Central India, 1908

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This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Central India

Physical aspects

An Agency or collection of Native States, under the political supervision of the Agent to the Governor-General in Central India, lying between 21° 22' and 26° 52' N. and 74° o' and 83° o" E. The head-quarters of the Agent to the Governor-General are at Indore. The Agency may be roughly said to asDect^^ consist of two large detached tracts of country, sepa-

rated by the wide and winding valley of the Betwa river, which, starting from Jhansi, spread out east and west into the Peninsula ; northwards its territories stretch to within 30 miles of Agra, and southwards to the Satpura Hills and the Narbada valley. The country has a general declination to the north, the land falling from an elevation of 2,000 feet above the sea along the Vindhyan range to about 500 feet along its northern boundary.

Central India is bounded on the north-east by the United Provinces of Agra and Gudh. On the east, and along the whole length of its southern border, lie the Central Provinces ; the south-western boundary is formed by Khandesh, the Rewa Kantha Agency, and the Panch Mahals of Bombay ; while various States of the Rajputana Agency enclose it on the west and north. The total area of this tract is 78,772 square miles, and the population (1901) 8,628,781 ; but, excluding areas situated in it which belong to States in Rajputana, and including outl)ing portions of Central India States, the area is 77,395 square miles and the population (1901) 8,510,317.

The name Central India, now restricted officially to the territories under the immediate political control of the Agent to the Governor- General in Central India, is a translation of the old Hindu geographical term Madhya Desa or the Middle Region, which was, however, used to designate a far larger and very different tract of country. The term Central India was officially applied at first to Malwa alone ; but in 1854, when the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand districts were added to Malwa to form the present Central India Agency, it was extended to the whole tract.

There is a marked diversity in the physical aspects, climate, scenery, people, and dialects in different parts of the Agency, which falls into three natural divisions. These may be conveniently designated the plateau, the low-lying, and the hilly tracts. The plateau takes in most of Malwa, the wide table-land with a mean elevation of about 1,600 feet above the sea, an area of 34,637 square miles, and a population of 102 persons per square mile, which forms the major portion of the western section of the Agency. Malwa, taking the term in its widest application, includes all the country lying between the great Vindhyan barrier, which forms the northern bank of the Narbada valley, and a point just south of Gwalior ; its eastern limit is marked by the ridge which runs from south to north starting near Bhllsa, while its western limit marches with the Rajputana border.

The inhabitants of this tract are hard-working agriculturists, speaking for the most part dialects of Rajasthani. The low-lying division embraces the country round Gwalior, and to the north and north-east of it, extending thence across into Bundelkhand, of which it includes the greater part, till it meets the Kaimur Hills in Baghelkhand. The area of this tract is about 18,370 square miles, and the population 172 persons per square mile, its mean elevation being about 700 feet above the sea. The inhabitants are agriculturists, but of a more sturdy physical type, thick- set and of lower average stature than the Malwa peasantry. They speak chiefly dialects of Western Hindi. The hilly tracts lie principally along the Vindhya and Satpura ranges and their numerous branches. This division has an area of about 25,765 square miles, and a popula- tion of only 74 persons per square mile. The inhabitants are chiefly Bhils, Gonds, Korkus, and other tribes of non-Aryan or mixed descent, who practise but little agriculture and speak for the most part a bastard dialect compounded of Gujarat!, Marath!, MalwT, and Hindi.

Strictly speaking, there is but one range of mountains in Central India. In the south-western portion of the Agency this range is divided by the Narbada river into two parallel lines, the northern line being known as the Vindhyas and the southern as the Satpuras. The branch of the Vindhyas which strikes across Bundelkhand is termed the Panna range, while the arm which runs in a boldly defined scarp north of the Son river is called the Kaimur range. The small chain which links up the Vindhya and Satpura systems near Amar- kantak is called the Maikala. Other branches of less importance have local names.

This hill system, of which isolated peaks rise to over 3,000 feet above sea-level, has a marked effect on the climate of Central India, both from the high table-land which it forms on the west, and from the direction it gives to the prevailing wind at different seasons. At the same time it forms the watershed of the Agency. In the tract of country which lies north of the Vindhyas all streams of importance rise in this range and, except the Son, flow northwards, the Betvva, Cham- BAL, Kali Sind, Mahi, Parbati, Sind, and Sipra on the west, and the Dhasan, Ken, and Tons on the east, all following a general northerly course till they ultimately join the water-system of the Gangetic Doab.

There are no large rivers south of the Vindhyas except the Narbada, which, rising in the Maikala range, flows in a south-westerly direction till it falls into the sea below Broach. None of the Central Indian rivers is, properly speaking, navigable, though sections of the Narbada can be traversed for a few months of the year. No lakes deserve special mention except those at Bhopal, though large tanks are numerous, especially in the eastern section.

k\\ infinite variety of scene is presented. The highlands of the great Malwa plateau are formed of vast rolling plains, bearing, scattered over their surface, the curious fiat-topped hills which are so marked a charac- teristic of the Deccan trap country— hills which appear to have been all planed off to the same level by some giant hand. Big trees are scarce in this region, except in hollows and surrounding villages of old founda- tion ; but the fertile black cotton soil with which the plateau is covered bears magnificent crops, and the tract is highly cultivated. Where no grain has been planted, the land is covered with heavy fields of grass, affording excellent grazing to the large herds of cattle which roam over them. During the rains, the country presents an appearance of un- wonted luxuriance.

Each hill, clothed in a bright green mantle, rises from plains covered with waving fields of grain and grass, and traversed by numerous streams with channels filled from bank to bank. This luxuriance, however, is but short-lived, and, within little more than a month after the conclusion of the rains, gives place to the mono- tonous straw colour which is so characteristic of this region during the greater part of the year. Before the spring crops are gathered in, how- ever, this yellow ground forms an admirable frame to set off broad stretches of gram and wheat, and the brilliant fields of poppy which form a carpet of many colours round the villages nestling in the deep shade of great mango and tamarind trees.

In the eastern 'districts the aspect is entirely different. The undu- lating plateau gives place to a level and often stone-strewn plain, dotted here and there with masses of irregularly heaped boulders and low serrated ridges of gneiss banded with quartz, the soil, except in the hollows at the foot of the ridges, being of very moderate fertility, and generally of a red colour. Big trees are perhaps more common, and tanks numerous. Many of these tanks are of considerable antiquity, and are held up by fine massive dams. Though some are now used for irrigation, examination shows that they were not originally made for that purpose, but merely as adjuncts to temples and palaces or the favourite country seat of some chief, the low quartz hills lending them- selves to the construction of such works.

In the hilly tracts the scene again changes. On all sides lie a mass of tangled jungles, a medley of mountain and ravine, of tall forest trees and thick undergrowth, traversed by steep rock-strewn watercourses which are filled in the rains by roaring torrents. Here and there small collections of poor grass-thatched huts, surrounded by little patches of cultivation, mark the habitation of the BhTl, Gond, or Korku. Along the Son valley and the bold scarp of the Vindhyas, over which the Tons falls into the plains below in a series of magnificent cataracts, the scenery at the close of the rains is of extraordinary beauty.

Each tract has its history recorded in ruin-covered sites of once popu- lous cities, in crumbling palaces and tombs, decaying shrines, and mutilated statues of the gods.

1 Geologically, Central India belongs entirely to the Peninsular area of India. It is still to a large extent unsurveyed, yet such parts as have been more or less completely studied enable a general idea of its geological conformation to be given.

The most remarkable physical feature of this vast area, and one inti- mately connected with its geological peculiarities, is the almost recti- linear escarpment known as the Vindhyan range. From Rohtasgarh on the east, where the Son bends round the termination of the range, up to Ginnurgarh hill, in Bhopal territory, on the west, a distance of about 430 miles, the escarpment consists of massive sandstones belonging to the geological series which, owing to its preponderance in this range, has been called the Vindhyan series. At Ginnurgarh hill, however, the sandstone scarps take a sudden bend to the north-west, and trend entirely away from the \"indhyan range proper, though as a geo- graphical feature the range continues for almost 200 miles beyond Ginnurgarh. It no longer consists, however, of Vindhyan strata in the geological sense, being formed mostly of compact black basalts, the accumulated lava-flows of the ancient volcanic formation known as Deccan trap. It has been well estabUshed, by a geological study of this region, that the Vindhyan series is immensely older than the Deccan trap, and that the surface of the Vindhyar. rocks, afterwards overwhelmed by these great sheets of molten lava, had already been shaped by denudation into hills and dales practically identical with those which we see at the present day.

In the roughly triangular space included between the Vindhyan and Aravalli ranges and the Jumna river, which comprises the greater portion of the Central India Agency, rocks of the Vindhyan series prevail. The greater part of this area is in the shape of a table-land, formed mostly of Vindhyan strata, covered in places by remnants of the Deccan basalts, especially in the western part of Malwa, where there are great continuous spreads of trap. The Vindhyans do not, however, subsist over the whole of the triangular area thus circumscribed, owing to their partial removal by denudation. The floor of an older stratum, upon which they were originally deposited, has been laid bare over a great gulf-like ex- panse occupied by gneissose rocks, known as the Bundelkhand gneiss.

South of the Vindhyas, besides a strip of land, mainly alluvial, between the Vindhyan scarp and the Narbada, the Agency includes at its eastern and western extremities two large areas that extend a considerable ^ By Mr. E. Viedenburg of the Geologic.il Survey of India. distance southwards. The western area, bordering on Khandesh, includes a portion of the Satpura range mainly formed of Deccan trap. The eastern area comprises all the southern portion of Rewah, and includes an extremely varied rock series, the most extensive outcrop in it belonging to the Gondwana coal-bearing series.

The geology of Central India is thus more complex than that of any other area of similar extent in the Peninsula : scarcely one of the Penin- sula groups is unrepresented, and it contains the type areas of several among them. The rock series met with may thus be tabulated : —

Among these, the first to arrest attention by reason of its preponder- ance is the Vindhyan series, covering a surface not greatly inferior to that of England. Of the eastern portion of their outcrop, occupying a considerable part of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand, an excellent description will be found in Mr. Mallett's ' Vindhyan Series ' {Memoirs, Geological Survey of Itidia, vol. vii, part i). The Vindhyans consist of alternating bands of hard sandstones and comparatively soft flags and shales, which, owing to the marked differences that they exhibit in their degree of resistance to denudation^ give rise to the regular escarp- ments, capped by sandstones with an underscarp of softer rocks, which constitute the most noticeable physical feature of this region.

Three of the massive sandstones stand out so conspicuously that they are distinguished by special names. The lowest of these, which forms the outer ranges to both north and south, is called the Kaimur sand- stone, being chiefly met with in the range of that name. The next, forming the second or middle scarp, is called the Rewah sandstone after the State in which it is finely exhibited. The third scarp contains the newest rock of the whole group, called the Bandair (Bhander) sand- stone from the small range which it caps, to the south of Nagod.

Along the Vindhyan range proper, these three great scarps are not so clearly marked as elsewhere, but in the northern branch they stand out perfectly distinct. The northernmost range constituting the first or outer scarp is capped by Kaimur sandstone and exhibits very bold scarps, often almost vertical and quite inaccessible, deeply cut into by the river valleys. Numerous detached masses or outliers stand in front of the main line of escarpment, often crowned by those formerly impreg- nable fortresses which have played so important a part in the history of India, such as Kalinjar, Bandhogarh, and Ajaigarh. Along a portion of this scarp and in all the deep valleys that penetrate it, the Kaimur sandstone rests upon the flaggy limestones, underlaid by shales and thin bands of sandstone, which constitute the lower Vindhyans ; in most of the outliers, the Kaimur sandstone rests directly upon the Bundelkhand gneiss.

In the Son valley the sandstones contain a remarkable group of highly siliceous rocks known as porcellanites, a name which accurately describes their appearance. They are indurated volcanic ashes of a strongly acid type, containing a high percentage of silica. When the fragments of volcanic dust become sufficiently large to be distinguished without a magnifying power, the appearance of the rock changes to that of the variety designated as trappoid. These beds indicate an ancient period of intense volcanic activity. The beds below the porcellanites, the basal beds of the Vindhyans, consist of a variable thickness of shale, limestone, and conglomerate, the last being the oldest rock of the entire Vindhyan series. A very constant, though not universally present, division occurs in the Kaimur at the base of the massive sandstone, and is called the Kaimur conglomerate.

At the eastern extremity of the Rewah scarp, the entire thickness of the lower Rewah formation consists of a continuous series of shales, but in some parts of Bundelkhand this is divided into two portions by an intermediate sandstone. The shales below this sandstone are called the Panna shales, after the town of that name, and those above it Jhlrl shales, after a town in Ciwalior territory. A bed of great economic importance, the diamond-bearing conglomerate, is intercalated in the midst of the Panna shales. It is found only in some small detached outcrops near Panna and east of that place, and the richest of the cele- brated mines are those worked in this diamond-bearing bed. The diamonds occur as scattered pebbles among the other constituents of the conglomerate.

Tiie lower Bandairs of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhund closely resem- ble the lower Vindhyans ; like them, they are principally a shaly series with an important limestone group and some subsidiary sandstone. The limestone band is of considerable economic importance, yielding excellent lime. It is to a great extent concealed by alluvium, but comes into view in a series of low mounds, one of the best known being situated near Nagod, whence it has been called Nagod limestone.

On entering Central India at Bhopal, the Vindhyans are shifted so as to run to the north of the great faults, and the whole series again comes into view, presenting all the main divisions met with in Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. Little alteration has taken place in the series, in spite of the distance from the eastern outcrops, except that the Panna shales are replaced by flaggy sandstones. The lower Bandairs and lower Vindhyans have changed in constitution, the calcareous and shaly element being replaced by an arenaceous development, giving the entire Vindhyan series a greater uniformity than it presents farther east. The scarps which form the northern part of the syncline in Bundelkhand curve round the great bay of Bundelkhand gneiss and continue up to the town of Gwalior, after which they sink into the Gangetic alluvium. The main divisions are represented here even more uniformly than in Bhopal. An additional limestone band is, however, intercalated among the Sirbu shales, known as the Chambal limestone. The lower Vindhyans are absent, the Kaimur conglomerate resting immediately on the Bundelkhand gneiss. In the neighbourhood of Nimach the Kaimur, Rewah, and Bandair groups are all represented.

No fossils have ever been found in the Vindhyans, so that their age still remains doubtful. It seems probable that the range, or at least the greater part of it, is older than the Cambrian series in England, which would account for its unfossiliferous nature.

Next in importance to the Vindhyan series, by reason of the vast area which it occupies, is the Bundelkhand gneiss, forming, as already mentioned, a great semicircular bay surrounded by cliffs of the over- lying Vindhyans. The Bundelkhand gneiss is regarded as the oldest rock in India. It consistsprincipally of coarse-grained gneissose granite, and is very uniform in composition. The gneiss is cut through by great reefs of quartz striking nearly always in a north-easterly direction, which form long ranges of steep hills of no great height with serrated summits, and cause a marked difference in the scenery of the countrj-. This formation gives special facility for the construction of tanks. Innumer- able narrow dikes of a much later basic volcanic rock cut through the Bundelkhand gneiss. Towards the Jumna the gneiss vanishes below the Gangetic alluvium.

As a rule, the sandstone cliffs which surround the gneiss rest directly on that rock. In places, however, an older series intervenes, named after the Bijawar State in which its type area is found. The same series is met with near Gwalior town, forming a range of hills that strikes approximately east and west. The identity of these rocks with the Bijavvars is now determined ; they were, however, long regarded as of a different type and were known as the GwaUor series. Other outcrops of these series are met with in the Narbada valley and south of the Son, These rocks have been subjected to far more pressure and folding than the Vindhyans, and their shales have been converted into slates and their sandstones into quartzites, while the bottom bed is invariably a conglomerate full of pebbles of white quartz.

The most characteristic rocks of the Bijawars are the layers of regularly banded jaspers which are frequently intercalated among the limestones. They usually contain a large proportion of hematite, giving them a fine red colour, which makes them highly ornamental and in great demand for inlaid decoration, such as that worked at Agra. The proportion of hematite is often high enough to make it a valuable iron ore, and the sites of old iron workings may be met with everywhere on the Bijawar outcrops. In Bijawar itself the ore has become concentrated in a highly ferruginous lateritic formation, which must have accumulated in the long period that intervened between the deposition of the Bija- wars and Vindhyans. (See 'Geology of Gwalior and Vicinity,' Records, Geological Survey of India, vol. iii, pp. 33-42 ; vol. xxx, pp. 16-41.)

The series underlying the Vindhyans to the south of the Son river are very complex. (See ' Geology of the Son Valley,' Memoirs, Geological Survey of India, vol. xxxi, part i.)

The Archaean rocks met with in the Narbada valley in Nemawar, at Bagh and Ah Rajpur, conform in character to the Bundelkhand gneiss. The forces that so violently disturbed the Vindhyans in the Son and Narbada valleys were the last manifestations of true orogenic pheno- mena that have affected the Peninsular portion of India. All the disturbance that has taken place since then has been of an entirely different nature. Great land masses have sunk bodily between parallel fractures, and in the areas thus depressed a series of land or fresh-water deposits have been preserved. These are called the Gondwana series, from their being found principally in the tract so named. This series has received a large amount of attention on account of the rich stores of coal which it contains. The Gondwanas have been subdivided into several groups, those known as the Damuda and Talcher groups, and the lowest subdivision of the Damudas, the Barakar, being the richest in coal seams. (See ' The Southern Coal Fields of the Rewah Gondwana Basin,' Memoirs, Geological Survey of India, vol. xxi, p. 3.) The Barakar beds consist of sandstones and shales with numerous coal seams, and cover a large area of Rewah. The Umaria mines are excavated in this horizon.

In the Cretaceous period the sea advanced and covered a considerable area which had remained dry land since the end of the Vindhyan period, leaving limestone deposits full of marine organisms. The beds of this deposit are known as the Lametas from a ghat of this name near Jubbulpore, whence they extend westwards to Barwaha in the Indore State. An examination lately made by Mr. Vredenburg has shown that the Cretaceous beds at Bagh and the Lametas are identical and not, as has been hitherto supposed, two different rocks {Quarterly Journal, Geological Society of London, vol. xxx (1865), pp. 349-63, and Records, Geological Survey of India, vol. xx, pp. 81-92). Tiie sandstones and limestones of the Lametas yield excellent building materials. The Buddhist caves at Bagh are cut in Nimar sandstone which underlies the Bagh beds. A handsome variety of marine limestone, called coralline limestone, has been largely used in the ancient buildings of Mandu. Ores of manganese are found in the conglomerate which forms the basement of the Lametas.

The Lameta period was a short one ; and before its deposits were overwhelmed by the gigantic basalt flows of the Deccan trap, they had already been largely denuded. The whole of what is now Central India was overwhelmed by these stupendous outpourings of lava. Denudation acting upon them during the whole of the Tertiary period has removed a great part of this accumulation. The subsisting portions, consisting of successive horizontal layers, have been denuded into terraced hills. The name trappean or ' step-like ' originated from similar formations in Europe. In spite of denudation, this rock still covers a large area.

A peculiar form of alteration that seems to have been very active in former geological times produced the red-coloured highly ferruginous rock known as laterite (from later, ' a brick '), which still subsists as a horizontal layer of great thickness, capping some of the highest basaltic table-lands, while it also occurs at long distances from the present limits of the Deccan trap, showing the immensely greater area formerly covered. This rock contains a large percentage of alumina, probably suitable for the extraction of that metal.

In some regions from which the basaltic flows have been completely removed by denudation, the fissures through which the molten rock reached the surface are indicated by numerous dikes. They are especially plentiful in the Gondwanas in Rewah. Near Bagh one of the dikes is remarkable for its gigantic dimensions and colunmar structure. To the exact age of the Deccan trap there is no clue.

Along the Narbada valley there are some fresh-water beds which have long attracted attention, but have not yet been fully investigated. Their peculiar interest lies in the fact that they were certainly deposited by streams totally unrelated to the Narbada, which there is every reason to suppose is the most recent river system in India.

The recent deposits are of no very great thickness, and consist of ordinary alluvmm, gravel, and soils. An immense area in Central India is covered with the famous black cotton soil, a dark-coloured earth formed by the decomposition of the Deccan trap, which is of great richness and fertility, especially the variety found in Malwa.

' The vegetation of Central India consists chiefly of deciduous forest, characterized by the presence of a considerable number of plants that flower profusely in the hot months. Of these the most conspicuous are two species of Butea, one a tree {B. froiidosa), the other a climber {B. siiperhd). Less common but still widespread and very noticeable is the yellow-flowered ^az/^^a/ {Cochlospermum gossypmm).

The more valuable trees include teak {Tecfona graiidts), a/ija/i {Hardwickia binata), harm {Tennina/ia Chelnild), bahera {T. be/en'ca), kahtia (T. Arjuf/a), sdj (7\ tomeiitosa), bljasdl {^Pferocarpus Marsupiuvi), te/idil {Diospyros tomenfosd), finis {Oitgei?iia da/bergioides), sifsal {Dal- bergia latifolid)^ and shlsham (/>. Sissod). The natural families of Meliaceae, Steni/liaceae, Bignoniaceae, and Urticaceae are all well represented in the forests. The more shrubby forms include species of Capparis, Zizyphiis, Grezvia, Anfides/fia, Phyllantlws, Flueggeo^ Cordia, IVrighfia, Nyctanthes, Celtis, Indigo/era, F/emingia, and Desmodiitm.

The avali {Cassia aariailata) is very characteristic of outcrops of laterite amid black cotton soil, while Balanites Roxbiirghii, Cadaba indica, dk or maddr {Calotropis procera), babul {Acacia arabica), and other species are found in the cotton soil itself. The climbing plants most characteristic of this region include some species of Convolvu- laceae, many Legidninosae, a few species of Vilis, Jasminuni, and some Ctutirbitaceae. The herbaceous undergrowth includes species of Acanthaceae, Compositae, Aniarantaceae, Legtiminosae, and many grasses which, though plentiful during the monsoon period, die down completely in the hot season. Palms and bamboos are scarce.

In gardens it is possible to grow most European vegetables, and almost all the plants which thrive in the plains of Northern India, as well as many belonging to the Deccan.

All the animals common to Peninsular India are to be met with in the Agency. Up to the seventeenth century elephants were numerous in many parts of Central India, the Ain-i-Akban mentioning Narwar, Chanderl, Satwas, Bijagarh, and Raisen as the haunts of large herds. The Mughal emperors used often to hunt them, using both the khedda and pits {gar) or an enclosure {bar). The elephants from Panna were considered the best. Another animal formerly common in Malwa was the Indian lion. The last of the species was shot near Guna in 1872. Most chiefs preserve tiger and sanibar, while special preserves of antelope and chital are also maintained in some places. In Hindu States peafowl, blue-rock pigeons, the Indian roller, the sdras, and ' By Lieut.-Col. D. Train, I.M.S., of the Botanical Survey of hidia. a few other birds are considered sacred, while in many places the fish are similarly protected.

The commonest animals are mentioned in the following list. Primates : laiignr {Semitopithecus entellus), bandar {Macaais r/iesus), Carnivora : tiger {Fells tlgrls), leopard {Fells pardus), hunting leopard {Cynaelurus Judatus), mungoose {Herpestes /iningo), hyena {Hyaena striata), wild dog {Cyan dukhunensls), Indian fox { Vulpes bengalensis), wolf {Canis palllpes), jackal {Cams aureus), otter {Lutra vulgaris), black bear {Melursus urslnus). Ungulata : nilgai {Boselaphus tragocamelus), four-horned antelope {Tetracerus guadrlcornls), black buck (Antllope cervlcapra), spotted deer {Ceiims axis), sainbar {Cervus unlcolor), wild boar {Sus crlstatus). The bison {Bos gaurus) and buffalo {B. bubalus) were formerly common in the Satpura region, but are now only occasionally met with. Most of the birds which frequent the Peninsula are found, both game-birds and others. Reptllla : crocodile {Crocodllus torosus and Gavlalls gangetlcus), tortoise {Testudo elegans), turtle {Nlcorla trljuga), various iguanas and lizards. Snakes are most' numerous in the eastern section of the Agency. Three poisonous species are common : the cobra {Nala trlpudlans), Russell's viper ( Vlpera russellll), and the karalt {Bufigarus caeruleus). The Echls carlnata, a venomous if not always deadly snake, of viperine order, is also frequently seen. Of harmless snakes the commonest are the ordinar)- rat snake or dhih?ian {Zamenls mucosus), Lycodon au Ileus, Gongylophls conlcus, Tropldonotos pluinblcolor, Dendi'ophls pictus ; various Ollgodones and Slmotes and pythons {Eryx johnll) are common on the hills and in thick jungle.

Rivers and tanks abound with fish, the mahseer {Barbus tor) being met with in the Narbada, Chambal, Betwa, and other large rivers, and the rohli {Labeo rohlta) and marral or sdmval ( Ophlocephalus punctatus) in many tanks. It should be noted that the Morar river in Gwalior has given its name to the Barilius morarensls, which was first found in its waters.

Of the insect family, the locust, called tlddl or poptla, is an occasional visitor. The most common species is the red locust {Phymatea punctata). Cicadas, butterflies, moths, mosquitoes, sand-flies, and many other classes, noxious and innocuous, are met with.

The climate of Central India is, on the whole, extremely healthy, the elevated plateau being noted for its cool nights in the hot season, pro- verbial all over India. The Indo-Gangetic plain divides the highlands of Central India from the great hill system of the north, while the lofty barriers of the Vindhya and Satpura ranges isolate it from the Deccan area. These two parallel ranges, which form its southern boundary, have, moreover, a marked effect on the climate of the plateau, the most noticeable being the pronounced westerly direction which they give to the winds.

The temperature in Central India rises rapidly in April and May, when Indore, Bhopal, and the plateau area generally fall within the isotherm of 95°, while the low-lying sections are cooler, the average temperature being about 90°. The plateau enjoys the more even tem- perature, showing a difference of only 26° between the mean temperature in January and in May, while in the low-lying section the range is 32°. The diurnal range in January in the eastern part of the Agency is 26°, as compared with 29° in the plateau ; in the hot season there is no appreciable difference, but in the rains the variation is 11° in the low- lying area and 13° on the plateau. The average maximum and mini- mum temperatures in January are 77° and 48° on the plateau, and 74" and 48° in the low-lying area; in May the maximum and minimum temperatures of the plateau rise to 103° and 76°, compared with 107 and 81° in the low-lying tract. In the rains the maximum and the minimum temperatures are 83° and 71° on the plateau, and 87° and 77° in the low-lying tract. The low-lying area is thus subject to greater extremes of both heat and cold.

The following table gives the average temperature (in degrees Fah- renheit) in four typical months at certain meteorological stations :- —

The variation in the humidity of Central India during the year is also very marked. There are two distinct periods of maximum and mini- mum. The period of minimum- humidity during the summer months occurs in March and April on the plateau, and in April and May in the low-lying area, while in both areas November and February are the least humid of the winter months. In August in summer, and in January in winter, the humidity reaches a maximum.

The phenomenon of the hot season winds is very marked on the plateau. These winds, which begin about the middle of April, start blowing in the morning at 9 a.m., the hour of maximum diurnal pressure, and blow till 4 or 5 p.m., the time of minimum pressure.

A great fall in temperature occurs at sunset on the Malvva plateau, the nights being usually calm and cool, even in the middle of the hot season, while a gentle west wind occasionally blows. On the plateau, moreover, the current continues to retain its pronounced westerly direction ; the wind, at first dry, suddenly becoming moist, the climate, at the same time, undergoing a rapid and marked change, and the temperature falling 14 to 16 degrees. The Malwa portion of Central India is supplied principally by the Bombay monsoon current, while the eastern section of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand shares in the currents which enter by the Bay of Bengal.

The annual rainfall on the plateau averages about 30 inches, and in the low-lying tract 45 inches. The low-lying tract gets much more rain in June than the plateau, the rain there starting earlier and falling more copiously throughout the season. The winter rains usually fall in January or the beginning of February, and are very useful to the rahi crop sowings. There is little doubt that the rainfall of the plateau area has undergone a marked decrease. Sir John Malcolm's observations (at Mhow) give an average of 50 inches, and general report points to a diminution of at least 20 inches during the last sixty or seventy years.

The following table gives the annual rainfall, month by month, at certain meteorological stations : —

Storms and cyclones are very rare in Central India. Serious floods occurred at Indore in 1872, considerable damage being done to houses and property. Slight shocks of earthcjuake were felt in 1898 in Bhopal and Bundelkhand.

History

The country now comprised in the Central India Agency was pro- bably once occupied by the ancestors of the Bhils, Gonds, Saharias, and other tribes which now inhabit the fastnesses of the Vindhya range. Of these early days, how- ever, we have no certain knowledge. The Rig Veda, though it records the spread of the Aryan races eastwards and westwards, never mentions the Narbada river, while the great epics the Ram- ayana and Mahabharata, and other sacred Hindu books, though they tell of a struggle between the dark-skinned aboriginal and the light-coloured Aryan, already assign the hilly Vindhyan region and the Narbada valley to the non-Aryan Pulindas and Sabaras, showing that these tribes had long since been driven out of the heart of the country.

From the early Buddhist books it appears that in Buddha's lifetime there were sixteen principal States in India, of which Avanti, with Ujeni (Ujjain) as its capital, was one, while the eastern section of Central India was comprised in the kingdoms of the Vatsas, of which KausambhT was the chief town, and of the Panchalas. Villages appear in those days to have enjoyed a large share of autonomy under their headmen, while class distinctions were not very strongly marked. Buildings were mostly of wood, only forts and palaces being of stone. There is no mention of roads, but certain great routes with their stages are given. One of these ran from north to south, from Sravasti in Kosala to Paithan in the Deccan, passing through Ujjain and MahissatT (now Maheshwar), which are mentioned as halting stations.

With the establishment of the Maurya dynasty by Chandragupta some light breaks in upon the history of Central India. Chandragupta rapidly extended his empire over all Northern India, from the Hima- layas to the Narbada, and his grandson Asoka was sent to Ujjain as viceroy of the western provinces. Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara (297-272 B.C.), who was followed by Asoka. Some years after his accession, Asoka, on becoming an ardent Buddhist, caused the erection of the famous group of stupas round Bhilsa of which that at Sanchi is the best known, and also in all probability the great stupa which formerly stood at Bharhut in Nagod. A fragment of one of his edicts has been discovered on a pillar at SanchT.

On the death of Asoka (231 b. c), his empire rapidly broke up ; and, according to the Puranas, Central India, except perhaps the most western part of Malwa, fell to the Sungas, who ruled at Pataliputra (now Patna). Agnimitra, the hero of the play Mdlavikdgnhtiitra, was viceroy of the western provinces, with his head-quarters at Vidisha (now Bhilsa). On one of the gates from the stipa at Bharhut is an inscription stating that it was erected in the time of the Sungas, Under the Sunga rule a reviyal of Brahmanism took place, and Buddhism began to lose the paramount position it had acquired under Asoka.

In the second century before the Christian era, the Sakas, a powerful Central Asian tribe, appeared in the Punjab and gradually extended their conquests southwards. One section of this horde entered Malwa, and founded a line of Saka princes who are known as the Western Kshatrapas or Satraps i^see Malwa). They soon became possessed of considerable independence, and except for a temporary check (a.d. 126) at the hands of the Andhra king of the Deccan, Vih'vayakura II (Gautamlputra), ruled till about 390, when their empire was destroyed by Chandra Gupta II.

The Guptas of Magadha rose to power in the beginning of the fourth century. An inscription at Allahabad, of Samudra Gupta, second of this line (326-75), enumerates his foes, feudatories, and allies. Among the feudatories were the nine kings of Aryavarta, one of whom, Ganapati Naga, belonged to the Naga dynasty of PadmavatT, now Narwar, where his coins have been found. Among the unsubdued tribes on his frontiers certain races of Central India are named : the Malavas, who were at this time under Satrap rule ; the Abhiras, who lived in the region between Gwalior and Jhansi, still called after them Ahirwara ; and the Murundas, who seem to have lived in the Kaimur Hills in Baghel- khand. He also took into his service the kings of the forest country, apparently petty chiefs of Baghelkhand.

Chandra Gupta II (375-413), who succeeded Samudra, was the most powerful king of the dynasty. Extending his conquests in all directions he entered Mahva, as we learn from two inscriptions at Udayagiri near Bhilsa, and destroyed the Kshatrapa power between 388 and 401, probably about 390. About 480 the regular Gupta succession ends, and the kingdom broke up, the Malwa territory being held by indepen- dent Gupta princes. Of two of these, Budha Gupta and Bhanu Gupta, we have records dated 484 and 510.

The most interesting episode of this period is the invasion of the Gupta dominions in eastern Malwa by Toramana and his son Mihirakula. These chiefs were White Huns, a section of whom had overrun Eastern Europe in a. d. 375, another horde entering India a century later. During the reign of Skanda Gupta (455-80) they were held more or less in check ; but on his death their leader Toramana pressed south, and, after seizing Gwalior and the districts round it, advanced into Malwa and soon acquired possession of the eastern portion Of that tract. From inscriptions found at Gwalior, Eran, and Mand.\sor, it appears that Toramana and his son Mihirakula held eastern Malwa for about forty years, the local princes becoming their feudatories. Mihirakula, who succeeded his father about 510, war. defeated finally in 528 by a combined attack of Nara Sinha Gupta Baladitya of Magadha and Yasodharman who ruled at Mandasor.

At the end of the sixth century Prabhakara Vardhana, king of Thanesar in the Punjab, had extended his conquests southwards ; and his younger son Harshavardhana, who succeeded an elder brother in 606, rapidly acquired possession of all Northern India and fixed his capital at Kanauj. After a reign of forty-two years he died, and his empire at once went to pieces. An interesting account of JijhotI (Bundelkhand), Maheswapura (now Maheshwar) on the Narbada, and Ujjain at this period has been given by Hiuen Tsiang. The pilgrim, who visited Kanauj in 642-3, notices the decline of Buddhism, which had been steadily losing its position since the time of the Guptas.

During the fifth and sixth centuries a number of nomad tribes, the Gurjaras, Malavas, Abhiras, and others, who were possibly descended from the Central Asian invaders at the beginning of the Christian era, began to form regularly constituted communities. During the first half of the seventh century they were held in check by the strong hand of Harshavardhana ; but on his death they became independent, and com- menced those intertribal contests which made India such an easy prey to the Muhammadan invaders of the tenth and eleventh centuries.

The Malavas and x\bhiras were early settlers in Central India. Both appear to have come from the north-west, and by about the fifth century to have occupied the districts still called after them Malwa and Ahlrwara, the country to the east of Malwa and west of the Betwa river, including Jhansi, Sironj, and the tract stretching southwards to the Narbada.

In the sixth century the powerful Kalachuri (Haihaya, or Chedi) tribe seized the line of the Narbada valley, acquiring later most of BuNDELKHAND and Baghelkhand.

From the eighth to the tenth century, by a gradual process of evolution very imperfectly understood as yet, these tribes became Brah- manized and adopted pedigrees which connected them with the Hindu pantheon, probably developing finally into the Rajput clans as we know them to-day ; the Paramaras of Dhar, Tonwars of Gwalior, Kachwahas of Narwar, Rathors of Kanauj, and Chandels of Kalinjar and Mahoba all becoming important historical factors about this time.

Recent researches appear to show that all Central India was in the eighth century under the suzerainty of the Gurjaras, a tribe who had settled in Rajputana and on the west coast in the tract called after them Gujarat. They gradually extended their power till their chief Vatsa ruled from Gujarat to Bengal. About 800 he was defeated and driven into Marwar by the rising power of the Rashtrakuta clan. The Gurjaras, however, as we learn from inscriptions at Gwalior and elsewhere, again advanced and recovered their lost dominion as far east as Gwalior, under Ramabhadra. His successor Bhoja I (not to be confounded with the famous Paramara chief who lived two centuries later) recovered all the lost territory and acquired fresh lands in the Punjab.

Two branches of the Gurjaras, who became known later as the Parihar and Paramara Rajput clans, obtained at this time the possession of Bundelkhand and Malwa respectively, holding them in fief under their Gurjara overlord. After the death of Bhoja I (885), the Gurjara power declined, owing to the rising power of the Chandels in Bundel- khand, the Kalachuris along the Narbada, and the Rashtrakutas. Taking advantage of their difficulties, the Paramara section in Mahva threw off their allegiance (915) ; and Central India was then divided between the Paramaras in Mahva, with Ujjain and Dhar as their capitals, the Parihars in Gwalior, the Chandels in Bundelkhand, with capitals at Mahoba and Kalinjar, and the Chedis or Kalachuris who held much of the present Rewah State. The history of this period is that of the alliances and dissensions of these clans, which in Central India lasted through the early days of the Muhammadan invasion, until they eventu- ally came under the Moslem yoke in the thirteenth century.

When Mahmud of Ghazni commenced his raids, the Rajputs were the rulers everywhere. Dhanga (950-99), the Chandel of Bundelkhand, had already fought with Jaipal of Lahore against Sabuktagin at Lamghan (988). In his fourth expedition Mahmud was opposed at Peshawar by Anand Pal of Lahore and a confederate Hindu army; and among those who fought round Anand Pal's standard were the Tonwar chief of Gwalior, the Chandel prince, Ganda (999-1025), and the Paramara of Mahva (either Bhoja or his father Sindhuraja). By the capture of Kanauj in 1019, Mahmud opened the way into Hindustan, and in 102 1 Gwalior fell to him. After Mahmud's death (1030), Central India was not again visited by the Muhammadans till the end of the twelfth century ; but from the time of his death until the appearance of Kutb- ud-din the history of Central India is that of the incessant petty wars which went on between the various Hindu clans. Paramara, Chandel, Kalachuri, and Chalukya (of Gujarat) waged war against one another, gaining temporary advantage each in turn, but exhausting their own re- sources and smoothing the way for the advance of the Muhammadans.

In 1 193 Kutb-ud-din entered Central India and took Kalinjar for Muhammad Ghori, and later (1196) Gwalior, of which place Shams-ud- din Altamsh was appointed governor. In 1206 Kutb-ud-dui became king of Delhi, and for the first time a. Muhanmiadan king ruled India from within, and held in more or less subjection all the country up to the Vindhyas. A period of confusion followed his death (12 10), during which the Rajputs of Central India regained the greater part of their possessions.

Altamsh finally succeeded to the Delhi throne (1210-36), and in tlie twenty-first year of his reign retook Gwalior from the Hindus after a siege of eleven months (1232). He then proceeded to Bhilsa and Ujjain, sacked the latter place and destroyed the famous temple of Mahakal, sending its idol to Delhi (1235). He was followed by a succession of weak kings, during whose reigns (1236-46) the Hindu chiefs were left much to themselves. In 1246 Nasir-ud-din succeeded. Like the others, he was a weak ruler ; but his reign is of importance on account of the energetic action of his minister Balban, who took Nar- WAR in 1 25 1, and, succeeding his master in 1266, kept the Hindu chiefs in subjection, and ruled with a firm hand, so that it was said 'An elephant avoided treading on an ant.'

On Balban's death the rule passed to the Khiljis under Jalal-ud-din, who (1292) entered Mahva and took Ujjain, and after visiting and admiring the temples and other buildings, burnt them to the ground, and, in the words of the historian, thus 'made a hell of paradise.' About this time Ala-ud-din, then governor of Bundelkhand, took Bhilsa and Mandu (1293).

In Muhammad bin Tughlak's reign (1325-51) a severe famine broke out ( 1 344) ; and the king resting at Dhar on his way from the Ueccan found that 'the posts were all gone off the roads, and distress and anarchy reigned in all the country and towns along the route,' while the anarchy was augmented by the dispatch of Aziz Hamir as governor of Malwa, who by his tyrannous actions soon drove all the people into rebellion. In the time of Firoz Shah (1351-88) the process of dis- integration commenced, which was completed in the time of Tughlak Shah II. The land was divided into provinces governed by petty rulers, Malwa, Mandu, and Gwalior being held by separate chiefs.

The history of Central India now becomes largely that of Malwa. The weak Saiyid dynasty, who held the Delhi throne from 1414 to 145 1, were powerless to reduce the numerous chiefs to order, and Mahmud of Malwa even made an attempt to seize the Delhi throne (1440), which was, however, frustrated by Bahlol Lodi. It is worth while noting, in regard to this weakening of Musalman rule, how Hindu and Muhammadan had by this time coalesced. ^Ve find the Hindu chiefs employing Muhammadan troops, and Mahmud of Malwa enlist- ing Rajputs. Some sort of order was introduced under the Lodis (1451-1526) ; but they had no great influence, except in the country immediately round Delhi, though Narwar was taken by Jalal Khan, Sikandar's general (1507), and Ibrahim Lodi captured the Badalgarh outwork of Gwalior (15 18).

The emperor Babar (1526-30) notes in his memoirs that Malwa was then the fourth most important kingdom of Hindustan (being a part of Gujarat under Bahadur Shah), though Rana Sanga of Udaipur had seized many of the provinces that had formerly belonged to it. Babar's forces took Gwalior (1526) and .Chanderi (1527), and later he visited Gwalior (1529), of which he has left an appreciative and accurate account. Humayun defeated Bahadur Shah at Mandasor (1535), but in 1540 was himself driven from India by Sher Shah.

Sher Shah, the founder of the Suri dynasty (1539-45) was a man of unusual ability, and soon reduced the country to order. He obtained possession of Gwalior, Mandu, Sarangpur, Bhilsa, and Raisen, (1543-4), making Shujaat Khan, his principal noble, viceroy in Malwa, Islam Shah, Sher Shah's successor, made Gwalior the capital instead of Delhi, and it continued to be the chief town during the brief reigns of the remaining kings of this dynasty.

Huniayun regained his throne in 1555, but died within the year, and was succeeded by Akbar, who in 1558 entered Central India, and taking Gwalior, proceeded against Baz Bahadur, son of Shujaat Khan, then holding most of Malwa, and finally drove him out in 1562. Ujjain, Sarangpur, and Slpri were soon in Akbar's hands, thus com- pleting his hold on Malwa, while in 1570 Kalinjar was surrendered by the Rewah chief, and all Central India thus came under his sway. In 1602 Bir Singh Deo of Orchha, in Bundelkhand, murdered Abul Fazl at the instigation of prince Salim (Jahangir), and in revenge Orchha was taken.

In Shah Jahan's reign, Jhujhar Singh, the Raja of Orchha, rebelled and was driven from his State (1635), which formed part of the empire till 1641.

In 1658, during the struggle for the throne, Aurangzeb and Murad defeated Jaswant Singh at Dharmatpur, now F'atehabad, near Ujjain, and thus opened the road to Agra. During this period the Marathas, who had already begun to desert the plough for the sword in the time of Jahangir, first crossed the Narbada (1690), and plundered the Dharampurl district (now in Dhar), while in 1702-3 Tara Bai sent expeditions to plunder as far as Sironj, Mandasor, and the Subah of Malwa and the environs of Ujjain.

Though the Marathas had entered Malwa as early as 1690, it was not till the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719-48) that they obtained a regular footing in this part of India. So rapidly did their power increase under the tacit, if not active, support of the Hindu chiefs, that in 1 71 7 Maratha officers were collecting chauth under the very eyes of the imperial sfibahddrs. In 1723 the Nizam, at this time governor of Malwa, retired to the Deccan ; and the Peshwa BajT Rao, who had determined to destroy the Mughal power, at once strengthened his position across the Narbada by sending his generals (1724), notably Holkar, Sindhia, and the Ponwar, to levy dues in Malwa. In 1729 the oppressive action of Muhammad Khan Bangash in Bundelkhand induced Chhatarsal of Panna to call in the aid of the Peshwa, who thus obtained a footing in eastern Central India. The Pesliwa's power was finally confirmed in Malwa in 1743, when he obtained, through the influence of Jai Singh of Jaipur, the formal grant of the deputy-governor ship of Malwa. In 1745, at the time of Ranoji Sindhia's death, the whole of Malwa, estimated to produce 150 lakhs of revenue, was, with small exceptions, divided between Holkar and Sindhia. Lands yield- ing ID lakhs were held by various minor chiefs, of whom Anand Rao Ponwar (Dhar) was the most considerable. From this time Central India remained a province of the Peshwa until the fatal battle of PanTpat in 1761 broke the power of the IVlaratha confederacy, and Central India was divided between the great Maratha generals. Three years later the battle of Buxar made the Mughal emperor a pensioner of the East India Company ; and though they had a severe struggle with the great Central India chiefs, Holkar and Sindhia, the British henceforth became the paramount power in India.

Comparatively speaking, Central India was at peace from 1770 to 1800. The territories of Holkar were, during most of this period, under Ahalya Bai (1767-95), whose just and able rule is proverbial throughout India, while till 1794 the possessions of Sindhia were con- trolled by the strong hand of Mahadji. The great influence of Tukoji Holkar (1795-7), who succeeded Ahalya Bai, restrained young Daulat Rao Sindhia and kept things quiet, till on Tukoji's death (1797) the keystone was removed and the structure collapsed. Central India was soon plunged into strife, and all the advantages which the land had derived from forty years of comparative peace were lost in a few months.

Troubles in Bombay had necessitated proceedings against Mahadji Sindhia, who was intimately concerned with them ; and Gwalior was taken by Major Popham (1780), and Ujjain threatened by Major Camac, which caused Sindhia to agree to terms (October, 1781). The next year, Sindhia's independence of the Peshwa was recognized in the Treaty of Salbai (1782), and he at once commenced operations in Hindustan. Mahadji Sindhia died in 1794, and his successor, Daulat Rao, had by 1798 become all-powerful in Central India, when the appearance at this moment of Jaswant Rao Holkar, with the avowed intention of reviving the fallen fortunes of his house, soon plunged the country into turmoil. Now commenced that period of unrest, still known to the inhabitants of Central India as the 'Gardl-ka-wakt,' which reduced the country to the last state of misery and distress.

A clear proof of the anarchy which prevailed in Central India at this time is given by the ease with which Jaswant Rao Holkar was able in the short space of two years to collect a body of 70,000 men — Pindaris, Pathans, Marathas, and Bhils — who were tempted to join his standard solely by the hope of plunder, and with whose assistance he proceeded to devastate the country. The capture of Indore (1801) and wholesale massacre of its inhabitants by Sarje Rao Ghatke, the father-in-law of Sindhia, was no check on Holkar, whose victory at Poona (1802) sent him back with renewed energy to ravage Malwa.

The non-interference system pursued by Cornwallis, followed by Barlow's policy of 'disgrace without compensation, treaties without security, and peace without tranquillity,' allowed matters to pass from bad to worse. To the hordes which plundered under Amir Khan and Jaswant Rao Holkar were added the bodies of irregular horse from British service which had been indiscriminately disbanded at the end of Lord Lake's campaign. In 1807 Bundelkhand was in a state of fer- ment. Parties of marauders scoured the country, and numerous chiefs, secure in their lofty hill forts, defied the British authority. As soon, however, as they saw that the policy had changed and that the British intended to interfere effectively, most of them surrendered, but the chiefs of Kalinjar and Ajaigarh only submitted after their forts had been taken by assault. Li 181 2 the Pindaris began to increase to an alarming extent ; and supported by vSindhia and Holkar and aided by Amir Khan, their bands swept Central India from end to end, passing to and fro between Malwa and Bundelkhand, and even crossins the border into British India.

At this juncture, Lord Hastings was appointed Governor-General. Ten years of practically unchecked licence had enormously increased the numbers of the marauders. About 50,000 banditti were now loose in Central India, and the confusion they produced was augmented by the destructive expedients adopted by Holkar, who sent out subahddrs to collect revenue, accompanied by large military detach- ments, which were obliged to live on the country, while at the same .time extorting funds for the Darbar. By 181 7 the disorganization had reached a climax. At last Lord Hastings received permission to act. Rapidly forming alliances with all the native chiefs who would accept his advances, he ordered out the three Presidency armies, which gradually closed in on Central India. Sindhia, who had originally promised his aid, now showed signs of wavering, but a rapid march on Gwalior caused him to come to terms, while Amir Khan at once sub- mitted, and dismissed his Afghan followers. The army of Holkar, after murdering the Rani, marched out to oppose the British, but was defeated at Mehidpur (1817). The Pindari leaders, Karim, Wasil Muhammad, and Chltii, were either forced to surrender or hunted down, and the reign of terror was over.

These military and political operations were remarkable alike for the rapidity with which they were executed and for the completeness of their result. In the middle of October, 181 7, the Marathas, Pin- daris, and Pathans presented an array of more than 150,000 horse and foot and 500 cannon. In the course of four months this formidable armament was utterly broken up. The effect on the native mind was tremendous, and a feeling of substantial security was diffused through Central India. So sound, moreover, was the .settlement effected, under the superintendence of Sir John Malcolm, that it has required but few modifications since that time.

The next few years were spent in settling the country and repopu- lating villages. One of the principal means of achieving this was by granting a guarantee to small landhcjlders that their holdings would be assured to them, on the understanding that they assisted in pacifying the districts in which they lived. This guarantee, which secured the small Thakurs from absorption by the great Darbars, acted like magic in assisting to produce order. In 1830 operations were commenced against the Thags, whose murderous trade had been greatly assisted by the late disorder, but who, under Colonel Sleeman's energetic action, were soon suppressed.

Affairs in the State of Gwalior now became critical. Daulat Rao Sindhia had died childless in 1827, and two successive adoptions of young children followed. Disputes arose between the regent and the Rani. The army sided with the Rani, and the state of affairs became so serious that the British Government was obliged to send an armed force. Fights took place on the same day at Maharajpur and Panniar (December 29, 1843), in which the Gwalior army was destroyed. The administration of the State was reorganized and placed under a Political ofificer, whose authority was supported by a contingent force of 10,000 men.

The various sections which now compose the Central India Agency were at first in charge of separate Political officers. Residents at Indore and Gwalior dealt direct with the Government of India, and Bundel- khand and Baghelkhand were independent charges. In 1854 it was decided to combine these different charges under the central control of an Agent to the Governor-General. The Bundelkhand and Baghel- khand districts were added to Malwa, and the whole Agency so formed was placed under Sir R. Hamilton, at that time Resident at Indore, as Agent to the Governor-General for Central India.

The first serious outburst during the Mutiny in Central India took place on June 14, 1857, among the troops of the Gwalior Contingent at MoRAR, whose loyalty had been doubted when the first signs of trouble appeared. Sindhia was still only a youth, but luckily there were present at his side two trusty councillors, Major Charters Macpherson, the Resident, and Dinkar Rao, the minister. Major Macpherson, before he was forced to leave Gwalior, managed to impress on Sindhia the fact that, however bad things might appear, the British would win in the end, and that it was above all necessary for him to do his best to prevent the mutinous troops of the Contingent leaving Gwalior territory, and joining the disaffected in British India.

On June 30 the Indore State troops sent to guard the Residency mutinied, and Colonel Durand, Officiating Agent to the Governor- General, was obliged to retire to Sehore and finally to Hoshangabad. Outbreaks also took place at Nlmach (June 3), Nowgong (June 10), Mhow (July 8), and Nagod (September).

In October, 1857, the Central India campaign commenced with the capture of Dhar (October 22). In December Sir Hugh Rose took command, and ousting the pretender Firoz Shah, who had set up his standard at Mandasor, took the forts of Chanderi, Jhansi (March, 1858), and GwALiOR (June). The two moving spirits of the rebelUon in Central India were the ex-RanI of Jhansi, Lachml Bai, and Tantia Topi, the Nana Sahib's agent. The Rani was killed fighting at the head of her own troops in the attack on Gwalior, and Tantia Topi after a year of wandering was betrayed by the Raja of Paron and executed (April, 1859). The rising thus came to an end, though small columns were required to operate for a time in certain districts.

After the excitement of 1857-9 had died away, the country soon returned to its normal condition, and the history of Central India from this time onwards is a record of steady general improvement. Com- munications have been improved by the construction of telegraphs, high roads, and railways, and by the development of a postal system, while trade has been facilitated by the abolition of transit dues. Closer supervision has led to great reforms in the systems of administration in the various States, which were everywhere crude and unsatisfactory. A regular procedure has been laid down for the settlement of boundary disputes, and education has been fostered. Still, the course of progress has not been uninterrupted. Severe famines, and more lately plague have ravaged the country from time to time, and cases have occurred where mismanagement and even actual crime have led to the removal of chiefs.

The archaeological remains in the Agency are considerable, including old sites, buildings of historical and architectural importance, ancient coins, and epigraphic records. Little is really known as yet about most of the places, which require more systematic investigation, especially ancient sites, such as those of Old Ujjain and Beshnagar. Many of the old Hindu towns have since been occupied by Muham- madans, as for instance Dhar, Mandasor, Narwar, and Sarangpur, and are consequently no longer available for thorough research, though, as at Dhar and Ujjain, chance sometimes brings to light an old Hindu record which has been used in constructing a Muhammadan building.

The principal places at which remains and buildings of interest exist are Ajaigarh, Amarkantak, Bagh, Baro, Barwani, Bhojpur, ChanderI, Datia, Dhamnar, Gwalior, Gyaraspur, Khajraho, Mandu, Nagod, Narod, Narwar, Orchha, PatharT, Rewah, Sanchi, Sonagir, Udayagiri, Udayapur, and Ujjain.

Ancient coins have been found in many of the old sites, ranging from the early punch-marked series to those of the local chiefs and the Mughals. The epigraphic records found are also numerous. The earliest with dates are those inscribed on the railings and gates of the stupas at SanchT and Bharhut, belonging to the first years of the Christian era. Next in chronological order follow the Gupta inscrip- tions, of which the earliest is dated in the year 82 of the Gupta era (a. D. 401), tlie latest on some copperplates from Ratlam of the year 320 (a. D. 640). A record from Mandasor, dated in the year 493 of the Malwa rulers (corresponding to a. d. 436), is important, as in con- junction with other similar records it has been instrumental in proving the identity of the era of the lords of Malwa with the Vikrama Samvat of the present day.

The various records, both inscriptions on stone and copper-plate land grants, have afforded much information regarding the history of the dynasties which from time to time ruled in Central India, notably the Guptas of Magadha of the fourth to the sixth century, the Rajput chiefs — the Paramaras of Malwa, the Chandels of Bundelkhand, the Kalachuris of Baghelkhand — the rulers of Kanauj of the ninth to the fifteenth century, and the subsequent Muhammadan rulers.

Central India is unusually rich in architectural monuments, especially of Hindu work, which afford probably as complete a series of examples of styles from the third century b. c. to the present day as can be seen in any one province in India. In Muhammadan buildings the Agency is less rich.

The earliest constructions in Central India date from the third century b.c. and are Buddhist. They include stupas or monumental tumuli, often containing relics of famous teachers of that faith, chaitya halls or churches, and vihdras or monasteries. A considerable number of stupas are still standing in Central India, many being grouped round Bhilsa, and the finest of the series being the Sanchi Tope. This and another, which formerly stood at Bharhut in Nagod, were erected in the third century b.c. Of the chaitya hall numerous rock-cut examples exist, but none is of great age. The oldest chaitya hall in Central India is represented by the remains standing to the south of the Sanchi Tope, which are of special interest as constituting the only structural building of its kind known in all India. The rock-cut examples which date from about the sixth to the twelfth century exemplify the transitions through which this class of building passed, those at Bagh and Dhamnar being about two centuries older than those at Kholvi, a place situated close to Dhamnar, but just outside the Central India Agency in the State of Jhalawar. The vihdra or monastery is also met with at these places, being in some cases attached to a chaitya hall, forming a combined monastery and church. Probably monolithic pillars formerly stood beside most of these three classes of building ; the remains of one bearing an edict of Asoka were found at Sanchi.

The buildings which follow these chronologically have been not very happily named Gupta, as the name has obscured their connexion with those just dealt with. They are represented by both rock-cut and structural examples, the former existing at Udavagiri, and at Mara in Rewah. In two of the caves at the first place inscriptions of A.D. 401 and 425 have been found, but many of the caves may well be older. The structural temples of this class are numerous, those at SanchI, Nachna in Ajaigarh, Paroli in Gwalior, and Pataini Devi in Nagod being good examples, while many remains of similar buildings lie scattered throughout the Agency.

Though many buildings of the so-called Jain style have disappeared, the Gyaraspur temples, the earliest buildings at Khajraho, the later temples at the same place, and the Udayapur temple give a sufficiently consecutive chain leading up to the modern building of the present day with its perpendicular spire and square body.

Numerous examples of this mediaeval style (of the eighth to the fifteenth century) lie scattered throughout Central India in various stages of preservation, those at Ajaigarh, Baro, Bhojpur, and Gwalior being important. The later developments of the sixteenth century are to be seen at Orchha, Sonagir, and Datia, and of the seventeenth century to the present day in almost any large town. The modern temple as a rule has little to recommend it. The exterior is plain and lacks the light and shade produced by the broken surface of the older temples, and the general effect is marred by the almost perpendicular spire, the ugly square body often pierced by foliated Saracenic arches and surmounted by a bulbous ribbed Muhammadan dome; while all the builder's ingenuity appears to be lavished on marble floors, tinted glass windows, and highly coloured frescoes. Temples of this class abound, those at Maksi in Gwalior and several in Indore city affording good examples of the modern building. The chhafri of the late Maharaja Sindhia at Gwalior is perhaps as good an example of modern work as any.

Muhammadan religious architecture is not so well represented in Central India. The earliest building of which the date is certain is the mosque near Sehore, built by a relative of Muhammad bin Tughlak in 1332. The most important buildings are those at Dhar and Mandu, where numerous mosques, tombs, and palaces were erected by the Malwa kings between 1401 and i53r. These are in the Pathan style, distinguished by the ogee pointed arch, built with horizontal layers of stone and not in radiating courses, which shows that they are Muham- madan designs executed by Hindu workmen. These buildings are ordinarily plain ; and the pillars, when not taken directly from a Hindu or Jain edifice, are simple and massive, the Jama Masjid at Mandu being a magnificent example of this style. Scattered throughout Central India are numerous small tombs in the Pathan style, to be seen in almost any place which Muhammadans have occupied.

Of Mughal work the best example is the tomb of Muhammad Ghaus in Gwalior, which is a very fine building in the early Mughal style of Akbar and Jahangir, with the low dome on an octagonal base, and a vaulted roof ornamented with glazed tiles.

Of modern Muhammadan work the only example of any size is the new Taj-ul-Masajid at Bhopal, not yet completed. The plan is that of the great mosque at Delhi, though, owing to the weakness of the foundations, the flanking domes have been omitted. The general effect is fine ; but the carving is poor, being too slight for the general design, and the pillars, which are massive, would have been better without it. All the modern buildings have the heavily capped and ribbed dome common to the later Mughal style. Muhammadan build- ings also exist at Sarangpur, Ujjain, (iwAUOR, Gohad, Narwar, and Chandkri. Muhammadan domestic architecture is not repre- sented by any important edifices, except the palaces at Mandu and the water palace at Kaliadeh near Ujjain,

Of the domestic architecture of the Hindus there are few examples of note. The finest building of this class is the fifteenth-century palace of Raja Man Singh at Gwalior, its grand facade being one of the most striking features of the old fort, while at Orchha and Datia there are two majestic piles, erected by Raja Bir Singh Deo of Orchha in the seventeenth century.

There is little modern work that merits much attention. In most cases, such as the palaces erected by chiefs of late years, either small attention has been paid to the design, or else the Hindu, Muham- madan, and European styles have been mingled, so as to produce a sense of incongruity and unfitness, as in the mosque-like palace at Ujjain. The most noteworthy building of this class is the Jai Rilas palace at Gwalior, which is designed on the model of an Italian palazzo, but is marred by the unfortunate use of Oriental ornamental designs ; the college and hospital at the same place are more successful. The ordinary dwelling-houses of the well-to-do have few pretensions to style, though a marked improvement is noticeable in the increased number of windows introduced. Of F^uropean buildings, the Residency House at Indore and the Daly College are the only structures of any size, but architecturally they have nothing to recommend them. The most picturesque buildings are the churches at Sehore and Agar.

Throughout Central India there are a large number oi ghats (bathing- stairs) and dams, some of considerable age and great size. The colossal dams at Bhojpur are the finest, but many others exist, as at Ujjain, Maheshwar, and Charkhari. Bundelkhand is especi- ally rich in them. Examination shows that they were built to form tanks, not for irrigation, but as adjuncts to temples, palaces, or favourite resorts. Their employment for irrigation is invariably a later development.

Population

The population of Central India at the three regular enumerations was: (1881) 9,261,907, (1891) 10,318,812, (1901) 8,628,781 \ The average density (109 persons per square mile) varies markedly in the different natural divisions. In the low-lying tract, °^" ■ forming the eastern part of the Agency, the density

is 172 per square mile, in the plateau 102, and in the hilly tracts only 74.

The Agency contains 63 towns with 5,000 or more inhabitants, besides 17 of which the population through famine and other causes had fallen below that figure since 1891. Of the towns, 49 are situated on the western side of the Agency, and only 14 in Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. The largest city is Lashkar, the modern capital of Gwalior, with a population of 89,154; Indore (86,686) and Bhopal (77,023) come next in importance. Of the 33,282 villages, 30,058 have a population of less than 500, the average village containing only 230 persons. The size of the village is greater in the low-lying tract, where the average rises to 313. The village in Central India, when of fair size, consists as a rule of a cluster of small habitations surrounding a large building, the home of the Thakur who holds the land.

The population fell by 16 per cent, during the last decade, owing mainly to the two severe famines of 1896-7 and 1 899-1 900. The decrease took place, however, only in the rural population, the urban population rising by 18 per cent., due chiefly to the opening of new railways and consequent increase of commerce.

Central India gains little from immigration. Of the total population enumerated in 1901, 92 per cent, were born within the Agency. This fact is supported by the language figures, which show 93 per cent, speaking local dialects. Such immigration as takes place comes chiefly from the United Provinces, and flows into Bundelkhand and Baghel- khand, amounting to 47 per cent, of the total immigration, Rajputana supplying 26 per cent. On the whole, Central India gained about 90,000 persons as the net result of immigration and emigration. Internally there is very little movement.

The age statistics show that the Jains, who are the richest and best- nourished community, live the longest, while the Animists and Hindus show the greatest fecundity. The age at marriage varies with locality, the same sections of the community in different parts marrying their children at somewhat varying periods. Most males under five years of age are married in the low-lying tract, while the statistics show that child-marriage is becoming popular among the Bhils and allied tribes.

No vital statistics are recorded in Central India, but from the census figures it is apparent that infant mortality increased in the period

^ This figure includes the population of parts of Rajputana, but excludes that of portions of Central India States in other Agencies, &c., see p. 322. 1895-9, which involved two famines and several bad agricultural years. Plague has also very materially affected the population.

Except for an occasional local outbreak of cholera and small-pox, Central India was free from serious epidemics till 1902, when plague appeared. The first case (except for an isolated instance in 1897) was reported in 1903 from the village of Kasrawad in the Nimar district of Indore State, and the epidemic spread thence to Ratlam, and finally to Indore city, the Residency area, and Mhow cantonment. The registra- tion of deaths from this cause was very incomplete, but an idea of its virulence may be gained from the figures for these places.

In Indore city the deaths recorded in three months during 1904 were 10 per cent, of the population ; in the Residency area the total number of deaths in 1903 was 966, or 9 per cent. ; in Mhow, 5,136, or 14 per cent. Other places of importance which have suffered from plague are Lashkar, Jaora, Bhopal, Sehore, Dewas, Nimach, Mandasor, Shajapur, and Agar. In the districts the attacks were less violent, as a rule, though here and there individual villages were very severely visited. The actual loss of life, added to the emigration consequent on fear ot infection, has seriously affected agricultural conditions in Malwa by reducing the population. Inoculation was at first looked on with the greatest suspicion, but ultimately a large number of persons were treated.

Female infanticide in Central India was first reported on by Mr. Wilkinson in 1835. He found that not less than 20,000 female infants were yearly made away with in Mahva alone. No attempt at concealing the practice was made, and a careful examination showed that 34 per cent, of girls born were killed. In 1881 attention was called to the prevalence of this custom in Rewah, and special measures were taken to cope with it. The census figures of 1901, however, give no proof that the custom is now a general one.

The total number of persons affected by infirmities in Central India in 1 90 1 was 3,180 males and 2,272 females. This included 5 males and 2 females insane, 19 male and 13 female deaf-mutes, 41 males and 35 females blind, 6 male and 4 female lepers, in every 100,000 of the population. Insanity is more prevalent in the plateau and low-lying tracts than in the hills, a fact possibly due to the inhabitants of the jungle tracts being but little addicted to the use of opium.

Central India in 1901 contained 4,428,790 males and 4,199,991 females. The ratio of women to 1,000 men was 896 in 1881, 912 in i89i,and 948 in 1901, being 950 in towns and 920 in villages. Of the natural divisions, the hilly tracts have the most females, about 9,900 to every 10,000 males, while the plateau and low-lying divisions have about 9,400 and 9,300 respectively. The hilly tracts thus contain between 5 and 6 per cent, more women than the other two tracts. The figures for the different political charges vary • Baghelkhand alone shows an excess of females.

Marriage and cohabitation are not simultaneous, except among the animistic tribes of the hilly tracts. Out of the total population in 1901, 3,080,562 males and 2,066,717 females were married, giving a proportion of 9,933 wives to 10,000 husbands. In a country where marriage is considered obligatory it is interesting to note that 44 per cent, of the males of all ages and 31 percent, of the females are unmarried. In the widowed state a large difference is noticeable between males and females, the prohibition to remarry raising the figure for females to 20 per cent., that for males being 9 per cent. Most men between 20 and 30 are married. No great rise takes place in the number of married till after fifteen years of age, the difference between the 1 5-20 and 20-40 periods being about 2,700 persons per 10,000. Girls marry earlier.

The female figures are about double those of the male in each age-period until the ages 20 to 40 are reached, when the figures become more etiual. The relative ages of girl-marriage in the several natural divisions are: on the plateau, Hindus 12 years and 4 months, Musalmans 13 years and 6 months, and Jains 12 years and 6 months; in the low- lying tract, Hindus and Musalmans 1 2 years, and Jains 1 1 years ; in the hilly tracts, Hindus 12 years and 6 months, and Animists 14 years.

I'olygamy is comparatively rare and polyandry is unknown in the Agency. Divorce is current among both Hindus and Muhammadans, according to their respective customs, while widow remarriage prevails among Muhammadans generally, and also among the inferior classes of Hindus, such as Gwalas, Ahirs, (iujars, and Koris, and among the jungle tribes. Widow remarriage is more common in the low-lying tract than on the plateau. The statistics of civil condition in 1901 are shown below : —

Save for a few traces of the Dravidian tongues, which linger among the hill tribes, the languages spoken in Central India belong exclusively to the Indo-Aryan branch of the great Indo-European family, and, more- over, fall entirely in the Western and Mediate groups of this branch. There appears to be little doubt that in earlier days the prevailing tongues of Central India belonged to the Dravidian or Munda families, the aboriginal tribes who spoke these tongues having been gradually absorbed into the ranks of the northern invaders, or driven as refugees to the fastnesses of the Vindhya range. As is usual in such cases, the mother tongue has been lost, and only a small number of Gonds in the hills south of Bhopal still show traces of Dravidian forms in their speech. Most of the tribes speak a patois founded on the vernacular prevailing in their district, such as Mahvi or Bagheli. The Ehils also, who are probably of Munda stock, have so effectually lost their ancient speech that only a small residuum of words remains, amounting to about 6 per cent., which cannot be identified as, Aryan. Their present dialect is a bastard tongue compounded of GujaratI and Malwi.

Most of the dialects spoken in Central India belong to Western Hindi, which includes (besides Bundell) the everyday language of the educated resident Hindus, and also the more Persianized Urdu chiefly used by the employes in Government offices and the ruling class in Muhammadan States. Bundeli is spoken, as its name implies, by the peasantry of Bundelkhand. About 29 per cent, of the population speak unspecified dialects of Western Hindi, of whom 50 per cent, reside in Malwa.

Two of the Rajasthani dialects, Malwi (with its derivatives Rangri and Nimari) and Marwari, are spoken in Central India by large numbers of the people. The Malwi dialect is spoken in the country of which Indore is the centre. It extends eastwards to the borders of Bhopal, where it meets- Bundeli, while westwards it crosses into Udaipur in Rajputana, touching on the south the Bhil and Gond dialects, and on the north the Braj Bhasha of Muttra, which is spoken round Gwalior. The Rangri dialect is a form of Malwi largely mixed with Marwari words. The Nimari dialect, which is met with in Nimar, is a mixture of Bhili, Khandeshi, and other tongues, with Malwi as a basis. Marwari, the most important of the Rajasthani tongues, is brought into Central India principally by the merchant community, most of whom come from Western Rajputana. It is the only dialect of this language with a litera- ture, being largely employed in the Rajput bardic chronicles. The Rajasthani dialects are spoken by 20 per cent, of the total population, and by 66 per cent, of the people of Malwa.

Special interest attaches to Eastern Hindi, as an early form of it was employed by Mahavira (500 u.c), the Jain teacher, in expounding the tenets of his religion, whence it became later the language of the canoni- cal books of the Digambara Jains. Of its three dialects, Awadhi and Bagheli are met with in Central India, the latter being locally of more importance as the chief dialect of Baghelkhand. There is a considerable literature in Bagheli, which has always been fostered by the chiefs of Rewah, though the numerous works produced are not creative in character, but rather the writings of scholars and critics about poets, than of actual poets. The dialects of this language are met with only in Baghelkhand, where 99 per cent, of the population employ them. The chief forms of speech used by the majority of the people are

shown below : — •

The elements which make up the population of Central India are very diverse, as indicated in the brief sketch of the history given above.

The Brahmans of Central India are essentially the same as those found elsewhere, and, as usual, each separate branch forms a local endoganious group. The Malwi, Nimari, and Srigaur Brahmans of Malwa, the Jijhotias of Bundelkhand, and the Dandotias of Gwalior, may be cited as instances. These groups have their own institutions, and, while claiming relationship to the parent stock in Northern India, cannot intermarry or eat with them. In appearance the local Brahmans are men of good features and light colour, less thick-set in build than those of the Deccan. The local Brahmans are not an educated class, their chief pursuit being agriculture, some also engaging in commerce. At the last Census Brahmans numbered 888,320, or 13 per cent, of the population, among whom were 53,781 Jijhotias and 12,582 Srigaurs.

Of the second orthodox division of Hindu castes, many are members of the great Rajputana houses. The Sesodias of Udaipur are repre- sented by the Ranas of Barwani, the Rathors of Jodhpur by the chiefs of Ratlam, Sitamau, and Sailana, the Chauhans of Ajmer by the KhichTs of Raghugarh and Khilchipur, the Kachwahas of Jaipur by the Raja of Paron, and the Paramaras, once lords of Malwa, by -the Umats of Rajgarh and Narsinghgarh, and more distantly again by the Ponwar Marathas of Dhar and Dewas. The chief local groups of Rajputs are the Baghelas of Rewah, descended from the Gujarat branch, the Umats of Malwa, the Bundelas, the Ponwars, and the Dhandheras of Bundel- khand. There is a greater diversity of feature and colouring among the Rajputs than among either the Brahman or Bania classes, even omitting the Rajputs of admittedly mixed descent. The Maratha house of Sindhia and the Ponwars claim Rajput origin. There are, besides these, the Bhilala Bhumias in the hilly tracts of Bhopawar, who are chiefs of mixed Rajput descent. Altogether 658,267 were returned in 1 90 1 as Rajputs, and 34,305 as Marathas.

Among the trading class, as among the Brahmans, certain local groups are met with, but generally speaking there is little to note about them. The most influential section of the Hindu commercial com- munity are the Marvvaris of Rajputana, who maintain connexion with their original home too closely to be reckoned as local groups, even after long residence. Under the head of Bania 240,807 persons were returned, among whom were 41,637 Agarwals, chiefly in Gwalior, Bundelkhand, and Malwa, and 19,935 Mahesris in Malwa.

The type of the agricultural population differs in the eastern and western sections. The peasants of Bundelkhand are of shorter stature and sturdier build and darker colour than those of Malwa. The chief classes in Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand (including in this term the country round and to the east of Gwalior city) are Ahirs (326,1-57), Gadarias (149,230), Kachhis (353,095), and Lodhis (219,637) ; while in Malwa the Gujars (167,179), Malis (73,918), and Kunbis (56,458) predominate.

Classified by religion, the inhabitants of Central India are chiefly Hindus, Animists, Muhammadans, or Jains, of whom the first two are the most numerous. According to the Census of 190 1, 81 percent, were Hindus, 11 per cent. Animists, 6 per cent. Muhammadans, and i per cent. Jains. Other religions numbered 11,144, of whom 8,114 were Christians, including 3,715 natives, chiefly the famine waifs supported by Christian missions ; Sikhs numbered 2,004, almost all soldiers in British regiments; Parsis 1,002, and Jews 24, both mainly residents of British cantonments and stations.

The term Hindu includes every shade of this religion from the orthodox Brahman to the lowest castes, whose religion is three parts animistic. Hindus as a rule profess special devotion to Vishnu or Siva, the two chief persons of the Hindu triad, or to a Sakti or female counterpart (usually of Siva). The numbers professing these forms of worship were Vaishnavas (worshipping Vishnu), 1,883,618; Smartas (worshipping the triad), 1,069,137 ; Saktas (worshipping Devi, the female counterpart of Siva), 759,297; and Saivas (worshipping Siva), 737,229.

The Animists (992,458), all members of jungle tribes such as the Bhils, worship certain spirits supposed to inhabit some inanimate object, as a tree, spring, or stone. Many Animists gave the name of the local deity as that of the sect, such as Babadeo (187,413), or Barablj (96,518).

Among Muhammadans the , Sunnis (449,885) predominate con- siderably over the Shiahs (50,357).

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Jain religion was the chief form of worship of the highest classes in Central India, and the remains of temples and images belonging to this sect are met with all over the Agency. There are still old temples at Khajraho and Sonagir, in Bundelkhand, and several places of pilgrimage, such as Bawangaza in Barwanl. The Digambaras (54,605) and Swetambaras (35,475) are the most prominent sects among them.

Of the local forms of belief, the Dhami, Hardol Lala, and Baba Kapur sects are peculiar. The first two belong to Bundelkhand, and the last to Gwalior. The founder of the DhamT sect was one Prannath, a native of Sind, who migrated to Panna in the eighteenth century, and, settling there, commenced to preach his doctrines, which, like those of Kabir, sought to reconcile the Hindu and Muhammadan reli- gions. His followers are very numerous in Panna, but often returned themselves at the Census of 1901 as Vaishnava, and the number actually recorded (576) is thus far below the truth. Hardol was a brother of Raja Jhujhar Singh (1626-35) o^ Orchha, who suspected him, without cause, of criminal intimacy with his wife, and made him drink a cup of poison. His unhappy end roused public indignation, and he was in time deified. This form of worship is universal throughout Bundelkhand and has even spread to the Punjab. It was professed by about 11,000 persons in 1901. The followers of Baba Kapur (125) are confined to Gwalior district. Kapiir was a Muhammadan fakir who lived at the foot of the Gwalior Fort, and acquired a wide reputation for sanctity. He died in 157 1.

The Census of 1901 shows a large increase in the number of Christians, 2,000 more being recorded than in 1891, when they were i,oQo in advance of the figures for 1881. Indore and Malwa, where the principal mission work is carried on, show the largest number of Christians. The total number of native Christians is, however, still very small, only amounting to 3,715 in 1901. Success has chiefly been met with among the aboriginal tribes and lower castes. The following missions have branches in Central India : the Canadian Presbyterian Mission \ the St. John's Mission at Mhow ; the Friends Mission at Sehore ; the Society of Friends of Ohio at Nowgong ; the Hansley Bird Mission at Nimach ; Pandita Rama Bai's Mission at Nimach : and Roman Catholic missions in several places. The most important of all is the Canadian Presbyterian Mission, with its head-quarters at Indore and a number of out-stations. There is no doubt that the famine greatly assisted their work, a fact recognized in the reports. A great deal of work is done by the medical officers of this mission.

Statistics of the population belonging to the chief religions in 1891 and 1901 are given below : —

The majority of the population of Central India is essentially agricultural, even Brahmans, Rajputs, and Thakurs not infrequently depending on agriculture. As a rule, however, they consider it derogatory to their caste, especially in the eastern section of the Agency, to put their own hands to the plough, employing servants to carry out this part of the work.

According to the Census of 1901, actual workers numbered 3,027,026 males and 1,637,291 females, while dependents of both sexes numbered 3,964,464. Of these, 1,514,399 males and 836,190 females supported themselves by agricultural or pastoral occupations, having 2,175,175 dependent on them. They form 52 per cent, of the total population. Of those supported by agriculture, the great majority were actual cultivators, while 925,851 were agricultural labourers, of whom 35 per cent, were regular farm servants. Personal and domestic service supported 482,273 persons, and 1,475,561 were engaged in the preparation and supply of material substances. Of these, 269,039 supplied vegetable food and 72,459 were engaged in providing drink, condiments, and stimulants, of whom 22,049 were wine and spirit- sellers.

The number of persons occupied in supplying firewood and forage was 98,913, of whom 52,685 sold grass, and 40,955 sold fire- wood and charcoal. Of 304,299 persons engaged in occupations con- nected with textile fabrics and dress, 207,307 followed cotton-cleaning, pressing, ginning, weaving (hand industry), spinning, and other pro- cesses, and 78,018 persons were engaged in the preparation of dress, of whom 48,849 were tailors. Workers in metals and precious stones numbered 105,671, of whom 40,497 worked in gold and precious stones and 51,358 in iron and hardware. Workers in earthen- and stoneware numbered 81,769. The number of persons engaged in con- nexion with wood, cane, and leaves was 133,622, of whom 55,462 were carpenters and 29,979 dealers in timber and bamboos, and 34,218 dealers in baskets, mats, and brooms. Of the 217,189 returned as engaged in occupations connected with leather, 152,960 were shoe, boot, and sandal-makers. The population engaged in commerce was 183,625, composed chiefly of bankers (24,471), money-changers and testers (16,668), general merchants (11,022), and shopkeepers (88,702).

The professional classes numbered 121,846, including 37,148 priests and ministers, 14,611 temple and other servants, 2,059 native medical practitioners, and 1,896 midwiyes. The professions of music and dancing were followed by 18,847, who included 11,383 actors, singers, and dancers, the majority being in Bundelkhand and the Bhil tracts. Manual labour supported 1,109,608, while 268,860 lived by mendi- cancy. The majority of the last two classes were returned in urban areas. Meals are generally taken twice a day, at noon and in the evening. Well-to-do men often take some light refreshment in the early morning and again in the afternoon. The ordinary food of the rich and middle classes consists of chapdtis (thin cakes) of wheat flour, pulse, rice, ghl, sugar, milk, vegetables, and sweets. No local Brahmans or Banias eat flesh. Among the poorer classes, those living in the western section generally eat bread (not thin cakes) made of wheat and joivdr ground together, ox oi jotvdr axi^ other millets, with pulses, vegetables, onions or garlic. Those inhabiting the eastern section of the Agency make bread of barley and gram ground together, or of kodon, soman, jowdr or kutkl, which is eaten witli pulses and vegetables, or with curds and buttermilk. The flowers of the mahud {Bassia latifolia) are eaten as a luxury in Bundelkhand, the fresh flowers in the hot season, and the dried flowers at other times. The latter are parched and ground, and then made into a form of bread. The Bhils live on maize, joivdr, and a large number of jungle roots and plants. The mahud flower is looked on by them as a great delicacy.

In rural areas, and among the poorer classes in towns, the males wear the loin-cloth known as a dhoti. It is about lo feet long and 4 broad, and is worn from the waist downward. A jacket, called mirzal in the east of the Agency and bamil in the west, made of coarse white country cloth, covers the upper part of the body. The head-dress is called sdfa (a piece of cloth wound round the head) in the east, and pagrl (or a made-uj) head-dress) in the west. Both sections use country shoes, those of Bundelkhand being peculiar for high flaps in front and behind. The well-to-do classes also wear the dhoti, but of superior cloth, or else trousers, coats of various styles, a sdfa or coloured /^.^'r/, and English shoes. Elderly persons usually carry a sheet hanging over their shoul- ders. The younger generation, however, now prefer to wear caps instead of the sdfa or pagrl, while the use of English shirts, coats, waistcoats, trousers, socks, and boots is becoming very common in towns. The hair is also dressed as a rule in the English fashion.

In Malwa the women wear a coloured lehnga (petticoat), and a choli (bodice) on the upper part of the body, a piece of cloth called the orni being used to cover the head and shoulders. In the east of the Agency, however, they wear a sdn, a single piece of cloth so folded as to act as a dhoti, and also as a covering for the body and head.

The huts of the agricultural classes in the western section are small mud dwellings with bamboo doors, the roof being sometimes tiled, but far more often thatched with grass or covered with mud. In the eastern section the huts are similar, but tiles are generally used for the roof. Adjoining the house there is usually a courtyard for the cattle. In places where sandstone is plentiful, houses are mainly constructed of this material, as at Gwalior and Bhopal, and in all villages along the sandstone outcrops. In towns, houses of several storeys are common. In Malwa these are often ornamented with picturesque carved wooden balconies and projecting windows. The influence of European example is noticeable in towns, especially in Bhopal.

The dead bodies of Hindus are burnt, except those of SanyasTs and infants, which are buried. Cremation takes place by the side of a stream, the ashes being, if possible, conveyed to a sacred river ; otherwise they are committed to some local stream. The people of Malwa usually throw the ashes after cremation into the nearest stream. Muhammadans bury their dead in regular cemeteries.

Children's games consist of gili danda (tip-cat), kite-flying, atikhmichj (blind-man's-buff), and the like. In towns where there are Europeans, cricket, hockey, and football have become regular institutions. Indoor games include chess, cards, and chaiipar. Polo is a favourite game with native chiefs and their Sardars, who are also fond of all forms of sport, including pigsticking and big game shooting. Partridge and cock-fight- ing, the latter especially in Gwalior, are popular forms of amusement. Theatrical performances are common in large towns, several amateur companies even existing. Recitations by Bhats of family exploits and tales from the Ramayana are eagerly listened to.

The great yearly festivals are the only holidays enjoyed by the popu- lation. The most important are the Dasahra at the close of the rains, which is specially observed by Marathas as having in former days marked the recommencement of their forays ; the Dewall, the great feast of the trading classes, when the new financial year opens ; the HolT, the festival of spring ; the Ganesh ChaturthI, a special festival among the people of Malwa ; the Gangor, also a Malwa festival ; and the Raksha Bandhan.

Among Muhammadans the Muharram is the only important feast ; and, although the population is mainly Sunni, tozias are always borne in procession, being sent by all important personages, Hindu as well as Muhammadan, including the chief of the State.

Surnames are unknown, except among the Marathas. Hindus are called after gods or famous personages of the Mahabharata and Rama yana, and also receive fancy names, such as Pyare Lai. Muhammadans name their children after saints and persons of note. Low-caste Hindus often name their children after days of the week, such as Manglia. The jungle tribes now use names similar to those of low-class Hindus.

Agriculture

Central India possesses soils of every class, from the rich black cotton soil which covers the greater part of Malwa to the dry stony red earth met with in the gneissic area of Bundelkhand. Gene- rally speaking, the soil of the Agency falls into three main groups, corresponding with the three natural divisions : the Malwa plateau ; the low-lying land of northern Gwalior, Bundelkhand, and Baghelkhand ; and the hilly tracts. The most favourable conditions exist in Malwa, where the prevalence of black cotton soil makes cultivation possible even with a light rainfall. In northern Gwalior, Bundelkhand, and Baghelkhand poorer soils predominate, requiring a heavier rainfall and some irrigation. In all regions, however, the crops are almost entirely dependent on the rainfall, there being no general or extensive system of artificial irrigation.

The soil is classed by the cultivator in three ways : by composition, position (i.e. whether near or remote from villages, which affects facility for manuring and irrigation), and by capability for bearing certain crops. In Malwa the chief classes are kd/i matti, the ' black cotton soil ' of Europeans, hhuri or l>/wmar, dhdml^ and bhatori (stony). The black soil is formed by the disintegration of the Deccan trap, which prevails over the greater part of this region, bhuri and dhdmi being lighter soils with a greater proportion of sand. All three, however, are sufficiently reten- tive of moisture to bear all the ordinary crops, excepting poppy and sugar-cane, both in the autumn (kharlf) and spring {rabi) season, with- out irrigation. The other soils are suitable only for the autumn crops, unless irrigated. In the Nimar tract, which lies south of Malwa proper below the Vindhyan range, there is, except actually in the river bed, a preponderance of the lighter soils, as compared with Malwa, which makes irrigation necessary, while the stiffer nature of the soil necessi- tates the use of heavier implements.

In Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand the soils include mofa, a variety of black soil of inferior quality to that of Malwa and less general in dis- tribution, being met with only in intrusive dikes of trap rock ; and other lighter soils known as kdbar fan/a, patkron, and rdkar, the last being the stony soil so common in the gneissic area and in the hills. Gene- rally speaking the soil is less fertile, and bears but little poppy, a plant requiring a rich soil.

Agricultural operations are invariably carried out with regard to rainfall and the ascendancy of special nakshatras (solar asterisms). Of these asterisms ten fall in the agricultural season, and numerous sayings are current relating to the efificacy or otherwise of rain falling under their influence. Ploughing in Central India is begun for the autumn crops {kharlf) on Akhatij, the third {tlj) of the bright half of the Hindu month of Vaishakh (April-May), when the plough is wor- shipped and other ceremonies are performed. First the bakhar or harrow is passed over the ground, which is then ploughed and sown. The fourth process is weeding, the fifth thinning out, and the sixth reaping. Ploughing penetrates to a depth of only six inches, as the nutritive principle is not supposed to reside at a greater depth.

In Nimar, ploughing for the next autumn is carried out immediately after the reaping of the last season's crops, and is continued at intervals until the next sowing. This system, which is not followed in Malwa, is necessitated by the poorer nature of the soil. In the hilly tracts no operations are commenced till after the first rain has fallen, as the stony soil is incapable of bearing till well moistened. In a few places the destructive form of cultivation known as dahiya is carried on, trees being cut down and burnt, and the crop grown in the ashes. This process is, however, now discouraged, and is gradually dying out.

Except in the hilly tracts, there are two field seasons in Central India : the kharif ox shidlu, when the autumn crops are grown during the rains, and the rabi or unhdhi, when the spring crops are cultivated. The less expensive millets, cotton, and /// form the chief products of the autumn sowing ; wheat, gram, linseed, and poppy of the spring.

The kharif crops are sown in June, during the ascendancy of the mrig nakshatra, after the moist breeze known in Malwa as kuldtvan has set in, with rain. In Bundelkhand the sowing takes place in Asarh, about a month later. The seed is usually sown through a drill. The process in the case of the rabi crops is similar, ploughing commencing in Sawan (August) and sowing in Kartik (October-November). The seed is sown broadcast or with a drill. The autumn crops, when once well started, require but little care, whereas the spring crops depend on a sufficiency of rain to moisten the soil thoroughly, and to supply water for irrigation.

Methods of reaping vary. Only the heads or pods oijowdr and tuar are cut, while other crops are reaped close to the ground, except gram, which is pulled up by the roots. The crops when gathered are taken to the threshing-floor, where the grain is trodden out by bullocks, except in the case of kodon, rameli, and tuar, which are threshed with a flail. The crops are never winnowed in an east wind, which is supposed to bring blight with it.

In 1 90 1, 4,525,764 persons, or 52 per cent, of the population, were recorded as supported by agricultural and pastoral occupations. The actual workers falling in these groups were 34 per cent, of males and 1 9 per cent, of females.

The principal crops in Central India are — food-grains : jmvar or iundl {^Sorghu7n vulgare), maize {Zea Mays), bajra {Petinisefum typhoi- dei/?)i), tuar or arhar {Cajatius indicus), sd?ndn [Paniai m fru7?ientaceum), kodon {Faspa/um scrobiculatuni), kCikun [Setaria ifalica), kutk'i (^Panicum 7niliare), urad {P/iaseolus radiatus), wheat {Triticutii sativutii), gram {Cicer arieti?iu}fi), bat/a {Pisufn sativum), masur {Ervum Lens), and barley {Hordeum vulgare) ; oilseeds : til {Sesanmtn indicum), rameli ( Guizotia abyssinica), a/si {Linutn usitafissifnum), and rai {SinaJ>is race- mosa) ; fibres : hemp, both sati {Crotolaria jiaicea) and ambdr'i or Deccan hemp {Hibiscus cannabinus), and cotton {Gossypiuni indiami) ; stimulants: pan {Piper Betle), gdnja {Cannabis sativa), tobacco {JViro- tiana Tabacuni), and poppy {I\ipaver somniferum). All the usual spices and vegetables met with in Northern India are also grown.

Though accurate statistics are not available, the total cultivated area in 1902—3 was approximately 19,400 square miles, or 25 per cent, of the total area of the Agency {see table on p. 390), The staple food- grains are : jowdr, occupying 3,500 square miles, or 17 per cent, of the cropped area; gram (2,300) and wheat (2,270), each 11 per cent. ; rice (950), 5 per cent. ; maize (680), 3 per cent. ; and in the eastern section of the Agency, kodoti (200), i per cent.

Jowar, the principal food-crop of the western section, is sown during the rains, carefully weeded, and reaped in November and December. It is grown as a food-crop, and is almost invariably sown together with tmr or arhar, urad or mung {Phaseohis Mungo), and sometimes cotton. When grown for fodder, however, it is sown alone, is not weeded, and is cut as soon as it commences flowering. The grain is eaten in the winter, either parched or green, the latter form being considered a great relish. It serves as food to the cultivator for a couple of months. One acre requires about 4 seers of seed and yields 4^ cwt.

Gram is a spring crop, sown after the termination of the rains, and gathered in March or April. This crop has great powers of reviving exhausted soils, and is always grown for this purpose, and as a first crop on newly broken land. lAVe jowdr, it is eaten parched. In the eastern section and in northern Gwalior it is mixed with barley and made into cakes. The average yield per acre is 3 cwt., from about 34 seers of seed.

Wheat, the favourite food of all but the poorest classes, is grown in winter, after the rains have ceased. It is irrigated only in the eastern section of the Agency, where, moreover, the yield is always inferior to that obtained without irrigation from the rich soils of Malwa. It is sown at the same time as gram, and the grain is parched and eaten like jowdr. An acre requires about 42 seers of seed, giving a yield of 4^ cwt. of grain.

Maize, one of the earliest autumn crops, is sown as soon as the rains have set in, and reaches maturity in three months. The grain, which is eaten green, is highly prized. \X\iie, jawar^ the crop is also grown for fodder. Maize is sometimes sown in late autumn and early spring as an irrigated crop, being often followed by poppy. An acre requires 8 seers of seed, yielding 4^ cwt.

Kodon is the most important food-grain of the poorest classes in the east of the Agency. It is sown on inferior soils during the rains, and gathered in July or August. An acre requires 14^ seers of seed, and yields 5|c\vt. of grain.

The chief subsidiary food-crops are tuar or arhar and mung, which are almost always grown vmxedw'xth Jowdr, moth {Phaseohis aco}iif if o/ia), and 7/iatar {Pisiim sativum). Several species of the smaller millets are also grown in the rains, of which sdvian {Panicum frumentaceum), kutkl {P. mi/iare), and kdkun form an important source of food for the poorer classes.

The most valuable oilseeds are ///, aisi, and mutigphali {Arachis hypogen). The last, which is grown in Mahva to a considerable extent, though exported in large quantities for its oil, is also used locally as food.

By far the most important source of fibre is cotton, which in 1902-3 covered 953 square miles. It is very often grown mixed with///. Hemp, both san and ambdrl, is cultivated only to a small extent.

Complete statistics are not available to show the exact extent to which poppy is grown, but a brief account may be given of the cultivation, which is of great economic importance. The mild climate, rich soil, and facilities for irrigation in Malwa are well suited for this crop. It is always sown in the mar or black soil, which is heavily manured and watered seven or nine times. It is not uncommon to sow poppy and sugar-cane in the same field, the latter crop not maturing till many months after the opium has been collected. When the poppy is about 3 inches high, the plants are thinned out and the beds are weeded. As soon as the capsules show a brown pubescence, they are carefully lanced, and the gummy juice {chlk) which exudes is scraped off and collected. The preparation of refined opium will be described under Arts and Manufactures. In 1894-5, before the recent series of un- favourable years, poppy covered 315 square miles and the total yield was 1,332 tons.

Five years later the area was only 37 square miles and the yield 96 tons, but in 1902-3 the crop was grown on 237 square miles, producing 959 tons. The cultivation of poppy in Malwa is men- tioned by Garcia d'Orta in the sixteenth century. It was once confined to the tract between the Chambal and Sipra, but has since extended north into Raiputana, and south wherever the soil is suitable. The flowers are of all shades from pink to dark red, in contrast to the mono- tonous white prevailing in the Doab, Oudh, and Bihar. As a rule the chik is delivered to the banker who has advanced money for seed, only a few well-to-do cultivators being in a position to sell their produce in the open market, where they get from Rs. 6 to Rs. 7 a seer for it.

The following fruits are generally cultivated : mango {Mangifera indica), niahiid {Bassia lafifolia), peach {Primus persica), loquat {Eriobofrys japonka)^ custard-apple {Ano/ia sgi/a?nosa), guava {Psydium Guyava), plantain {Musa sapientuni)^ shaddock {Citrus deciimana), and various kinds of fig, melon, lime, and citron. Vegetables are produced in garden lands in the vicinity of towns and villages, those mentioned below being the commonest : gourds, cucumbers, potato, shakarkhand {Ipomoea Batatas), cabbage, cauliflower, onion, carrot, yam, kacka, ghuiydn {Colocasia antiquorum), garlic, the egg-plant or hrinjal {Solanum me/otigefia), muri {Foenicuhiin vulgare), 7nethi {Trigonella Foemim graeat??i), pdlak {Rhi/iacatithus com/nufiis), adrak {Zingiber ojpicinak) and red pepper.

Manure is but little used, except for special crops such as poppy and sugar-cane or vegetables, and then only in fields close to villages. There are three sources of supply : village sweepings which have been allowed to rot in pits for twelve months, goat and sheep dung obtained by penning these animals on the land, and green manure. This last is used for poppy. San or 2irad is grown on the field and ploughed into the soil when in flower ; the process is known as satt chur or urd chur. Night-soil {sonkhdt) is never used, except in fields near large towns.

Rotation cannot be said to be practised with any great regularity. In Malwa virgin soil is first sown with gram, in Bundelkhand with ///, this being followed by wheat, y^Z£^«r, and cotton. In Malwa the rotation is then repeated, omitting gram. In Bundelkhand kodon and kutk'i are sown, followed hy Joivdr, rd/i, and kodon again ; after the third year the field is left fallow for three years and the process is repeated.

Mixed sowings, which take the place of rotation to some extent, are common in Malwa, but less so in Nimar. Jowar and tuar, maize and urad or aifibdrl, wheat and gram or a/sl, and poppy and sugar-cane are sown together in the same field.

A field of one acre requires in seed, for maize about 8 seer?,, j07vdr 4 seers, and wheat 42 seers, yielding in each case 10 maunds of grain. From 2 to 3 seers of seed are required for poppy, and the yield is 6 maunds of seed. In the case of///, i^ seers are sown and the ordinary crop is about 6 maunds.

All large States now make advances to their cultivators, while native bankers also advance their clients seed and cash. In the case of petty estates, it is often necessary to grant help from Imperial funds.

No new varieties of seed have so far been successfully introduced. Attempts have been made, but as yet have been insufficient to overcome the strong local prejudice which exists against change. Similarly, except for a few improved sugar-cane mills, little has been done to introduce new or improved implements.

The implements used are similar to those met with elsewhere in Northern India, and differ but little in construction throughout the Agency, except that in Nimar and the eastern section the ploughs are of heavier make. The hdl (plough), hakhnr (harrow), dora (small harrow) for passing through rising crops, and nai (seed-drill) are the principal implements.

Deficient rainfall is always followed by an increase in field rats, which cause great damage to standing crops. Locusts occasionally appear. Scarcity of labour due to diminution in population from famine and plague has seriously affected agriculture, especially the cultivation of the spring crops, which require much attention.

There are two well-known breeds of Central India cattle, the Malwi and the Nimari. The Malwi breed are medium-sized, generally of a grey, silver-grey, or white colour. They are very strong and active for their size, having deep wide frames, flat shapely bones, and very hard feet. Their hind quarters droop sHghtly, while the dewlap and loose skin about the neck is well developed and the hump prominent. The muzzle, which is broad, should always be black and also the hair round the eye sockets and the eye membranes ; these are the recognized marks of the breed. The head should be short, the horns springing forward and up with a graceful outward curve. The Umatwarl species of this breed is a heavier, less active type than the true MalwI.

The Nimarl breed is much larger than the Malwi, and well adapted to heavy work. These cattle are usually of a broken red and white colour, more rarely all red with white spots. They have large horns, very thick at the base, and usually curled over the head. The eye mem- brane and nose are commonly flesh-coloured. The head is coarse and large, and the ears are pendulous, while the loose skin on sheath and navel is very noticeable. Their frames are large and square, the leg- bones round, and the feet coarse, unshapely, and soft. They are sluggish by nature, but very strong. These cattle are bought by Govern- ment for military purposes.

Buffaloes, horses, sheep, and goats are reared in most villages, but there are no breeds of any special importance, though the goats from the Bhind and Tonwarghar districts of Gwalior have a local reputation. An unsuccessful attempt was at one time made by the British Govern- ment to encourage horse and mule breeding by maintaining stallions at Agar and Guna, under the officer commanding the Central India Horse.

No difficulties are experienced in ordinary years in feeding cattle, as Central India abounds in pasture lands and jungles affording grazing more than sufficient for local needs.

There are very few important cattle fairs in the Agency, though most places of any size have weekly markets, where the sale of cattle takes place. A large cattle and horse fair has lately been started at Gwalior.

Irrigation is not carried on in the Agency as systematically as it might be. The attention of all States has now, however, been directed to the question. In Malwa irrigation is practically confined to poppy, sugar-cane, and vegetables, being effected from wells, almost entirely by means of the charas (leathern bucket) lift. In Bundelkhand and northern Gwalior water is supplied to sugar-cane, betel-vine, wheat, and barley from wells by means of the Persian wheel {rahaf) and the charas. In Baghelkhand temporary dams for the retention of rain- water in suitable places are the chief means of irrigation. The cost of a masonry well averages Rs. 500, and of an unbricked well Rs. 50 to Rs. 200. The total area under irrigation in Central India in 1902-3 was estimated at about 1,140 square miles, or 6 per cent, of the culti- vated area.

Rents Wages and Prices

According to the usual official phraseology, the payments made by the actual cultivators in Central India are revenue The States are everywhere regarded as sole proprietors of the soil, and their relations with the cultivators will be described below, under Land Revenue. The prices of staple' food-grains have undoubtedly risen, though in the absence of regular statistics it is impossible to give any reliable figures. The variations are considerably affected by local conditions, especially the want of good roads, which cause large accumulations of grain at certain centres. So far as can be ascertained, an average rise of 40 to 50 per cent, has taken place in the last thirty years, the change being most marked in the western section of the Agency. In the country round Gwalior yi9J£'d??' and barley sold in 1874 at 60 seers to the rupee, while now the rate is only 30 seers ; in Rewah the same grains sold in 1880 at 47 and 40 seers to the rupee, but now sell at only 30, while in the famine year of 1900 the rates fell to 19 and 16 seers per rupee.

Wages have similarly risen, especially in certain rural districts where the population has been so seriously diminished by famine and plague that it is difficult to procure labour when wanted. In the western section carpenters and blacksmiths now receive t 2 annas a day instead of 8 annas, and labourers 5 annas instead of 2 and 3 annas. In large towns the rates are often higher even than these, but they vary consider- ably in each case, the rates in Indore city being 30 per cent, higher than in Bhopal city.

For ordinary labour cash wages are now becoming general ; but wages in kind are still the rule for agricultural operations, such as reap- ing and weeding, while the village servants — pdtel, priest, artisan, watchman, and balai — still receive doles of grain in return for their services. Thus, agricultural labourers commonly receive one paseri (2^ seers) o{ jotvar or maize a day. During the harvest season they obtain 24 seers per bigha, or about 5 seers a day in the eastern and a little less in the western section, for cutting maize, joivdr, kodoti, or sdmdfi; and 15 seers per /ngha in the eastern section, and about 7^ seers a day in the western section, ibr gathering wheat or gram. A village artisan receives about 30 seers of each kind of grain yearly from every cultivator.

The table on the next page gives the rates of wages during the thirty years ending 1904.

The material condition of the people in urban areas has undoubtedly improved considerably. The middle-class clerk, however, is not as a rule well off, as he is obliged to keep up a respectable appearance generally beyond his means. Pensionable appointments are comi)ara- tively rare in the States, and promotion has little connexion with length of service or merit, while the scale of pay is small. The cultivator's position is not very satisfactory, though in spite of bad seasons there is no doubt that he now dresses better than he used to do thirty years ago, and in places on high roads or near towns or railways he has learned to desire a higher standard of comfort and more show. A great source of impoverishment is the lavish expenditure incurred at marriages, which often cripples a man for years, perhaps for the rest of his life.

The condition of the landless labourer is not enviable. He lives from hand to mouth, his wages being, as a rule, only just sufficient to keep body and soul together. To be in debt is undoubtedly the normal condition of all but the trading classes. These have profited enor- mously by the improvements effected in the administration of the States, and in all places of any size the traders are noted for their increasing opulence.

Forests

The forests of Central India, which cover a considerable area, belong to the deciduous and dry classes, and are situated mainly along the line of the Vindhya range and its various branches, and in the Satpura, Kaimur, and Panna systems. It is not possible to give accurate figures as to the area covered by forests, but roughly 13,000 square miles or 17 per cent, of the total are so occupied. The States having the largest forest area are : Rewah, with 4,632 square miles, of which 642 square miles are 'reserved,' bringing in an income of 4-1 lakhs; Indore, with 3,000 square miles, giving an income of r-8 lakhs ; Bhopal, with 1,713 square miles, giving an income of Rs. 7,800 ; Gwalior, with 1,715 square miles, giving an income of Rs. 72,000 ; BarwanI, with 566 square miles, giving an income of Rs. 28,000 ; Dhar, with 381 square miles, giving an income of Rs. 26,000; and Panna, with 1,728 square miles, giving an income of Rs. 22,000. The chief sources of income are the flowers and fruit of the niahud, lac, rdl (extracted from the sal), chironji, and, especially in the eastern section of the Agency, timber, besides minor products.

The deciduous forests contain a large number of trees producing timber, fruit, or sap of commercial value ; the sal {Shorea robusta), sandal-wood {Santalum album), tendu {Diospyros toinentosa), mahud {Bassia latifo/ia), khair (^Acacia Catechu), dl {Morinda tinctoria), and those of other genera such as Terminalia, Anogeissus, Sterculia, Eugenia, and Hardivickia. On the Malwa plateau there is little or no forest, the prevailing trees being the dhdk {Butea fro/idosa), and various species of Mimosa, Albizzla, Melia, and Dalbergia.

Distinct changes are noticeable in passing from the trap to the Vindhyan sandstone formation, the latter favouring the growth of large trees. The forest area of Central India has decreased considerably since the period of Mughal rule, both in the extent covered and in the quality of the forest. The plains of Malwa were in those days covered with a thick jungle of dhdk, while the region between Gwaliorand Bhilsa was sufficiently wooded to afford shelter to large herds of elephants, which the emperors used to hunt in their journeys from the Deccan to Delhi. The south of Indore State round Satwas and Bijagarh, and the Bhat-Ghora district which lay partly in Panna and partly in Rewah, were frequented by large herds of these animals, those from Panna being esteemed the best. The jungle round the town of Orchha was thick enough to occupy the Mughal army several days in cutting a way through it.

Till within the last few years systematic forestry was never practised, and there are still large areas which require proper management. Save the protection given to a few selected trees, such as the mahud {Bassia latifo/ia), khair {Acacia Catechu), s his ham {Dalbergia Sissoo), teak, Inva {Pterocarpus Marsupium), aiijan {Hardwickia bi/iata),seja {lagers t roe mia parviflora), achdr {Buchanania latifolia), te/idii {Diospyros tomentosa), and a few others, the forests have been left to the mercy of the jungle tribes, who yearly destroyed considerable tracts by their dahiya culti- vation, while the villager cut down ruthlessly for firewood and building purposes, no attempt at afforestation being ever made. Many useful grasses are gathered, such as riisa {Andropogonsp.), from which a fragrant oil is extracted, diwdpunia and dub {Cynodon dactylon), used for fodder.

Most of the forest work is carried on by the jungle tribes, including the Gonds, Korkus, and Kols, who live chiefly along the line of the Vindhyas south of the Bhopal and Rewah States ; the Saharias, who live in the central hilly tracts of Bundelkhand, and in the region round Narwar, Guna, and Gwalior ; and the Bhils, who inhabit the Vindhyan and Satpura ranges on either side of the Narbada and various parts of Malwa.

Mines and Minerals

The known mineral wealth of the Agency is considerable, and Mines d likelihood that further examination minerals. reveal fresh deposits of value.

Of the carbon compounds, other than diamond, coal is the only valuable deposit. This is found in the Gondwana rocks in the south of the Rewah State. The muies are situated at Umaria, and are worked by shafts, the workers including a large proportion of the jungle tribes.

Copper has been found at Bard! (24° 32' N., 82*^ 25' E.) and at Tagwa village (24° 16' N., 82° o' E.) in the Rewah State, while it was at one time extensively worked in the Shahnagar pargana of the Panna State. Lead in the form of galena has been found at Bargoa village near Bardi, and exists in rich veins in the hills near Seondha in Datia, in the Par sandstones, and in the quartzites of the Bijawars. Iron is met with throughout the Vindhyan rocks, to which it gives its characteristic red and brown colours. The richest and most easily worked ores occur at Hirapur village (24° 42' N., 79° 39' E.) in the Bijawar State, once a famous centre of the iron-smelting industry. Other rich deposits occur near Barwaha in Indore, where an attempt to revive the industry was made in i860 by Colonel Keatinge ; and in Gwalior, where there are the remains of many old workings, especially at the Par hill (26° 2' N., 78" 5' E.). This industry has now almost entirely vanished, owing to competition with European iron.

Manganese has been found in the Gwalior State and in Jhabua. In the latter place it is worked, 6,800 tons having been extracted in 1903-4.

In materials for construction Central India is unusually rich, much of the local building stone being unrivalled in beauty of colour, ease of working, and resistance to the elements. The sandstones of the Vin- dhyan series stand first, and, besides having supplied material for the ancient buildings at many places, are still largely used for local purposes, and are to a certain extent exported. The Nimach and Satna limestones are exported in considerable quantities. Among the Vindhyan sandstones the Kaimur sandstone of Bhopal, of a fine deep purplish red colour, has been used in many recent buildings, and in the old temple at Nemawar. It is fully equal to the similar stone met with in Mirzapur and Chunar. The lower Bandairs have been used in the Taj-ul- Masajid at Bhopal and in the Sanchi stupa, while stone of the upper Bandair, besides being used in many modern edifices, was employed in the old temple at Bhojpur. In Gwalior, Bhopal, and parts of Baghelkhand these sandstones occur in large deposits well suited for building purposes.

Corundum is still profitably extracted in Rewah ; 600 maunds were obtained in 1902. Asbestos is found in parts of the Bhopawar Political Charge, but attempts to work it have hitherto proved a failure. The only valuable gems met with are diamonds, which are found chiefly in the neighbourhood of Panna. Agates and jasper are found in several localities.

Arts and Manufactures

Central India was once famous for the fine cloths and muslims made at several places in Malwa. This indu^stry is still carried on at Chan- deri, where delicate muslins, often shot with gold and Arts and silver thread, are made and exported all over India. manufactures. The demand for such cloth has, however, dnnmished with the disappearance of many native courts. At Sarangpur and Sehore town the industry still lingers, but is dying out, while at Sironj, once a famous centre of this manufacture, all recollection even of its former existence has vanished. The saru and dhotljodds of Maheshwar have a considerable sale. The usual coarse country cloths are produced in most places. There is a weaving mill at Indore city which turns out cloth of moderate fineness. Cloth is dyed and printed in many places, the

dl {Mori/ida thictoria) dye of Mandasor and Gautampura being famous.

A considerable industry formerly existed in the working of local iron obtained from the rich hematites found at Bijawar, Barwaha, and other places, but it is now carried on only here and there to a very small ex- tent. Inlaid metal-work is manufactured at Rampura in the Indore State.

There is still a considerable stone-cutting industry, especially in the country round Gwalior, where the fine local sandstones are carved with great skill, the lattice-w^ork in particular being often exceedingly beautiful. The industry is one of long standing in Central India, as the buildings at SanchI, Khajraho, Gwalior, Chanderi, and other places show.

One of the principal and certainly the most lucrative of the industries of Central India is the manufacture of Malwa opium, chiefly for the China market. The chik or crude opium, collected from the poppy plants, is soaked by the cultivator in linseed-oil to prevent its dry- ing. This composition is kept for about six weeks in bags of double sheeting in a dark room, until the oil drains off. In the beginning of the rains the bags are emptied into large copper vessels in which the ch'ik is pressed and kneaded, after which it is again kneaded in a succession of flat copper pans, called pardt^ till of sufticient consistency to be made into balls. Each ball weighs about 40 tolas (16 oz.). The ball is next dipped into some waste opium liquor called rabba or jethdpdni, and covered with pieces of dried, broken poppy leaf. It is then placed on a shelf, or rack, also covered with poppy leaf, to dry, and lose all super- fluous oil. After about a month the cakes are cut open and remade, so as to allow the interior portions to dry and the whole to become of uni- form consistency. An inferior opium called rabba is extracted from the old bags by boiling them, and is disposed of chiefly in the Punjab.

Commerce and Trade

In the Feriplus, Ozene (Ujjain) is referred to as a centre from which commodities were exported through the port of Barygaza (Broach), special mention being made of onyx, porcelain, fine muslins, mallow-tinted cottons — possibly coloured with the dye of the dl tree — and ordinary cottons. At Mandasor there is a record of the fifth century erected by the guild of silk-weavers, showing that this industry must once have flourished there. In the records on the Sanchi sfupa mention is made of various trade-guilds, including that of workers in ivory. In the time of Akbar, the fine cloths, grain, fruit (especially grapes), mangoes, betel-leaves, and opium of Central India were famous.

No statistics are available to show the total trade of Central India. The chief imports are salt, sugar, ghi^ kerosene oil, hardware, machinery, European piece-goods, arms, oilman's stores, and wines. The exports consist of grain, cotton, oil-seeds, opium, poppy-seed, and hides, with a certain amount of timber from States in the eastern part of the Agency, and building stone, especially the Nimach limestone.

The chief centres of trade are Lashkar, the capital of Gwalior State, Indore, Mandasor, Ujjain, Ratlam, Mhow, Satna, Nimach, Bhopal, Sehore, Morena in Gwalior, and Barwaha. These main centres are fed from district marts which are in their turn supphed from the weekly fairs. Railways and roads have effected a noticeable change during the last forty years. The large stores of surplus grain which often existed within a hundred miles of a great town, but which on account of defec- tive communication could not be transported thence for sale, have ceased to exist. Prices have risen but are nmch steadier, while a supply of grain can easily be poured into any place requiring it. Commerce is carried chiefly by the railways, and by carts and pack-bullocks along the great high roads.

The traders in grain and cloth are mainly Marwarl Banias, in hard- ware and iron goods Muhammadan Bohras, and in European oilman's stores Parsls. A European firm has agencies at Indore and several other places. Speculation on the rise and fall of prices of grain and opium is very common in Indore and Ratlam, though it has been prohibited in many States. The registration of such transactions, where allowed, is compulsory, and the fees bring in a considerable income.

Communication

Central India is crossed by three of the main routes from Northern

India to Bombay, all of which ultimately join the north-east maui line 01 the Great Indian Peninsula

Railway.

On the east the Allahabad-Jubbulpore branch of the East Indian State Railway runs for 89 miles- through Rewah, Maihar, Panna, and several other small States in the eastern section of the Agency, serving Satna, the head-quarters of the Political Agent in Baghelkhand, and carrying off a considerable traffic in lime from the quarries in the Nagod State.

Through the centre of the Agency passes the Midland section of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, from Agra to Itarsi, traversing Gwalior and Bhopal, and having a number of branches. For a distance of 57 miles north of Itarsi, of which 13 miles lie in British territory, the line was constructed in 1885 by the Bhopal State and the Government of India jointly, the State making a contribution of 50 lakhs. The net earnings are divided between the Darbar and the Government of India in proportion to the capital expenditure. Another section from Bhopal to Ujjain was constructed jointly by the Bhopal and Gwalior Darbars. The line is 114 miles in length, net earnings going to the Darbars concerned.

The Bina-Guna-Baran branch strikes off from the Bina station of the main line. The funds for the portion between Bina and Guna were provided by the Gwalior Darbar, engineers being lent by the Government of India for its construction. The line was sub- sequently extended to Baran, the Darbars of Tonk and Kotah in Rajputana also contributing to this section. The total length is 146 miles, and the net earnings are divided proportionately among the Darbars concerned. (The Tonk portion has recently been sold to Gwalior.) A branch from Jhansi passes eastward for 73 miles through several of the States of Bundelkhand, meeting the East Indian Railway at Manikpur.

The lines already described are all on the broad gauge. Light railways on the 2-feet gauge run from Gwalior station south-west to Sipri (74 miles), north-east to Bhind (53 miles), and west to Sabalgarh (58 miles). These belong to the Darbar, and lie wholly within the territory of Gwalior .State, but are worked by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway.

West of these systems lies the Ajmer-Khandwa (metre gauge) section of the Rajputana-Malwa State Railway, 393 miles in length, of which 241 miles pass through the Agency. The construction of this line was much facilitated by loans of a crore and 75 lakhs from the Indore and Gwalior Darbars respectively. Starting from Ajmer, the railway serves Nimach cantonment, Sailana by Namii station, Sltamau by Mandasor station, Jaora, Ratlam, where it connects with the Ratlam-Godhra line, Fatehabad, where a branch strikes off. to Ujjain (14 miles), Indore, and Mhow.

The Godhra-Ratlam-Nfigda (broad gauge) section of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway, with a branch to Ujjain, runs for 175 miles through Central India. The portion from Nagda to Ratlam and Godhra was built by Government, while that from Nagda to Ujjain belongs to the Gwalior Darbar, and lies wholly within that State. At Ujjain this line meets the Rajputana-Malwa Railway and the Ujjain- Bhopal lines, and at Ratlam the Rajputana-Malwa Railway. It thus connects Central India with Bombay down the west coast through Gujarat, and with Kathiawar. An important extension from Nagda to Muttra via Mehidpur and Jhalrapatan (Rajputana) is under con- struction. A line from Barwaha through the Narbada valley is being surveyed.

The Katnl-Bilaspur liranch of the Bengal-Nagpur Raihvay, on the broad gauge, runs for loi miles through Rewah, serving the coal-mines at Umaria, and giving through communication with Calcutta.

Central India is thus provided with a total of 1,080 miles of railway, or one mile for every 73 square miles of country. Land for the railways in Native States was given free by the Darbars, while the abolition of transit dues has fostered trade. The most remunerative line con- structed at the cost of the Darbars is the Bhopal-Itarsi branch, which yielded a profit of 6| per cent, in 1904. The Nagda-Ujjain and Bhopal-Ujjain lines earned 3 per cent, in the same year, and the Blna- Baran and the Gwalior light raihvays between i and 2 per cent.

The influence of raihvays is very marked, especially in Malwa, where there are more lines than in the east of the Agency. Grain can now be carried from one part to another freely, which has largely tended to equalize prices. Railways have also necessitated a relaxation of caste observances while travelling, but on the other hand they have certainly tended to bring members of the same caste living at a distance into closer communion.

According to the early Buddhist books, three great main routes passed through Central India, The most important was the road from Paithana (modern Paithan) in the Deccan to Sravasti, stages on which were Mahissati (Maheshwar), Ujeni (Ujjain), and Vidisha (Bhilsa) in Malwa. The road then turned eastwards and entered the present Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand Agencies. Merchants and travellers passed from Pataliputra (Patna) to Sovira on the west coast ; while in the well-known story of king Pradyota of Ujjain and Jivaka the physician of Rajagriha, a route lying through Ashta, Sehore, Bhilsa, and Bharhut is indicated. The principal routes became more defined in Mughal days, and are still distinguishable in the names of numerous villages with the suffix sarai. The road from Bijapur to Ujjain crossed into Central India at Bhikangaon, and passed through Gogaon to the historical ford of Akbarpur (now Khalghat) over the Narbada, and so via Depalpur and Fatehabad to Ujjain. Another great route led to Agra, passing in Central India through Ichhawar, Sehore, Sironj, Mughal Sarai, Shahdara, Sipri, Narvvar, and Gwalior. In the east travelling was attended with great hardships, and Muhammadan armies did not often venture much south of Kalinjar. The old pilgrim routes seem to have fallen into disuse to a great extent, while the rugged nature of the country was rendered more difficult of passage by the Gonds and other savage tribes who inhabited it.

There were few metalled roads in the Agency till after the Mutiny, when the first impetus was given to their construction by the desire to improve the connexion between different points of military importance. By degrees the extension of railways and improved administration have induced the States to co-operate in extending such communications, but much still remains to be done in improving the internal con- nexions. The introduction of motor cars, which many chiefs are adopting, may possibly assist in this result.

The most important through line is at present the Agra-Bombay road, originally commenced by the Bombay Government about 1834. In Central India it follows a more westerly path than the old Mughal route, though it crosses the Narbada by the same ford, now known as Khalghat. Before the advent of the railway this was the only impor- tant trade route in Malwa. Though its importance has diminished, and will decrease still further on the completion of the Nagda-Muttra Railway, it still carries a considerable traffic from the Narbada valley districts to the railway line at Mhow, and southward into Khandesh. The portions in Gwalior State are kept up by the Darbar.

Other roads, such as those from Mhow to Nimach, Mhow to Kheri- ghat, Dhar to Sardarpur, and Ujjain to Agar, were made originally for military purposes, but have now become of more importance as feeders to the railways. Among the roads which still carry a considerable amount of traffic may be mentioned those from Dewas to Bhopal through Ashta, from Biaora to Sehore and Rajgarh, and from Indore to Simrol. Altogether, Central India contains about 1,562 miles of metalled roads, of which 921 are kept up by Government and 641 by the States. No statistics are available to show the mileage of unmetalled roads.

The carts in common use are of two types — one having solid and the other spoked wheels — the frame consisting in each case of wood and bamboo. In towns, bullock carts and horse and pony carriages with springs have become common. In Gwalior town ekkas replace the tongas and shigrams met with in Indore, Mhow, and Nimach. Motor cars are becoming common, being used by most chiefs and by district officers in the Gwalior and Indore States.

The opening of the railways has killed the traffic on rivers. There is, however, still some traffic on the Narbada ferries at Khalghat, Mandl- eshwar, and Maheshwar, and on the Chambal at Rajghat and Dholpur.

There are now 198 British post offices in Central India. In the case of Gwalior the local system is worked in connexion with the British system under a special postal convention ; a return for this State is given separately, as no distinction is made between the letters carried by the British and State systems. Besides this State, Indore, Bhopal, Charkharl, Chhatarpur, Datia, and Orchha have their own postal arrangements, controlled by the Darbars. The States of Central India, excluding Gwalior, are distributed for postal purposes between the three circles of the United Provinces, the Central Provinces, and Rajputana.

The following tables show the progress in British postal business: — Postal Statistics for all States except Gwalior

There are thirty-eight telegraph offices (departmental and combined) in Central India, irrespective of those at railway stations. Ne\v lines are being rapidly extended throughout the Agency.

The States of Gwalior, Indore, and Bhopal have established tele- phonic systems at their capital towns.

Famine

As regards frequency of famines, Central India falls into two sections. Famines have rarely occurred in Malwa, which is noted for the extra- ordinary power of retaining moisture possessed by its soil. In the eastern Agencies of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand and in the region round Gwalior, which belongs topo- graphically to the same area, famine, or at any rate the pressure of scarcity, is more often felt.

The invariable causes of famine in Central India are a series of indifferent years, succeeded by one in which the rains fail entirely. The grain reserves, never very large nowadays, owing to better commu- nications and increased export trade, become exhausted, and the people are unable to support themselves. In Malwa, moreover, when the famine of 1899- 1900 fell upon it, the inhabitants were entirely unpre- pared for such a calamity, of which they had had no previous experience. They were unaccustomed to migrate and refused to leave their villages until it was too late, while the stream of immigrants from Raj[)utana, who had hitherto always found a place of refuge in the fertile plains of Malwa, added to the distress.

The records of famine in Central India are few, little or no notice having been taken of such visitations till comparatively recently. In 1344, in the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlak, that monarch, when travelling from Dhar to Delhi, found Malwa plunged in famine. In 1595 and again in 1630 it also appears that there was famine in this region. Northern Gwalior was attacked by famine in 1785, and Bundelkhand in 1803-4, 1829-30, and again very severely in 1833, a year still spoken of by the people. AN'ithin more recent times two famines have attacked Central India — that of 1896-7, which affected mainly the eastern section, and that of 1 899-1900, which attacked Malwa principally.

In the famine of 1896-7 an area of 36,000 square miles was affected. For the first time regular measures were inaugurated, relief works and poorhouses being opened. The total numbers who came on relief works were 2,900,000, or a daily average of 320,000 persons, amounting to 7 per cent, of the total population, while 89,000, or 4 per cent., received gratuitous relief, the cost to the States amounting to about 86 lakhs. The mortality was severe, especially among the poorer classes.

The famine of 1 899-1 900 affected the western side of the Agency ; and Malwa, which had not suffered from. such a visitation within the memory of man, was very badly afflicted. The area in which famine prevailed on this occasion was 47,700 square miles, or 60 per cent, of the total area of the Agency. Over about 17,275 square miles suffering was severe. Altogether, t,t^ million units were relieved on regular works or by charity, the cost to the States being 148 lakhs.

The results of the most recent famine are only too apparent still in Malwa. Throughout this region in every village large numbers of ruined houses are to be seen, which are referred to as relics of Chhapan kd sil/, i.e. ^ of the year 56,' 1956 being the corresponding Samvat year to 1899. The effects on agriculture are also marked, as the shortage of labour due to a reduced population has resulted in the abandonment of much land, especially that at a distance from villages, and in a sub- stitution of the less delicate and cheaper A/iari/ crops for ral>i sowings. In particular, the cultivation of poppy, which requires careful and constant attention and a large number of labourers, has diminished considerably.

During the latest period of distress prices of food-grain often rose over 100 per cent.; \X\w?, jowdr sold at 10 seers instead of 24 to 30 seers per rupee, wheat at 8 seers instead of 15 seers, gram at 10 seers instead of 20 seers, maize at 12 seers instead of 30 to 40 seers, and kodon at 12 seers instead of 30 to 40 seers. The financial position of the States was seriously affected, all but the largest having to borrow considerable sums, amounting in all to 26 lakhs. Of the mortality no reliable statistics exist ; but that it was very large in both famines is undeniable, and the deaths from sickness after the actual stress of want had passed were very numerous.

The extension of railways has done much to enable food to be brought within reach of the people when famine breaks out, but in preventive measures the States are generally backward. After the famine of 1897 a survey for protective works was made in Bundelkhand, and further schemes are being prepared, while the works projected in connexion with the general irrigation survey, now in progress in the Agency, will also provide employment in future famines.

Administration

Central India includes altogether 148 Native States and estates (as well as a large portion of the Tonk State in Rajputana), which range m size from Gwalior, with 25,000 square miles, to small holdings of only a single village. Eleven States hold under direct treaty engagements with the British Government, and are known as Treaty States: namely, Gwalior, Indore, Bhopal, Dhar, Dewas (both branches), Jaora, Orchha, Datia, Samthar, and Rewah.

The sanad States, 31 in number, have direct relations with the British Government, but not by treaty. States of this class (except Khaniadhana in Gwalior) are met with only in the eastern Political Charges. In the early years of the nineteenth century the British Government, during the settlement of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand, entered into engagements with certain of the chiefs by which, on their presenting a written bond of allegiance {ikrdrnama), they received in return deeds (sanads) confirming them in the possession of their States, under certain conditions as to powers of administration.

The remaining minor States and estates are known as Mediatized or Guaranteed. Agreements between certain small States and more important Darbars claiming authority over them were arranged through British mediation. Such States are hence termed ' Mediatized. A ' Guaranteed ' holding is one the possession of which is guaranteed under conditions which vary in almost every case. This form of tenure, which is peculiar to Malwa, arose from the measures taken at the close of the Pindari War. Malwa was then in a state of anarchy. The petty Rajput chiefs had been reduced by the various Maratha powers, but many of them had fled to the hills and jungles, whence they sallied forth on marauding expeditions. To put a stop to this, the larger States assigned them shares of revenue as tanka or blackmail. As a measure of rough justice, the rights existing at the time of the British occupancy were recognized on condition of the maintenance of order, while the relations of such chiefs as owed mere subordination or tribute were adjusted and guaranteed.

In 1862 most chiefs received sanads informing them that, on the failure of direct heirs, the Government of India would recognize and confirm the adoption of a successor, in accordance with Hindu or Muhammadan law and custom.

Fuller details of the methods of administration followed in individual States will be found in the separate articles. Most chiefs exercise their authority through a dlwan or minister. In Gwalior, however, where there is no minister, a committee called the Sadr Board, composed of the heads of departments and presided over by the Maharaja, discusses all general measures, and orders are promulgated by a chief secretary. The chiefs of Bhopal and Rewah are each assisted by two ministers, who respectively control the revenue and judicial branches of the administration. In cases of gross maladministration, or of a minority, the control of the State is vested in the Political officer in charge of the Agency, the direct management in larger States being entrusted to a minister and council working under the guidance of the Political officer. In small States a native Superintendent is placed in immediate charge, acting under the orders of the Political Agent.

The chief representative of the Supreme Government is now styled the Agent to the Governor-General. The following is a list of those who have held the charge substantively : Lieutenant-General Sir John Malcolm, in general political and military charge (181 8-21) ; Residents at the court of Holkar : Mr. Gerald Wellesley (1818-31); Mr. W. B. Martin (1832-3) ; Mr. John Bax (1834-40) ; Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Claude Wade (1840-4); Sir Robert Hamilton (1844-54). In 1854 Sir Robert Hamilton was appointed to the newly created post of Agent to the Governor-General in Central India, which he continued to hold for five years (1854-9). He was succeeded by Colonel Sir R. Shakespear (1859-61); Colonel (afterwards Sir) R. Meade (1861-9); Lieutenant- General Sir H. Daly (1869-81); Sir Lepel Griffin (1881-8); Mr. F. Henvey (1888-90); Mr. (afterwards Sir) R. Crosthwaite (1891-4); Colonel (afterwards Sir) David Barr (1894-1900); Mr. C. S. Bayley (1900-5); and Major H. Daly (1905).

The chiefships and estates of the Agency are grouped for adminis- trative purposes into eight ' Political Charges : the Residencies of Gwalior and Indore, and the Baghelkhand, Bundelkhand, Bhopal, Bhopawar, Indore, and Malwa Political Agencies. Each of these is

' Now reduced to seven. In March, 1907, the Indore Agency was abolished, the component States being included in the Malwa Agency. under the immediate control of a Political officer, who acts under the orders of the Agent to the Governor-General for Central India, the ultimate control lying with the Government of India in the Foreign Department. The Agent to the Governor-General, who resides at Indore, is the head of the local administration, and exercises through his Political officers a general control over the whole Agency, while he is at the same time the medium of communication between the States and the Government of India. He is also Opium Agent for Mahva, controlling the large traffic in this commodity in Central India.

The head-quarters staff consists of the First Assistant, who, besides being Chief Secretariat Officer and a District Magistrate and Sessions Judge, also carried on the duties of Political Agent for the Indore Agency, which was directly under the control of the Agent to the Governor-General ; an Assistant, who is the Magistrate in charge of the Residency area at Indore, District Magistrate for the Fatehabad- Narbada section of the Rajputana-Malwa Railway, and Deputy Opium Agent, directly responsible for the control of opium passing the Govern- ment scales in Malwa ; a native Extra Assistant in charge of the treasury, who is also a District Judge. A Native Assistant is in charge of the vernacular section of the office, and superintends ceremonials.

Legislation and Justice

Jurisdiction over specified areas, such as Residency bazars, canton- ments, and railways, has been ceded by the States, and cases in which British subjects of any race or European foreigners are concerned are tried by British courts. The courts justice

authorized to deal with such matters are constituted by the Governor-General-in-Council, who also frames the law to be followed.

All Political officers in charge of Residencies and Agencies are, ex officio, vested with the powers of a District Magistrate and Sessions Court under the Criminal Procedure Code, and may take cognizance of cases as an original court without committal by a magistrate. They are also Justices of the Peace. Appeals from Political officers lie to the Agent to the Governor-General, who is, in respect of all offences triable by Political officers, vested with the powers of a High Court and Court of Sessions for the territories under his control, with the proviso that original and appellate criminal jurisdiction in the case of European British subjects resident in Native States, and of persons charged jointly with them, is reserved for the High Courts at Bombay or Allahabad, as ordered.

'['he Magistrates of the two British cantonments of Nimach and Nowgong are Magistrates of the first class and District Magistrates under the Code of Criminal Procedure, appeals from their decisions lying to the Political Agents in Malwa and Bundclkhand respectively. The Cantonment Magistrate of Mhow has similar powers, but appeals from his decisions lie to the First Assistant to the Agent to the Governor-General at Indore. The officers commanding at Guna and Agar are vested with second-class powers, appeals lying respectively to the Resident at Gwalior and the First Assistant.

The railway magistrates exercise subordinate jurisdiction, appeals lying, as a rule, to the Political x'\gent through whose charge the section of the line on which the offence took place passes.

Political Agents deal with civil cases only in petty holdings or in such of the larger States as are, owing to the minority of the chief or for other reasons, directly supervised by them. Appeals from the Political officer lie to the Agent to the Governor-General. Appeals from the Cantonment Magistrates sitting as District Judges lie in the case of Mhow to the First Assistant to the Agent to the Governor- General, and in the other two cases to the Political officer of the charge. The railway magistrates are, as a rule, also Judges of Small Cause Courts, and the Political Agents are District Judges.

The powers of the different States in criminal cases vary ; but gener- ally speaking full powers of life and death are held by the chiefs of Gwalior, Indore, Bhopal, Rewah, Qrchha, Datia, and Samthar ; the smaller chiefs, except where special authority is granted, being required to submit all heinous cases to the Political officer. The States usually follow the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In civil matters either local rules or the old panchdyat (arbitration) system prevail. Mutual arrangements have been made for extradition and the service of civil processes between the States and British India, and in the case of all the larger States among the States themselves.

Rules have been framed for the decision of boundary disputes between the States ; such cases are decided, if necessary, by a British officer specially appointed for the purpose.

Finance

The total revenue collected by the States amounts roughly to 428-3 lakhs. Of this, 231-1 lakhs, or 54 per cent., is derived from land revenue and cesses, 26-3 lakhs from excise and cus- toms, and 6-1 lakhs from dues on opium. The normal revenues of individual States vary from that of Gwalior with 150 lakhs, Indore 54 lakhs, Bhopal 25 lakhs, Rewah 29 lakhs, Dhar 8-7 lakhs, Jaora 8-5 lakhs, Qrchha 4-5 lakhs, Datia 4 lakhs, and Ratlam 5 lakhs, to sums of only a few hundred rupees. The States make certain payments to the British Government, for the upkeep of troops and other treaty obligations, amounting to about 6 lakhs a year.

Under the Mughals the right of coining was a privilege granted by the emperors as a special mark of favour, but the privilege was often extorted or assumed during the reigns of the weak successors of Aurangzeb. At the accession of the British to paramount power in the nineteenth century several States in Central India issued their own coinage. Mints existed at Chhatarpur, Panna, Sironj, Bhopal, Sohag- pur (Rewah), Tehrl (Orchha), Ujjain, Isagarh (Gwalior), Srlnagar (Panna), Indore, and Maheshwar (Indore). The closing of the British mints to the free coinage of silver in 1893 was followed by a rapid decline in the exchange value of Native State rupees. As the result of this, all the Darbars except Orchha have ceased to coin gold and silver. Many States, however, still issue copper money. Although the British rupee is now legal tender in most places, the old local silver currencies are still met with in bazars, the commonest in Malwa being the Sdlim shdhi of Raja Salim Singh of Partabgarh (Rajputana), and in Bundel- khand the BCibd shdhi or Rcijd shdhi.

Land revenue

Though each State has its own system of land revenue, certain features are common to all. In all cases the State claims sole pro- prietorship of the soil ; and in many States no , occupancy rights are allowed to the actual cultivators, at least in theory, though in practice long occupation confers a pre- scriptive claim to such rights, and even sale, mortgage, and subletting are allowed.

All State land is divisible into three classes. Land held directly by the Darbar is called khdlsa or kothdr. This may be managed through a contractor, called a thekaddr, ijdraddr, or mahate^ who receives a lease for two to five years, and is solely responsible for the revenue due on the holding; or it may be classed as khdm, i.e. managed directly by the State through its own officials. Jdgir land is usually held on a personal service tenure, called saranjam in Maratha States, and dates from the time when exexy Jdgtrddr was bound to support his chief, if called upon to do so, with a quota of horse and foot, called zdbta.

This service obligation has been, as a rule, commuted into a money payment. Land is now granted on this tenure to high officials of the State, members of the chief's family, and persons of position, who pay a percentage of the revenue of the holding as tribute, called barbast or tdnka. The rules for the resumption o^ Jdg'ir holdings and succession on the decease of a holder vary in each State. Such grants were made much more freely by Rajput than by Maratha chiefs. In some 'SttsA&s Jdglrddrs have only a life interest, and debts cannot be recovered from their estates after death. The third class is known as miidji, or lands given, as the name implies, as a free grant. These are ordinarily of two kinds : dharmdda, granted for religious or charitable purposes ; or chdkrd?id, small allotments to palace servants and personal attendants of the chief, pensioned sepoys, and other subordinates. From these grants no revenue is levied, though, in the case oi dharmdda, certain sums have often to be devoted to the repair and upkeep of temples.

Leases to cultivators, except in States which have been regularly settled, are almost invariably made for one year only, a patta being issued by the Darbar in the case of khdlsa land, and in the case of other tenures by the jdgirddr, contractor, or other holder. The yearly patta appears to be by no means unpopular ; and State ofificials allege that the actual cultivator does not benefit by a long lease, as he will not save, and it simply results in his spending larger sums at marriages, which pass into the hands of the shopkeeper and banker classes.

Systems of assessment of revenue based on those in vogue in British India have been adopted in all the larger States, and in some of the smaller chiefships which have been administered by British ofificials during a minority. Elsewhere the revenue is assessed in kind by various methods, of which the chief are : kankut or kut, in which the standing crop is appraised just before harvest, and either a produce share taken, or its equivalent in cash ; bhdg or kist-bhdg, in which a share of the crop is taken after it has been gathered in ; hali or harankd, in which a fixed share of the produce per plough of land is taken, a system in force in hilly tracts ; t/idnsd, where a rate is fixed between the individual cultivator and the State for a term always exceeding one year, such rate not being subject to remission or enhancement under any circumstances ; and darbandl, which is not unlike a regular assess- ment based on the crop-bearing power of the soil.

Revenue is collected in various ways, the commonest methods being either by iheka or farming as mentioned above, or by the tlpddrl or manotiddri system. The latter system is very common, and is applied to khdm land as well as to other classes. The bankers of the State become surety for the revenue of certain tracts, which they finance, making advances of grain and money to the cultivators, and recouping themselves from the revenue. The late succession of bad years has made it difficult to get the bankers to undertake this responsibility. Collections are made, as a rule, four times a year : in the months of Bhadon (August-September) and Aghan (November-December) for the khanf, and in Magh (January-February) and Chait (March- April) for the rabi. When only two collections are made, they take place in Aghan and Chait. States are fully alive to the value of the cultivator, and remissions and suspensions are freely made in bad years.

The actual share of the produce taken varies considerably, ranging to from two-thirds to one-eighth, after deducting the amount required supply seed for the following harvest. The cultivator's share also includes the perquisites of the headman, and of village artisans and servants. The share taken by the State is worth from Rs. 6 to Rs. 40 per acre in the best irrigated land on the plateau, while in ' dry ' land the share varies from a few annas to Rs. 5. The hills and lowlands produce even smaller yields. The actual incidence in selected States is shown below : —

Miscellaneous revenue

Besides the income from opium rai.sed by Native States, which varies from State to State, duty is levied on opium passing into British terri- tory. Abul Fazl mentions that the use of the drug was universal in Malwa in the sixteenth century, being revenue, given even to young children. The local consumption is still considerable, the drug being either eaten or drunk, or, less frequently, used for smoking. There is a large export trade to China, which has been in existence since the sixteenth century, if not earlier, and was long controlled by the Portuguese. When attention was first called to this, the British Government assumed the sole right of pur- chasing what opium they wished from Native States ; and in 1826 an agreement was made with the chief Malwa States — Indore, Dewas, Jaora, Ratlam, and others — by which they undertook to limit the area under poppy, to stop smuggling, and to sell their produce to Govern- ment at a certain rate. By 1830 the unsuitability of this agreement had become so evident that it was abandoned. The system had raised up a swarm of spies and opium-seizers, whose hands were in every man's house and in every man's cart, till at length opium-carriers armed themselves to oppose opium-seizers, and a sort of civil war arose which was likely to become more extended. At the same time the cul- tivation was in no way curtailed, while smuggling increased, and the internal trade of the States was disorganized. It was then determined that Government control should commence only when the drug was exported, a duty being levied at certain convenient places. To effect this. Government depots have been erected at Indore, Ratlam, Jaora, Ujjain, Bhopal, Mandasor, and Dhar in Central India, and at Chitor and Baran in Rajputana. They are under the general control of the

Agent to the Governor-General in Central India, who is the Opium Agent in Malwa, and of an Assistant to the Agent to the Governor- General, who is the Deputy-Agent, the weighments at Indore being supervised by the Deputy-Agent, and at other stations by Assistant Opium Agents. Two classes of duty are levied: an Imperial duty on opium exported to China of Rs. 600 on every chest of 140 lb. weight ; and a Provincial duty of Rs. 700 on every chest exported for consumption to places in India, principally Hyderabad State, and some Native States in the Bombay Presidency.

The number of chests passing through all the depots under the Opium Agent in Malwa during the last twenty years averaged 27,500 per annum, yielding a duty of 159 lakhs. In 1904-5, 19,287 chests were passed, yielding a duty of 115-1 lakhs. The export trade to China is apparently declining. The number of chests has decreased from 42,351 in 1860-1 to 36,964 in 1880-1, 25,822 in 1900-1, and 19,287 in 1904-5. The price of opium has risen considerably. In 1814 the average price was Rs. 29 per dhari (ro lb.), in 181 7 Rs. 33, in 1850 Rs. 44, in 1857 Rs. 56, in 1864 Rs. 62, and in 1904-5 Rs. 72.

No salt, except the small quantity turned out in Gwalior and Datia, is now manufactured in Central India, and the States receive from the British Government various sums in compensation for the surrender of the dues formerly levied on that article, as detailed in the accounts of individual States. The total receipts amount to about 3-4 lakhs per annum.

The only other important excisable commodity is country liquor, distilled from the flower of mahua {Bassia latifolia).

Excise administration varies considerably in different States, but is in all cases defective. The right to the manufacture and vend of country liquor is usually sold by auction to one or more contractors, who are then left entirely to their own devices, or are subjected only to very lax supervision. The number of liquor shops (excluding the States of Gwalior, Indore, and Bhopal, for which figures are not available) works out to one for every 8-8 square miles and 951 persons, rising in a few individual cases to a maximum of one for every 6^ square miles and 400 persons. The right to sell foreign liquor is usually included in the contract for country liquor, while the right to retail the hemp drugs — ganja, bhang, and charas — is, in almost all cases, sold along with the contract for liquor or opium.

The opium traffic, being a considerable source of income, is more carefully controlled. In most States this drug is subjected to heavy taxation by means of customs, transit, and export dues, and numerous miscellaneous duties. These amount on an average to Rs. 30 on every chest (140 lb.), rising to a maximum of Rs. 50 in the case of Indore.

Local and Municipal

Municipal self-government is not yet common, but the States of Gwalior and Indore are introducing the system into all towns of any size ; Bhopal, Ratlam, and a few other ^^^. V^ .

large towns have either regular municipalities or town committees.

Public works

Public works in Central India, excluding railways, belonging to the British Government are in charge of a Superintending Engineer, who is also Secretary to the Agent to the Governor-General in the Public Works department. He is assisted by an Examiner of Accounts and two Executive Engineers, in charge of the Indore and Nagod divisions, with head-quarters at Indore and Nowgong. Imperial roads and buildings in the Gwalior and Bhopal States, however, are maintained by the Darbars, while others make contributions towards their upkeep. Each of the larger States employs a European engineer, and great activity is being displayed in the Indore State, especially in the construction of metalled roads. The rnost important works carried out during the last twenty years are : the Victoria College and Jayaji Rao Hospital at Gwalior and the palaces at Ujjain and SiprT, the King Edward Hall and Holkar College at Indore, and the ^\'ater-works, Lady Lansdowne Hospital for women, and Central jail at Bhopal.

Army

The Agent to the Governor-General formerly controlled three local corps : the Central India Horse, the Bhopal Battalion, and the Malwa Bhil Corps; but in 1897 these were placed under the Commander-in-Chief, and in 1903, except the Malwa Bhil Corps {see Sardarpur), were de-localized and brought on to the regular roster of the Indian army.

Central India is included in the Mhow division of the Western Com- mand ; and in 1903 was garrisoned by 2,388 British and 4,256 Native troops, in the cantonments of Mhow, NTmach, and Nowgong, and the stations of Agar, Guna, Sehore, and Sardarpur, detachments from these places furnishing guards at the civil stations of Indore, Sehore, and Gwalior Residency.

Besides these regular forces, there are several regiments of Imperial Service troops. Gwalior maintains 3 regiments of cavalry, 2 of infantry, and a transport corps ; Indore, a transport corps, with an escort of 200 cavalry ; Bhopal, one regiment of cavalry. These corps are commanded by State officers and supervised by British inspecting officers.

The other troops maintained by the States are numerous, but as a rule little disciplined and armed with obsolete weapons. Some details of their strength and constitution will be found in the articles on the various States.

The volunteers in the Agency chiefly belong to the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway Volunteer Rifles, and to the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Volunteer Corps; in 1903 they numbered 169 men.

Police and Jails

Till recently the police in areas administered by the British Govern- ment chiefly consisted of bodies of men enlisted locally and paid from local funds. Along the Agra-Bombay road south of Police and Mhow, the petty Bhilala chiefs and their followers were responsible for watch and ward in return for certain allowances. In April, 1899, the present Central India Agency police force was raised. It consists of 482 men of all grades, who police the cantonments and stations of the Agency, and is in charge of an Inspector-General, who is also Assistant to the Agent to the Governor- General in the criminal branch. Railway police form a separate body, as usual.

The States of Gwalior, Indore, and Bhopal have now regularly consti- tuted police, and most States are reforming this branch of the adminis- tration. The systems, however, vary considerably. The village watchman is ordinarily a village servant, and often regular police are not employed, the irregular State troops performing police duties.

The common criminal tribes met with in Central India are Badhaks or Bagris, who come mainly from Malwa. Closely connected, if not identical with these, are the Moghias. To lessen the depredations of this clan, settlements have been made in many States, at which land and plough oxen have been allotted for their use. The Moghias are registered, and a careful watch is kept over their movements, regular rules having been drawn up for their control. The principal Moghia settlements are at Mirkabad in Gwalior ; Bani and Bodhanpur in Rajgarh ; Mughalkherl, Kurarwar, and Halkherl in Narsinghgarh ; Dhamana in Kachhi-Baroda ; Kularas in Maksudangarh ; Chamari, Bhawangaon, and Bichpuri in Khilchipur. About 7,800 members of criminal tribes have thus been settled in the States of Gwalior, Indore, Bhopal, Rajgarh, Narsinghgarh, Khilchipur, Jaora, Ratlam, and others. Sanaurias are also found, mainly in Bhopal. The Bhampta or pro- fessional railway thief has appeared since the extension of railway lines in the Agency. A Kanjar settlement has lately been started at Now- gong. Vir Gopals and Ramoshis are only occasionally met with.

The systematic registration of finger-prints has been introduced in most States. A central bureau has been established at the Agency head-quarters, and the Darbars co-operate in the collection of impressions.

Early in the nineteenth century attention was called by Colonel Sleeman to the widespread prevalence of gang-robbery with violence, especially in Native States. In 1830 Lord William Bentinck instituted a systematic campaign against such crime. Colonel Sleeman being in 1835 appointed General Superintendent of the ThagI and Dakaiti department. Owing to his energetic measures, thagi (murder by stran- gulation) was practically stamped out by 1840. In 1864 the department was reconstituted for dealing with organized and interstatal crimes in Native States, the Political Agents being made Superintendents for their charges, and an Assistant Superintendent being stationed at Indore. In 1878 control was vested in a General Superintendent at Simla, but since 1904 supervision has been exercised directly by the local adminis- tration. An inspector and a certain number of subordinates are stationed at Sehore, Nowgong, Gwalior, Nimach, and Sardarpur, who act under the orders of the Political officers.

Dacoity varies with the nature of the season. The highest figures are those for the famine year of igoo, when 1,051 cases were reported, and for 1899, when 643 were reported ; in 1897, also a year of great distress, 479 took place. The total number reported between 1881 and 1903 was 6,312, concerning property valued at 38 lakhs, while 581 persons were killed and 3,789 wounded. Of dacoits committing robbery, 9,794 were arrested and 2,689 convicted.

There are a Government Central jail at Indore, a District jail at Now- gong in charge of the local Medical officer, and a small jail at Sehore. Rugs, carpets, and dans are made at the Central jail. The jail arrange- ments in Central India have been revolutionized within the last twenty years, and all States of any size now possess properly constructed jails, which are administered more or less on the lines obtaining in British India, though discipline is much less stringent. Extra-mural labour is the rule, large numbers of prisoners being employed in gardens and on other duties. In the jails at Gwalior and Bhopal industries are carried on, the manufacture of tiles being a speciality in the latter jail.

Education

Although here and there, as at Sehore as early as 1839, individual effort had succeeded in inducing the Native chiefs to assist in the estab- lishment and support of a school, Central India con- tained only two schools worthy of the name in 1868 ; and it was reported, as late as 1889, that in matters of general education the darkness was Cimmerian. Education in a Native State may gener- ally be said to vary with the excellence of the administration, and with the acceptance or otherwise of modern ideas by its ruler. Thus in Gwalior (1902-3), besides two colleges, there are more than 300 schools supported by the State, while in Rewah, the largest State in the east, there are only about 40 schools of all classes. About 1,000 institutions exist in Central India, of which 4 are colleges teaching up to the uni- versity B.A. standard, and 19 are high schools teaching up to the matriculation standard. Missions are active supporters of both male and female education. The Canadian Presbyterian Mission maintains numerous schools for boys and girls, besides a large college at Indore.

In 1872 a college for the education of the sons of chiefs in the eastern part of the Agency was opened at Nowgong. In 1898, how- ever, it was abolished, owing to the small attendance. In 1876 a special class was opened in the Indore Residency school for the sons of Native chiefs on the western side of Central India. Ten years later the Daly College was opened, at which several of the present ruling chiefs have been educated. In 1903 the status of the college was reduced, the idea being that important chiefs and Sardars should go to the Mayo College at Ajmer, while only the petty chiefs and Thakurs would be educated at Indore. Steps are now being taken to re-estab- lish the Daly College on the same footing as the Mayo College.

Of female education there is little to be said. The principal efforts in this direction have been made by the Maharaja of Gwalior, while several smaller States have also started schools with some success.

The people in the west of the Agency are better educated than those in the east, which is due not only to the generally more advanced state of the former, but also to the greater number of towns there. Omitting Christians and ' others ' (chiefly ParsTs), the Jains are the best educated community, 19 per cent, being literate, while Muhammadans come next with 8 per cent., followed by Hindus with 3 per cent. In know- ledge of English Muhammadans come first, with 4 in every 1,000. Only 3 females in every 1,000 are literate in Central India. The States of Gwalior and Indore have a regular educational department under a European, but elsewhere there is no such organization.

There are also special schools in these two States and in Bhopal. Gwalior supports schools for the sons and daughters of Sardilrs, as well as military and technical schools ; in Indore engineering and medical classes are held ; and a Sardars' college under a European principal has been opened at Bhopal. At Mhow, Indore, and Nimach there are convent and railway schools for Europeans and Eurasians.

About 300 newspapers, none of which, however, has more than a small local circulation, were published in Central India in 1901. Of these 156 were in Hindi. There were also 73 books published.

Medical

Medical institutions in the Central India Agency practically com- menced with the foundation of the Indore Residency Charitable Hos- pital in 1848. This institution was opened at the suggestion of Dr. Impey, then Residency Surgeon, and was built from funds given by Maharaja Tukojl Rao Holkar II. A medical school in connexion with this hospital was started in 1878. In 1850 branch dispensaries were started at Ujjain, Ratlam, Dhar, Dewas, Sailana, Shajapur, and Indore city. All States of any size now have properly constituted hospitals with branch dispensaries, while many smaller States have dispensaries. The total number of hospitals and dispensaries has risen from 61 in 1881 to 74 in 1891, 107 in 1901, and 166 in 1904.

The chief hospitals are the Charitable Hospital in the Residency area at Indore, the Jayaji Rao Memorial Hospital at Gwalior, the Tukojl* Rao Hospital at Indore, the Prince of Wales's Hospital and the Lady Lansdowne Hospital for Women in Bhopal city, the Leper Asylum near Sehore, and the hospital at Rewah.

Vaccination is now carried on regularly in Central India. The extent to which it is practised varies in different States, but though here and there prejudices against it exist, on the whole its beneficial effects are recognized. The total number of successful cases was 131,844 in 1891, 141,937 in 1901, and 169,055 in 1904, representing a propor- tion of 19 per 1,000 of population.

Quinine was made available for sale at all post offices in the Raj- putana Circle in 1898. In 1891, 3,855 grains were sold; in 1900-1, 23,403 ; and in 1903, 21,319.

Surveys

^The Gwalior and Central India Survey, commencing work in 1861, had completed 19,729 square miles of survey on the i-inch scale by 1874. The sphere of operations lay north of the 24th parallel, bounded on the west by the Rajputana Agency, and on the east by the Districts of Jalaun, Jhansi, and Saugor, and comprised Datia, and parts of Gwalior, Indore, Jaora, Khilchlpur, Rajgarh, and Tonk States. In 1862 a party was organized for the survey of Rewah and Bundelkhand. After the completion of 18,456 square miles on the i-inch scale, it was transferred in 1871 to Bhopal and Malwa, and took up the survey of the country lying south of 24° N. and north of 22° 30' E. and the Narbadoi river. By 1882 an area of 23,562 square miles had been surveyed on the i-inch scale, comprising the States of Bhopal, Narsinghgarh, Dewas, Jaora, Ratlam, with portions of Gwalior, Indore, Jhabua, Khilchlpur, and Rajgarh. Between the years 187 1 and 1872 the Khandesh and Bombay Native States party completed 7,680 square miles of survey on the same scale of that portion of the Agency lying south of 22° 30', bounded on the east by Nimar District and on the south and west by Khandesh and the Rewa Kantha Agency, embracing Barwani and Jobat, with portions of Dhar, Indore, Gwalior, Dewas, and All Rajpur, During 1870-1 the Rajputana survey party surveyed an area of 102 square miles of the small portion of Gwalior and Indore lying north of the parallel of 25° and east of the Beluch river, a tributary of the Banas. In 1884-5 ^^^ Gujarat party surveyed on the 2-inch scale 337 square miles in Jhabua, All Rajpur, and Jobat, lying to the west of 74° 30 E. and between the parallels of latitude 22° 30' and 23° 15'. During the years 1855-7 and in 1860-2, 4,850 square miles of survey on the i-inch scale was executed by a revenue survey party in the western portion of Bundelkhand, com- prising the States of Orchha, Charkhari, and Samthar, and a number of ' By Lieut.-Col. Fleming, I. A., Survey of India.

smaller States falling within Hamlrpur District. A further area of 1,668 square miles, consisting of the Indurkhi and Uaboh parganas of Jalaun District, and Karehra and Pachor in Jhansi, ceded to Sindhia after the Mutiny in recognition of his services to Government, were surveyed on the 4-inch scale by a revenue survey party during 1852-5, 1856-7, and 1859-60. Besides these portions, many of the larger States have had internal surveys made for revenue purposes. Most small States, however, have no accurate idea of the extent of their territories, a survey of the land actually under cultivation being all that is attempted, no measurements being made even of forest land.

[J. Grant Duff: History offheMahrafias, 3 vols. (1826).— W. Thorn : Memoir of the War in India from 1803 to 1806 (181 S). — H. T. Prinsep : History of the Transactions in India during the Administration of the Marguis of Hastings, 2 vols. (1825).— J. Malcolm : Memoir of Central India, 2 vols. (1823). — Official Narrative 0/ the Events of the Mutiny of 1857-9. — Administration Reports (from 1866). — T. H. Thornton : Sir Richard Meade and the Feudatory States of Central India (1898). — H. Daly : Life of Sir Henry Daly (1905). — W. Lee-Warner : The Protected Princes of India (1894). — State Gazetteers (under issue). — A. Cunning- liam : Archaeological Survey Reports, vols, ii, vii, ix, x, xx, and xxi. — Census Reports {ox Central India, 1881, 1891, and 1901.]