The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 1

The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 1

This book is the result of the arrangement made by the Government of India, on the suggestion of the late Sir Herbert Risley, for the preparation of an ethnological account dealing with the inhabitants of each of the principal Provinces of India. The work for the Central Provinces was entrusted to the author, and its preparation, undertaken in addition to ordinary official duties, has been spread over a number of years. The prescribed plan was that a separate account should be written of each of the principal tribes and castes, according to the method adopted in Sir Herbert Risleys Tribes and Castes of Bengal. This was considered to be desirable as the book is intended primarily as a work of reference for the officers of Government, who may desire to know something of the customs of the people among whom their work lies. It has the disadvantage of involving a large amount of repetition of the same or very similar statements about different castes, and the result is likely therefore to be somewhat distasteful to the ordinary reader. On the other hand, there is no doubt that this method of treatment, if conscientiously followed out, will produce more exhaustive results than a general account. Similar works for some other Provinces have already appeared, as Mr. W. Crookes Castes and Tribes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Mr. Edgar Thurstons Castes and Tribes of [vi]Southern India, and Mr. Ananta Krishna Iyers volumes on Cochin, while a Glossary for the Punjab by Mr. H.A. Rose has been partly published. The articles on Religions and Sects were not in the original scheme of the work, but have been subsequently added as being necessary to render it a complete ethnological account of the population. In several instances the adherents of the religion or sect are found only in very small numbers in the Province, and the articles have been compiled from standard works. In the preparation of the book much use has necessarily been made of the standard ethnological accounts of other parts of India, especially Colonel Tods Annals and Antiquities of Rjasthn, Mr. J.D. Forbes Rasmla or Annals of Gujart, Colonel Daltons Ethnology of Bengal, Dr. Buchanans Eastern India, Sir Denzil Ibbetsons Punjab Census Report for 1881, Sir John Malcolms Memoir of Central India, Sir Edward Gaits Bengal and India Census Reports and article on Caste in Dr. Hastings Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Colonel (Sir William) Sleemans Report on the Badhaks and Rmseena or Vocabulary of the Thugs, Mr. Kennedys Criminal Classes of the Bombay Presidency, Major Gunthorpes Criminal Tribes of Bombay, Berr and the Central Provinces, the books of Mr. Crooke and Sir H. Risley already mentioned, and the mass of valuable ethnological material contained in the Bombay Gazetteer (Sir J. Campbell), especially the admirable volumes on Hindus of Gujart by Mr. Bhimbhai Kirprm, and Prsis and Muhammadans of Gujart by Khn Bahdur Fazlullah Lutfullah Faridi, and Mr. Kharsedji Nasarvnji Seervai, J.P., and Khn Bahdur Bmanji Behrmji Patel. Other Indian ethnological works from which I have made quotations are Dr. Wilsons Indian Caste (Times Press and Messrs. Blackwood). [vii]Bishop Westcotts Kabr and the Kabrpanth (Baptist Mission Press, Cawnpore), Mr. Rajendra Ll Mitras Indo-Aryans (Newman & Co., Calcutta), The Jainas by Dr. J.G. Bhler and Mr. J. Burgess, Dr. J.N. Bhattachryas Hindu Castes and Sects (Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta), Professor Omans Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India, Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India, and Brhmans, Theists and Muslims of India (T. Fisher Unwin), Mr. V.A. Smiths Early History of India (Clarendon Press), the Rev. T.P. Hughes Dictionary of Islm (W.H. Allen & Co., and Heffer & Sons, Cambridge), Mr. L.D. Barnetts Antiquities of India, M. Andr Chevrillons Romantic India, Mr. V. Balls Jungle Life in India, Mr. W. Crookes Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India, and Things Indian, Captain Forsyths Highlands of Central India (Messrs. Chapman & Hall), Messrs. Yule and Burnells Hobson-Jobson (Mr. Crookes edition), Professor Hopkins Religions of India, the Rev. E.M. Gordons Indian Folk-Tales (Elliot & Stock), Messrs. Sewell and Dikshits Indian Calendar, Mr. Brennands Hindu Astronomy, and the late Rev. Father P. Dehons monograph on the Oraons in the Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Ethnological works on the people of the Central Provinces are not numerous; among those from which assistance has been obtained are Sir C. Grants Central Provinces Gazetteer of 1871, Rev. Stephen Hislops Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces, Colonel Bloomfields Notes on the Baigas, Sir Charles Elliotts Hoshangbd Settlement Report, Sir Reginald Craddocks Ngpur Settlement Report, Colonel Wards Mandla Settlement Report, Colonel Lucie Smiths Chnda Settlement Report, Mr. G.W. Gayers Lectures on Criminal Tribes, Mr. C.W. Montgomeries [viii]Chhindwra Settlement Report, Mr. C.E. Lows Blght District Gazetteer, Mr. E.J. Kitts Berr Census Report of 1881, and the Central Provinces Census Reports of Mr. T. Drysdale, Sir Benjamin Robertson and Mr. J.T. Marten. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 20583
Author: Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)
Release Date: Feb 15, 2007
Format: eBook
Language: English