File:Natives of northern India (1907) (14764779102).jpg

Identifier: nativesofnorther00croo (find matches)
Title: Natives of northern India
Year: 1907 (1900s)
Authors: Crooke, William, 1848-1923
Subjects: Ethnology -- India India -- Social conditions India -- Description and travel
Publisher: London : A. Constable and Company, ltd.
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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s. Telis. Kols.Dhanuks. Dosadhs. Koris. Pasis. Dhobis. Khatiks.Gipsy tribes—Gulgulias. Bhangis : Chamars : Fakirs. The agricultural, commercial, and industrial castes ofthe plains constitute a body of people whom it is allbut impossible to arrange in any semblance of order.Those at the top of the scale approximate more orless to those of the highest rank, while those at thebottom merge gradually into the menial class. Atthe last census an attempt was made to arrange thesein order of precedence. Naturally it was found im-possible to adapt such a system of classification tothe Empire as a whole—not a single country, but acollection of provinces the people of which differ asScotsmen from Neapolitans in customs, language,and religion. One might as well, says Mr, Risley, try to construct a table of social precedence forEurope, which should bring together on the same listSpanish grandees, Swiss hotel-keepers, Turkish pashas,and Stock Exchange millionaires, and should indicate 106 No. 13
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THE INDUSTRIAL CASTES 107 the precise distinction attaching to each. The resultof such an inquiry, though of little value for theEmpire as a whole, is of interest when applied to amore limited area. It may be convenient to select for this specialexamination the tract known as the United Provincesof Agra and Oudh, with a population of forty-eightmillions and an area of one hundred and twelve thou-sand square miles. It contains the upper valleys ofthe Ganges and Jumna, an alluvial region of greatfertility inhabited by a most industrious agriculturalpopulation. On the other hand, it includes a con-siderable tract in the lower Himalayas and the Vind-hyan hills. It is thus fairly representative of thegeneral conditions of Northern India. On the eastit is identical in climate, soil, and the character of itspeople with the western part of Bengal; on the westno physical or ethnical boundary separates it from thePunjab. The census classification of its population divides itinto fourteen main c

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