets.

The Gond polytheism knows no limits. Sun, moon, rocks, trees, torrents, the
in the foliage,
passing wind, the spirits of the departed, the evil genius concealed
everything is a god. Worship is especially paid to formidable beings, such as the
Tiger-God, who is confounded with Vishnu, and who, of all superior powers, is
invoked with the greatest fervour. But the Hindu divinities are also venerated,

and especially the heroes Pandwides, Bhima, and Arjuna, from whom the Gouds
claim descent. Intercourseheld with the outer world through the Brinjuri
is

traders, who pass from village to village, exchanging English or Indian woven

goods for the local produce. In this way the new ideas are gradually penetrating
into the country, and in many districts the aborigines are becoming assimilated to
the surrounding Hindu communities.
Various wild triU-s distinct from the Gonds are scattered over Gondwana. The
Kurku, who number 40,000, centred chit-fly in certain valleys of the Mahadeo high-
lands, are of Eoluriun stock, and dill'er little from the Kols of Chota-Nagpore
and

Orissa, although they have forgotten the national speech. The Baigas, usually
274 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

classed also as Eolarians, are regarded by Forsyth as forming a distinct group.

They number about 20,000 in Gondwana, where they are scattered in small groups

allover the country, but chiefly in the Maikal Hills. Physically they differ little
from the Gonds, except in their darker complexion and more robust fraim <.
Although now speaking a\ Hindu dialect, they claim to be the true aborigines, and
one of their tribes even takes the name of Bhumiya, or " Children of the Soil."

They are distinguished by great honesty and a strict observance of the national usages,

Fig. 115. JABALPUR AND NARSINOHPUR.


Scale 1 : 1,500,000.

a<> Miles.

peacefully governing themselves by their own laws, without the intervention of the
English police. Of all the aborigines of Gondwana the Baigas alone use poisoned
arrows in pursuing large game, and the aconite employed for the purpose is pro-
cured from dealers, who probably obtain it from the Mishrais of the East Himalayan

valleys. The Gonds frankly acknowledge the superiority of the Baigas, from whom
they get their priests and wizards. The Baiga shaman holds commune with the
spirits, and knows the art of expelling them from the places which they infest. He
TOPOGRAPHY. |f|

can bring down the rain, drive off pestilence, exorcise tigers, and render them
li.inul. --. When one of these beasts devours a man a not uiifn-ju<-nt orrurrenoe,
especially in East Gondwana the village call in u Huiga magician, who assumes
the character of a "man-tiger," bounds along like u feline animal, springs on the
rru-hr> iu bones, and drinks its blood. He is thus supposed to transfer the
soul of the tiger to himself, depriving him of all taste for human flesh and
inspiring
him with an appetite for other game. English travellers speak with horror of
these spectacles, and especially of the convulsions required to conjure tigers and
rvil spirits, or to arrive at the contemplation of the
deity.
Besides the Dravidian Gonds and the Eolarians, other ethnical groups are met
in Gondwunu, whose classification presents great difficulties. Such are the Goli, or
Guuli, an obscure community of shepherds in the Sutpura Hills, whom some regard
as descended from the Gauli, whose dynasties long held sway over the country, and
whose ancient strongholds still crown the hills here and there. Of unknown
" Sons of
affinity are also the Naghbansi, or Snakes," whom most of the princely
families claim as their ancestors, and who have left their name to Nugpur, the
largest city in the country. The Nughbansi of the Central Provinces have all been
outwardly Hinduised, but others dwelling in the Jojpur Hills north of Orissa are
distinguished by their exceptionally flat features and low broad nose, with wide
nostrils,placed almost over the cheeks. Traditionally the Naghbansi belong to a
race distinct from the Gonds, who, unlike them, show no special veneration for
snakes.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Jabalpur, the chief place in the Upper Narbadah valleys, has become since the
middle of the present century one of the important cities of India. The central

position which it occupies on the main line of railway between Bombay and Calcutta,
and at the junction of the route from Rujputana to the Mahu Naddi basin, has
made it an entrepot for all Gondwana, and for English manufactured
the produce of

goods. The natural and artificial lakes of the district, the clear waters of the
Narbadah in its marble gorge, the pleasant hills, groves and thickets of the neigh-
bourhood, have attracted many English to Jabalpur, and it has even been often
proposed as the most convenient site for the capital of the Anglo-Indian Empire.
"
Here is a famous industrial school, where the " thugs and other convicts, sur-
rounded by their families, have learnt the art of weaving carpets, tent canvas, and
cordage. North-west of Jabalpur lies the ancient city of Oarlia, formerly capital
of u Gond state. An isolated eminence in the neighbourhood is still crowned by the
fortress of Madan
nia/ia/, erected in the twelfth century.

Beyond the Marble Rocks the Narbadah emerges on the alluvial plains of
" "
Narainyhjwr, the City of Narsingh," that is, of Vishnu the Lion-God." Towards
the south-east a plateau of the Mahadeo group has been chosen as a health resort
and military station, which were founded here in 1870, near the famous shrines of
Pachmarit o;* the " Five Grottoes."
In the portion of the Upper Tapti Valley included in the Central Provinces, the
276 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

only important place is Burhainpur, which


was formerly capital of the Dekkan, and
then covered a space of over 5 square miles. When visited by Tavernier in 1658,
it was no longer a royal residence, and most of its houses had fallen to ruins.
"
Nevertheless it was still a great city," and its cotton fabrics were exported to
"
Persia, Muscovy, Polan.d, Great Cairo, and other places." Burhampur is now
merely a district capital, standing
2 miles from the railway, which here turns aside
to skirt the hill crowned by the garrison town of Asiryarh. Trade and the indus-
tries have been further displaced to Khandwa, lying to the north on the pint ran
still

which separates the Narbadah and Tapti valleys.


" Snake- town," the largest city in the Central Provinces, lies south
Nagpur, or
of the highlandson the plain watered by the head streams of the Godaveri.

ii?. 116. JABALPUR THE MAD AN MAHAL

Connected with the railway system by a branch from the Bombay line, Nagpur is
destined one day to become the central station between the two great seaports of
the east and west coasts. It already enjoys a considerable trade, and its cotton

goods compete successfully with those imported from Great Britain. There
still

are some fine monuments, gardens, and temples in the city but the English have
;

taken up their quarters at the foot of the neighbouring Sitabaldi Hill, which has
become the seat of the provincial administration. ICamti, which lies 6 miles to the
north-east, has been chosen for the military station. During the summer heats the
British residents of Nagpur and Kamti withdraw and the other
to C/tindtcara,
TOPOGRAPHY. 277

towns situated amongst the hills. Drogarh, ancient capital of Gondwana, stood on
one of the bluffs overlooking the plain of Nagpur. Hero are some fine ruined
temples, parks, and reservoirs. The plain is studded with numerous lak< t-, the 1<

remnants i.i e.\ten-i\e basins, and it is now proposed to create a large artih'riul luke

by damming the waters of the river Kunhuin. This reservoir will ImWan area of
30 square miles, and will suffice for the irrigation of 450,000 acres.
The fertile and relatively well-cultivated plains, watered by the head streams of

Fig. 117. XAOITR AND KAMTI.


8oOe 1 : 380,000.

6 .Milts.

the Godaveri, contain several trading- places, such as Seoni, the chief entrepot
between Nagpur and Jabulpur ; Ramtek, city of Rama, noted for its excellent betel
leaf ; Bhandara, Paoni, Umrer, all famous for their cotton goods ; Jlinganghat, one
of the chief marts in India for the exportation of cotton yarns. It also forwards

large quantities of butter by the railway directly to Bombay. Below the confluence
of the Wardha and Pain the ancient but decayed city of Chanda, whose
lies

picturesque ramparts, nearly 6 miles in circumference, now enclose several villages,


cultivated and waste spaces. Near Warora are some rich carboniferous deposits,
which yield the best coal in the Contra! Provinces.
CHAPTER XIII.

WEST SLOPES OF THE PLATEAUX AND GHATS.


BARODA, KANDESH, KONKANS.

HE comparatively restricted natural region watered by the Lower


Narbadah and Tapti, and skirted on the east by the Western Ghats

as far as the Gangawali river valley, is one of the best-defined tracts


in India. The eastern barrier is doubtless of moderate elevation,
and " whence name.
easily scaled by the ghat, or steps," it takes its

Nevertheless, forms throughout its entire length a clear parting-line between two
it

climates, twofloras, two soils, two agricultural systems, two civilisations. Towards
the north alone the inhabitants of the Konkans find their narrow coast lands spread-
ing out into the broad plains traversed by the two parallel streams which have
their rise on the central plateau. These watercourses, overflowing all the lowlands,

often become themselves natural limits between the two regions. But for most of
the year their valleys, and those of their affluents, afford easy access to the uplands
of the interior.
formed by the Gulf of Cambay that the great
It is precisely at the angle here

historic
highway begins which connects the west coast of India with the Ganges
and Jamna basins. Before the opening of the modern artificial routes this was the
natural emporium for the interchange of foreign merchandise with the produce of
the northern plains. Hence, notwithstanding its dangerous character, this section
of the Indian seaboard has been visited by shipping from the remotest times. Pent
up in the narrowstrip lying between the Ghats and the coast, the native popula-
tions naturally turned towards the Arabian Sea, and developed commercial relations
with the opposite shores. The treasures acquired by trade or piracy were accumu-
lated in the maritime towns of the Konkans. But owing to their restricted

territory, these towns never rose to the position of imperial capitals. They were
fain even to accept foreign masters far more frequently than they could themselves
give rulers to the neighbouring lands. The political unity of this region was also
broken by the great length of the Konkans, stretching for hundreds of miles in a
narrow belt between the Ghats and the ocean. Even under British supremacy a
large number of petty states have still been enabled to preserve a certain indepen-
THE WESTKI:\ ;
HATS. L'7:>

dence along this section of the Indian seaboard. Besides these principal it ie and
the diMrirts diivrtly admim'stm-d l>y the English, a portion of tin- land has also
n in iim <1 in the possession of the Portuguese, the first European nation who landed
in the peninsula.

Tin: Wi -i i i:\ (Jn VT-.

Most European travellers who India for the


first time approach it
visit
by the
western slope of the Ghats. Here they at once enter a picturesque region, whose
natural beauties are elsewhere unsurpassed in the peninsula. The eastern horizon
is bounded by the long line of the Ghats, half shrouded in a bluish haze, and
through their gaps affording here and there pleasant
vistas of the uplands. Below
the arid escarpments and the verdant slopes of the hills stretch the still more
verdant plains, broken by projecting headlands into irregular amphitheatres.
The dense vegetation is relieved only by the towers and pinnacles of towns half
buried in the foliage, and the surf-beaten shore is
fringed by thickets of palms
waving gracefully over the fishermen's hamlets. The sea is everywhere enlivened

by the shipping plying between the surrounding ports, or sailing to every point of
the compass.
The Satpura range completely separated by the gorges of the Tapti from the
is

Ghats, although when seen from the coast these mountains present the appearance
of an unbroken cordillera. The Satpura system merges gradually east of Bharuch
in a low hilly district abounding in agates and carnelians. South of the Tapti the

Sahyadri, or Ghats, properly so-called, begin with a number of nearly parallel

ridges about 2,000 feet high, running east and west, but connected towards their
western extremities in such a way as to form towards the sea a regular series of
escarpments. Between the Tapti and Bombay this outer edge of the Ghats runs
north-east and south-west, but further south it follows the normal direction of the
coast. These two parallelmountain and seaboard evidently depend on the
lines of

same movement of the earth's crust, and should be regarded as geological pheno-
mena of a like order. The trap formations of which the scarps of the Ghats
mainly consist are old cliffs which formed the coast-line before the general
upheaval of the land that took place, probably, in the tertiary epoch. The cremno-
cotic/ius, a species of freshwater mollusc inhabiting the streams of the Sahyadri

Hills, is so closely allied to the neighbouring marine varieties of littorina, that

zoologists regard it as of like origin. It seems to be evidently descended from


varieties which peopled the foot of the Ghats, when these mountains were washed
by the sea.
Between Surat and Goa, if not elsewhere, the Ghats consist exclusively <>f

Micrr^ive layers of lava streams. The plains stretching at their foot were also
covered to a thickness of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet with igneous rocks, which have

gradually worn away by tin- rains, tides, and rivers. Geologists


have long

sought in vain for some of those ancient craters, whence flowed such prodigious
quantities of lava, representing a volume far more -xtt -n>i\e than the whole range
of the Pyrenees. But it is now sufficiently evident that these vanished
cones
280 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

stood on the site of the present lowlands, all the upper formations of which have

long been swept away. Bombay the Ghats have developed an amphi-
East of
theatre of rocks somewhatform of a segment of a vast crater. Here rise a
in the

number of circular eminences, hollow at top, and mostly crowned with clumps of
trees, whence were formerly discharged showers of stones and ashes. The plains
are crossed by walls of trap, which have resisted the action of the weather, and
which intersect each other in every direction between the extinct volcanoes. These

trap formations indicate the crevasses through which the molten streams formerly
escaped.
The yhaffi, or " steps," by which the range is interrupted at intervals, have
naturally acquired exceptional importance, as affording direct communication
between the peoples of the coast and the plateau. North-east of Kalvan lies the
Thai, or Kasara ghat, traversed by the main highway and by the railway from

Bombay to Calcutta, which, by a gradient of 26 millimetrea in the yard, attains an


elevation of 1,900 feet. The Bhor ghat, formerly known as the " Key of the
Dekkan," is even lower, being only 1 ,800 feet high ; but it is crossed at a much steeper
incline Bombay- Madras railway, which, before the opening of the lines over
by the
the Alps, Rocky Mountains, and Andes, was regarded as one of the greatest

triumphs of modern engineering skill. All the other ghats south of this pass have
hitherto been utilised only by tracks and carriage-roads, but they are so numerous
that every town and village on the coastlands enjoys direct access to the plateau.
Most of them are jealously guarded by gar/is, or forts, whose frowning ramparts
crown every rocky prominence. Some of these strongholds are perched on the
edge of precipices accessible only by steps hewn in the live rock, or by hidden
galleries.
The appearance
of surf -beaten cliffs and headlands projecting seawards is best

preserved by the Ghats, which, south of the Konkans, tower above the native State
of Sawantwari and the Portuguese territory of Goa. Here the edge of the plateau
is in many places furrowed
by a thousand indentations resembling the fjords of
the Norwegian seaboard. Ascending from the coast lands, the traveller becomes
entangled in a labyrinth of deep ravines, at last emerging suddenly on the open
plateau of the Dekkan, varied here and there only by a few low hills and ridges.
But south of the Kell ghat, between Goa and Dharwar,
the trap disappears

altogether, being here replaced by gneiss, micaceous schists, and other metamorphic
rocks. Hence the hills now assume a totally different appearance. The cliffs lose
their sharpness of outline, and the range itself no longer forms a complete parting-
line between the waters flowing to the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. On either
side of the main made without any abrupt contrasts between
axis the transition is

the bare rock and the vegetation of the plateau. The system of the Ghats may
even be said to be completely interrupted by the valleys of the Kaoli and Ganga-
wali, which rise on the eastern slopes, but flow to the west coast. At no distant
period this region of lav&s will be skirted on the south by two lines of railway
connecting the inland cities with the ports of Marmagao and Karwur.
The rivers of the Konkans between the Tapti and Kaoli being confined to the
THE WESTERN GHATS.

narrow coast lands, some 30 miles broad, arc all little more than mountain torrents
\\ith short rapid courses seawards, and fed only by small rivulets. Nevertheless,
tin- abundant rainfall, nin^ni-* on the western slope of the Ghats from 150 to 280
iiu-hrs impartsduring eaaoH'ConNidt -raMr iin]M)rtuncc to these tomnts
tin- \vt
Mum- of which then dincharge a volume comparable to that of some of Ihe large
I-.III.]M
an rivers. Nearly all reach the coast through estuaries several miles wide,

through which the tide penetrates fur inland during the monsoons, while the
alluvia are curried with the ebb far seawards. Hence on this side of the peninsula
no deltas can bo developed like those of the Maha Naddi, Godaveri, Eistna, and
i, on the Bay of Bengal. Even the Nurbuduh and Tapti, which send down

Fig. 118. GARH OP TUB GHATS.


tab I: MM

of Gr VS'SS

.Mta

such copious volumes during the rains, form no exception to this rule. It has

been calculated that the sedimentary matter dischnrged into the Gulf of Cambay
by the Xarbodtth and other streams during the wet monsoon would, under ordinary
conditions, suffice to fill up that inlet in about a thousand years. But not more
than a hundredth part of this mutter settles on the sandbanks of the estuary, all
the rest being carried away and distributed by the marine currents over the
bed of the sea, or along the coast of Malabar, the Luccodives, and Maldives.*
the bed of the Arabian Sea to be suddenly upheaved some 65 or 70 feet, the

gulf would be transformed to a delta, ramifying its branches like the


immediately
W. Sowerby, "Transaction* of the Bombay Geographical Society," vol. xix. 1871.

M
282 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

ribs of a fun. The tidal channels, separated from each other by the so-called
Malacca sandbanks, would be changed to estuaries, and the shallows to plains but ;

the geographical features would remain unmodified, for nowhere else is there to be
found a more regular submarine delta. The plains skirting the Lower Narbadah
and Tapti, although now "in many places far above the level of the highest floods,
were themselves probably old marine beds, upheaved by a general rising of the
land. By similar movements the cliffs of the Ghats have been lifted high over the
waves which formerly beat against their base. Traces of upheaval are evident at
several points along the coast. Some distance inland are found old beaches covered
with marine shells, which belong to the living species of the neighbouring waters.
But the period of general upheaval has been followed by the contrary movement, or at
any rate many local subsidences have taken place. Thus the city of Bombay, although
built on an upheaved island, connected by raised beds with other islands, skirts on
the east an ancient beach now covered by 13 feet of water, where the roots of a
submerged forest are still found in their original position.

INHABITANTS. -THE PARSIS.

The inhabitants of the Konkans and of all the western slope of the Ghats have
been so long in relation with the rest of the world that all traces of an aboriginal
element have entirely disappeared. The present populations, whether Hindus,
Mohammedans, Parsis, or Strangers, are grouped not in tribes but in castes, and
the languages spoken by them have all a rich literature. In the north the
prevailing idioms are the Gujarati and Mahratti, with its various Konkani and
Goan dialects. Both being derived from the Sanskrit, and written with the same
Devanagari character, these two languages have been adopted by the foreign
communities settled in the country. South of Goa the Aryan is replaced by the
Dravidian linguistic domain, the current language here being the Kannada or
Kanarese, written with a peculiar character resembling the Telegu. The limits
of this dialectand of the Aryan tongues mark the ethnical frontiers between
Southern India and the rest of the peninsula.
Of all the foreign peoples settled in the cities of the Konkans, the Parsis have
taken the highest social rank next to the English masters of the land. As
indicated by their name, they are of Persian origin, being descended from the
followers of Zoroaster, who country to escape from the sword of the
left their

Mohammedan invaders. They settled first in the island of Ormuz, where their
commercial habits laid the foundations of the prosperity which that entrepot of the
Indian seas was destined one day to enjoy. But being driven from this refuge, they

sought a final retreat in the peninsula of Kattyawar, where they gradually founded
flourishing communities in all the seaboard towns. In spite of constant persecutions,
their spirit of solidarity enabled them to prosper, and they are at present certainly

more numerous than the unhappy fugitives who originally fled from the Moham-
medan fanatics. The Parsi communities still scattered over Persia scarcely number
more than 5,000 souls altogether, whereas there are no less than 80,000 in British
INHABITANTS Till: I'.\Ksl<.

India, and to these must be added the commercial s -tileim-nt- fnur.ded under the

protection of tin- I5riti>h flag in all (he ports of tin- fur East.*

In proportion to their numbers they have accumulated far more capital than

any <>thT nationality in India. Snnc of their hankers rank amongst the most
influential in the world, and already control most of the large undertakings in

lloinhav. liven in London some graceful structures are due to their munificent -e.

Having forgotten their old Zend mother tongue, no longer understanding the
meaning of their liturgy, and speaking Gujarat and English alone, the Pareis
i

Fig. 119. SANDBANKS IN THE OCLP OP CAMIUT.


Boala 1 : 1.900.000.

EofG

80 to 75 Fet 75 Feet und npwmnjj.

have preserved of their religion nothing but the symbols and empty forms. They
venerate the sun and fire, and, like the Galchas of the Pamir, are careful never to

extinguish the flame with their impure breath. Most of them have preserved the

Puma in the Bombay Presidency (1872) i .1 1


Baroda
Bengitl ijin
Damio 170
234 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

national costume, even the peculiar headdress covered with oilcloth.


to But
certain ablutions and other ceremonies have long been discontinued. The Parsi
religion is thus gradually merging in a vague deism and a moral code, whose
special virtues are benevolence and
truthfulness. There is little more than a
formal difference between the English Unitarians, the Parsis, and the Hindu
adherents of the recent Brahma-Samaj movement. What chiefly distinguishes
the Parsis in the eyes of the vulgar, are their funeral rites. In Bombay, Karachi,
and all other towns where they have settlements, conspicuous objects are the
"
dakhma, or Towers of Silence," where the dead are exposed, to be devoured by the
vultures; for their decomposed bodies must pollute neither earth, water, nor
especially fire, the pre-eminently sacred element.
The descendants of the half-caste Portuguese settled in the ports of the
Konkans since the time of the conquest are far from occupying a social position
comparable to that of the Parsis. Nevertheless, through their learning and wealth,
some few among them have been admitted into European circles. Most of these
half-castes, employed as clerks, notaries, interpreters, serve as middlemen between
the Europeans and natives. The negro brought by the Portuguese from
slaves

Africa have also left a posterity which has become diversely intermingled with
other descendants of Africans, and especially of pirates from Somaliland. Many
families also claim Abyssinian descent. According to the local tradition, an
Ethiopian merchant obtained leave in 1489 to land three hundred chests on the
island of Janjira, some 45 miles south of Bombay. Each of these chests contained
a soldier, and the three hundred, after seizing the island and a fort on the neigh-

bouring coast, founded a republic of pirates. Growing in power, the Abyssinians


of Janjira formed alliances with kings and emperors. Under Aurengzeb they were
entrusted with the safety of the port of Surat and of the Mohammedan pilgrims
to Mecca. The princely families of Janjira and of Jaffarabad in Kattyawar claim
descent from these conquerors of the fifteenth century. They call themselves
Habshi that is, Abyssinian but they are commonly confounded under the name
of Sidi, or " Lords," with foreigners of African origin.
The other Mohammedans of the country, who are nearly all Sunnites, include
some Afghans, Turks, Arabs, and Persians, besides the native Hindus formerly
converted freely or by force. The Mussulman traders are grouped in distinct

corporations of Borahs, Khojahs, or Memons, and have relations chiefly with the
ports of the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and east coast of Africa. The Baniahs
(Banyans) or Hindu merchants trade with the same places, and are met in all
the East African ports, but especially in Zanzibar. In Bombay they form two
distinct classes the Baniahs, properly so called, originally from Gujarat, and the
Marwari from Rajputana who have monopolised the trade of so many parts of
India.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The city of Baroda, which


the largest place in South Gujarat, stands on both
is

banks of the Visvamitri, a small southern affluent of the Mahi. Capital of a


TOPOGRAPHY. >:,

prndrnt native <>da, with its vast suburbs, is a city of palace*,


d' -

and residence of one of the wealthiest rulers in India. While retaining the title
of Gaikwur, or " Cowherd." deri\ed from his Muhratta am -tors, the lately deposed

sovereign of Baroda delighted in magnificent ftes, processions, hunting-parties,


and accumulated vast treasures, including some of the finest diamonds in the world.
This capital i* one of the few places
India where elephant and rhinoceros fights
in

are or were till


recently held to amuse the puhlic. Although metropolis of a
"
sovereign state, with a regular army and park of artillery, Baroda is commanded

by the British cantonments, which are under the control of the English Resident.
About 14 miles to the south-east stands the city of Dabltoi, the ancient D/iarbharati,

which surrounded by a rampart 2 miles in circumference and 40 feet high.


is still

Jamlntxar, lying to the south-west, formerly enjoyed a considerable trade through


the estuary of the Tankaria, which flows to the Gulf of Cambay. Although this
coast traffic has been nearly destroyed by the railway, Jambusar still retains a
certain importance for its local industries and cotton trade.

Rharwh (Broach}, the Beryyeza of the Greek geographers,


is a
very old place,
perched on a bluff some 65 feet high, overlooking the right bank of the Narbadah,
which is here crossed by a railway bridge 4,150 feet long, and supported by sixty-
seven piers. .Often destroyed, Bharuch was always rebuilt on the same convenient
site, above the level of the inundations on the great historic highway of the sea-

board. It was formerly famous


for the products of its looms, said by the Portuguese
" the finest woven fabrics in the world." Here the English and
conquerors to be
Dutch had established factories to share in the export trade to every part of the
East, from Mombaza to Sumatra. But the local industries were ruined by the
introduction of European goods, and the population declined rapidly. Recently,
however, the place has recovered some of its prosperity, thanks to the large
quantities of cotton now grown on the neighbouring plains and forwarded by rail
to Bombay. The agate
vases mentioned by Pliny are supposed to have been cut
from agates procured in this district, and Thevenot speaks of the importance of
this trade in his time. The chief agate and jasper mines are at Rattamjnir, some
12 miles east of Bharuch, but they have lostmost of their economic importance,
being now rented for the trifling sum of 280 per annum. The maritime trade
of Bharuch has also been reduced to a little coast with the neighbouring
traffic

ports, all the deep-sea navigation having completely ceased.* The most remarkable
natural curiosity of tho district has also nearly disappeared. This was a banian
tree on an island of theNarbadah, spoken of by all travellers, and in 1780 forming
a forest of three hundred and fifty trunks and three thousand secondary stems.
on the south bank of the Tapti a position analogous to that of
Siiraf occupies

Bharuch on the Narbadah. Mention is first made of this place at the epoch of the
Mohammedan which it rapidly acquired a commercial position of
invasions, after

supreme importance. the end of the seventeenth century it was the busiest
At
mart in India, and was then known as the " gate of Mecca," most of the Mussulman

pilgrims to the caaba embarking at this port. Its Portuguese factories hod been

Average maritime trade of Bharuch :- 18*7 to 1847, 1,160,000 ; 1874, 392,000.


286 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

followed by other European establishments, founded by the English, Dutch, and


French, and during the monsoons such was the throng of foreign traders, that,
find no lodging. At the close of the
according to Thevenot, late arrivals could
eighteenth century Surat was
the largest city in the peninsula, with an estimated
in the middle of the nineteenth century this had been
population of 800,000 ; but
reduced to 80,000 within the walls, partly by a series of calamities, such as the

Muhratta wars, inundations, and a which destroyed over 9,000 houses, but
fire,

of Bombay, which had become the capital of the


chiefly through the competition
British possessions in Western India. At present it is gradually reviving, and
from the central group of buildings p>urroundtng the citadel new quarters have
direction of the city of Rander, on the other towards
spread out on one side in the
the British cantonments. The old industry of gold and silver silk embroidery has
while the introduction of steam has stimulated the
acquired fresh activity,
development of spinning-mills and other factories supplied by the cotton now
extensively cultivated in the Konkans. Here are especially prepared the langutis,
or loin-cloths, forwarded to the Siamese states. Relations have been established by
the local Parsi bankers and Hindu baniahs with the money-markets of the whole
world. But, like Bharuch, Surat has lost its maritime trade, and its port of Suwali
has sunk to the position of a village frequented only by some small coasters.
France still retains at Surat a little factory, where she enjoys all the privileges of
sovereignty.*
Onthe route running southwards to Bombay follow Nosari, largely peopled by
industrious Parsis, and Buhar, a manufacturing place with a small seaport. West
of the railway lies the Portuguese town of Damao, or Daman, at the mouth of
the river Daman, accessible to vessels of over 300 tons. The dockyards of this
place formerly turned out excellent ships built of teak, but this industry has dis-
appeared, while the opium trade has been monopolised by the English Government.
On the other hand, the insolvent debtors and bankrupt traders of Bombay take
refuge here from their creditors. The Portuguese territory of Daman comprises in
two enclaves altogether some forty villages. Bassani, which also belonged to the
Portuguese since the year 1534, was seized by the Mahrattas in the eighteenth
century. Of this " City of the Nobles," which stood on an isolated headland north
of the strait of Ghora- Bunder, nothing now remains except a few ruins of palaces,

churches, monasteries, ramparts, and the tomb of Albuquerque.

Bombay, commercial heir of all the Mohammedan and Portuguese cities in

Gujarat and the Konkans, stands not on the mainland, but at the southern extremity
of a small archipelago, which shelters its spacious harbour from the western gales.
Hence the derivation of its name from Boa " Good haven," seemed
bahia, or,

simple enough. But the Portuguese themselves at first called it Monbaim, or


Bombaim, a term applied also to the whole district, and obviously derived from the
Goddess Mumba, tutelar deity of the land. The narrow island about ten miles
long, now occupied by the largest city in Southern Asia, and next to London the
largest in the British Empire, has undergone frequent modifications of form. It

Maritime trade of Surat in 1801, 1,024,000 ;


in 1874, 274,000.
B
T.VK.ofP.

/
/. W
oofnbav I
<

I. Gvilabtfy'f

73 I

to 16 feet 16 to 32 feet 32
1 :
TOPOOBAPUY.

of two parallel ridges of basalt rocks running north and south, and
connected by sand mounds which enclose an argillaceous plain. Formerly the
ti.l.-
frequently penetrated lictwecn the Iwsult ranges, dividing them into w-cowlury
islands. 1
hiring the floods the ri\< r
<i<>]Htr, flowing north of the island of Sulsette,
has even occasionally sent down a sufficient volume to till up the chunnM with its
alluvia, and discharge its waters into the huy on the south side of the island. Now
the hand of man has intervened to give a more definite if less graceful form to
these fluctuating shores. Embankments covered with houses or dockyards have
taken the place of the shallows; Bombay has been connected by causeways with
Salsette, Salsette with the mainland, and the archipelago has thus become a

peninsula.
The history of Bombay begins with the cession of the island to England in 1661.
King John IV. of Portugal presented it to Charles II. as the down' of his daughter

Catherine, and Charles made it over to the East India Company for a nominal rent
of 10 a year. To people the town it was made a place of refuge, and fugitives
immediately flocked to it from all quarters. Thus, twelve years after the arrival of
the English, Bombay is said to have had a population of 60,000. Nevertheless it
could not acquire a commanding position so long as the neighbouring islands

belonged to Portugal, and while the coast highway continued to be controlled by


powerful native rulers. Hence it did not become for Europeans the true threshold
of India till the fall of the Mahratta dynasty, and the annexation of their territory
to the domain of the Company. Even before the year 1830 a highway, winding
up to the Bhor Ghat, had already placed the trade of the plateaux in the hands of
the Bombay merchants; in 1838 a regular postal service was established with
London by the Isthmus of Suez route then followed the lines of steamers between
;

England and the Konkuns, and the opening in 1853 of the section from Bombay to
Thuna of the first link in the vast network of railways, which is gradually
embracing the whole peninsula in its meshes. by the cutting of the Suez
Lastly,
Canal, Bombay has acquired direct water communication with Europe, and superb
lines of steamers, with two submarine cables, are amongst the ties which bind her
Eastern Empire to England.
The period of the American civil war from 1860 to 1865 was for Bombay an

epoch of prodigious prosperity. Traders flocked from parts to share in the


all

profits which were then being realised ; the surrounding lands became a vast cotton

plantation ; the raw material and other produce poured in a ceaseless stream into
the port, and overflowed its now too narrow quays. Fresh quarters sprang up as
if
by enchantment no speculation
;
seemed too daring ; the city begun to enter into
rivalry with Ixmdon when peace was suddenly restored to North America,
itself,

Then came the inevitable collapse, when all business seemed for a moment
paralysed. But after the supreme crisis and ensuing prostration, a healthier tone
began to prevail; the great city MM.II revived. ojK'iied up new avenues of trade,
enlarged its
quays, built graving-docks, drained the surrounding marshes, studded
the neighbouring heights with country seats. And now it is proposed to raise the
level of the Flats, stretching to the north-west, and to convert u portion of this
288 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

tract an industrial town, while reserving the rest for one of the fin<-t
into

promenades in India. Thus would be swept away all the remaining hotbeds of
fever, which had long earned for Bombay a sufficiently justified reputation for

insalubrity. According to the traveller Fryer, five-sixths of the


Europeans settled
in the country perished of disease during the seventeenth century, and new
" two monsoons
arrivals were met with the far from encouraging local saying that

made the life of a man." At present Bombay is one of the healthiest cities in

India, and in this respect takes a high place amongst the cities which publish
regular tables of mortality. Although situated on a small island, it is supplied
with an abundance of pure water from the Gopar River, which has been bodily
turned into Lake Vehar, a reservoir 1,400 acres in extent. The stream is carried

by an aqueduct across the channel, to a series of tanks at different levels, whose


colonnaded galleries communicate with each other by monumental flights of

steps.
Seen from the inner port, east of the peninsula, Bombay presents a superb
panorama. After passing the reefs and long promontory of Kolaba, and skirting
the citadel, which is now chiefly occupied by public offices and counting-houses,
the shipping reaches its moorings in front of the modern city. Towards the south
the English quarter develops along the vast esplanade a series of rich facades,
which if less ambitious are more imposing than the palatial structures of Calcutta.
"
Yet these often
lofty buildings, imitations of the " Venetian
clumsy or " Lom-
"
bard styles, scarcely harmonise with the surrounding vegetation. They are
certainly less picturesque than the Hindu dwellings with their carved wooden
pillars, painted balconies, and pitched roofs. The main thoroughfares are crowded
with traffic and vehicles of every sort, while all the races of the Old "World are

represented in the
throng Hindus, seamen of every nationality.
motley
some dark, others bronze, yellow or fair, some
Europeans, negroes, half-castes,
magnificently robed, others with bare limbs, or clothed only with the simple
languti.
As
a commercial city, Bombay has few rivals in Asia. The annual exchanges

already exceed 40,000,000, and Manchester alone takes from the district raw
cotton to the yearly value of about 10,000,000, or one-third of the quantity
exported during the American war. Bombay has recently become a great corn
market, and in 1881 forwarded to Europe no less than 467,000 tons of wheat.
It is also one of the chief entrepots of the opium exported to China, of which one

of houses almost enjoys a monopoly. The exports are paid for chiefly in cotton
its

goods, although a large balance has to be met by England with specie and ingots,
which are circulated throughout the whole of the peninsula. The shipping is
exceeded by that of London, Liverpool, Antwerp, and Marseilles, but it is slightly

greater than that of Calcutta. Of the numerous local industries, the chief are
dyeing, copperware, chintzes, and cotton thread. In 1877 upwards of 30,000 tons
of the raw material were worked up in about thirty spinning-mills, employing a
million spindles and 8,000 looms, although the first factory was not opened till the

year 1863. Bombay has even acquired some importance as an agricultural centre,
TOPOGRAPHY.

thank-* to it* poddy -fields, gardens, and coco-nut plantations. XUUKTOUS hands
are also engaged in the fabrication of palm- wine and other liquor* derived fnnn
the same source.

Being almost exclusively a commercial a smaller European i-lnm-nt


city, \vith
than Calcutta, or even Madras, Bombay is not so well supplied with 'scientific
institutions as the imperial capital. The Geographic
Society, founded in 1841, has
ceased to exist, but the older Asiatic Society still continues to issue its valuable
still

memoirs. Here is also the chief meteorological observatory in the peninsula,

admirably situated for the study of the phenomena of the monsoons. Like Calcutta,
Bombay has parks and promenades
its but its most remarkable zoological
;

collection is found in the hospital for animals, where old or infirm oxen,
monkeys,
"
cats, dogs, birds, and even snakes, are maintained by voluntary contributions."
Like all the large cities of British India, Bombay is supplemented by a number
of iecondary towns, serving as country retreats for its residents. Of these the most
frequented is the health-resort of Mathcran, which lies at an altitude of nearly
2,500 feet on a crest completely separated from the Ghats by the valley of the river
Ulas. Numerous suburban residences are dotted over the slopes of this isolated
mass, whose forests were still roamed by some savage tribes so recently as the
middle of this century. In less than four hours the citizens of are able to
Bombay
reach the summit of tfris hill, which commands a splendid prospect of the great
city, bathed at times in the glowing rays of the setting sun. A favourite retreat
for merchants and officials is also the town of Thann, capital of the district of like

name, and of Sulsette, or Shasti. It lies on the east side of this island
nearly
opposite the mouth of the Ulas, and is connected with
Bombay by rail and water.
At the neighbouring town of Kanhrri ore some limestone grottoes, with curved
rock temples dating from the beginning of the new era, and formerly much
venerated by the Buddhists. More recent sanctuaries in this district no longer
show any trace of the Buddhist cult, and are exclusively decorated with Brah-
manical symbols. Near Thana are some hot springs, which bubble up from the

rocky bed of a small stream.


Other sacred grottoes, which, owing to their proximity to Bombay, are more
"
frequently visited than those of Kanheri, are the caves of Garapuri, City of
Deva " Isle of the
Caverns," in the islet of Elephanta, or Levi, Gods," lying in the
harbour east of Bombay. The island takes its name from a group of debased
sculptures representing an elephant attacked by a tiger. The hill is pierced by
four grottoes, whose entrance is shaded above by brushwood and twining plants.
At the extremity of the chief sanctuary stands the colossal figure of Siva, under his
three symbolic forms of Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer, as he is also represented
in the other underground temples. The Hindus of Bombay, and especially the
Baniuhs, still resort at stated periods to these shrines for religious purposes. The
caves of Klrphanta date probably from the tenth, possibly even from the eighth or
ninth century of the vulgar era, and their monstrous sculptures, however interest-
But a
ing to the student of theogonies, are mostly of a very repulsive character.
of
profound impression is
produced by the contrast between the bright aspect
290 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

nature outside and the solemn gloom of these crypts with their massive columns

bending beneath the weight of their rocky roofs. One of the temples has already
completely yielded to the pressure. It is noteworthy that these subterranean
sanctuaries are crowded together more thickly in the Bombay district, at the foot

of the Ghats and on tte neighbouring plateau, than in any other part of the
peninsula. Beyond the north-west angle of the Ghats, monuments of this descrip-

tion, whether Buddhist or Brahmanical, become less numerous as we proceed


eastwards.

Kalyan, the ancient capital of the Konkans, and already famous many centuries
before the name of Bombay had been heard of, is now nothing more than a small

Fig. 120. UNDERGROUND TEMPLES IN INDIA.


Scale 1 : 17,000,000.

tofG. 70 tff

300 Miles.

seaport, to which a few light through the winding channel of the


craft gain access
Ulas. Butit has
recently acquired some importance from its position at the
junction of the two main lines of railway from Calcutta and Madras. The
surrounding plains are strewn with ruins, including the remarkable temple of
Ambernath, of which little now remains except the entrance and lower walls, all
covered with marvellously delicate carvings.
South of Bombay the population, consisting mainly of fishers, with the de-
scendants of the old piratical element, is concentrated
chiefly on the seaboard. The
houses of the towns and villages are here
interspersed amid the coco-nut groves
fringing the coast. Alibagh, an old nest of corsairs, is familiar to seafarers from
TOPOGRAPHY.

the neighbouring inland of Kolaba, where the wreckers formerly plied their
infamous trade. A I
ilmgh was said to have been entirely built of tin- timlier from

vessels stranded on those inhospitable shores. Janjira, the Jczin-/i, or Maud,"


of the Arabs, was the rallying-point-of the powerful maritime populations, which
at one time recognise! the jurisdiction of the "Abyssinian Princes." In this part
of the Konkan of "
1

there still ulso survives a .small


region community Meni Israel,
'

or Israelites, settled here from time immemorial. The small state, with a
population
of about 70,000, to which Janjira has given its name, and whose capital is tin-

neighbouring townIiui/mri,of bears also the


designation of HuhHan, or
" In the hands of the English, Janjira might become one of the most
Abyssinia."
sheltered ports on the dangerous Konkan coast. There is no bar, and even at low
water there is a depth of over 20 feet in the harbour. More important than

Alibagh, as trading-places, are Bankot, on the broad estuary of the river Savitri, and
Rattuiffiri, on a somewhat exposed creek. Ratnagiri has also a considerable fishing
industry, employing hundreds of native craft. Here are annually shipped thousands
of coolies for Mauritius and Reunion, and porters for Bombay. Some trade is also
carried on by Viziadrng, and Dcoyhar, but of all the ports between Bombay and
Goa, the most frequented is Vingorla, also at one time a hotbed of
piracy.
A native town, bearing the name of Goa, stood formerly on a marshy island in
the river Juari, but no trace of palaces can now be discovered amidst the jungle.
its

Yet it was a rich and flourishing place, the glory of whose rulers is recorded in
ancient inscriptions. In 1473 its Mohammedan spoilers removed its site to the
south side of the Mandavi estuary. Here stood the new town, which was seized in
1510 by the small army of Albuquerque, and which soon became the " Queen of
"
the East and the pride of the children of Lusus
(Camoens). At the end of the
sixteenth century its wealthy traders had already earned for it the title of Goa
dourada (" Goa the Golden)," and according to a local Portuguese proverb, " who has
seen Goa has no need to see Lisbon." But the attacks of the Dutch, followed by
the Mohammedans and Mahrattas, and especially the proselytising zeul of its priests,
had the result of gradually depopulating the place. On his second voyage, Vasco
de Gama wasaccompanied by eight Franciscan friars, eight chaplains, and one
"chaplain-major," who were to preach the faith, and if necessary resort to the
sword. But " the best of the Gentiles and naught remained but
fled to other lands,

the scum."* Then the neglected channel of the river silted up, the abandoned
fields were overgrown with a rank vegetation, after the floods the wator settled in

stagnant pools and swamps, and the citizens were driven elsewhere by the malaria.
In the middle of the eighteenth century Goa was a city of the dead, and even now
it is little more than a forest of coco
palms, in the midst of which stand numerous
ruins, the towersand domes of some thirty religious edifices. The Palace of the

Inquisition, where resided the true masters of the land, is now a pile of rubbish ;

but the cathedral, metrojxlitan church of the Indies, as well as un old mosque
transformed to a Franciscan convent, are still standing. In the sumptuous church
of the Bom Jesus is shown the gorgeous tomb in jasper, marble, and silver, which
"
Letter written in 1584 by Sanetti, and quoted by Vaconcullo.Abrvu in hi Glottologia arica."
292 INDIA AND INDO-CHTNA.

contains the remains of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies. The body of the
"
saint was officially proclaimed Viceroy of India and Lieutenant-General," and
from him the actual governor was supposed to derive all his authority. So recently
as the beginning of the nineteenth century he still went in great state to the Bom
Jesus to receive his investiture before taking possession of the administration. In
" Old had
the heyday of its splendour the Velha Cidade, or City," a population of
200,000 and now about
;
100 persons linger amid its ruins, here retained for the

service of its churches.


The Nora Cidade of Goa, better known under the name of Panjim, was chosen
in 1756 as the residence of the Portuguese viceroys, but it did not receive its

Fig. 121. TERRITORY OF GOA.


Scale t : 800,000.

73'45' 74-15 EofGr

12 Miles.

official title of capital till the year 1843. Lying on the south side of the estuary,
5 miles west of the old town, it is
September and
accessible to large vessels between

May, but during the prevalence of the south-west monsoon the approach is very
dangerous. A better site would have been the southern bay, which is sheltered by
the Marmagfto headland, and which affords safe anchorage throughout the year.

Yet, in spite of its dangerous bar, Panjim has a considerable export trade in coco-
nut oil, coprah, fruits, timber, and salt. But this trade must eventually be trans-

Marmagao, which is soon to be connected with the railway


ferred to the port of

system of the Dekkan, and which is probably destined to become the new capital.
At present the largest town in the Portuguese possessions is not Panjim, but
Maryao, which lies in the southern part of the territory, in the centre of the low-
TOPOGRAPHY.

lying tract confined between the sea and the estuary of the river Rut-hoi. An
important town is Mapitfa, or .V v
< ^ '. in the IJ.mlrs district, to the north of
Pan ji in.
The Portuguese possessions have at present a total population of 400,000. In
the towns claim European descent, but all are half-castes, except the recent
many
arrivals from Portugal. Tin- " Whites." of Goa are a mixed race, with low fore-

head, small restless eyes, thick lips, narrow chest, and slim legs. They form a
special class known as Topas, distinct both from the natives and from the full-blood
Europeans. Many seek employment as clerks or writers in the public offices and
i'oinmcrcial houses of the large English towns.

Two- thirds of the Hindu population consist of Roman Catholics, showing every
shade of ethnical and social transition to the half-caste Christians. The Portuguese
possessions are the only part of the peninsula where the majority of the people
claim to be Christians a fact due to the direct action of the secular power during
the administration of the viceroys and the Inquisition. Towards the beginning of
the eighteenth century as many as 30,000 Europeans, half-caste, and native priests
and monks were grouped in the monasteries and round about the churches. At
present religious liberty is fully established, and several thousand Mohammedans
are amongst the most respected citizens of Panjim and the other towns of the

territory.
South of the Portuguese frontier lies the port of Kancar, which is one of the
very best on this coast, and w}iich is probably destined to divert a portion of the
vast trade now monopolised by Bombay. But the railway intended to connect it

with Madras, through a gap in the Ghats, has not yet been begun. Of the other

ports on the north Kanara coast, the only rival of Karwar is Kumpta. All the rest,
such as Aitko/a, Gangatrali, and Honairar (Honor), are frequented only by a few
small coasters. Near the last mentioned a mountain torrent falls at a single leap
of 920 feet from a rocky precipice in the Ghats. During the south-west monsoons
this cataract of Gerusap, or Gairsoppa, presents one of the grandest sights in the

whole peninsula.
CHAPTER XIV.

GODAVERI AND KISTNA BASINS. THE DEKKAN.

]X tlie Dekkan more territory has been left to the native rulers than
elsewhere in India. But in pursuing this policy the English have
been careful to isolate the feudatory states, cutting them off from
all communication with the seaboard, and occupying all the strategic

positions of this region. On many occasions the paramount power


has thus been able to sequester diverse provinces of these "independent" princi-

merely by shifting the garrisons of a few strongholds. In this way, Berar,


palities,
under the name of the " Assigned Districts of Haidarabad," has been detached
from the Nizam's territory, and placed under the direct administration of an
English commissioner.
Relatively to their size, the two basins of the Godaveri and Kistna are much
less densely peopled than the rest of the peninsula. The coast districts under

British rule and the river valleys for a great distance inland have all a considerable

population. But on the plateaux settlements are thinly scattered, except near the
main highways and along the foot of the Western Ghats, where numerous towns
have been developed by the facilities for intercourse with the neighbouring coast,
and by the resources of the well- watered upland valleys. Taken as a whole, the
region of the Dekkan forms a plain sloping from west to east, and discharging its
waters into the Bay of Bengal. Although the former is a scene of violent igneous

eruptions,and throughout half of its extent entirely covered with lavas, it presents
a more uniform aspect than most regions in the peninsula. All the north-western
section, bounded south-east by an irregular line stretching from Goa to the Nagpur
basin, is overlaid with basaltic traps, which form a continuation of the same forma-
tions in the Central Provinces and on the Malwa plateau. For an uninterrupted
space of over 120,000 square miles these igneous rocks overlie all the other geological
strata, and throughout its entire length of 500 miles, the railway from Bombay
to Nagpur traverses nothing but traps and the ashes thrown up by long extinct
volcanoes.
The Dekkan develops a succession of long, gently undulating plains, with

intervening ridges, whose summits form perfectly regular tables, flanked by


PLUTONIC AGENCIES.

terraces, which ure furrowed at intervals by deep ravines. These terraces, consist-
ing of basalt masses more durable tlian tin-lower trap, have been subject to little

weathering. Here and tin-re the plains are crossed by rocky lava wall*, which
rc-i-t.-d the erosive action of water, and which Htill uttot the extent of

former underground disturbances. These busalt wall- occur chietly in the iiorth-wett

angle of the Dekkan, in the neighbourhood of Puna and Na-ik. and on the slopes
of the Bombay Ghats. Here also the layers of ashes, doubtless discharged by the
craters discovered by Clark in the Eonkan lowlands, are thicker and more
frequently met than elsewhere in the volcanic region. This was evidently the
centre of the plutonic action, and here were erupted the streams over 500 yards
thick, which now cover one half of the plateau slightly inclined towards the Bay
of Bengal. But on the plateau itself not a single volcano has been discovered.

Fig. 122. LAKE LONAH.


Scale 1 : 230,0001

\jMOn

76' 50- v.

.
.
M.:. -

The depression now filled by Lake Lonar (Lunar) seems, however, to be the result

of an igneous explosion.
The slight incline presented by these streams can be explained only by the
f\ii-rme fluidity of the lavas when discharged. Some geologists have supposed that
the apparent horizontal position of the traps arises from their diffusion under the

pressure of marine waters. Hut no marine fossils have been anywhere found,
except in a solitary layer of tufa on the edge of the igneous plateau at the mouth
of the Godaveri. The animal and vegetable remains elsewhere collected belong to
land and freshwater species. It was during the chalk and following eocene JHTUK!

that this enormous quantity of molten matter was discharged, a quantity which a
such a& the Amazons would have required a hundred years to distribute.
The surface lavas of the Dekkan are known to have been decomposed in la;
296 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of laterite, and has been carried by running waters far beyond the
this formation

volcanic streams, and spread over the gneiss of Southern India. These tracts of

grey or reddish earth, in which the


water disappears as through a sieve, are

generally far from fertile. Their vegetation can nowhere be compared with that
of the Konkans or Bengal, except in the depressions where the black humus has
been collected. Far from the rivers the plateau is destitute of forests, and most
of the whether trees or shrubs, belong to the caduceous order. In
woody plants,
winter this part of India grey or yellowish, like the plains of temperate Europe.
is

At the beginning of the heats, and before the rains set in, everything seems
suffices to fire the tall grasses and wrap the hillside
parched up, and a single spark
in a mantle of flame. These upland plains are all the more difficult to cultivate that

the rivers flow mostly in deep beds, rendering the process of irrigation very costly.

They are also either dry or greatly reduced in volume during the north-east

monsoon, when water is most needed. But fertile tracts known as Karnata, or
" Black
Lands," are found in the western region, where there is a more copious
rainfall, and where the streams flow in shallower beds.

THE GODAVERI RIVER.

The Godaveri the largest river in the Dekkan.


is Its length is estimated at

about 850 miles, while its basin covers an area of 120,000 square miles, an extent

equal to that of the whole of Great Britain and Ireland. It rises in the north- west

angle of the plateau, near the village of Trimbak, within 50 miles of the Arabian
Sea. Regarded as an underground branch of the Ganges by the devout Hindus,
who come to bathe in its waters, the Godaveri, called also the Purri-ganga and
Vriddha-ganga, after deep reservoir, receives the streams from the Ghats,
filling a
and flows east and south-east parallel with the Tapti, but in the inverse direction.
Near the middle of its course it is joined by the Pranhita, by which its volume is

more than doubled. But as in so many other basins the united stream does not
take the name of the larger affluent, and here as elsewhere this is due to the greater

historic importance of the valley, whose name has prevailed. Thanks to the
contributions of the Pain-ganga, Wardha, Wain-ganga, and other streams from the

Nagpur basin, the Pranhita is the more copious river but the Godaveri indicates
;

the route followed by the Hindu immigrants, after they had penetrated to the

plateau through the defiles south of the Tapti. The Aryans established themselves
first in this part of the Dekkan, which they may have reached even before
arriving in the Ganges basin.

Below the confluence the united stream enters a hilly region, which it traverses

through an alternating series of plains and gorges. After receiving the Indravati,
famous for its magnificent cascade 100 feet high, and lower down the Tal and
Sabari, the Godaveri pierces the last chain of the Eastern Ghats through a defile

scarcely more than 800 feet broad at its narrowest point. But here it has a depth
of 120 feet, and during the floods rises 100 feet above its mean level. It is said
in 1848 to have even reached a break in the hills 200 feet high, through which it
THE GODAVERI RIVER. Hi
overflowed into the ba^in of the Yarakulwu. On emerging from the gorge*,
Godaveri broadens out an i>lan<l--tudded bed, and below Itajinahendri ramifies
in

into two branches, winch sweep gracefully round tin- plain** of the delta and a few

hills, which at one time were island* surrounded by the sea. A branch, of which
the traces alone survive, flowed formerly to the north of the Rajmahcndri cliffs,

;tn<l entered the sea north of Samalkotta.


The southern branch, which is still known by the Buddhist name of (Jautami,
is regarded as the most venerated of all. 11
y twelve years is celebrated
i

with great pomp the I'ush-karam, which attracts countless pilgrims from every

part of India. Like the Maha Naddi, Kistna, Caveri, and all other large streams of
the cast coast, the Godaveri haa deposited its alluvia in a vast semicircle beyond
the normal coast-line, the encroachments of the mainland on the sea covering a

space of at least 1,600 square miles. At the northern extremity of the delta proper,
erratic watercourses,swamps, lines of dunes and roadways, mark the beaches that
have been successively formed in this direction. At the same time the fresh lands
thus developed by the Godaveri have enclosed numerous plains still
imperfectly
drained. The coast-line of the delta is thus fringed by extensive lagoons, which
are flooded during high tides or stormy weather. Even the large lake Kolar
(Koleru, Klugu), between the
Godaveri and Kistna, is probably an old inlet now
separated from the sea by the alluvia of the neighbouring rivers. In fact it is

rather a marsh than a lake, and during the dry season more than half of its
surface is nothing more than a quagmire. In the rainy months it becomes a sheet
of water about 100 square miles in extent, and studded with islands which have
been consolidated with much labour by the peasants, and which are gradually
increasing in size by the fresh alluvia. Yet the bed of the Kolar would seem to

have subsided, at least if it be true that the remains of engulfed villages are

visible the deeper parts of the lake.


in From time immemorial the riverain
population were accustomed during the annual floods to open the seaward emissary,
in order to let off the superfluous fresh water, after which the embankment was
restored to prevent the entrance of the salt water. At present the level of the
lake is regulated by a sluice, and the surrounding fields are watered by canals
derived from the Godaveri.

Being subject to the same climatic conditions as the Maha Naddi, the Godaveri
.
presents analogous vicissitudes in its discharge. During the floods it sends down
1,000,000 cubic feet per second, while its volume is reduced to 1,500 in the dry
season. Like the riverain tracts along the Maha Naddi, those of the Godaveri are
thus exposed to alternate inundations and droughts. Nevertheless disasters are
here less frequent, owing to the less extent and greater incline of the delta,

rendering the drainage and irrigation at once more easy. Great works
have been
carried out to regulate the discharge. In the low-lying tracts both sides have
been embanked, and near the village of Daolcshvarain. at the head of the delta, a

inverse dam, nearly 5,000 yards long, l:J feet high, and 130 feet broad, at the

base, serves to raise the level of the waters and distribute them over a network of
canals navigable throughout nearly their whole length of 500 miles. An annual
84
298 INIHA AND INDO-CHINA.

of over fifty thousand boats takes place on the delta


and the channel
movement
it with the Kistna. Above the bar the Godaveri
also navigable, is
connecting
but for the rest of the year it is
at least during the four months of high water,

available only for floating down lumber.


The canals undertaken to establish

permanent communication through the Godaveri, Pranhita, and Wardha, as far as


be abandoned, and the trade with this great cotton mart
Hinganghat, have had to
of the Central Provinces is now carried on by
the railway. Hence, instead of being

Fig. 123. MOUTHS OF THE GODAVBRI.


Scale 1 : 750,000.

82*15' E.ofbr

to 100 Feet. 100 Feet and Upwards.


24 Miles.

sent down by water to Coconada, the port of the Lower Godaveri, the raw cotton is

now forwarded by land to^ Bombay.

THE KISTNA RIVER.


North of the delta all the streams are mere torrents flowing from the Eastern
Ghats. But some 60 miles farther south the Godaveri is almost rivalled in
INII MUTANTS. TIIK MAHUATTAS. -j .;

lother river, which develops a crescent- shaped delta contiguous to that


of thr northern stream. Tin- Kistna, <r Kri-hna. like tin- Goduveri and <

rses nearly the entire length of the i>eninMila, for it rises close to Maha-
lialexhvur near an eminence within 40 miles of the Araln'an Sea. Although lem
venerated than (lie other rivers of the Dekkan, the Ki-tna
still regarded as a is

sacred stream, whose source guarded by a temple


is Mahadeo. Its upper course
i

flows south-east along the Ghats, after which it runs mainly east through narrow,

abruptly-winding valleys. Its course is here much obstructed by rapids, and on


entering the territory of Iluidurabud it is precipitated in a space of 3 miles over a
series of cataracts with a total full of 400 feet. Below the fulls it is joined by the
Bhimu from the northern Ghats, and further on by the Tungu-bhudru, which is
formed by two rivers ofthis nume rising in the forests of Kanaru and
Mysore.
Below these affluents the Kistna receives no more large tributaries, and after

piercing the Eastern Ghats reaches the coast through a constantly increasing delta.
Although narrower thun that of the Godaveri, this delta advances further seawards,
and is deflected southwards by the long ridge developed by the alluvia of the
northern river.
The Eistna is almost useless for navigable purposes. Throughout its whole
course the only craft met on its waters are the ferry-boats made of bamboo and
covered with skins. Flowing in too confined a bed, it is also of little value for

irrigation. But the reservoirs of the Upper Bhima serve to supply the city of
Puna, and canals have been dug in the valley of the Tungu-bhudru. At the heud
of the delta a dum, like those of the Maha Nuddi and Godaveri, regulates the dis-

charge and distributes the overflow into the surrounding irrigation canals, which
have a total length of over 240 miles, and fertilise a tract of some 230,000 ucrcs.*
This the only part of the Eistna basin where the stream is systematically
is

applied to the improvement of the land. But however useless its middle and
upper course may be to the riverain populations, it has played a greut purt in
directing the stream of migration across the peninsula. In Southern India the
Kistna is regarded as forming a parting-line between the two great divisions of the
land, und neur the Ghats it separates the Arynn and Dravidiun linguistic zones.
Various differences in the habits and usages of the populations dwelling north and
south of the Eistna indicate their separate origin. In the north the village huts
have thatch roofs, while in the south they terminate with terraces of beaten clay.

INHABITANTS. THE MAHRATTAS.


On the uniform plateau of the Dekkan, destitute as it is of extensive forests and

highlands which might afford a refuge to savage populations, nearly all tin-
people, whatever their origin, belong to the cultured races of India. Nevertheless
a few Bhil tribes and a distinct language, still occupy
Danghar shepherds, speaking
the hills in the north-west overlooking the plain of Auraugubud. Some Ehonds

.>f the Kistna, "60 mile*; arm of iU basin, 100.000 square miles: diwhargc daring tbo

flood*, 840,000 cubic feet per second ; discharge at low water, 800 cubic feet per second.
MOO INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

also roam the forests of the Eastern Ghats in the Jaipur and Bastar districts north
of the Godavcri.
The Hindu Mahruttas, who occupy the whole of the north-western division of

the Dekkan, and whose southern and eastern limits nearly coincide with those of the
lava formations, are the only Aryans who have developed a compact nationality
on the plateaux of Southern India. Their immigration dates probably from a very
remote period, for their system of castes differs greatly from that of the northern
Hindus. The Mahratta Brahmans are generally of a very light complexion, with
slightly aquiline nose, and amongst them grey eyes are by no means rare.

Fig. 124. MOUTHS OF THE KISTNA.


Scale 1 :
1,600,000.

-
;

E of G 8P30'

to 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. 82 to 64 Feet. 64 Feet and Upwards.


-
30 Miles.

Arriving probably from the north-west, the Mahrattas drove the Bhil populations
into the surrounding highlands, and then advanced gradually southwards along the

eastern slope of the Ghats to the region watered by the head streams of the Kistna
and Godaveri.
"
Formerly despised by the Mussulman rulers, who called them Mountain Rats,"
the Mahrattas had acquired no historic fame till about the middle of the seven-
teenth century. But about this time they were already strong enough to check the
Mohammedan power, and under the invincible Sivaji they succeeded in founding the
INHABITANTS. THE MAHBATTAS. 801

most formidable state in the prniiiMila.


Alternately peasant* and warriors, they
rapidly eaine together, and an rapidly disjHTsed, mounted on their wiry, active, and
danni: little horses. In a single clay they were met 60 miles from their ti
v-tin^-
suddenly swooping down on hostile districts, plundering towns, carrying off

Fig. 124. MAHBATTA TEKKITOKY.


i I :
ft.SOO.000.

ra]>tive8, and then retiring to their mountain fastnesses or to their resptn-tivc

villages, protected by the terror of their name. The neighbouring fertile zone of
the Konkans supplied them with abundant resources in tlu-ir retreats on the rK-ky

scarp of the Western Ghats. They penetrated even to the Gauges Valley, and in
802 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

1742 sacked Murshadabad, capital of the delta. Here are still shown the remains
of the "Mahratta Ditch," formed round Calcutta to protect it from these
formidable marauders.

Acquiring a preponderating influence at the decadence of the Moghul Empire,


the Muhratta power wasxunable to weld into a compact nationality the various
native elements. Intestine strife, combined with the cruelty and rapacity of their

rulers, precipitated their ruin. Unable to resist the English in the open field, they
successively lost all the provinces of their vast empire, and the Mahratta princes
who still reign in Rajputana, Gujarat, and the Dekkan, are indebted for their
sceptre to the generosity of their conquerors. The
last descendant of the Brahman

ministers who had seized the Mahratta throne was a simple pensioner of the
British Government, and Nana Sahib, the adopted son of this peshwa, in vain

attempted to restore a native empire by the massacre or expulsion of the Western


conquerors.
The Mahrattas, who number about 10,000,000 altogether, are now nothing
more than an ethnical group without any real political autonomy, and distributed
over various administrative divisions. Their Neo-Sanskritic language comprises
several varieties, such as the Kandesi of Kandesh, the Dashkini of the Dekkan, the
Goan and Konkani of the coast lands. Their literature, which is written in a
base form of the Nagari character, is one of the poorest amongst those of the

Aryan tongues. Beyond the Mahratta domain the whole of the Dekkan belongs to
Dravidian populations speaking Kanarese, Telugu, and Tamil.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Ganjam, first city on the so-called Circar (Sarkar) coast south of Orissa, lies
near the southern extremity of Lake Chilka, with which it communicates by canals,
often choked with mud, but much used by the pilgrims going by water to
" " Corn
Jagganath. Before 1815 Ganjam, that is, the Granary," or Depot," was
a much- frequented riverain port, and a little trade is still carried on round its

crumbling palaces. But most of the inhabitants have been driven by the malaria
to Sarhampur, the new capital, which has been built on a bluff 6 miles from the coast,
and which enjoys a more healthy climate. Southwards, between the stormy sea
and the rugged Mount Mahendraghiri, crowned with temples dedicated to Siva,
"
stand the " Thermopylae of the Circars, which have been forced by many

conquering hosts advancing to the Godaveri basin, or ascending towards Bengal.


Here is the common limit of the Aryan and Dravjdian linguistic domains, the
Sanskritic Uriya being current on the north, the Dravidian Telugu on the south
side. Mahendraghiri, which is
nearly 5,000 feet high, presents great advantages
for the establishment of a sanatorium ;
but the English residents in the neighbouring
towns are still too few to people such an upland town.
Kalingapatam, at the mouth of the river Vamsadhara, has preserved the name of
the ancient
kingdom which flourished during the Buddhist 'epoch.
of Kalinga,
Under Mohammedan rule Kalingapatam was also a large place, as is evident from
TOPOGRAPHY. MM
the remains of its numerous buildings. At present it is again recovering some of
itsformer prosperity, thanks to its safe anchorage, which is the beat for a distance
of over -Kio miles on this coast. Its exports consist of rice, sugar, and other produce,
eent down from Parla-Kimedi and other towns of the interior. CJu'cacole, or Srika-
'
kiilam, lies 1 miles south-west of Kulinguputum, not on the coast, but about -~> miles
inland on the river Nugula. It is un industrial pluce, noted for its delicate
imi-lins.

The "
largest city in the Circars, or Government^" it Vizagapatam ( Vitakha-
fMitiuim), the city of Visakha, the Hindu "Mars," whose temple has been swept
away by the waves. But the faithful still continue to bathe on the heap of stones
which are supposed The anchorage is sheltered southwards
to represent its ruins.

known "
by a headland to mariners as the Dolphin's Nose," and the port is acces-
sible to vessels of 300 tons, which here take in cargoes of rice, sugar, and tobacco,

drawn from the surrounding cultivated plains. The modern European quarter of
Waltair forms a north-easterly continuation of Vizagapatam, along the beach.
Here theair is much purer than in the town itself, west of which stretches a swampy

tract not yet completely drained. Vizagupatam is noted in India and England for
its carved ivories, caskets encrusted in silver, and other fancy objects of a costly

description. About 17 miles to the north-east stands the commercial town of


Bimlipatam, which was till
recently a mere fishing village. But its good anchorage,
superior to that of most seaports on this coast, has enabled it to outstrip Viza-

gnpatam, if not in its tonnage, at least in the value of its exchanges. The trade
of Bimlipatam is chiefly with France, to which it exports sugar, indigo, and
oleaginous seeds.
This part of the Circars belonged to France for a few years about the middle of
the eighteenth century, and the name of the inland towns of Vizianagrmu and
Bobbili still recall the military expeditions of Bussy. In the district local ballads
are still heard on the capture of Bobbili, which was seized by Bussy as the ally of

the raja of Vizianagram. After killing all the women and children in the fort, the

garrison attempted to cut through the French ranks, and, refusing quarter, were
all put to the sword. Four alone escaped to the jungle, where they lay concealed
till
they found an opportunity of penetrating to the tent of the raja, whom they
assassinated, thus putting an end to the hereditary quarrel between the two royal
families.

In the basin of the Godaveri, properly so called, there are no towns rivalling in
importance the flourishing city of Nagpur, which has attracted most of the trade of
the Central Provinces. Ntuik, lying in the north-west corner of the Dekkan
the important Tal
plateau on both banks of the Godaveri near its source, commands
jjhat which leads down to the Eonkan lowlands. But although an ancient city,
Nasik does not seem to have ever been a very large place. The sterility of the
feet above the
surrounding plains, which stand ut a mean elevation of about 1,600
coast lands and the proximity of the hilly districts inhabited by wild tribes, pre-
vented this district from becoming thoroughly settled, like the more favourably
situated plains of Gujarat. Nevertheless Nasik is a very busy place during the
804 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

faithful flock in thousands to the holy waters of the Godnvori,


pilgrimages, when the
or to the grottoes of Pandu, noted for their ancient Buddhist monasteries. Amongst
its industries are paper Several of the surrounding railway
and copper ware.
stations have become permanent marts for the purchase and export of the cereals and
cotton brought by waggpns and pack oxen from Berar and the Nizam's dominions.
Deolali is little more than a village near the cantonments to which European
soldiers are sent for a few months to be acclimatised after landing at Bombay.
Aurangabad, on a small northern affluent of the Godaveri, although dating only
from the beginning of the seventeenth century, is already a populous city with some
remarkable monuments, including several mosques, a large reservoir, and the mau-
soleum of Aureng/eb's wife, noted for its exquisite marble carvings. Two miles to
the north-east, in a semicircle of hills 500 feet high, are five Buddhist grottoes, whose

sculptures, bas-reliefs, and columns


would attract more attention were they not
eclipsed by other subterranean sanctuaries in the same district containing far more
precious monuments of antique art. Daulatabad, 8 miles to the north-west, is com-
manded by a citadel of formidable appearance, which in 1338 became the capital of
a Mohammedan empire. But the attempt ofMohammed Shah Tughlak to remove
the inhabitants of Delhi to this place ended in failure. On the route to Ellora
stands the tomb of the Emperor Aurengzeb, a plain marble structure.
The underground temples of Ellora {Eluru, Verul) stretch in succession north
and south for a distance of about 4,000 yards. They are excavated on the west
face of a plateau of tufa formation, terminating in a steep cliff, here and there
furrowed by ravines and flanked by isolated mounds. To execute such works
needed as many hands as were employed upon the pyramids of Egypt. The series
of crypts is so extensive that it would
require several days to thoroughly inspect
them. In 1877 wild boars and panthers had their lairs in some of these wonderful
temples. Most visitors remain satisfied with a general survey of the facades,
penetrating only into the more noteworthy caves. Those to the south are the
oldest,dating from Buddhist times. These are succeeded in the centre by the
temples of the Brahmans, which are followed on the north by the more recent
Jaina sanctuaries. Thus
completed a series of from thirty to forty underground
is

buildings, exclusive of the minor excavations. The least ornamented chambers are
those of the Buddhists, whose
precepts inculcated contempt for mundane vanities.

The Brahmans, on the contrary, delighted to lavish on their subterranean shrines


the splendour of the pagodas standing on conspicuous sites in their cities.
Amongst these Brahmanical monuments is the temple of Kailas, which excels all

others in its fine


proportions, originality and unity of style, and rich sculptures.
Yet this architectural marvel is a mere nave cut in the live rock, which has here
been entirely detached, so as to leave the building encased, as it were, in a frame-
work of vertical stone walls. The Kailas is the northernmost of all the Dravidian
temples in India. The vast monolith, 250 feet long, 150 broad, and 100 high, is
supported by a row of elephants, lions, and symbolic animals, grouped in divers
attitudes. All the pillars of the vast chamber are carved in differenf w;iv-.
sculptured balconies adorn the side porches, while the main entrance is surmounted
by pavilions. Although tin- temple is dedicated to Siva under the form of (n'murti,
Yi-lmu and other lirahmanical deities are also represented. A few remains of
frescoes are still visible on the vaults, and the walls an with sculptures.
The Ajanta,OT Lid/iyamfri Hills, whieh separate the hekkan plateau from the
Tajtti Valley, contain other caves scarcely less famous than those of Kllnfii, hut fur
less visited, owing to their remoteness from large towns, and the real danger to

12'>. - ELLOUA PALACK op KAIL/.".


Fig.

whieh people are exposed from bees swarming on the projecting ledges of the rock.
The chambers excavated in the trap are let into the concave face of an almost
whieh flows the Waghara torrent. Facin.y it are other
vertical wall, at the foot of

precipices, forming a ravine from


which the ri\ r descends through a series of seven
cascades, the last of which has a fall of 100 feet. Most of the grott - m n .

or monasteries, car ve<l only round the porches and windows of the entrance,
ri/itn-fM,

and in tho nave containing nothing but a statue of Buddha on an altar. The cells
806 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

are simple niches cut in the rock round about this nave. Much more richly
sculptured ure the shaitya, or temples proper.
But the monuments of Ajanta derive their chief interest from the
religious
are still visible on the walls and vaults. Dating
unique remains of paintings which
from various epochs between the second century of the old and seventh of the new
era,these frescoes a certain anatomic knowledge and a true sentiment of
display
They represent not only religious and symbolic subjects,
but also
proportion.
scenes of civil and homely life, the chase, battles, processions, nuptial and funeral

rites, labourers at their daily work, women


occupied with their household duties.
The whole social life of Buddhist India as it existed 2,000 years ago is thus

revealed to the eyes of the spectator. Judging from these representations, the
Hindus of those times possessed but few offensive and defensive weapons. The
a vast museum, embracing the whole history of
Ajanta caves form altogether
Buddhisl art, from the time when the monks took refuge in their narrow rocky
cells to the epoch when, already half Brahmanised, they lavished all the resources

of painting and sculpture on the decoration of their cave-temples.


The celebrated battle-field of Ami (Assaye),
where the powerful Mahratta
sortie 24 miles farther south, on the high-
confederacy was broken in 1803, lies
way to Jalna, a large city in the Nizam's dominions now commanded by English
cantonments.
Below Nasik the Godaveri, here flowing through a doep valley of erosion, is
skirted by few towns, either on its banks or on the neighbouring heights. Taka y

Paithan, PatH, Nandar, Ninnal, and Juunur are all small places. But in the
same basin a hill valley of the Manjera is crowned by the city of
commanding the
Bidar, which the middle of
tillthe sixteenth century was the capital of a Moham-
medan dynasty, and which is still defended by ramparts and a citadel flanked by
seventy-two bastions. Its former splendour is attested by some fine buildings, and
its artisans, heirs of a flourishing industry,
still possess the secret for the composi-
" Bidar
tion of the so-called metal," a peculiar alloy of copper, lead, tin, and zinc,
used in the preparation of jewellery enriched with gold and silver.
Sironcha is a mere village, notwithstanding its convenient situation on a hill 2
miles north of the Godaveri and Pranhita confluence. Warungul, Farther south is

which was one time capital of the Talingana dynasty, and which is still sur-
at

rounded by a double enclosure and a ditch nearly 6 miles in circumference.


Jagdalpur the Indravati Valley, is now a mere collection of mud huts,
also, in

although capital of the Bastar district, whence its alternative name of New Bastar.
A more important place is Jaipur, another capital which has nothing to show
beyond its royal palace and some fifty pagodas. No real town occurs in this region

till we reach the delta, where Rajmahendri, former capital of a kingdom, stands on
the left branch of the river above its bifurcation. Its houses, interspersed with palms
and other trees, stretch for some miles along the Godaveri, which is here crossed by
a steam ferry. Rajrnahendri, which is commanded by a fort garrisoned with sepoys,
was formerly noted for its fine muslins, and produces various woven
it still

goods of this sort. Many hands are also employed by a large sugar refinery
TOPOGRAPHY.

recently -talili-.h.-d in tlu


neighbourhood, and by the sluices at the Daoleahvaram
dam, > milo ln-1.

'mahcndri communicates by means of navigable cunuls with the j.n- <:

delta. ;ill which are exposed and of difficult access. Ctn'amtda the busiest of all.
iif t

lies north of the nortluTii branch of the (iodaveri, where it forms a single town
with the old I hitch factory of Jagamidjmr. It exports cottons, rice, sugar,

oleaginous seeds, and its tobacco is considered the best in India. Farther south is

Fig. 127. CuCAMAUA AND CoHINOA.


Soato 1 : 140.000.

act

Oto4Fet 4 to 85 Feet. 86 FeH and Upwwd*.


_3 Siila*.

( 'i>rinf/a, which communicates with the Godaveri by a sluggish channel, und which
\\ hilr in the hands of the Dutch was the most flourishing place on this seaboard.
In Burma and
other countries in Farther India, the Telugu residents are still known
as Coringi, from the name of this place, whence they formerly embarked for Indo-
China. The trude of Coringa is still chiefly with Ilumm. Some shipbuilding
yards line the channel connecting it with Ytnuioit, which is all that remains of the

conquests made by Dupleix and Bussy in the Ci rears. This little French enchue.
\\ hich occupies a space of 3,500 acres on the north brunch of the Godaveri, with a
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

has scarcely any trade, being separated from the


population of about 5,000 Hindus,
sea by shallow and shifting channels inaccessible to large vessels. On the southern
branch of the Godaveri Madapolam, another decayed place, which gives its name
lies

to a fine description of calico. In 1789 the whole district was submerged during
a terrific cvclone, which destroyed many thousand inhabitants of the delta, and
which drove the Ldrrier nearly 3 miles inland to the Coringa district.
Lar^e towns are more numerous in the Kistna than in the Godaveri basin.
The Mahratta city of Puna, which commands the region about the head waters of
the Bhima, is one of the great cities of India, especially from June to November,
when it becomes the temporary capital of the Bombay Presidency. Some of the

Fig. 128. PUNA ANI> ITS ENVIRONS.

Scale 1 : 385,000.

E of Gr 75' 5Q

6 Miles.

provincial administrations are even permanently located here. Before it was made
the chief town of a British district, Puna had been the residence of the Mahratta

Pe.sliwas,and as such became the great industrial centre for the whole of the
northern region of the plateau. At that time its factories produced silk and cotton

goods, metals and ivories, and they still


yield various fancy wares. But English
competition has definitely deprived it of its former industrial
monopoly. Never-
theless Puna is
rapidly increasing, thanks to its position at the converging-point of
the great trade routes. Many Mahratta merchants, still regarding it as their

capital, settle here after retiring from business. Standing on the right bank of the
Muta, 1,850 feet above the sea, it is overawed by the British military town, which
the north. In this direction European villas and pleasure-grounds occupy
lies to
TOPOGRAPHY 809

1'una and A'////, another considerable town also


nearly the whole space between
flunk. <! la I'.rilish cantonments. Till recently the intervening jiluin wus nlin< st

treeless; now shaded, csprcially along the river luniks, by plantations of the
it is

babul (Arm-in H/V/////V/). Tuna and Kifki are now supplied with abundant water
f'n.in tbr Muta, which is retained in a reservoir, nearly 6 square miles in extent,

by a dam regulating the discharge throughout the year. From the Mahrutta
period Puna has preserved some curious painted houses and temples, besides the
in the midst of the
palace of the Peshwas, which stands on the Parvati Hill,
" Garden of Diamonds." North of the
city is the sacred spot, ut the confluence of
the Muia and Mula, where Hindu widows were burnt with the bodies of their

husbands, before the proclamation forbidding suttee issued in 1829 by Lord


Bentinck.
Near the railway Bombay, and not far from the Bhor ghat, are the Karli
to

grottoes, which, being more easily accessible, are


much more frequently visited than
those of Ajanta and Ellora. The shaitya, or great temple, the most perfect and
finestunderground sanctuary in India, is opened halfway up the side of a hill.
In front stands a monumental porch, through an arched opening in which the
light penetrates to the nave. The walls of the vestibule are decorated with
sculptured balconies and bas-reliefs, and the whole weight of the hill seems to be
supported by three elephants cut in the live rock. The temple, with its simple and
majestic proportions, has much the appearance of a Christian church. The open
teak roof, from which draperies were formerly suspended, disappears in the gloom,
while right and left fifteen octagonal columns, separating the nave from the lower

support above their capitals rich sculptures of elephants, horses, and human
aisles,

beings in various attitudes. The crypt is rounded off at its upper end with an apse
where the been replaced by a dagobah surmounted with sacred ornaments.
altar has

An inscription on the porch attributes this cave-temple to a king who Nourished


some twenty centuries ago.
Junar north of Puna, near the steep scarp of the Ghats and at the foot of
lies

the magnificent three-crested mountain crowned by the fortress where was born
the famous Sivaji, founder of the Mahratta power. Here also are some monuments
dating probably from Buddhist times. Ahmediiagar, a town of Mussulman origin,
stands on the site of Binyar, and still preserves its old fort, besides some mosques,
which have been converted .into dwellings by the European residents. Shotapur,
the chief station between Puna and IJaidarabad, boasts of no remarkable structures,
but has become the most industrial town on the plateau, and now employs 5,000
hands on its looms. It has also a large trade, which is shared in bjPSffMtttffJMfroO
the Bhima, a much-frequented fair and place of pilgrimage, and formerly a hotlx-d
of cholera. Kalbargah, lying, like Sholapur, on the Bombay and Madras railway,
but north of the Bhiina Valley, is u Mohammedan foundation noted for its archi-
tectural curiosities. Former capital of the Dekkan, it contains the tombs of sou ral

kings who flourished in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, besides some
mosques, one of which is
noteworthy as the only one in India whose anterior
cloister is completely roofed in to shelter the faithful. The neighbouring fort is
810 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

now a vast pile of ruins covering a steep crag tenanted by a few peasants and
infested by panthers.
Safara, metropolis of the Upper Kistna valleys, occupies a position analogous
to that of Puna near the edge of the Ghats. It was also one of the Mahratta
" "
strongholds, and takes its name of Seventeen from the seventeen bastions
defending it. Under the British administration it has acquired great commercial

importance from the highways connecting it with Bombay and the cities of the
Dokkan, but it is still unconnected with the network of railways. In the Satara
district, and ut an elevation of 4,780 feet, stands Mahabaleshwar, the most frequented
" "
holy city in the region of the Ghats. Most of the high functionaries of Bom-
bay reside here in spring but they withdraw to Puna as soon as the rains set in.
;

Mahabaleshwar was selected as a health-resort, in 1828, by Malcolm, governor of

Fig. 129. KOLHAPUR AND PCNALLA.


Scale 1 :
290,000.

E Of Gr 7 A' 10 74*20

6 Miles.

Bombay and one


; of the neighbouring villages still retains the name of JTalcolmpet.

A little to the east of this spot a verdant eminence marks the source of the Kistna,
above which stands a much-frequented temple of Mahadeo, and a still more impos-

ing sanctuary dedicated to Ganesa (Ganputti), God of wisdom. The pilgrims to


these shrines reside chiefly in the neighbouring town of Wai, on the Upper Kistna.
The Ghats to the north and west are crowned by the old
isolated crags of the
Mahratta strongholds of Rajgarh, Torna, Partabgarh, and Raigarh, residence of
Sivaji.
Kolhapnr, another Mahratta town on a tributary of the Kistna, near a pass in
the Ghats leading to the port of Ratnagiri, is the capital of a vassal state, round
which are grouped eleven other principalities of less importance. In this region
of the Bekkan almost every hill and isolated peak has its fortress, often rivalling
TOPOGRAPHY. 311

the great ntr*nirhol<l- <>f


Rajputana. Amongst these, c..n..piriius in Pnnalln, whoee
-ivr walls and ramparts occupy tin- sunimit of a plateau 9 mile* to the north-
r
west. A still more romantic place is the fortified city of l ina/t/ftr/i, wlp'ch stands
on the outer edge of the Ghat*, but which has been forsaken by its raja for the
iin >re accessible town of Mnlkajmr on the
plateau.
South of the Kolhapur district stands the town of Bc/gaom, on a headstream of
the Ki.-tna. The British cantonments of this important strategic point keep in
awe the surrounding petty states, while at the same time contributing to
all

develop the trade of the port of Vinyorla, on the Konkan coast. This part of the
Dckkan is relatively more thickly studded with towns than any other region of the
plateau. South-east of Belgaom is Dhartcar, capital of the district, which however
is surpassed in commercial and industrial importance by Ifutf/i, a twin town with

an intervening stream which drains through the Gangawali to the west coast.
Few places occupy a more favourable position for trade than Hubli, although it
still lacks the advantage of railway communication with the coast or the interior.
East of it is the important cotton mart of Guduk.
On the arid tracts stretching east of the plains and valleys near the Western
Ghats, the centres of population become less frequent. These districts suffer much
from drought, and a famine which lasted ten years, from 1396 to 1406, changed the
whole country to a wilderness. During the less terrible drought of 187677, the
population was again decimated in the Ealaji district one-fifth of the inhabitants
;

perished, and the survivors are amongst the most wretched peasantry in India.
Yet here were formerly some flourishing places, such as Bijaptir, which covers the
summit of a hill with its massive lava walls' and innumerable mosques, palaces, and
tombs, mostly in a very noble style of architecture. One of its domes is the
largest in India,and even in Europe it has but few rivals. Two centuries ago
Aurengzeb captured this place, which at that time equalled Agra and Delhi in
splendour, but which gradually became a "city of the dead." Nevertheless, some

groups of dwellings, tanks, and a bazaar are still comprised within the circuit
of its walls.
South of the Ealaji 10 square miles on the left bank
district a space of nearly

of the Tunga-bhadra is encumbered with the ruined granite temples and palaces of
Jlawjri, or Bijanagar ( Vijnyanagar}, at one time a flourishing Hindu capital. A
few pagodas, and portions of its Cyclopean walls, have escaped the ravages of time ;

but no attempt has been made to restore the dwellings,


although the surrounding
district is very fertile, and abundance of water might be had from the river for

irrigation purposes. The traveller Nicol6 di Conti, who visited Bijanagar in the
nth century, gives it a circumference of 60 miles, and adds: "The sovereign,
more powerful than all the other kings of India, had 100,000 soldiers, and engaged
12,000 women, 4,000 for the kitchen, 4,000 to form an honourable cavalcade
behind him, and 4,000 carried in palanquins. The 2,000 favourite \\i\<-> com-
mitted themselves voluntarily to the flames on his grave." In the district are

picked up large quantities of Venetian gold pieces, attesting the extent of the trade
carried on by Venice with Southern India at a time when this region was unknown
812 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of pilgrimage, and the


to the rest of Europe. Bijanagar is now merely a place
"
population has migrated
south-westwards to Ho*prf, or the new town," a railway
terminus, and eastwards to B>illari (Bellary, Vo /atari), a trading-place
commanded
a branch line with the Madras
by two ranges of forts and connected by railway.
Ballari is now one of the chief military stations in British India.

Below Bijanagar, the Tunga-bhadra forms the frontier between the Madras

Presidency and the Nizam's dominions.


But above its confluence with the Kistna

the only largo place on its banks is Karnul, which is almost cut off from all com-
munication with the rest of the country. Hence great difficulty was found in

Fig. 130. DIAMOND FIELDS OF KAUNUL.


Pcle 1 :
1,770,000.

EafGr 78*10

Diamond Mines.
12 Miles.

supplying it with provisions during the famine of 1877, when the normal rate of

mortality was more than trebled. Its trade has also now been diverted to Gutti,

Adoni, and Raijpur, stations on the Madras and Bombay railway. Between Adoui
and Raijpur the line is carried over the Tunga-bhadra on a bridge 1,250 yards
long and supported by 53 piers. The diamond-fields in the Karnul district are
now worked only near Banaganpili, Ramalkota, and one or two other places. These
mines have frequently been visited since the time of Ta vernier, when they yielded
stones valued at 46,000 crowns, and when colonies of diamond-cutters were sett ltd
in the neighbourhood. Now the returns are but slight, although the hands

\
TOPOGRAPHY. 818

employed by the local Nababs only receive three halfpence and a dish of rice

a du\ .

// riif<ir,ttt<iif, re>idence of the Ni/am, stands on the Muti, a northern tributary


<f tin- Kistna, and is connected with the Indian railway system. This capital of
the largest native state still tolerated by the Kn-li-h is the roost popuiou-
<>iit>i(le the British possessions. It covers altogether about 11 square miles, and

has a population of probably 200,000 within the walls, and as many more in the

surrounding suburbs. The enclosure is but a large portion


pierced by live gates ;

of the plain is itself encircled by a chaos of granite rocks, forming a natural ram-

I'.u-t, which has often protected Haidarabad from the assaults of the Mahrattaa.
The intervening spaces are covered with jungle, and at some points the rocky belt
is no less than 18 miles wide, forming a sort of desert borderland, where the
invaders found no supplies. This natural enclosure has also facilitated the
establishment of reservoirs on the plain of Haidarabad. From one of these, which
covers an area of 10,000 acres, the city receives an abundant supply of water.
The Nizam's palace forms an aggregate of low buildings, inhabited by about
7,000 troops and retainers. The soldiers are mostly Afghans and Arabs, descended
from the warriors who accompanied their Mussulman leaders. Amongst the
Nizam's body guard an honourable position is held by a corps of Amazons. There
is nothing striking about the palace except its terraces, whence a view is com-
manded of the city, with its gardens and mosques. Conspicuous amongst the latter
are the Char Minar, or " Four Minarets," and the " Mecca," so named from its

supposed resemblance to the Arabian sanctuary. The magnificent palace of the


British Resident lies beyond the city in a splendid park defended by bastions. At
Ilolaram, 10 miles farther north, the same official has another castle equally defended
from all attack. Between these two points stretch the vast cantonments of
Sikandarabad (Secandarabad}, the strongest British military station in India. It
covers a space of about 20 square miles, including a commercial mart and several

villages. A
retrenched camp, so disposed as to serve as a place of refuge for the

Europeans of the Residency, has been constructed at the strongest point of the
cantonments, and supplied with water and provisions for a twelvemonth's siege.
Thus has every precaution been taken against any possible danger to the para-
mount power from the existence of a large native state in the heart of the
Peninsula.

Golconda, former capital of the kingdom, lies west of the cantonments and
north-west of Haidarabad. But little of this place is now standing, except ita
citadel. It lies amid a chaos of granitic boulders, huge fragments which, according
" the architect of the universe
to the local legend, dropped here after he had
fini-hed the mountains." Amongst these rocks is a block 260 feet high, which

supports tin- black walls of the fort, and which, with numerous mausoleums, looks
its

like a vast necropolis. Silence now


reigns over the magnificent c-ity, v !

name still suggests inexhaustible treasures. We


continue still to speak of the
" Golconda
Diamonds," in memory of the precious gems formerly stored up by the

Sovereigns of the Dekkan. Lapis-lazuli from Badakhshan, rubies from the Upper
85
314 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Oxus, sapphires from Burma, diamonds from Sambalpur and Karnul, pearls from
Ceylon, then glittered on the robes and arms of the Moslem princes, whose tombs
are still seen scattered over the rock of Golconda. These monuments, which have
been restored by the Nizam, resemble each other, if not in size and wealth of

details, at least in their- general outline. Occupying the centre of a terrace


approached ?;y a flight of steps, all form square granite masses, encircled by

Fig. 131. GOLCONDA. RAMPAKTS OF THE TOWN AWD CITADEL.

Moorish arcades, and adorned with minarets at their four corners. In the middle
of the structure rises a square tower, also with colonnades and and decorated
spires,
with bright stuccoes, many coloured faiences, and inscriptions in white letters on a
blue ground. Amongst other tombs south-east of Haidarabad is that of the French
General Raymond.
After pieflcing tho Eastern Ghats, the Kistna enters a region regarded ac a
" " "
Holy Land," centuries before Haidarabad had become the Mecca of the Indian
TOPOGRAPHY. BIB

Mohammedans. Near Dariifdatu, on the right bank of the river, are soon numerous
r
mounds of Amzacati, the rema ns of structures groupc-d round a tope, whose more
remarkable sculptures, evidently due to Gneco-Baktrian artists, have been
removed to London. The peris! vie, 600 feet in circumference, which enclose! the
chief tope, was embellished with over 12,000 statues; and the stone, curved like so
much lacework, represents the sacred tree, the wheel, the snake, the horse, and all
the other symbols of Buddhist worship. When the Chinese pilgrim H'ven-tsang
was wandering over the Buddhist world in the middle of the seventh century of
the new era. the dagobah of Amravati and the neighbouring shrines were still in
their full splendour. In the Darnakota district are seen numerous sepulchral
circlesformed of undressed stones, like the megalithic monument of Stonehenge.
On
the left bank of the river, 18 miles lower down, the little town of Beznata
stands at the foot of some gneiss hills pierced by Buddhist caves. In another
underground temple, on the opposite side, Buddha has been supplanted by Vishnu.
At this entrepot, where the Kistna emerges from the gorges, most travellers cross
the river. Here also has been constructed the dam which diverts the stream to the
canals crossing the delta in all directions. Gnntur, another
"S~*e river, has been chosen by the government as the capital
J
the two sdaports of NisamtMifam, on the south, and
Hj
-
= i ^ -
<U ***

us
'

&' the delta, have been choked bv the alluvia, and


~>
T3
8Cfl ^ Q^ v.

_ *2 & en
o *ers. Yet Masulipatam, when in the hands of
"\\ a populous town. Here the French
"
5^ '

all sides, where some traffic is carried on.


a ?
v'H-bandar, lies in the interior, 3 miles from
.c 'y destroyed by a cyclone, in which 30,000
CHAPTER XV.
SOUTHERN INDIA.

MADRAS, MYSORE, CURO, COCHIN, TRAVANCORB.

N some respects the southern extremity of the Peninsula, stretching


from the Kistna Valley to Cape Comorin, may be regarded as repre-

senting historic India. Alexander's expedition revealed to the


western nations nothing but the Indus and the plains of the

Panjab, which in its climate, soil, and products formed a land of


transition between Iran and Hindustan. But the true India vaunted by the Arab
merchants, the marvellous region whence came the spices, precious stones, per-
fumed woods, and costly tissues worth their weight in gold, still remained shrouded
in mystery. This half-mythical land, whose very name summed up all the wealth
and loveliness of the world, was reached at last by the sea route. The course of
the early navigators was directed more frequently to the Malabar coast than to the

Konkans; for pepper, cinnamon, sandal wood, and the other most highly prized
merchandise were to be had not in the north, but along the southern seaboard.
For the western peoples the land " whence came pepper " became associated with
the name of India in a pre-eminent sense. This was the region unfolded to our
view in the enchanting tales of the " Arabian Nights "; here were not only to be
had the most precious freights, but here also the peninsula assumed its most lovely
aspects here were displayed the most striking contrasts between the low coastlands,
;

fringed with the feathery coconut palm, and the lofty ranges, with their hazy
outlines rising in the mid-distance against the bright azure skies.
The Southern States of India also presented to the foreign seafarers tne strange

spectacle of communities entirely differing in their manners, usages, and religions


from those of the western peoples. The new world, to which they now found them-
selves transplanted, thus offered on all sides more subjects of wonder than the

northern section of the Peninsula. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of the south, while

differing in raceand speech both from the Iranians and the northern Hindus, are
themselves in some respects^and especially in their religious practices and observance
of caste, the most distinctly Hindu element in India. Many passages in the old
Til i: MYSORE AND N 1 1.< ; 1 1 1 III UPLANDa 817

writings, whose sense has beenlost in the northern provinces, can be understood only

by studying the social conditions of the south. The gradual encroachments of the
first Aryan immigrants, followed by the Graeco-llaktrians, Arabs, Afghans, Tatars

and Persians, have resulted in a greater concentration of the aboriginal ethnical and
social elements in the southern regions. Hence, here is to be found the old India,
the India of the primaeval races and of immemorial traditions.
Yet this part (if the iVninsula, being more accessible by sea, has received more
foreign settlers than the northern provinces. During the first centuries of the new
era, Christian communities were established on the Malabar coast. After doubling
the Cape, Vasco de Gama landed on the same coast and here were made the ; first

conquests of the vast colonial empire founded by the Portuguese in the East. In
the same southern region, and round about the strongholds of Madras, Pondicherry,

Seringa patum, and Mysore was fought out the great struggle for the ascendency
between the English and French. The
victory remained with the former, who
since the close of the last century have continued to be the undisputed masters of
all the lands stretching south of the Eistna. A
few native states are doubtless still
tolerated but even these are indirectly governed by British Residents and over-
;

awed by entrenched camps and fortresses. Nor is any communication with the sea
enjoyed by any of these States, except the kingdoms of Cochin and Travancore,
which form a narrow strip of territory between the Cardamom hills and the coast

lagoons.

THE MYSORE AND NILGHIRI UPLANDS.


The triangular mass of Southern India forms, on the whole, a plane with a far
greater incline towards the east than that of the Dekkan. With a narrower base and
more elevated ranges, the mean slope is
everywhere relatively more decided ; while
the climatic zones are brought into closer proximity. Here also is presented a greater
contrast between the flora and fauna, the populations and products of the plains and

uplands. The primeval forests, which have already disappeared from the Northern
Ghats and the Dekkan, still cover extensive tracts in the southern districts, while
the clearings between them and the cultivated plains are still inhabited by many

aboriginal tribes totally distinct from the cultured peoples of the lowlands. Before
the arrival of the English, all communication between the seaboard and highlands
was prevented by the rapid change of climate on the slopes of the hills. But the
very opposite result has been brought about since the land has fallen into the hands
of strangers from North-west Europe. Finding that in the upland valleys, and on
the plateaux rising 6,000 or 7,000 feet above the sea, the climate resembled that
of the British Isles, the English have here founded settlements and health-resorts
far above the unhealthy low-lying coastlands. Nowhere, except on the advanced
spurs of Sikkim and the Western Himalayas, have the conquerors obtained a more
solid footing than on the Nilghiris of Southern India. This highland citadel,
encircled by Dravidian populations, has already been partly transformed to a New
England.
South of the broad gap through which the Gangawali and its tributaries flow to
318 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the Dekkanplateaux, the Coast Range begins again,


and from this point runs

parallel with
the sea at a mean distance of 36 miles inland. A
few granitic crests
attain elevations of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet, and in the Curg territory the Tadian-
damol peak even height of 5,800 feet. Along the west foot of the steep
rises to a

a laterite plateau, slightly inclined seawards, and


escarpments there stretches
furrowed at intervals by deep gorges, which form the rocky beds of intermittent
torrents. Here and there rise isolated granite or gneiss crests, some completely
bare, others overgrown with brushwood. But the Ghats properly so called are

almost entirely clothed with a forest vegetation. Curg itself was, till recently, little
more than one vast forest continued eastwards by a belt of woodlands, which forms
the natural limit of the Mysore territory. In some districts the slopes are
uniformly covered with evergreens, while elsewhere nothing is to be seen except
dense thickets of bamboo. But other parts of the Ghats present a far greater

variety of species, such


as the pun (calophyllum}, whose trunk, from 80 to 100 feet

high, is much esteemed by


ship-carpenters the teak, ebony, iron-wood, bread-fruit
;

tree, wild mango, white cedar, and many other tropical plants. Not having yet
been brought under State administration, these forests continue to be worked without
method by the natives, who here gather cardamoms, gall nuts, wild arrowroot, cin-
namon, gums and honey. Sandalwood flourishes chiefly along the eastern slope of
the Ghats, in the state of Mysore. The Government retains a monopoly of this
valuable wood, which is forwarded to Mangalore, and especially to Bombay, where
it is used in the preparation of small objects known in commerce as " Bombay
Work."
The virgin forests of Curg and Mysore still serve to harbour the tiger and

panther, but the game which formerly abounded on the wooded slopes of the
Ghats has mostly disappeared; hence the wild beasts are driven to seek their
prey in the neighbourhood of human habitations, so that they have become more
dangerous than formerly. Till recently, elephants were so numerous that in the
year 1874 as many as fifty-five were captured in a single day on the Mysore
frontier. This wholesale destruction is now forbidden, and the peasantry are
allowed only to protect their fields by surrounding them with ditches.
The Nilghiris, or " Blue Mountains," form an almost independent system,
although the Yellamalah, one of their western peaks, is connected with the Brah-
maghiri range in Curg by a ridge running south-east and north-west. On all
other sides the steep escarpments of these highlands rise high above the surrounding

plateaux and plains. The whole mass was formerly surrounded by a belt of marshy
woodlands, resembling the terai of the Sub-Himalayas and it is still encircled by
;

the rivers Moyar on the north and Bavani on the south, which, after uniting their
waters at the foot of the eastern spurs, flow to the Caveri. The valley of the Moyar
forms a partial parting-line between the Wainad plateaux, noted for their gold
mines, and the Mysore uplands, which form the northern edge of the Nilghiris.
The vast irregular mass of the Blue Mountains rises altogether over 3,000 fqet
above the northern highlands and 6,500 above the southern plains. The Dodabetta,
their culminating-point, and five other bettas, or " mountains." exceed 8,300 feet in
TI1K MYSOHK ANI> MlJilllKI Tl'I.A 319

absolute elevation. Above the outer zone of forests and steep escarpments an

irregular plateau i> n-arli,.|, \\h, t


jierfertly level tract* alternate with

p-ntly undulating hills. Pleasant groves here clothe the narrow valleys intersecting
the plateau, while th<> height* are covered with herbage, and here and there with
turf. So slight arr the slopes that roads have been laid down in every 'direction,

giving easy access to the summits,whence a superb view is commanded of the low-
lands stretching away beyond the horizon. Three carriage routes already lead from

Fig. 132. FoKBvra OK Cmo AND MYBOKB.


Smle 1 : 4,800,000.

these lowlands to the stations on the plateau ; but the Madras railway still reaches

no farther than the foot of the south-eastern scarp.


The Nilghiris were for the first time explored by Keys and MacMohon in
1814 but, like so many other valuable documents, their official report became buried
;

among the archives of the But five years thereafter, Whish and Kin-
Company.
dersley, two officials who hud started in pursuit of a Miuijrjrler, rediscovered, so to

say, this delightful upland region, and revealedKnglish residents on tin-


to the

suit ry coast the existence of a neighbouring plateau with a climate resembling that
820 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of temperate Europe. Here the first house of the sanatorium was erected in 1821,
two years after the foundation of Simla. The naturalist Leschenault de la Tour,
exploring this part of the Blue Mountains, collected 200 species of plants, all of a
European type, and differing from the tropical forms of the lowlands. One of the
commonest trees is the oak, and since the plateau has been covered with English
towns, villages, and country seats, the European aspect of the scenery has been
intensified by tho introduction of most British plants into the
parks and gardens.
In many almost complete, and the English resident may well
places the illusion is

fancy himself settled amidst the Malvern hills, or surrounded by a charming Devon-
shire landscape. His house is covered with the same creepers, his garden grows

Fig. 133. NILOHIHI HILLS.


Scale 1 : 600,000

12 Miles.

the same pretty flowers, and trees of the same


species lend a grateful shade to his
dwelling. European songsters, let loose in the woods, have flourished and
increased,
and the lakelets of the plateau, which
formerly contained a single species only,
have been stocked with and trout.
carp, tench,
On the summit of Dodabetta, where a meteorological station has been established,
the mean temperature is 52
deg. R, as on the banks of the Loire and that of the
;

various other stations


corresponds, according to their altitude, with Gascony, Provence,
Tuscany, or Sicily. But lying within the tropics, the Nilghiris are not
exposed.to the
same annual vicissitudes of heat and and on Dodabetta the variation between the
cold,
hot and cold season
scarcely amounts to 6 deg. F. Thus on these uplands spring is
THE PAL-GHAT, ANAMALAH, AND PALM HILLS. 821

perennial,
and tho great changes an- not from heat to cold, but from dry to wet
weather. From the end of <M.l>er to the beginning <>t M iy tin- sky is almost
cloutlle , Imt during the rainy season the plateau i- often wrapped in fog. Here,
to altitude, asjM-et i- the most important climatie condition. I)uring the
smith- west monsoon the swollen rivulets Ixforae rivers, and the silvery waterfalls
are converted into foaming eataracts. l>y which the edge of the plateau is constantly
eroded. One of the finest of those falls is that of the Paikaru, some 10 miles north-

west of Utukunmud.

TlIK PAl.-f.HVT, AXAMAI.AII, AM) P.AI.XI HlLLS.

South of the Nilghiris, the Ghats are completely interrupted. The Pal-ghat
gap, formerly overgrown with teak forests, here intersects the Peninsula between
tin- Malabar and Coromuudel coasts, thus offering to the moist winds of the south-
west monsoon a broud opening towards the plains of Coimbatore and the Caveri
basin. ThePonani River, draining to the Arabian Sea, rises east of the mountains,
whereas the torrents descending to the Caveri have their sources much farther
west, so undecided is the water-parting of the Pal-ghat, which has an elevation of

scarcely 800 feet. A depression affording such easy communication between the
two seaboards was naturally at all times of great strategic importance hence it ;

was guarded by a citadel, frequently taken and retaken during the local wars, and
is now replaced by one of the most important
railway stations in the South Indian
system. The line traversing the gap from coast to coast was opened in 1862.
The mountains
rising to the south of the Pal-ghat correspond to the Nilghiris,
forming with them, so to say, the two supports of a vast gateway. Like the Blue
"
Mountains, the Anuiuulah (Anamalei), or Elephant Mountains," consist of gneiss,
with quartz and porphyry veins; like them, also, they flank the Pal-ghat, rising

abruptly above the malarious, zone of the terai, and terminating in a hilly plateau,
where the forests are abruptly replaced by dense herbage. The flora of the two
systems differs little, although the more luxuriant vegetation of the Anunmluh Hills
may be regarded as forming the transition between those of the Nilghiris and the
Ceylon highlands. Yet the rose and strawberry, very common on the north, have
not been found on the south side of the Pal-ghat. On the other hand, the Anamuluh
fauna still comprise-* several species which have disappeared from the Nilghiris.
Herds of the wild o\ (fin* t/ftiirux) roam the forests, and elephants are still numerous

enough to be limited for their tusks alone.

The Anamaluh Hills are, on the whole, perhaps less elevated than the Blue
Mountains, although the Anamudi, their culminating- pouu, higher than the
is

Dodubetta. It rises to an altitude of 8,950 feet, and ten other jx-aks exceed 7. <><()
feet. "Discovered" more than thirty years after the Nilghiris, the Anamalahs
remained less accessible, and the health-resorts established here by the Knglish
are -till inert- hamlet-. This isdue partly to their greater distance from Madras,
partly the political conditions.
to The Nilghiris lie entirely within British
territory, whereas the highest peaks of the Anamuluhs are comprised in the native
states of Cochin and Travancore.
l\'2'2 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

The Anamalahs form a group than the Blue Mountains. Towards


less isolated

the west they break into parallel ridges, which descend in terraces down to the
Malabar coast, and which have earned for this region the title of Malabar, that is,
"
Malya var, the Many Hills." The system is continued southwards by a chain
which may be considered as belonging to the Ghats, although severed from them
by the gap of Coimbatore towards the east, also, it impinges on the Palni high-
;

Fitf. 134. THE PAIKAKI FALLS IN THE NILGHIRIS.

lands, which stretch foi some 60 miles thence to the Madura lowlands. The Palni,
or Varaghiri that is,
" Wild Boar Mountains " are scarcely less elevated than the
Anamalah on their west side and the Pernalmali, one of their peaks, exceeds 8,000
;

feet. But towards the east they fall rapidly, terminating in a simple ridge of
wooded hills. The southern scarp is the steepest, in some places presenting the
appearance of a vertical wall of gneiss towering above the coastlands.
The grassy plateaux of the Palni groups lack the fertility of the Nilghiris,
THi: PAL-GHAT, ANAMALAH, AND PALNI HILLS.

where the decomposed rock, mingling with tlu> vegetable humus produces an
mely rich soil. On the 1'alnis the sub-soil is grin-rally a linn clay, on which
the humidity settles, and where the dec tatimi
layers of i-, transformed t.i

peat. Nevertheless, some rich tracts ;i iv found in the depressions of the plateau
and in the lower valleys, where the gardens and orchard-, of the Kuropearf settlers
justified the name of Pulni thut is, "Fruit Mountains," applied to these

uplands.
South of the Anamaluhs and I'alnis, the mountains completing the southern

highlands of the Peninsula fall gradually towards CajH' Comorin. The Cardamom
range has a mean altitude of scarcely more than 3,000 feet, although they present
a continuous barrier broken by but few gaps. Agastya, their highest peak, on
which the raja of Travancore had established a now abandoned observatory, is

Fig. 135. ANAMALAH II ILLS.

Bode 1 : 1,360,000.

EofG 77-50

dedicated to the mythical beings, at once God and man, traditionally supposed to
have converted the inhabitants of this region to Brahmanisra. Covered with forests
still infestedby multitudes of wild beasts, this southernmost range of the Penin-
sula is much dreaded on account of its malarious climate. Till recently it was
visited only by a few natives pursuing the chase, or in quest of fruits, gums, and
bark. But here also roads are gradually penetrating, and, in imitation of his

English protectors, the raja of Travancore has recently founded the health-resort of
Muttukulinyal at an elevation of 4,000 feet above sea level. Towards the east the
Alighiri ridge, branching off from the southern chain, penetrates far into the
Madura plains. The lowlands are also studded with numerous isolated bluffs, formerly
marine islands, " resembling haycocks scattered over the surface of a meadow."
These hillocks are the last traces of the Eastern Ghats, which, north of the
Caveri, are represented by the Shivarai, or Siva-raj, one of whose peaks is nearly
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

5,500 feet high, and by a large number of other groups


and ridges. The region
south-east of the Mysore plateau is also skirted by a labyrinth of hills; but as they
advance northwards the Eastern Ghats assume the normal aspect of a coast range,
with peaks varying in height
Fig. 136. THE COCHIN BACXWATEHB. from 3,500 to 5,000 feet. In
Bcale\ : 1,000,000.
the triangular space limited
by the Western and Eastern

Ghats, Nilghiris and Shivarai,


the southern division of the
Dekkan plateau, thai; is, My-
sore, which has a mean eleva-
tion of 2,000 to 3,000 feet, is
strewn with isolated crags, to
which has been applied the
term or " inaccessible."
drug,
Some of these masses, rising
from 1,000 to 1,600 feet above
the suiiace of the plateau, look
like towers, and can be scaled
only by steps cut in the rock.
Others are clothed with ver-
dure to the summit, or wher-
ever the rains produce suffi-

cient moisture to form little

pools or springs. These bluffs


were admirably suited for
all

strongholds, hence became a


frequent source of strife

amongst the local potentates.


The western part of the pla-
teau, skirted by the Ghats, is
a romantic region of hills and
dales, of green woodlands and

foaming torrents. Solitary


huts are strewn over the slopes

fringing the paddy-fields, and


amid the areca and banana
EofG 7/6*30-
groves : but towns and villages

,12 Miles.
are rare.

TH A MALABAR AND COROMANDEL COASTS.

Except the Ponani, which rises on the east side of the Anamalah Hills, the
Malabar have short courses, and reach the sea in independent channels.
rivers of
THE MALABAR AND COROMANDEL COASTS.

I a the dry season their beds are almost dried up, but during the monsoon they send
down a considerable volume, bursting their laak>, wasting the eulti\ it. .1
tracts,
and sweeping away the villages. West of the Mysore and Curg highland* most
of them How directly to the coast, but further smith they discharge into the

ri M rain lagoons, here known In many places these lagoons are


as Incknntfr*.

disposed in two, three, or even more parallel lines with the coast, and the whole
seaboard seems to have been composed of beaches successively deposited ly the sea,
aad then separated from each other by shallows, where the salt has been gradually

replaced by fresh water.


The level of the backwaters changes with the seasons, and some are alternately
tilled
by the inundations and dried up during the droughts. Others have been

completely banked off from the sea and reclaimed ; but during the monsoons these
lacustrine paddy-fields are always in danger of being inundated. The works
undertaken to prevent these disasters occasionally prove inadequate; the dykes
are swept away by the pressure of the sea or the watercourses, and these little
" Hollands " on the Malabar coast
again become engulfed. Along the whole
coast a line of backwaters is carefully maintained for navigation purposes, and

nearly the whole local trade of Cochin and Truvancore is thus carried on in calm
waters. Even during
the dry season a regular service is kept up between Cran-

ganore, Cochin, and Allepi for a distance of about 100 miles. At other times the
line is continued much farther, in one direction towards Mangalore, in the other to

Trivandram. Near Quilon, where the chain of lagoons was interrupted by a rocky
headland, a canal has recently been cut through the rock, to avoid the danger
of doubling the cape. Here the land routes are almost useless, travellers being
able to transport themselves and their wares 180 miles for a comparatively trifling
sum.

Rounding off in a graceful curve eastwards, the Mululxir coast terminates

abruptly at the Eamari, or the Cape Comorin of European


Eanjamur headland,
geographers. Beyond this point two successive bays mark the commencement of
the coast of Coromandel, a name handed down probably from the time of the
ancient Dravidian Chora dynasty. Here the highlands proper fall off before
reaching the cape, within 21 miles of which the chief range terminates in the
Mundraghiri Peak, whence the water-parting falls gradually through a series of
terraces. Then the last eminences disappear under the forest growths, some
scattered granite blocks alonemarking the direction of the main axis. Between
the lost hills and the cape an old wall, here and there interrupted by rocks and

jungle, continues seawards the natural rampart of the Cardamoms, thus block-
ing the southern gap, which is now soon to be traversed by a railway. Nor did
this artificial barrier, even in past times, prevent insensible transitions from taking
place from shore to shore. Meeting with no serious obstacle, the south-west mon-
soon sweeps freely over the southern plains of Coromandel, supplying sufficient
moisture to feed the perennial river Tamraparni. On the other hand, the north-
east monsoon reaches the southern districts of Travancore, west of Cape Comorin,
here producing a corresponding mixture of climates and vegetation. Hence the
826 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

surprising number of species found in this region, where, during a short excursion,
the botanist Leschenault de la Tour collected over forty useful plants, which he
afterwards introduced into the island of Reunion.
Even in their physical appearance and the outlines of their shores, both slopes
resemble each other. On either side of the cape the lacustrine basins scattered
over the surface no longer form continuous lagoons separated by strips of coastlands
from the sea, but irregular ponds, dammed up and utilised in irrigating the paddy-

Fig. 137. CAPK COMORIN.


Scale 1 : 400,000.

EofGr. 7/50' 77*4.5'

Ancient Wall.

to 64 Feet. 64 Feet and Upwards.

6 Miles.

"
fields. Nevertheless, the section of the Madura coast known as the " Fisheries is
a true desert, covered with shifting dunes. Here the decomposed surface sandstone
is converted into sand, which is distributed by the winds over the country, and
which has already swallowed up several Yet amid these sands flourish
villages.
many palm-groves, supplying to thousands the wood for their huts, fruits and sap
for their food and drink.
In no other part of India are tanks more numerous than on the plains sloping
TIII: U:\NAR AND CAVERI RIVERS. 827

to the Coromandel According to


coast. tin- last official returns, there are as many
as 5,700 in Madura, and over JJ7.000 in Mysore. In some district* the
space
occupied by these reservoirs equals that of the irrigated lands tlieniM Ives, and many
cover a very large area. The Chumbrum-bunkum, near Madras, the largest of
these artificial basins, is retained hy a dam nearly miles long; and
I
another, fed by
the northern lirancli <>f the Caveri, is confined on
it.s west side
by a dyke over
1<) miles in length. Most of them exist from time immemorial, having been always
maintained by the people in spite of wars, famine, and pestilence. They are pre-
vented from spreading out into marshes by their vertical, or steeply inclined edges,
which are intersected by oblique tracks accessible to men and animals. Nevertheless,
their forms have been gradually modified by floods, landslips, and crevasses, in such

a way as generally to harmonise with the features of the surrounding landscape.

Their bays, inlets, and headlands often give them the aspect of natural lakes.

THE PEXXAR AND CAVERI RIVERS.

These reservoirs are the more needed that the streams flowing from the
all

Western Ghats and the Mysore plateau are subject to the greatest vicissitudes in
"
their discharge. The Pennar, Pinakini, or Poniar that is, " River of Gold
rises in the moist neighlxnirhood of Mysore, and after a course of 340 miles is

completely exhausted in the dry season. In its upper course it is no doubt arrested
at intervals and diverted to the reservoirs, over five-sixths of its normal volume

being thus applied to irrigating the riverain plains. But during the rains one of
the upper tanks will sometimes overflow or burst its barriers, the sudden access of
water and debris causing those lower down to give way in their turn. Then a
perfect deluge sweeps from terrace to terrace down
to the plains, which for months

together are changed to an inland sea.


Like most other rivers draining to the east coast of the Peninsula, the Pennar
ramifies into several branches above its mouth, and advances seawards through a
crescent of alluvial deposits. Its waters are dammed up at Nellore, and diverted
southwards to a network of rills, irrigating a tract over 02,000 acres in extent. A
portion of the stream is also intercepted at the "gate" and of the Eastern Ghats,

directed north-eastwards towards the Kistua basin.


"
South of the Pennar, or Vata Pennar that is, " Northern Pennar as it is
"
also called, other less copious streams, such as the Palar, Ten Pennar, or Southern
Pennar," and Vellar (Vallaur), or "White River," present analogous phenomena.
The Palar, or " Milk River," also flowing from the Mysore plateau, Incomes alter-
nately a majestic stream and a dry bed of sand. During one of its inundations,
which still lingers in the memory of the riverain populations, it left its old channel
in the delta region, where now a mere rivulet flows under the name of the Cortelliar,
or " Old Palar," to a lagoon north of Madras. The new Palar, which receives
the sea 54 miles south of its
nearly the whole volume of the fluvial basin, enters

ancient mouth.
Of all the South Indian rivers the Caveri, already known by this name to the
828 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

and drains the largest area.


geographer Ptolemy, is at once the most copious,
Rising on the same slope of the "Western Ghats in the Curg territory, it traverses
the whole southern division of the Mysore plateau, whence it escapes over the
Sivasamudram Falls. At this point it ramifies into two branches, encircling with
their cascades and rapi4s an island 9 miles long, strewn with gneiss boulders and
shaded with magnificent timber. During the dry season the Caveri is reduced
to afew silvery threads trickling over their rocky beds, but with the return of the
rains its amongst the finest in the whole world. Then is seen north
cataracts are

of the island a stream some 420 yards broad, with a volume at least equal to the
mean of the Garonne or Loire, precipitated over a fall fully 300 feet high into a
rise in spray and mist. Below these
rocky chasm, whence the broken waters
cataracts the Caveri, hemmed in between the projecting spurs of the Nilghiris and
Shivarai, escapes from the highlands through a series of abruptly winding gorges.
Then, swollen by the rivers from the Nilghiris and Palghat depression, it meanders
over the plains, ramifying at last into the innumerable branches of the delta, some
of which are old channels of artificial origin.
Like the Palar, the Caveri has shifted its chief branch. The arm which has
retained the name normal easterly direction
of the river continues to follow its

towards Karikal. But the Kolerun or Kolidam channel, which carries off the

largest volume, trends to the north-east, leaving to the right all the secondary
streams which ramify over a tract with a coast-line upwards of 100 miles in extent.
The Caveri delta is thus one of the largest in India, and the seaward advance
beyond the normal coast-line yields in superficial area only to those of the Ganges
and Maha Naddi. But it does not consist exclusively of recent alluvia. Deposits 20
to 30 feet above high-water mark cover the surface of the delta, and these deposits

have been deeply eroded by the branches of the river, and intersected by the
navigable Buckingham Canal. This fine artificial artery, which has developed a
large local traffic,* serves to connect the Kistna with the Caveri delta. The whole
of this region seems to have been upheaved several yards, and old islands, fringed

by fossil timber, now


above the gently undulating plain. Eastwards the delta
rise

impinges on insular rocks, similar to those forming on the south the Ramesvaram
headland. Here the mainland projects towards the group of islets situated on
the north coast of Ceylon. But instead of encroaching on the sea by fresh deposits,
the old delta formations, like those of the more northern rivers on the Coromandel

coast, are being gradually eroded by the surf. To this erosive action of the sea is
due the straight line which now replaces the former curve of the coast southwards
to Cape Calimere, and thence
by a sharp turn westwards to Adrampatam. Even
in the roughest weather, safe anchorage is afforded to shipping in the smooth
waters of the inlet thus developed at the head of the Gulf of Manaar.
The chief dyke by which the waters of the Caveri are diverted to the canals of
the delta, " the Garden of Southern India," is at least one thousand five hundred

years old. Yet it is still \n


such a good state of preservation, that it has served as a
model for analogous works constructed lower down across the Koleruiu * During
*
Shipping of the Buckingham Canal (1878) :
268,900 tons; 140,000 passengers.
Till; i INN \i: .\ I l:l i:i\

the ruin> thesf dam* have to sustain the pressure of a stream at times discharging
'Mi cubic iv, -t
JMT >ecoiid, but \\ithamean folnM tMMtiy tteMdag 12,000
.UK! the irrigation canals ramify over a tract fully M5,000 acres in extent.

Owing to its iH'iieticent character, thc<'avcri is almost as highly venerated as the

(Janges its.-lf. and to the deM.tee it is known only as the l>akshini (ianga, or
"Southern (ianges." According to one local legend it is even a holier stream

Fig. 138. THE CAVEKI DELTA.


Sotle 1 : 1,800,000.

Poudotiko.tta
*
: -i* if
-
;v:'-t-...

to 16 Feet 16 Feet and opwudn.


_^^ 30 Mile*.

than its
Himalayan rival, which c()ines every year, by subternuiean channel-, t

1 its virtue in the sacred waters of the C'uveri. Hence pilgrims still tlmk in

thousands to bathe at the sources, confluences, and falls of the venerated >uvum.
At some lying In-yond the reach of the fertilising waters,
points of tin? coast,

the arid sands and shifting dunes form a striking contrast with the rich plains
more favourably situated. Such little deM rt patches serve to show what the whole
80
830 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA,

land would become but for the vast system of irrigation that has here been

developed. Thanks to these extensive works, most of the Coromandel seaboard is


watered, and its shores are recognised from a distance by the continuous
sufficiently
palms with which they are now fringed. The only
forest of coconut serious break

occurs between the Pnlar and Northern Pennar, where for a space of about 36
miles the large Pulicat lagoon is separated
Fig. 139. LAKB PULIKAT. by a strip of sand from the sea. This outer

edge, and the islets dotted over the basin,


Scale 1 : 700,000.

yield nothing but jungle, which supplies


Madras with much of its fuel. Even on
the west side the soil is covered with exten-
sive tracts of saline efflorescences, relieved

only here and there by a few villages, with


their tamarind groves and cultivated oases.

Along the Coromandel coast some traces


have been observed of upheaval. But the
submarine eruption, supposed to have taken
place at the end of the last century some
10 miles off Pondicherry, is mentioned only

by single traveller, who speaks of having


a
seen it from a vessel under sail. Neverthe-
less the aspect of the surface waters would
seem to imply that from some still unex-
plained cause, considerable disturbances
occur on the bed of the sea along the

Coromandel, Ceylon, and Malabar coasts.

At several points are seen stretches of

muddy water even in great depths. The


waves break against these yellow or red
spaces where the surface remains always
smooth or slightly undulated. Hence
vessels here take refuge as in a port, and
these waters are favourite feeding or spawn-

ing grounds for multitudes of fish. No


marine region deserves more careful study
80'20' than these turbid islands encircled by clear
r
'
water. They seem to teem with myriads
OtoftJ 3-.it ..C4 '' '
'

'! of animalcula, changing the liquid element


Feet. Feet. upwards. .

Miles
almost to the consistency of mud.

INHABITANTS. THE DRAVIDIANS.


The whole of Southern India is occupied by Dravidian peoples, so nflmed from
some southern tribes vaguely mentioned by the old Sanskrit writers. This term
INHAmTANT9.-TIIE DRAVIDIA 881

Dravidian, as adopted by modern ethnologists, is now applied to all the imputations


of the south und central provinces, who speak dialects of u common stock language,
differing fundamentally both from the northern Aryan and tin- Kolarian of the

Vindhya l*jlands. The Dravidians are not believed by most Indian scientific men
to be the true aborigines of the peninsula. Although settled for thousunds'of

in the country, they seem to be connected by their speech with the Hrahui^ <.f

Baluchistan.* and have reached their present homes from the north -\\( -st frontier.
to

Gradually driven from the north by the subsequent Aryan invaders, they have
become concentrated in the southern regions. To judge from the primitive
elements of their speech, they seem to have possessed a certain degree of culture
from the earliest times, and before they were brought under the direct influence of
the Aryan intruders. They were acquainted with many industries, such us
spinning, weaving, dyeing, pottery ; they had bouts, and even decked vessels, and
made use of all the metals except tin, zinc, and lead. They built "strong
dwellings" and temples, but could not embellish them with sculptures. They
had a knowledge of letters, and traced their characters on the leaves of the palmyra
palm. At their feasts the poets sang the national glories, and stirred the people by
the recital of their heroic deeds. The invasion of the Dravidian lands is related in
the Ramayana epic, and the local legends speak of a civiliser from the north, the
" "
sage Agasthya, before whom the Vindhya Hills fell prostrate to facilitate his

journey southwards. In the belief of orthodox Hindus he still lives, dwelling on


the mountain which bears his name, in the Cardamom range, west of Tinnevelli.
But whatever personality is to be attributed to this legendary being, Aryan
influences had already made great progress before the first arrival of the Greek
mariners on the southern shores of the Peninsula ;
for even at this early epoch most
of the cities bore Sanskrit names.

Amongst the various Dravidian tongues current in the southern regions and
north of the Eistna, there are four the Telugu, Tamil, Mulayalam, and Canareae
which have risen to the position of literary languages. Telugu prevails on the
eastern seaboard, from the Mahendraghiri Puss to Lake Pulikat, and throughout the
east of Mysore. Here spoken by about fifteen millions altogether, and is also
it is

the speech 6f some colonists settled in the extreme south of the peninsula, as well
as of numerous immigrants in Burmah. These Dravidian Telugus have, moreover,
iriven their name of Eulinga, contracted to Kling, to all the Hindus residing in

Penang, Singapore, and other parts of the Eastern Archipelago. The Indian
colonists, who brought their civilisation to Sumatra and Java, came probably from
the Telugu coast. The term Gentu, originally applied by the missionaries to all
the "gentiles," or pagans of the Peninsula, is now restricted more particularly to
the natives of Telugu speech. Poems, proverbs, tales, make up their primitive
literature. The great Sanskrit epics were translated into Telugu as early as tho
twelfth century, and then began the golden age of this rich and harmonious tongue,
the "Italian of India."
Till recently Tamil, or Tamul, ranked next to Telujju, in respect of the numbers
" Indische " " Dravidian
LatBtn, Altcrthumskunde ; Caldwt-11, Language*."
BM INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

famine of 1877, which raged especially in the


speaking it but since the great
;

northern provinces of the Madras Presidency, it takes the first position, being
current throughout the whole of the eastern slope between Lake Pulikat and
Tri vand ram, and in the northern half of Ceylon. It is the speech of nearly

natives in sthese and is rapidly encroaching on the Telugu


16,000,000 regions,
domain in all the towns along the railway routes, and wherever the Europeans
ore settled in large numbers with Tamil domestics. All the Vishnuite Brahmans
of Mysore speak this language, while the Mohammedans chiefly use Hindustani.
Tamil may bo regarded as the first of Dravidian tongues, in the surprising
wealth of its vocabulary and idiomatic phraseology, as well as the antiquity of its
classical literature. Some of its oldest writings date at least from the tenth

century, and thousands of


Tamil works are now issued by the Madras press.
Poems, including thoss by the Italian missionary Beschi, are very numerous, but

they are noted less for vigour of thought than for extreme elegance and artificial
refinement of expression. Thus all poetic compositions are required to begin with
a word taken from the special list of terms of good omen. Nevertheless, under
the influence of the new ideas, Tamil literature is
breaking away from the
trammels of the past, and more recent works, dealing with contemporary subjects,
are characterised by greater precision and a more chastened style. A chair of
Tamil was founded in 1881 in the Paris school of living oriental languages.
Thanks to their enterprising spirit, the Tamil-speaking populations constitute
one of the main elements of regeneration in the Peninsula. Within their domain
are situated Madras, third city of the Anglo-Indian Empire, and Pondicherry,

capital of the French possessions. Fond of migrating, they have become the most
numerous body in all the military cantonments south of Bombay. To the same
stock belong most of the coolies employed in Mauritius, and other colonies beyond

the seas and although the Hindus of Penang and Singapore bear the name of
;

Klings, that is Kalingas or Telugus, they are, none the less, nearly all of pure Tamil
blood.
The Dravidians Malayalam (Malayalim, or Maleolum) speech, who number
of

over 5,000,000 on the Malabar coast between Mangalore and Trivandram, are far
more indifferent than the Tamil peoples to modern ideas. Holding themselves
aloof from the march of events, they live still in the past, leaving to the kindred
races all the commercial positions, fresh pursuits, and emoluments of the present.
Of all Dravidian tongues, the Malayalam has been most affected by Sanskritic
elements, and is. now subject chiefly to Tamil influences.
Another of the leading members of the Dravidian family is the Canarese

(Kannada, or Karnataka), spoken by about 9,000,000 in the region stretching


from Goa and the Kistna southwards to the Nilghiris. But, by a strange mis-
apprehension, the term Karnataka, which probably means " Black Land," and
which is applied
properly to the rich tracts of the plateau under cotton plantations,
has been transferred by Europeans to the Tamil territory along the Cororaandel
seaboard.
The Tulu (Tuluva, or Tuluvu) of the Mangalore coast is also included among
INHABITANTS. THE DRAVIDI \\s.

tin- literary Dravidian tongues, although it


ppiMMCia nothing Iwyoml *.ine transla-
tions from the Sanskrit, in char .'id a few religion- j.
Malayalam
Canarese letters. It is
s|x>keii lv -carcdy more than .'{00,000, in a -mall enclave
Ix'turen the Canarese. Malayalain, and Knda^u. The !a-t nientiuned i> current in

the territory of Cur;;, hut, like the Tulu, is destitute of an original literature.

Fig. 140. LANGUAGES or SOUTHERN INDIA.


n,ooo,ooo.

EofG
-
A-> .in 1. I.. . .,'.

Hcxilb* and MrU. Malayalim. Tamil. Kndnirn Tula. Todm.


OHMCM*.
300 Mile*.

tlieless, it constitutes a distinct variety of the Dravidian, as do also the Toda


and the dialects of some other Nil^hiri tribes. The songs of the Curg peasantry
are cheerful and animated, whereas those of the other South Indian peopl,

nearly all slow and melancholy.


All the Dravidian tongues present special features, and differ so greatly from
884 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

each other that the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, or Canarese speaking communities
are not mutually intelligible. Including the Dravidians of the Central Provinces
and Bengal, such as the Gonds and Oraons, but excluding certain peoples of the
Gungetic plains and Himalayan terai,
who seem to be of the same stock, the
Druvidian linguistic family may be estimated at about 50,000,000 altogether.

seems to have no distinct relationship with any


Beyond the Peninsula this family

other, although itbetrays some slight analogy in its structure with the Mongolian,

Manchu, Tungus, and especially the Ostiak branches of the Finno-Tataric group.
All its varieties have passed from the purely agglutinative to a more or less

developed inflecting Thus, through conquests and successive migrations, the


state.

two great sections of one ethnical domain would seem to have been gradually
separatedtowards both extremities of the continent.
At the same time, an argument for the affinity of all the Dravidians with the
races of Northern Asia cannot be built upon a possible resemblance of their
"
respective languages.
The " Mongol type is, no doubt, met amongst many
Indian populations, but there are others whose features differ little from those
of the negroes, Australians, Malays, Semites, and Egyptians. Peoples of diverse
origin may have probably
succeeded each other in Southern India, but they have
here become so intermingled that it is no longer possible to recover the primitive
elements. The great contrasts between ethnical types are produced by climate,
diet, social habits,and especially the hereditary influence of castes, even when
these were originally based merely on differences of professions. Colour, which
mark of race, for it varies
varies from dark to pale yellow, or ashy grey, is not a

considerably in the same family, according to the individual pursuits. Speaking


generally, the complexion is found to be more or less dark, in proportion to tlje

dryness of the climate. The Dravidians of Malabar, dwelling mostly in the shade
of large trees, in a region exposed to copious rains, are much lighter than their
kindred of the Coromandel plains, which are at once dryer and less wooded. In
the same tribe, such as the Shanars, nearly employed on the coconut planta-
all

tions, those of Malabar are as fair as Brahmans, while those of Coromandel are
dark as negroes. On the whole, the great mass of the Dravidian populations differs
in no respects from the Aryans. Yet these intruders from the north cannot have
been numerous enough to have imparted their racial type to 40,000,000 of
human beings. On entering a court of justice, in a Telugu or Tamil district,
presided over by an English magistrate, one is struck by the resemblance of the
features, only the Dravidian physiognomy expresses more softness and cunning,
the European more strength and determination.
"
Of all the Dravidians, those most spoken of since the " discovery of the
Nilghiris, are the Todas, or Tudas, a small Canarese- speaking community, who
numbered less than 700 souls in 1871, but who, thanks to their seclusion in these

uplands, have been enabled to preserve their primitive usages. Their ancient
culture, traditionally introduced from the eastern plains of Kanara, some eight
hundred years ago, has not been the sole cause of the great attention paid'to them.
Enthusiastic naturalists have sought affinities for the Todas among the Kelts, " Pelas-
INHABITANTS. THE DRAVIhlANS. BM
Fig. 141. TYPE* AWD COVTI-MU OMUI-F or TODAA.

gians," and other Indo-European peoples. Yet their features dilFor in no respect
from those of millions of other Druvidiaus, and their complexion is much dui k-r
386 INDIA AND INDO-CmNA.

than that of most natives of Malabar. They are otherwise tall and well-propor-
as they hud been described by the first observers.
tioned, though not so robust
somewhat indolent, and without ambition,
They are of a mild, peaceful disposition,
in their " toga,"
but brave and of dignified carriage. As they walk by, wrapped
" Toda "
look almost like Roman senators. Their national name of means
they
"
"
Men," but by their neighbours taken in the sense of
it is Shepherds," and
their pursuits are, in fact, of an essentially pastoral character. They do not follow
the chase, and their only weapon is an iron axe, used exclusively for felling timber.
Thev do not till the land, the natural products of which belong to all in common,
for the idea of property is still restricted to the hut, its contents, and live stock.
their only occupation, almost their only religion, is
Essentially a pastoral people,
the care of their cattle. Milk, their chief diet, is the object of a kind of worship.
"
The head milkers, chosen from the class of pc'iki, or Sons of God," are real priests,
practising celibacy, wearing
a special garb, and living apart. sacred cow of A
illustrious lineage heads the herd, adorned with a bell a precious object, said

to have descended from heaven. After the morning purification, the priest does
homage to the venerated animal, and blesses the herd with his white wand.
All the rites of this little community have the same pastoral character. After
the death of a Toda, the village herd is driven in procession before the body, then
one or two cows are immolated, to accompany him on his long journey. The
Makarti crag, which rises abruptly above the western plateau of the Nilghiris,
and which is inhabited by a recluse, " keeper of the gate of heaven," is revered as
the point of contact between this world and that beyond the grave.
The other Nilghiri tribes are also Dravidians in speech, if not by descent. The
"
Badagars, or Northmen," usually called Burghers by English writers, are recent
immigrants, driven from Mysore by famine and oppression. According to the
returns, they numbered 20,000 in 1871, yet pay a small tribute to the
official

Todas in return for the right of settlement. Agriculturists and worshippers of


Siva, they are divided into numerous castes, differing, in other respects, but little
from the surrounding lowlanders. The Kotahs, or Gohatars that is, " Cow-
"
killers also pay a tribute to the Todas as the original owners of the land. The
Kotahs are the artisans, mechanics, minstrels, and dancers at the feasts of all the

other tribes, by whom, however, they are held in great contempt, owing to their
"
uncleanly habits and omnivorous tastes. The Kurumbas, or Volunteers," are
even still more despised, although the Badagars select their sorcerers from this

tribe doubtless because it is supposed to be more familiar with the secrets of


nature. According Walhouse, the Kurumbas formed a powerful confederacy in
to
the fifteenth century, since which time they have lost their old culture. The
"
Irulas, or Eriligarus that is, " People of Darkness who occupy the marshy,
wooded tract at the foot of the Nilghiris, are regarded rather as foul animals than

human beings. Their neighbours describe them as associating with tigers, to


whom the mothers entrust their offspring. The Irulas, who number about 3,000,
and the Soligas of the eastern hills, as well as the Kotahs and Kurumbas, speak
the Dravidian dialects of the civilised peoples with whom they are in contact.
INHABITANTS. THi: I!:AVIDIAN8. 887

Hut they are regarded, rightly or wrongly, as descended from tin-


aborigine*, who
numerous megalithic monuments scattered over the Nilghiris. the Curg,
ere< !<<! tin-

an<l Mysore uplands. These monuments, which contain tin- charred n mains of
-,
weapons, vanes, and ornament-, are in any case attributed hv tin- I>ra\idians
theniM l\es to a previous race, extirpated l>y their ance.stors.
They regard these
aborigines as tin- Imilders of the AWf//w<7, or ramparts which intersect the country
in all directions These ramparts are 18 or 20 feet high, and always Hanked by a
ditch Hi feet broad and deep. In many places then even a double, treble, or
i-.

quadruple wall, and a highly picturesque appearance is


imparted to these eminences
by the large trees by which they are now overgrown. The total length of these
remarkable ramparts, erected by a race whose very name has perished, is estimated
in Curg alone at over 100 miles.

BejQttd the Nilghiri highlands there are some other tribes resembling the
Todas and Hadagars who might also be regarded as representing
in their usages,

the aboriginal element. Such are the Koragars, forming the lowest caste of slaves
in the Mangalore district, and
formerly compelled to wear nothing but foliage as
their national dress. Since the establishment of British rule, the men have laid
aside this leafy garb, while the women, always more conservative of old institutions,
are still
draped in intertwined branches. Hut they have already forgotten the
origin of this costume, for it is worn over
woven garments, or trailed behind
their
like a sweeping train. The Koragars are still condemned to dwell under roofs
made of boughs, being forbidden to build their huts of earth or stones. Like the
Korumbas, they are regarded as possessing a deep knowledge of the mysteries of
nature, and able to control the spirits. They eat the flesh of crocodiles, yet their
horror of other quadrupeds is so great that even the sight of a four-legged piece of
furniture is repugnant to them.*
The Anamalah Hills, which resemble the Nilghiris, are also
in so many respects
occupied by numerous wild or half-civilised communities. The Kaders, many of
whose customs recall those of the Todas, call themselves the " Lords of the
mountains," and regard agriculture as dishonourable. Hut they are rather hunters
than pastors, and the other tribes recognise their superiority, without however

yielding them obedience or tribute. The Kaders are of small stature, with slightly
crisp hair, and are by some anthropologists affiliated to the negritos of the Malay

Archipelago, by others to the Australian aborigines. At the time of marriage the


young men file the four front teetli to a point, a custom observed also in many other
places, and especially in Central Africa. In the Anamalah Hills the Malsars and
Madawars form the agricultural castes, while the Paliyar* are the graziers and
dealers. The 1'alivars, who here find a refuge from the oppression of the high-
caste lowhniders. present a savage aspect, with their profuse head of hair falling in
dishevelled masses down Hoth I'aliyars and Malsars display remark-
to the hips.

able agility in climbing rocks and trees, scaling vertical heights by means of knotted
Is 60 to 80feet long.

On the Malabar coast the ruling element are the aristocratic and formerly WET-

\Valhouw, "Journal of Anthropology," April, 1874.


888 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

" who form eleven distinct castes, and who,


like Nayars, or Nairs, that is, Masters,"
while accepting Aryan culture, jealously preserve some of their national
still

usages. Nowhere else, except perhaps amongst the Garros of Assam, have the old
matriarchal forms, the murru-mukatai/nm, been better upheld. Till the middle of
the last century Travanoore was still governed by princesses, succeeding each other
in the female line. A marriage, performed according to Hindu rites, is merely
first

an official ceremony, on the conclusion of which the husband is dismissed with a


few presents for his complaisancy. Then the bride resumes her complete freedom,
simply wearing the tali, or symbolic string,
round her neck in compliance with the
law. Henceforth she is at liberty to choose her own partner in life, although

public opinion would not tolerate her living


with the first husband. Nor has the
second any domestic right, the authority remaining with the wife, who exercises it
even over her brothers. In every family, power is thus represented by the mother
and eldest daughter, whose pleasure is executed by the maternal uncles and
brothers. The fathers, always regarded as strangers, are welcomed in the domestic
which they are not virtually members. Children look far more to the
circle, of

maternal uncles than to the father, even when they may have been brought up by
"
him, which is rarely the case. The uncle gives them food," and bequeaths his
personal effects, in return for which the nephews owe him all their affection.
The land is handed on from mother to eldest daughter, and is tilled by all the
brothers for the common benefit. Those who have no
consequently no legal
sisters,

heirs, must become adopted as brothers by the daughter of another family. The
Nayar women, who enjoy such special privileges, are generally handsome,
intelligent, well instructed, and consequently enjoy great influence in the com-
munity. The greatest misfortune that can befall a family is the necessity of being
" matrimonium " hence the
stress of fortune, to sell the
compelled, by family group
;

struggles vigorously against poverty, and is rarely driven to such extremities.


The Namburi, or Brahmans of Malabar, who favour the matriarchal customs of
the Nayars, are held in contempt by their northern brethren, and regarded as
belonging to an aboriginal caste. Probably of non- Aryan origin, they are gradually
diminishing in numbers. But they still retain their power, and their rules,
"
sixty-four abuses," are still the law of
ironically spoken of as the the land.
Whatever be their faults, the Namburi have at least one virtue, that of perfect
veracity. They answer questions put to them with great deliberation, always

scrupulous to tell the exact truth in all respects.


Most of the numerous immigrants settled on the Malabar coast are considered
by the Nayars as too inferior even to have the right of addressing them. Yet
these " haughty Nayars," of whom Camoens speaks, are themselves classed by the
Brahmans only and are regarded as the kinsmen of the agricultural
as Sudras,
Vellalars of the Coromandel coast. But they are so tenacious of their privileges
that no one dares to resist them. They are preceded by criers to clear the way,
and serious diplomatic difficulties have even been caused by Englishmen using
routes which the Nayars had reserved to themselves. During the Portuguese rule
the question of precedence between and Portuguese was fought out in single
Nayar
INIIAHITAXTS. THE DRAVTOIA

combat, and decided by the fortune of urniH in favour of the stranger. The Tins
or Tuyars, that is " Islanders," who are supposed to be of Singhalese origin, are
coin |>elled to stand thirty-six paces off, lest their masters should be
polluted by
their shadow or odour. Yet the Tirs are
far from being a degraded caste like the

Farias. Of
lighter complexion, and more symmetrical form, than the Nayrir* them-
sl\<s they have earned by their energy and intelligence a respectable social
position, and the government schools are now thronged by their children. The
practice of polyandry continued by the Tirs, us well as by the castes of
is still

cabinet-makers, metal-casters, smiths, jewellers, and the Poliyar peasant element.


Several brothers or members of the same tribe hold one wife in common, and the
inheritance passes undivided to all the children of the community. In the Madura
territory, where this system has been preserved by many tribes, the husbands must
always be of some even number 2, 6, 8, or 10 and in Travancore the children are
;

distributed amongst the husbands according to the order of birth.


The Moplahs, who form the most energetic and enterprising element in Malabar,
are also of foreign origin, at least on the paternal side. According to the tradition,
a shipwrecked Arab crew settled in the Cochin territory in the ninth century of
the new era. These were soon followed by others, who intermarried with the Tirs
and other low-caste tribes, and from these unions the present Moplahs claim
descent. In any case Arab traders were counted by tens of thousands on the
Malabar coast when the Portuguese first landed in India. The Hindus being pro-
hibited by custom and the religious prescripts of the southern Bruhmans from

trading beyond the seas, the new


were well received as agents for the
arrivals

foreign exchanges, and their colony was increased by numerous converts eager for
change and adventure. At present the Moplahs, with whom should be grouped the
Labbais of the Coromandel coast, number at least 800,000 souls.
Of
graceful carriage, shapely and robust, they form one of the finest races in
India; and in enterprise, daring, and perseverance know no superiors. To them the
Malabar seaports are indebted for their prosperity ; and fully conscious of their
worth, they feel little by the Nairs, with whom they come
disposed to be bullied
into frequent collision. Those engaged in agriculture do not always submit to the
burdensome conditions imposed on them by the landed proprietors, and when the
time comes to assert their rights, they prepare for the struggle by making a pre-

liminary offer of their lives. The resolution once taken, the Moplah, whom his
friends already proclaim a martyr, celebrates a farewell feast, effects a divorce with
his wives,and passes his last days in prayer. Being thus prejwred for death, he
recognises no more laws, enters the Hindu temples, breaks the statues of the gods,
and falls on every Nair in his neither granting nor craving quarter.
path,
Occasionally, when a community suffers any real or fancied wrong, all the young

men devote themselves to death, and then whole battalions have to be sent against
them. If the other populations of India showed half the energy of these half-ca-te
Mohammedans, the Europeans would never have succeeded in making theniM 1\ -s

masters of the country.


The Christians, sometimes called " Xazorene Moplahs," also form a considerable
840 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

element amongst the peoples of Southern India, where are centred about two-thirds
" white
of all the Christians in the Peninsula. According to the tradition, the
"
Jews," or Syrians," arrived on the Malabar coast in the very first century of the
new era. Taking the route by Yemen and the island of Socotora, they were
" Yudi
followed in a few years by the real Jews, the Moplah," as they are called,
whose half-caste descendants still survive in the Cochin district. Another legend,
of Portuguese origin, refers the beginning of the Christian communities in Southern
India to the preaching of St. Thomas the Apostle, who is supposed to have landed
close to Cranganore. At Quiion a column was, till recently, shown, said to have
been erected by the apostle, and his pretended tomb is still to be seen to the south
"
of Madras. But whatever truth there may be in these legends, the " Nazarenes
found on the Malabar coast by the chaplains of Vasco de Gama had no notion cither
of the Roman church or the Pope. Professing Nestorian doctrines, they were forth-
with denounced as heretics, and called upon to accept the true faith. In the

Portuguese possessions the Inquisition ultimately succeeded in bringing them within


the pale of the Church, but in the native states most of the Nazarenes maintained
or resumed their peculiar organization and practices, which varied in almost every

community. Being dependent on the patriarch of Babylonia, who resides at


Mossul, they still use Syriac as the language of their liturgy, although even their
most learned priests no longer understand the meaning of the sacred text.
In one of their villages the faithful are said to have been in the habit of

writing their mortal sins on scraps of paper, with which a bamboo cannon was
charged. The gun was then fired and all the sins of the people scattered to the
winds.*

Formerly the Syrian Christians constituted a high caste, and to them appeal
was in all cases made by the jewellers, metal-workers, and carpenters, who regarded
them as their natural protectors. They alone shared with the Brahmans and the
Jews the privilege of travelling on elephants. At present they have proselytes
in all classes, and chiefly amongst the low castes. Yet even community of faith
has utterly failed to efface the original social distinctions.
Most of the inhabitants of Southern India belong to the Hindu religions, the
Lingaite sect of which is found more numerously represented in Mysore than
elsewhere. These sectaries, who are recruited chiefly among the Dravidian trading
and industrial classes, are specially noted for their freedom from most of the
Brahmanicul superstitions. They have even abolished caste, if not in their social
life, at least in their religious ceremonies, and do not hesitate to eat together
whatever be their position or origin. But traces of the primitive religions still

also survive everywhere amongst the more secluded populations of Mysore, Madura,
and Coromandel. Most prevalent is the cult of the " six demons," the " seven

phantoms," and the innumerable good and bad, Brahman or Pariah, spirits, includ-
ing even the English genii. Along all the approaches to the villages are seen
little mud pyramio^ erected to the aerial spirits, who are worshipped especially
with offerings of fruits, flowers, corn, and occasionally poultry. In some places
* Fr. "The Land of the Permauls."
Day,
TOPOGRAPHY. 841

the an^el guardians an- -mummied at sunset with U'litin^ of (Irtuiis. and called
upon to protect the houses again-t tin- nocturnal demons.
A few sanguinary rites still recall the old sacrifices, as amount tin- Wakligaa of

re, near Nandindrui:, and the Kalian-, .r Kolleries, <>\ Tanjore. Before
solemnly hive-ting their eldest daughters with earrings, the Wakliga inorhcrs are
obliged to have the two tir>t joints of their ring and little lingers chopjx-d oil by
the village smith. Till recently the Kolleries had the horrible practice of
killing
one of their offspring in front of an enemy's house, in order to bring down
mi-fortune on his family. In order to avert his evil fate, the person so accursed
was compelled in his turn to sacrifice one of his children. The Nayadis, or Yanadi,
of the island of Sriharicotu, east of Lake Pulikat, and on the Malabar coast, are one
of the most degraded of all Hindu communities. An old nail, a spear-head, or any
other bit of pointed iron was, till recently, preserved as the most precious of objects,
and fire was obtained by the friction of two pieces of wood. They were even more
than the Pulayers or Puliyas, whose very name is derived from the word
de-j lised

pulu, or foul. Before the year 1805 the Pulayers were forbidden to wear clothes
"
on the upper part of the body, they spoke of themselves only as slaves," and of
" " "
their children as apes or calves."

The Nayadis of the Calicut district, Malubur, recently became a sort of bone of
contention between the Christian and Mohammedun missionaries. The latter

prevailed, and the Nayadis are now claimed by the Moplahs as followers of the

Prophet. On the other hand, Christianity has found most favour among the Ilavas
of Cochin, and the Shanars (Sanars,
(Yiravas) of Travancore, the Billavas Sauers)
of Madura, who are probably of the same origin as the Tirs of the Malabar coast.
Of half a million Shanars nearly 100,000 call themselves either Protestants or
Catholics. They live almost exclusively on the produce of their palmyra palms,

forty to sixty of which trees


are required for the support of each family.

TOPOGRAPHY.

" the capital


3fangalore, or the City," which the natives call Kaadial,
is
Happy
of South Kanara, and one of the most frequented ports on this inhospitable coast.
According to Ibn-Batuta, as many as 4,000 Arab merchants were settled at this
place in the middle of the fourteenth century. Hidden, like all Malabar towns,
amid-t its coconut groves, Mangalore lies on the edge of a lagoon into which the
two rivers, Netravati and Gurpur, discharge their waters, and which is accessible to

the Arab and native pattamar*. Formerly the naval arsenal of Haidar AH,
d/ioics

for the
Mangalore has again acquired an exceptional imjwrtance as an entrepot
of
<..fV.-e
grown on the plantations of Curg. It is also a chief centre missionary

activity, and since 1*:>4 it has Ix-eii the headquarters of the Basle mission, which
other industrial establish-
employs numerous converts in it.- printing-office and
ment-. Several valuable documents mi the peoples and languages of the surrounding

regions have been puMi-hed by the members


of this mis-inn.

Cannanore or Kannur, lying on the coast some lo miles south of the Dali or
842 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Belli headland, is another Malabar town famous in the history of trade and religion.
Here the Portuguese had already established a mission and a factory before the
close of the fifteenth century. But although the nearest outport of Mysore and
the South Curg plantations, Cannanore has the disadvantage of communicating
only by steep and diftjcult routes with the interior, and, like Mangalore, it is
accessible only to light craft. The Bibi, or " Queen," who resides at Cannanore,
belongs to an old dynasty, which no longer possesses any territory on the mainland.
But the British Government has allowed her to retain a certain jurisdiction over
half of the Laccadive Archipelago.

lying farther south, is a large place, and also exports coffee, besides
Tellicheri,

pepper, cardamoms, and sandalwood.


About 4 miles still to the south is the little port of Ma/rf, the ancient Mai/ii,
which was seized in 1726 by Mane* de la Bourdonnais, from whom it took its
present name. This French settlement, which has an area of scarcely 1,500 acres,
was three times captured by the English, and finally restored by them, after razing
its fortifications. A little factory, 5 acres in extent, in the town of Calicut, also

belongs to the French.


Calicut, or Kolicotta, is the largest city on the Malabar
although from the
coast,
sea littleis at first seen except coconut plantations and a few huts grouped
its

round a lighthouse. When the Europeans presented themselves before this place
in the fifteenth century, it was the capital of a Nair confederacy, and residence of
the tamutiri (sumuri or zamorin) that is, "ruler of the sea." -Covilhao, the first

Portuguese envoy, arriving by the route through Egypt, became the guest of the
king, and twelve years thereafter Vasco de Gama cast anchor in the roadstead the
most memorable event in the history of India since the Macedonian expedition.
Calicut suffered much at the hands of the strangers whom it had so
hospitably
welcomed. In 1501, 1502, and 1510 it was bombarded by Cabral, Gama, and
Albuquerque, and it was, later on, burnt and plundered by French, English, Danes,
and other Europeans. It was also repeatedly sacked by the rajas of Mysore, and
when seized at the end of the last century by the English it had just been destroj'ed
by Tippu-Sultan. Since thenhas been rcpeopled and enriched, although most
it

of its carried on through Bcipitr, with which it is connected by a succession


trade is

of suburbs and plantations stretching 6 miles


along the coast. The port of Beipur
is separated from the sea a bar with 13 feet at low water, and according to
by
Bastian, some of the seafaring population of this place areUf Chinese descent,
hence known as Chini-bechegan, or " Sons of the Chinese." Its chief exports are
the auriferous ores of "VVainad, coffee from the Nilghiris, teak floated down
by the
" Golden
Panna-poya, or River," and various produce forwarded to the coast by
the Madras railway. But the " calicoes," which take their name from Calicut, are
no longer produced here. South of Bombay, Beipur is the only town on the west
coast which communicates by rail with the opposite side of the Peninsula. But
the line which at present runs by the Pal-ghat gap, between the Nilghiri and
Anamalah Hills, is to be continued to Calicut, and will eventually replace the
carriage route now connecting the Malabar seaports. About 5 miles east of Beipur
TOPOGRAPHY.

liesthe old Imrial-place of C/iiitnpnramba, or " Field of Death," which is strewn


with dolmens, known in the district by the name of "navel-stones."
The ancient I\n<lnn<ialtir the Cranganore of European writers,
t was at one time
the rival of Calicut.Urn- mailed the dynasty of the Nair I'ermauls; here
the chief communities of the Jews and Syrian Christians settled on the -Malabar
coast, and here the Portuguese erected a fortress, which was afterwards captured by
the Dutch. The prosperity formerly enjoyed by this place is sufficiently explained
by its situation on the only emissary of the extensive lagoons which stretch south-
wards to the promontory of Quilon. Similar navigable channels have conferred

Fig. 112. QUILON.


Seal* 1 : 400,000.

Lof G- 76'55

equal and even greater prosperity on other places, such as Cochin (Koc/ti, Kochi-
" Little
iMimf(ir), that is, the Port," which lies at the point where the lagoons com-
municate with the sea through a broad passage over 12 feet deep at low water.
Pieing uirable to obtain a permanent footing in Calicut, the Portuguese withdrew
to Cochin, where Gama
founded a factory in 1002, and where Albuquerque erected
a fort the very next year. Here Gama died, here was built the first European
church, and here was printed the first book in India. At Cochin there is still a
Jewish community which has not yet entirely forgotten the Hebrew language.
But although at once an English town and the capital of a native state, few
malaria
Kuropeans have settled in this place, which is exposed to the dangerous
344 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

swamps and But the nervous complaints,


arising from the surrounding lagoons.
the coast, cease altogether 9 miles
dysentery, and elephantiasis, prevalent along
inland.
on this part of the Malabar coast is
Atpresent the most frequented seaport
lies to the south of Cochin at the southern extremity of
Altepi, or Alapalli, which
the longest lagoon on this seaboard. Here the landlocked waters are connected
with the sea by an channel, while the different quarters communicate by
artificial

means of a tramway drawn by elephants. Although the roadstead is protected by


no projecting headlands, safe anchorage is afforded by one of those already
described isolated enclaves of smooth and turbid waters, which are dotted over the
sea along the west coast of India, but which naturalists have hitherto failed to

account for.

Although of less commercial importance than Allepi, the seaport of Qutlon,


which stands at the foot of a rocky bluff, is the chief military station of Travancore.
In mediaeval documents the name of this ancient town occurs under the forms
Kaulam, Kollam, Colon, Colamba, and Columbum. It is the Coilum of Marco Polo,
and was at one time a chief outport for pepper, ginger, and the brazil-wood
sapan\ which afterwards gave its name to the Portuguese possessions in
(Ccssalpinia
South America. The era of Travancore dates from the rebuilding of this city, in
the year 1019 of the Christian era. Quilon communicates with Tiimevelli by a
carriage road, which crosses the Cardamom hills, and which will soon be replaced
to Trieandram, capital of the native state
by a railway, with a branch line running
of Travancore.
A
sandy plain, 5 miles wide, separates this place from the sea, which is here so
exposed that few vessels venture to cast anchor in the roadstead. Trivandram
covers a large space, partly on a low-lying tract fringed with marshes, partly on
laterite hills, rising from 50 to 200 feet above the plains. The citadel, which lies
in the lower quarter, surrounded by an old wall, enclosing the royal residence and
is

a celebrated temple of Vishnu, especially remarkable for the profusion of its wood

carvings. Here are numerous schools and an observatory, besides a rich museum
of architecture and natural history. The surrounding district supports a large

population engaged palmyra and coconut palms.


chiefly in the cultivation of areca,
These plantations are very extensive, and, according to the Travancore returns,
contain upwards of twenty-two million trees. A hundred plants suffice to support
two families, yielding all that is needed for housing and clothing them, and supply-

ing many objects of luxury. The natives enumerate eight hundred and one different
ways of utilising the wood, fibre, leaves, sap and fruit of the borassiis flabcllifori)n* ;

" bears fruit for a thousand


and, according to the local proverb, this tree years."
On the eastern seaboard the population is centred chiefly in the well- watered

tracts,and especially in the Caveri basin. The regions of the plateau and Pennar
valley are but thinly peopled, and here the population has been further reduced by
the famine of 1877. Cmidapah, near the south side of the Pennar, derives some
importance from its cotton-mills. But the largest place in this district is the
ancient town of Ncllorc, which lies on the alluvial plain not far from the coast. It
TOPOORAl'HY. Ml
has no seaport, nor is it connected by rail with tin- Imiian -y-fcm : l.ut it

communicates with Madras by a recenth --eonstrurted navigable canul. Ni-llore is


i. (1 as the literary capital f the Telugu linguistic dumuin, and here have
found some coins of Trajan, Hadruin, and Faustina.

Madras capital of the great Southern Indian Presidency, and, next to f'alcuttu
and Bombay, the largest city in the Anglo-Indian empire, is by no means one
of those places whose future greatness might have been foreseen by its
very

Fig. 143. MADHA*.


Bade 1 : 140,000.

'

..

to 32 Feet. 32 Feet and upwards.

3 Mile*.

geographical position. Possibly tin* Pular formerly reached the sea near this point;
but it has long been deflected far to the south. Nor does the uniform seaboard
anywhere natural shelter to shipping.
offer the lea>t The sea is even far more
dangerous here than on the southern shores of the I' nin^ula, l>eiiig frequently
swej.t by terrific cyclones, which scarcely
cv r vi-it the r'iulichrrry waters. In

one of these storms the French fleet, commanded by La Ilourdonnuis, was ship-
87
846 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

wrecked three weeks after the surrender of the citadel. It is to be regretted that

the factory of Armagom, founded hy the English 40 miles farther north, on the strip

of sand fringing the east side of Lake Pulikat, was not retained by the Company a^
its chief station in this district. At this place, which is known also as Blackicood's

Harbour, a large sandjbank affords protection to large vessels in 30 feet of water


close in shore. But the beach was, unfortunately, here too narrow to afford room
for the development of a great city. Apart from the heights of St. Thomas, the
district surrounding Madras contains none of those natural curiosities which attract
visitors in crowds, and thus tend to become populous industrial and trading centres.

Marco Polo speaks of Mailapnr, still a suburb of Madras, as " a small town where

there is very little merchandise and which is of difficult access." Its subsequent

prosperity due entirely to the choice made of it as an administrative capital.


is

Having thus become the converging-point of highways and canals, and, later on, of
the southern railway system, its artificial advantages have gone far to compensate
for its natural drawbacks, and to become a rival of Calcutta it has hitherto lacked

nothing except a good harbour. In the middle of the last century its population
was roughly estimated at one million but the first regular census of 1871 reduced
;

that extravagant calculation to less than 400,000 for the city and all its suburbs.
Even at the next census of 1881 that figure was found to have been increased only

by a few thousands.
If Madras does not rank with the great cities of the world for the number of
its inhabitants, it covers a space as large as that of many places three or four times
more populous. From the Adyar estuary, forming its southern limit, it stretches
for 8 miles along the beach to its northern suburbs, and occupies a total area of

nearly 30 square miles. Much, however, of this space consists of fields, surrounding
hamlets, or isolated villages. The most populous and commercial quarter is Chen-
"
napatnam, or Black Town," commanded on the south by Fort St. George, which
comprises extensive esplanades and some government offices, but is of no strategical
importance. Beyond the river Kuam, which is cut off from the sea for the greater
part of the year, the Triplicane quarter extends a long way southwards in the
direction of the suburb of St. Thome, the ancient Mailapur, from which it is

separated by some intervening lagoons. Farther inland, several other distinct


quarters, isolated from each other by open spaces, gardens and reservoirs, are
occupied each by a particular caste. There are few remarkable monuments in
Madras but most of the houses acquire a dazzling whiteness from the cJinnam, or
;

peculiar stucco, with which they are covered, and which rivals the finest marble in
appearance. Besides the museums of architecture and natural history, the College
contains the valuable Mackenzie collection, one of the most important in India for
historical and ethnographic studies. The observatory, which lies to the west beyond
the limits of the city, is the starting-point for the triangulation of Southern Asia,
and regulates the time of the stations on the various railways. Through this
observatory passes the meridian of India, which, like that of the old Hindu
" Lanka." *
astronomers, intersects the island of Ceylon, dr

Latitude, 13 4' 6" N. ; longitude, 80" 17' 22" E. of Greenwich.


L
'
' "T
TOPOGRAPHY 847

Notwithstanding its exposed portion. M.idras takes tin- rank amongst


third

thecitirx.it' India in resect of its trade as wrll as its


population. Tho annual
arrivalsand departures amount on an average to .'U()0 large vessels, with a tonnage
of two and a half millions, and the exports consist chiefly of coll'ee, sugar, indigo,

dyes, oleaginous substances, cotton, and colonial produce, in exchange for Ku'rop. .m
J1W8, especially woven ir"<"U ;nid im t;.!-. The lamim- of 1^77 caMBd ft temporary
iso of about one-third in the
year's transactions. Formerly Madras \\ax of
such ditlicult access that the shipping had to anchor about a mile from the beach,
while the passengers and merchandise were brought ashore through the surf in
catamarans or masulas made of mango-wood, protected by coconut matting from
the shock of the waves. Now, however, a pier over one thousand yards long
enables large vessels to approach the shore and land their cargoes. But such is
the violence of the surf, that this structure was twice demolished by collision with
the shipping. Since 1875 an artificial harbour has been in progress, which will
form a vast rectangle over one thousand yards on all sides, and affording safe
anchorage to large vessels in about 40 feet of water. The works -have been more
than once interrupted and partly swept away by cyclones.
At 6 and 9
miles south-west of Fort St. George, which is regarded as the official
centre of Madras, there stand two syenite eminences, known as the Great and Little
Mount St. Thomas, where the Apostle of that name is traditionally said to have
lived as a recluse. A Portuguese church, erected on the higher and farther removed
of these heights, contains a cross with a Pehlvi inscription, dating from the seventh
or eighth century. But the sanctuary, of which Marco Polo speaks as being equally
venerated by Christians and " Saracens," seems more probably to have stood on the
lower Muilapur.* Near this spot is situated the residence of the Governor,
hill at

which noted for its fine gardens.


is But the railway running to the west, and then
to the north-west of Madras, towards the Mysore plateau, leads to some other

shrines, which are visited far more frequently than the chapel of St. Thomas.
Over 100,000 pilgrims yearly alight at the Tinttani (Tritani) station, in order to

pay and the faithful flock in


their devotions at the neighbouring temple of Siva ;

still larger numbers Here the temple consecrated to one of


to Tirupati (Tri/xiti).

Vishnu's incarnations crowns a peak nearly 2,000 feet high, which is encircled by
< it her create, all alike destitute of vegetation. The path winds for a distance of

<J and passes under three gateways, through which no


miles up the side of the hill,

European was permitted to enter before the year 1870. Notwithstanding the
offerings of the devotees, the Tritani temple is a very unornamental structure, of
wretched workmanship. .
The most remarkable monuments in the neighbourhood
of Madras are the " Seven Pagodas," and the sacred caves of Mahabalip&r
"
(Mn/trinintdij-ui-tnti, Mfit'i/ijmr), or, the City of the Great Bali," which lies on the
coast some 30 miles south ol .Madras. Here rises like an island in tho midst of the

sandy plains a small granite ma>s, \\ho-e slopes are pierced with grottoes,
some

rudely carved, others disposed in the form of temples approached through porches
and colonnades. At some distance from the shore, and in the midst of some reefs,
Col. Yule,
" The Book of Ser Marco Polo."
848 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

which the natives believe be the ruins of a submerged city, there stands a
to

pyramidal pagoda over against two more modern sanctuaries consecrated to Vislmu
and Siva. Here also a long granite ridge has been completely carved within and
without in such a way as to form five detached temples. Besides the famous
Kailas at Ellora, these are the only examples of such a style of architecture in India.

They date from various periods between the sixth and fourteenth centuries of

Fig. 144. TERKITOKT OF PONUICHEHRT.


Scale 1 : 800,000.

British Territory. French Territory. Vixed Territory.

C Miles.

the vulgar era,- illustrating in their colonnades, sculptures, and inscriptions the
successive Buddhist, Jaina, and Dravidian schools 'of art.

The river Palar, which flows to the coast near the ancient city of Sadras, a little
to the south of the Seven Pagodas, waters the rich district of Vf-llore y a fortress
famous in the military annals of the last century. It is still a thriving commercial
town, whereas of the still more famous Arkot, former capital of the Carnatica, little
TOPOGRAPHY.

now remain* except its ruined ii'.nMjues and tmnbs. A


more important strategic
]M>itiou is tin- Kuropean t>wn >i
/iV////'/.7, which commands tin- left bank of the
Palar. Farther ca-t. hut still in the Palar Valley. li< * the l;ir^e city of (',,

\vliich is connected hy the Chinylr-jHit branch with tlie main Coruniandel coast-line.

arc some lurgc {Migodus, one of which, 180 feet high, is the loftiest in Southern

1 \\'l. PoXDItHEKItY.
Scale I : TOO.OOO.

.'.

S^OOYarl-

India. In 1780 Haidar-ali laid siege to a British army of 25,000 men, which had
entrenched within the precincts of thermit temple of Conjevaram.
itself From
the summit of the sculptured pyramid, Mount St. Thomas, distant nearly 'JO miles
to the north-cast, is visible in clear weather.

Between the 1'ulur and 1'ennar. or Southern Ponear, the largest place on the
coast is the French city of Pondicherry (Pondit-c/nrri, or Ful-clu-rri) that is, the
850 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

"
Village" which high-caste people cull l\>n<li(-n<i<j(tr that is, New Town."
Of all the possessions preserved by France from her ancient colonial empire in
India, this is
by and most important. Purchased in 1693, by Com-
far the largest

mander Thomas, which had just been seized by the Dutch,


Martin, to replace St.
this little paria village rapidly increased in size, and during the greater part of the

eighteenth century Pondicherry was the centre


of a flourishing export trade. Cap-
tured by the English, it 1816, and then only on condition of
was not restored till

no fortifications being erected, or any armed force, except the police, maintained in
the territory, which has, moreover, been parcelled out in the most eccentric fashion.

Up to the very gates ofPondicherry British enclaves have been reserved, suitable
for the erection of batteries. In one place the road belongs to the English, while
the ditches within French jurisdiction in another, a tank depends on Madras,
lie ;

the districts watered by it on Pondicherry. The whole of the territory thus


.strangely distributed covers a space of 628,000 acres, of which about two-thirds
are under cultivation. Most of the land not occupied by roads, villages, tanks,
and canals is
planted with cotton, indigo, rice, bananas, palm-groves, and other
trees.

When this territory was restored to France, it had a population of about 25,000.
This has since been doubled in the city, and increased sixfold in the rural districts ;

but the Europeans, exclusive of the topas, or half-castes, scarcely number 1,000

altogether. The " white town," which skirts the shore, is laid out in streets at
right angles, from which the houses are generally separated by little enclosures,
planted with flowers. Beyond this quarter an extensive district stretches along
the north coast and towards the interior, where the native houses are almost buried
in a dense growth of coconut palms, tamarind, acacia, and tulip-trees. The route
leading from the heart of the city, for 6 miles, to Vi/lenur, is skirted the whole way
by a succession of houses and plantations. Some fine parks, and a garden of accli-
matisation, also contribute to the salubrity of the atmosphere. But towards the
south the Gingy, or Ariancupom River expands into unhealthy lagoons, which,

during the dry season, are cut off from all communication with the sea.
Poudicherry is now well supplied with good water from seven Artesian wells,
sunk at depths of from 80 to 570 feet. Few English cities of the Indian lowlands
can compare in cleanliness and good management with " Old Pondy," as the natives
are fond of calling it. But being surrounded by a dozen custom-houses, and
possessing few local industries, its trade is far from rivalling that of many Anglo-
Indian towns of like size. has the advantage of lying on a coast far less
Yet it

surf -beaten than that of Madras, and never exposed to cyclones. The shipping is
also protected by an iron pier over 600 feet long, while the roadstead has been lit

up since 1835 by a lighthouse, the first erected on the east coast of the Peninsula.
In 1879 a railway, constructed mainly at the expense of the colony, brought Pondi-

ehcrry -into the Peninsular system. The chief industries of the place are the
preparation of tobacco for the market, spinning, and weaving. As many as two
hundred hands are employed in one of the local spinning-mills, and four 'thousand
looms are at work in the territory, where many of the natives speak French much
TOPOGRAPHY. :,1

than Knglish is spoken l>y the indigenous inhabitants of tin- An^l>-Indian


town--.

(i'ni/n/nr or (\nlifiilin-f that is, tin-


"City of (
'ontluciita," is so named from the
two ri\< !-. (iuddilam and 1'aravamir, which hero reach tin-
during tin- rainy coast

season. It lies ulxmt miles south of i'ondirhrrry, and compri- > a linrojH-an
l-*>

and a native (juarter. Some '! mil. - to the north-cast are the ruins of /
Duritf,which was the capital of the Ilritish possessions for the six year-, ending in
and which wus captured by the French in 17.">S, and a^-ain in 17-.'
" Frank town " which follows next in
Noto, or Fcrinyhi-jn-t that is,
to Gudalur on the Coromandel coast, lies !) miles north of the town and famous

temples of CktdambfHHmt or Chihnnbram. Here the chief monument is the


" Golden
Shrine," a vast group of buildings dedicated to Siva, and surrounded by
a wall a mile in circumference.
nearly Four or " of stories
gopura, gates," eight
lead to the inner courts; and mirrored in the sacred tank is the "Temple of a
thousand Pillars," an enormous pile resting on a forest of columns, of which nine
hundred and seventy-four are still erect. The visitor is struck with amazement at
the stupendous labour represented by these structures, whose granite blocks are
often 40 or 42 feet long. Yet the nearest quarries are at a distance of 30 miles
from the temples. As many as eighty thousand pilgrims and traders flock to the

fair held in December at this place. In no other district of equal extent are to be
seen more monuments, remarkable alike for their wealth, their fine proportions, and
rich sculptures. At Mayavemm and Khumlakonam, on the railway to Tanjore, are
some of these superb sanctuaries, famous throughout India as amongst
also to be seen
"
the " seven wonders of the Dravidian world.
These pagodas are not far from the northern branch of the Cuveri delta, and
lie within the basin of this river, which rises 300 miles farther west, on the eastern

slope of the Curg uplands. One of its headstreams washes the foot of the hill on
which stands Mercara, Curg, pronounced by Clements Markham to
capital of
be the pleasantest city in Southern India. The more famous stronghold of Serinya-

pafnm (Srirangapatam, or "City of Vishnu"), formerly capital of Mysore, lies on


an island covered with paddy-fields and sugar-cane plantations. The fortifications

by Tippu-Sultan have remained just as they stood after their capture by


erect I'd

the English in 1799, only their picturesque aspect has been increased by the trees
and twining plants by which the breaches in the walls arc now overgrown. Serin-
ga pa turn was not restored to the Mysore rulers, but owing to its unhealthy climate,
it has been abandoned as a military cantonment. At the end of the last century
live hundred French Creoles from Mauritius, in the service of Tippu, nearly all

perished of fever, and the population of the island is scarcely one-tenth of what it

was in the last century.

residence is JTyxore, which stands on higher ground alnmt 1<> miles


The present
south-west of Seringupatam. Hut the administration has its headquarters at
Bangalore, on the east of the principality, near the British frontier. Situated at

an elevation of 300 feet, Bangalore is considered the healthiest place in the


state, and thousands of Europeans have settled here. One of the quarters, with
IXDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

Fig. 146. KHUMBAKONAM CHIEF GOPUHA OF THE TEMPLE.

its churches, villas, museum, park, and gardens, has quite the aspect of an
English provincial town. The natives are occupied chiefly in the manufacture of
TOPOGRAPHY. Ml

carpets, cotton, and .-ilk fabrics. Pani:alore has a considerable trail*- in corn and
cotton, which cannot full to be furthrr dflWeloped aa aoon as the new lines are

1. hrin^ini: it into connection with the Smith Indian railway -y-trm. One
of tlir- lin.-s will run t< lldxan, a town lying on the east slope of the Ghats, near
a )
as leading down to M.i!iLr ;d.rr. In the in i^hlioin 1 d o| II.!- MI ;in -,.,:, MM
of the most profusely sculptured temples in the whole Dravidian domain. I

space of over GOO feet round the walls of the llali-liid sanctuary, ti

8uperimpo8ed one above another are covered with figures of elepliants, tigers,
s, oxen, birds, and syinlndic animals. These little figures, carved with
surprising perfection, are reckoned by the thousand, and present a most striking

Fig. 147. THE GOLD MIMM or WAINAD.


Scale 1 : 275.000.

'

Oold Mines.

contrast with the recumbent bull, 90 feet long, guarding the northern entrance of
the temple.
South of Mysore, Utakamund, capital of the Nilghiri district, and the chief
sanatorium in Southern India, is of recent foundation. Yet its villas, houses, and
hotels alreadycover a considerable space at a mean elevation of 7,ttOO feet above
the sea. On the east rise the steep slopes of Dodabetta. Kotaghiri (Kho((ty/i>
h'onnur, and the other English settlements in this district have acquired great
At I'takamund there are as
importance as centres of culture for exotic species.
as three acclimatisation gardens, at dillerent altitudes on the slopes of the
many
plateau. Here the first cinchona plants wen- im]>orted from Peru in l*iO, and in

two years twenty-five thousand of these were already flourishing in the


trees

neighbourhood. Now extensive cinchona forests have replaced the grasses and
with an abundance of
jungle of the plateau, and supply the An^lo-Indian army
BM INDIA AND INDO-CUINA.

bark. Nevertheless, in the Nilghiris the chief plantations are those of coffee,
which since 1840 have gradually spread over the slopes, between the altitudes of
2,600 and 5,000 feet. Farther north, still finer coffee is grown in the Wainad
district, whose rich gold mines, formerly abandoned by the natives, have again
been opened. The chief mine lies in the neighbourhood of Derate, 26 miles south
of Jfanantaicarfi, capital of this district.
The town which commands the Qhat or pass of like name, connecting
of Palyhat,

the Nilghiris with the Amimalah Hills, was formerly a place of great strategic

importance, and has


now become a flourishing commercial entrepot. But the
this region is which also lies on the route and railway
largest place in Coitnbatore,

connecting Beipur with Madras.


Here converge the frequented routes leading

Fig. 148. SALEM.


Scale t : 300,000.

6 Miles.

down from the opposite heights of the Nilghiris and Anamalahs, and in the vicinity
stands the temple of Pcrur, one of the most venerated in India, and one of the
three which were spared by the Mohammedan fanatic, Tippu-Sultan. But Coimba-
tore has now been outstripped by the flourishing town of Sa/em (properly C/ictetn,
or Selam), which lies tothe north-east in a rich plain, watered by two hundred
reservoirs, and producing rich crops of cotton, indigo, and tobacco. The low hills
in the neighbourhood yield an iron ore, from which is made an excellent quality
of steel. Coffee culture has also been introduced into the valleys of the Shivanu

Mountains, which skirt the Salem plain on the north-east. Here is the little
health-resort of Yerkad, 4,1350 feet above sea level.

Trichinapoli, the largest city south of Madras and Pondicherry, stands at the
TOPOGRAPHY. IN

extremity of tin- Cavcri <Mt;i, \\ h. ucc diverge the irrigation canals fertilising tho
rich rice-grounds, palm-groves and tobacco- fields of this "garden of Southern
India." !, whose walls have
Tin- citadt recently been demolished, encloses a granite
high, on which stand n temple of Siva and some other buildings.
1

This was ono of tlu- most warmly-contested strategical positions during the Anglo-
1-Yench wars of tin- last century. In an island of the Cuveri, farther north, stand
the lofty ynjHtntx, or pyramidal gateways of the fine temple of Si'ir.nujnin
(.SV/-///./-

//r///<),
which was held for some years us a stronghold by the French. According
to the original plans, this temple, which- is dedicated to Siva, and which dates from

the years of the eighteenth century, was to have no less than 20 gnpurus, each
first

presenting the aspect of complete monuments. In the sumo neighbourhood is


another magnificent sanctuary, also dedicated to Siva. Such twin structures,

Fig. 149. DIHTRICT OK TmcHtxAPOLi.


Scale 1 :
380,000.

E of Gr. 78*40 -'

consecrated to the two great deities of the Hindu pantheon, are characteristic of
Southern India.
Tanjor or Tanjarii>; which lies east of Trichinnpoli, near the centre cf the delta,
was formerly the capital of the Hindu state of Chola, or Chora, a name recognised
by most etymologists in the word Coromandel. Tanjor is an industrial town, whose
jewellery is no less famous than that of Trichinapoli. But its chief celebrity is
derived from a temple dating from the fourteenth century, which, although not
the largest, is the finest in Southern India. The rimara, or chief pyramid, which
rises to a height of 200 feet, and which is crowned by a monolithic dome, consists
of 13 stories, supported by a cubic base, with two rows of sui>erinii>08cd columns.
The characteristic motives of its decorative work are sculptured funs, probably
intended to represent the tail of the peacock, a sacred bird in Hindu mythology.
MR INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

One of the neighbouring sanctuaries, dedicated to Subramanya, son of Siva, is


still more* remarkable for its graceful forms and elaborate details. But for the
this edifice might be taken for a work of the
profusion of these sculptured details,
Italian Renaissance. Scarcely less famous than that of Tanjor is the temple of
\

Fig. 150. ROCK OK TniCHiNAroLi VIEW TAKEN FKOM THE EAST.

Manargudi, which lies to the south-east, and which is also ranked amongst the
" seven
wonders."

Owing to the dangerous and exposed character of the coast along the east side
of the delta, most of the export trade of this fertile region is carried on through
Madras. Nevertheless, much produce is now forwarded by the Trichinapoli-Tanjor
railway to Negapntam, whence it is shipped mainly to llangun. Ceylon, and
Singapore. This export trade is chiefly in the hands of the Labbais, a half-caste
Arab community, settled in the delta. Negapatam, or " Snake Town," known to
the Greeks name was one of the
by the of Niyatnos, first places occupied by the
Europeans, passing successively from the Portuguese and Dutch to the English.
TOPOGRAPHY. 857

Some 1'J miles farther north, on u mouth of the Cavcri, lies the French
settlement of h'tmikii/, whicli ranks next in importance to Pondicherry.* The
port is accessible to vessels of two hundred tons burden, which hire ship riee for
<Yyl..ii, France, and Reunion, in exchange for lumber und European wares.
Although not connected with the railway system, Karakul has continued to.prosper;
while Tranqm-har, or Taragamlmdi, has lost all its trade since the completion of the
line to Negapatam. Tranquebur was for over two centuries, from 1010 to 1845,
a Danish factory, which, with S .rampur, was sold to England for the sum of
'.000. Here was founded the first Protestant mission in India.
South of the Caveri basin, Madura was long the metropolis of Southern India,
and at one time famous as the capital of the Pandyas, or Pandions (Pandiya

mandalam), who are mentioned by the Greek geographers, and who sent two
envoys to Rome. According to the local records, Madura was founded by
immigrants from the north in the fifth century of the old era, and at the beginning
of the Christian era it was already the chief centre of literary life in the Peninsula.
At that time instruction was obligatory for all children over five years old, who
duly inscribed in the public registers and enrolled in their district schools,
at the foot of the statue of Ganesa, God of Wisdom. Madura probably takes its

name from the holy city of Muthra, or Mathura, on the banks of the Jamna, and
the same designation is supposed to have been extended to the island of Madura,
near Java, by the Hindu missionaries in the Eastern Archipelago. This old city,

partly restored and drained by the English, has preserved some relics of its past
greatness, amongst which a pagoda, whose unfinished portal and nave are scarcely
surpassed for splendour and boldness by any similar works in the Peninsula. The
palace also, which dates from the first half of the eighteenth century, is the
crowning glory of civil architecture in Southern India. A master-hand from

Europe is traditionally said to have directed the erection of this palace, in which
the Hindu style, with its excessive mythological sculptures, is chastened by a more
correct Moorish taste.
Madum communicates by on the one hand with Dindigal, on the other with
rail

TinncccHi. Dindigal formerly occupied an important strategical position at the


foot of a fortified eminence, commanding the routes east of the Palni Hills.
Tinnevelli, capital of the southernmost district on the mainland between Cape
Comorin and the " Fisheries," lies near the river Tumrapani nearly opposite the
twin city of Palamkottai. While the former retains the title of capital, the centre
of the administration has been transferred to the latter, and the European residents
in both withdraw in summer to Kiita/lam, which stands farther west, near the falls
of the upper Tamraparni. Towards the connected by a branch
east, Tinnevelli is

line with Tuticorin, or Tuttukudi, which lies on a low shelving beach, where the
shipping is obliged to lie at anchor '2\ miles from the port. A Portuguese and
Ihitch factory in succession, Tuticorin is the only town in India in which, besides

Goa, nearly half of the population is Christian. Some of the neighbouring villages
are exclusively inhabited by Catholic communities, constituting the caste of

Area of the Karakul territory, 40,4oO acres; population (18"'.>), 61,880.


858 INDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

Paravars, occupied chiefly with pearl-fishing. But this industry


who were foimerly
has been completely abandoned since the sandbanks have altered the direction of
the marine currents in the roadstead. The flourishing export trade which this
rule had dwindled to a little coast traffic, when
place enjoyed under the Portuguese
it was again revived by the completion of the railway system to the extremity of

the Peninsula. Tuticorin exports cotton, coffee, and spices, and supplies large
now
quantities of cereals, horses, and cattle
to Ceylon. There is also a considerable

passenger traffic with the same island.

The tract enclosed by the main railway line from Malabar, and the Xegapatam
and Tuticorin branches, comprises the native state of Pudukotta, inhabited almost
exclusively by agriculturists. But the famous old principality of Hamnad is
annexed as a Zatnindari, or fief, to the British possessions. The city of Hamnad,
or Ramanaf/iapuran, so named in honour of the god Rama, lies in a district studded

Fig. 151. Bin DOE OF KAMNAU.


Scale 1 : 760,000.

79" 79 '50

to 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. 32 Feet and upward*.

_______ 12 Miles.

with artificial reservoirs, at the neck of the triangular peninsula, which projects
eastwards between the Gulf of Manaar and Palk Strait, and which is continued
towards Ceylon by a chain of islets and reefs. The Prince of Hamnad bears the
"
title of Setu
pati that is, " Lord of the Bridge and, according to the legend,
the founder of his dynasty was placed here to guard the passage between the
island of Rameswaram and the mainland. The caste of the Maravars, or
"
Robbers," of whom he was the head, and who from their usages are by many
supposed to represent the aboriginal element, was composed of a warlike peasantry,
bound to rally at his first appeal to arms. "Within eight days he could raise from
30,000 to 40,000 men, all provisioned and ready for the campaign. Hence the
"Lord of the Bridge" was much feared, and for several centuries his power \\n
felt over a large part of the Peninsula. On Ramnad are dependent, on the south,
TOPOGRAPHY.

the ports of J/A//7 (Port Lome), where the most sheltered anchorage might IK-

pro\idrd on this roast, and Kilkarni, which Hcems to have been the rt-sid. -nee of tin-
1'antlva dynasty; on thr Antmn'iirrni (Attatikarai) and lh-rijnitam.
nortli, The
fishing and aeafaring populations of this district arc mostly cither Mohammedans,
Laldiais, or ( 'atholirs.

The jx'iiinsula
of Ramnad, which now terminates at Point Kanien, was still

continued, us lute us the fifteenth century, by a line of blocks 1| mile long towards

Fig. 162. PAMBAN CHANNEL.


Scale 1 :
87.UOO.

79'lg'

to T Fe*t. T to 14 Feet 14 Feet and upward*.


____^_ 1,100 Yards.

the island of Ramcswaram. It


apjiears, both from tradition and the records of the
Ramcswaram temple, that the tutelar deity was solemnly carried, thrice a year, to
the mainland, on which occasions the pilgrims followed the now ruined causeway,
which had been entrusted to the safe keeping of the " Lord of the Bridge." This
300 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

natural roadway was partly destroyed by violent storms in 1480 and subsequent
years, after
which the vain attempt to struggle with the waves was finally given
up. All that now remains of the causeway consists of two lines, running parallel
but at different for a distance of about 400 feet.
heights,
The blocks forming the
northern ridge, which i$ the highest, are visible at low water, when they are seen
to form a continuous chain. A
few points only of the southern ridge rise above
low-water level. The blocks, some of which, according to local tradition, were
the ravages of the sea, are surprisingly
brought from the mainland to repair
regular, and weigh on an average from ten to twenty tons. The material is a
sandstone, much more durable than the rocks of like formation lying on both sides
"
beneath the surrounding sands. This great bridge," assuredly one of the most
remarkable geological formations in the world, consists evidently of a hard vein of

rock, which has held its ground, like a natural pier in the open sea, after all the
softer formations surrounding had become decomposed and deposited as sand-
it

banks in the neighbouring waters. But the bridge is at last beginning in its turn
to giveway. At the beginning of the present century a channel opened at the east
end of the pier, near the village of Pamban, already afforded access to light craft
from the Coromandel coast. had a depth of nearly 4 feet at low water, and
It

about 7 at the flood. Since 1838 gangs of convicts have been employed in blowing

up the rocks and dredging the channel, which now presents a navigable opening
1,400 yards long, 80 wide, and 14 feet deep, between the Gulf of Manaar and
Palk Strait. The town of Pamban, at the western extremity of the island of

Rameswaram, inhabited by sailors, pilots, divers, and dealers trading between


is

Ceylon and the mainland.* Towards the centre of the island stands the temple
have been founded by Rama, but really dating
of like name, traditionally said to

only from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is a stupendous pile,

portions of which rival the most perfect monuments of Dravidian art. The
galleries,with their sculptured columns surmounted by groups of men and animals,
are no less than 1,100 yards long but the artistic effect is completely destroyed
;

by thick coatings of mottled stucco covering all the exquisite carvings.


The islet of Rameswaram, southernmost limit of the Hindu domain, is connected
with Ceylon by the ridge of sandbanks supposed to be the remains of the causeway
which, according to the legend, was built by the ape Hanuman, to enable the army
of Rama to pass over. But the Mohammedans and Christians, rejecting as
" " Adam's
impious the Hindu mythology, have renamed the Bridge of Rama,"
Bridge."
*
Shipping of Tamban Passage, 1879, 2,143 vessels of 228,100 tons.
CHAPTER XVI.

CEYLON.

LTIIOUGH always regarded by the English as a distinct region,


and consequently endowed with an independent administration, the
large island of Ceylon is geographically none the less a simple
dependence of the Peninsula. A slight change of level in the sur-
rounding waters would suffice to connect its northern extremity
with the Coromandel coast, just as by the reverse movement the Anamalah Hills
and neighbouring uplands would form a second Ceylon with the encircling plains.
The Hindus have always looked on the island as belonging to the mainland, and
one of their two epic poems tells how both became united by a bridge thrown over
the waters by the gods. The astronomers, like the poets, also regard them as one
domain, connected by the same meridianal line, which passes through Mount
Meru, culminating-point of the Himalaya, and the sacred peak of the inland.
The names Hindu origin, with the possible exception of
of Ceylon are also of

Lanka, which, however, according to Emerson Tennent, may have been given to it
" "
by the Brahmans in the sense of Resplendent." Tumraparni, or Bright as
Copper," which the Greeks changed to Taprobane, was applied also to Madura in
Southern India and this epithet still survives in the name of the river watering
;

the plains of Tinnevelli. Lastly, the terms Ceylan, or Ceylon, employed by Euro-
peans, and Serendib, used by the Arabs, are merely corruptions of the old Sinhala-
" Island of Lions." There are
dvipa, or simply Sinhala, that is, certainly no lions
in the island, but the term has been
explained as referring to the northern
conquerors, by whom the natives were subdued. In any case, so intimate are its
relations with the mainland, that Ceylon may be regarded as stillpreserving certain
features of ancient Hindu history. Its inhabitants, mostly immigrants from the
continent, have remained more faithful to the old usages than those from whom

they are descended. In Ceylon, or in the upland Himalayan valleys, that is, at
cither extremity of India proper, must still be sought the remains of the Buddhism
which was at one time the religion of all civilised Hindus. Many gaps in the
Brahman ical records have also boon filled up by the Singhalese literature.
Our first knowledge of Taprobane was derived from the writings of Onesicritu>.
88
862 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

a companion of Nearchus in the Macedonian fleet, and from Megasthenes, envoy of

King Seleucus. But as so often happens in the history of discoveries, the island
acquired exaggerated proportions in
the mind of the early navigators. The
difficulties
attending its
circumnavigation, the necessity of making great circuits

during the monsoons, fche presence of reefs stretching far seawards on both sides of
the northern extremity, combined probably with the confused reports which repre-
sented Ceylon, Java, and Sumatra as one and the same region, all tended to
attribute an enormous extent to the Indian island. It was thus converted into a

sort of Antichthon, or Antipodes, establishing in the southern waters an equilibrium


to the northern world. Even Marco Polo, with whom
begins the period of modern
exploration, gives it a circuit of 2,400 miles, or nearly four times more than the

reality, which, with


the neighbouring islets, scarcely exceeds 650 miles. But he
acids that since ancient times the circumference had diminished one-third, and the
encroachments of the sea involving such a loss of space are by him attributed to
the fury of the northern monsoon.

Ceylon had also been converted by the early navigators into a land of marvels.
For the Chinese it was in a pre-eminent sense the " island of Treasures," for the
Greeks the " land of Rubies," and the Arabs, contrasting its wooded shores with
their own arid seaboard, related how, after the expulsion from the Mesopotamian
Paradise, our parents were allowed by the divine mercy to enter a second
first

Eden the enchanting island dominated by Adam's Peak. Like the sailors of the
Arabian Nights, the first European mariners tell that before the land is sighted its

presence is revealed by the perfumes wafted on the breeze.


Ceylon is doubtless a

very delightful abode, especially for those arriving from the shores of Africa or
Arabia, or from the marshy regions of the Sandarbans, Orissa, and the Godaveri.
Nevertheless it has more than one rival among the lovely islands of Malaysia and
the West Indies, while, notwithstanding its fertility, mineral wealth, and happy
position between two seas, it is surpassed even by British India in the relative
importance of its trade and population.
The form of Ceylon has often been compared to that of a pear, with its stem end
pointing north-west towards the Caveri delta. The south central position is
occupied by the highlands, round which nucleus of crystalline rocks the land falls

regularly towards the coast. The uplands approach nearest to the sea in the south-
west corner, w here the headlands advance at some points into the water. The
r

crests, however, present on the whole a certain parallelism, running nominally south-
east and north-west, in which direction also flow the streams of the intervening
valleys. These highlands resemble the Nilghiris and Anamalah Hills, both in their

geological formation and in the mean altitude of their peaks. Pedrotallagalla

(8,260 feet), the culminating-point, is not much lower than the Dodabetta and
Anamudi, while several other summits rise above 6,600 feet. The Nuvera elia
plateau, which everywhere encircled by hills, has a mean elevation of over 6,200
is

feet. Pedrotallagalla, which occupies the centre of the system, is concealed from
the inhabitants of the surrounding plains by other peaks of nearly equal elevation.
Hence it is not regarded with the same veneration as the sacred Samanala, which
GEOLOGY. MINERALS. HYDROGRAPHY. Ml

sighted by mariners approaching the west coast, and which the Moham-
is first

medans have named Adam's Peak. By the Buddhists it had leen called Sripada,
or "the Foot Print," their master having traditionally left the mark of his foot
on the topmost crag, whore is now shown an artificially enlarged and rudely cut
hollow in the rock. A few yards lower down, a jerenniul spring indicates the spot
where the leaning on his staff, was wont to contemplate tlu- universe.
saint, The
slopes are overgrown with rhododendrons 35 or 40 feet high, whose fl<>
branches shoot upwards, " as if to draw near the sacred imprint."

GEOLOGY. MINERALS. HYDROGRAPHY.

The northern half of the island consists almost entirely of a vast plain inter-
sected only by a single ridge projecting from the central mass north-eastwards in
the direction of the port of Trincomali. The lowlands
are also broken by a few
isolated hills, such as Mahintala, which overshadows the sacred city of Anarajupura,
while basalt formations crop out here and there near the coast. In the highlands
the prevailing formation is gneiss, and many of the spurs consist of a single muss
of this material, whose sharp edges have been rounded off by atmospheric in-

fluences. Some of these blocks, rising 600 or 700 feet above a rocky plateau several

square miles in extent, developed dome-shaped canopies affording a shelter to


Buddhist sanctuaries. The gneiss of Ceylon, like that of Southern India, and like
the trap formations of the Dekkan, becomes decomposed to a red dust, which covers
the surface of the land. The term Cabnk has been applied by the natives to these
laterites, whose vivid colour presents a striking contrast to the intense verdure of

the vegetation. On their first arrival travellers are struck by the reddish tint of
"
the roads and fields caused by this " copper-coloured cabuk, whence possibly the
island derived its Hindu name of Tamraparni.

Except iron, the Ceylon rocks contain few metals in considerable quantities.
Although numerous, the auriferous deposits are not rich, and have attracted but few
workers. Graphite, however, affords an article of export, and there are few regions
in which the precious stones are found in such abundance. The rivers flowing to
the south coast, and especially those watering the plains of Ratnapura, "
City of
Rubies," wash down such a quantity of rubies, sapphires, and garnets, that in some
places the ground almost entirely composed of their dust, which is used by the
is

lapidaries for polishing their gems. But these alluvial lands yield no fine rubies,
which must be sought below the sands, and under the gravel and clay strata. Here
are the crystalliferous beds of nellan, which are supposed to bo older than the
basalts cropping out here and there, and which contain the choicest crystals.
Before the arrival of the English the natives had never taken the trouble to attack
the rock itself, where are found the largest and most brilliant stones. Garnets, and

especially the variety known as Cinnamon-stone, are so common that whole mnoooo
of gneiss are sometimes found thickly encrusted with these crystals. In ancient
times the sapphires and topazes of Ceylon were the most highly prized of the

thirty-seven varieties of precious stones collected by the geologist Gygax. But


804 INDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

old geographers and more recent Arab


notwithstanding the statements of the
in the island.
writers, no diamonds have ever been discovered

Of the rivers flowing from the central uplands in all directions to the coast, the

are mere torrents, dangerous during the rains, at other times dry
great majority
watercourses. Some few are navigable by light craft in their lower course between
their mouths and the first rapids. Yet several take thename of Ganga, as if they
claimed comparison with the
HIGHLANDS AND CORAL LIMESTONES OF CEYLON.
Fig. 153. sacredGanga flowing from the
scale 1:6,420,000.
Himalayas. The MahaveUi-
" Great River of
ganga, or
sand," one of whose branches
falls into Trincomali Bay, al-

though the largest, is only


130 miles long, and drains an
area of scarcely 4,000 square
miles yet its basin comprises
;

over two-thirds of the central

uplands.
Most of these gnngas and
oyas are closed at their mouths
by strips of beach, which are
formed by the fluvial deposits

arrested by the marine cur-


rents. Thus are developed
within these tongues of sand,
extensive lagoons, which re-
ceive the streams flowing from
the plateaux. One of these

gobbs, as they are called,

stretches for a distance of 30

Depths. Elevations. miles along the east coast,


north and south of Batticaloa.
Like the backwaters of Mul;i-
to 160 Feet. 160 to 320 Feet. Over 320 Feet. Corals.

__ 120 Miles. bar, it forms a navigable and

perfectly sheltered highway.


Owing to the and
proximity of the hills,
the more rapid slope, the gobbs are less
numerous on the west coast, although several have been developed north and south
of Colombo. The island of Calpentyn may, on the whole, be regarded as a long
strip ofbeach enclosing a large inlet, which narrows gradually southwards, and
which for a distance of some 30 miles is little more than a reservoir. Most of the
east coast is fringed with dunes, thrown up by the current, which here flows
alternately north and south, according to the direction of the winds. These dunes
soon become fixed by the trailing roots of spin ifex squarrostts, or "
great beard of
llama," after which the consolidated slopes are converted into coconut plantations,
GEOLOGY. MP II VI -UOGBAPHY.

Fig. 164. LAWDBCAM ix CIYLOM Vw TAKES FEOM THI KAMHODA PLAXTATIOJI.

for which they are admirably Those covering the Batticaloa dunes on the east
suited.

ooaathave a total length of over 40 miles, varying in width from one to three miles.
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

The northern section of Ceylon is composed entirely of decomposed corals,


For 10 or 12 miles inland, the plough everywhere turns up oyster-shells and other
bivalves, besides crustacero of the same species as those now inhabiting the neigh-

bouring waters. This fact was well known to the early Arab navigators, who

Fig. 155. THE BATTICALOA LAGOON.


Scale 1 : 870,000.

8l'50

to 64 Feet. 84 to 100 Feet. 180 Feet and upwards.


6 Miles.

explained by supposing that after leaving the sea certain members of the crab
it

family became petrified. This region has evidently been slowly upheaved, and,
as on the Negombo coast farther south, it is strewn with decomposed Mmestones
mingled with shells and other jetsam, which have been gradually changed to a
GEOLOGY. MINERALS. HYDROGRA I'll Y.

solid conglomerate. In 1
s l~ an anchor was found near JufTnu of such a size that
it must have In-longed t< a larger vessel than any now capable of navigating these
sliall(\v waters. The northern extivmity is eontimu-d north-westwards by a small

archipelago, which ha.s also been recently upheaved.


The island of Munaar itself
has had the same origin, although on the land side the I'amhan causeway WUH, a few
away by the fury of the waves.
eenturies ago, again partly swept

According to the Hindu legend, Manaar was born with Rameswaram, at the
time of the conquest of Ceylon by Rama. It is now serrated from Ceylon by
a winding channel about a mile wide, but not much more than three feet deep at
low water. Hence it would be very difficult to convert it into a navigable strait
accessible to large vessels. But the Bridge of Rama, which connects Manaar with
Rameswaram by a partly upheaved bunk 30 miles long, offer* here and there a few

Fig. 1.56. BKIDOR op RAMA.


Soil* 1 : 900.000.

80*

to 16 Feet 16 Frt and upward*.


-16 MOM.

deeper openings; and should the British Government decide on cutting a large
navigable canal between Ceylon and India, this line would probably be adopted.
According to the monsoons the sandbanks shift north nd south, although the
marine currents are not very strong either in the Gulf of Manaar or in Palk Strait,
along the west coast of Ceylon.
In the island of Rameswaram, as well as on all the coralline coast of North

Ceylon, extensive underground reservoirs lying below the reefs are filled with fresh
t.
By sinking wells through the coral rock, deep ( a vit it > arc met in several

places, in which the water stands always at the same level as the neighbouring see,
868 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

rising and falling with the tides,which here vary from 2 to 3 feet. In the deeper
wells the fresh water rests on a brackish layer, which at its lowest depths is

thoroughly saline.

CLIMATE. FLORA. FAUNA.


\

The climate more equable,


of Ceylon resembles that of Southern India, but is
thanks to the marine atmosphere everywhere encircling the island, and to the

aerial currents, which follow the rotation of the earth. The mean tem-
regular
about 82 and over 200 miles farther
perature of the coast towns
is F., although
from the equator, the northern districts are the warmest, thanks to the low level
and sandy nature of the soil, and to the neighbouring Coromandel coast, whence
come the dry hot winds. Cyclones are very rare, and throughout the year the
that they may be safely anticipated long in
atmospheric currents are so regular
advance. From month to month the temperature varies little, and, as in the
Eastern Archipelago, an almost perennial spring varied only by the distribution
is

of the rainfall. The Colombo district, and all the south-western slopes of the
south-west monsoons; while the opposite
uplands, are exposed to the moisture-bearing
side of the island depends for its supply on the north-east trade-winds from the

Bay of Bengal. From the records taken at over one hundred meteorological

stations, the mean rainfall would appear to be about 80 inches, diminishing gradually

northwards, and ranging from 38 inches at Manaar to 230 inches at Padupla, on


the west slope of Adam's Peak. For weeks together the Nuver elia uplands are
wrapped in fogs during the rainy seasons.
Apart from a few particular species, the flora of Ceylon closely resembles that
and many of
of the neighbouring mainlands, its forests recall those of Java in their
main features. In these forests several plants are now acclimatised which have not
succeeded in India. Amongst them are the nutmeg, the mangustan, the durian,
introduced by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, and European fruit-trees,
which however thrive too vigorously to yield good blossom or fruits. In 1856
Tennent enumerated 2,670 phanerogamous plants, of which there are probably at
least 3,000 ; yet the forests are far more remarkable for the luxuriant growth than
for the variety of their species, especially on the moist south-western slopes. Here
flourish some palm, including the Egyptian dhum (hyphane
fifteen varieties of the

Thcbaica\ which attains twice the size and far greater exuberance of foliage, fruit, and
flower than the parent plant of the Nile Valley. All the villages have their coco-
nut avenues, and enormous baobabs grow on the island of Manaar, where they were
introduced by the Portuguese, or Arabs from Africa. In the virgin forests teak is
rare, the most useful timbers here being ebony and the Chlororylon Siccf< ///",
besides the bamboos and ratan palms, which often shoot up to a height of 250 feet,
with perfectly regular stems scarcely an inch in diameter. With these slender
and pliant stems are formed graceful suspension bridges, almost indistinguishable
from the surrounding vegetation, yet strong enough to bear the weight of porters
and even of pack-horses.
Relatively far less Varied is the animal kingdom, which is much inferior to
I \ HABITANTS. VEDDAHS, SINGHALESE.

those of India, Malaysia, equatorial Africa, or Bra/il. Nevertheless, Ceylon possesses


several peculiar species, so that it cannot be regarded as a simple zoological depen-
drnce of South India. Elephants, which ore now protected by severe laws, have
become somewhat rare on tin-
plains, and the mimlxT of these animals exported to
the n lain land has fallen from 1,600 during the five years ending 1862,- to 1685

during the eighteen years ending 1880. The tiger and wolf are unknown in the
island, peculiar to which are a species of bat, scarcely larger than a bee, and the
hirntlo Crylanica, one of the smallest members of the leech tribe. Of the three
hundred species of birds over thirty are local, and there are eighteen peculiar
including three genera unrepresented on the neighbouring mainland.
n-ptiles,

Amongst the lixards is one common also to Burma, but which has not yet been
found in the intervening region. Several of the fishes are distinguished by remark-
able habits. Such is the kuvaya (nnabas, or pcrca scandeux), a species of perch,
whieh makes its way for a considerable distance across the moist herbage, and
which even said to climb the palmyra palm. Other varieties of the perch
is
bury
themselves in themud of the tanks and swamps, where they remain without air or
water during the dry season. Nowhere are shellfish found in greater variety than
on the coast of the Gulf of Manaar, and the finest conchological collections in Europe
are formed mostly of species peculiar to Ceylon.
The great resemblance of its fishes and shells to those of Malaysia can scarcely
be explained, except by supposing some former geographical connection between

Ceylon and the Sunda Islands. Its marine fauna is also allied to that of the Red
Sea, which, however, it
greatly surpasses in variety, although of more uniform
colour. The
countless polyps of the Arabian waters are distinguished by their

bright scarlet, orange, or yellow tints ; whereas in Ceylon the prevailing hue is
" Emerald Isle" far more than
green. The island itself deserves the title of Ireland,
and to their verdant surroundings birds, insects, reptiles, fish, and in general all the

lower forms of animal life, have adapted themselves.

INHABITANTS. VEDDAHS, SINGHALESE.

Thanks and thrifty inhabitants the population of Ceylon is


to its fertile soil

increasing. seems
Nevertheless to have been far more densely peopled before the
it

disastrous wars of mediaeval times. In the very heart of the inland forests and
jungles the traveller is surprised to meet ruined reservoirs and canals, at one time
fringed by cultivated lands and numerous towns, but now lost in the wilderness.
Of three thousand tanks over one thousand five hundred have been abandoned,
including some which now form marshy tracts some 20 square miles in extent.
Kalowewa, the largest of all, still partly exists, and near the dam has a depth of 65
feet. Butto thoroughly restore if, and distribute its waters over the Anarajapura

district, would require an outlay of about 40,000. Various documents >f the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries speak of a million and a half of hamlets ut that time
scattered over the island, and, like the modern villages, built mostly on the dams
or in the groves, immediately below the emissaries of the reservoirs. According
870 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

to these records, Ceylon must have been as densely peopled four hundred years
ago as are at present the alluvial plains of India.
Although the ancient inhabitants have been reduced by wars, famines, and mal-
administration to probably about one-tenth of their former numbers, there still

survive a few aboriginal tribes whose customs recall prehistoric times. The Veddahs,

perhaps descended from the Yakkos, who occupied the island before the arrival of
the Aryan conquerors, have retained their tribal independence only in the south-
eastern districts,and especially in the Bintenne, Badula, and Nilgala forests at the
east foot of the Central highlands. A more extensive range is assigned to them
by the early travellers, and some of their communities are supposed to have reached
northwards as far as the nearest point facing the Coromandel coast. But since
the middle of the present century they have been reduced from about eight thousand
few hundreds, and it may even be doubted whether any pure specimens of the
to a

still survive.
race In any case the birth-rate is very low, and anthropologists
have recently become all the more interested in this primitive people, that it seems
destined soon to disappear altogether. According to the testimony of old travellers,

the Veddahs never came into direct contact with strangers. Even for trading
purposes they entered the villages by night, placing at the doors of the dealers
models of the they needed, together with some wild honey, or the produce
articles

of the chase. They would then retire, and returning soon after at the same hour
they brought away the objects left in exchange. Such is supposed to be the origin
of the old legend mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Fahian, according to which the
merchants of Ceylon traded with " snakes and demons."
Those members of the tribe that anthropologists haA^e examined are all of low
stature, and might even be grouped with the dwarf races.* The head is also of
small and the cranial capacity at the lowest level of the scale. On the other
size,

hand, they are active and vigorous, nor do their authentic photographs correspond
with the current descriptions of a repulsive people, with projecting lower jaw, flat
nose, small eyes, large and movable ears. Although perhaps a little darker than
the Singhalese, they have neither the black complexion nor the woolly hair of the

negro. Their culture, however, is still of a rudimentary character, for they build
no huts, dwelling under the branches, or in caves, and have no knowledge of
pottery. Nomad hunters, they live almost exclusively on flesh, which till recently
was eaten raw. They wander about in small family groups, destitute of any
political organisation, or even of any definite religious notions. They have a
vague fear of the demons, whom they confound with their ancestry ; their only
ceremonies are rude dances and cries, like those of the Shamans ; and all ablutions
are carefully avoided, lest their strength should be washed away by the water.
According to some recent writers, they can neither count, distinguish colours, nor
mark the succession of time. But while these statements have been questioned, it

seems established that they are never seen to laugh, in this respect differing from
allother peoples.! Nevertheless, their speech differs but slightly from that of

1
Mean height of the Bintenne Veddahs, 1-537 metre; women, 1-448 (Virchow).
t Bayloy, "Transactions of the Ethnological Society," 1863 Hartshorne, " Fortnightly Review," 1876.
;
INHABITANTS VEDDAilS, SINGHALESE. 871

their Singhalese neighbours; hence they have been regarded not an primitive
Ravages, but as the degraded descendants of a civilised race. Notwithstanding
their wretched condition, they are even held to belong to -UJM rior caste, and take
;i

the title of "Sons of Kings." The practice of marrying their younger sister is

also said to have been observed l>y


the rulers of the land, before the arrival of the
Hindus. In any case the Veddahs are again becoming civilised. Of their two
tribes, one only keeps quite aloof from the Singhalese, the other no longer fearing
to hold direct intercourse with their neighbours. They have also laid aside their

leafy garb for one of woven materials


they purchase ornaments for their women.
;

and by unions with the Tamil people, the race is becoming gradually transformed.
Yet even those who have been baptized by the missionaries seldom, on that account,
modify their tribal usages.

The Rodiyas, that is, the " Miry," who number about 1,000 in the western
upland valleys, although frequently confounded with the Vedduhs, resemble them
only in the debased condition in which several of their clans are still found. Till
recently they were forbidden to cross the rivers in the ferry-boats, to draw water
from the wells, to enter a village, learn a trade, or till the soil. They were obliged
to communicate with the world through the gaolers, and to this lowest
rest of the

of all Singhalese castes the Rodiyas were fain to do homage. Yet even the
Rodiyas find others still more debased than themselves for they hold their heads
;

much higher than the Ambatteyos, the food prepared by whom they would not
allow their very dogs to eat. The Rodiyas are mostly tall, with far more regular
features than the Veddahs, and amongst them are met the finest women in Ceylon.

Although practising polyandry, they never marry their sisters, and call themselves
Buddhists. Still the chief object of their worship is the evil spirit, whom they
endeavour to propitiate by offerings of fruits, vegetables, and the blood of a red
cock. Alone of all the inhabitants of Ceylon they speak an original idiom,
unconnected either with the Druvidian, Aryan, or ancient Singhalese tongue.
The bulk of the people concentrated in the southern section of the island do

not seem to differ much in physique from the Veddahs. Most of the Singhalese
are of low stature, with elongated head, brown or ruddy complexion, always lighter
than that of the Tamils, and aquiline nose. In this last feature they differ most
from the wild tribes, while strangers are struck chiefly by their distinctly
effeminate appearance. This resemblance to the gentler sex enhanced by their
is

graceful form, smiling countenance, long black hair, carefully frizzled and gathered
up like a chignon on the top of the head ; lastly, by their feminine costume. They
but they
are, generally speaking, very gentle, courteous, hospitable, and honest ;

deeply resent injuries, and although long accustomed to a regular administration,

they protest vehemently against the whims or injustice of the authorities.


The
increased taxes imposed in 1848 caused revolts in every part of the island.

Apart from local differences, the Singhalese are connected by imperceptible


transitions with the Dravidians and Aryans, so that it would be difficult to point
out any essential difference of features between them and the Hindus. Here and
there are seen a few polyandrous households, the surviving remnants of a system
872 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

formerly universal in the island. The Singhalese also enjoy a remarkable


immunity from certain ailments to which foreigners are subject. All affections of
the respiratory organs such as bronchitis, diphtheria, or consumption are unknown
to the natives, and very rare even among Europeans settled in Ceylon. Those

suffering from chest complaints generally find a visit to the island beneficial,
while half-castes frequently succumb to pulmonary disorders. Dysentery, rheuma-
tism, and affections of the nerves are also rare among the Singhalese but they ;

suffer much from miasmatic fevers, and in the inland districts enlargement of
the spleen is common among adults.

The Singhalese language, like the race, is of mixed origin. It betrays its
affinity to the Dravidian tongues by
a number of old terms expressing objects
or ideas associated with a primitive culture. But its religious vocabulary is
borrowed chiefly from the Pali, and words relating to the arts and sciences from
Sanskrit. Thus the Aryan element has greatly prevailed, and Singhalese is now
affiliated by philologists to the Aryan stock. Its. literature, preserved on
palm-
leaves, abounds in moral writings, religious hymns, and national ballads. Most
of the works, not even excepting grammars and collections of maxims, are com-
posed in verse and certain Pali poems comprise over half a million stanzas. The
;

Mahaicanso, the most esteemed of all Singhalese writings, consists of a collection


of chronicles comprising the history of all the dynasties between the third and
eighteenth century of the new era. While the Hindus of the mainland were

renouncing the Buddhist religion, which at one time prevailed throughout the
Peninsula, the Singhalese remained faithful to the cult introduced by the mis-
sionaries of the "Great Doctrine." Nevertheless, their Buddhism is not identical
with that of the Burmese, Siamese, or Tibetans. Isolation and contact with foreign
elements have produced a gradual separation of these religious worlds. Certain
Brahmanical practices have also been maintained, or have more recently penetrated
into the temples of Ceylon. The symbols of Sivaism are met in many sanctuaries,

notably at Matura, on the south coast, where they cause little anxiety to the
Buddhist devotees. So, also, thousands of converts to Catholicism have practically
remained followers of Buddha.*
The northern section of the island is exclusively inhabited by Tamil immigrants,
who arrived at various periods, and who differ in no respect from their kinsmen
dwelling on the mainland. At the time of the first invasions they were generally
known as " Malabars," although they came chiefly from the Coromandel coast.
Their numbers continue to increase, thanks to the peaceful immigration of
still

the Hindu peasantry, who are now the only cultivators of the plains wasted by
their warlike forefathers. As the region occupied by them is the most fertile,

although hitherto the most neglected in the island, they are probably destined
gradually to become the dominant element of the population. In 1871 they repre-
sented scarcely more than V fifth f tne inhabitants, whereas now they constitute
a fourth, and during the coffee harvest the floating population is increased by from
*
Approximate population of Ceylon, according to religions (1881): Buddhists, 1,700,000 ; Sivaites,
600,(00; Mussulmans, 195,000; Catholics, 200,000; Protestants, 45,000.
TOPOGRAPHY.

60,000 to 100,000 of their brethren from Southern India. The so-called" M ....... "
numerous both in the coast towns and farther inland, an- of the same origin a> the

Moplahs of Malabar and the Lalil>ai> of (


'oroniandel, all of whom spring from the
unions of Aral) intruders with the native women. The descendant H <f the Portu-
guese mid Dutch, successive rulers of die island, are now mostly half-castes, the
former chieHy domestic servants and labourers, while (lie latter, known as Burghers,
constitute the middle class in the towns. These Burghers form the best support
of British rule, and from amongst them are mainly chosen the court ushers,

notaries, lawyers, and judges. They have forgotten their mot her- tongue, whereas
the Portuguese half-castes still
sjM-ak a corrupt Lusitnnian dialect. Amongst the

foreign residents attracted by trade and the coffee, tea, or cinchona plantations,
are some " Kafirs," negroes, Arabs, Parsis, and Malays from Java and other parts
of the Eastern Archipelago. From the form of the " outriggers " employed at
Point de Gaile, and in Malaysia from time immemorial, it is evident that Cevlon
had establishedrelations with the Suuda Islands long before
Taprobane was known
to the Western peoples.

TOPOGRAPHY.

JnjfiM, or Jiiffiiapatam, capital of the north, lies


beyond the coast-line on the
sandy coralline island, which projects seawards between Palk Strait and the Bay of
Bengal. Defended by a vast pentagonal citadel erected by the Dutch, Jaffna
resembles a garden rather than a city. In the midst of its coconut and palmyra
palm groves, little is to be seen beyond a few houses with verandahs and terraces.
In the district arc cultivated seven millions of these
plants, and the town itself,

peopled for two thousand two hundred years by Tamil immigrants, carries on a
considerable local trade. But the roadstead is too shallow for large vessels, which
are obliged to stop near Pedro Point, on the other side of the island, or else near
the islet of Leyden, some 12 miles to the south-west.
On the shallow channel separating Manaar from Ceylon stands the town of
a name mean "
JLnifotfe, said by some Garden," but by others interpreted the
to
" Great
Ferry," in allusion to a port supposed to have formerly occupied this site
at the east end of the
"Bridge of Rama." In the neighbourhood is Arapo, the
chief station of the pearl fisheries. During the season this place swarms with
immigrants, the beach is covered with tents, and the sea alive with fishing craft.

The oyster-beds, which are a government monopoly, having been exhausted some
years ago, this industry was suspended between 1833 and 18o4, after which the
yield for the first season amounted to seven million shells. In 1863 the fishing
waa again interrupted for ten years, and when resumed not more than two millions
were taken. But in 1880 it rose to thirty-five millions two hundred and thirty-

eight thousand, valued at no more than 20,000, the market price being now ten
times less than at the beginning of the century. The beds, which are o\
feet thick, fringe the coast for vast distances, giving some idea of the enormous

quantities of pearls yielded by these fisheries from prehistoric times. Farther


874 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of Karativo and the Calpentyn peninsula with


south, the bay formed by the island
the mainland abounds in fish, large quantities of which are
forwarded to Colombo.

Here also are taken turtles, sharks, whose fins are prepared for the Chinese market,
and the edible sea- weed known as Calpentyn Moss (Chomlru* crhpus). Yet the
fishers employed in these waters are wretchedly poor, owning neither the boats nor
the
the nets they use, and being compelled to pay a duty for the privilege of drying
The chapel of St. Anne, on the is the
produce on the beach. Calpentyn peninsula,
chief place of pilgrimage for the Roman Catholics of Ceylon, who here assemble to
the number of 25,000. The saint is even highly venerated by the Hindus and
"
Mohammedans themselves, who call her Hanna Bibi, Lady Anne."
The forests of the Calpentyn district are studded with reservoirs, now either

filled in or changed to marshes, on the banks of which formerly stood the great

Fig. 157. JAFFNA.


Scale 1 :
1,000,000.

cities
EofG

Anarajapura, the

(Anuradhagrama),
According
ancient
to 16

^
Feet 16 to 32 Feet.

ago, and which is mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of Anurogrammon


is now a mere village
32 to 64 Feet.

whose populations were numbered by hundreds of thousands.


of Ceylon,

Anuradha, which was a royal residence over 2,300 years

with
.
64 Feet

less

to the chronicles the enclosures, which, however, also included extensive


upwards.
30 Miles.
and

than
80-50'

1,000 inhabitants.

parks and open spaces, were 15 miles on all sides, so that Anarajapura must have
covered a larger area than London itself. The ground is red with brick-dust ;

tombs, statues, and piles of shapeless ruins are scattered over the jungle grass- ;

grown topes over 200 feet high still raise their green crests above the surrounding
groves, while hundreds of stone columns mark
the site of the famous "brass temple."
But of all the Anarajapura monuments, the most renowned is the
" Sacred
bo, the
71

Lord Victory." the nidi -i historic tree in the world, which was planted in the two
hundred and eighty-eighth year of the old era, and which hu.s never ceased to be
mentioned by the local annals. A nVi tan-n, lined by tombs and other
buildings, runs from Anurajapura for 7 miles south -east wards in the direction of
the Mihintalu Hill, which marks the landing-place of the Conqueror of -Ceylon.
The pagoda crowning tin- summit and, ac-
Fig. 158. FKOM NBOOMBO TO CALTUKA.
to the legend,
cording formerly covered by Bculel : 880,000.
a fiery carbuncle, is
approached by a flight
of over 1,000 stops. From the city palaces
to this temple, the way was on state occasions

laid down with forming a con-


costly stuffs,
tinuous carpet along the whole route. From
the court of this building a panoramic view
is commanded of half the island and the

surrounding seas.
In the eighth century of the new era,
Anorujapura fell from its high position,
and was succeeded us a royal residence by
Pollanarna, which, although less extensive
than its precursor, nevertheless stretched
for a distance of 30 miles in one direction,
with a mean width of 3$ miles. The spot
once covered by the finest buildings in Cey-
lon is now marked by the obscure hamlet
of Topore. These buildings, including lofty
topes, palaces, temples, shrines, and colossal
statues of Buddha, have everywhere become

overgrown with a forest vegetation, coiling


snake-like round the broken colonnades, and

overshadowing the highest pinnacles with


an evergreen canopy. The edifices of these
two great cities represent an amount of
labour probably unsurpassed by the pyra-
mids of Egypt themselves. single tope at A
Aniirajapura would supply sufficient bricks

to build. 8,000average London houses, or to fG


construct a wall, 3 feet thick and 10 feet

high, all the way from Paris to the English ,


. .

_, i M to 160 160 Feet and


Channel.
fortress of
West of 1'ollannrun stands the
Sigiri, another
proof of the
1,,. I . .

_ Feet. upwafda.
ISMilM.

prodigious labour bestowed by the ancient Singhalese on their monuments. It

occupies the summit of a pillar-shaped crag, which is ascended by steps hewn


out of the live rock.
South of Calpentyn Bay the coast route traverses the towns of Pathnn, C/iilatc,
870 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

and Nrgombo, this last surrounded by cinnamon groves, where the Dutch and

Portuguese hali'-castes are relatively more numerous than elsewhere in the island.
leads to Colombo, the ancient Kalan-totta, present
Beyond a large lagoon the road
This " Ford of the Kalani," as the name means, was so called
capital of Ceylon.
from the river which here reaches the coast at a little haven sheltered from the south
winds by a tongue of land projecting northwards. Like most Eastern cities,
Colombo comprises two quarters the "black town," occupied by the natives,
"
Singhalese, Mohammedans, and Tamils and the Fort," inhabited chiefly by the
;

officials and foreign traders. The streets are lined with avenues of the hibiscus
and other trees, whose red and yellow flowers are often strewn over the roadway.

Fig. 159- CINNAMON PACKING.

a^. ".
'
X '" .' V^ .j, + -
., .=_ -- K _

,
;;;
;

But as a capital Colombo from the inconvenience of a low sandy site,


suffers

stagnant waters, and an exposed roadstead. It was formerly surrounded by


cinnamon plantations but in 1832 the government had to abandon this monopoly,
;

and the aromatic plant is now being


gradually replaced by palm groves. On the
other hand, the coffee plantations of the interior have developed a far more

important local traffic, of which Colombo is rapidly becoming the chief outport.
To provide for the increased shipping, extensive harbour works have been
undertaken, including a breakwater, projecting from the southern extremity of the
bay for 1,400 yards in the direction of the Isaur rocks, and a smaller pier
sheltering the harbour from the north.
TOPOGRAPHY. C77

Anticipating the approaching decadence of Point de Gal/e, or simply Galk,


\vhii-hthe ocean steamers are uhvady leaving for Colombo, numerous residents in
that place are beginning to migrate to the capital. Yet Guile has at least a
natural harbour, although small and of difficult access, and it occupies an admirable

I
H.M ion, as a port of call between the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. -It thus
t

stands in the same relation to India that the Cape of Good Hope does to the
African continent. Hence, fearing the competition of its southern rival, the
capital has hitherto refused it the advantage of railway communication, and the

Fiy. 10. COLOMBO.


Scale 1 :
S&flOO.

E.ofOr '9'!)' SO'

to 16 Feet 16to83Feet. 88 Feet and opwud*.


_^^___^__ _ 1,100 YanU.

branch running southwards from Colombo still stops at Cal'ura. The whole sea-
board between Colombo, Galle, and JIatttra is traversed l.y a magnificent route,

fringed with avenues of coconut palms, beneath which flourishes a smaller growth
of trees and shrubs, often matted together with bright flowering creepers. Uu the
one hand the sea rolls its blue waves against the white chalky beach ; on the other
the hazy crest of Adam's Peak towers majestically above the more advanced
wooded spurs, motionless amid the ever-shifting scenes of the shaded highway.
Kamly, which succeeded Pollaiiaruu as capital of the island, is still a sort of
89
378 INDIA AND INDO-CinNA.

officials of Colombo. It is delightfully situated at


summer capital for the English
an elevation of about 1,700 feet on a lakelet encircled by leafy groves, and in a
a bend of the Muhavelli-ganga. Round the lake is
peninsula formed by developed
an amphitheatre of gently sloping hills studded with villas, and supported by a
more elevated bluish hills. Built mostly by Portuguese
background of still

convicts, Kandy, with its tile-roofed houses, resembles a European town planted

amidst a rich tropical vegetation of palms, bamboo thickets, and a thousand

varieties of fruit-trees. A continuous suburb stretching for over 4 miles towards


the south-west connects Kandy with the Botanic Gardens of Peradenia, which rank

Fig. 161. POINT DB GALLB.


Scale I : 40,000.

60 13 80*14

to 32 Feet. 82 to 64 Feet. 64 Feet ana upwards.


. 1,100 Yards.

amongst the very finest in the world. In these grounds, some 150 acres in extent,
aregrown not only the plants peculiar to the island, but also all the exotics that
have been introduced and cultivated, chiefly on the slopes of the southern hills
The railway connecting Kandy with Colombo is carried over the Kadugannawa
pass at an altitude of 2,OOX) feet above the sea.

In this region the coffee industry has acquired great economic importance in
recent years. First introduced by the Dutch in 1690, and then neglected by them
TOPOGRAPHY,

as inferior to thai of Java, the coffee plant has only been systematically cultivated
since 1825. Hut after the emancipation of tin- slaves in the West Indies, (Vylon
soon became unrivalled in the llritish colonies for thin produce, and the industry
h:is leen rapidly develojM-d, esjH-cially tjlfll the \<-.ir s Tii' -hruli i> -n.un I
-"' 1 '-.

successfully only on the wooded slopes, the jinfuniK, or grassy tracts, yielding
indifferent returns, although the soil differs apparently in no respect from that

of the neighbouring forests. Over one thousand two hundred plantations c..\-r

a total area of 250,000 acres, employing during the harvest as many as 300,000
Tamils. But the plant is subject to many diseases, which at times threaten to
destroy the whole crop. Since 1868 great ravages have been committed, especially

Fig. 162. COFFBB PLANTATIONS IN THE CBYLON HIGHLANDS.


Bade 1 : l.OUO.iKW.

EofGr

Coffe* Plantation*.

by the Hemilfja rastatrix, against whose attacks no efficacious remedy has yet been
discovered. The annual loss caused by fungus is estimated at 2,000,000.

Recently the Liberian coffee plant has been introduced from


West Africa, and

as this species is more vigorous and flourishes at lower elevations, the plantations

have now been extended down to the plains. Yet the whole area has been
diminished \>y one-tenth, and partly replaced by
other cultures, such as cinchona,

caoutchouc, cacao, sugar-cane, tea, pepper, cardamoms, and nutmeg. The cinchona
bark is exported exclusively to England, and the tea partly to Australia. A line
of railway now penetrates through the Upper Mahavelli-gunga valley to the heart
of the coffee plantations, and other branches will soon ramify from the main line
between Colombo and Kandy. On a plateau rising to an elevation of over 6,000
feet to the south of the zone of culture stands the health-resort of Nurera-aSa t

where the first European villa was erected in 1829.


380 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the road leads through the delightful Mahavelli Valley


down to
East of Kandy
Bitttenne, one of the ruined cities of Ceylon. This district, formerly one of the

most densely peopled in the island, is now almost uninhabited, and the main highway
is continued across a vast wilderness
towards the port of Baticalao on the east
canals much
coast. Nevertheless by the restoration of the old tanks and irrigation
of these wastes has been reclaimed and converted into productive rice-grounds.

Fig. 163. KANDY Vi*w TAKES FMOM THE OPPOSITE BIDE OP THB LAKE.

The coconut groves of Batticalao yield the largest and finest fruits in the island,
and its
lagoon abounds in crocodiles and those singing-fish which are so common
in the Bangkok waters.

Trincomali, although the only sheltered harbour accessible to large vessels, is

now abandoned by comnierce. Here the Portuguese erected a fort, which was
afterwards enlarged by the Dutch, while in their turn the English have con-
structed defensive works on the islands and headlands sheltering the harbour.
TOPOGRAPHY. 881

notwithstanding its
many advantages the project of n 'moving the seat of

government from Colombo to thia place is not likely to be carried out

F!g. 164. TUIXCUKALI.


State 1 : mono.

OtoSSFett. SJtoWFeet. 80tcl60Ft 160 FH md upwardc.


M "~

Trincomali lies in an unproductive district, and depends for ite supplies on


Buttk-ulao and -I a Una.
CHAPTER XVII.

LACCADIVES, MALDIVES, CHAQ08 ARCHIPELAGO.

HE statement that the precipitous seaboards of most continental


lands are washed by deep seas is certainly not applicable to the
west coast of India, where the base of the Peninsula stretches a
long way under the ocean. The banks and shallows lying west of
the Koukan and Malabar coasts comprise a considerable portion of
the Arabian Sea, and the waters extending from Kattyawar southwards to the

parallel of Bombay have an average depth of scarcely more than 120 feet. Farther
south the submarine bank narrows to a mean width of 60 miles, and beyond the
southern extremity of Ceylon it is contracted to a narrow ledge of shoals and
reefs.

Between the 17 and 16 N. latitude a narrow trough lying off the port of
Rajapur, and ranging in depth from 700 to 1,300 feet, separates from the main-
land an isolated bank, covered by little more than 60 feet of water. From this
submarine plateau of Angria there stretches a series of banks, reefs, islands, and
islets southwards to the centre of the Indian Ocean, and although separated here

and there by broad and deep channels, all these insular chains may be regarded as
belonging to the same geological formation. The Laccadives, Minicois, Maldives,
and Chagos islands all form part of this southern range, which has a total length
of 1,550 miles between the Angria and Centurion banks. Jointly with the
western group of the Seychelles it completely separates the Arabian Sea from the

open waters of the Indian Ocean, and forms, according to many naturalists, the
backbone of a now vanished continent. From the characteristic apes of Madagascar
the name of Lemuria has been given to this region, which till the beginning of

the tertiary epoch is supposed to have occupied most of the space lying between
Malaysia and the east coast of Africa.
South of Angria the soundings have revealed another bank, Adas, covered by
260 feet of water. Below the 14 N. latitude the shallows begin with the Coradivh
whose reefs actually rise above the surface. The Sesostris
(island of Cora), none of
bank and the Bassas and Pedro (Padna or Munyal par bank) also form part of
these shallows, which are separated by intervening channels 2,000 feet deep.
Tin: I.ACCADIVES.

S. m th <>f these banks are scattered the Laccadives,


which are encircled by still
deeper troughs, and sepurut. <1 h<.iu the mainland by an abyss where the plummet
has been sunk 7,800 feet without reaching the bottom.

THE LACCADIVE*.

The " Hundred thousand


Loccadives, or Laksha-dvipa, that is, I-los," can only
claim thin title by including the countless reefs encircling the islands and exposed
at low water. Apart from a few rocks, tnere are altogether not more than twelve
islands always above water, and of these eight only are inhabited. Directly
attached to the Indian Empire arc Chctlat, Kiltan, Eodumat and Aniini (Aniindivi),
while Agath (Aucuttu), Kavuruthi, Antrot, and Kalpeni are administered on behalf
of the "Bibi" of Cannamore. Lying on the trade route of the Arab vessels

sailing to the west coast of the Peninsula, the Laccadives were certainly known
from the earliest times, although their slight elevation gave rise to much doubt as
to their true character. The old traditions of rapid changes and disappearances
are not confirmed by the present inhabitants, and we now know that the islands
increase or diminish slowly under the diverse action of madrepores, marine

currents, erosions, and cyclones. Each island, consisting of sand and decomposed
coralmixed with some vegetable humus, rises little more than 10 or 12 feet above
high-water level, and the cliffs are continued, especially on the west
side, by banks,

somewhat depressed in the centre. Thus are developed a number of lagoons


communicating by narrow channels with the sea. Several of the Laccadives are
encircled by annular reefs like the atolls of the Pacific Ocean, but lucking the

surprising regularity of the Maldives.


Although there are no springs in the islands, good water abounds everywhere.
On piercing the upper layer of coral, and removing the sand on which it rests, the
natives find a copious supply, which, as on the north coast of Ceylon, rises and falls
with the tides. without being very productive, yields rice, sweet
The soil,

potatoes, oranges, and especially coconuts. Of this palm there are over 250,000
plants, that the inhabitants require, and also supply the coir, or
which yield nearly all

fibre, forming their staple export.* The only indigenous mammals are the rats,
which are very destructive to the coconut plantations. Cattle have been im-

ported, but they are a small, feeble breed. The natives are of Malayalim speech,
allied by tradition to the Nairs, and by religion to the Mohammedan Moplahs.
Although no Hindus reside in the Archipelago the wealthy families claim descent
from the high castes of the mainland. In the northern Islands, which are ad-
ministered by the English, property is generally transmitted through the nude
line but in the south, the women have prcw -rvi-d the supremacy derived from the
;

old matriarchal customs. Excluding the banks and reefs, the Laccadives ha\e a
total area of 20 square miles, with a population of 10,695 in 1871.

Between the Laccadives and Maldives lies the solitary island of Minicui or
Minacai, consisting of a coralline crescent, whose two horns are continued west-

Average yearly export* of the Laccadivet, 17,000.


884 INDIA AND INDO -CHINA.

wards by an annular reef. Thus is formed an inner lagoon, accessible to boats and
even ships, through a channel over 12 feet deep at high water. The island has a
total length of 6 miles, but is only a few hundred yards wide, and would be swept
but for an embankment 20 feet high running for
by the sea in rough weather
east side. This structure has often suffered from the
nearly 2 miles along tjie
cyclones, one of which in 1867 carried off a sixth of the whole population. The
chief products are coconuts, coir, salt fish, and white cowries (cyprcea moneta),
which are used as a currency in Africa. Besides their fishing- smacks, the natives
own about a dozen odies, or vessels, with which they trade as far as Ceylon and
Calcutta. They form five castes, of which the first two own all the land with its
coconut plantations. The three others do all the work, and the women especially
are very industrious. Polyandry no longer practised, and although the people
is

are exclusively Mohammedans, there is no case of polygamy. Politically, the island

depends on the Bibi of Cannanore, but by its language


and traditions it belongs to
the Maldive Group. An islet at the southern extremity of the lagoon is set apart
as a hospital and cemetery.*

THE MALDIVES AND CHAGOS ISLANDS.

The archipelago of the Maldives, that is, the " Thousand," the " Malabar," the
" " Rock "
Male," or the Islands, as the name is variously interpreted, stretches
for over 500 miles north and south, some of its southernmost reefs penetrating into
the southern hemisphere. The vast zone occupied by its atolls has in some places a
breadth of nearly 50 miles but the whole area of the land exposed at low water is
;

estimated at scarcely more than 2,000 square miles, and at high water five-sixths
of this space are submerged.! The sultan takes the official title of " King of the
thirteen provinces," and of the 12,000
islands. According to Owen this is scarcely
a third or a fourth of the actualnumber, although, apart from mere reefs, a few
hundred only appear on the most carefully prepared charts. Ptolemy reckoned as
many as 1,378, but not more than 175 are inhabited.
Even in the Pacific there are no coral islands that present more symmetrical
atolls with lagoons in the centre. At high water each separate island forms a
crescent- shaped bank, or segment of an annular reef, which is
entirely exposed
only at low water. Nor are they distributed irregularly over the surface, but
grouped in circles or ellipses in such a way as collectively to form an atoll, whose
coral ring, broken at a thousand points, encloses a central lake. Moreover, the
nineteen atolls thus developed form altogether, so to say, one vast elongated atoll,
which encircles an inland sea many hundred fathoms deep. To account for these
regular formations, Darwin supposes that mountains of diverse elevation formerly
stood on the site of the now scarcely emerged Maldive Archipelago. Round this
upland region the zoophytes then built up their coral rings to within a few feet of
the surface. But the hills, lying in an area of subsidence, gradually disappeared,
* Area of
Minicty, 2} square miles population (1871), 2,800.
;

t Area of the Maldives at high water, 360 square miles; population, 1-50,000.
TIIH MALDIVES AND CHAOOS ISLANDS.

the outor barrier was lowered, and the polyps compelled to build higher and higher.
10 channels were
open< d between the coral format inns, which thus became
distributed in separate islands, round which were <lr\.-!..|-<l fresh rings of less
extent. Lastly, these islands themselves became again subdivided in the same
way, and thus were formed within
the outer circle secondary rings, Fig. 165. MAHLI-MAMU ATOLLS.
Scale 1 :900/X.
which, in their turn, were divided
into numerous tertiary fragments.
Like the Laccudives and north
coast of Ceylon, the Maldives pos-
sess an abundance of fresh water
lying beneath the coral surface, and
supporting a more exuberant vege-
tal inn than that of the neighbouring
insular groups. Besides the coco-
nut groves there are extensive
bread-fruit, banyan, and tamarind
plantations ; and, according to

Owen, the flora includes also the


todoicea of the Seychelles, which
yields the sea coconut, regarded
in India as a specific against all
maladies.
No regular census has been taken
of the population. About 1,500 are
grouped on the Mule", or King's
atoll, residence of the sultan, and
situated near the centre of the
stern chain of islands. This is

the most populous community, and


the only one which is permitted
to trade directly with strangers.
Of the other inhabited atolls few
have more than a few hundred resi-
dents, whose houses are usually
erected on piles, as a protection
against the rats. Every village
has its weavers, potters, and workers !:. :-. ! : : ...: :-.
;

in metal, although in the time of 18 Mile..

I'yrnrd each island was set apart

to a special trade.

The group of Chagos atolls forms a distinct archipelago, separated from the
Maldives by a channel .'JOO miles broad and 2,500 fathoms deep. The chief bank,
which is almost completely submerged, has a circumference of 'J70 miles, without
reckoning the inlets and headlands. Darwin regards it OR the remnant of a region
B86 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

which subsided too rapidly to allow the polyps time for the erection of their coral
reefs. But however this may be, the south and east sides are under water ranging
from 25 to over 300 feet in depth, while in the north there is nothing but the islet
of Nelson overgrown with brushwood. Towards the west, however, the surface
known as the Three Brothers and Eagle Islands.
is broken by six fragments of reefs,
The Solomon and Perros Banhos lying north of the Chagos Bank, comprise
atolls,
their annular reefs, and the Egmont
ten and twenty two islets respectively on
of six rocks. The Diego Garcia atoll, situated at
group on the south-west consists
the south-east corner, forms an irregular coral barrier, of which about seven-tenths
rise above the surface. It has a total length of 31 miles, but except in the extreme

Fig. 166. CHAGOS BANK.


Scale 1 :
2,000,000.

jiO

5'

71*30

to 160 Feet 160 to 320 Feet. 820 to 1,600 Feet. 1,600 Feet
and upwards.

30 Miles.

north- west, is nowhere much more than 1,000 yards broad. The northern gap
separating its two main branches is blocked by three islets.

After their discovery by the Portuguese, the Chagos atolls remained uninhabited
till the end of the last century, when some planters from Mauritius founded some
settlements for the preparation of coconut oil. Since the year 1791 this industry
has been in the hands of the French Creoles from the same island. In Diego

Garcia, which has also been utilised as a station for lepers from the Mascarenhas

group, are concentrated two-thirds of the


whole population.* It is visited three

* Area of the 76 square miles; population (1871), 689: coconut-oil exported (1880),
Chagos Isles,

160,000 gallons.
THE MALDIVES AND CHA008 ISLANDa 887

vrar by \f--cN i'mm Mauritius, ami h n- r\rry two Jfflttl a ina-i-r rat.-
a

holds his court. The lagoon enclosed by iU two coral barrier* forms one of tho

Fig. 167. DiBOO OAECIA.


teal* I : 800.000.

Rock, exposed OtoStFett. MtoWFwt. 80to040FC. C40 Feet and


t ebb. upward*.
'"""

finest harbours in the world, accessible to the largest vessels, and affording every

facility for establishing repairing docks, outfitting


and coaling stations.
CHAPTER XVIII.

MATERIAL AND MOEAL CONDITION OF INDIA,

CCORDING to the census of 1881, British India, including Dardistan,


Kashmir, Nepal, Bhutan, Cejrlon, the Laccadives and Maldives, the
native states, but excluding British Burma, has a total population
of 257,000,000,showing an increase of about 12,000,000 since the
census of 1871. At no former period was such a vast multitude
concentrated in the Cisgangetic peninsula, which at present embraces over one-
sixth of the human race. The population seems to have been doubled during the
last fifty years, and it is still increasing at a rapid rate, even in the most crowded

districts. As in Japan and all other Asiatic countries, where trustworthy returns
have been obtained, the males are everywhere in excess of the females, the opposite

being the case in Europe. In 1871 the difference was about 5,500,000, which,
however, should perhaps be partly attributed to the errors of the census takers, who
were seldom able to gain access to the zealously guarded family circles. Female
infanticide, formerly almost universal, especially in Rajputana, is now everywhere
vigorously repressed, so that this great discrepancy between the sexes will probably
henceforth tend to disappear.

VITAL STATISTICS.

Of natives of the British Isles, excluding the military and seafaring classes,
there were in 1871 not more than 59,000, mostly tea and coffee planters, miners,
engineers, mechanics and traders the Scotch element being relatively by far the
most numerous. India is often spoken of as a British " colony," but no attempt
has ever been made to colonise even the
healthy and temperate upland districts
of the
Himalayas, Chota-Nagpore, the Nilghiris or Anamalah Hills. Such under-
takings could never succeed in the face of native competition, which prevents even
Chinese peasants from settling in the agricultural lands. Hence, India never can
become a colony, in the strict sense of the word, and must continue to be held by
military tenure.
At the same time the popular impression that the English race can never
become acclimatised, even in such health-resorts as Simla, Darjiling, Mahabalesh-
VITAL STATISTICS.

var or Utaknmund, has been ial-ifi. .1


)>y the experience of the last few decades.*
British immigrants, doubtless, run more danger than those of Southern Kuroj><
suH'er much, especially from dysentery and the marsh fevers of the alluvial t

Y-t I lit- excessive mortality, said to amount to over 50 per cent, in ten

seems to be largely due to the reckless-


ness with which the new arrivals expose Fi *- H.-KELATIV IXCRIAU POFVLATIOII
OFJHB
IK INDIA, Ei KOI-E, AKD THI TJinriD STATS*.
themselves to the action of the climate,
without modifying their northern habits
of life. Affections of the liver are in
direct proportion with the use of alco-

holic drinks, and many Englishmen, who wo! L__ I


,

regulate their diet and live


temperately,
enjoy excellent .health, suffering less
asol
}.
... _j
even than the natives from fever and

epidemics. The diminished mortality of ;

--r -t --1-J- i

the British troops, which was gradually


reduced from 69 per 1000 in 1854, to .J ._L. ' _.o._
12'71 in 1877,t also shows that acclima-
tisation in India is largely a question of
r -r \

diet and improved sanitary arrangements.


At present the death-rate in the Anglo- . _.
r
Indian army is
relatively less than in
many European states, and is even lower 180 L_J
than amongst the native troops, whose
losses amounted in 1879 to 13*38 per

1000.

Amongst civilians many families have


become perfectly acclimatised ; several

generations have succeeded each other in


various parts of the Peninsula, and there
can be no longer any doubt that the

English race might thrive in this region.


The climate is no doubt supposed to be
peculiarly fatal to children ; but even
this point is far from certain, for all the
"
high functionaries, prince merchants,"
and wealthy classes, send their young
offspring to England for their education.
Amtria.
The half-caste Eurasians, that is,
Germany. Ot. BriUin. Italy. United State*
Europeo- Asians, sprung of European
fathers and native mothers, contribute little to consolidate the British rule, for

they are regarded as English neither by the Hindus nor by the pure-blood whites.
Morally, also, they are wily and untruthful, and enjoy less consideration at present
Clement* Markham, " Travel* in India and Peru." t Frunci* Gallon.
BOO INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the ruling race,


than formerly. Shamefully disowned by their fathers, despised by
and hated by the natives, they lead a precarious life of misery and neglect, After
the Sepoy mutiny, during which all alike were threatened, a certain solidarity
was
the English and half-breeds but the
momentarily established between ; friendship
did not survive the common danger, and at present the wealthy Parsis and
long
Hindus receive a relatively larger share of government patronage than the

Fie. 169. UTAKAMUJTD VIEW TAKEN FROM A SPUR OP THE DODABETTA.

unfortunate Eurasians. Those of English, French, and Portuguese origin number


altogether at most half a million, the last being relatively the most numerous, and
so long established that they are often scarcely to be distinguished from the

surrounding Hindus except by their style of dress. The Jews, settled in several
towns along the west coast many centuries before the Portuguese, have nevertheless

type, a circumstance due to their greater purity of blood,


far better preserved their

and to the maintenance of their hereditary professions.


VITAL STATISTICS. Ml
The general growth of the population appears to be everywhere greater
amongst the races of Aryan speech, whatever be their real origin or present
n-liirion. These populations already comprise four-fifths of ull the inhabitants of
the Peninsula, and this proportion is-
being continually increased, thanks to the

Tig. 170 JKWIKH Wo*** or COCKXV.

advantages secured to them by a more fertile soil, a better climate, and ruicr
means of communication. The aborigines of Audh, Behar and Bengal have been
for the most part Hinduised; while Hindu influences are gradually spreading
amongst the Bhils, Mhairs, Gonds, Sanials, Bodos, and other primitive peoples of
Rajputaua, the Central Provinces, Chota-Nagpore, and Kuchar. Thus the number
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of wild tribes, still collectively estimated at some 12,000,000, is diminishing from

vear to year, chiefly through the steady encroachments of civilisation on the savage
world. The increase is much slower in the Dravidian linguistic domain, one half
of which consists of a slightly productive and badly watered plateau. Here also

Fig. 171. DENSITY OP THE POPULATION OK INDIA.


Scale 1 :
30,000

10'

'

E of Gr

Population per square mile.

Oto20. 20 to 40. 40 to 200. 200 to 400. Over 400.


Each square mile represents a population of 50,COO.
Towns with over 100,000 inhabitants.

the natural growth in the more populous and fertile coast-lands is carried off
by
emigration.
Although nearly every racial trait is represented amongst these vast multitudes,
the prevailing type is characterised by pliant limbs, thin legs, a
purely oval face,
regular features, black a
wavy hair, complexion ranging from the Italian brown to
that of the swarthy Arab, penetrating glance, mild but suspicious
expression.
AGRICULTURE. INDUSTRIES.

While less muscular than the European, the Hindu is more graceful in his move-
ments, and on the whole even better looking. Morally, the natives of India are
iwticiit, temp, fond of study, but also wily and somewhat untrust-
nite, lalioriouA,

worthy. Their feeble physique has often been attributed to their vegetable diet;
but it is a mistake to -up] ><.-< that the Hindus are strict vegetarians. Beef, no
doubt, is forbidden but all cat butter, milk, and, where procurable, fish and mutton.
;

The forming the staple food vary from district to district. Rice, either
cereals

alone or mixed with mai/c, prevails in the Ganges delta, Behar, and along the sea-
board barley and various species of millet on the plateaux ; wheat in the northern
;

provinces; the fruit and sap of the pulm in many parts of Travancore, Madura,
and Cochin.*
Epidemics commit fearful ravages among these enfeebled populations. Cholera
is domiciled inall the large towns elephantiasis, under various forms, is very
;

common, affecting one-fifth of the inhabitants in some provinces ; and in 1872


there were as many as 102,000 lepers in the three Presidencies alone. The mean
death-rote for the whole of India is stated by Hunter to be 32'57 per 1,000, or

one-third higher than in West Europe. But the popular imagination is especially
struck by the horrors of the periodical famines, which, in a single province, has at
times swept away a fourth, or even a third of the population in a few months.
Since 1771, when 10,000,000
perished in Bengal and Behar, twenty-one great
famines have succeeded each other, during eight of which the victims were
reckoned by millions. In 1866 Orissa lost one million, that is, a fourth of its
inhabitants and in 1868 1,200,000 died of starvation in the Punjab, and three times
;

that numberin the feudatory states of Rnjputuna and the plateau. Including the
wasted tracts in the Nizam's dominions, the famine of 1877 carried "IV. probably,
not less than 4,000,000 altogether. Yet while such multitudes were perishing for
want of food, the port of Calcutta continued to export large quantities of corn to
foreign countries, the famished districts being too poor to pay its market price.
However, towards the close of the two famines of 1874 and 1877, the Government
interfered in the purchase and distribution of cereals. Energetic measures were
also taken to organise relief works, such as roads, canals and railways, on which
16,000,000 were spent between the years 1874 and 1877.

AGRICULTURE. INDUSTRIES.

That the vast majority of the population of India belongs to the peasant class,
is evident from the Census of 1872, which enumerated 1,460 towns with 5,000

inhabitants and upwards, forming a total urban population of 18,000,000 that is, ;

less than one- tenth of the British possessions alone. On the other hand, there are
over 240,000 villages with loss than 200 souls, 200,000 whose population ranges
from 200 to 1,000, and 3*2,130 in which it varies from 1,000 to 3,000.
From the somewhat incomplete otlicial returns, it appears that not more than
one-third of the whole land is under cultivation. Certainly the rocky slopes of the

Barley and millet u the staple food of 100,000,000 ; mheat of 80.000.000 ; rice of 75,000, COO.

00
394 INDIA AND INDO-C1IINA.

Himalayas, many parts of the Thar desert, and of the Dekkan plateaux, can never

J
be cultivated ;
but extensive tracts might nevertheless be elsewhere reclaimed
either by irrigation, drainage, or merely clearing the jungle. Yet in several
AG RICULTURE. INDUSTRIES.

the rural population is already overcrowded, and the land xuMivided to


di-t riots

ueh an extent, that the plots ore too small to support their owners, or tenants,
and leave enough to pay the taxes and other burdens. According as the fertile
tracts become more scarce with the ever- increasing population, the price rises

Pig. 173. FAMINE ZOKB, OHIMA.


Boatol: 4^00,000.

Zooe of greatest intensity. ZOM of 10Mt intensity.


60 MOM.

through competition, and poverty thus perpetuated and intensified. Yet the
is

land everywhere earei'ully cultivated; the tiller contrives to raise two, or


is

three crops in the year; he perfei-tly understands the necessity of a proper system
of rotation, manures the soil and skilfully regulates iU irrigation, where needed.
896 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

Next which in favourable seasons are exported, opium is the most


to cereals,

important crop commercially. It is cultivated chiefly


on the plains of the Ganges,
in the Benares and Patna districts, and on the Malwa plateau. The total yearly
value of the crop, which is a state monopoly, and which is
exported exclusively to
Farther India and China, is about 12,000,000, of which 9,000,000 are net profit.
The cotton crop both less important and subject to great oscillations from year
is

to year. During the American war the export rose in four years from 3,000,000
to 37,000,000, after which it rapidly declined, and varies at present from
8,000,000 to12,000,000. The cotton-growing districts
comprise altogether
over 10.000,000 acres but the indigenous plant is inferior in length of fibre, and
;

in other respects, to that of the United States, and in several districts of Bombay it

has already been replaced by varieties from America.


While the so-called " regurs," or black lands of the Dekkan, and the laterite of
Carnatica, are found most suitable for cotton culture, jute flourishes best on the
alluvial riverain tracts,and especially the more recent "char," or "tey " forma-
tions. Hence this fibre is cultivated mainly in North and East Bengal, especially
along the banks of the Brahmaputra. It is chiefly in the hands of small landed
proprietors, who raised over 310,000 tons in 1879, and exported to the value of
3,800,000. In the same year the indigo crop, cultivated at present principally
in Behar and Madras, was estimated at 1,467,000. But indigo has been largely
replaced, especially by tobacco, which was introduced into the Ganges basin in the
seventeenth century, and which now covers altogether over 500,000 acres in various

parts of the Peninsula. The best qualities are produced in Tirhoot, Cocanada, and
the islands of the Godaveri, Dindingal, and Trichinapoli. "Within the last thirty

years India has become, next to China, the greatest tea-producer, and at the present
rate of progress promises soon to take the leading place as an exporter of this
it

article. The proportion


of Indian teas imported into England rose from one-tenth
of the whole in 1870 to one-third in 1880. This plant flourishes between the
altitudes of 2,000 and 6,500 feet, along the Himalayan slopes, in the doars of
Bhutan, in Sikkim, Kangra, Kumaon, and Garhwal, and is continually advancing
up the Assam hills, in Chota-Nagpore, the Nilghiris, Kurg, Wainad, Ceylon, and
British Burma. The finest qualities come from Kangra, and are said to rival the
best Chinese varieties. But this industry has acquired its greatest development in
Assam, where the first tea plantations were established. Of the whole crop, which
in 1882 was valued at 4,000,000, about one-half is raised in that province.
In Southern India and Ceylon, coffee-culture corresponds to that of tea in the
north. The Mysore plateau, Wainad, and
slopes of the Ghats, certain parts of the

especially the Kurg and Ceylon uplands, are already covered with plantations of
this shrub, which was first introduced into the Peninsula by a pilgrim from Mecca,

in 1560. At present the annual crop is estimated at about 5,600,000, of which


over three-fourths are accredited to Ceylon.
The aspect of the country has in many places been modified by clearances. In
most of the thinly-peopled districts the peasantry fire the jungle, sow their corn in
the ashes, and, after exhausting the soil, repeat the same process elsewhere. In
AGRICULTURE.- !:IKS. B8f

this vast tract* have been entirely eleared, while in many populous
way regions the
destruction of forests has been *till more complete-. In some of tin- I*|.JMT
(iunges
and .lanina plains not a single tree is now visible, and on tin- I)ekkan
plateau
the traveller may journey for days together through treeless districts. Tin- forests
of the Southern (jliat-, Kur^, Corhin, \N'ainad, and Truvancore have been wast.

Fig. 174. CHIEF Aouci I.TI KM i'uoutcn or INDIA.


SoUa 1 : 10,000.000.

(Mte. TM. Coffe*. Jute.

900 Mile..

the great injury of the land, which has beon deeply furrowed by the action of
the tropical rains. Since 1860, however, the woodland districts have In-en plared
under State control; the barbarous sys;m of culture by tiring the jungle is now
forbidden, and here and there the work of plantation has been seriously taken
in hand. On the Himalayan slopes every health-resort bus been surrounded with
Bti INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

of European species while in Sikkim, the Nilghiris, and


parks and orchards, chiefly ;

the highlands of Ceylon, great encouragement has been given to the growth of
such useful exotics as the eucalyptus, the Bolivian cinchona, and varieties of the
caoutchouc from Malaysia, Madagascar, Mexico, and Brazil. In 1879 over four
x
million cinchona plants had already been propagated in the forests of the Peninsula.

Fig. 175. IURIOATION WORKS OF INDIA.


Scale 1 : 25,000.000.

Iff

E.fG

Lands irrigated Lands supplied Lands to be


by Canals. with Reservoirs. irrigated.

___^_^_^_^__ 600 Miles.

In certain provinces no tillage would be possible but for artificial irrigation.

Such are the plains of the lower Indus, besides a large part of the Panjab and the
doabs of Hindustan proper. In Southern India the water is retained iij terraced
reservoirs, whence it is drawn off during the dry season, through numberless irri-

gating rills. By merely restoring the old embankments, and completing the network
AGRK ri/rruK. INI

of canals, the English have succeeded in reclaim in- many million acres of wastelands.
But in the north the streams fl.iwing from the Himalayas have too rapid a course
to be confined in reservoirs hence here the discharge i* controlled chiefly ly
; 1

canals with sluices. Of these great -\vorks the Ganges canal is the largest in

Fig. 176. GEOLOGICAL MAP or IVDIA.


Bode I : J8/WXOOO.

00* t Of Gr

Alluvium. TerUmry. Jui TTUJMC.

M.umn Carboniferous.

the world ; but many others, branching from the Indus, Satlej, Ravi, Son, are also
remarkable monuments of human industry. The Sarju, Gandak, Tapti. Narbaduh,
and other large rivers, are also utilised for fertilizing the land; and in the whole of
India about J30 million acres altogether have been brought under cultivation by the
400 INDIA AND INDO-CH1NA.

works of canalisation, on which about 12,500,000 were spent between the \

1868 and 1878.


The artisans of India have at all times been distinguished by their skill and the

many of the native industries have


delicacy of their workmanship. Unfortunately
the existence of others is seriously threatened.
already nearly disappeared, while
The looms of Dakka, and so many other formerly prosperous cities, are now silent,
which produced those gossamer muslins so admired by the early European travellers.
Kashmir still exports its famous shawls, but the number of hands is yearly
diminishing; while those that remain are now satisfied with slavishly imitating
European or older patterns. From England now come the models of woven fabrics
or jewellery which continues to be produced either in the State prisons or in the

Fig. 177. THB PANNA DIAMOND FIELDS.


Scale 1 : 460,000.

80*10

MM
Diamond Mines.
6 Miles.

freeworkshops of impoverished craftsmen. The English ladies have also introduced


the manufacture of lace into the schools and Christian congregations.

During the Anglo-French wars of the last century, the manufacturing industry,
properly so called, was very active in the foreign factories. Around every fort
the Indian companies had established hundreds and even thousands of weavers,
who supplied them with fabrics for exportation to the west. But this process has
been reversed by the prodigious development of the textile industry in Lancashire ;

and cotton goods, especially the coarser kinds, are now imported from England.
But some Scotch, Jewish, Parsi, and other capitalists have endeavoured to profit
by the double advantage of the raw material and the consumers on the spot, and
cotton-spinning mills are now at work in the neighbourhood of Bombay. Large
RAILWAYS. TRADE. SHIPPING. 401

jute factories have also been estaMN utta. But the metollurgic works,
founded ly tin- State and l>y jirivatr eiitei-pri*',
in (
'hota-Xagpore and some other
distrieN, have not proved very successful. Of these the largest are the foundries

of Jainaljmr, which employ nearly three thousand hands.


To become a great industrial centre, what India chiefly needs is an abundance
of cheap fuel. Burma, the coal-measures cover altogeth'
Including British
area of about 36,000 square miles; but most of the d- p.. -its are too poor to pay
for the expense of mining, while others are of very inferior quality. Hence the
total available quantity is small, and the annual yield is estimated at not more than
one million tons.
The other mineral products, such as the diamonds of 1'anna. Sambalpur, and
Earnul the gold of Wainad the copper of Singbhum and the Himalayas the
; ; ;

iron of Salem and Chota-Nagpore are also relatively of small economic import-
ance. Of all minerals, the most extensively worked is salt, which is a government
monopoly. But the pearl fisheries, near the Indian side of the Gulf of Manaar,
have been abandoned, while those of Ceylon are only productive at intervals of
several years.

RAILWAYS. TRADE. SHIPPING.

Since the great and increasing development of continental nnd oceanic high-

ways, inland and foreign trade has continued rapidly to expand from decade to
decade. By reducing to one half the distance between India and England, the
Suez Canal has revolutionised the system of exchanges; while the local traffic has
received a great stimulus from the network of railways now overspreading the
Peninsula. Of network the first section was the short line opened in 1853
this

between Bombay and Salsette. In the same year were projected the great trunk
lines which connect the three capitals, Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, but which
were not finished till 1871. Now the whole system is nearly completed by
secondary linos, uniting the Bay of Bengal with the Afghan
frontier, traversing
the Indus Valley from Karachi to Peshawar, connecting Bombay on the one hand
with Delhi, on the other with Tuticorin over against Ceylon. The chief gaps
still to be supplied are a direct line from
Bombay through Nagpore to Calcutta,
two coast-lines on both sides of the Peninsula, the junction of the Indus with the
Rajputana sections, and a line between Calcutta and the Irrawaddi bnsin. The
system also still remains isolated from that of the west, and the future connection
of India by an overland route is one of the most serious
political questions of the

present time.
Road-making has not progressed with the same relative rapidity as railways.
Of the 560,000 miles of postal routes, not more than 20,000 can be regarded aa
properly constructed, with the necessary bridges and embankments. One of the
most remarkable of these finished highways runs for 1. ""<> miles from Calcutta
directly to Peshawar, and throws off several branches towards the Iranian .plateau,
Kashmir, the Himalayan and Tibetan uplands. In the Himalayas the Darjiling
402 INDIA AND 1NDO-CHINA.

while the road to Tibet turns


Railways creep up to an elevation of over 7,000 feet,
the escarpments of the Upper Satlej at an altitude equal to that of Mount Blanc.
On allthe routes frequented by Europeans convenient bungalows, or wayside

stations, have been constructed, either by the Imperial Government or by the

feudatory States. x

The canals serve less for passenger than for goods traffic. The Brahmaputra-
Ganges delta as well as those of the Indus, Maha Naddi, Godaveri, Kistna and

Fig. 178. RAILWAYS OF INDIA.


Scale 1 : 30,000,000.

-.

feo

70' E of G

600 Miles.

Caveri, are all intersected by numerous navigable watercourses ;


while the lagoons
and backwaters of both coasts, and the great canals of the Ganges and Panjab, are
all available the transport of merchandise.
for Excluding the rivers, these
navigable highways have a total length of about 13,000 miles, and represent an
outlay of over 20,000,000. The sea-borne traffic has also acquired a vast
development, and is
greatly promoted by the magnificent fleet of the Peninsula
CA8TE.-RELIOION. SOCIAL PROGRESS. -inn

and Oriental Company, comprising about fifty ^earners of nearly 150,000 tons,
exclusive of tenders, tugs, and launches.

Although exceeding 140,000,000 yearly, (lie general trade of India is of far


less importance than might ut first sight be
supposed. While relatively gr atlv
inferior to that of France or Australia, only slightly surpasses that of Italy, and
it

is
actually exceeded by that of Belgium. At the some time the rate of increase
has been very rapid. eNjM-cially during recent years, the exchanges having fur more
than doubled between 18G1 and 1881. About half of the whole amount is repre-
sented by the export of cotton and the import of woven goods from England. The

export of opium places China in the next rank, after which comes France, which
imports from British India oleaginous seeds, indigo, silk, cotton, and coffee to the
yearly amount of 6,000,000, and maintains a direct trade of over 1,200,000
with her own possessions. The commerce is steadily increasing with Australia,
which forwards copper, horses, and other produce to the annual value of 1,000,000
in return for rice, tea, coffee, estimated at 24,000,000. difference, paid The
almost exclusively in silver, contributes to maintain the relative value of this metal
in the money market, while the rate of the exchanges is uniformly in favour of
Great Britain.
About three-fourths of the shipping engaged in the Indian sea-borne traffic
also belongs toEngland, which, by building steamers specially adapted for the Suez
Canal route, has nearly monopolised the carrying trade of the East. The number
of vessels plying between Great Britain and the Indian seaports has no doubt
diminished during the past twenty years but their capacity has increased, and
;

steamers having largely replaced sailing vessels, the number of trips has, of course,

proportionately augmented. On
the other hand, the coasting trade with East

Africa, Socotra, and Madagascar is almost entirely in the hands of Banian merchants.

Through the Irrawaddi a considerable traffic has been developed with Burma but ;

the exchanges with the other frontier states of Afghanistan, Kashmir, Nepal, and
Tibet are relatively of small account.

CASTE. RELIGION. SOCIAL PROGRESS.

The constantly increasing commercial relations of the interior have hitherto


tended little to efface the caste distinctions, which have become the best-observed

dogma of the national religions. Thus, broken into a thousand social fragments,
the indus nowhere form a compact nationality, bound together by common interests
1 I

and inspired by the same political aspirations. It seems to be now placed beyond
doubt that the assumed primordial division of the people into four classes or
" colours " Bruhmans or
those of the fair priests, of the red Eshatryas or warriors,
of the yellow Variya* or traders, of the black Siulras or labourers is a relatively
modern theory, due to the commentators of the sacred writings.* JSuch regular

stratifications of Hindu society never had any real existence, and ut all tiino the

endless contrasts produced by the various professions and pursuits must have
" Sanakrit TezU on the People of India."
Muir,
404 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

caused a great diversity of classes, rendering any systematic classification impossible.


The classic writers, although acquainted only with a portion of the northern plains,
speak not of four, but of seven castes ; yet at the same time four distinct groups

Fig. 179. TYPES AND COSTUMES BANJAUI MBX AND WOMEN.

alone can now be recognised the Brahmans, the peasants, the traders, and the
artisans.

Even the ruling caste itself, supposed to have sprung from the head of Brahma,
is made up of numerous subdivisions with no community of origin, engaged in
diiferent pursuits,and often even refusing to hold intercourse with each other.
Those few in number, and interest themselves chiefly in
officiating as priests are
ceremonial subtleties and questions of precedence. The Brahmans of Audh refuse
CASTE. RELIGION. SOCIAL PROGRESS. 405

to intermarry with those of Bengal, and will not even eat with them. In many
places theBrahnwns have become labourers, porters, servants; some are contemp-
tuously known as " I'ot;itu-^m\\, i>," Home as "Jungle Brahman*;" some are
descended from timers or Murk-miili*, while others are engaged as police agents.
In some <lUtri< -K the Sudras have been created Brahman*; in others, the local
aristocracy have maintained their rights, and have extorted from the intruding
niiaiis the
privilege of wearing the Mar ml thread.
Still greater are the ethnical distinctions
amongst the other social divisions.
run- Kshatryusare nowhere to be found, notwithstanding the pretensions of the
Rajputs to this origin. The various Buniuh, Murwari, Bungari corporations, not
to mention the Jamas, who do not even profess a Brahmanical religion, keep

entirely aloof from each other, without recognising the existence of the pretended
Vaisyu class. Sudra also is a mere generic term applied to the countless castes
and sub-castes outside those of the nobles and traders. In its original sense of
"
pure," this word seems to have designated, not people of inferior caste, but the
mass of the Aryan nation, as contradistinguished from the " impure Dasya

aborigines."
Outside these thousands of recognised associations, there are millions of " out-
castes," without race or rights, and whose very shadow may suffice to pollute. To
these the Europeans wrongly attributed the term Pariah, which belongs to a dis-
tinct group of thirteen castes included in the right division. The true outcastcs
are known the central provinces as Kanjars, in Cochin and Travancore as
in

Paliyars, and in the sacred books as Chandala. These are the scavengers, who live
on carrion, who dwell in kennels, who may he struck or even killed with impunity.
The two extremes of society are the Brahmans and the Chandalas, the former
heirs of all things, the latter without rights of any kind, herding with the beasts of
the jungle and forbidden to approach within 100 paces of the Brahman. This
distance varies from caste to caste, but is everywhere strictly regulated according

to ancient usage. Before the British rule death was the penalty for violating
these regulations, and even now soldiers of tie Nair caste cannot approach their
prisoners of inferior birth.
But has the spirit of caste now become, that the Christian
so ingrained

neophyte refuses to eat with the priest by whom he has been converted, and the
father closes his door to the son who has travelled abroad, and thereby lost caste.

Formerly suicide was the only resource of a Brahman -thus rejected, and in order
Hindus were obliged to do penance for years,
to recover their caste privileges rich
and make offerings of half their substance to the priests. But this heavy yoke is
being slowly cased, and its prescripts are daily growing less rigid. In
the north,

where society received a shock from the Mohammedan conquest, class distinctions
have become far more obscure than in the south, where the people have remained
under the undisturbed authority of the old laws. The great moral revolution
brought about by Buddhism has also left deep traces, and since then analogous
movements have taken place. Thus in the fourteenth century. Kahir endeavoured
to unite rich and poor in the common worship of an " inner God," at once
406 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

and Rama, who imposed on his followers no precepts except that of mutual love.
Castes have even disappeared in some districts, where numerous sects have pro-
claimed the principle of universal equality. Secret societies have even been

formed, composed of all castes, whose members observe the prescribed usages by
day, but who at nightvassociate together.
The rich traders also repeat that " their
caste is in the cash-box," while the masses are being perceptibly transformed under
the influence of instruction and economic changes.

Every conceivable form of fetichism and animism found amongst the peoples
is

of Bengal. Trees, stones of fanciful shapes, strange objects whose nature is un-
known, useful and noxious plants, domestic animals and wild beasts, the souls of
benefactors, or of dreaded oppressors, symbols of every kind, gods known and
unknown, all are equally worshipped. New divinities are even continually added
to the multitudinous Hindu pantheon. But the most striking feature of this
natural religion, as revealed in the old writings and practised by the rural popula-

tion, is the veneration paid by the Aryans to the firmament traversed by sun, moon,
and stars, the ever-shifting scene of night and day, where the cloud floats in mid-

air, where the lightning flashes and the thunder-crash is heard. Here is the origin

Fig. 180. PIIF.SCHIBED DISTANCES BETWEEN THE CASTES A\D OUTCASTES.

S '

g *
a

Ou: castes.

Various Castes.

of the whole Vedic cosmogony, the main source of classic mythology. The ganga
or rivers, which distribute the beneficent waters, are worshipped almost as highly
as the heavens whence they descended in the form of rain. In this tropical land,
where all the humid regions were formerly overgrown with dense forests, trees also

naturally became objects of veneration. The banian is regarded as a sacred temple


in whose trunk the sinner dwells for a period, and is thus " born a second time."
Special honour was paid to the lotus, which was taken as the emblem of all living
things, of everything expanding in beautiful and regular forms. This lotus-
worship spread with Buddhism throughout Java, China, and Japan, and by the
Egyptians dwelling on the banks of the fertile Nile the same plant had been
adopted as the symbol of the universe.
The old animal- worship has also been perpetuated in modern India. The sacred
ox, marked with Siva's trident, is a familiar object in the southern and western
cities ; legends of the snake-gods and man-tigers survive in every jungle village,
while the serpent carved in stone guards all the hamlets of Mysore. Thousands of
Hindus still bow the knee to the fatal cobra, and in Behar the English officials in
vain set a price on the head of the destructive wolf ; for here, as elsewhere, " fear
made the gods." Hence such epidemics as small-pox and cholera rank amongst
the most venerated deities, while the very dead become superior beings, to be pro-
CASTE. RELIGION. SOCIAL PEOGBESS. 407

pitiated by oblations. But amongst the myriads of spirits there still remain so
many that p-t overlooked, and coliseum rtly Meek vengeance on the living! Air,
, forest, everyplace is infested by these accursed rakshasa, which in the gloom
r alxmt in search of their prey. Hence the Hindu by night only under
travels
incantation tuught him -by the
compulsion, and after exhaust ing all the forms of
j.ri.M. He i* then fortunate in meeting a European, for these evil spirits axoj.l

those who (li.-lu'lieve their jMiwer.

I'.nt <f all the members of the Hindu pantheon, Siva, or Muhadeo that is, the
" Great God" has the greatest number of votaries. In their eyes he represent-,
not the principle of destruction alone, as has been supposed, but also creation and

preservation for he is the supreme god endowed with all the energies of birth,
;

life, and death. Hence his "20,000 names" express the whole series of faculties,

from perfect mildness to pitiless ferocity. Nevertheless he is invoked chiefly as a

god of terror, and so recently as the beginning of this century human sacrifices

were offered to him in many places. The Thugs also is, the sanguinary
that

priests of Kali, female personification of Siva constituted a whole community of

murderers, the dying breath of whose victims rejoiced the queen of heaven. And
now that these frightful sacrifices have been suppressed, they present wreaths of
flowers and sweetmeats to Kali, who presides over death and is worshipped by night,

but who is also identical with Parvati, goddess of love and beauty.
Buddhism, which has spread throughout the surrounding lands eastwards to

Japan, has almost completely disappeared from the Peninsula, having held its

ground as a distinct religion only in the Himalayan valleys and in the south of

Ceylon. The Shakya Muni, incomparable but mainly mythical model


doctrine of
of benevolence, devotion, and pity for suffering nature, represents a phase of
humanity essentially distinct from that which answers to the aristocratic ideal of
the Brahmuns. The latter are concerned with their own salvation alone, whereas

Buddha, the popular teacher, studies the happiness of all, even of the Chandalus
and irrational animals. All men were called to the priesthood, but with this

priesthood the hierarchy was restored, caste revived and even extended to new
regions. As the religion of the poor Buddhism had triumphed when adopted by ;

the rich it fell. The Brahmans thatagain seized its


is, the privileged classes

temples and banished its priests. But no systematic persecution seems to have
been organised, and according to most authorities Buddhism gradually died out
between the seventh and ninth centuries of the new era.
NVith this system are evidently associated the Juinus, now chiefly centred in
" " "
Gujarat and Marwar. Their founder, Jaina (Jina) the Holy," the Great Hero
to have flourished in
(Muhaxira), the "Conqueror of Vice and Virtue," seems
Behar about the time of Buddha, and his followers at one time prevailed in
Southern India. The .Jaina writings are still the most remarkable works in
Dravidian literature. No other sect has carried so fur the respect for all living

things, from the venomous snake to the smallest animalcule. The exercise of
" "
benevolence sums up the four duties of the Jainas yet as bankers and specu- ;

lators they are disliked by the masses. Although few in numbers, by their spirit of
KM INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.
share of the wealth of the land,
fellowship they have acquired a disproportionate
and some of their groups of sanctuaries, such as those of Palitana, Mount Abu,

Sunagarh, Parasnath, are amongst the most magnificent in the world.


Of foreign religions, Islam alone has gained a large following in the Peninsula,
where it now numbers about one-fifth of the inhabitants, thus constituting Great
Britain " the first Mohammedan power in the world." The Mussulmans are in a

Pig. 181. JAINA TEMPLES ON SUNAOABH.

majority only in the north-west, on both sides of the Indus. Elsewhere they are
powerful, chiefly in Bengal, and in the seaports of the southern seaboard, while
Haidarabad, the largest of the feudatory States, is governed by a Mohammedan
prince. But most of these Mussulmans, and especially those of Bengal, are merely
nominal followers of the Prophet. In many Gangetic villages both religions share
the same temples and ceremonies, the only difference being the forms *of prayer
uttered by the priests of the respective cults. Nevertheless, these cults have given
CA8TE.-RELIGION.-SOCIAL PROGRESS. 109

rise to differences in social habits and pursuits, and at


present nearly all the Lancart,
or seafaring rlnm-ut, arc Mohammedans, what. \.r 1- tli.ir ethnical utfi:

Dissensions even occasionally ln-ak out between the rival sects; temples and

Fig. 182. CHIEF PLACES or PILUXIMAOB ix I.MHA.

Bo>l 1 : S4.ooo.ooo.

Y *// A/ ^iwnaiTTJT*^"*
-

.U-f

a, Siraite ; V..

mosques have been alternately sucked, and


cut in the name
_

of Allah or of Vishnu.
^
Vihmii'r ; K . Kri.Jmnito

More than nine tenths of the Mussulmans, who appear to be increasing at a


;

n-lativrly more rapid rat- than other sectaries, belong to the Sunniu> faction.
J .

in the

The
J on ,

__^ *
M., Modrm ;

Mil.-n.
Chr., C>.ii*tUM.

crowded bazaars throats have been

Shiahs are centred chiefly in Ku>lnmr and Bombay ; but all live harmoniously
91
410 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Fig. 183. THE KVTAL MOSQUB, DELHI DISTRICT.

together, and even take part in the same religious feasts. More troublesome is the
Wahhabite confraternity, which, since 1830, has stirred up many local insurrections
CASTE. RELIGION. SOCIAL PROGRESS. 411

against ihf I'.iiii-li authorities, and which has consequently K n j.l.i.


,<1 under special
]>olice supervision. A favourite subject of discussion amongst them an- siu-li delicate
"
qnettUOl "I attract jH.licy as, "Are we bound to rel. 1 r "Is Indian country
of war, or of Islam!*" Do we owe obedience to tin- Knlif, or to tin- Kn<:li*h raj?"
That Christianity has long been establishi-d in India is evident both from con-
tinuous tradition, from tho crosses and symlxilic images of the Trinity, and from
IMil\i inscriptions found on Mount St. Thomas and elsewhere. The early Italian
missionaries of the fourteenth century were surprised to find Christian commun it ie*
in the Mulubur cities regarded as
socially equal to the Brahmans, and occupying
high positions in the State. After the arrival of the Portuguese, wholesale con-
versions were furthered by the secular arm, and at the Synod of Udiampur, near

Cochin, in 1599, three-fourths of the "Nazarenes" joined the Roman Church and
adopted the Latin rite. But persecution, intestine strife, and schism soon ensued,
and large numbers returned to the Hindu religions. At the time of the Dutch con-
" "
quest of Ceylon (1650), the Singhalese were officially Christians. But under the
new regime of administration, the King of Eandy was able to bring back the
Buddhist priests, who purified the temples and restored the old rites. Then the
Catholic missionaries were banished in their turn, and the Catholic religion re-
mained proscribed till the proclamation of universal tolerance under the British
rule, early in the present century. But by that time its adherents had been reduced
from over half a million On
the mainland the decrease was mainly
to 66,000.

due, as in China and Japan, to the rivalries of the Jesuit, Augustinian, and other

religious orders. By accommodating themselves to local usages and caste distinc-


tions, the Jesuits had always been the most successful in the work of conver-
sion. The Vishnuite or Sivaite catechumens were allowed to retain their distinctive

signs, the statue of the Madonna was arrayed like the idols of Bhavani, and
separate masses were celebrated for the several communities of different castes.
At present the Catholic and Protestant missionaries are chiefly engaged amongst
the poor, the low castes, and the wild tribes of the interior, but everywhere with
indifferent success. The first converts fancied they would be received into the
caste of their teachers but being quickly disenchanted, and perceiving that " to
;

become a Christian was to become a pariah," they mostly returned to the cult*
of their fathers. Although there are altogether about five thousand Protestant
evangelists of all denominations, their flocks scarcely number half a million collec-
tively. About half of these are centred in Madras, where they consist almost

exclusively of Portuguese Catholics and Nestorians, who have gone over to the
religion of their new political Not more than one-sixth
masters. of all the

proselytes belong to the middle and upper castes, and a large proportion are the so-
called " rice Christians," converted during the famines to keep from starvation.
In the seaports they are mistrusted by the traders, who prefer to employ natives that
have preserved the religion of their forefathers. On the whole, the civilised Hindus
are either indifferent or hostile to Christianity, regarding- it as a system of mirackn,
which might just as well take place in their own mythologies. For them Christ i*

at most their own Krishna, or perhaps a new avatar of Vishnu.


412 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

But if Hindus cannot be gained over to the Christian faith, a rapid internal
dissolution of the native religions is none the less going on largely under the
influence of The
places of pilgrimage
ideas. continue to be yearly less
European
in
cities are to the centres of industry ;
frequented ; the holy yielding importance
the crumbling templets are no longer restored ; religious indifference is spreading

amongst the masses, while the educated, rejecting the supernatural and retaining

Fig. 184. CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN INDIA.


Scale 1 : 30,000,000.

'

EofG

Missions.

Catholic. Protestant. Catholic and Protestant.


. 600 Miles.

the moral precepts alone of a vague deism, have begun to regard the national
beliefs merely as a historic evolution. The Brahma-samaj, the latest phase of Hindu
monotheism, differs in name only from English unitarianism. Although embracing
but few open adherents, it has its value as an index of the onward movement
of thought, corresponding to the progress of public instruction and morality.
How great has been this progress is shown by the utter extinction of suttee
CASTE.-RELIGION. -SOCIAL PROGRESS. 11

sine.-
suppression of female infanticide, the cessation of human
ls;-.\ l.y tin- rapid

sacrifice-, ;uidthe general spread of education. During the lust fifty yours the
nunilK-r of pupils lias increased a hundredfold, and in 1-S 7-J alxmt eleven millions
could at leaM read in one or other of the native languages. In some districts one-

fifth and recently the Sikhs have petitioned


of the children attend the schools,
ninent to introduce the compulsory system into the primary schools. These
schools are supported by rich and poor alike, the State contributing little more than
10 per cent, of the whole amount. Another symptom of progress is the rapid increase
in postal and telegraphic correspondence. A gratifying feature is also the increasing
social freedom and growing intelligence of the women. Many are now engaged on

Fig. 186. THE PHISCENS or BHOPAL.

the press or in teaching, and the Princess of Bhopal has recently taken part in

public affairs in defiance of the traditional etiquette condemning ladies of rank to


total seclusion.

The popular literature consists, at least in the south,


mainly of astrological
almanacs and religious treatises. Nevertheless amongst the five thousand works
yearly issued in the Peninsula there are many important scientific memoirs, while the
masterpieces of European literature are regularly reproduced in the chief native
tongues. To the late Toru Dutt are due the best English translations of contem-
porary French poets.* As in other civilised countries the periodical press is steadily

increasing in number and influence. But a great obstacle to the development of a


" A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields." Bhowanipore, 1876.
414 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Hindu numerous languages and writing systems current through-


nationality are the
out the Peninsula. About six million natives understand English, and thousands
it with remarkable elegance. But as heir to the Great Moghul, the Govern-
speak
ment favours the use of Hindustani, while most of the Hindu
national party
and the other local
encourage the study bf Mahratti, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu,
tongues. Sanskrit also,
hitherto regarded as a dead language, has in recent years
been revived as a medium of correspondence amongst the lettered classes. The

Maharaja of Udaipur, representing the Solar race, has lately ordered all official

documents to be published in Sanskrit.

GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA.

The Queenof England, solemnly proclaimed Empress of India (Kaisar-i-Hind)

at Delhi on January 10, 1877, is represented on the spot by a Viceroy chosen by


the Cabinet but the seat of power is in London.
;
The Act of 1858 abolishing the
East India Company and transferring its vast possessions to the Crown, has intrusted
the direct government to the Council of India under the presidency of a Secretary
of State. The members of this Council are appointed by the Crown for ten years,
and in the absence of the Minister its deliberations are directed by a Vice-President.

The Viceroy, or " Governor- General," is assisted by a Council of six members,


besides the Commander-in-Chief, all named by the Crown, as are also the governors
" "
of the various provinces. The affairs of the supreme government are distributed
over the six departments of finance, war, public works, the interior, agriculture and
exterior, each under a member of Council assisted by a special secretary. The
exterior is reserved to the Governor-General, who controls the relations with

Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Burma. He also instructs the
Residents at the Courts of the feudatory States, and administers the States tem-

porarily sequestered. He also appoints for two years the English and native
members of the Legislative Council ;
nor can any weighty measures be discussed or

adopted without his approval. On the other hand the Viceroy himself submits all
his acts to the English Minister, and his decrees issued in cases of extreme urgency
have force of law only for six months.
The same administrative machinery applied in all its essentials to the two
is

Presidencies of Bombay and Madras, while a more military system prevails in the

Panjab, Audh, the Central Provinces, and Assam. The old historic limits being
still
largely retained, the administrative divisions differ greatly in size and popula-
tion. Enclaves and isolated tracts of all dimensions are scattered along the
confines of the great provinces, and the most carefully prepared maps would fail

to reproduce the intricate frontier lines in such regions as Kathywar, Rajputana,


Sirhind, and the Satlej Valley. Ceylon is not administratively included in the

Anglo- Indian Empire ; but, on the other hand, this vast political system comprises
many outlying dependencies, such as British Burma, the Andaman and Nicobar
Archipelagoes, and Aden. The agencies established at Kelat, Mascat, Bagdad, and
Zanzibar are also at present attached to the Calcutta government.
Ml NT AND ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 415

The so-calle<l , ,.\. n.mr. <1 civil service," which controls 1,250,000 function-
!1 older-, consists of U'JS oflicials, of whom seven only an- natives. They
are grouped in two great divisions, administration and justice, und in return for
lUtei-al salaries are charged with heavy responsibilities. Many di-triets with
100,000 inhabitants are governed by a single Englishman pcMMMd of -almost
unlimited power, and with no chirk except that of his conscience in administering
laws of extreme severity.

Although of a mild temperament the Hindus are extremely fond of litigation.


Most suits arise out of cases of theft and fraud, or else disputes about property. A
case was heard in the court of Point de Galle which turned on the claim to the
two hundred and fifty-second share in a coconut palm. Imprisonment for debt

Fig. 186. STATES or THI SATLEJ BABIX.


! 1 : 1,300.000.

30 Mile..

has not yet been abolished, and questions relating to marriage, adoption, wills,

inheritance, division of property are still constantly decided by the intricate code
of Hindu by the laws of Akbar. The precedents supplied by the
tradition, or
decisions of the Company have been codified, and every year new laws are added to
the old. In presence of this confused and contradictory jurisprudence the judge
would often find impossible to pronounce a verdict, were he not armed with the
it

power of summarily deciding disputed points, without appeal to a higher court.


Although misdemeanours are relatively less frequent than in the West, the
criminal code is severe, and still recognises the use of the lash. Convicts are now
sent to the Andaman and the average prison population in the Peninsula is
Islands,
estimated at 120,000, of whom not more than 5,000 or 6,000 are women. Those
condemned terms of detention receive their sentences with remarkable
to various
" the robbers of the
equanimity, and the old saying that Company resemble bride-
"
grooms still holds good.
410 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

Before the Sepnv mutiny the European troops formed one- fourth, but since
then they constitute over a third of the Imperial forces. The whole army scarcely
exceeds 150,000 men, which may be taken as an indication of present stability.

Every precaution has at the same time been taken to render this
army as effective

as possible, while securing the material superiority to the numerically inferior

European element. Since the insurrection few of the Brahmans of Audh have been
admitted into the service, and recruits are drawn chiefly from the more trustworthy
Sikhs of Pan jab, Pathans and Rohillas of the Upper Ganges, and Xepalese Ghurkhas.
A very small portion of the artillery has been left in the hands of the native troops,
which are divided into the three armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras, all
differing in organization, origin, and even in speech. In the first Hindustani is

chiefly current, in the second Mahratti,


in the third Telugu. Most of the privates
engage for a long term of years, and the native officers serve first in the ranks of
the British regiments. Nearly all the men in the Madras, and most of those in the

Bombay and as their families accompany them in the


army, are allowed to marry,
field, the cantonments become military towns sometimes covering an area of 15 or
20 square miles.
Besides the Imperial forces, the feudatory States maintain an aggregate of about
300,000 men, with 65,000 horses and 5,250 guns. Of these native armies the
largest is that of the Nizam, consisting of 37,000 infantry, 8,200 cavalry, and 725
guns. But the Imperial government proposes henceforth to limit the armaments
of the vassal powers, while interdicting the use of the most improved weapons and
instituting a more regular inspection of their magazines and arsenals.
Compared with that most European States the financial condition of India is
of
sound. One-fifteenth of the revenue suffices to meet the charges of the national

debt, which in France and England absorb a third. But, on the other hand, the
people are relatively much poorer, so that, according to Fawcett, an income tax of
one penny weighs as heavily on the Hindu as twenty shillings on an Englishman.
Hence the imposts, light as they are, represent weeks and even months of labour ;

for the annual income of the country is estimated at from 320,000,000 to


400,000,000, or less than 16s. per head, while the taxation is at the rate of nearly
7s. per head. Of the public debt, nearly 40,000,000 are credited to the sup-

pression of the mutiny, and over 20,000,000 to the late Afghan war The chief
source of revenue the land-tax, payable either by the zemindars, as in Bengal
is ;

by the communes, as in the North-west Provinces or by the cultivators directly,


;

as in Madras and Bombay mainly. From this source the average yield is about
22,000,000, while the salt and opium monopolies represent over 6,000,000 each.
One of the gravest political problems of our times is assuredly the position of
" Eastern
England in Asia. Even the question," which has so often shaken the
world, and which has already cost the lives of millions, is a mere prelude to the far
more momentous question of Central Asia. The partition of Turkey itself is but

matter compared with the partition of the Eastern hemisphere. Meantime


a small
it must be confessed that England rules at present by force and prestig* alone.
In a region split up into a thousand social fragments, without political coherence
GOVERN M I : NT AM' A M I XISTBATION OF INDIA.
I .
417

and lacldnp nil wntiim-nt of a common nationality, tin's would not certainly be

a difficult task for the imperial race whose sway overshadows the globe. But it is
418 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

not merely a question of maintaining a footing in the country itself ;


its approaches
have also to be safeguarded from foreign aggression. Formerly, when the over-
land route was difficult, and when the region lying between Central Europe and
India was inaccessible to large armies, and almost to trade itself, the highway to
Southern Asia lay round the Cape, and the struggle for supremacy had to be fought
out in the Peninsula itself. To the Dutch and Portuguese succeeded the English

Fig. 188. DISPUTED TERRITORIES BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURT.
Scale 1 : 20,000,000.

Territories formerly disputed. Present French possessions.


.300 Miles.

and French, who contended during the last century for the possession of Bengal
and the Dekkan. After the overthrow of the French, the outer Oceanic route
remained in the hands of the English, who held the Cape, Natal, Mauritius, and
who control Zanzibar. But the more direct Mediterranean route soon acquired
more importance, and at the close of the eighteenth century the struggle between
England and France was resumed for the possession of Egypt, intermediate station
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION 01 IN MA 410

between tin- Mast and West. \


_rhty years of vicissitudes the question has

again been decided in favour of England, which now commands tin- direct maritime
highway by the formidable strongholds of Gibraltar. Malta, Alexandria, and Aden.
Hut these very conquests entail the. necessity of further advances. In the near
future the sea routes will no longer suffice, and will lose much of their importance
as soon as the trunk lint of
railway is completed across the Old World through
1

Constantinople, Herat, and Delhi. Towards the North-west frontier, where this main
line must penetrate, the English have concentrated most of their cantonments and
strongholds, such as Firozpur, Ludianuh, Jullundur, Lahore, Attack, and Peshawar.
From been repeatedly penetrated by British
this point the Iranian plateau has already

forces, and English and Russian diplomacy are now contending for supremacy in
" Events cast their shadows before
Persia. them," and England has already been
compelled to oecupy Cyprus and claim the protectorate of Asia Minor. May she

Fig. 189. PROJECTED INDO-EUROPEAN RAILWAYS.


Scale 1 : 120.noO.OOa

fG 80-

8,000 Mile*.

not also have to seize the Anatolian plateaux, and become in the Euphrates Valley
conterminous with Russia, which has already annexed the headwaters of the great

Mesopotamian river ? Her advanced posts would then become exposed to attack
from the armed forces now massed in the entrenched camps of Transcaucasia.
And even should she succeed in creating an unimpregnable frontier of nearly 2,000
miles along the Russian border, to Germany and Austria, successors of Turkey on
the Danube, still belongs the European section of the future trunk line between
Great Britain and the far East. Hence the necessity of prospective alliances not to
be purchased without heavy compensations. At the same time it
may be allowed
that tlnir mutual jealousies will never permit the great European powers to combine

together in order to block England's nearest highway to her Eastern possessions.


Hence her supremacy in Central Asia can be seriously threatened by Russia alone,
and with such a danger a wise and far-seeing statesmanship will know how to
grapple.
CHAPTER XIX.

INDO-CIIINA. GENERAL SURVEY. CHITTAGONG.-ARRAKAN. ANDAMAN AND


N1COBAR ISLANDS.

COMPARED with Cisgangetic India, this region may almost be de-


scribed as a wilderness. With an area of about 870,000 square
miles, it has a total population of scarcely 34,000,000, or less than
40 to the square mile, and this population is concentrated chiefly in

British Burma, the Menam basin, and Red River delta. Yet it

yields inno respect to the neighbouring peninsula in fertility and natural resources.
There are no vast sandy wastes like the Thar desert, nor any boundless arid tracts,
like the volcanic plateaux of the Dekkan. The
almost everywhere suitable
soil is

for tillage, and the climate is sufficiently moist to nourish a rich vegetation. In
mineral wealth and facilities for trade, Farther India is even more favoured than
Hindustan. The seaboard more varied; commodious harbours indent the
is far
coasts especially of Malacca and Annam the communications with China present
;

few natural obstacles, while the


whole peninsula occupies an advantageous position
at the south-eastern extremity of the continent between the Indian and Pacific
waters.
The remarkable contrast offered by the two peninsulas, apart from the historic

evolution of their inhabitants, must be explained on geographic grounds by the


different dispositions of their fluvial basins. With the exception of the Indus, the

great rivers of British India flow east and west, parallel with the Himalayas, Vin-
dhyas and Satpura range. But the Irrawaddi and Salwen, Menam, Mekong and
other Transgangetic streams, run on the contrary north and south, parallel with the

intervening mountain systems. The whole of Northern India also develops a vast
plain stretching some 1,500 miles east and west, which has no counterpart in Indo-
China, and which affords a magnificent natural theatre for the grandest movements
in the evolution of mankind.
Before the construction of artificial routes, the primitive populations necessarily
followed those laid down by nature. Thanks to the slope of the land, the inhabitants
of Hindustan easily moved east and west
along the river valleys, without undergoing
any change either of climate, vegetation, or pursuits. But in Farther India the
GENERAL SURVEY. 421

ndgrafang peoples, advancing from tho plateaux of Yunnan southwards to the


Irruwaddi and Mekong plains. ..xprrienccd far more transitions of abrupt climate,
flora and fauna, the whole aspect of nature hero
changing within a few degrees of
latitude. I'lul. T such conditions, tlu- northern tribes became enervated as
they
descended from High Asia, along the river hanks down to the forest-clad or sultry,
of Indo-( 'hina.
marshy plains They were by the very form of the
also prevented
fluvial basins from expanding into compact masses; for no national unity on a

Fig. 190. COMPARATIVE POPULATION op I.MDIA AND IMDO-CHIXA.


Scale 1 :
14,000,000.

DOB
I ii

to 90.
hab Hint* per square mile.

SO to 800. 900 and


upward*.
Ench square repreentt a population of 60,000 inhabitant*.
^______^_^^___^_ 1,200 Mile*.

large scale could be developed in those relatively narrow river valleys, separated
one from the other by lofty intervening ranges, and broadening out only towards
the insalubrious deltas. Hence the greater part of the land here still remains in
the hands of the aboriginal wild tribes, who constitute fully one-fifth of the whole

population. But the European settlements on tho seaboard have already intro-
modifying influences, shown in the rapid increase of population, the
1

reclamation of waste or forest lands, and the general spread of culture, radiating in
nil directions from the large cities on the coast. The parallel river valleys have
422 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

been connected at many points by routes carried across the intervening ranges,

while efforts are being made by England in the west, and France in the east, to

extend the main commercial highways from the coast towards the interior of China.
Chittagong and Manipur, Rangun, Maulmein, Saigon,
and Haipong are the starting-

pointsof so many lines of traffic, destined one day to converge on the banks of the

Yangtze-Kiaug.

CHITTAGONG AND ARRAKAN.

The narrow western slope of the hills separating the Bay of Bengal from the
Irrawaddi basin is
politically included in British India, and even depends partly
on the BengalPresidency. Nevertheless this region belongs geographically

altogether to Indo-China. The riverain tracts have hitherto been cut off from the
interior by wooded hills occupied by fierce wild tribes. But this state of things is
being gradually modified by the spread of culture, and Akyab and Chittagong must
sooner or later become the outports for the produce of Upper Burma. Although
still sparsely peopled, these coast-lands between the Meghna and Cape Negrais are

rapidly increasing in wealth and population.


South of the heights draining through the Barak to the Meghna, the coast-lands
are traversed by low parallel ridges running north-west and south-east. The highest
summits occur on the main water-parting within the Burmese frontier, where
the Malselai Mon, or " Blue Mountain," attains an elevation of over 7,000 feet,
whereas the Rang- rang- dang, culminating-point of the British district of Chitta-
gong, falls considerably below 3,000 feet. But notwithstanding the low elevation
of these hills, the dense forests covering their slopes, the winding streams, marshy

depressions, and jungle infested by wild beasts render this district extremely
inaccessible. Near the coast stands the sacred hill of Chandranath, or Sitakund,
much frequented by pilgrims, and acquiring peculiar sanctity from a bituminous
spring supposed to have arisen from a blow of Siva's trident.
East of Arrakan the main range takes the name of Yoma, and here rises to

heights of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet


and upwards. But south of Sandoway it falls
rapidly towards Cape Negrais, whence it is continued seawards by the Preparis and
Coco Islands, the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelagoes. The most important pass is
that of Aeng or An
(4,700 feet), which was seized by the British in 1853. The
prevailing formations are limestones and sandstones of the chalk and tertiary
epochs, with some igneous rocks, but no volcanoes. The so-called cones of this
region are all mud volcanoes, of which about thirty are found in the archi-
merely
pelago fringing the coast south of Combermere Bay. At the north end of Ramri
Island six of these volcanoes, rising to a height of 40 feet, display great energy every
alternate year 9r oftener, ejecting mud, inflammable gases, and stones to a great

distance. These phenomena, which are said to occur chiefly during the rainy
monsoons, are also at times accompaniedby earthquakes ;
but no true lavas are ever
thrown up by the craters of Ramri or Cheduba. Petroleum springs bubble up in
the neighbourhood, and flow even from fissures in the cones themselves.
<
HITTAOONO AND AEBAKAN. ttfl

The seaboard between Ciiitta^ong and Cape Negraie ul.so HUOWM evident signs of
recent ujili.-;i\;il. Alxnit 17'-", Kmi<I Inland, lying east of (' hed uba, was raised

1
yanK (luring an earthquake
5
,
and the upheaval ull alonj: thcr<>at -'-:i mated

at from 10 to o\. i Jn i. t.
liartlujuakos an- .still
frr<jiu-nt in the Hhamo district and
many otlu-r parts of Burma, \vhnv a true volcano, the Puppa, 1'aojm, or
Pappa-dung,
rises south-east of Pagan, east of the Irrawaddi. Here jets of inflammable gas are

Fig. 191.-HAMKI AM) ClIEIifllA.

8oU 1 : 800.000.

E.of.Gr.

OtoSa Fct-t. H t.,'-.i i.. 64 Feet and


upward*.
_ :- MiK-s.

also frequently met, and copious saline springs flow from the east foot of the Arrakan-

Yoma. In many places these springs are associated with petroleum, and for
centuries the naphtha wells have been utilised by the natives. Near Yenan-gyong,
on the left bank of the Irrawaddi below Pagan, over 500 oil wells have been sunk
to a mean drpth of 200 to 200 feet, and of these about l"Ai yield a constant supply

estimated at 12,000 tons yearly.


424 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

the south-west monsoons the Chittagong and


Being exposed to the full fury of
Arrukun coast enjoys an abundant rainfall, nowhere falling below 120 and in some
240 inches yearly. But the eastern slopes facing the Irrawaddi
places exceeding
receive but little of this moisture, which has been mostly precipitated during the
rain-clauda across the intervening coast ranges. Hence numerous
passage of the
reach the Bay of Bengal between the and
copious streams Karnapuli Cape Negrasi.
But for the bars at their mouths they
Fig. 192. RAINFALL OF THE IRBAWAUDI BASIN. WO uld be accessible to large vessels, and
Scale 1 14,260,000.
the Kuladin
:

as
(Koladyne), or river
it is

of Akyab, is navigable during the rains


by ships of 400 tons for 70 miles, and by
craft of 40 tons for 50 miles still
higher
up. Several of the deltas are connected

by a network of shifting backwaters and


channels, which offer a considerable extent
of inland navigation. But the coasts are
low and rendered dangerous by numerous
reefs, some of which at the entrance of
Combermere Bay have earned the name
of the " Terribles."
The Tungthas, or "Children of the

Hills," who occupy


the Chittagong and
Arrakan uplands, comprise a great many
tribes, some
independent, such as the
Lushai, others, like the Bangi and Pankho,
recognising the British rule, but exempt
from tribute. The greater number, how-
ever, including the Tipperahs, Mrungs,

Kumis, and Mros, pay a poll-tax through


their respective chiefs. The Tungthas
have generally preserved their old usages,
and still worship the forces of nature,
trees, streams, and mountains. From the
surrounding Buddhists they have bor-
00' rowed little beyond the practice of magic,
and most of them offer sanguinary sacri-
Under 40 40 to 80 80 to 200 Over 200 fices to a sacred bamboo planted near the
Inches. Incbe .. Inches. Inches.
300 Miles. village. Human sacrifices in honour of
Siva were continued longest amongst the

Tipperahs, while the Ku tribe had the habit of torturing their victims.
The Maghs (Mugs), or Kiungthas, that is, " Children of the River," who form
the bulk of the Arrakan population, have been long converted to Buddhism, and
speak a rude Burmese
dialect. They call themselves Miam-ma, that is, Burmese,
and are distinguished
by their frank and manly qualities from their Bengali neigh-
'HI 1TAGONO AND AERAKAN. ISI

bours. Most of them are cultivators, and still clear the land l>y the jiriinitive
method of tirinjr tin-
jungle. Many an- aKo m
aged in trade, and these, like their
Chakina kindred of Chittagong, are being gradually II induced.
The Khumi, that i-, " Mm," neeupy tin- upper Kuladan vulleyn, when- they are
divided into twenty-seven clans. Although of Burmese stock and speech, they -till
worship their ancestors, the genii of mountains and rivers, and make solemn
rings to them during seed time and before the monsoon.
ll'i
According to their
complicate legal code crimes may be acquitted either by fines, or temporary or

Fig. 193. CHITTAOONO AXD MOUTHS OP THB MKGHNA.


Bade 1 : 4,000,000.

Otol6Fe*t. ItfttM r.-t 81 Feet find


upward*.

H v,:,

permanent bondage. are skilled agriculturists, and maintain uctivr relations


They
with the peop e of the plains. Far less civilised are their eastern neighbours, the
Khyengs (Khyen, Ching), who dwell
chiefly on the southern slopes of the Arrukan-
and
yoma. They speak a distinct Burmese dialect, and worship trees, springs,

in the towns many conform to Buddhist rites.


especially the storm-god, although
Traces of matriarchal usages still survive. Thus the husband dwells in the father-
in-law's house till the birth of one or two children, and the expressed will of either

party is all that is needed for a dissolution of the union.


92
L96 INDIA AND INDQ-CHINA.

Traditionally the coast peoples have long been associated with those of Cisgan-
India. Even before the Buddhist period Hindu influences preponderated
along the east side of the Bay of Bengal, and in the ninth century the Mohammedans
reached this region. It was invaded during the last century by the Burmese,
whose oppressive rule was exchanged in 1826 for that of the English. Since then

Fig. 194. AKTAB AND MOUTH OP THE KULADAX.


Scale 1 : 700.000.

I.ofG 9VI5

to 1G 'eet. 16 to 32 Feet. ntoM i-'-Lt. 64 Feet and


upwards.

the population has rapidly increased, and numerous Hindu and Chinese immigrants
have settled on the plains.
Chittagong, or Saptagram, the Islamabad of the Mohammedans, who are here in
a majority, forms a and gardens
group of villages, bazaars, dockyards, groves
stretching several miles along the right bank of the Karnapuli. Since tne middle
of the century it has become the chief
entrepot for the foreign trade of the Brahma-
THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS. 427

putra basin, with which it communicates by a navigable canal. It will also soon be

connected with the Bengal railway system. Unfortunately it lie* in a swampy,


malarious district, and the port is obstructed hy u bur. The slopes to the cost are
now covered with extensive tea plantations, and here ha> r ntly lieen disco
the fatiotu, a new species of two-homed rhinoceros. South of Chittagong the
lu>iest place on the roast is Akyalt, at which point converge the largest number of

navigahle watercourses from the interior. Standing at the mouth of the large
river Kuladan, Akyab communicates
also by the backwaters of the delta and the
channels of the neighbouring archipelego with nearly all the towns of Arrakan.
When the routes across the Yoraa range are completed, it cannot fail to become
one of the chief outlets for Manduluy and the Upper Irrawaddi. Formerly the
great depot of the Lower Kuladan was the town of Arrakan, which was occupied by
the English in 182G, and which is now known by the name of Wrobuny, or " Old
Town " ; but owing to the unhealthy climate of this place the seat of government
had to be removed 50 miles lower down the Euladun to Akyub, which has since
become a great rice mart. The other southern ports of Kyuk hpyu on Kaiuri
Island, and Sandoicay (Thandwai) on the mainland, are small trading-places of no

importance.

THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS.

The long chain of islands describing a vast crescent 540 miles long, between

Preparis and Great Nicobar, forms a seaward continuation of the Arrakan-yomu


range. The insular and continental rocks are of the same formation, while the
main axis of both systems runs exactly in the same direction. The submarine
bank rising north of the Andumans between the Buy of Bengal and Gulf of Mur-
taltan.both over 1,000 fathom.s deep, has nowhere more than 150 fathoms, and is
traversed in its entire length north and south by a series of islets, reefs, and
shallows. The Nicobar group also sweeps round to the south-east parallel with the
general direction of the Indo-Chinese orographic system. The same direction is

followed by Sumatra, Nias, and the adjacent groups, which themselves form u

south-easterly extension of Nicobur. But although geographically dependent on


Farther India, the Andaman and Nicobur Archipelagoes are politically attached to
the Calcutta government.
The Andamans were probably known to the ancients as the islands Ayathou
" of the Good
Daiinono*, or Demon," while Ptolemy's Barussac have by some been
identified with the Lunku-bulus, the name applied by the fi-st Arab navigators to

the Nieolwirs. Later on Marco Polo speaks of the Andumans under the name of

Angamana'in, an Arab dual form supposed to mean the "Two Angainans." But
the first
survey of the archipelago dates only from the foundation of a settlement
on the east coast at the end of the last century.

Preparis and the two Coco Islands, rising above the bunk U-tween the Burmese
coast and the Andumans, are mere rocks almost on a level with the sea. But the
Great Andaman group forms a plutruu '
miles long, with a mean breadth
INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

of from 15 to 20 miles. It is divided by three shallow straits into four main


sections,around which are grouped some only of the channels
smaller islands. Two
are navigable, and the whole mass is traversed by a chain of hills culminating in
the north with the Saddle-peak (3,000 feet). These hills are entirely covered with
dense forest, impenetrable almost as much to wild animals as to man himself. But
the coco-palm, which gives its name
Fig. 195. ANDAMAN ARCHIPELAGO.
Scale
to theneighbouring islets, and which
1 : 3,660.000.
abounds in Nicobar, is not indigenous
either in Great Andaman or Preparis.
Yet it thrives well in the Port Blair

plantations since its introduction by


the settlers.
The only wild mammals found on
thisgroup are a species of wild boar,
some bats ani rats, a wild cat, a squir-
rel, and an ichneumon very destructive
to the plantations. Reptiles and birds
are also much rarer than on the main-
land but the surrounding waters teem
;

with marine life, including the coral-


builders, whose irregular atolls en-

danger the navigation, especially on


the west coast. Hence on the opposite
side have been founded the little settle-

ments of Cornwallis in the north and


Port Blair in the south. The latter

forms one of the finest harbours of

refuge in the Indian Ocean.


Little Andaman, lying some 26

miles south of the larger island, forms


a rectangular mass lower than its
neighbour, but like it covered with a
dense vegetation. East of it is the
so-called
" Invisible Bank," north of
which rise the two volcanic rocks of
Narcondam and Barren Island, the
to 640 Feet. 640 to 3,200 Feet. 3,200 Feet and
upwards. latter 1,000, the former 2,600 feet
^ ^^ 300 Milee.
high. Narcondam, which is clad with
a dense forest growth, seems to be extinct, while Barren Island has been quiescent
since the beginning of this century.
The " Mincopies," as the few Andamanese aborigines are sometimes called, are
divided into eight or ten tribes, whose long isolation and distinctive characteristics
ive them an exceptional anthropological interest. They are commonly grouped
^th the Oceanic Negrito stock,' found in Malacca, the Philippines, and perhaps
TilK ANDAMAN ISLANDS.

-Ke\\here in Malaysia. Yet they show little resemblance to the Negro type except
in their durk complexion and although of small stature, \aryinjr fr'in I feet 8 in.
;

~
to a little over they an- of very symmetrical proportions.
fret, According to
Man. the various dialects diller so greatly that the northern tribes are quite unin-
telligible to tho>.e of tin- south. These dialects have been compared In.th with the
lian and Burmese languages, with neither of which they seem to show any
real affinity. Although they go nuked, the MincopiH take good care of their
bodies, which they tattoo, paint with red ochre, and cover with fatty substances as a
protection against noxious insects. They are skilled hunters and fishers, and
daring navigators, often venturing in their outriggers 50 or 60 miles from the
coast. They were formerly suspected of cannibalism, a practice which more careful
inquiry shows to be absolutely unknown amongst any of the tribes. They are

certainly subject to sudden fits of violent temper, but easily calmed by a kind word.

Fig. 196. PORT BLAIR.


Soale 1 : 245,000.

V*

01ol6Feet. 10 Feet and upward*.

On the whole they be described as a gentle, harmless people, given to much


may
dancing, singing, and weeping, and strict monogamists. Since their contact with
Europeans their numbers are said to be diminishing rapidly, and the whole
indigenous population is at present probably less than 5,000.

The firstpenal settlements of 1791 and 1795 had been founded in the northern
island. But notwithstanding the advantages of Cornwallis, the insalubrity of this
fine harbour caused it to be abandoned for the equally commodious and far more
healthy station of Port Blair, on the southern island. Here the new convict
establishment, founded after the Sepoy mutiny, occupies the islet of Ross at the
mouth, and near Hope Town on the north side of the harbour. But the more dangerous
criminals are confined to Viper Island, towards the head of the inlet. Most of the
8,000 convicts enjoy a certain degree of freedom, and occupy themselves with fishing
and agriculture in the neighbourhood of Port Blair and of Port Mouut, on the
430 INDIA AND INDO-CIIINA.

opposite side of the island.


Those condemned to hard labour are employed in

erecting buildings, making roads, and clearing


the jungle for the cultivation of

tropical plants. Even in captivity the Hindus keep up the caste system,
absolutely
refusing to work or eat together.
X

THE NICOBAR ISLANDS.

The Nicobars, which stretch north-west and south-east, comprise three groups :

Car-Nicobar and Batti Halve in the north ; Camorta, Nancowry, Katchall, Teressa,
and some coral banks in the centre ;
Fig. 197. NICOBAR ARCHIPELAGO.
Great and Little Nicobar with the
Scale 1 : 3,000,000.
adjacent islets in the south. The first

European station was here formed


by some French Jesuits, who occu-
pied one of the central islands in
1711, but who were soon massacred
by the natives. Then followed the

Danes, who landed on Siambalong


(Great Nicobar) in 1755, gave the
whole archipelago the name of " New
Denmark," and within three years
abandoned the colony. In 1768 the
German Moravians founded a station
on Nancowry, and this island was,

ten years afterwards, occupied for a


short time by the Austrians. Later
on the Danes again attempted to
colonise the archipelago, but finally
abandoned it in 1845. At last the

English, who had already in 1807


= T officially annexed the group, reoccu-
pied it in 1869, and attached it to
Andaman.
the colony of
The Nicobars differ in many
respects from the Andaman Archi-
pelago. The southern islands evi-
an area of upheaval,
dently belong to
and some of the wooded hills seem
to 320 ir'eet. 320 to 3,200 Feet. 8,200 Feet and to be of volcanic origin. Yet Ball
upwards.
60 Miles. failed to discover any lava forma-
tions in the crater of the cone-shaped

Bompoka close to Teressa. The whole group culminates at the northern extremity
ofGreat Nicobar with a peak 2,400 feet, source of the river Galatea. As in the
\
Andamans, the flora of the Nicobars is
very rich and their fauna extremely poor.
"
Some of the islets are fringed with coconut palms, while the " sea-coconut of
THE NK'OIUR ISLANDS. 181

the Seychi 'lie* flouri-hes in Katchall an*! other places. The wild boar and !

Imll.ilo roam over Cainorta, hut these animals seem to be descended from those

let looso in the forests of that island. <>i dr. r is said to exist in Great
Nicohar, where the dog has returned to. the wild state. Apes, flying s<|iiii T. -I-
at two species of venomous snakes are
least also met, besides two varieties of largo
suurians, and about forty species of birds.
The aborigines dill'er inevery re-i>ect from the Andamanesc islanders. The
complexion is much lighter, the height above the average, the nose very broad,
the eyes slightly oblique.Tattooing is not practised, but the skull is artificially
deformed, as amongst the Flatheads of North America. Classed by some with the
Malays, by others regarded as half-caste Indo-Chinese, these islanders are said by

Fig. 198. TEKEMU AND BOMPOKA.


Scale 1 : 000,000.

"

to 1W Fet. 180 to Feet. S2O Feet nnd


UpWttlQI*
____________^__ 12 Mile*.

Roepstorff to resemble the Butans of Formosa more than any other people.
Although apparently of a dull, apathetic temperament, they are fond of European
tint TV, and prefer to everything else the tall "chimney-pjt" hut. Hence this
article, which confers the title of "Captain" on its fortunate owner, fetches a
very high price, and us many as one thousand six hundred coconuts were paid for
one of these coveted articles during the voyage of the Nurara in IS.jS. But the
title <>f
captain is associated with no personal authority, for there is no tribal
government of any kind, society being kept together solely by a spirit of mutual
reciprocity.
" "
According to the rej^rta of the Baju," or Men," as the Nicobarese call
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

themselves, the forests of Great and Little Nicobar are inhabited by a race of

"
Men of the woods," a savage people with long hair, who
orang-utans, that is,

live on snakes, toads, and crocodiles. Their real name is Shobaeng, and according
Till NK'ODAB ISLANDS. IM

to RoopstorfT they have the flat feature* of the Mongolians, while Hull compares
tin-in to tin- Mini \
priial Mation, (lr|M-ii(li-nt on that of the Amlamans, was
founded in s '-!' in the inland of ( ';uuorta, north of Il<Tt' \n a fine
1
Naneowry.
harlxmr, with sinalK-r havens on hoth >iiU-s of the struit flowing east and weft

Fig. 200. RoAurriADS AND HAUHOI-UH or NANCOWKT.


Scale I : 198.000.

OtottHwt. 32 to 160 Feet. IW to 640 Feet 40Fe*t and


upwards.
.^3 Mile..

between both islands. In the district much land has been gradually brought under
cultivation, and the forest clearings ure now occupied by many Hindu convirts.
These plantations have much improved the climate, and added to the resources of
the islands, which formerly exported about three million coconuts yearly, chiefly
from Car-Nicobar.
CHAPTER XX.
IRRAWADDI AND SALWEN BASINS.
MANIPUR, SHAN, AND KAKHYEN TERKITOKIES, BUHMA, PEGU, MAKTAHAX.

HE region stretching east of the water-parting which is formed by


the Khamti, Singpo, Lushai, and Arrakan ranges, might seem at
first sight to be naturally dependent on the provinces annexed to

the Chinese Empire. Terrace lands of easy access rise gradually from
the Burmese lowlands to the Yunnan plateaux, while the narrow
Sal wen and Irrawaddi valleys lead directly to the eastern provinces of Tibet.

But, on the other hand, the plains of Burma are still more accessible through the
seaboard to Cisgangetic India, whence civilisation was diffused eastwards from the
earliest times of maritime navigation. Hence although the inhabitants of Burma
are mostly of the same stock as those of the conterminous regions attached to China,
their culture and religions have reached them mainly from India, with which they
have been brought into still closer contact since the occupation of the coast-lands

by the British. Little change, however, has been made on the northern frontier,
where the trade routes are. still often blocked by the wild tribes occupying the
highlands between Burma and the Chinese Empire. A
large part of Burma
proper is still almost uninhabited,
although the population of the provinces ceded
to England has increased 34 per cent, during the last decade.

THE IRRAWADDI, SITTANG, AND SALWEN BASINS.

The Irrawaddi, which drains the whole of "West Burma, is already a copious
stream at its entrance into Farther India. Above Bhamo it is now known to

ramify into two main headstreams, and in 1880 a native explorer, under the
assumed name of Alaga, was sent to survey the course of the united stream as far
as the confluence. He
penetrated beyond the Burmese frontier to this point in
23 43' north latitude, and found that the western branch was here 500 paces

broad, while the eastern, which he crossed at a ferry, had only a fifth of that

width, and was moreover very shallow. Hence this can scarcely be the
"large
"
easterly river spokenbut not seen, by the previous explorers Wilcox, Burlton,
of,
and Lepper. Whether another considerable affluent joins the Irrawaddi from the
THE IKKAWAM'I. sriTAMS. AND SAI.WKN BASINS. 180

east still higher up cannot at present IK- determined, nor have any stop* been yet
taken to ascertain tin- exact \oluineof the main ^trcam in this region. But at
the confluence of the Mogung <i<> miles lower down, in 'J-"> north, Hi-nny and
Griffith have estimated the di -charge -during the floods at from xsO,000 t

ml. ic feet per second, and at Bhamo,


still lower down, it reaches THE IKKAWADUI ABOTB BHAMO.
Fig. 201.
cubic feet. Yet on ino*t map* tin- Scilo 1 i 170,000'

source of a river sending down such


an enormous liquid muss is placed
on the slopes skirting the south side
of the Brahmakund basin.
Below the Mogung confluence
the Irrawaddi plunges into a narrow

gorge where its bed is contracted to


lessthan 160 feet at some points,
with a depth of at least 250 feet
and a velocity of from 12 to 15
miles an hour. Beyond Bhamo
and the Taping confluence another
gorge 200 feet deep marks the
farthest point visited by the dol-
phin, and after receiving the waters
of its great affluent, the
Kyendwen,
the great Burmese artery enters the

plains which have been gradually


created by its alluvial deposits.
These deposits seem to begin above
Prorae, where a branch now traversed

by the railway formerly flowed, pro-


bably to the Myit-ma-kha-chnng
(Hlaing), or river of Rangun, which
winds along tho foot of the Pfgu-
yoma water-parting between the
Irrawaddi and Sittang basins. The

heights which now rise in the midst


of the plains above the present head
of the delta were at one time
rocky
islets surrounded by the sea. But -: .
.

excluding the temporary water-

rainy season, the fork of the delta is now 130


courses flowing eastwards during the
miles inland as the bird flies, and 180 following the windings of the stream. The
eastern branch, which keeps the name of Irrawaddi, or Airavati, that is, " Elephant

River," continues to follow the normal southerly direction, while the Nawun, or
western branch, flows along the foot of the Arrakan-yoma to the Baa ein estuary
486 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

mass is
east of Cape Negrais. During the floods about a tenth of the liquid
channel, and all the rest through the Airavati, which,
discharged through this
however, is soon divided into several secondary branches.
The whole region of the

delta thus becomes cut up into a number of islands, whose outlines become modified
\

Fig. 202. IKUAWAUUI DELTA.


Scale 1 : 3,000.000.

to 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. 32 to 64 Feet. 64 Feet and


upwards.
60 Miles.

with every fresh inundation, at least wherever the channel has not been fixed by
embankments. \\.t present there are nine chief branches between the Basseiu and
Rangun estuaries,\md even beyond the latter the alluvial lands, intersected^ in all
directions by watercourses, stretch round the Gulf of Martaban to the Sittang and
Salwen deltas. But excluding these plains the Irrawaddi delta proper comprises
THi: IKKAWADDI, SITTANO, AND 8AI.WKN HA- i:ty

about 18,000 square miles of fertile land, consisting mainly of old argillaceous
formations.
The discharge in August, that is. after the rainy monsoon, is seventeen times

greater than during the dry season in 1-Vhruary. At this period it


scarcely exceeds
70,000 cubic feet per second, and on March 6, 1877, it fill to 40,000, or less
than that of the Rhine and Rhone. Vet on August 20 of the same year it rose to
1,980,000, thus exceeding that of the Congo in its normal .state. The mean dis-

Fig. 203. THE IRRAWADDI BILOVT

taken since 1872 at Saikhta, near


charge, according to the measurements regularly
the fork of the delta, is 480,000 cubic feet, or about the same as that of the Ganges.
The hydrography of few rivers has been more carefully studied than that of the
Lower Irrawaddi, since the occupation of Pegu by the English, who have felt the
necessity of protecting the hanks from
sudden inundations, and draining the :

stric-ken, district*.
marshy A dykeCO miles skirting the right side above
long,
the

delta, intercepts the torrents descending from the Arrakan-yoma, and confines them
188
IXIIA AND INDO-CHINA.

in a regular stream flowing parallel with the


Irrawaddi to the Nawun branch.

The head of the delta is also protected by a semicircle of embankments carried


along the left bank of the Nawun and the right of the Irrawaddi. Unfortunately
these costly works have everywhere had the effect of raising the bed of the river,
and increasing the disastrous consequences of the inundations, whenever the
embankments are burst. In 1877 a tract 500 square miles in extent lying east of

Fig. 204. SHIFTIXOS OF THE IRKAWADTM AT THE HEAD OF THB DELTA.


Scale 1 :
200,000.

50

IMM<WMf
Eiver-bed in 1856-8. River-bed in 1877. Projected Dyke. Finished Dykes.

. 8 Jliles.

the Nawun, was thus transformed to a lake, and the whole delta became studded
with numerous other lacustrine basins of less extent. The delta itself is yearly
advancing seawards, and a submarine bank about 40 fathoms deep already
stretches some 60 miles beyond the present coast-line. All the branches of the river
THK I !:l: \\VAI-DI, SITTANO, AND SALWEN BASINS. dag

are obstruct. .1
l.y bars, so that large vessels can p<>m>trutc only at high water, which
here rises 20 fret, and ascends tin- rhu-f branch to Henzada, 120 miles inland.
The Pegu-yuina, which NkirK tin- Irrawuddi drlta on the east, is a low ridge
probably belonging to the tertiary epoc.h, and not more than 2,000 or 3,000 feet in

Jo.">. EMHAXKMEMTB o.x THE IKRAWADDI AND BREACH u MADE IN 1877.

: 1,180.000.

l';.k
-
Projected Dyk. Flooded tracts.

30Milet.

mean elevation. Southwards it branches into secomlan sj>ur> with intt rvcnin

valleys, each of which sends down a tributary t<> tin- luiiiirun iMuary. Amongst
these is the river of Pegu, which rises on the east slop?. But the Sittuug (Sittung),
440 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

or Palun, which traverses the long quadrangular basin formed by the Pegu-yoma
andPunglung Hills, be may geologically as the real continuation of the
regarded
for it flows in exactly the same direction as does this river
Upper Irrawaddi,
between Bhamo and Mandalay. The Sittang drains an area of about 22,000 square
miles, and after a course of 330 miles falls into the Gulf of Martaban. During the
the network of channels and backwaters round the gulf to
rainy season stretching
Muulinein affords a total navigable waterway of over 360 miles for small craft.

Here the rainfall occasionally exceeds 240 inches, and the whole seaboard is

converted into a vast lake.


The highlands separating the Upper Irrawaddi and Salwen basins have been
crossed only at a few points. In North Burma the transverse valley of the Taping
has enabled Cooper, Margary, Gill, Szechenyi, Colquhoun and other explorers to
make their way from Yunnan plateaux over the water-parting down to the
the

Irrawaddi at Bhamo. All describe this region as disposed in a series of parallel


ridges running north and south, with narrow intervening valleys. Here one of the
of 10,500 feet, and the highest pass stands at an elevation
peaks rises to a height
of 8,400 feet. South of this pass the uplands are collectively known as the " Shan-

voma," or Shan Highlands, and the whole region forms a plateau over 3,000 feet
high intersected by numerous streams flowing either to the Irrawaddi or to the
Salwen. South-east of Mandalay and beyond the Shau-yoma rises the isolated
Nattik peak, which is visible for days together by travellers crossing the Panbung
River Valley. South of this peak the Sittang-Salwen water-parting is continued by
"
a series of ridges often over 3,000 feet high, and in the Nat-tung, or Spirit
Mountain," rising to 8,000 feet.

Although much inferior in volume to the Irrawaddi, the Salwen ranks with the

great Asiatic rivers, at least for the length of its course. Under the various names
of Nu-Kiang, Lu-Kiang, Lutze-Kiang, it flows from the east Tibetan plateaux

parallel with the Mekong through a deep valley, most of which still remains to
be explored. In the district where it forms the boundary between British Burma
and Siam it flows in a deep rapid stream between wooded hills, which gradually
converge southwards. Near the confluence of the Thung-yang the channel is

scarcely 100 feet wide, and a little farther down its lower course is obstructed by

rocky ledges, blocking the navigation even for small craft for the greater part
of the year. At its mouth the approaches to Amherst and Maulmein are also
impeded by dangerous sandbanks, which have been named the Godwin Sands.
But the bore which is so formidable in the Sittang is not much felt in the Lower
Salwen, which during the floods rises some 30 or 35 feet in the region of the rapids
and sends down from 600,000 to 700,000 cubic feet per second.
The Shan Highlands, forming a continuation of the Yunnan plateau, abound
like it in rich deposits of iron, lead, copper, tin, and silver. The Chwili, rising in
Yunnan Bhamo, washes down auriferous sands and sapphires, rubies,
north-east of ;

and other precious stones are found in the hills north-east of Mandalay. Burma
is also one of tKe few countries containing jade, which occurs chiefly in the*Mogung

district north oi Bhamo. The Burmese forests and jungles present the same
INHABITANTS. Til K BURMESE. m
vegetation as those <>l Uriti-h India, and the native tl.ra has
supplemented aim l>een

l-\ useful plants fruni the tropicsand even from KunjM'. Burma is one of the

great pn.diic.-rs ,f rice, vast quantities <>f which ure annually exerted. Bananas,
mangoes, oranges, and other tropical fruits also abound, and although the sugar-
cane is little eultivated, a sufficient supply of sugar is yielded by the dani,-a species
of palm, the plantations of which cover a space of 30,000 acres in British Burma
alone. Kxcrllent tobacco is grown in the Maulmein district : but the tea, collee,
and cinchona plants, introduced of
late years, have hud but partial sun Fig. 206. TEAK FOKUTS or EAST Pcoc.
Scale
The virgin forests contain enormous
1 : 3.000,000.

quantities of good timber, cabinet and


dye woods. According to Heifer, in
Tenasserim alone there are at least

640,000,000 of trees, representing 377


species, which 25 might be used
of
for ship-building. Teak flourishes
chiefly in thePegu-yoma highlands;
but some of the forests have already
been consumed, and replanting in
British Burma proceeds at the slow
rate of about 600 acres yearly.
Elephants are more numerous in
Burma than in any other part of the
East Indies. But they are very shy,
seldom leaving their native forests, or

venturing on the cultivated lands. All


belong by law to the King, and the
Burmese, like the Siamese, show great
skill in taming them. The rhinoceros,
of which there are three species, is also
tamed and used for bearing heavy
burdens. The hardy breed of Burmese
ponies is
highly esteemed and
pur-
CofG
chased by the English for all their
Eastern possessions. In Burma the
rate continue to be a periodical plague, fti Miln.

descending in countless armies from


the Shan and Karen Hills, consuming the crops and driving the natives from their

villages.

IXHAIUI ANTS. TlIK Bl KM1>1

All the natives of Burma, whether wild or civilised, belong apparently to the same
ethnical stock. In the north-west the semi-civilised Khamti of the Patkoi uplands
are a vigorous, well-made race, with the flat features of the Chinese, but less regular

93
442 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

and of darki-r complexion. Many have become almost completely assimihiti-d


of the water- parting, or to the
either to the Assamese on the Brahmaputra slope
Some have learnt to read the sacred Buddhist
Burmese on the Irrawaddi side.
and all are of a peaceful disposition, preferring agriculture and trade to
writings,
hunting or predatory excursions.
or " known in Assam as Singpo
The numerous gaiims clans," collectively
"Men" and in Burma and Yunnan as Kakhyens (Kakyen,
(Chingpo) that is,
most important ethnical group in North Burma.
Khyeng, Kachin, Kaku), form the
Near the Assam frontier they have been partly civilised and assimilated to the
Khamti, but towards China they are still in a wild state. Nearly all are tattooed,
and the women especially are often covered with elegant designs, serving at once
the purpose of ornament and of a magic charm against sickness and witchcraft.
The rich wear little silver ingots in the lobe of the ear, and garments woven by
the women and dyed with indigo. The Kakhyeus are skilful metal-workers, and
manufacture arms for all the surrounding peoples. But they cultivate little except
opium and corn, and the only domestic animal is the pig.
The term Karen (Karrian), probably the same originally as Khyeng, is said to
mean " Aborigines," although derived by the Burmese from a Pali word meaning
" Foul Eaters." But however this be, the Karens are inferior to their civilised
neighbours only in social culture. Their natural intelligence, courage, honesty,
and love of work render them one of the most promising elements in the future
development of Farther India. Owing to recent migrations they number at

present 500,000 in the British possessions, and probably 1,000,000 altogether,


in

a territory stretching for over 780 miles from the Mandalay Hills to those of
South Tenasserim. But they are mostly divided into a multiplicity of tribes, and
are found in compact groups only on the uplands about Tongu, in the Salwen

valley, and Irrawaddi delta. They form three main divisions, known from the
" " " Red" Karens. The Ni, or Red,
colour of their dress as White," Black," and
who roam Burma, are the best known, and generally taken as
the forests of British
All practise nearly the same usages, profess the same cult
typical of all the rest.

(a mixture of Buddhism and demon- worship), and speak dialects of a


common
Indo-Chinese language. Their national traditions connect them with the Chinese,
while some ethnologists suppose they are Mongolians who migrated at a remote

epoch from the Gobi or Takla Makan desert. But they more resemble in physical
appearance the other inhabitants of the Burmese highlands, and some of the
women have a great reputation for beauty. Amongst the Karens, European
missionaries have had considerable success, and in British Burma alone there were
in 1880 as many as 72,000 Karen Protestants and 12,220 Catholics, or over 84,000

altogether in a total Christian population of about 97,000.


In Burma the widespread Shan race, akin to the Thai or Siamese, are repre-
sented by a few hundred thousand souls, chiefly centred in the highlands between
Bhamo and Yunnan. To the same stock apparently belong the Tungthas of the
Sittang valley, while the Nagas, Kukis, and other Assamese hill tribes stietch also
across the water-parting into Burma proper and the British province of Manipur.
INHABITANTS. THE BUBMESE. 148

The MODS or Takings of Pegu, although now largely assimilate! t<. tin- Burmese,
are regarded as a di-tinct race, whose primitive *|*-eeh has been compared by some
with tin- Kolariau of Chota-Nagpore, by others with the Cambojuu and Annaraese
of Cochin-China. Being mostly agriculturists, the Talaings, fonner ma-t.-rs of
the Lower Irruwuddi and Sit tang basins, have been gradually brought under the
influence of Burmese culture.
The Burmese themselves, whoso national name is Myama that is, Mramma, or

Brahma, according to some etymologists daim docent from the supreme deity of

Fig. 207. POPULATION or Bi HMA.


Scale 1 : W00,ono.

(00*

from
the Aryan Hindus. Regarding themselves as sprung from immigrants
to the
Ayodhyu, on the banks of the Ganges, they trace the national dynasty
and Lunar whose insignia are still worn by their kings.
rajas of the Solar race,
The Sanskrit names of places as Ratnapura, Amarapurn, Manjalapura,
such

Singapura certainly suggest Brahmanicul influences, while the tradition is to some


444 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

'xtfiitiuM iti-l ly the Hindu settlements on the


banks of the Irrawaddi. But
these earlv colonists must have gradually become absorbed in the aboriginal

Burmese element, and the regular Hindu type is now seldom seen in Burma,
where the bulk of the people are distinguished by flat features, small oblique eyes,
broad nose, but a morexopen and livelier expression than that of the Chinese. The
Burmese language, isolating and toned like all others of the Indo-Chinese
original
family, has also been largely affected by Hindu elements, although the borrowed
words are so disguised in pronunciation that they can no longer be recognised.
From the same Sanskrit source comes the Burmese alphabet, while the religious
is still the mother-tongue of Shakya Muni.
the Pali that is,
language
Although of small size, the Burmese are generally robust, healthy, and very

active. Large families are common, disease is rare, and food abundant. Hence
the sparse population must be attributed to recent disastrous wars, present mis-

government, and a constant stream


of migration into British Burma. An average
mendicants are met only in the
degree of comfort prevails in peaceful times;
neighbourhood of the pagodas the people are
; usually well dressed and of frugal
habits but omnivorous tastes, rejecting neither lizards, snakes, nor iguanas, not-

withstanding their Buddhist precepts. Nearly all the men still practise tattooing,
decorating their persons with symbolic images, animals, sacred words, red or blue
lines crossing each other in a certain magic order for the purpose of protecting the

body from ailments and rendering it invulnerable. Till recently little disks of
gold or silver coins were also introduced under the skin in order to preserve the
" thunderbolts "
bearer from misfortune. The that is, the flint implements of the
Stone Age turned up by the plough are also supposed to possess great virtue.
In Burma the women take an active part in all family matters, and no im-
portant decisions are taken without their advice. Divorce, although easily

arranged, is extremely rare, especially after the birth of children. It is generally

effected in a friendly way without the intervention of the law, which interferes

very little in domestic or social affairs. The dead are buried or "cremated,"

according to the pleasure of the deceased, but in many respects the customs of the

royal family differ from those of the subjects. Thus the eldest daughter of the

King is condemned to celibacy, while the princes marry thsir half-sisters. In the

large cities, exposed to the oppression of despotic rulers, the people are generally
false and cringing but those placed beyond the reach of greedy tax-gatherers or
;

of plundering troops on the march are bright, cheerful, intelligent, hospitable, fond
of musicand pleasure-seeking. The inhabitants of a burnt-out quarter have been
seen to erect a theatre on the ruins, in order to indemnify themselves by a little
amusement for the loss of their property. They are courteous to strangers, and as

may be regarded as a national virtue. Easily forgiving, they


in Japan, politeness

render too ready obedience to their oppressors, satisfying themselves with im-

ploring Buddha to protect them from the water, brigands, the evil-
five foes :
fire,

minded, and governors. They recognise no castes or class distinctions, except as


regards the temple slaves, body-burners, lepers, gaolers and the executioners, who
are held to be guilty of some crime in a former existence, and are consequently
barred from all society.
INHABITANTS. THE BURMESE.

About half of the Burmese


people, and that the most enlightened and wealthiest,
n concentrated in British Burma. Yet all alike still regard the national
sovereign
as at least a sacred person, representing Gautama. In spite of the political
frontier indicated l>y the parallel "I ;o N. they thus preserve a perfect con-
l'.

sciousness of their nationality, divided fora time, but destined <,n- day to be again
united. Hence to escape the caprice and oppression of the native ruler, thev

emigrate not to Siam or Malaysia, hut to their kinsmen in British Burma, whither
they are moreover uttraete<l by the blessings of orderly government and absolute
security for life and property. Separated from Bengal and Assam 1>\ trackless
mountains, entirely cut off from the sea, and divided even from Siam and China l>v

Fig. -08. BCRMUB WAOOOX.

uplands often peopled by savage or hostile tribes, Burma itself lies completely at
the mercy of the English. Such a helpless situation can scarcely last much longer;
the necessity of opening direct trade routes between India and China across Upper
Burma is
becoming yearly more urgent, and the conflict thus created by economic
interests must sooner or later bring about the dissolution of the effete " Kingdom
of Ava." The great artery of the country is already open to the British gunboats
and steamers, which might transport 1'2,000 or 14,000 men in five days from
liangun to Mandalay.
In the British territory agriculture has been rapidly develojHtl under a system
of small holdings of eight or ten acres liable only to a moderate hind-tax, which is
payable directly to the Government without the interposition of zamindars or other
middlemen. Wages also average about a shilling a day, or three times more than
446 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

in British India, so that although few are wealthy, nearly all are comfortable.

The which yearly flows into the province to the amount


specie, 1,250,000, of nearly

is in the manufacture of ornaments for the Burmese and Karen


employed chiefly
women. The local traffic has acquired vast proportions. In every village the
dealers expose their wares in the open air ;
the roads are blocked with waggons

and crowded with itinerant vendors; about 30 steamers and over 65,000 craft
of all sizes from 150 tons downwards already navigate the Irrawaddi and its side
branches ;
the foreign exchanges are yearly increasing, and in 1881 reached a total
of '2*2,200,000, that is, relatively about the same as the present foreign trade of
France. About four-fifths of this traffic is carried on by sea chiefly with England.
But the movements with Burma and Siam are also increasing, and the trade with

Fig. 209. BHAMO.


Scale 1 :
950,000.

18 Miles.

the latter country will soon acquire a fresh impulse from the routes now being
constructed across the frontier hills down to the Menam basin.

Industry has made no less strides than agriculture and commerce. At all times
the Burmese were noted for their skill in wood-carving, weaving, bronze-casting,
and boat-building. But since the vast development of the rice trade, the largest
number of hands find employment in the mills, where this grain is prepared for the
foreign market.

TOPOGRAPHY.

In Upper Burma the most important place is Bhamo (Bamo), which lies on the
east bank of the Irrawaddi just below the Taping confluence. Bhamo is the most
TOPOOBAI HY. 417

advanced military station towards China, and aKo tho largest entrepot in the

kingdom. Tin- river i>


quite naxiguble to thi* jM.int, 7 'Jo miles fn>m tho sea, and
S
since I
V| '

~:e;imer*drawin;: .".i iert a-cend to the Taping confluence. The Taping,


which is itself acccs>il>lc to small rnift for alniut 'J I inilfs, flows from a valley

leading to the first terraces of the plateaux. Yunnan


Hen- ln^in* the frnninrene
route, which presents the easiest passage between the Irrawaddi and Yangtxe-Kian^

baaing while the Taping junction is dc.-tined one day to be connected by rail with

Fig. 210. TMADK ROUTIS or DVRMA.


8eJe I : I8.aoo.onn.

05* 105'

tlcutta through the Barak Valley and Manipur. East of Bhamo lie the ruins of
'

two cities, one of which is known as Old Bhamo, and farther north other ruins on

the right hank of the Taping mark the site of Tuapenango (Chamjxinagar}, formerly

capital of a Shan state, destroyed liy the Singpo.


Hundreds of essays have been written on the future direct highway between
India and China across the eastern continuation of the Himalaya-. Yet this high-

way may bo said to exist already. It is the "gold and silver route." through
which the Chinese armies descended to the plains in 1769, and which has always
448 INDIA AND INDO-CUINA.

been followed by the envoys of the two States. large portion of the goods for- A
warded from Rangun to Upper Burma reaches China by the same way, which was
animals.
tniversed in 1881 by a caravan of over 1,500 pack
Kuntuny, or Kyuntung, lying farther down,
AMARAPVRA, \UNI>ALAY. at the entrance of a
Pig. 211. AVA,
gorge on the same side of
Scale 1 : 800,000.
the Irrawaddi, was at one time the commercial
rival of Bhamo. But below the gorge there is

no other place of any importance until we


reach the present capital of the kingdom. A
fishing hamlet on the left bank still marks the
.:.

site of the ancient capital, Tar/itng, which was

V A Q ills t iU /* -v*
succeeded a little farther south by Pagan, now
called
" Old
Pagan," since another town of the
same name has been built 210 miles farther
down the Irrawaddi. Another village, also on
the left bank, bears the name of Tsampenango,
like the precursor of Bhamo on the Taping,
and like it was also an old Shan capital.
The
great bend of the Irrawaddi between
Bhamo and the delta encloses the pre-eminently
historic land of modern Burma. Here have
been successively built the four capitals of
ELofGr, 96-5'
Sagain, Ava, Amarapura, and Mandalay. Ava,
6 Miles. the oldest of these cities, occupies a picturesque
position on the river where it suddenly turns

westwards, and where joined by the Myih-ghi over against Sagain. The rec-
it is

tangular enclosure, about 6 miles in extent, is in a tolerably good state of preserva-

tion ;
but the interior has been converted into an extensive park, whose avenues
follow the line of the old streets. Founded in 1364, Ava remained the capital for
four centuries, till 1783, when it was abandoned, but again selected as the royal

residence from 1822 to 1837. From this place Burma is commonly known as the

Kingdom of Ava among the neighbouring States.


"
Amarapura, or the City of Immortality," lasted altogether not more than
seventy-five years, down to 1857, when the court was removed to Mandalay. It
formed a perfect square 4 miles north-east of Ava, on the left bank of the Irra-
waddi, where it still serves as the port of Mandalay, the present capital, which lies

2 miles from the same side of the river. The two places are connected by an
avenue lined with houses, dockyards, and magazines. Like Amarapura, Mandalay
forms a regular quadrangle, with brick ramparts pierced by gates on all four sides,
and flanked by towers with gilded roofs. In the centre a second square enclosure
contains the royal quarter, with the palaces of court ladies, ministers, and white

elephant. The mathematical centre, occupied by the royal throne, is surmounted


by a seven-spiral toVer symbolising Mount Meru, central pyramid of the globe.
"
Facing all the houses stands the King's palisade," where his subjects take refuge
TOPOGRAPHY. Mi
when the polire announce the approach of the "golden j, i; u ilt on a unifonn
,

and of flimsy materials, Mandalay looks like a show-place run


plan up for a day,
and destined like its najghboVH to disappear ut the caprice of rovaltv. The
strangling suburbs, which u i. 1 from the outer enclosure
l.\ a
navigable
moat, und protected by an embankment from the inundations of the Irrawaddi,
stretch south-westwards to the vicinity of Aiuarupura. The walls of Mandalay rett
on over fifty human lilies; jor in Burma, as formerly in Palestine, the foundation

Fig. 212. GENERAL VIEW or MANDALAY, TAKEN ruo* MANDALAY HILL.

of every building must be a " live stone." An accident to a reservoir of sacred oil in
1880 calkxl for other human sacrifices 100 men, 100 women, 100 boys, 100 girla,
100 soldiers, and 100 strangers. But when the victims l>eran to be seized the whole
population fled en matst, so that the sanguinary rites had to be countermanded.
Mandalay Hill is crowned by a shrine, with a statue j>ointing to the spot where
the king r<<
:\> orders from above to build his pala< e.
! Aii<>th. -r statue
lM>king
eastwards is supposed to indicate the direction wliieh his Majesty must take sooner
450 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

or later to escape from the English. South-west of the hill a vast enclosure, with
a lofty pagoda in the centre, is dotted over with some seven hundred pretty littlo

buildings, each of which contains a marble


slab inscribed with a passage from the

Piltagat, or Buddhist scriptures. Of the other religious edifices, by far the largest
is the unfinished pagoda x>f Mengun, a prodigious sandstone mass on the right bank
of the Irrawaddi a few miles above Mandalay. It was to have been carried to a

height of 500 feet, but was rent asunder by an earthquake in 1859. For this

building was intended the famous bell, weighing 100 tons, which still lies in the

neighbourhood.
present the most commercial and populous place in Burma proper is Myi
At
Kyan, which lies on the left bank of the Irrawaddi, in an extremely fertile rice-

growing district over against the confluence of the Kyen-dwen. This great affluent

Fig. 213. MANIPUR BASIX.


Scale 1 : 300,000.

95'50 E ofG

C Miles.

here forms with the main stream a vast labyrinth of island- studded channels, among
which it is often difficult to find the main artery. But the Kyen-dwen is not

navigable for boats beyond Kendat, 90 miles above its mouth. One of its chief

head-streams waters the rich plain of Manipur, capital of the State of like name, now
annexed to British India. On a headland a few miles below Myi Kyan stands the
famous city of Pagan, which, before the desertion of Old Pagan, was a royal residence
even before the foundation of Ava. Although scarcely mentioned by the early
travellers, the ruins of this capital extend about 8 miles along the river, and,

according to Colonel Yule, they include nearly 1,000 pagodas in a good state of
" Innumerable as the
preservation. temples of Pagan," is a local proverb. In
1284 a Burmese king, besieged by the Chinese, is said to have demolished 6,000
of these shrines in order to strengthen the fortifications. Amongst the remains
TOPOORAIIIY

Yule <>lTvnl :i r.Tiuiilieiit statue o\.-r 1 it i't-.-t lonr. A few of tlio mono-
arc still occupied Ity recluses,
hut all houses and royal (wluooM huvc disap-
tin-

peared. 1'a^an mark- the site of a decisive victory ^aim-d l>y tin- lln^lish over
v
tli> Burmese in 1

South ..I' I'a-rjin follow MiKjire und Y> nun- f/'/omj, noted for its
jH-trolciim \v. 1U,

iK.th on tlu> Irft, and still further down Menhla, on the ri^ht hank, near tho
British frontier. Across the border, the most advanced English station is Thayet-

Fig. 214. PHOMB AND rn SALT MIME*.


Scale 1 : 730.000.

II M.l. -

myo. But the


true capital of the region north of the Irrawaddi delta is Promt, on
the left bank, present inland U-nninus of the Kan^un railway, which will soon be
continued to the health-resort of A//an-myo, facing Tltnyct-niyo. The favourable

position of Promc, which is said to be over 'J.-'lno years old, enalhsit soon to recover
from every fre^h disaxttr. At one time it is said to have had a circuit of -ib' miles,
with ramparts pierced by thirty-five gates. It lies in a rich district
yielding rice,
tobacco, and all kinds of vegetables in great abundance. Like its neighbour
452 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Shuedttng,contains some magnificent pagodas frequented by tens of thousands of


it

pilgrims. But the numerous saline springs of the district are now almost entirely
abandoned. South of Prome, and just below the head of the delta, stands Hrnzmla t

on the main branch of the Irrawaddi, which here frequently shifts its bed. Henzada
enjoys a little local trade^ but it is chiefly important as the centre of the hydraulic
works undertaken to regulate the course of the stream in the delta. Lower down
are the
situated all great seaports, one of the oldest of which is Basxein, which by
some writers has been identified with the Bcsynga of Ptolemy. It has the advantage

Fig. 215. DYKES OF THE IRRAWADDI AT HENZADA.


Scale 1 : 200,000.

EofG. 95' 50: 95-55:

Dykes constructed. Dykes projected.


- 3 Jtilea.

of being the nearest port reached by vessels from India and Europe, but the navi-
gation of the Nawun branch of the delta on which it stands presents serious diffi-

culties. Its merchants, who are engaged almost exclusively in the rice trade,

withdraw during the hot season to the watering-place of Dalhousie, near the mouth
of the river, and not far fr^m Cape Negrais.

Rangun, the pqrt of the eastern branch of the Irrawaddi, has been cljosen as
the capital of British Burma, and even before the annexation it had been the
residence of a Burmese viceroy. A
pagoda, containing some relics of Buddha, had
TOPOGRAPHY

for centuries imparted a sjxvial sanctity t< the site of the present city; hut the

village of Dnijnn, so named from its pagoda, did not receive tin- title of Ilungun, or
" Knd of the
rather Kankiin. that is the War," till 1703, after the reduction of the
ms hy the victorious Alun^hhura ( Alompra). This seaport, which hu rapidly
increased in trade and population under the British rule, occupies an admirable

position on the last spurs of the Pegu-yoma, at the confluence of three rivers and of

Fig. 218. RAXOU x.


Scalel :tao,000.

90M5. 96*30

16 u> tt Feet. 88 Feet and upwards.

numerous navigable canals communicating with the Irrawaddi and Sittang deltas.
The estuary is accessible to large vessels, and besides the Prome line it will soon be
connected by rail with Tonga, in the Sittang basin. Next to Calcutta, llangun is
the busiest port on the
Bay of Bengal. It exports teak and other timbers, gums,
spices, and e-jH-cially rice, and is the chief mart for English wares intended for
Burma and Yunnan. It is also an imi>ortaiit industrial centre, and the literary
454 INDIA AND DIDO-CHINA.

capital of British Burma. Amongst its learned societies is one founded for the

purpose of printing the classic


works of Burmese literature.

The Shue-Dagun pagoda, which is enclosed within the British military canton-

ments, is an imposing pyramidal structure, whose gilded and jewelled spire rises to

Fig. 217. LOWER SITTANO VALLEY.


Scale 1 :
-2,000,000.

E.ofGr 96-50 97-30'

a height of 390 feet above the pavement.


During the annual fea in the month
of March, it is visited by numerous pilgrims from Burma, Siam, Camboja, and even
Corea. Some twelve miles east of Rangun stands the ruined city of Syriam, or

Thanlyeng, on the Pegu River, of which nothing now remains except the ruins of the
early Portuguese, Dutch, and English factories.
TOPOGRAPHY. 161

The ti-nn 7V.</, still often applied to tin- Burma lying


jx.rtion of British
II
Cape N'cgrais and the Salwen estuary, former
attests the
importance of
the capital of this region; hut heing inaccessible to large vessels, most of its trade
irs heen attracted to the mure commodious After
port of Kangun.
many \ icissitud-s this ancient was completely
capital of the Talaings or 1'eguans

d.'stn.yed liy Alompra, und the present town dates only from the end of the lust
It is now little more than a station on the route from
century. Rangun to Tonyu,
218. THE RALWKX, ABOVK MATI.MRIN.

or TuHf/-ni/n, the chief to\\Ti in the Sittang basin. Tongu lios in a fertile and well-
watered district partly peopled hy the industrious Karons, and much frequented by
Shan traders from indejH-ndent Burma.
East of the Sittang follows the Salwen, which traverses some of the least
known and most sparsely peopled regions of Farther India. After emerging from
the Tibetan gorges it flows through the Kakyen, Shan, Lao and Karen teirr
where its banks are occupied by only a few hamlets, doing a little trade with the
" "
surrounding wild tribec. The so-called towns of T/u-ini and ]Iom' lie, not on the
i;,., INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Salwen but farther west, in districts hitherto unvisitedby European travellers.


The Xanxulin, last affluent of the main stream, makes its way through a
series ofromantic rapids and ravines between steep hills, which are often strewn
with sandstone boulders of fantastic form. The most remarkable of these rocks,
remnants of disintegrated mountains, have been surmounted by little pagodas,
which can only be approached by dangerous bamboo ladders. Of these aerial

Fig. 219 BofLUEU 8UBMOUNTED BY A PAGODA.

shrines the most singular are those occurring on the Kyikhtco Hills, 15 miles north-
east of the village of like name.

The course the Salwen has been surveyed by Sprye and other English
of

explorers for about 360 miles from its mouth to the Shan territory. Although
destitute of routes communicating with the interior, the plains of the delta are rich

enough to support a considerable trade. For at least 1,300 years a capital has
flourished in this region ; but, like so many others in Burma, it has often been dis-

placed ^ The ancient Martaban, or Mut-tama, at one time important enough to


1

have gitten its name to the neighbouring gulf, is now a mere collection of huts.
Facing it ^s the new town of Maitlmcin (Ifoulmai*), capital of the district, on the
TOPOOBA1HY. 117

east bank of the Salwen, where tho stream bifurratea round tho largo Island of
Belu or Bhilu-ghaiwon. Maulmein, which is inhabited liy a motley jM.j.ulation of
Burmese, Talain^. Karei Hindus, M.days Chines.-. Kuropcatis, and Kurasi r

ulmoHt exelu-i\ely a commercial and industrial place. It


rxports . and
cotton, and its
dockyards turn out vcsaela noted for their htrength and n'lic lines.

Fig. 220. MAI-LMIIN AND MOUTHS or THE SALWSX.


:8.ono.

to Ifl Fteet. 10 to 89 itct. 32 Feet and upward*.

13

I
)uring the oppressive summer heats its merchants take refuge in the little water-
inir-phue of Anthcrsf, whieh lies on the coast -JO miles farther south. In tho
alluvial plain stretching north-west towards the Sit tang estuary stands the large

town of Tatting metropolis of the Thungtu aborigines.


(T/iti to/in),
Here
erected the first Buddhist temples, which served as the models for those afterwards
scattered all over Burma.
04
CHAPTER XXI.

MENAM BASIN.
WEST SIAM, SHAX, AND LAO STATES.

LTITOUGII less extensive than the other great Indo-Chinese fluvial


"
basins, that of the Menam, or Mother of Waters,'* occupies a
more central position, and has thus played a leading part in the
historic evolution of Farther India. Uniting its waters with several
other rivers in a common delta, it reaches the coast at the northern

extremity of a gulf, which penetrates far inland, and which presents a seaboard of
no less than 900 miles. The entrance of the Menam thus forms the central point
of a vast circle, towards which converge all the sea routes on the one hand, and on
the other the highways of the river valleys.
all Lying midway between the Bay
of Bengal and Gulf of Tongking, the Siamese seaboard forms the geographical
centre of the Transgangetic Peninsula. Thus favoured by the exceptional advan-
tages of its position, the people known to Europeans as the " Siamese," but who
" " Free
call themselves Thai," that is, Men," have exercised the greatest civilising
influence on the aboriginal populations of the interior. Within the historic period

Siam has also generally held the most extensive domain beyond the natural limits
of the Menam basin. Even still, although hemmed in on one side by the British
possessions, on the other by the French protectorate of Camboja, Siam comprises
beyond the Menam Valley a considerable part of the Malay Peninsula, and draws
tributefrom numerous peoples in the Mekong and Salwen basins. But this State,
with an area about half as large again as that of France, has a population of

probably less than 6,000,000.


The Menam rises in the Lao territory, between the here converging valleys of
the Salwen and Upper Mekong. On entering the Shan state of Kieng-mai it is
already accessible to boats, and throughout the whole of Siam proper navigable by
light craft, while steamers ascend its lower course with the tides. So dense is the
vegetation on both sides that in many places the banks are entirely concealed by a

tangled growth of palms, bamboos, creepers, and tropical foliage. Before reaching
the gulf it ramifies into a number of side branches, which effect a junction with
various other streams, all subject to extensive inundations during the annual risings
MI:\\M BASIN, 160

from June to N .

EtiM grows luxuriantly in the surruiinilin^ plain-*, which


at thi> lime an- navigate*! l.y Ix.ats in all directions. II. nU <>f rl
phants fre<ju-nt
the flooded tracts, some <f which are never entirely drained. The sluggish
Khor which near its niuiith i> e..nneeir<l liy an artificial canal with
lly,

Fig. 221. GULF or SUM.


Soala 1 : 10,000,000.

to 16 Feet 16 to 32 Feet. 3* to 80 Feet. 80 to 160 Feet. 160 Feet and

- ^_ 180 Miles

the Menam, is
fringed by several permanent swamps of great extent, but mostly
concealed by tall
herbage. At the head of the gulf a crescent of submerged sand-
banks, stretching some GO miles east and west and accessible to vessels of 500 tons
only at high water, separates the sea from the plains of Bangkok, which at one
time formed a northern continuation of the gulf. A well sunk to a depth of
460 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

20 feet in itself traverses successive layers of marine deposits abounding


Bangkok
in sea shells.

The forming the water-parting between the Menam and Lower


forest-clud hills

Mekong basins have been crossed only at a few points by Schomburgk, MacLeod,
and a few other travellers. The routes between
Sprve, O'Reilly, Bastiau, Mouhot,
Bangkok and Maulmein rt'd
Fig. '222. ROVTES OF EXPLOREKS is BUKMA AND SIAM. Rehein, between Maulmein
Scale I : 10,000,000. and Kieng-mai, and between
Tongu, Mone" and Kiang-tung,
have also been explored. But
the regions especially about
the sources of the Menam are

scarcely known. Mouhot,


still

who traversed the Lao country


between Ayuthia on the Me-
namand Luang - Prabang on
the Mekong, describes it as

mountainous, and speaks of the


majestic aspect of the range
skirting the Menam Valley on
the east and stretching away
to the Cambojan frontier.
From the isolated bluff of

Patavi, standing about 36


miles to the north-east of

Ayuthia, a magnificent pros-


pect is afforded of these high-
lands, which form avast amphi-
theatre of hills, bounding the
horizon on the north and east.
Over against Patavi stands
P'rabat, the sacred mountain
of the Siamese, where they
14
worship the imprint left by
the foot of Samona-Kadom,
the "Holy Shepherd." The
'.
IDO'
rocks piled up in disorder
180 Miles. round about P'rabat bear other
traces resembling the steps of

elephants, tigers, and other animals, sharply outlined as if made in the soft
all

clay. According to the local tradition Buddha crossed the mountain, followed
by an endless cortege of forest beasts, whence the marks, which have not yet been
studied by geologists. Farther east the surface is covered for a space of atx>ut 10
miles with blocks of iron ores resembling meteoric stones. Stems of petrified trees
SIAMESE YOUTHS.
1CENAM BASIN. 461

are also met near Patavi, which streaked by the mineral Mi-earn- with many-
is

tin- shadows and


"
coloured lines, supposed to represent rays of Ituddha." Heyond
the Korat Hills farther north, the country abounds in copper, tin, antimony, and
M- ti ami the streams are here and there washed for gold.
iron ores, Imme-
" Mountain of precious- Stones,"
diately east of Shantabim is the Koh-Sabap, or
from which the torrents send down rubies, sapphires, and other valuable crystals.
The climate of Siura differs from that of the surrounding regions lying
little

under the same latitude. Throughout its entire length the Muai.g-Thai, which is
said to stretch 1,200 miles north and south, is
alternately exposed to the moist
south-west and dry north-east trade-winds. The former, which
generally begins
in May, is gradually deflected westwards,
succeeded, towards and
the end of Sep-
is

tember, by the north and north-east currents, which in their turn are slowly
deflected to the south-east and east. In Bangkok the mean temperature oscillates
between 81 and 86 F. ; oppressive only in March and April, after
but the heat is

the north-east winds have ceased and before the rainy monsoon sets in. Although
of the Menam basin
probably lighter than in Burma, the average rainfall
is

estimated at 60 inches, or about double that of France. Here also the malaria is

less fatalthan in Bengal, Burma, or Java.


In its fauna and flora Siam occupies a somewhat intermediate position between
Burma and China. Elephants abound in the Lao forests and in parts of the Menam
"
basin,where the so-called " white specimens are held in special veneration.
White monkeys and ravens are also held in great honour, the latter especially being
of iguana covered with
regarded as supernatural beings. The tuk-hai, a species
red specks, is regarded as a household god, because it
preys on rats and other
vermin, and ant-hills are considered sacred objects because they resemble pagodas
in shape. The insect world is represented in the Muang-Thai by countless species,

while the rivers and gulf teem with fish. Ngapi, a universal relish at every table,
is prepared, as in Burma, from fermented fish and shrimps.
The inhabitants of Siam, whether Shans, Laos, or Siamese proper, belong all
alike to the same Thai stock, which is by numerous tribes in
also represented

A>sam, Manipur, and China. The Shans are very numerous in the region of the
the Salwen Valley, and in the
Upper Irrawaddi and its Chinese affluents, in
But along the banks of
portion of the Sittang basin included
in British territory.

the Irrawaddi they have become assimilated in type and


mostly nearly altogether
speech to the Burmese. In Yunnan, also, many
now resemble the Chinese, and
the old Shan empire of Pong has been broken up into several petty states governed

by patriarchal twlum*, or chiefs, and tributary to the neighbouring kingdoms.*


The Pei, or Northern Shans, are nearly all of small stature, and darker than

prominent cheek-bones, and black, lank


with broad face, hair. The
I'.uropeans,
and almost sad, although they are really
expression is generally mild, thoughtful,
and fond of music. The dre is of a v
good-humoured, friendly, ordinary
dark blue, dyed with wild indigo, and the women wear beautiful silvt-r ornaments,

Carl Bock, however, who explored North Siam in 1881-2, nv that the Shan
rtutoi of the
J/6\ Xot*.
Kiang-hung, and apparently also Kiang-lang, are rtill quite independent.
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

diadems, earrings, and buttons of native workmanship.


Most of them are occupied
in weaving, dyeing, embroidering, straw-plaiting.
The men, also, are skilled
agriculturists and shrewd
traders. They have a peculiar alphabet, and many
of their Buddhist priests are fairly well instructed. Hence the Shans little deserve
" "
the epithet of White Barbarians applied to them by the Chinese.
The Lovas, better known by the name of Laos or Laotians, are related to the

Shans, and occupy the north of Siam, especially between the Salwen and Mekong
Rivers. Being more or less mixed with the aborigines they present a great
diversity of types.
form several "
They all vassals of the
kingdoms," of King
Siam, to whomthey pay a triennial tribute of gold, silver, flowers, and sundry
produce. The Lao nation comprises three distinct groups the " Whites," who do
:

" "
not tattoo, the Blacks," and the Greens," who paint their faces in these colours.
is into
" White " and " Black of whom the latter
Another classification Paunches,"
are the least civilised, and dwell chiefly about the Upper Menam. Southwards the
transition isvery gradual from the Laos to the Siamese proper. But in the
districts where they have remained pure the Laos are superior to the Southern
Thai in figure, strength, and regularity of features. They are keen traders, and

every village possesses a number of pack elephants, sometimes as many as fifty or


even one hundred. Like the Shan, the Lao language differs little from Siamese,
but has a softer pronunciation and employs different characters. The Buddhist

priests are extremely numerous, forming, according to Dr. Harmand, one-eighth of


the whole population in the Mekong Valley.
The Siamese, properly so called, are centred chiefly in the Lower Menam basin
and along the seaboard. Although the most civilised they are not the purest of
the Thai race, having become more or less intermingled with Chinese, Burmese,

Malay, and other foreign settlers in Siam. This word Siam or Sayam is said by
some natives to mean " Three," because the country was formerly peopled by three
races now
fused in one nation. Others derive it from saya, " independent," sama,
" "
brown," or samo, dark." But the more usual national name is Thai that is,
" "
Free," or Noble." The Siamese are generally of mean height and well
proportioned, with olive complexion, black eyes, somewhat broad features, but
much less flat than the ordinary Mongolic type. The men carefully pluck out
their scanty beard, and both sexes shave the head,
leaving nothing but a round
tuft on the crown. Most of the children, with their bright eyes, pleasant smile,
pliant limbs and black top-knot decked with flowers or gems, are quite charming ;

but soon lose their beauty and dainty appearance. To the European eye the
Siamese are an ugly people, and their somewhat " Simian " expression is heightened,
by the practice of blackening the teeth. The dress is at once simple and elegant,
consisting of the languti or loin-cloth, and a strip of cloth thrown by the men
across the shoulders, and
by the women usually wound round the waist.
The Siamese are well named " Indo-Chinese," their manners, customs, civil and
religious institutions all partaking of this twofold character. Their feasts are of
Brahmanical origin, while their laws and administration are obviously borrowed
from the Chinese. Their isolating speech, being mainly monosyllabic, is toned like

\
MEN AM BASIN. 161

the other members of the Indo-Chinese group. But the alphabet is of Hindu
origin, and in the <! -\:itl >t\ free use is made of Pali terms.
! The people them-
selves are mild, patient, bUrinus xtn'in. ly kind and hospitable.
.
The poor are
u IHTO assisted, and along the wayside truvellers find vessels of fresh water

Fig. 223. INHABITANT* or SUM.


BoU I : 14.nno.000.

E.ofG. 100' oy

and little
refuges, where they can cook their food and pass the night. Crimes of
violence and strife are very rare, and politeness universal, but unfortunately accom-

panied by obsequiousness and duplicity, for which a long-established despotic


government must be held responsible.
The Buddhism of Siuiu has preserved itself from foreign elements better than
464 INDIA AND INDO-COINA.

that of most other Asiatic regions. The king has even recently undertaken the
" Defender of the Faith," and a lengthy correspondence has been carried
part of
on between the Court of Bangkok, the other eastern governments, and the ex-
" Great
pounders of the Doctrine," who are pursuing their inquiries even in the

European libraries. Thex law requiring all youths to pass their twentieth year in a
monastery is obeyed even by the kings, who on re-entering the world have to be
crowned again. The nation spends yearly over 4,000,000 on the maintenance of
"
the priests and monks, anl the rat-luany, or royal cloisters," form a vast assem-
a
blage of pyramidal pagodas, convents, courts, shrines, gardens, tanks, constituting
sacred domain, where criminals find refuge, as in the sanctuaries of mediaeval
This and many similar foundations supported by the state, the nobles, or
Europe.
the people, contain vast treasure representing the greater part of the national
savings. Golden idols glittering with precious stones are by no means rare in the
temples, which, however, freely
admit sculptures of a more profane character. In
one place Bastian saw a statue of Napoleon by the side of a Buddha, and amongst
the European prints decorating the walls some are met representing military reviews
and battle-fields. Religion itself consists almost entirely of empty show and an
extravagant respect for animal and even vegetable life. Religious indifference is
widespread, the temples are little frequented, and the priests are held in slight
esteem. They are accused of transgressing most of their numerous precepts, and
were they not regarded as magicians, their constant appeals to the charity of the
faithful would meet with little response.

About one-fourth of the inhabitants of Siam had from various causes fallen into

a state of bondage about the middle of the present century. But since the abolition
of slavery in 1872, the population has increased, especially by Chinese immigration.
Certain professions are entirely in the hands of settlers, especially from Fokien and
Kwang-tung, and the Chinese element is variously estimated at from 500,000 to
1,500,000. The Chinese settlers are at once the most active, enterprising, and
troublesome section of the community, and their political aspirations have in many

places had to be suppressed by armed force. From them the natives have acquired
a taste for opium, which has already become very general. There are also numerous
Talong settlers, while the wild tribes beyond the Mekong, collectively known as
Khas, are identical with the Prom or Prong of the Cambojans, the Moi of the
Cochin-Chinese, and the Myong of Tongking. This term Kha, which originally
meant " slave," is not to be confounded with Khek, which simply means " stranger."
Hence the expressions Khek-Hindu, Khek-Malayu, Khek-Java but as these ;

Hindus, Malays, and Javanese are nearly all Mohammedans, Islam itself is comprised
under the general designation of Khek.
The " Master of the World," or " Master of Life," as the King of Siam is
generally called, enjoys absolute power over the lives and property of his subjects.
He owns in principle all the land, and the whole revenue derived from taxes,

customs, monopolies, tribute, and all other sources is poured into the royal treasury
and placed entirely at the disposal of the sovereign. He can name his successors,
even setting aside his own family ; but should he fail to exercise this privilege.
.
\ M BASIN. 465

the crown passes to bis eldest son. The ceremony of coronation is followed by
iimiuTous feasts syinlH. Using the possession of earth, uir, and water by the new

sovereign. Hut all-jxwrful though he be, and surrounded, like the gods, b\
army of ongols," his theoretic onniijx. truer is limited by tin- Book of Ceremonial, in

which his daily acts and whole conduct ure regulated.


A second always nearly related to the firnt, enj..ys the title and a few
kin;;,

attributes of royalty. But he exercises no power, and his chief function is that of
father to the queen-consort. The title of king was till
recently borne by a third

personage; nor is this double or triple royalty un exclusively Siamese institution,


for in several other Indo-Chinese states dominion over the natural elements of fire
and water is also shared between two joint Palace intrigues arising out of
rulers.

this dual system are guarded against by a long-established tradition, and by various

precautionary measures, which place the first king beyond the reach of his popular
associate. In case of disobedience to the prescribed rules, princesses are sewn up
in a sack and thrown into the river, while princes are beaten to death with rods of
sandal -wocd.
The royal council consists of the ministers of the interior, foreign affairs, war
and navy, besides which there is a kind of senate
comprising about twenty of the
chief mandarins. Some of the royal princes are promoted to high offices in the
State,but most of them lead idle and dissolute lives as pensioners of the royal
household, while a few engage in trade or some profession. In general the chief
offices are hereditary, but there is no aristocracy of blood, titles conferred by the king

being always personal. The laws


are applied with great severity, and the Chinese

principle of jurisprudence, making the family or even the whole community collec-
tively responsible for a crime or calamity, is pitilessly enforced by the mandarins.
All the inhabitants being regarded as slaves of the sovereign, they are liable to
be pressed into the military service, whatever be their profession. Nevertheless

according to long-established usage the duty of serving falls on certain special classes,
such as the immigrants from Pegu, carpenters and other skilled labourers. In recent
times these artisans have been employed more in the building of royal palaces and

temples than in actual warfare. A


battalion of "Amazons" keeps guard in the
inner apartments; but a regular body of infantry and artillery has also been

organised under European officers, and the entrance of the Menam is now defended
by a flotilla of gunboats. British having succeeded to Chinese influence, most of
the naval and military as well as of the custom-house officers are Englishmen.
The Banykok Recorder, or official gazette, is also issued in English and Siamese,
and princes of the royal household are sent to England for their education.
Beyond Siam proper, which comprises 41 provinces, various feudatory States
have each their special government modelled on that of Bangkok. In the north
the tributary kingdoms of Xieng-mai, Labong, Lakhong, P're, Nan. Muang-Lom,

comprise the I'pper Menam valleys the large state of Luang-Prahan^ is traversed
;

by the Mekong, and in Malacca the kingdoms of Ligor, Songkhla, Patani,


Kalantan, and Tringanu follow in succession from north to south, while Kedah

skirts the west coast of the peninsula north of the British province of WeUesk-y.
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The city ofXieng-mai (Zimnit in Burmese) is capital of the Lao state of like
at 300,000. It lies in an
name, and has a large population vaguely estimated
extensive fertile plain, watered by the Meping, or Upper Menam, and is enclosed by
a double rampart. broad streets are lined by houses, each with its garden plot,
Its

and often well stocked with wares brought hither by Chinese or Bangkok traders.
Its natural however, is Maulmein, with which it communicates by a route
port,

traversing teak forests. It also lies near the direct highway from Rangun vid

Fig. 22J. AYVTHIA IN THE LAST CENTURY.


Scale 1 : 482.000.

lOO'lO
H Foreign Quarter.
Port., Portuguese. Japanese. Pg-i Peguans. Hal., Malabars.

6 Miles.

Setnao
(Exmok) to Yunnan-fu, a highway frequented from time immemorial by
Chinese dealers, bringing silks and metal wares in exchange for rice, cotton, ivory,
lacquer, wax, and incense. The journey takes over thirty days for a distance of
360 miles, across and mountain ranges. In the same valley, and 18 miles
forests

south-east of Xieng-mai, lies Labong, also capital of a state, east of which is Lakhon,
another capital on the Mewang. This river joins the Menam above Rahein, a
market-town, where a large number of teak boats are yearly built. Still farther
east Mnantj P'rdand Munng Nan, capitals of the states of P're and Nan? lie in
fertile valleys, watered by affluent? of the Menam, which converge lower down at
TOPOGRAPHY. 167

PiUanutok (Pittiluk, PiUalok), formerly capital of


Muang-Thai, but now much
decayed.

The city of Siam, or Ayuthia (8i Ayo-Tliaya), now called Krung-Kao, wa the
168 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

for over 400 years, from 1350 to 1767, when it was captured by a
royal residence
Burmese army. At that time it contained 5,000 Christians, who were led into
and the foreign settlements of Chinese, Annamese, Malays, Feguans,
all
captivity,
"
Malabars," Japanese, and Portuguese had each their separate quarters grouped
round the island in the vMenam, on which stood the Siamese city proper. Vast
spaces are still covered with the ruins of pagodas built somewhat in the style of the

Fig. 226. BANGKOK AND MOUTH OF THE MENAM.


Scale 1 : 360,000.

I0035

to 3 Feet. 8 to 16 Feet. 16 Feet and upwards.


6 Miles.

Hindu North of the " Golden


temples. city stands the Mountain," one of the
oldest buildings in the country, rising 400 surrounding plain. The
feet above the

king possesses sumptuous palaces in the ancient residence of his dynasty, north of
which stretches the Elephant Park, still used as a royal hunting-ground.
Although not yet a century old, Bangkok, the present capital, has already a
population of over 500,000, and is now the largest city on the Asiatic seaboard,
between Calcutta and Canton. The city proper, which has a circuit of nearly 9
TOPOGRAPHY 469

miles, stands about 18 mile- fn>m the sea, on the left hank of tin- M.-nain, which

here describes a sudden curve to the west. K\t< MMM- -uburbs above and below, and
(in tlu> islands, cover with the central quarter u space of altogether not less than
" Venice of Siain "
li Mjuare miles. Intersected in every dire<-tion ly canals, thi>

presents from a distance u marvellous picture, more extensive and in appearance


more imposing than the (Jueen of the Adriatic itself. Above the houses, shipping,
and dense pyramids of the pagodus, covered with mosaics
foliage, rise the sculptured
and glittering like gold in the bright sunshine. Both sides of the stream are
hidden by flouting houses and picturesque dwellings, mostly carved, embellished
with paintings and gilding, and moored to the banks. Houses more in the
Kuroj)ean taste are centred in the neighbourhood of the harbour, and the royal
palace itself is a fine structure quite in the Italian style. But the chief curiosities
are the pugodus profusely decorated with delicate sculptures, chased metal-
still

work, and precious stones. In one is a gilded effigy of Buddha, filling a nave over
160 feet long, in another one of solid gold, in a third a jade statue of the same
divinity.
Most of the foreign trade of Siam is centred in Bangkok, and is monopolised
chiefly by the king, the royal princes and the Chinese, who form probably half the

population. About two-thirds of the exports consist of rice, shipped to Hong Kong,
Singapore, Batuviu, and Europe. Other exports are salt fish, benzoin, teak, pepper,
sesame, and cattle. Owing to the preponderance of British commercial interests,
the English Consul exercises almost as much effective power as the king himself.

Subject to his jurisdiction are not only the English residents, but also the natives
of India, British Burma, Chinese from Hong Kong and Singapore, and the Malays
of the Straits Settlements.
Below Bangkok the approaches are guarded by the batteries of Paklat and
Paknam, where the customs are levied. The capital also communicates through
navigable canals with Tattiin, Jfek/ony, and the other ports of the delta. Near the
Cambojan frontier stands the flourishing seaport of S/iantabuii, which exports
pepper, timber, and precious stones. On the west side of the gulf, the only note-
Siamese town is Pfchiburi, which lies at the foot of the hills some distance
worthy
from the coast, and which has been almost entirely laid out on plans brought from
England. A
neighbouring eminence is crowned by a royal palace built on the
model of Windsor Castle. In this district the Peguans appear to be more numerous
than in a.ny other part of Siam.
CHAPTER XXII.
MEKONG AND SONG-KOI BASINS.

EAST SIAM. TOSOKIXO. SOUTH ANNAM. CAMBOJA. FRENCH CocHiN-CmHA.

LTIIOUGII the largest in extent, the Mekong is far from being the
most populous river basin in Farther India. Much
of this region
stillremains to be explored, and about one-half is occupied by wild
tribes. The coast-lands alone have long been settled by the civilised

Khmer, orCambojan people, who received their arts, sciences, and


religions from India. But to these Hindu influences have now succeeded those of
the French, who have recently established themselves on the Lower Mekong. The
population of French Cochin-China is, however, much inferior to that of Annam,
which comprises the eastern slope of the Pacific Coast Range. Compact communities
are here settled, chiefly in the basins of the Song-koi and other rivers of Tongking,
which province, although scarcely forming a twentieth part of Indo-China, contains
probably one-half of its inhabitants. This region, which is only partly separated
by natural frontiers from China, resembles the most flourishing parts of that empire
in the number of large towns and villages crowded together on its cultivated plains.

Tongking has even been frequently subject to the Chinese sovereigns, and the king
of Annam sends regular tribute to the Court of Peking.
still On the other hand
semi-independent principalities have been established in the interior, and France
has begun to exercise a fictitious protectorate over Cochin-China, the strategical

points of which were occupied in 1883.


North of the Gulf of Tongking, the political frontier of Farther India is in-

dicated by Cape Paklung ;


while in its lower course the Ngannan-kiang serves as the
between China and the kingdom of Annam. But within 30 miles of
official limit

the coast we enter a little-known highland region, which merges in the Kwangsi and
Yunnan tablelands. In accordance with the long-established policy of China, this
frontier zone has been kept as an almost desert borderland, whose few inhabitants
are forbidden either to drain the marshes, clear the forests, or open roads across the
hills. For a spaceof about 20 miles this tract is held by tribes whose independence
is
respected on the condition of their preventing all communication between the
civilised communities on either side. Nam-kwan and Bien-cwong, the two chief
OROGRAPHY OF ANXAM. 471

frontier puses, are also strongly fortified, although in other respect* the best
political relations arc maintained lct \\.cn the t\v. -tales.

The hilly region of Kwangsi is continued al<mr the north Ton^k ing seaboard l>y
larv branches, one of which height of o\er I,'-"
risvs to a 11. re the

coast is fringed by steep cliffs, or broken into rocky islets, one group of which has
earned the name of the Pirate Islands. Hut southwards, the frontier highlundsarc
abruptly limited by the alluvial plains of the lied River and its tributaries. West
of this valley the land again rises, developing a mountain range, which branches
off at a mean height
of 5,000 feet in a south-easterly direction from the Yunnan

plateau, and which probably forms the water-parting between the Song-koi and
Mekong basins. Its advanced spurs, which have alone been explored, abound in
coal, iron, tin, copper, silver, and gold. One of these offshoots, .stretching south of
the Song-koi delta, serves as a natural limit between the two main divisions of the
Annamese empire, while others reach the coast at various points, here forming
numerous and even several deep harbours. Thus the zone of plains and low
inlets

hills, between the main range and the sea, has an extreme width of not more than 30

miles, and at some points is contracted to 9 or 10 miles. The streams descending


from the watershed flow mostly through lateral valleys at right angles with the coast,
and the same direction was followed by the wall built in the sixteenth century as a
" "
barrier between the two
Tongking, or the Eastern Capital
states of
(called also
"Dang Ngoai, or "Outer Route"), and the southern Dang Trong, or "Inner
Route." The term Annam, applied more specially to the coast region, is merely a
form of Ngannan, the name of the frontier river, meaning the " Peace of the South."
South of Hue, the best known inlet is the Kua-han, or Turane (Turon) Bay,
which is encircled north and west by hills, and converted into an almost land-
locked basin by a headland, connected on the south-east by a strip of sand with the
mainland. It also communicates by a navigable canal with the old
port of Faifo,
lying farther south. The coast facing south-east is also indented by a number of
similar inlets, such as Kui-Con, Cumong, Swan-dai, Ilon-khoi, Biiih-hoa, and Kam-
rau. Here are few rocky islets, of which the best known are Pulo Cecir de
also a
Terra close to the shore, and Pulo Cecir de Mar (Kulao
Thon) farther seawards.
Beyond the main water-parting a few isolated eminences and detached ridges
some places to heights of 6,000 feet and upwards. Amongst them is the
rise in

P'u-sung, commanding the left bank of the Mekong and fringing the north side ;

an extensive plateau 3,000 to 3,300 feet high, which occupies the circular space
limited west by the Mekong, north by the Se-don, east and south-east by the

Se-cong Rivers. This tableland of Suruvun, or Boloven,


is
partly covered with a
magnificent vegetation of conifers, oaks, chestnuts, hornbeam, bamboos, palms, and
tree-ferns. The soil consists of ferruginous clay resting on sandstones, beneath
which the deep erosions of the torrents have revealed beds of lava and other
igneous deposits. The IJjissac Hills, rising west of the Mekong to an extreme
height of 3,850 feet, seem to belong to the same geological formations, south of
which the Cochin-Chinese uplands acquire their greatest expansion. Here the
main axis runs first in the direction of the meridian and then south- wot, parallel
472 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

with the coast, terminating in steep escarpments on the frontier of French Cochin-
China. Beyond this point nothing remains except isolated bluffs, such as the
wooded headland of CapeJames, connected by alluvial deposits with the main-
St.

land in comparative recent geological times. But the seaward prolongation of the
Annamese mountain systehi is still marked along the line of its axis by the Pulo-
Condor Archipelago.
"West of the Mekong and partly volcanic heights of South
delta the irregular

Camboja are connected by the Pursat and Prabal Hills with the Shantabun High-

Fig. 227. Pi'LO CONDOR.

Scale 1 : 240,000.

to 32 Feet. 82 to 64 Feet. 64 Feet aud upwards.

___^____ 6 Miles.

lands. Along the coast they terminate in bold headlands, which are also continued
seawards by a few rocky islets.
The only large river flowing east to the China Sea is the Hong-Kiang
(Hoti-Kiang) of the Chinese, the Song-koi (Song-cai, Song-ka, Song-tha) of the
Annamese, that is, the Red River of the French, who were the first Europeans to
explore its course. On emerging from Yunnan, some 300 miles from the sea, it is
already about -300 feet wide, and navigable for light craft. It was even ascended

to Manhao, 60 miles farther up, by Dupuis, in 1871. Below Hung-hoa its volume
is
nearly doubled by the Song-bo (Kim-tu-ha), or "Black River," which joins it
from China, and which is navigable for boats as far as the Laos country. The
united stream, which is much obstructed by rapids, is here known as the Thao, and
at last takes the title of Song-koi, or rather Shong-cai, that " Great
is, River,"
below the confluence of the tributary known in various parts of its course as the
HYDROGRAPHY OF ANNAM. 473

Eham, Bode, Lieu, and Ca. About 90 mih s from the sea it ramifies into the two
main hranehe-, of tin- delta the northern, which retains the name of Song-koi, and

the southern, Sing-hat or Dai ; Imth of which develop turn u va*t lahyrinth
in their

of channels hack-waters and artificial canals, continually shifting with the floods
and tides. Two the Song-koi flow northwards to another still
side branches of

more intricate delta formed by the Thai-biiih, which under the name of the
Song-kuo flows from Lake Babe in a still unexplored frontier district. The Joint
Delta advances far beyond the normal coast-line, describing a curve of 90 miles

Fig. 228. SONO-KOI DELTA.


flml* 1

eoncentric with another far more extensive, which is formed by the sedimentary
matter deposited along the coast in the Gulf of Tongking.
The great artery of Farther India, formerly better known as the Camboja,
but now generally called the Mekong (Mekhong, Meikong), was even in the last

centurystill
supposed to be a branch of the Ganges, one of those sacred "Ganga"
Mowing fnmi Mount Mem. Under the name of Lantzun-kiang, or Kinlong-kiang,
" River of
that is, the Great Dragon," the Mekong rises in one of the long parallel

valleys of East Tibet, between the Kinsha-kiang (Yangtze) and the Lutze-kiang

(Salwen). But its upper course, where it passes through tremendous gorges, here

95
171 INDIA AND IXDO-CHINA.

and there crossed by su-pni-ion bridges hundreds of yards above its foaming bed,
has not yet been completely surveyed. The French expedition of I860 got no
farther than Xieng-hong, 300 miles below the iron bridge, crossing it on the route
between Tali-fu and Bhamo. The stream, 300 or 400 yards broad at Xieng-hong,
flows 120 miles lower* down over a series of reefs and rapids on the frontier <>t
Burma and Siam, which during the dry season completely obstruct the navigation.
On entering Siamese territory it suddenly changes its southerly course,
and for
about 120 miles flows eastwards, as if intending to send its waters to the Gulf of

Tongking. But at the confluence of the Nam-hu from China, it again trends south-
wards, retaining this direction as far as Xieng-kang, where it resumes its
easterly

Fig. 229. THE KHONO FALI.S.

Seale 1 : 180,000.

3 Miles.

course to the foot of the Cochin-Chinese Hills. Here the stream is contracted at
some points to 100 and even 50 yards, with a depth of over 320 feet. But after the

junction of great tributary, the Se-mun, it plunges into a series of rapids,


its

probably unsurpassed in extent by those of any other river on the globe. Every-
where bed presents an unfinished aspect, abruptly varying from 300 to 50 yards
its

in width, in one place forming a vast and almost motionless basin, in another

rushing impetuously round the huge crags and islets obstructing its channel.
The Khong cataracts, which mark the limit of its middle course below Bassac,

are formeoVby a barrier of rocky islands, which arrest the stream and fcause it to

ramify over a space upwards of 12 miles broad. At low water some of the branches
Till; MKKONO RIVEB. 475

run dry ; others urc so winding that no sudden falls an- <! \>
lojx-d ; hut most of
them art*
interrupted hy . one of which has a vertical height :

All tin-si* falls differ in ni\ each other, mid


variety i-* their endless

heightened hy the ])alnis fringing the hanks, the cra^s clothed with vegetation,
and the distanthills seen here and then* !< yond the woodlands and" cultivated

plains. Below the confluence of the Atto|xi from the Anname-e Hills, one of the
branches between Shing-treng and Sombor is also obstructed by rapids hut the ;

eastern channel is aeeessihle to .-learners ut all seasons. Much (f the traffic is


carried on by mean- of bumhoo raft-, -ome of which are !"> or even 20 tons burden.

1'nom-penh, present capital of Camboja, 180 miles from the sea, marks the head
of the Mekong delta, where the left branch continues its seaward course, but the
" Sweet-water
right loses it -elf in the Toule-sap, or River," a lacustrine reservoir
known " Great Lake." The two
commonly as the channels, thus flowing in oppo-
site directions,wind through a depression which was formerly a marine inlet,
separated from the Gulf of Siam by the Purast range and some lower and isolated
hills. The waters of this inlet were gradually separated from the sea by the alluvia
of the Mekong, while the was slowly changed to a fresh-water
lacustrine depression

basin, which, however, is inhabited by the porpoise, skate, and other marine
still

species. Chinese documents, dating from the beginning of the vulgar era, still

speak of the Great Lake as a gulf penetrating to Banon near Battambang.


During the floods between June and October, the lake is fed from the Mekong
by a stream about 70 miles long, from 500 to 2,000 feet wide, and accessible to
men-of-war. But at low water the flow is reversed, and the lake gradually dis-

charges its contents into the Mekong. When flooded it is at least 05 miles long,
with a mean breadth of 15, and a nearly uniform depth of 40 to 45 feet. It has an
area of about 100 square miles, and a volume of perhaps 1,225 billion cubic feet.
But the back-water from the Mekong also sends down large quantities of alluvia,
by which the lacustrine cavity is being gradually filled in. The streams rising
east of Bangkok, and now flowing to the lake, will then be collected in a single

channel traversing the site of the present depression as a simple affluent of the

Mekong. The Toule*-sap serves at present as a sort of trap for the myriads of fiah
brought down during the Mekong floods, and left in the hollows after the subsi-
dence of the waters. At this period vast numbers of birds frequent the lake, whjph
gives employment to as many as 30,000 Annamese, Siamese, Malay, and Cambojan
fishermen. The Cambojans, who live chiefly on fish, have enough left to export
from 9,000 to 10,000 tons to Lower Cochin-China.
Below Pnom-penh the Mekong ramifies into two main branches, the Tien-

giang and the Han-giang in the west, which follow a nearly parallel
in the east
course for about 120 miles. The Han-giang, called also the River of Baasac, enters
the China Sea through two channels ; whereas the Tien-giant: develop* s leebndary
delta, with numerous shifting mouths, connected by lateral branches with several

old ramifications of the Mekong. Amongst these are the west and east Vaico, the
river of Saigon and the Donnai (Dong-nai). West of the Han-giang the plains are

also intersected by channels, now flowing directly to the Gulf of Siam so that the ;
476 INDIA AND INDO- CHINA.

of French Cochin-China really belongs to the region of the Mekong


greater part
The terminating at Cape Camboja or
delta. long peninsula (Min-gan, Ong-dok)
and between the extreme channels of the delta there is a coast-
is entirely alluvial,

line of no less than 360 miles, besides the shallows and sandbanks which stretch

for a further distance of some 30 miles seawards.


At Lakhon, in the Laos country, Delaporte estimates the discharge of the Mekong
at Bassac, below
at 48,000 cubic feet per second, at the end of the dry season ;

the Se-munjunction, Francis


Gamier found a volume of 320,000 cubic feet in
December, while the mean of 420,000 or 430,000 is said to rise during the floods to
2,200,000 and 2,500,000, and even more. The Mekong thus rivals the Irrawaddi
in volume, although throughout its upper course the moist monsoons are inter-
cepted by a double or triple range of
mountains. But south of the Lao country
most of the rain-bearing clouds discharge their contents on the western slopes.
entirely within the tropical zone,
Cochin-China is on the whole a torrid
Lying
in Tongking the glass may occasionally fall to 45 F. At Hue and
region, although
Saigon it seems to be never less than 63 or 64 F. but in the Mekong basin,
;

the climate is subject to far


separated from the sea by the Cochin-Chinese coast range,
greater extremes, falling as low as 47 F. even in April. Here also the heat is
much greater and more oppressive than on the seaboard. As in Cisgangetic India,
the year is divided into a wet and a dry season, although the atmosphere is always
more or less moist. The two seasons succeed each other somewhat abruptly,
in April, and is
especially on the Gulf of Tongking, where the monsoon arrives
accompanied by thunder-storms and torrents of rain. These are followed towards
the end of the year by the terrific cyclones which, in 1867, levelled all but three
of the three hundred churches erected by the missionaries in that region.
As many as 12,000 vegetable species have been discovered in Cochin-China,
whose flora has been carefully studied since the French occupation. The marshy
plains and seaboard are covered with the mangrove, pandanus, and palm, which are
succeeded farther inland by the cultivated tracts yielding rice, garden plants, and

especially fruits, in surprising variety and abundance. The uplands between 2,000
and 3,000 feet in the Lao and Moi territories are clothed with dense virgin forests

in which are intermingled many Himalayan, Chinese, and Japanese species. Here
flourish the teak, ironwood, varnish plant, the eagle-wood, burnt only in royal

palaces and temples, and a species of cinnamon highly appreciated by the pharma-
cists of Tongking. In the Saigon botanic- garden, the coffee, clove, nutmeg, indigo,
pepper, sugar-cane, gutta-percha, caoutchouc, vanilla, jute, and other useful

tropical plants are represented in all their varieties.


The Annamese fauna resembles Cisgangetic India, including the
that of

elephant, rhinoceros, wild buffalo, and the dzin, a species of ox probably identical
with the mithun of the Mishmi tribes. As in India, the tiger is considered as a
sort of god, whose teeth are worn as amulets, and whose praises are placarded on
coloured paper outside the houses to turn away his wrath. The elephant is seldom
domesticated by the Annamese, who prefer the buffalo and ox as pack animals.
The native horse, a small weedy breed, is being replaced by better stock from India
MOI TYPES.
INHABITANTS OF COCIIIN CHINA. 477

siml Australia. Poultry and swine arc very abundant, uml, with H*h und rice, form
the staple food of the pen*]

IMI vim \vrx OP Ox IIIN-CIIIN v

The wild tribes of Cochin-China, driven east by the Siamese and Laos, west
and south by the Animmc.se, south-west by the Cambojuns, are now limited mainly
to the wooded plateaux and upland valleys. Most of them are known by some
^rnrric nanif, such as Muong in Tongking, Kha in Sium, 1'iuun in Cainlx>ja, M<-i
in Annain, Lolo in South China ; while on the frontier of French Cochin-China,
about the source of the Donnui, they call themselves Trao. They live generally in
small groups, isolated from each other, and seldom meet except for war or traffic.
The national arm is the bow, with which they shoot poisoned bamboo arrows to

a distance of over 300 feet. All are agriculturists, cultivating the clearings
obtained by firing the forests ;
but when pressed by hunger, they devour reptiles
and all kinds of vermin, and organise plundering expeditions. Amid many local

differences, all present certain features in common middle si2e, brown complexion,
darker than the Annamese, but lighter than the Hindu, depressed skull, broad low
forehead, round face, less flat than the Mongol, straight horizontal eyes, rather full
beard and even whiskers. Their habits, customs, and beliefs are also much alike,

and although the languages differ greatly, the syntax and a large part of the
vocabulary are identical. These dialects, which are radically distinct from the
Annamese, are of simple structure, and, while rich in words expressing natural
destitute of abstract terms.
objects, are almost completely
In the south-eastern extremity of Cochin-China, and in Camboja, still survive
the scattered fragments of the historical Tsiam (Cham, Ehiam) race, who appear
to have been at one time the most powerful nation in Farther India. According
to Gagelin, they ruled over the whole region between the Menam und the Gulf of

Tongking, and the memory of their dominion is said to be preserved in the name
of Cochin-China, in which occur the Chinese signs, Co Cheng Ching that is,
" Old
Tsiampa." But the national inscriptions, which may one day, perhaps,
reveal the history of this people, are still undeciphered. They are commonly
supposed to be of Malay stock, and are distinguished from the Annamese by their
taller stature, more robust frame, and regular features. Of their language, about
one-third consists of Malay elements mixed with Annamese and Cambojan terms;
but over a half of the vocabulary shows no analogy with the speech of the sur-

rounding races. Those of the Tsiams who retain the national name belong to the
Hindu religious world, while the so-called Bak-ni are descended from Mohammedan
proselytes but several of their ceremonies, sun and moon worship, the use of the
;

magician's wand, sanguinary rites, seem to be survivals from


the old Pagan times.

Like the Tsiams, the Cambojans, or Khmers, are a race sprung from illustrious
in the south-eastern pro-
ancestry, but at present reduced to about 1,500,000, partly
a
vinces of Siam, partly forming petty state under French protect ion. which is limited
east and west by the
Mekong and Gulf of Sium, north and south by the Great
Lake and French Cochin-China. During the period of its prosperity the Cambojan
4T8 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

a great part of Indo-Cbina, and maintained regular inter-


empire overshadowed
course with Cisgangetic India on the one hand, and on the other with the Island
of Java. The centre of its power lay on the northern shores of the Great Lake,
where the names of itsgreat cities, the architecture
and sculptures of its ruined
successive influences of Brahmanism and Buddhism on the local
temples, attest the
culture. A native legend, based possibly
on historic data, relates how a Hindu

Fig. 230. GREAT LAKO OF CAMBOJA.


Scale 1 : 1,250,000.

105' 50' EofGr.

. 30 Miles.

prince migrated with ten millions of his subjects, some twenty-three centuries ago,
from Indraspathi (Delhi) to Camboja, while the present dynasty claims descent
from a Benares family. But still more active relations seem to have been main-
tained with Lanka (Ceylon), which island has acquired almost a sacred character in
the eyes of the Cambojans. The term Camboja itself (Kampushea, Kamp'osha)
has by some writers been wrongly identified with the Kamboja of Sanskrit
" "
geography. It sitnply means the land of the Kainmen," or Khmer."
CAMBO\N TYPES-TEE QUEEN MOTHER.
nni.M: ITANTS OP COCHIN-CHINA.

Although some year i


h protectorate, the political institutions of
tin (
'amlMijaii state ha\e undergone little change. The king, who still en joys absolute
life and property of his subjects, chooses his own mandarins, and
power over the
these magistrates dispense justice in favour of the highest bidder*. Trade is a
roy.d monopoly, sold mostly to energetic Chinese contractors; and slavery has not
en abolished, although the severity of the system has been somewhat initi-

Fig. 231. CAMBOJAX TYPE AXO CorrtM* ELDEAT Sow OF NABODOM

1 since 1877. Ordinary slaves now receive a daily juttauee, wljieh may help
to purchase their freedom for they are no longer considered as bondmen for life,
;

being treated rather as servants oi their creditors until the price of manumission is

paid up. The State slaves also, mostly descendants of political prisoners, are bound
to serve the king and mandarins for three months only, being quite free to come
and go as they please for the rest of the year.
480 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

On the eastern slopes, and in the Lower Mekong basin, the dominant race are
the Giao-shi (Giao-kii) or Annamese, who are of doubtful origin, but resemble the
Chinese more than any other people of Farther India. Affiliated by some to the
Otto Kunze regards them as akin to the Japanese.
Malays, by others to the Chinese,
and records they have gradually spread along the
According to the local traditions
coast from southwards to the extremity of the Peninsula. After driving
Tongking
the Tsiams into the interior, they penetrated about 1650 to the Lower Mekong,
which region formerly belonged to Camboja, but is now properly called French
Cochin-China. Here the Annamese, having driven out or exterminated most of the
the great majority of the population. Compared with
Carabojans, have long formed
their Moi and Khmer neighbours, they are of small stature, but well proportioned

and very active. Owing to the peculiar formation of the great toe, they are able

a characteristic said to distin-


to pick up small objects with their prehensile feet,

guish all the Annamese


of pure stock. The features are broad, flat, and more
lozenge-shaped than the Chinese, while the complexion varies from a dirty white
to chocolate brown, according to the locality and pursuits. Both sexes age rapidly,
and wear the hair gathered on the crown of the head, so as to leave the ears
exposed. For men and women alike, the dress consists of broad trowsers and a
flowing robe, to which the former generally add a conic hat, the latter a sort of
light round head-dress, nearly concealing the face.
The Annamese outwardly cold and impassive, but is fond of his home,
is

respects his elders, consults his wife on all weighty matters, and carefully educates
his children. He is naturally of a very mild temperament, and the national pro-
" Nature is we should imitate her," is often on his lips Hence he
verb, generous,
is neither quarrelsome nor aggressive, and unless compelled to defend himself
never hesitates to avoid attack by flight. He is passionately attached to his native
land, never leaving it without the deepest regret. The children, who are quick,

intelligent, and fond of learning, have eagerly flocked to the new schools opened in
French Cochin-China, where nearly all the rising generation has learnt to read, and
write in Latin characters. Merely nominal Buddhists, the Annamese are even less
religious than the Chinese, and the Confucian system is professed by the lettered
classes as a cloak to conceal a scoffing spirit beneath fine moral maxims. As in
China, the worship of the natural forces, of ancestry, and spirits is the true national
religion, especially in Tongking, where every village has its protecting spirit, every

spirit its temple. In this field the early Catholic missionaries had great success,

numbering as many as 420,000 converts about the middle of the seventeenth

century. But most


them were compelled by subsequent persecutions to aposta-
of
tise. still over 70,000 Christians in Tongking and 50,000
Nevertheless, there are
in French Cochin-China. The children of French and Annamese parents, who are
constantly increasing in numbers, become readily acclimatised, and are very pretty,
with chestnut hair, and a somewhat fairer complexion than that of the natives.
\ The Annamese language is so nearly related to the Chinese that the
immigrants
frp^m
Fokien or Canton soon abandon their provincial dialects for the national speech
of Cochin-China. In the French province a sort of trade jargon has sprung up
IXHAIilTANTS OF CO; HI 481

composed of A imuraese, Chines. Portuguese, Malay, and Kn^lUh elements


.,

thrown together without any grammatical structure. The native literature, consist-
ing chiefly of popular songs and proverbs, employs the Chinese ideographic

Fig. 232. AXXAMESI VILLAOI CHIEFS AXD WOMEN.

system ; but in the French schools the Latin alphabet has been adopted, with
diacritic marks to indicate the six tones of the Annamese language.
The Chinese social and political institutions have served as the prototypes for
those ofAnnam, which was for over one thousand years a simple province of the
Middle Kingdom. From China it has received its letters, arts, sciences, laws and
INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

religions, and that country it still model in most questions of govern-


regards as its

ment and administration. The mandarins perform the same functions, the Annamese
code is based on the same principles of justice, the long or communes are organised

in the same way, being governed by a Council of Notables entirely independent of

the central power in all matters of police and taxation. But to the Chinese
now opposed those of France, which, by its occupation of a portion of
influences are
South Cochin-China in 1862, has doubled its territory, besides extending her pro-

Camboja, and obtaining many substantial privileges by the


tectorate over political
and commercial treaties concluded with Annam in 1874 and 1883.
"
Even French Cochin-China proper, although spoken of as a colony," is purely
a military conquest held by a handful of Europeans, who are centred chiefly at

Saigon and on the Lower Mekong. Mostly officials or missionaries, they remain only
a few years in the country, never forming agricultural settlements, and led ving the
local trade to the Chinese. The French are in a minority even among European
merchants, and most of the carrying trade is in the hands of British shippers. On
the other hand universal suffrage and other French political institutions have
been introduced, and since 1880 the French penal code has been extended, with
some modifications, to all the natives. The revenue is at present insufficient to
meet the local expenditure, the yearly deficit being estimated at about 400,000 ;
yet a large income continues to be derived from the monopolies on opium, rice,
spirits, and the public gambling-houses.

TOPOGRAPHY.

In the Lao country the so-called towns on the Upper Mekong are little more
than market-places, where a few native huts are grouped round the governor's
house and the pagoda. Such is Xieng-hong, near the Chinese frontier, capital of
the State of like name, which appears to be tributary both to China and Burma.
A more important place is Xieng-toug, also capital of a Lao State, occupying portion
of the uplands which form the water-parting between the Mekong and Salwen.
But Muong-yotig, lying nearer to the Mekong, Xieng-sen and Xiaig-hai, in
Siamese Laos, are now mere heaps of ruins, where a few statues of Buddha are
visible here and there amid the dense At present the chief centre of
foliage.
population in this region is Luang-prabang, on the left bank of the Mekong, at the
confluence of theNam-kan, where the river suddenly bends southwards. With its
suburbs this place covers a space of about 6 miles, and its fairs are much frequented

by the surrounding peoples. The royal palace occupies a vast enclosure communi-
cating by a flight of several hundred steps with a pagoda on the summit of a
neighbouring hill.
Luang-prabang is the capital of the most powerful of all the
Lao States, and before the^ Mohammedan revolt in Yunnan paid tribute both to
China and Siam. Here dieci v m 18C1 the explorer Henri Mouhot, to whose memory
the French expedition raised a monument in 1867.
Selected as capital of Camboja, in consequence of its
strong strategic "posi-
tion at the junction of four water highways, Pnom-peuh, or Natnvam, occupies
TOPOGRAPHY. 188

one of those sites where cities never fuil to recover fnun every fresh disaster.
When burnt by tin- Siamese it was said to have had a insulation of ">0,000, and
since then it has again l>ecorae the largest place! _-kok and Saigon;
.1- ; t
j>ital
of ('anilx.ja. it wa* preceded by l'<t<i>/, which st<Hxl a little farther north-
west, on the branch of the Mekong communicating with the (i real Lake. Hut
ia still more ancient times, when the Cambojuu empire occupied the whole region

I
-'is. 233. AXOKOB-WAT CHIEF FACADE OF THE TEMPLE.

between the Lower Mekong and the Menam, the natural centre of the State lay on
the shores of the Great Lake, or in the plains stretching westwards to Bat tarn bang.
Here stood the city of Indra, famous in legend, and still recalled by numerous ruins
scattered over the forests. Hero, also, near the present town of Siem-rr<ij), are found
the remains of the temples and palaces of Angkor, the most remarkable monuments
in Farther India. Known to the Catholic missionaries since the sixteenth century,
end visited, in 18jO, by Bouillevuux, these magnificent buildings were not thoroughly
484 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

date partly from the tenth century, and repre-


surveyed till quite recently. They
sent a particular phase of Buddhism, at a time when, under the direct influence of
India and Ceylon, the myths of Brahma, Siva, Vishnu, and Rama became inter-
"
woven with those of the Great Doctrine." Amongst the statues and reliefs are
some representing the four-headed Brahma, the trimurti, characters and scenes from
the Hindu epics while others betray clear traces of snake-worship.
;
The temple
inscriptions remained long undeciphered
but several are now;
found to be bilingual,
Sanskrit being employed side by side with the vernacular. Thanks to this circum-
stance, Keru in Europe, and Aymonier in Camboja, have succeeded in interpreting
various attesting the influence of Indian culture at this epoch of
inscriptions

Cambojan history. The oldest dates from the year 667 of the new era. The Khmer
art, which may be studied in Europe by
the fragments preserved in the Delaporte

Museum at Compiegne, blends harmoniously together the varied traditions of Hindu


architecture, its place amongst those which have given birth
and henceforth takes
to monumental works. Avenues lined with giants or fantastic animals, flights
of steps guarded by lions, terraces and galleries crowded with statues, sculptured
peristyles, pointed vaults,
storied pyramids adorned with fan-shaped carvings, follow
in endless succession. A simple portal or column rivets the gaze by its exquisite
details ; yet such is the marvellous simplicity of the general disposition that con-
fusion is nowhere created by the lavish ornamentations, as is so often the case in

the monuments of Cisgangetic India. The beauty of these glorious buildings is


even heightened by the rank vegetation, the wreaths of creepers and forest trees,
which have run riot amid this wilderness of architectural remains.
The ruins of other cities, temples, and fortresses are scattered in profusion over
this lacustrine region, whose ancient culture seems to have subsided with the sub-
sidence of the waters. The Great Lake withdrew from Angkor, the marine inlet
became gradually filled in, the surrounding plains were converted into marshes, the
population melted slowly away, and to the busy and thronged temples suc-
cities

ceeded the scattered hovels of a decrepit people, who have lost the very traditions
of a glorious past.
Below Pnom-penh, C/iaudok, on the right branch of the Mekong, and within
French Cochin-China, has the advantage of direct communication with the Gulf of
Siam by a navigable canal running to But Kampot, farther
Hatien on the coast.
north-west on the Cambojan seaboard, has a deeper and more sheltered harbour,
which has been frequented for ages by Chinese and Malay navigators. In the
secondary delta, developed by the eastern branch of the Mekong, the chief places
are the fortified port of Vinh-long and Myth6, which communicates by a navigable
channel with Saigon, capital of the French possessions, and the largest city between

Bangkok and Hanoi. occupation by the French in 1859, Saigon, the


Since its

GiadiTih of the Annamese, has acquired an almost European aspect, especially round
about the handsome palace of the governor. Although not situated on a branch
of the Mekong, the depth of its channel has contributed to make it the chief

outport of that river, with which it will also be soon connected by a short railway
running to Mytho. Centre of the French possessions in the extreme east, Saigon
SA

> \
<%
*
106 E of frr.

OtoUFt

VORK. J
ON

OJtlr.

: . rr N -
Tnl'n<;i:AI'HY.

already contains a vast arsenal, while tlio old citadel has recently been much
enlarged and strength. :< A lurge trade has here also been developed, especially
!

with Singapore, and more than half the rice crop of French Cochin-China is

shipped at this port. Much of the retail business is transacted in the neighbouring
Chinese town of Cho/on, 3 miles to the south-west on the Chinese Arroyo.
In A imam the largest city is Ifandi, or Jfesho, capital of Tongking, on the
right bank of the Red River, which is navigable to this point by steamers drawing

Fig. 234. Hut


Fcale 1 : 190.000.

to 16 Feet. 16 Feet and upwards.


"""-

6 or 7 feet. For its industries arts, and general culture, Hanoi also takes the
foremost rank ; and it is
specially noted for its carved cabinet work, lacquer-ware,
and nacre inlaid ornaments. Most of the houses are of brick or stone, and the
streets are paved in marble. A separate quarter is occupied by several thousand
186 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

Chinese, the trade with the Middle Kingdom.


who monopolise The vast fortress
of Hanoi, erected by French engineers at the end of the last century, has a circuit

of nearly 4 miles. In the neighbourhood is the French concession with its


consular buildings and a small garrison. Above and below Hanoi are the riverain
ports of Song-tai and
Nam-dinU ; while Hnipong, opened to European trade in 1874,
lies at the mouth of a northern branch of the delta. The trade of this port, which
is chiefly in Chinese wares,
or in goods intended for the Chinese market, is mostly

in the hands of the English, and about 35 per cent, of the shipping flies the
British flag. Haipong communicates by a navigable branch of the delta with the
of Haidzuong, which lies east of Hanoi, on the Thai-binh, and is
populous town
defended by one of the strongest fortresses in the kingdom.
Hue (Thtta-Thie*, orPu-tkwi), capital of Annam, is mentioned in the fourteenth

century as having at one time belonged to the Tsiam people. The citadel, erected
at the beginning of this century by French engineers for the Emperor Gialong,
includes the barracks, artillery grounds, arsenals, granaries, and state prisons. In
the centre are the royal palaces, while trade is restricted mainly to the suburbs
and Thuan-An, which is defended by several forts. Unfortunately,
to the port of

the bar never more than 12 feet deep, and the place is almost inaccessible during
is

the winter season. In virtue of the treaties, some buildings have recently been
erected at Hue* for the French resident and officials, and a neighbouring hill
glitters with the gilded roofs of palaces containing the royal tombs, with the
precious metals, gems, and other costly objects deposited with them. Hue* is
connected northwards with Hanoi, southwards, through Turane, with Saigon, by a
"
regular postal service with trams," or stages, at intervals of from 8 to 12 miles
along the only main highway in the kingdom.

\
CHAPTER xxm.
I'EXIXSULA OF MALACCA.

TEXAS8ERIM. STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. SIAMESE TIHEITORY. PBUAK. PAHAXO. SELANOOB. XBGEI


N. JOHOH.

TIE Malay Peninsula forms geologically a southern extension of the


ranges separating the Sal wen and Menam river basins. In its flora
and fauna it also closely resembles Farther India proper, the few
contrasts being due to its
greater proximity to the equator. Hut
the inhabitants of the southern provinces belong to different stocks,
while the position of its seaports at the extremity of the continent have given it o

commanding position in the history of trade and navigation. The early Aml>
trading communities on the shores of this marine highway have been successively
followed by the Portuguese, Dutch, and English. At
present the whole western
seaboard, between the Salwen estuary and the Isthmus of Kra, is included in
British Burma; farther south three enclaves, besides the two islands of Pulo

Penang and Singapore, also form part of the British colonial empire ; and it is

from this base that the interior is being gradually brought within civilising
influence-. Nearly the whole west coast is also under British protection, while

several of the petty sultans, who share the rest of the land between them, are
under the control of the local English administrators. Lastly, more than half of
the entire population appears to be concentrated within the British territory,
which is less than a third the size of the independent states and Siamese
proviin
Although Malacca is
niai.ily a hilly region, the highlands do not develop a
continuous central range, but are broken by broad river valleys into unequal

fragments, running north and south, or north-west and south-east, either in


isolated or parallel ridges. Beyond these ridges the lowlands are interrupted by
detached masses, some of which are high enough to be visible from both seas, and

nearly the whole surface is still elad with a dense forest vegetation. South of
Maulmein all the streams, except a few torrents flowing directly seawards, flow
with surprising uniformity parallel with the coast and the ranges, which col-

lectively form the backbone of the Peninsula. Hence, although rising near the
488 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

aeo, many of these rivers acquire a considerable development in the lateral valleys.

Thus the Attoran winds in a long northerly course to the Suhven estuary, while
the Tavoy flows in the opposite direction for about 120 miles. A
still more

remarkable instance the great Tenasserim River, which runs in three distinct
is

sections first north-west, parallel with the Tavoy estuary, then south to Tenas-

serim, it again turns abruptly west and north-west to the coast, after a total
where
course of no less than 300 miles. A
similar parallelism is maintained farther

south, both by the Lainya and the Kra, or Pakshan, which last forms the southern
limit of British Burma. The Mergui Islands, which fringe the Tenasserim coast
for about 250 miles, are themselves the scattered fragments of partly submerged
ranges disposed in several chains parallel with the axis of the Peninsula, and
consisting of the same granitic, porphyry, and conglomerate formations.
The northern peninsular range, forming the natural frontier of Tenasserim and
Siam, abounds in tin, which is now being actively worked by Chinese miners.
This range is continued south of Tenasserim in parallel sections to the
extremity of
the Peninsula. But the system is broken at several points by profound fissures,
such as those of the river Pakshan, draining to the Bay of Bengal, and the

C/iumpog, to the Gulf of Siara. Another gap occurs farther south, where the
Peninsula turns abruptly towards the south-east, and where there doubtless exists a
line of breakage,which is continued seawards by the Andaman Archipelago and
Sumatra, which are respectively disposed parallel with the two sections of the
Malay Peninsula. In the Ligor district also, still farther south, the mainland is
again contracted between Pulo Tantalum, on the east side, and the chains of
in Malacca Strait.
islands skirting the coast During the epoch of Buddhist
propaganda the route between Southern India and Camboja lay apparently across
this Isthmus of Ligor, although in modern times the narrower Isthmus of Kra,

lying nearer to the Menam estuary, has been much more frequented. From the
mouth of the Chumpong to the northern extremity of the Pakshan estuary, the
distance in a straight line is only 27 miles, and the highest point, rising scarcely
100 feet above sea level, is crossed by a good road. The project has often been
discussed of cutting a navigable canal across the Isthmus of Kra, whereby the voyage
between Calcutta and Canton would be shortened by 660 miles, and that between
Mergui and Bangkok by 1,300 miles. Such a route, if made deep enough, would
certainly be adopted by most of the vessels which have now to go round by Singa-
pore or Batavia. Tremenhere originally proposed dredging the Pakshan as far as
the village of Kra, then tunnelling the highest point, and reaching the Gulf of
Siam by the alluvial plain of the Champong. Schomburgk suggested a point
much farther south, where the Pakshan is everywhere at least 30 feet deep ; while
Deloncle and Dru
prefer intermediate lines running from the Pakshan below the
rapids to Tasan, on the Tayung, or Tipper Chumpong.
East of the British province of W
^Uesley, and of the native state of Perak, the

Upper Perak River runs north av ,uth, parallel with the coast, between two
ranges over 3,000 feet high, and in\^ Ulu-Tumulang peak rising to 6,500 ftvt.
The eastern range is pierced by the\ iver Kanta, while the western, or Larut
MALAY H MN-tJLA. 181

range, disappears near the coa*t. Hu !'.-rak


estuary the detached
(JuiiM^-l; Mount," attains ;m . I. \ ;ition of 6,5->o feet and according
;

i
- !

>.ily,
some of the neighbouring peaks 1,300 feet higher. This isolated mas*
rise

is
-..panted ly a
partly-ur\eye<l liilly district from another group of unexplored,

mountains, which Miklukho Mat-lay helieves tolx>the highest in tin- iVniif-ula, uud
which is limited southwards by the river J'uhang flowing to the China Sea.
:ul this jMiint a large portion of the east side is occupied In marshy plains,
while the west coast is skirted nearly to the town of Malacca hy a chain rising to

Fig. 236. ISTHMUS or KRA.


Scale 1 : 1,850.000.

E.ofG 99*

Proposed Canal. AltemattT* Canal. Propoeed Railway.

to 10 Feet. 16 to 64 Feet. 64 Feet and upwards.

heights of 5,000 or 6,000 feet. In a line with this chain, but completely isolated
from it, stands Mount Ophir (3,850 feet), so named by the early European navi-
gators, everywhere in search of the mountain whence Solouiuu obtained his gold.
East of Mount Ophir the system is continued to the extremity of the Peninsula, at

Capes Johor and Rameniu (Romania), and beyond it to the island of Singapore,
which belongs geologically to tho mainland. The intervening channel, which has
the appearance rather of a river than an arm of the sea, runs traiiHversely to the
main peninsular axis for over 30 miles, with a mean breadth of 4,000 or 5,000 feet.
The mountains of Malacca consist mainly of granites and sandstones. At their
90
490 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

contact with the lower conglomerates and clays,


an alluvial zone a few yards thick

bfi

rests on extensive deposits of tin, and gold is washed down by nearly all the
I'Jl

streams. The present annual yield <>f tin exceeds 320,000, although the i

are systematically worked only in the Fn^li-h possessions.


In TeimsHerim and on the west slopes of the Malacca ranges, the annual rain-
fall exceeds 120 inches. BflBM (he iVruk, Bcrnum, Selangor, Klang, Moar,
Pulong Rivers ure all navi^ahle l.y steamers as fur as the tides reach, and by small
craft to the foot of the hills. But all these streams are obstructed by dangerous.

rapids in their upjH-r course-. I^arge quantities of sedimentary matter are yearly
washed d>wn und spread in successive layers along the seaboard. In this way a
new line of coast is being developed in some places, while 1'ulo 1'inang and other

islands are being gradually connected with the mainland. The channel flowing

Fig. 237. ISLAND or SINGAPORE.


Scale 1 : 600,000.

toft* IOV45'

to le to ixt Kct 88 Fet at.a


upward*.
_ IS Mile*.

between Fulo Finnng and the province of Wcllesley has thus been reduced from
'J miles ut the narrowest
about 12 to less than point.

IXH Aim \\ i- or M vi. \< ( v.

In the Tennsserim highlands the Kurens and <tln-r uncivilised peoples are

oontermiiKius svith the Uurmese and Tuluings in the west and with the Siamese on
the east side. < Mi this coast are also found the rude tishin^ communities of the
Si Ion us or Selongs, who encamp during the south-west monsoon on the Mergui

i>lawls, and at other times reside chiefly in their boats or on the beach. In the

Malay Peninsula the uncivilised element is represented by various tribes, divided


492 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.
"
into countless clans, all collectively
known Malays as Orang Binua, or Men
to the

of the Soil"; Orang-utan, "Men of the Woods"; Orang Bukit, "Hillmen"; Orang

Vim. "Kivrr Men"; Orang-darat-liar, "Wild Men"; or simply Orang Ulon,


" Inland The terror inspired by these aborigines, and the atrocities of
People."
which they have been the victims, have given rise to many strange legends

amongst the civilised Malays, whospeak, or spoke of them as men with tails, or
armed with tusks, or covered with dense fur, or possessed of feet 4 or 5 feet long.
Those more definitely known as Samangs on the west slope, and Sakais on the east

Fig. 238. PULO PINAXO AKD WELLBLBT.


Scale 1 : 700,000.

100' 30"

to 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. 82 Peet and upward*.

12 Miles.

slope, and in the valleys of the interior, seem to have kept most aloof from contact
with the Malays. All travellers by whom they have been visited describe them
as of dark complexion and small stature, with flat nose, broad nostrils, frizzly hair,
and group them either with the New Guinea Papuans or the Negritos of the
Andaman Islands and the Philippines. Most of them go nearly naked, and some
do not even build huts, passing the night in the trees. Their only weapons are a
knife and bow with poisoned arrows, yet some of the tribes seem to recognise a
chief, whose widow succeeds at his death. The women alone practise a little
tattooing on the cheeks ;
marriage is attended by no ceremony ; the child takes the
I M I A IJITANTS OF MALACCA. 108

name of the tree under the shelter of which


it was
born, and according to Miklukbo
unions ;iil e\en of a more
Maday. proiui-ciioMs prc\ primitive tyiK- tliun those of the-
Nairs on the Malabar -oast. Most of the Binua speak
<
.ilthough some old
men converse only in the language of their ancestors, which is said to differ little
from that of the New Imnea (
tribes. According to the popular belief, the gatherers
of camphor cannot hope for success unless they address the trees in the old speech.
But the race is threatened with extinction in the near future, and soon few will
have survived except the " tamed " Orangs, already so modified by crossings with
the Malays and Chinese that they have lost all their native characteristics.

Beyond the largo towns, where the Chinese prevail, the Malays constitute the
great bulk of the population. Although the national name is said by Veth to mean

Fisr. 239 MEROVI.


Bode 1 :
1.100,000.

EofGr 98-50'

otoa IM 89 to 04 Feet. 64 to 129 Feet. 1 Feet ana upwards.


30 Mile*.

"
Hillmen," they are settled mostly on the plains and seaboard. Opinions differ as
to the original centre of evolution of the Malay race, which is now scattered over
the Oceanic regions, from Madagascar to the Pacific. But their primitive home
does not appear to have been the peninsula of Malacca, for their own traditions

point to other lands, and they themselves recognise the Negritos as the true
aborigines. Physically they resemble their Borneo kinsmen, and are distinguished
by their small stature, lithe but vigorous frame, small eyes, broad features, high
cheek-hones, coarse black hair, and intelligent expression. Apart from the Orang-
htut, or floatingcommunities, which have always been more or less addicted to

piracy, the great bulk of the nation has long consisted of settled agriculturists, and
under normal conditions they arc certainly one of the mo.st sociable and peaceable of
ic races. In the villages every man respects his neighbour's rights, and nowhere
I'M INDIA AND JNDO-CHINA.

else does more real equality prevail.one knows better than the Malay how to
No
curb his passions ; no one displays greater deference and courtesy towards his
fellows. But he expects a like return and while;
consideration secures his devotion,

real or fancied wrongs will at times drive himand sudden venge-


to acts of blind

ance. On such occasions he becomes altogether uncontrollable, and runs "amuck,"


all crossing his path, until he is disarmed or cut down like a
recklessly attacking

Fig. 240.-GBOROE TOWN.


Scale 1 : 66,000.

IQO'18' 100' 20: EofG

Sand* exposed at ebb. to 32 Feet. 32 to 64 Feet. 64 Feet and upwards.


1,100 Yards.

wild beast. Running amuck is at times also a funeral ceremony, their ancestors

thirsting for the blood poured out by devoted friends, who at the same time offer
their own lives with those of their victims.

The supremacy of the Malays in the Peninsula is now seriously threatene4 by


the intruding Chinese, who already form over a third of the population in the
British settlements. They are also gaining a footing in the protected and
TOIOOBAPHY.

independent states. Hut many <>f these immigrants, who an-


mostly from South
Ch: ry Malay women, and their children, while remaining C|.
the local usages. Artisans, peasants, miners, dealers, l.n.krr-, they adapt them-
selv. pur-nits and their En-li-h rulers have at times hud t. fr.. r l,.-t
- t.i ill

civil |x,uer itself should pass into the hands of these industrious <-.,l,niMs. Th. y
dread especially tin- Chinese secret societies, whose members hind them^-lves n. \, ,

to appeal to the Kuropeaii nmgist rates, and to recognise no authority except that
of the association. But the danger to the public safety diminished both by the
is

internal feuds of these bodies, and by the natural hostility of the .Malays to the
Chin se. wl*> are also kept in order in the mining districts
by a police drawn from
the most devote<l Sikh and Gurkha
regiments.
The Hindus in the Straits Settlements and petty states are divided into several
groups, according to their nationality. The Bengali, recognised by their red
turbans, keep aloof from the Malabar* of Southern India, and distinct
quarters are
also occupied by the Klings of Madras. The
Santals, Oraons, Kols, and other
cooliesengaged on the plantations are confined to the rural districts. The so-called
" "
Portuguese of Pinang. Malacca, and Singapore have become darker than the
Malays, and few now recall the features of the Souzas, Castros, or
Albuquerques
from whom they claim descent. The varied features and customs of this cosmo-

politan population are increased by the presence of some Arabs, Armenians, Jews,
Eurasians, and Europeans, all either officials, merchants, or planters.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Notwithstanding their proximity to the equator, the towns in the British settle-
ments of Malaysia are amongst the most salubrious in the east, and here European
families easily become permanently acclimatised. But the ports on the west coast
of Maulmein, such as Taroy and Mergui, have but little trade ;
while Trnawtprim,
which ^ives its name to one of the three administrative divisions of British Burma,
is a mere village
frequented only by a few boats of light draught. The fishermen
of this coast have contrived to domesticate the boa-constrictor, which lives on

good terms with their cats and dogs, sharing in the same food of eggs and rice,
and forming an indispensable companion on all their expeditions.
The district south of the Pakshan belongs either to Siam or to tributary rajas.
Here the large island of Salang forms with the mainland
(Ceylon, or Junk-Ceylon)
a group of spacious harbours, where was probably situated Kalah. the famous sea-

port of the early Arab navigators. On the east coast Liyor and Pntnni enjoyed
some traffic before the rise of Batavia, Timing, and Singapore.

Pulo Pinang, "Areca-nut Island," has been in the hands of the English for
about a century. Received by an English navigator in dower with the daughter
of a raja of Eedah it became a British colony in 17 s and soon became appni.

as a health-resort by the invalided officials and merchants of India. Georgetown

(Tanjong), capital of Prince of Wales Island, as Pinan; is also called, lies at tin-

foot of a wooded hill 2,750 feet high at the northern extremity facing the main-
in INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

land. It* well-sheltered harbour is accessible to large vessels, and enjoys a


considerable trade in tin, pepper, coconut-oil, and ratan canes. During the Achin
war the Dutch have drawn their supplies chiefly from Pinang. The Catholic
in 1808, is resorted to by the missionaries of
seminary of Georgetown, founded
China and Farther India, in oTder to study the languages of the extreme east.
In the adjacent province of Wellesley the population is almost entirely rural,
and no towns, properly so called, are met until we enter the protected State of Perak,
which comprises nearly all the river basin of like name east and south of the
British settlement. Kirala Kangsa, capital of Perak, lies on the right bank of the
river somewhat inland. A large place is the port of Lend, seat of a British

resident, and centre of a large tin trade. Taiping, which will soon be connected
with the coast by a railway, is also an important market. Between Lerut and the

Fi:j. 241. MALACCA.


Scale 1 : 900,000.

102' 102' SO'

18 Miles.

mouth of the Perak, the island of Dinding and a strip of territory nearly as large
as the province of Wellesley have been annexed to the British colonial possessions.
Selangor, at the mouth of the river of like name, was recently the capital of
a petty state. Klang, its successor till 1870, farther south on the river
lies a little

Klang, which is accessible to this point for vessels drawing 13 feet. Steamers of
lighter draught ascend 18 miles farther up to Damasam, the terminus of a good
carriage road,which serves for the transport of ores and metal. Some of the
mining companies in this district employ as many as one thousand hands, and use
machinery imported from Europe. Large concessions have here also been obtained
for the cultivation of tapioca and other tropical plants. The central market for
these industries is Kwala Lumpur, which has been selected by the British resident
as the new capital of the protected State. This territory is bounded southwards by
TOi'n<;i;.\rHY.

Sungei Ujong, whieh is also under British prote< -ti.ii. P.ut (he group of petty

rfj.iil.li.--> known us Negri Sembilun, or the "Nine States," which lie fartlicr

inland, h:ivc hitln -rto maintained tlifir autonomy. <>n the opposite slope of the
iVninsula the Sultan of Puhung, -so named from the large ri endng it,
endeavmi independence by recognising two rival masters. Residing
in his

in Pekan (Pahung), on the .-tuai v of the river, he listens with deference to the
counsel of the British officials ; but at the same time proclaims himself vassal of

Fig. 242. SiNOAPoam VIEW TAKE* FROM FOBT CANXIMO.

the king of Siam, to whom, like the sultans farther north, he sends a nominal yearly
tribute of a golden vase and a silver rose.

Malacca, capital of the British territory of like name, is the oldest city in the
peninsula to which it gives its Centre of a powerful Malay empire in the
name.
thirteenth century, it was 1511 by the Portuguese, who held it for t.\
seized in

century. With their other Eastern possessions it passed from them to the Dutch,
who ceded it in 1824 to the British. At present it is divided by a canal into a
498 INDIA AND INDO-CHINA.

while the suburbs stretch for several miles amidst


European and native quarter,
the shore. But Malacca has in recent years been
gardens and plantations along
" Lion its Sanskrit name
eclipsed by Singapore,
the City," which, notwithstanding
old Hindu influences, has only recently
risen to importance. A tin
attesting

Fig. 243. SINGAPORE.


Scale 1 : 80,000.

103-52:

to 6 Feet. 6 to 16 Feet. 16 Feet and upwards.


- 1,100 Yards.

restoring Java to the Dutch, the English purchased from the Sultan of Johor the
island of Singapore, whose admirable position at the southern extremity of the
peninsula on the highway to China caused it to be selected as the strategic and
commercial centre of their possessions in Malaysia. In order to compete with the
TOPOOimilY 1!>!)

exclusive sy.xtcm of the Dutch, the new port was thrown open to the shipping of
;.ll nations, and rapidly acquired tin-
monopoly of the trade1
Indiu and the
The ports of China, Annum, and Sium were at that time closed to

KuropeanH, while l.i'.mawas free only to Dutch shipping Hut Singapore wa

absolutely free to all comers, and here Chinese, Malays, and Arabs found more
liln-rty and security for life and proj>erty than in their own homes. Hence a
motley population of over 100,000, from every part of the east, is now grouped in
Singapore, which stretches for several miles along the roadstead, and comprises
several distinct towns occupied by Malay, Chinese, Malabar, and Kling commu-
nities. In the luisv .shipping quarter the magnificent docks, over 20 feet deep, and
the exten-ive quays, are crowded with vessels from every part of the globe, while
the bazaars and warehouses are stocked with the manufactures of
Europe and
America, and with the spices, cereals, tea, coffee, sugar, oils, gums, gutta-percha,
and other produce of the surrounding regions. Much of the vast local traffic is
passing into the hands of the Chinese brokers, bankers, and usurers, who advance
the price of the cargoes to the native and foreign shippers, and thus, under one
title or another, soon
acquire all the profits of the exchanges. Nor can the sphere
of their action fail to spread with the development of the local communications,

including a steam ferry across the strait and the Johor railway, which will sooner
or later connect the capital of this dependent state with Malacca and the other
towns along the west coast of the Peninsula.
Hound about the city are scattered numerous Malay and Chinese settlements,
while the slopes of a neighbouring hill are laid out as a park and botanic garden.

Although the population is supported almost exclusively by trade, the island is

covered with plantations, which are subject to the depredations of a small breed of
wild pigs. During the early days of the settlement it was also much infested by

tigers, which crossed over from the mainland and destroyed as many as 300
human victims yearly. But this danger has almost entirely disappeared with the
progress of agriculture, and thanks to the high prices set by Government and the
wealthy merchants on the heads of the royal beasts. Hence European settlers are
now able to select the most picturesque spots for country seats, and to enjoy
the balmy sea-breezes on the surrounding hills, some of which rise to
heights of
400 or 500 feet. From these hills a panoramic view is afforded of the great water
highways, all
converging at this southernmost point of Asia.
APPENDIX.

STATISTICAL TABLES.

I. BEITISH INDIA.
AREAS AND POPULATIOXS.-BRITISH PROVINCES AND NATIVE STATES.
Area in sq. miles. Population, 1871. Population, 1881.
BKITISH PHOVINCBS:
Bengal . 155,997 60,733,078 66,630,127
Assam . . 4,124,972 4,816,157
British Burtnii .
87,220 3,154,470 3,707,646
N.-W. Province 81,748 30,781,204 32,699,436
Audh 24,213 11,223,150 11,407,625
Panjab 107.010 17,611,498 18.850,437
rentral Province 84.208 8,173.824 9,805,149
Ajmir 2,710 396,889 453,076
Brar 17,728 2,227,65 1 2.670,982
Kurg 1.583 168,312 178,283
Bombay . 126.453 16.349.206 16,454,414
Madras 140,430 31,385.820 30,839,181
Andaman and Nicobar Isles 3,285 2a,945 30,000

887,969 186,356.022 198,441,512


NATIVE STATES :

Beup.1 . 47,440 2,328,440 2,603,492


N.-W. Province 5,125 636,543 744,424
Panjab . 114,742 6,370,096 3,861,683
Central Province 29,112 1.049,710 1,700,000
Bombay .
66,408 6,784,482 6,941,631
Madras . 9.81S 3 247.689 3,001,436
Mysore .
30,500 6,055.412 4.186,399
Central India . 83,098 8,360,571 9,200,881
Rajpiitana 130,994 10,192,871 11,005,512
Haidarabad 80,000 9,000,000 9,167,789
B.iroda 4,399 2,000,225 2.164,469

607,636 64,026,039 64,567,716

Ceylon .
24,702 2,638,000 2,761,000
L'tcctdives 25 13,495
Maldives . . . . 360 loO
Chagos Isles . 76 690
French Possessions . . 178 285,022 280,381
Portuguese Possessions . 1,086 444,617 444,987
Grand Total 1,520,737 243,749,700 256,641,489

MAIN ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF BRITISH INDIA.


Area in square miles Population (1881).
DIVISIONS :

Presidency division . 12016 8,113,125


Rajshahi and Kuch Behar .
18,760 8,407,559

D.kkii ......
l'.;u(lran

.....
13,853
lt.998
7,385,840
8,646,012
BENGAL PKOVIMCE
Patna
Bhagalpur
.....
O'hittagong

.....
15,986
23,651
20,489
3,732,167
14,975,961
7,974,608

Orissa ......
ChotaNagpore . . .
.43,134
24,240
4,714,291
6,184,066
AlTi.NMX. 10]

Al'MIMnTKATIVE DlVIMONB Of BlUTUH TxDIA fO*t MHtJ.


DlftTKICT* :

Sylhrt 5.440 1,973,000


Kachar

Kamrup
ira .... I,

3 -
366.705
444,6*9
64 1

DnmttiK . . . . . 3.418 -J7 1,604

Sibmirar
Ijtkhimpiir
.HI*
..... 3417
2,866
'.
Ml
17J,<7'J
""

Hill* 3,663 168,111


Khasi ami Jaintia Hills . . 6,167 93,100
Naga Hills 6,400
CoMMISftlOKKHSHIPS :

( I -
* '

25,964 2,323,512
BUITIHH BVUU .
j
Arakan 14.526 687,618
IVnassorim 46,730 825,741
DIVISIONS :

Mimth 11,500 4,977,175


ICohilkhand 12,200 5.436,314
Agra 10.500 6,040,919
N.-W. PKOV KOI . ( Jhansi 5,200 934.934
Allahabad 13,900 6,468,955
Benares 18,900 8,179,307
K minion . 11,850 7 1 !."..'
(
Hitapur 7.860 2.698,933
*.. J Lucknow 4.230 2,670,950
'
I Faizabad 7,940 3.379,262
I Kiii Ban.-li 4,860 2,6i8,960
Delhi 5,592 1,916,428
Mi ar 8,467 1,232,436
Ambala 3,963 1,652,728
J. i lam 1 liar 11,890 2,477,536
P ANJA18 ) AmriUar 6,353 2,743,880
-
....
' ' ' <
Lahore 8,979 1 iv,
llawal Pindi 16,792 2,197,397
Multan 20,290 1,474.574
Deraj.it 17,504 991,251

CENTRAL PROVINCE*'
f
Peshawar
Narbndah
1
.....
' ' '
8,177
18,340
1,035.789
1,590,907
1,94<>,.')74
{J* ^' 2.332,201
[ Chattisgarh 24!o90 2,331.837
(
Northern division . . . 15,895 4.147,928
w
BOMBAT . .
I

Sind
I
Central
som^n, .... 37.798
22,779
48,924
6,315,133
3,804,344
2,413,823
DISTRICT*:
(Jan jam
Vizagapatam
Godaveri and Kistna .
.... . .
8,311
17,380
15,816
1.520,08
2,296.351
3,073,008
Nellore and Cuddapah . . 17.484 2,728.005
Bellary and Anantupur . . 10,871 1,653.010
K iriml and Chengxlpat . . 10,375 1.852.616
M.M'KA-- . .( North and South Arc.. t . .12.129 3,771,095
Tanjor and Trichinapoli . . 7,037 3,174,139
Madura and Tinncvelli . . 15,883 3,960,574
Ciiimhatore 7,842 1,76:5, .'7 4

Nilghiiis and S.ilein


South Kanani
Malabar
..... . .
8,610
3,902
6,763
2,041,714
918,362
2,236,032

CHIEF NATIVE STATES.


State.
Am in ~j. PopuUtion State.
Ar* in q.
>

(1881). mile*. MM
Nepal .
U.OOQ 3,0(10.1100 (Mt.) Travancore 6730 2,401,000
Bhutan 19,000 700,000 Cochin . l. 161 600,278
pur 7.584 1 Jti.OOO Jauahnir 1-; DQQ 7''.

Kashmir 107,000 5,34,000 Mtrwar 17, 2,000,000


Sikkim 2,tiitO 50,000 Bikaner 14,066 300,000
Garhwal 4,300 150,000 Jkipur . 16 1,966.000
6,000 1,636,01)0 Udaipur IS, 1,160,000
Bahawalpur 16,600 500,000 Qwalior II i
2,600,000
Ba-rtar . 13..500 78.8.56 Indor . >.>! 6*6,000
Haidarabad '.'.!'. 7. Bhnpal . 1,766 1,022.000
Baroda 4,399 2,000,000 13,400 2,035,000
Myaore 4,186,000
APPENDIX.

POPULATION OF INDIA ACCORDING TO RACES AND RELIGIONS.


RAM*.* Religions (1881).
Hindus
I>...iidians
Kolarians
.... 190,000,000
64,000,000
4,000,000
Hindu
Mohammedan
Buddhiata
.

.
187,937,000
60,121,000
3,418,000
'I il>. to-Burmans 4,000,000 Kikhs 863.000
600,000 Nature-"\Voi shippers 6,426,000
300.000 Christians
A'ghans and Bitluchis 1,862,000
260,000 Jainas and sundries 4,279,000
Malays .
Pnrsis . 60,000 Parei 60,000
r.nti-h . 64,000
This clasainc .tion, which u taken from A. II. Keane's Asia, p. 341, is b.ised mainly on language.

TRADE RETURNS.
Export*. Imports.
1872 . . 64,685,000 43,665.000
1878 . . 67,433,001) 68,819,000
1881 . 76,021.000 62,104,000
1881 (to Great Rritu n) . 32,6.9,000 (from Great Britain) 29,244,000

STAPLE EXPORTS AND IMPORTS (1881).


Exported to Great Britain. Imported from Great Britain.
Raw
Jute
Rice
Cotton 4,360,000
3,967,000
3,485,000
Cotton go
Ironware ....
.da . . .20,168,000
1,913,000

Tea . 3.060,000
Hides 1,240,668

SHIPPING.
Vessels Ente ed
107,000 .... Exports of Ceylon (1880),
Tonnage.
8,062,000
Vessels Cleared.
162,000 .
4,742,000 imports,
; 5,013,000.
Tonnage.
7,670,000

CHIEF TOWNS OF BRITISH INDIA AND NATIVE STATES.


Population Population

Bombay
11881}.
773,196 Katmandu .... 70,000
Calcutta
Madras
Hiiidarabad
684.658
405,848
400,0
Multan
Rampur
Bhagalpur
....
....
68,674
68,300
68,238
Lucknow
Benares
261,300
199.700
|
Amballa
Moradabad ....
....
67.463
67.387
Delhi
Patna
Agra
173,393
170,654
160,207
Darbhanga
Farrukhabad
Bhartpur
....
....
65,! 55
62,437
62,000
Amritsar 151,896 Karikal 61,880
Cawnpore
Snnagar
, 151,444
150,000?
Aligarh
Sholapur .... 61,730
61,281
Lahore
Allahabad
149,349
148,547
Patan
Jhodhpur .... 60,000
6o,000
Pondicherry
Bangalore
.......
143,500
142,500
Muttra
Saharanpur ....
....
69,280
69.194
Jaipur
Rangun ...... 137,850
134,176
Gorakhpur
Mysore
....
57.922
57. M.'i
Puna
Ahmedabad
129,751
127,621
Trivandram
Mirzapur ....
....
57,600
56,378
Surat
Baroda
Colombo
-. .
113,417
112,000
111.950
Faizabad
Mon^lnr
Marcn'i
.... 55,570
55,372
63,500
Bureli
Howrah
(iwulior
.

.
.

.
.

. K
,
.

.
.

.
.

.
109,844
105,206
100.000
Bollaii
Maulmein
Rawttl Pindi
....
....
63,460
63,107
62,975
Mirath
Nagpur
Trichinapoli
99,565
98,300
84.849
j

|
Alwar
Jallandar
P>int de Gall-j
.... 62,350
52,119
52,000
Peshawar 79,980 Salem 60,667
Dakka
Gaya .
. .

.
.

\\.
. . . . 79,076
76,915
Tanjor
Murshedabad .... 60,098
50,000
Jabalpur
Shahjahanpur
.

......
.

\
. . . 75,705
74,830
Cattak
Bhatgaun .... 60,000
60,000
Madura
Karachi
73,807
73,660
Pnlli
Aurangabad .... 50,01
60.0CO
APPENDIX :, i:',

HVVM'E (1881).
1881). Revenue, 72.560.000; rUp.-n.lit.ir-. 76,604,000; Nation*! Debt. 157,288,000.
( KtEK 8ouaCESOf REVJS Jl.l 1 MMIU .
O,,nun. I <*).
r.r H*Aim OK OUTLAY (isv)i. -Am. i.OuO; Jimice and I :
ublic
WorkK. " ; Interest on d.-l.t.

AHMY-^NOKMAL STKEXOTH.
IUi(i-h Bsocal. ItiulrM Bombir. Total.
Artillery.
Cavalry
Infantry
....
....
. . . 6,879
2,898
29,420
.'.Ml
Ml
8,271
483
8,271
U.239
4. .147

45,962
8Uff, &c.. . . . 1.086 tU 407

Natives
Total
.... 40,283
63.933
12,733
84.293
47,026
11,710
26,645
38,355
124871
726

. . . 104,216 109,597

RAILWAYS (issj Milage, 9,875; passengers, 53,000,000; receipts, 13,730,000; expenditure,


6,773,240; total capital expanded, 134,200,000.
TEI.EOKAIMIN (1881). Mileage, 19,679; messages, l.G.jS.617; receipt*, 452,870; expenditure,
310,371.
i
KNALiKATiox (1880). Mileage, 16,150; area of irrigation, 6,310,000 acres; capital expended,
20.500,000.
OCCUPATION OP MAI.B ADULTS (1880).
Lanre landholders . . . 6,500000 Professions 1,213,000
Snmll Landholder* and Cultivators
Labouring Classen
Industrie*
.... 28,-'iOO.OOO
10,000,UOO
12.000,000
Trade
Independent
Carrers, I'ortors
....
....
4,500,000
2,000,003
1,360,000
Officials . 1,500,000 M-ii-licanta l.OOO.wOO

E;>UCATIOM AND LITEEATUKB (188G).

Primary Schools .... 66,oOO Expenditure for Instruction . 970,000


Attendance
Technical Suhools
Attendance
.... 1,900,00
155
6,900
Population receiving Instruction
Average Yearly Publications
,, ,, English Works
. 9 {>er l.Oi-O
4,800
500
C<.Uege* 82 ,, ,, Vernacular . . 8,000
AtfcMidimce
I'niversitiea .....
.

Mairiculiitri Studenti
. .

.
.

. .
8,900

18,000
,, ,,

,,
Smi-krit, Pali, &c.
Bilingual .
730
670

s. Villaares (British territ >ry),


494,000; house*, 37,000000; muniripal population,
1,500 000; towns with 10,000 to 50,000 population. 1,360 townn with <>M r *>0,000 population, 46; nn-an ;

population to square mile, 212; land under cul'ivation, 300,000,000 acr-s; wasto or unprodu ti\- ,

290,000,000 acres ; under crops of all sorts, 188.000,000 acres ; under food crops, 166,000,000 acres; yield
of food crops, 62,000,0i'0 t >na value of fo d crops, 332,000,000 output of coal, 1,000,000 tons
; circu- ; ;

lation of Government pa|>er money, 13,000,000; spinning and weaving mills, 53; spindles, 1,500,000;
police, 158,000; rural p .lice, 442,000; yearlv criminal charges, 970,000; yearly convicti. nix. ooO.OOO ;
prisoners and convicts. I18,o00; yearly civil lawnuits, 1,500,000; hospitals and dispencaries, 1.150;
annually destroyed by wild beaU, IMTSOIIS, 20,000; cattle, 50,000; emigration fruia 18(39 to 1879,
173,420*; Indian coolies abroad, 760,000.

II. INDO-CIIIXA AND MALACCA.


AREAS AND PO1TI.ATI
Arc* in rquare mile*. Populn'ion fcmfinwted).
Burma . 183,000 4.000,000
Siam 350.000 5.750,000
Annam . 176,000 14,000,000
Camboja 3.-{,000 .000
Fn-nch CiK-hin-China 24,000 1.900,000
STATES, MALACCA.
Kedah . 3,600 30.000
PHtani . 30.000
Kelantan 7.000 20.000
Tiingganu . 60.000
Perak . 6,500 30.000
i.->.ooo
<or
Johor . 10,000 20.000
N^gri Sambilitn . 5,000 60,000
Pahang MM 20,000
Straits Settlements 1,445 423,000 (1831)
504 APPENDIX.

OF IVDO-CHINA ACCORDING TO RACE"


APPR^XIXATI
Ilunnooe. Moiw, and Karens
Kakhveiu
Pori'i.Ari'>\

. . 3.750.000
200000
Annamoae ....
1.4000.10
Siameae '2.000,000
. 1 500,000
INDEX.
Abu/ni, Fort, 150 Angra/abad, 226 Balnath-ka-tila, Mount, 10
AKI..,tabd. 89 Angria Bank, 382
A bor Tribes, 812 Anicuts, 45 lUlti Nomad*, 77, 78
Abu, Mount, 23, 174, 180 Ankola, 293 Bamo, 446
A Of sines Ki\er, 10 AMII.IIII, 470 Banaganpili, 312
Adam's Bridge, 20, 300 Annamese, 480 BUM River, 175
Peak, 363 Antrot Island, 383 lteada.215
Aden, 415 Aornos, 151 Bangalore. 351
" "
Administration of India, 414 Apricot Tibet, 30 Bangi Tribe, 424
Adoni, 312 Arandu Glacier, 70 Bangkok, 468
Afghans, 147 AIM] HI. 373 Banjari, 179
Afridi. 150 Aravalli Mountains, 23, 174 Bankipur, 223
Agartalla, 253 Ark..!, 348 Bankot, 291
Agath Inland, 383 Armagom, 3i6 Bankura, 233
Auastya, Mount, 323 Army of India, 416 r.nK.ii. 475

Agra, 214 Aror. 100 Banyans, 284


Airrioulture in India, 393 Arrah. 222 Bare, Fort, 150
Ah:tr, 181 Arrakan, 422, 427 Barak Kiver, 242
Ahirs, 206 Arun Kiver, 107, 110 Bara-larha Mountains, 30, 3d, 70
Ahmedabad, 171 Asnrur, 153 Baramula, 89
Ahmednagar. 309 Asirgarh. 2 70 Barathor, Mount, 108
Aintvati, 43-i Assam, 234 Bard Mountains, 238
Ajanta, 30.) Hills, 22 Burdwiin, 2.13
Ajinir, 182 Assamese Race, 248 Bareilly, 216
Ajodhva, 218 Assaye, 306 Barh, 225
Akha Highlands, 126, 127 Astor River, 72 Barhampiir, 228, 302
Akhnur, 90 Atteran Kiver, 488 Baroda, 278, 284
'

Akyab, 427 Attok, 152 Barolli. 184


Alaknanda Kiver, 29 Aucutta Island, 383 Barrackpore, 229
344
Al.ijMilli, Audh, 218 Barren Island, 423
Alibagh, 2UU Aumngabad, 304 Bashahr, 94
Aligarh. -Ji:t Aut.tiH arrai, oo9 B**oli,90
Aligiri, Mount, 232 Ava, 448 ttttmr. 471
Allahabad, JIH Avantipur, 87 BasmnL, 286
All.ih-lMin.l. th<>, 144 A wans, 145 Bank, 382
Allan-myo, 4 ^1 Ayuthia, 467 m. 452
344
All. -pi. Azamgarh, 222 Batala, 155
104
Alm.-r.i. Azimabad 223 BattJiiiihang, 475
Alwar, 184 Batti Malve, 430
A/imgaiij, 227
Amarapura, 448 Batticaloa, 361, 3SO
Aiimrkantak, Mount, 209 Babba Pan, 94 Bavani Kiver, 318
Ambala, 156 Badagara, 33G Hay ..:" H. ngal, 422
Ha.l.lnatli, 115.
AinhTKt, 4.'>7 Ha.lrihiit. 227 15, i|.ur, 342
A mini Inland, 383 I', 103
i.liiimth. |U-lirnoiii. 311
Bagdad. 414 BclUri. JU
Ainriibii, 210 Bagha Kiv.r. 71 -lu.,1, 457
Amzavati. :>l."i Baghamati Kiver, 190
Ananmlah MounUiins, 19, 321 Bahawalpur, 13U, l.'>7 Beng^lla, .

An iiiiu.li, Mount, 321 Itnhrairh. 218 91


Baigas, -'::t
I.. -:-.. I -
Anandpur, 1 ."."

ijnini, 374 Baitarani Uivrr, 254


'if, 87 Kaju TriU, 431
Andaman Islands. 427 Btkkai Island, 135 BecnatM. :<!.->

Mount, 21
ita. Bhadenrmh, 90
Angamanain, 4 7 '2 Ballari, 312 Bhagl]>ur,
Angkor, 483 Balmir, 144 BJugiimti Kiver, 29, 101, 194

97
500 INHKX.

Butans, 431 Cholon, 485


Bhamo, 446
Ithanwo PUM. 122 Buxa, 126 Chomiomo Mountain, 120
lih mdara, 277 Chona-jong, 126
Itharpur. 184 Calcutta, 229 Chota-Nagpore, 254
. 201 Calicut, 342 Christians, 411
hharut-h, 285 Calpentyn Island, 364, 374 Chuka, 125
l'.|l.lt_- Hill, lift Caltura, 377 Chumbi Valloy, 124
I'.h HiiiaiMr, 170 Cambay, 171 Chumbrum-Bankuin Reservoir, 3.'7
lihnver, the, 37 Camboja, 470 Chumpong River, 488
175 Cape, 476 Churni River, 194
I'.hil.H,

Cambojnns, 477 Chwili Rivc-r, 440


Bhilsa, 186
Bhilu-ghaiwon, 4-57 Camorta Island, 430 Circara, 302
Ulnlwara. 182 Canals of Indu, 402 Clifton, 163
Bhinm River, 299
I 'aiiaivsr. 332 Coal Industry, 401
r.himar, 90 C.innanore, 341 Cocanada, 30*7
lihimtnl Ijke, 10.) Cardamom Mountains, 20, 323 Cochin, 343
KhuiMil, 186 Car-Nicobar, 430 Cochin-China, 470
Bhotia-kosi River, 109 Caste, 403 Coco Islands, 427
Catch, 165 Coffee InduBtry, 396
Bhuj. 164
lUminij Tribes, 259
Catholic Missions, 411 Coimbatore, 354
Bhutan, 11 i>. 124 Cattak, 263 Colgong, 225
lihutanese, 125 Caveri River. 327, 328 Colombo, 376
Bhuvaneshvar, 263 Cawnpore, 216 Combermere Bay, 422
HiiiH River, 133 Ceylon, 351 Comorin, Cape, 20, 3J5
Bil.r Lake, 473 Chagos Islands, 383-85 Conjevaiam, 349
U.-l.ir. 306 Chaibasa, 262 Copper Mining, 401
Bien-cwong Pass, 470 Chak, 154 Cora Island, 382
Uijaiiairar. 311 Chakabru, 99 Coringa, 307
Bijapur, 31 1 Cham Race, 477 Cornwallis, 428, 429
]!i'|l.ah;ir:i, 87 Chitmalari,Mount, 29, 124 Coromandel Coast, 324
Bijnor, 216 Chamba, 65, 92 Cortelliar River, 327
Bikaner, 164 Chambal River, 175 Cotton Crop, India, 396
Bikrampur, 252 Chambra, Mount, 63 Covenanted Civil fcervice, 415
I!ilasj>ur, '.!.">
Champanagar, 447 Cranganore, 343
Bil lavas, Mil Champa Nomads, 77 Cuddalore, 351
Bingar, 309 Chanda, 277 Cuddapah, 344
Bifih-hoa, 471 Chandals, 206 Cuig, 318
Bintenne, 380 Charidausi, 216
Birhore, 258 Chandernagor, 228 Dabanga, 225
Hishuapur, 233 Chandra River, 71 Dabhoi, 285
Black Karens, 442 Chandracona, 233 Dagshai, 98
Lovas, 462 Chandranath Mountain, 422 Dai River, 473
River, 472 C'hangchenmo, 66 Dakka, 252
Bobbili, 303 Char Formation, 396 Dalhousie, 92, 452
Bod, 263 Charsudda, 151 Daman, 286
Bodo Tribes, 245 Charuns, 179 Damasara, 496
Bogra, 251 Chatxpuramba, 313 D.imudah River, 195
Bolan Pass, 43 Chatarpnr, 187 Dankar, 95
Bolaram, 313 Chatisgarh, 254 Dapla Tribes, 127
Boloven, 471 Chaudok, 484 Dapsang, Mount, 30, 69
Bombay, 286 Chedambaram, 351 Dard Tribes, 79
Bowanji, 81 Cheduba Island, 422 Dardi*tan, 65
Bradawar, 90 Chelam, 354 Darjiling, 123
Brahma-samaj, 412 Chepangs, 113 Daikot, 81
Brahmaghiri, Mount, 318 Chera-ponji, 237, 252 Darnakota, 315
Brabmakund, 239 Chetlat Island, 383 Dar.-ha, 71
Brahmanabad, 144 Chibhalis, 8i Dasyas, 405
Brahmanbaria, 253 Chieacole, 303 llaulatitbad. 304
Biahmani River, 254 Chickali Mountains, 41 Davalaghiri, Mount, 29
Biahmans, 404 Chilasi Tribes, 80 Dayabang, Mount, 108
Brahmaputra River, 43, 194, 238 Chilaw, 375 Debar, Lake, 175
Brindaban, 213 Chilka Lake, 302 Dehra, 100
Broach, 285 Chilling Peak, 22, 236 Dchra-dun, 99
Brok-pa, 79 Chinab River, 29, 13 J Dekkan Plateau, 19, 295
IIn. la.. ii. 216 Chin-chu River, 124 Delhi, 210
Buddhism, 407 ChinduPass, 102 Deoband, 210
Mulandshahr, 213 Chindwara, 276 Deogarh, 23:<, 277
Bulsar, 286 Chinese, 494 Mount, 268
Bundi, 185 Chingle-put, 3t9 Deoprayag, 103
Burghers, 336 Ching Tribes, 425 Deorali, Mount, 108
Burhampur, 276 Chinpo Tribes, 442 Deosai Plateau, 71
Burma, 424 Chinsura, 228 Dera Ghazi-Khan, 160
Burmese, 443 Chirbittia-la Pass, 102 Dera Ismaol-Khan, 149
r.miji, 81 Chittagong, 422, 42G Derajat, 130
Burishki, 83 Chittor, 181 Derbend, 90
Bu-shkar Tribes, 83 Choksam, 109 Devangiri, 126
I'.ussahir, 94 Chola .Mountain, 121, 124 Devela, 354
INI'KX. ,-,,.7

Devipatam, 369 Gangawali River, 280 : 40


353
lialfl id,
'lial; .M'.init.iiii
I h.s-ri
Hamir|>ur, 216
30 :
iint, Uanxes Canal, 189 Hampi, :ill
o Miiri, Mount, 108 r. :j. l^; II .ru'i .n^r
Moui t, 1 >1 II UK
Dharbhavati, 286 mi. .'!"2 II . i mink I'l-ak, 74
J.>0 H-inlwar. 101. |< .J

I Hi irwar, .51 1 ;
-are, '.'51 II .ri IrUt, M .

tint, 88
1'l.iT: L
Oarapuri. 289 Haripur. 89
Ii],.-n..dur Hill, 146 .
275 i. 353
Itholmi. 171 (iarhgiion, 260 II .-In apuia. 210
Ihoik.i. 171 i.uhwal, 96 11-ithrns. '.'I.'I
t.ri. -.'.'. 1 Hills. 22. 234 II (
n, 484
iupnn^ar, Tflln > Hat r Pir. 72
J39 226
Jaur. I'.m,
I >r. 1 1.- .1 li. 250 (iaiirisjinkar. Mount, 25, 29, 108 M 'MI n tain*. 41
186 (.nit. mi i. I I.')

IM (Jaulaini KIV.T, 297 II. n/ida, 4:i'.', 452


nnir v.T, 239 J2 II. :t. ni.il. HI
'

I>in:ij|.iir. 'J .", 'Jol n, 496 Himalaya Mountain*. 26, 29


iMnapiir, .".!:{ lihau^ar Kiv.-r, 132 Hincha'Half-(.,ie-, 83
'handara, 161 HnidiiH, 147. 2nti
landing Island, 496 < i li.it s .Maintains. 19 Hindii-ki^h .Mount. inn, 28
Dingri-rhu Hivt-r, 110 rjtU-rn, 20 Hindu-Ian, 14
Diaa, 172 Western, 20, 279 HiridiiHtmi IjingnNgp, 207
Mil. 169 Oha/ijmr, 222 Hingata;liat. J77
Diyarmir, Mount, 30 Giao-kii Knee, 480 Hlan.jf Kiver, 435
Doors, the, 33 Uidu-bandar, 161 Ho Tribes, 2>>9
PodiibHta, Mount, 318 Uilgit, 70 Honawar, 293
Dongargaon, 'Ji'.'J (iipmochi, Mount, 121, 124 Hong-kiang River, 472
I'onir-nai Kivi-r, 476 Gi|siofl, (iangetic, 2ol Hope Town, <29
Donkiah, Mount, 120 (tir Mountains, 165 llospet 312
Donnai Kivrr. 17') (iirnar, 165 Hrusno. 127
Doons, the, 33, 37 Glaciers. Himalayan, 36 Hubli, 311
Dragar Mountains, 86 of Kashmir, <'.< Hiniari. 81
1
mkhHr, 96
>i Gnarium, Mount, 121 1 1 .-. 4K6
Dras, 87 G(, 291 Hun Kiver, 1 1
194
Dras Kiver, 71 Goalanda, 252 Hunza K.I. -. 81
Dravidians, 330 Godaveri Kiver, 296 Kiver, 70
Dum Till..-, 101 Gogha, 170 Hydraotes Kiver. 11
Dwalaghiri, Mount, 108 Gogola. 170
(>ogra Kiver, 106 Ihi Gamin Puna, 32, 102
Gola-naddi liiver, 131 Ihosimain. Io3
Eagle Island, 386 Golconda, 313 I lav..*, 341

FdwardsaUid, 159 Gold-mining, 401 Imaus Miitinttins 28


Elephant Kivi-r, 436 Goli Tribe, 275 India, ('(unite, 46
Ellom, 304 Gond Race, ill Fauna, 69
KmUilimu, 1'>1 Gondwana, 267 Fiora, M
English Uazaar, 226 (for. 72 Hidtory, 8
Kndi*h in India, 390 Gorakpur, 2 '22 Hydrography, 43
Emi|'ur, 181 Gonainth;ui, Mount. 108 Inhabitant*, 363
KUwah. 21" Government of India. 414 Name of, 2
Eurasians, 389 ri-at Aii'l.iin in. 427 Phxs'cal Features, 2 .

Kur-.jM aiis in India, 389 lik-," tli.-. 47-> Religion*, 7


-:, unt. 2.'), 108M. \i--ilr, 4.'U Iml- -China, 4.'0
( .n .
n l...\a*. 462 in Pla n,
lii'i..-i; .i.L-t 24
(iudalur, 361 Indurt>, 1st
Fnizabad, 218 diik, an Indrn.
False Point, 266 (Jujai- Indrnvaii Ki\. r. 296
<
M in India, 393 jvnit, 166 Indiirptit, 210
M|| iiiwala, 163 nd UN KIV.T. 44, 135
Farashdunga, 228
< . I

x.Mt.l..
Farrukhabad, 216 1:
< l.'i.'i
Hijr.it.

Fatehpur. 21.)
(iii'lf of Martuban. U7 iv, 40 i iifl I

mul Pass, 43 Irrawaddi Kiver, 434


Pcrinni-pet, 351
Kiiiimhi Bazaar, 262 iioii^-Kaja, 3Iount, 489 >'i<>n 398

Firo/pur. 156 (iiintur, .'tl.'i lruU.


F..rt St. David, 3.51 <.uikh.i.. 111
(nirla Mandhata, Mount, 110 I-imiiiil.ad *7, 426
hin-China, 482
li, rl.niin. Mount, 69 : . .

(iutti,312 .bad, 160


Oaddi, 86 Uwalior, 185 Juffarabnd, 170
I;IVIT. 43 Jaffna. :<7.i

iajipur, l.VJ Ila'drrnbad, 160, 313 Jaganadpur, 307


(Jakkars. 1 1">
llaidzimng. 486 Jagdalpur. 300
Galatea Hiv.-r. 430 II
ii|H.n(f, 486 Ja*gnath, 264
Gaadak Kiv.r, 29, 107 Hajipur J..huuUd, 22-S
108
INDEX.

Jainaj, 167. 407 Kanjurs. 405 Kisoriganj, 252


. 235 Kanoj, 216 Kistna River, 298
Kanta River, 488 Kiungar Pass, 106
J.iipur, IM:{
Jaisalmir, 164 Kaoli River, 280 Kiungthaa, 423
Jnjpur, 266 Kapadwanji, 171 Klang, 496
Jalalpur. 153 K;ipilavasta, 222 Klang River, 491
Jalaon, 216 Kapurthala, 156 Kling, 495
Jallandar, 16o, 156 Karachi, 161 Koch-behar, 251
.1iln.i, 306 Karagola, 225 Koch Tribes, 245
Jnmalpur, 252 Karakal, 357 Kohat, 151
Jiunla. 117 Karakorum Mountains, 28, 30 Koh-i-Surkh Mountains, 42
.l:iililllll. 90 Karen Tribes, 442 Koil, 213
Jaiiina River. 98 Kargil. 87 Koladyne River, 424
Jamrud. 150 Karharbari, 233 Kolar, Lake, 297
Jiimuna Kiver, 194 Karli, 309 Knlarians, 258
Jnnevi Kiver, 101 Karnal, 210 Kolerum River, 328
Janjira, 291
Karnali River, 29, 107 Kolhapur, 310
Jaonpiir. '222 Karnapuli River, 426 Koli, 81
Jareju Tribes, 16S Karnataka, 332 Kolleries, 341
.lats 145 Karnul, 312 Kols, 258
Jaunur, 306 K'jrrian Tribes, 442 Konkans, 278
Jawalamuki Like, 94 Karturpur, 155 Konnur, 353
Jellingi Kiver, 194 Kartawar, 91 Koragnrs, 337
Jessore, 233 Karwar, 293 KorwHhs, 258
Jews in India, 390 Karwars, 206 Koei River, 29, 107
Jhansi, 186 Kasaoli. 98 K-tahs, 336
Jhilam, 90, 153 Kasba, 2:J3 Kotri, 161
Kiver, 76 Kashmir, 65 Kra Isthmus, 487
Jhodpur, 164 Inhabitants of, 76, 83 Krishna River, 298
Jhosimath, 103 Kasimbazar, 227 Krishnagar, 228
Jiaganj, 227 Katchall Island, 430 Krung-kao, 467
Johor, 498 Katmimdu, 115 Kshatryas, 403
Cape, 489 Katti Tribes. 166 Ku Tnbe, 423
Joraji, 170 KattyawHr, 165 Kuen-lun, 66
J lianas, 258 Kavarathi Island, 383 Kuki Tribes, 245
lunagarh, 168 Kedah, 465 Kuladin River, 424
Junar, 309 Kelat, 414 Kulu, 92
.Junk-Ceylon Island, 495- Ken Kiver, 175 Kumaon, 104
J ute Industry, 396 Kendat, 450 Kumillah, 253
Jyelap Pass, 124 Kesho, 485 Kumpta, 293
Kha Tribes, 477 Kumulinir, 181
Kachar Hills, 22 Khaibar Pass. 43 Kun, Mount, 71
Kachin Tribes, 442 Khairahad, 218 Kunkul, 103
Kadamat Island, 383 Khalasi, Fort, 85 Kuntung, 448
Kaders. 336 Khambat, 171 Kuram River, 42, 135
Kafir Kot, 41, 159 Khami Tribes, 425 Kurku Tribes, 273
Kailang, 78 Khampa Nomads, 77 Kurmi Tribes, 206
Kailas, Mount, 27, 2? Khamti Tribes, 441 Kurumbas, 336
Kaira, 171 Khandwa, 276 Kusun<ix8, 113
Kajnag Highland*, 73 Kharagora, 171 Kutallam, 357
Kajiaha, 1&7 Kharrias, 258 Kwala Kangsa, 496
K'.khyengs, 442 Khas, 112 Lampur, 496
Kaku'Tribea. 442 Khasi Hills, 22, 54, 234 Kyendwen River, 435
Kalabagh, 158 Khasia Tribes, 244 Kyikhiteo Hill, 456
Gorge, 41, 135 Khirtar, Mount, 15, 43 Kyukhpya, 427
Kaluntan 465 Khmers, 477 Kyuntuug, 448
Kalbargah, 809 Khonds, 261
Kali River, 29, 106 Khong Falls, 474 Labong, 465, 468
Kalingapatam, 3(T2 Khorayok River, 459 Ijuccadives, 382, 383
Kalka, 98 Khotaghiri, 353 Ladakis, 77
Kalians, 341 Khulna, 232 Lahore, 153
Kalowewa Reservoir, 369 Khumbakonam, 351 Lahul, 71
Kalpeni Island, 383 Khurja, 213 Lakhon, 466
Kalpi. 215 Khyeng Tribes, 425, 442 Lakhong, 465
100
K.-ilsi. Kiang-hung, 461 Laksha-dirpa Isl mds, 383
Kalyan, 290 Kiang-tung, 461 Land Tenure, 208
Kamet, Mount, 102 Kidarnath, 103 Landur, 100
Kainpot, 484 Mount, 101 Lanka, 361
Kamti, 276 Kieng-mai, 458 Lanka-balus, 427
Kamur, 341 Kiltim Island, 383 Lantzan River, 473
Kanarak, 1'65 Kinchin jhan, Mount, 120 Laos, 462
Kandesh, 278 Kinchinjing.i, Mount, 29, 108 Lapha Peak, 268
Kandial, 341 Kinshan-giinga River, 71, 74 Larka Tribes, 259
Kandy, 377 \ Kiranti, 112 Legislature of India, 4M>
Leh, 85
Kangra, 65, 92 Kirong, 117
Kun'^Taliima. Pass, 122 Kirtipur, 116 Lepchas, 122
Kanheri, 2s9 Kiahtwar, 90 Lerut, 496
IM'KX.

.
48", 489 M i;u ,. M ma
Hirer, 318
Race. 443
.. 488 168 M> TribM.424
I rnil.u-. 1 I.' .kirn. 33 Mu n.i:-Ioiii, 465
M iiiiia-., .
Nan, 464
128 .l>a:i. 430, 456 . 466
\ :
133 Martar,
M iiiuli, 106 Mug Tril.. -. JJ
J.ohit i
Mar war, 161, 174 Miiktinath, 117
.utaliir. 1 17 M n-w.ri. Multan, 1.'.7

!!!_ M mtain*, 84 Maiwalti, 150 MunJas. 206. 259


l<4ilo TrilM-.H, 477 Maccarenhaa, 386 Miindrak'l.iii, Mount, 325
- .

Maacat, 414 Munyal I tank. :JH.'

IlOfM, Maaherriruin, Mount, 69 Muoiig Tribe*, 477


Luang-prubng, 465, 482 Maalililmn lar, 31.) Muong-yong, 482
-' 17 Muri, 259
.nab. l.'Hi M l IBf, 117 Mursbidabnd. 227
Lu-kiant: Kivi-r, 440 Mitiulipatatn, 315 Mus.tii^li, M' -unt, 30
Lunar Ua< .
Math. -ran, 289 Mutapet, 359
Mattra, 213 Mut-tama. 466
Lut. I Mat ura, i!77 Mut ra. 213
Maiilnu 456 iii,
Muttukiilinyal, 323
Madangnnj, 252 Mauritius 386 .Mil/, ifalaliid, 89
Marian Mahal. 275 M i\
apur, 103 MiizaflTarnagar, 210
lain. 308 Mayaveram, 351 Muzaffari'ur, 225
M idran, 345 Mech Tribe, 115 My uma Itace. 413
Mndura, 357 Mechihoi Glacier. 71 M'vi Kyan, 450
Magar, 1 1'-'
M>-u;hna Hiver, 195 Myit-nia-kha-chung, 435
M .i;b Tribe*. 424 Mulira Tribe, 101 ; Mysore, 317, 351
Maghasani. Mount, 254 Meklong. 469 Mytho, 484
Mug we, 451 Mekong U'ver, 473
Mahahale*hwar, 310 Menam Uiver, 458 Kadiya, 228
Malialiiilipni Mi-n^un, 450 Xaga" Hilla, 22. 234
M iliai.ati Hiliv M.-ni.l ,. 451 Tribea, 244
Mahad.-o Mountains. -'1,268 Mer, Mounu 71 Nagar, 94, 164
M ilia Na.ldl l;i\,-r. -''
Mercara, 351 Uiver, 70
Mabaj.ant' Mount, 101 .
Mergui, 495 Xagarkot, 92
M in iwlli^unga, 304 M.-rta, 1G4 Naghbanai Tribe, 275
Main'-, :U'J M- ru, Mount, 27 Nogina, 216
M (I.. n<liai,'liiri. 302 M. nit, 210 Nagpur, 276, 303
M.t);i KIVIT. 165 Metal Works, 401 Naini-t .1. 104
Mabrutta* -
Mlmirs, 177 Nairs, 338
Maikul Mountai'if, 268 Mliow, 184 N:.jil.al.a.l. 216
Maiir.riiMiih. J.'iJ M ani, 153 Nakhi-tal, Like, 174
Mainpuri. 216 Mian -in r. 154 i X.-il I. ik.-. 165

Majhi Tril*', 114 Midnapur. '2:<3 Namburi, 33H


M ik.-.-n, Fort, 160 Cantl, 257 Xam-dinh, 486
M.ila).ar Coast, 322, 324 Mi.ji Tribes, 127 Nam-hu, 474
Island*, 384 Mil mi. 106 Xumkwan 1'asa, 470
Malar. Mm u-iii I.sland, 383 Namvam, 482
M ii a\ al iin, 332 Mmaa, 177 Nan, 466
Malay IVninsu.a, 488 Mmcopiea, 428 N a in -o wry Island, 430
Malays, 492 Mmicoi Inland, 383 Nanda Devi 1'aiw, 106
M:ilr<ilmp.-t, 310 Minttii, 'Jlu Parbat, 102
Maldah, '."-'I; Miri Tril>e, 128 Nandar, 306
Maldive Islmd-, 384 Mirpw.M Nan it a Put bat, Mount, 30, 72
M m, 201
.1. Mmiimi Tribes 128 Naogaon, 187
Mai kaput. 311 Mi.-hni. F.-it. 150 Narainganj, 252
MalMirs, 337 M it hank., t, 13.. Narayana Mountains, 108
iai Mon, Mount, 422 Moar Kiv.-r, 491 Xarbadah K^.r, j;i.
Malwa. 17:1 Mcignng ttivT, 4.'!.') Nnrcoiidam Island, 428
Mannar. <i., M h .in i .
laim. 207, 408 .. 171
Island, 367 Moi Tnbi-s. 177 N.irra H'vi-r, 138
Mana I'aim, K)'.' Moira, Mount. 101
Manantawadi, 354 Moinuiids, 14U .

.
Mom'-. J.'i.') i Kid. 182, 252
Mandalay, 448 M>nighyr. 'J2-J .. Mount, 440
Mand ivi". 164 M..I,-.. U3 N .t-turn;, M'. unt, 410
Ii, '.:. 94 MOI,/ ,,
< a P. .|3 NawHiipar. 168
Mundu. 1st M |....h.. Nawun Uiver, 438
M pu- .
N'ayadi. .ill

M.U.LT..1 .M..I...J ,i. i.l, 216 116


:. 186 Nujan, 338
Manjalapuni. 4(3 in. Mount, 108 i
-ne, 34^
Mt, 162 Moulniain, 456 Xegapatam, 356
Mansaram, Lake, 29 M ..in.t St. Thomaa, 347
Man tot 10, 373 .. 448 hcgnuis Gape, 422
INDKX.

Negri Sfinl.il m, 407 Panjul M untains, 74 Puna, 308


Pnjini, -J'J2 Punalla, 311
nUM, 491
:H I'anjiiad River, 134 Punch, 90
N,-ll..r.-.
N.-lM.n Mun.1,386 P.iiiii-ih, 188 Punglung Hills, 440
Piioni, 277 Puppa Volcano, 423
Nepal, 107
Paopa, Mount, 423
1'iiriDistrict, 264
nkot. 160
Paori, 103 Purniuh, 'I'll
Newars, 113
1'araktid, 256 Pursat, 472
New Ba*tr, 306
Parasnalh, Mount, 21 Pushkalavati, 151
Ngnnnan-kian* River, 470
Niaolo !', 110 Parbattia, 112 P'u-sung Mountains, 471
Parmandal, 90 Putiala, 156
Nias, 427
Nicobar Island*. 430 Paro, 125. 126
Nilii. Mount, 27 I'm sis, 282 Quilon, 344
Nilghiri Mountains, 20, 255, 317 P*rtabgarh, 310
Nimach, 182 Parusa, 83 Radhanpur, 172
Piitalii, 160 Rant-in, 466
Ninjiii-t.-uiij-la Mountains, 29
Patan, 171 Kai Bareli, 218
Ninnal, 306
Patani, 465. 495 Raigarh, 310
Nirampatarn. 315
Ni-i I '.I.--. 1U2 Patavi, 4(iO Raiipur, 312
Noakhali, 253 Pathank-t, 92 Railways of India, 401
No-la Pass, 110 Patkoi Mountains, 441 Raipur, 262
Nosari, 286
I'at lain. 375 Rajaori, 90
Nowgonuf, 187 1'atna, 222 Rajapur, 215
Nubra River. 36 Patri, 171, 306 KajiMinsi, 206

Nu-kiang River, 440 Pcail Fisheries, 401 I^ajgaih, 310


Nun, Mount, 71 Pechiburi, 469 Kaput, 17
Pe.lro Bank, 382 Rajmahal, 2-'6
Nurpur, 92
Nuvera Pedrotallagalla, 362 200
Hills, 192,
Elia, 362, 379
Pegu, 455 Rajmahendri, 306
Ohind, 151 River, 454 Rajjmd, 291
Old Bhanv>, 447 Pegu-yonw, 439 Rajputana, 173
Ophir, Mount, 489 Pei Tribes, 461 Rajputs*, 177
Orang-Binua, 492 Pekan, 497 liikiposh, Mount, 34
Oraons, 205 Pemiongchi, 122 RalUutig Kailai, Mount, 70
Orissa, 254 Pennar River, 327 RamalkoiH, 31 i
Perak River, 488, 491 liama'a Bridge, 2^, 367
Pachmari, 275 Pernamali, Mount, 322 Raineniit, Cap*-, 489
Pudma River, 194 Perur, 364 Ranieswarain Island, 359, 361
Padna Bank, 382 Peshawar, 150 R ungarh, 262
Padnah, 227 Pihoia, 156 Rainnad, 3o8
Padranthan, 87 Pilpip, 266 Rnmnagar, 90, 222
Pagan, 423, 450 Pinang, 495 Rampur, 90, 95, 216
Pahang, 457 Pind Dadan-khan, 153 Kainri Island, 422
River. 489 Fir Mangho, 163 Ramtek, 277
Pdharis, 85 Pitsanulok, 467 It^inder, 286
Piiikara Falls, 321 Plassey, 228 Riingpur, 250, 251
Painganga River, 296 Pnom Tribes, 477 Rangun, 452
Paithan, 306 Pnom-penh, 475, 482 Raniganj, 2o3
Paiwar Pass, 43 Point de Galle, 377 Ranikhet, 104
Paklat, 469 Pollanarua, 375 Ranipet, 349
Paklung, Cape, 470 Ponani River, 321, 324 Rann of Catcb, 142
1'akra Lakes, 1 1 1
Pondicherry, 349 Ratnagiri, 291
Pakshan River, 488 Poniar River, 327 RattHmpur, 285
Palamao, 233 Por-bandar, 168 Ravi River, 134
Palang River, 491 Port Blair, 428, 429 Rawal Pindi, 152
Palanpur, 172 Canning, 233 lied Karens, 442
Palar River, 327 Lome, 359 River, 472
Palasi, 81 Monat, 429 Regars, 396
Pal Ghat, 20. 321, 354 Porto Novo, 351 Revenue ot India, 416
Paliyais, 336 Poshetra, 168 Rewa, 188
Palk Strait, 367 P'otuPass, 110 Roads of India, 401
Palli, 164 Prabal, 472 Rodiyas, 371
Palni Mountains, 20, 321 P'rabat, 460 Rohi'lkhand, 215
Palor, 86 Prang, 151 Rohillass 207
Paloaa, 83 Pranhiia River, 296 Rohri, 135, 160
Palun River. 440 P're, 465 Romania, C.ipe, 489
Pamban, 360 Preparis Island. 427 .
R.ino Caste, 80
Pamir, 25 1'iiiice of Wales Island, 495 Ross Island, 429
Panakha, 126 Prome, 451 Rupnarayan Rixer, 195
Panbung River, 340 Protestant Missions, 411 Rupshu Plateau. U8
Panch, 90 Pyblic Debt of India, 416 Kurki, 190
Pandharpur, 309 Pulayers, ^41
Panduah, 220 Pulibat Lagoon, 330 Sabari River, '296
Pangkong, Lake, 30 I'lil'yus, 341 Sabarmatli Rivi-r, 165
1'; mi
pat, 210 Pu!o Ct M- dc Mar, 471 Saddle Peak, 428
Panjab, 131 Condor Islands, 472 Sadiya, 239, 250
Hills, 40 Pinang, 495 Sadras", 348
INDEX. 611

Sagain, 418 Shill


Syrian, 464
. 80
S*|iiiian|.ur. 210 Shi. tiiiim. 41 Tit'lUrid.n 318
Nahaiwan, h>ii|.|.itiK oi
i
TICUI .

.p. M< .ui.i. --. 496


'. 279 Sh .lMM-ii(f Triln , 433
Saigon. >M TakM-i-Kuleiman. .M ut t. .:

Stun'--.!
8-ikht. .i la, 1S
Malk.i 1.1 1; v. i.
4'.) I S:,in.
Saki Sarwni Siambaioiiff. 430 T..I. hit Hill., 21. 264
Sukk.i Tiun ill
<nd, 496 S.l.i. ,

tidMtti 181
bait l*ke. 68 Si<auli.
Sikui.lanibad.2n, 313 '1 inn ii.n i., l.i\ .
r, 325
la .r. i:t;i Sikni. Lit k.i dlur, 9* . M
4ul 140 Turn,
r. 440 sikkiui. 118 .

MIT*. I'.'l Sil.-har, 25 i Ku.-r. 435. 447


Sam 1m pur, '.T>2
Silonga, 491 l.ip:i. .'71
i L.k. , 174 Kiinla, 96 'I',
p.. ,1, .,| 1( .. 881
-. I'.Hi
Singapore, 498 Tarda Min.-N 233
, I _'7 Silu).;i|. -. , 37 1
Tamhing Glacier, 72
Saugal 153 liill, Smghalila, M unt 108, 120 Tann, 488
43 1
'ass, Singpo '1'rilies, 4i2 Taahin. 469
Hiver, 124 S-nygnnj, 2-il Tanisudon. 125
202 .
Sirouchii, 3U6 Tatt., 161
Saptagmm, 427 Si DM, l.'iii Tutung, 457
Sanuvati Hiver, 132 Sitakmid. Mount, 422 Tavi Hirer, 80
Saravan, 471 Sit i
pur. 218 Tavoy. 495
hardu River. 106 Sittang Uiver, 440 Hiver. 488
Surhiml, 15G Sivaiik Mountains, 33 Taxila, 152
fcirju River. 106 Siva ruj, Mount, 323 Tayara, 339
SaniHih, 221 Sk.ir.in. 86
Tiiyunic Hiver, 488
S.HMiti, 156 S..r..ti,rn Inland, 403 Tea IndiiBtry. 396
Saa*eram, 222 S..j it. 1<>4 Tellicheri. 342
SaUra, 310 Somr lime, 414 Tolugu. 331
Satgaon, 228 Sominitii, 168 T. inp-r.itur<- of India, 49
l Hiver, 29, 70. 133 Son Kiv.r. 190, 267 , 487, 494

batpun Mouulaina, 20, 207. 268, on, 252 Hiver, 48M


-!7'.' Kiver, 472 T. n iVnn-ir Hiver, 327
Sitrimjaya. 167 Song-kao Hivrr, 473 Terai, the. 37
Sayan Songkhla, 4U5 TereMa laland. 430
'
. 81 8.ing-koi Hiver, 472 "Terribles K >ckn, 424
Sflcand* rnbad, 313 S.mg-tai, 486 Textile fabrics, 400
River, 471
HIT S npur, -^63
Tey Formation, 888
Si River, <71
-.i c.i, Sontals, 20J Tezpur. 250
S-tid.koh, 15, 42 Sopur, 89 'lh.,i Race, 461
s. l.nii:.... 49(5 Spiti Valley, 30, 71 Thiikl -kh ir P.I8*. 1 10
491
Rivt-r, Srigavat, Mmnr. 27 thai < iht. 280
Selonga, 491 Stinagar, 87, 103 Thalicha, 81
Semao, 460 Srirangain, 355 I h,!,,. H '

Mount, 71 St. jHtnea's C.ipo, 472 Thanetuir, 156


s. i.uiii.i.i Siibanairi Hiver, 239 'Ihanlveng, 454
berayit, i'^ Suli.ii n.ir. ki.a Hiver, 254 Thar D.-wit, 139
tSeringapaUm. ?">1 T.wn. 266 Thaihuagar, Mount 101
8ewtriM 382 U.i.k. Suhathu,0 Th^ru Tribe*. 115, 201
S. v, |,,-li, l^hmdn, 385 Suti- Himalayan, 33 Thatohu, 457
Shahul.a.l, 21H Sudhamni. 2o3 -my o, 451
:

Shah-himdur, 138 Surras, 403 '1 h-ini. 455

i. -i i. 152 Suki-t, 93 Th'.k-yaiung, 77


pin, 216 Throe'Brother* Islandj, 888
S)>ukyu Muni, 4<>7 Sulriman-ki.h, 1"), 40 Thua-lhien, 486
>h.in 'liiulil.-iinlr, 440 Siiltanpiir. 94 Thuan.an.
I I Suinilu, Mount, 27 . 407
Sh<nn, 442, 461 Sun -giirh, 186 Tinki-j-'iiK K:\.r. 110
ShanUbun, 469 l"j"'ni(, 497 ..Hi. 357
r, 30 124
Rheflc-bodio, 41 Surat Tirh..l, 396
Shrr ohur, I.'i7 Sum Hi\ r, 71. 7 J Tin, 339
Shih- Swat Tritw, 149 Tirutani. 347
Slll^'ll U:\- 1.7.' Swatcb, the, 139 Tula River, 119
Shikarpur, 160 Sweet Water" Like, 68 .1

Luke, 256 Syamoagar, 229


r,12 INP1 X.

Udiampur, 411 Warora, 277


king, 470
r.-i;
\V;i/itabad, 153
.,

I'lj.iin,
is Weaving Industry, 400
Ton Kivi-r. 17') riu-tiimulung Peak, 488 W.-llesley Province, 495
I'liinr. 'J77 \\'ct Siiim, 459
Topr6, 37S White Karens, 442
.i, 90 I'ldti I>anpuae>. 207
Utakamund, 353 F.ovii.s, 462
Torna. :<1"
I in Putt. 4U Wrobung, 427
Torwalik Tiibo, 83 Vaico Rivers, "4 75
Xieng-hai, 482
Toule-wp, I*ke, 475 VHisys, 405 Xieng-hong, 474, 482
Vnle of Kashmir, 75
Tovnng, l->6 XifTi^-kang, 474
f rude of Indi,_403 Vamsadharn River, 302
4*'3
Xieng-mai, 465, 466
TronquoKiir, 3o7 Variyas,
Xieng-sen, 482
Trent- Himalayas, 25, 29 Veddahs, 370
Vellar River, 327 Xicng-tong, 482
Trnvancore. 344
Tribeni, 228 Vellore, 348 Yaghestan, 81
TrichinHpoli, 354 Verawal, 168 Y^.ipur, 266
Trinab Riv,-r. 133 Villenur, 350 Y>.'kha, 112
Trinconmli, 380 A'indhya MountHins, 20, 23, 175 Yakkos, 370
Trinuanu, 465 Vingorla, 291, 311 Yanadi, 341
Trinkanta, Mount, 101 Vifih-long, 484 Ynnaon, 307
Trisulganga, 108 Viper Island. 429 Yaslikuno, 80
Tritani, 347 Viramgam, 171 Yasin, 81
Trivandram, 344 Visalgarh, 311 Yassa, Monn f , 108
Tsapenango, 417 Vishriuprayag, 103 Yellamalah, Mount, 318
Tiam Race, 477 Vital Statistics of India, 389
Yenan-gj-ong, 451
Tso Moriri. L ike, 68 Vizagapatam, 303 Yerkad, 35 1
Tudas, 334 Viziadrug, 291 Yiravas, 341
Tulati, 182 Yizianagiam, 303 Yoma Mountains, 422
Tulu, 332 Yunnan, 421
Tunga-bhadra, 299 Waddan, 170 Yuzufzai, 83, 149
Tungtha Tribes, 424 Wai, 310
Turanc, 486 Wainad, 396 Z'tnskar Mountains, 30, 35, 70
Bay, 471 Wainganga River, 272 Zanzibxr, 414
Tnrsa River, 124 Wakligas, 341 Zanzulin River, 456
Tuticorin, 357 Walar, Lake, 76 Zemindars, 416
Wardha River, 272 Zimm6, 466
Udaipur, 181 Wardwaii Valley, 71, 74 Zoji-bal Pass, 71

THE END
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