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Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 4 - "Independence, Declaration of" to "Indo-European Languages"
Author: Various
Language: English
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Transcriber's notes:
(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
underscore, like C_n.
(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.
(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
paragraphs.
(4) Macrons and breves above letters and dots below letters were not
inserted.
(5) [root] stands for the root symbol; [alpha], [beta], etc. for greek
letters.
(6) The following typographical errors have been corrected:
ARTICLE INDIA: "In a meteorological point of view it is of
considerable importance." 'meteorological' amended from
'meteorolgical'.
ARTICLE INDIA: "... the government of India accordingly agreed in
1908 that the export of opium from India should be reduced year by
year ..." 'opium' amended from 'opum'.
ARTICLE INDIA: "At the head of a small band of horsemen, he had
ridden as far south as Deogiri (Daulatabad) in the Deccan (q.v.),
and plundered the Yadava capital." 'band' amended from 'ban'.
ARTICLE INDIAN MUTINY, THE: "The mutineers were completely cowed;
the king of Delhi was taken and reserved for trial; and his sons
were shot by Captain Hodson ..." 'Captain' amended from 'Catain'.
ARTICLE INDIAN MUTINY, THE: "was advancing with 10,000 Gurkhas to
aid in the operations against Lucknow; but the lateness of his
arrival delayed the opening of the siege until the 2nd of March
1858." 'against' amended from 'againt'.
ARTICLE INDIANS, NORTH AMERICAN: "Somewhere between the lower St
Lawrence and Hudson's Bay (Brinton, Hale); in S. Ohio and Kentucky
(Boyle, Thomas)." 'Hudson's' amended from 'Hubson's'.
ARTICLE INDIGO: "... resulting no doubt in the retention of a
portion of the industry, the synthetic product has gained the upper
hand and is likely to retain it." 'retention' amended from
'retension'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XIV, SLICE IV
Independence, Declaration of to
Indo-European Languages
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
INDEPENDENCE, DECLARATION OF, INDIANOLA
INDEPENDENTS INDIANS, NORTH AMERICAN
INDEX INDICATOR
INDEX LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM INDICTMENT
INDIA "INDIES, LAWS OF THE,"
INDIA, FRENCH INDIGO
INDIANA INDIUM
INDIANAPOLIS INDIVIDUALISM
INDIAN ARCHITECTURE INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES
INDIAN LAW INDO-CHINA, FRENCH
DIAN MUTINY, THE INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
INDIAN OCEAN
INDEPENDENCE, DECLARATION OF, in United States history, the act (or
document) by which the thirteen original states of the Union broke their
colonial allegiance to Great Britain in 1776. The controversy preceding
the war (see AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, WAR OF) gradually shifted from one
primarily upon economic policy to one upon issues of pure politics and
sovereignty, and the acts of Congress, as viewed to-day, seem to have
been carrying it, from the beginning, inevitably into revolution; but
there was apparently no general and conscious drift toward independence
until near the close of 1775. The first colony to give official
countenance to separation as a solution of colonial grievances was North
Carolina, which, on the 12th of April 1776, authorized its delegates in
Congress to join with others in a declaration to that end. The first
colony to instruct its delegates to take the actual initiative was
Virginia, in accordance with whose instructions--voted on the 15th of
May--Richard Henry Lee, on the 7th of June, moved a resolution "that
these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and
independent States." John Adams of Massachusetts seconded the motion.
The conservatives could only plead the unpreparedness of public opinion,
and the radicals conceded delay on condition that a committee be
meanwhile at work on a declaration "to the effect of the said ...
resolution," to serve as a preamble thereto when adopted. This committee
consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger
Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. To Jefferson the committee entrusted
the actual preparation of the paper. On the 2nd of July, by a vote of 12
states--10 voting unanimously, New York not voting, and Pennsylvania and
Delaware casting divided ballots (3 votes in the negative)--Congress
adopted the resolution of independence; and on the 4th, Jefferson's
"Declaration." The 4th has always been the day celebrated;[1] the
decisive act of the 2nd being quite forgotten in the memory of the day
on which that act was published to the world. It should also be noted
that as Congress had already, on the 6th of December 1775, formally
disavowed allegiance to parliament, the Declaration recites its array of
grievances against the crown, and breaks allegiance to the crown.
Moreover, on the 10th of May 1776, Congress had recommended to the
people of the colonies that they form such new governments as their
representatives should deem desirable; and in the accompanying statement
of causes, formulated on the 15th of May, had declared it to be
"absolutely irreconcilable to reason and good conscience for the people
of these colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for
the support of any government under the crown of Great Britain," whose
authority ought to be "totally suppressed" and taken over by the
people--a determination which, as John Adams said, inevitably involved a
struggle for absolute independence, involving as it did the
extinguishment of all authority, whether of crown, parliament or nation.
Though the Declaration reads as "In Congress, July 4, 1776. The
unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America," New
York's adhesion was in fact not voted until the 9th, nor announced to
Congress until the 15th--the Declaration being unanimous, however, when
it was ordered, on the 19th, to be engrossed and signed under the above
title.[2] Contrary to the inference naturally to be drawn from the form
of the document, no signatures were attached on the 4th. As adopted by
Congress, the Declaration differs only in details from the draft
prepared by Jefferson; censures of the British _people_ and a noble
denunciation of slavery were omitted, appeals to Providence were
inserted, and verbal improvements made in the interest of terseness and
measured statement. The document is full of Jefferson's fervent spirit
and personality, and its ideals were those to which his life was
consecrated. It is the best known and the noblest of American state
papers. Though open to controversy on some issues of historical fact,
not flawless in logic, necessarily partisan in tone and purpose, it is a
justificatory preamble, a party manifesto and appeal, reasoned enough to
carry conviction, fervent enough to inspire enthusiasm. It mingles--as
in all the controversy of the time, but with a literary skill and
political address elsewhere unrivalled--stale disputation with
philosophy. The rights of man lend dignity to the rights of Englishmen,
and the broad outlook of a world-wide appeal, and the elevation of noble
principles, relieve minute criticisms of an administrative system.
Jefferson's political theory was that of Locke, whose words the
Declaration echoes. Uncritical critics have repeated John Adams's
assertion that its arguments were hackneyed: so they undoubtedly
were--in Congress, and probably little less so without,--but that is
certainly pre-eminent among its great merits. As Madison said, "The
object was to assert, not to discover truths." Others have echoed Rufus
Choate's phrase, that the Declaration is made up of "glittering and
sounding generalities of natural right." In truth, its long array of
"facts ... submitted to a candid world" had its basis in the whole
development of the relations between England and the colonies; every
charge had point in a definite reference to historical events, and
appealed primarily to men's reason; but the history is to-day forgotten,
while the fanciful basis of the "compact" theory does not appeal to a
later age. It should be judged, however, by its purpose and success in
its own time. The "compact" theory was always primarily a theory of
political ethics, a revolutionary theory, and from the early middle ages
to the French Revolution it worked with revolutionary power. It held up
an ideal. Its ideal of "equality" was not realized in America in
1776--nor in England in 1688--but no man knew this better than
Jefferson. Locke disclaimed for him in 1690[3] the shallower
misunderstandings still daily put upon his words. Both Locke and
Jefferson wrote simply of political equality, political freedom. Even
within this limitation, the idealistic formulas of both were at variance
with the actual conditions of their time. The variance would have been
greater had their phrases been applied as humanitarian formulas to
industrial and social conditions. The Lockian theory fitted beautifully
the question of colonial dependence, and was applied to that by America
with inexorable logic; it fitted the question of individual political
rights, and was applied to them in 1776, but not in 1690; it did not
apply to non-political conditions of individual liberty, a fact realized
by many at the time--and it is true that such an application would have
been more inconsistent in America in 1776 as regards the negroes than in
England in 1690 as regarded freemen. Beyond this, there is no pertinence
in the stricture that the Declaration is made up of glittering
generalities of natural right. Its influence upon American legal and
constitutional development has been profound. Locke, says Leslie
Stephen, popularized "a convenient formula for enforcing the
responsibility of governors"--but his theories were those of an
individual philosopher--while by the Declaration a state, for the first
time in history, founded its life on democratic idealism, pronouncing
governments to exist for securing the happiness of the people, and to
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. It was a
democratic instrument, and the revolution a democratic movement; in
South Carolina and the Middle Colonies particularly, the cause of
independence was bound up with popular movements against aristocratic
elements. Congress was fond of appealing to "the purest maxims of
representation"; it sedulously measured public opinion; took no great
step without an explanatory address to the country; cast its influence
with the people in local struggles as far as it could; appealed to them
directly over the heads of conservative assemblies; and in general
stirred up democracy. The Declaration gave the people recognition
equivalent to promises, which, as fast as new governments were
instituted, were converted by written constitutions into rights, which
have since then steadily extended.
The original parchment of the Declaration, preserved in the Department
of State (from 1841 to 1877 in the Patent Office, once a part of the
Department of State), was injured--the injury was almost wholly to the
signatures--in 1823 by the preparation of a facsimile copper-plate, and
since 1894, when it was already partly illegible, it has been jealously
guarded from light and air. The signers were as follows: John Hancock
(1737-1792), of Massachusetts, president; Button Gwinnett (c.
1732-1777), Lyman Hall (1725-1790), George Walton (1740-1804), of
Georgia; William Hooper (1742-1790), Joseph Hewes (1730-1779), John Penn
(1741-1788), of North Carolina; Edward Rutledge (1749-1800), Thomas
Heyward, Jr. (1746-1809), Thomas Lynch, Jr. (1749-1779), Arthur
Middleton (1742-1787), of South Carolina; Samuel Chase (1741-1811),
William Paca (1740-1799), Thomas Stone (1743-1787), Charles Carroll
(1737-1832) of Carrollton, of Maryland; George Wythe (1726-1806),
Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Benjamin
Harrison (1740-1791), Thomas Nelson, Jr.(1738-1789), Francis Lightfoot
Lee (1734-1797), Carter Braxton (1736-1797), of Virginia; Robert Morris
(1734-1806), Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790),
John Morton (1724-1777), George Clymer (1739-1813), James Smith (c.
1719-1806), George Taylor (1716-1781), James Wilson (1742-1798), George
Ross (1730-1779), of Pennsylvania; Caesar Rodney (1728-1784), George
Read (1733-1798), Thomas McKean (1734-1817), of Delaware; William Floyd
(1734-1821), Philip Livingston (1716-1778), Francis Lewis (1713-1803),
Lewis Morris (1726-1798), of New York; Richard Stockton (1730-1781),
John Witherspoon (1722-1794), Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791), John Hart
(1708-1780), Abraham Clark (1726-1794), of New Jersey; Josiah Bartlett
(1729-1795), William Whipple (1730-1785), Matthew Thornton (1714-1803),
of New Hampshire; Samuel Adams (1722-1803), John Adams (1735-1826),
Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814), Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), of
Massachusetts; Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785), William Ellery (1727-1820),
of Rhode Island; Roger Sherman (1721-1793), Samuel Huntington
(1732-1796), William Williams (1731-1811), Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797),
of Connecticut. Not all the men who rendered the greatest services to
independence were in Congress in July 1776; not all who voted for the
Declaration ever signed it; not all who signed it were members when it
was adopted. The greater part of the signatures were certainly attached
on the 2nd of August; but at least six were attached later. With one
exception--that of Thomas McKean, present on the 4th of July but not on
the 2nd of August, and permitted to sign in 1781--all were added before
printed copies with names attached were first authorized by Congress for
public circulation in January 1777.
See H. Friedenwald, _The Declaration of Independence, An
Interpretation and an Analysis_ (New York, 1904); J. H. Hazleton, _The
Declaration of Independence: its History_ (New York, 1906); M.
Chamberlain, _John Adams ... with other Essays and Addresses_ (Boston,
1898), containing, "The Authentication of the Declaration of
Independence" (same in Massachusetts Historical Society,
_Proceedings_, Nov. 1884); M. C. Tyler, _Literary History of the
American Revolution_, vol. i. (New York, 1897), or same material in
_North American Review_, vol. 163, 1896, p. 1; W. F. Dana in _Harvard
Law Review_, vol. 13, 1900, p. 319; G. E. Ellis in J. Winsor,
_Narrative and Critical History of America_, vol. vi. (Boston, 1888);
R. Frothingham, _Rise of the Republic_, ch. ii. (Boston, 1872). There
are various collected editions of biographies of the signers; probably
the best are John Sanderson's _Biography of the Signers of the
Declaration of Independence_ (7 vols., Philadelphia, 1823-1827), and
William Brotherhead's _Book of the Signers_ (Philadelphia, 1860, new
ed., 1875). The Declaration itself is available in the _Revised
Statutes_ of the United States (1878), and many other places. A
facsimile of the original parchment in uninjured condition is inserted
in P. Force's _American Archives_, 5th series, vol. i. at p. 1595
(Washington, 1848). The reader will find it interesting to compare a
study of the French Declaration: G. Jellinek, _The Declaration of the
Rights of Man and of Citizens_ (New York, 1901; German edition,
Leipzig, 1895; French translation preferable because of preface of
Professor Larnande). (F. S. P.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "Independence Day" is a holiday in all the states and territories
of the United States.
[2] As read before the army meanwhile, it was headed "In Congress,
July 4, 1776. A Declaration by the representatives of the United
States of America in General Congress assembled."
[3] _Two Treatises of Government_, No. ii. § 54, as to age,
abilities, virtue, &c.
INDEPENDENTS, in religion, a name used in the 17th century for those
holding to the autonomy of each several church or congregation, hence
otherwise known as Congregationalists. Down to the end of the 18th
century the former title prevailed in England, though not in America;
while since then "Congregationalist" has obtained generally in both.
(See CONGREGATIONALISM.)
INDEX, a word that may be understood either specially as a table of
references to a book or, more generally, as an indicator of the position
of required information on any given subject. According to classical
usage, the Latin word _index_ denoted a discoverer, discloser or
informer; a catalogue or list; an inscription; the title of a book; and
the fore or index-finger. Cicero also used the word to express the table
of contents to a book, and explained his meaning by the Greek form
_syllabus_. Shakespeare uses the word with the general meaning of a
table of contents or preface--thus Nestor says (_Troilus and Cressida_,
i. 3):--
"And in such indexes, although small pricks
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass."
Table was the usual English word, and index was not thoroughly
naturalized until the beginning of the 17th century, and even then it
was usual to explain it as "index or table." By the present English
usage, according to which the word "table" is reserved for the summary
of the contents as they occur in a book, and the word "index" for the
arranged analysis of the contents for the purpose of detailed reference,
we obtain an advantage not enjoyed in other languages; for the French
_table_ is used for both kinds, as is _indice_ in Italian and Spanish.
There is a group of words each of which has its distinct meaning but
finds its respective place under the general heading of index work;
these are calendar, catalogue, digest, inventory, register, summary,
syllabus and table.[1] The value of indexes was recognized in the
earliest times, and many old books have full and admirably constructed
ones. A good index has sometimes kept a dull book alive by reason of the
value or amusing character of its contents. Carlyle referred to Prynne's
_Histrio-Mastix_ as "a book still extant, but never more to be read by
mortal"; but the index must have given amusement to many from the
curious character of its entries, and Attorney-General Noy particularly
alluded to it in his speech at Prynne's trial. Indexes have sometimes
been used as vehicles of satire, and the witty Dr William King was the
first to use them as a weapon of attack. His earliest essay in this
field was the index added to the second edition of the Hon. Charles
Boyle's attack upon Bentley's _Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris_
(1698).
To serve its purpose well, an index to a book must be compiled with
care, the references being placed under the heading that the reader is
most likely to seek. An index should be one and indivisible, and not
broken up into several alphabets; thus every work, whether in one or
more volumes, ought to have its complete index. The mode of arrangement
calls for special attention; this may be either chronological,
alphabetical or according to classes, but great confusion will be caused
by uniting the three systems. The alphabetical arrangement is so simple,
convenient and easily understood that it has naturally superseded the
other forms, save in some exceptional cases. Much of the value of an
index depends upon the mode in which it is printed, and every endeavour
should be made to set it out with clearness. In old indexes the indexed
word was not brought to the front, but was left in its place in the
sentence, so that the alphabetical order was not made perceptible to the
eye. There are few points in which the printer is more likely to go
wrong than in the use of marks of repetition, and many otherwise good
indexes are full of the most perplexing cases of misapplication in this
respect. The oft-quoted instance,
Mill on Liberty
----on the Floss
actually occurred in a catalogue. But in modern times there has been a
great advance in the art of indexing, especially since the foundation in
1877 in England of the Index Society; and the growth of great libraries
has given a stimulus to this method of making it easy for readers and
researchers to find a ready reference to the facts or discussions they
require. Not only has it become almost a _sine qua non_ that any good
book must have its own index, but the art of indexing has been applied
to those books which are really collections of books (such as the
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_), to a great newspaper like the London
_Times_, and to the cataloguing of great libraries themselves. The work
in these more elaborate cases has been enormously facilitated by the
modern devices by means of which separate cards are used, arranged in
drawers and cases, American enterprise in this direction having led the
way. And the value of the work done in this respect by the Congressional
Library at Washington, the British Museum and the London Library
(notably by its Subject Index published in 1909) cannot well be
exaggerated. (See also BIBLIOGRAPHY).
There are numerous books on Indexing, but the best for any one who
wants to get a general idea is H. B. Wheatley's _How to make an Index_
(1902).
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Another old word occasionally used in the sense of an index is
"pye." Sir T. Duffus Hardy, in some observations on the derivation of
the word "Pye-Book" (which most probably comes from the Latin
_pica_), remarks that the earliest use he had noted of pye in this
sense is dated 1547--"a Pye of all the names of such Balives as been
to accompte pro anno regni regis Edwardi Sexti primo."
INDEX LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM, the title of the official list of those
books which on doctrinal or moral grounds the Roman Catholic Church
authoritatively forbids the members of her communion to read or to
possess, irrespective of works forbidden by the general rules on the
subject. Most governments, whether civil or ecclesiastical, have at all
times in one way or another acted on the general principle that some
control may and ought to be exercised over the literature circulated
among those under their jurisdiction. If we set aside the heretical
books condemned by the early councils, the earliest known instance of a
list of proscribed books being issued with the authority of a bishop of
Rome is the _Notitia librorum apocryphorum qui non recipiuntur_, the
first redaction of which, by Pope Gelasius (494), was subsequently
amplified on several occasions. The document is for the most part an
enumeration of such apocryphal works as by their titles might be
supposed to be part of Holy Scripture (the "Acts" of Philip, Thomas and
Peter, and the Gospels of Thaddaeus, Matthias, Peter, James the Less and
others).[1] Subsequent pontiffs continued to exhort the episcopate and
the whole body of the faithful to be on their guard against heretical
writings, whether old or new; and one of the functions of the
Inquisition when it was established was to exercise a rigid censorship
over books put in circulation. The majority of the condemnations were at
that time of a specially theological character. With the discovery of
the art of printing, and the wide and cheap diffusion of all sorts of
books which ensued, the need for new precautions against heresy and
immorality in literature made itself felt, and more than one pope
(Sixtus IV. in 1479 and Alexander VI. in 1501) gave special directions
to the archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, Trier and Magdeburg regarding the
growing abuses of the printing press; in 1515 the Lateran council
formulated the decree _De Impressione Librorum_, which required that no
work should be printed without previous examination by the proper
ecclesiastical authority, the penalty of unlicensed printing being
excommunication of the culprit, and confiscation and destruction of the
books. The council of Trent in its fourth session, 8th April 1546,
forbade the sale or possession of any anonymous religious book which had
not previously been seen and approved by the ordinary; in the same year
the university of Louvain, at the command of Charles V., prepared an
"Index" of pernicious and forbidden books, a second edition of which
appeared in 1550. In 1557, and again in 1559, Pope Paul IV., through the
Inquisition at Rome, published what may be regarded as the first Roman
Index in the modern ecclesiastical use of that term (_Index auctorum et
librorum qui tanquam haeretici aut suspecti aut perversi ab Officio S.
R. Inquisitionis reprobantur et in universa Christiana republica
interdicuntur_). In this we find the three classes which were to be
maintained in the Trent Index: authors condemned with all their
writings; prohibited books, the authors of which are known; pernicious
books by anonymous authors. An excessively severe general condemnation
was applied to all anonymous books published since 1519; and a list of
sixty-two printers of heretical books was appended. This excessive
rigour was mitigated in 1561. At the 18th session of the council of
Trent (26th February 1562), in consideration of the great increase in
the number of suspect and pernicious books, and also of the inefficacy
of the many previous "censures" which had proceeded from the provinces
and from Rome itself, eighteen fathers with a certain number of
theologians were appointed to inquire into these "censures," and to
consider what ought to be done in the circumstances. At the 25th session
(4th December 1563) this committee of the council was reported to have
completed its work, but as the subject did not seem (on account of the
great number and variety of the books) to admit of being properly
discussed by the council, the result of its labours was handed over to
the pope (Pius IV.) to deal with as he should think proper. In the
following March accordingly were published, with papal approval, the
_Index librorum prohibitorum_, which continued to be reprinted and
brought down to date, and the "Ten Rules" which, supplemented and
explained by Clement VIII., Sixtus V., Alexander VII., and finally by
Benedict XIV. (10th July 1753), regulated the matter until the
pontificate of Leo XIII. The business of condemning pernicious books and
of correcting the Index to date has been since the time of Pope Sixtus
V. in the hands of the "Congregation of the Index," which consists of
several cardinals, one of whom is the prefect, and more or less numerous
"consultors" and "examiners of books." An attempt has been made to
publish separately the _Index Librorum Expurgandorum or Expurgatorius_,
a catalogue of the works which may be read after the deletion or
amending of specified passages; but this was soon abandoned.
With the alteration of social conditions, however, the Rules of Trent
ceased to be entirely applicable. Their application to publications
which had no concern with morals or religion was no longer conceivable;
and, finally, the penalties called for modification. Already, at the
Vatican Council, several bishops had submitted requests for a reform of
the Index, but the Council was not able to deal with the question. The
reform was accomplished by Leo XIII., who, on the 25th of January 1897,
published the constitution _Officiorum_, in 49 articles. In this
constitution, although the writings of heretics in support of heresy are
condemned as before (No. 1), those of their books which contain nothing
against Catholic doctrine or which treat other subjects are permitted
(Nos. 2-3). Editions of the text of the Scriptures are permitted for
purposes of study; translations of the Bible into the vulgar tongue have
to be approved, while those published by non-Catholics are permitted for
the use of scholars (Nos. 5-8). Obscene books are forbidden; the
classics, however, are authorized for educational purposes (Nos. 9-10).
Articles 11-14 forbid books which outrage God and sacred things, books
which propagate magic and superstition, and books which are pernicious
to society. The ecclesiastical laws relating to sacred images, to
indulgences, and to liturgical books and books of devotion are
maintained (Nos. 15-20). Articles 21-22 condemn immoral and irreligious
newspapers, and forbid writers to contribute to them. Articles 23-26
deal with permissions to read prohibited books; these are given by the
bishop in particular cases, and in the ordinary course by the
Congregation of the Index. In the second part of the constitution the
pope deals with the censorship of books. After indicating the official
publications for which the authorization of the divers Roman
congregations is required, he goes on to say that the others are
amenable to the ordinary of the editor and, in the case of regulars, to
their superior (Nos. 30-37). The examination of the books is entrusted
to censors, who have to study them without prejudice; if their report is
favourable, the bishop gives the _imprimatur_ (Nos. 38-40). All books
concerned with the religious sciences and with ethics are submitted to
preliminary censorship, and in addition to this ecclesiastics have to
obtain a personal authorization for all their books and for the
acceptance of the editorship of a periodical (Nos. 41-42). The penalty
of excommunication _ipso facto_ is only maintained for reading books
written by heretics or apostates in defence of heresy, or books
condemned by name under pain of excommunication by pontifical letters
(not by decrees of the Index). By the same constitution Leo XIII.
ordered the revision of the catalogue of the Index. The new Index, which
omits works anterior to 1600 as well as a great number of others
included in the old catalogue, appeared in 1900. The encyclical
_Pascendi_ of Pius X. (8th September 1907) made it obligatory for
periodicals amenable to the ecclesiastical authority to be submitted to
a censor, who subsequently makes useful observations. The legislation of
Leo XIII. resulted in the better observance of the rules for the
publication of books, but apparently did not modify the practice as
regards the reading of prohibited books. It is to be regretted that the
catalogue does not discriminate among the prohibited works according to
the motive of their condemnation and the danger ascribed to reading
them. The tendency of the practice among Catholics at large is to reduce
these condemnations to the proportions of the moral law.
See H. Reusch, _Der Index der verbotenen Bücher_ (Bonn, 1883); A.
Arndt, _De Libris prohibitis commentarii_ (Ratisbon, 1895); A.
Boudinhon, _La Nouvelle Législation de l'index_ (Paris, 1899); J.
Hilgers, _Der Index der verbotenen Bücher_ (Freiburg in B., 1904); A.
Vermeersch, _De prohibitione et censura librorum_ (Tournai, 1907); T.
Hurley, _Commentary on the Present Index Legislation_ (Dublin, 1908).
(A. Bo.*)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Hardouin, _Conc._ ii. 940; Labbé, _Conc._ ii. 938-941. The whole
document has also been reprinted in Smith's _Dict. of Chr. Antiq._,
art. "Prohibited Books."
INDIA,[1] a great country and empire of Asia under British rule,
inhabited by a congeries of different races, speaking upwards of fifty
different languages. The whole Indian empire, including Burma, has an
area of 1,766,000 sq. m., and a population of 294 million inhabitants,
being about equal to the area and population of the whole of Europe
without Russia. The population more than doubles Gibbon's estimate of
120 millions for all the races and nations which obeyed imperial Rome.
The natives of India can scarcely be said to have a word of their own by
which to express their common country. In Sanskrit, it would be called
"Bharata-varsha," from Bharata, a legendary monarch of the Lunar line;
but Sanskrit is no more the vernacular of India than Latin is of Europe.
The name "Hindustan," which was at one time adopted by European
geographers, is of Persian origin, meaning "the land of the Hindus," as
Afghanistan means "the land of the Afghans." According to native usage,
however, "Hindustan" is limited either to that portion of the peninsula
lying north of the Vindhya mountains, or yet more strictly to the upper
basin of the Ganges where Hindi is the spoken language. The "East
Indies," as opposed to the "West Indies," is an old-fashioned and
inaccurate phrase, dating from the dawn of maritime discovery, and still
lingering in certain parliamentary papers. "India," the abstract form of
a word derived through the Greeks from the Persicized form of the
Sanskrit _sindhu_, a "river," pre-eminently the Indus, has become
familiar since the British acquired the country, and is now officially
recognized in the imperial title of the sovereign.
THE COUNTRY
Position and shape.
India, as thus defined, is the middle of the three irregularly shaped
peninsulas which jut out southwards from the mainland of Asia, thus
corresponding roughly to the peninsula of Italy in the map of Europe.
Its form is that of a great triangle, with its base resting upon the
Himalayan range and its apex running far into the ocean. The chief part
of its western side is washed by the Arabian Sea, and the chief part of
its eastern side by the Bay of Bengal. It extends from the 8th to the
37th degree of north latitude, that is to say, from the hottest regions
of the equator to far within the temperate zone. The capital, Calcutta,
lies in 88° E., so that when the sun sets at six o'clock there, it is
just past mid-day in England and early morning in New York. The length
of India from north to south, and its greatest breadth from east to
west, are both about 1900 m.; but the triangle tapers with a pear-shaped
curve to a point at Cape Comorin, its southern extremity. To this
compact dominion the British have added Burma, the strip of country on
the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal. But on the other hand the
adjacent island of Ceylon has been administratively severed and placed
under the Colonial Office. Two groups of islands in the Bay of Bengal,
the Andamans and the Nicobars; one group in the Arabian Sea, the
Laccadives; and the outlying station of Aden at the mouth of the Red
Sea, with Perim, and protectorates over the island of Sokotra, along the
southern coast of Arabia and in the Persian Gulf, are all politically
included within the Indian empire; while on the coast of the peninsula
itself, Portuguese and French settlements break at intervals the
continuous line of British territory.
Boundaries.
India is shut off from the rest of Asia on the north by a vast
mountainous region, known in the aggregate as the Himalayas, amid
which lie the independent states of Nepal and Bhutan, with the great
table-land of Tibet behind. The native principality of Kashmir
occupies the north-western angle of India. At this north-western angle
(in 35° N., 74° E.) the mountains curve southwards, and India is
separated by the well-marked ranges of the Safed Koh and Suliman from
Afghanistan; and by a southern continuation of lower hills from
Baluchistan. Still farther southwards, India is bounded along the W.
and S.W. by the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Turning northwards from
the southern extremity at Cape Comorin (8° 4´ 20´´ N., 77° 35´ 35´´
E.), the long sea-line of the Bay of Bengal forms the main part of its
eastern boundary. But on the north-east, as on the north-west, India
has again a land frontier. The Himalayan ranges at the north-eastern
angle (in about 28° N., 97° E.) throw off spurs and chains to the
south-east, which separate Eastern Bengal from Assam and Burma.
Stretching south-eastwards from the delta of the Irrawaddy, a confused
succession of little explored ranges separates the Burmese division of
Tenasserim from the native kingdom of Siam. The boundary line runs
down to Point Victoria at the extremity of Tenasserim (9° 59´ N., 98°
32´ E.), following in a somewhat rough manner the watershed between
the rivers of the British territory on the west and of Siam on the
east.
Three regions.
The empire included within these boundaries is rich in varieties of
scenery and climate, from the highest mountains in the world to vast
river deltas raised only a few inches above the level of the sea. It
practically forms a continent rather than a country. But if we could
look down on the whole from a balloon, we should find that India
(apart from Burma, for which see the separate article) consists of
three separate and well-defined tracts.
Himalayas.
The first of the three regions is the Himalaya (q.v.) mountains and
their offshoots to the southward, comprising a system of stupendous
ranges, the loftiest in the world. They are the _Emodus_ of Ptolemy
(among other names), and extend in the shape of a scimitar, with its
edge facing southwards, for a distance of 1500 m. along the northern
frontier of India. At the north-eastern angle of that frontier, the
Dihang river, the connecting link between the Tsanpo of Tibet and the
Brahmaputra of Assam, bursts through the main axis of the range. At
the opposite or north-western angle, the Indus in like manner pierces
the Himalayas, and turns southwards on its course through the Punjab.
This wild region is in many parts impenetrable to man, and nowhere
yields a passage for a modern army. Ancient and well-known trade
routes exist, by means of which merchandise from the Punjab finds its
way over heights of 18,000 ft. into Eastern Turkestan and Tibet. The
Muztagh (Snowy Mountain), the Karakoram (Black Mountain), and the
Changchenmo are the most famous of these passes.
The Himalayas not only form a double wall along the north of India,
but at both their eastern and western extremities send out ranges to
the south, which protect its north-eastern and north-western
frontiers. On the north-east, those offshoots, under the name of the
Naga and Patkoi mountains, &c., form a barrier between the civilized
districts of Assam and the wild tribes of Upper Burma. On the opposite
or north-western frontier of India, the mountainous offshoots run down
the entire length of the British boundaries from the Himalayas to the
sea. As they proceed southwards, their best marked ranges are in turn
known as the Safed Koh, the Suliman and the Hala mountains. These
massive barriers have peaks of great height, culminating in the
Takht-i-Suliman or Throne of Solomon, 11,317 ft. above the level of
the sea. But the mountain wall is pierced at the corner where it
strikes southwards from the Himalayas by an opening through which the
Kabul river flows into India. An adjacent opening, the Khyber Pass,
the Kurram Pass to the south of it, the Gomal Pass near Dera Ismail
Khan, the Tochi Pass between the two last-named, and the famous Bolan
Pass still farther south, furnish the gateways between India and
Afghanistan. The Hala, Brahui and Pab mountains, forming the southern
hilly offshoots between India and Baluchistan, have a much less
elevation.
River plains.
The wide plains watered by the Himalayan rivers form the second of the
three regions into which we have divided India. They extend from the
Bay of Bengal on the east to the Afghan frontier and the Arabian Sea
on the west, and contain the richest and most densely crowded
provinces of the empire. One set of invaders after another has from
prehistoric times entered by the passes at their eastern and
north-western frontiers. They followed the courses of the rivers, and
pushed the earlier comers southwards before them towards the sea.
About 167 millions of people now live on and around these river
plains, in the provinces known as the lieutenant-governorship of
Bengal, Eastern Bengal and Assam, the United Provinces, the Punjab,
Sind, Rajputana and other native states.
River systems.
The vast level tract which thus covers northern India is watered by
three distinct river systems. One of these systems takes its rise in
the hollow trough beyond the Himalayas, and issues through their
western ranges upon the Punjab as the Sutlej and Indus. The second of
the three river systems also takes its rise beyond the double wall of
the Himalayas, not very far from the sources of the Indus and the
Sutlej. It turns, however, almost due east instead of west, enters
India at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas, and becomes the
Brahmaputra of Eastern Bengal and Assam. These rivers collect the
drainage of the northern slopes of the Himalayas, and convey it, by
long and tortuous although opposite routes, into India. Indeed, the
special feature of the Himalayas is that they send down the rainfall
from their northern as well as from their southern slopes to the
Indian plains. The third river system of northern India receives the
drainage of their southern slopes, and eventually unites into the
mighty stream of the Ganges. In this way the rainfall, alike from the
northern and southern slopes of the Himalayas, pours down into the
river plains of Bengal.
Northern table-land.
The third division of India comprises the three-sided table-land which
covers the southern half or more strictly peninsular portion of India.
This tract, known in ancient times as the Deccan (Dakshin), literally
"the right hand or south," comprises the Central Provinces and Berar,
the presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and the territories of
Hyderabad, Mysore and other feudatory states. It had in 1901 an
aggregate population of about 100 millions.
The northern side rests on confused ranges, running with a general
direction of east to west, and known in the aggregate as the Vindhya
mountains. The Vindhyas, however, are made up of several distinct hill
systems. Two sacred peaks guard the flanks in the extreme east and
west, with a succession of ranges stretching 800 m. between. At the
western extremity, Mount Abu, famous for its exquisite Jain temples,
rises, as a solitary outpost of the Aravalli hills 5650 ft. above the
Rajputana plain, like an island out of the sea. On the extreme east,
Mount Parasnath--like Mount Abu on the extreme west, sacred to Jain
rites--rises to 4400 ft. above the level of the Gangetic plains. The
various ranges of the Vindhyas, from 1500 to over 4000 ft. high, form,
as it were, the northern wall and buttresses which support the central
table-land. Though now pierced by road and railway, they stood in
former times as a barrier of mountain and jungle between northern and
southern India, and formed one of the main obstructions to welding the
whole into an empire. They consist of vast masses of forests, ridges
and peaks, broken by cultivated valleys and broad high-lying plains.
Ghats.
The other two sides of the elevated southern triangle are known as the
Eastern and Western Ghats. These start southwards from the eastern and
western extremities of the Vindhya system, and run along the eastern
and western coasts of India. The Eastern Ghats stretch in fragmentary
spurs and ranges down the Madras presidency, here and there receding
inland and leaving broad level tracts between their base and the
coast. The Western Ghats form the great sea-wall of the Bombay
presidency, with only a narrow strip between them and the shore. In
many parts they rise in magnificent precipices and headlands out of
the ocean, and truly look like colossal "passes or landing-stairs"
(_gháts_) from the sea. The Eastern Ghats have an average elevation of
1500 ft. The Western Ghats ascend more abruptly from the sea to an
average height of about 3000 ft. with peaks up to 4700, along the
Bombay coast, rising to 7000 and even 8760 in the upheaved angle which
they unite to form with the Eastern Ghats, towards their southern
extremity.
The inner triangular plateau thus enclosed lies from 1000 to 3000 ft.
above the level of the sea. But it is dotted with peaks and seamed
with ranges exceeding 4000 ft. in height. Its best known hills are the
Nilgiris, with the summer capital of Madras, Ootacamund, 7000 ft.
above the sea. The highest point is Dodabetta Peak (8760 ft.), at the
upheaved southern angle.
Eastern Ghats.
On the eastern side of India, the Ghats form a series of spurs and
buttresses for the elevated inner plateau, rather than a continuous
mountain wall. They are traversed by a number of broad and easy
passages from the Madras coast. Through these openings the rainfall of
the southern half of the inner plateau reaches the sea. The drainage
from the northern or Vindhyan edge of the three-sided table-land
falls into the Ganges. The Nerbudda and Tapti carry the rainfall of
the southern slopes of the Vindhyas and of the Satpura hills, in
almost parallel lines, into the Gulf of Cambay. But from Surat, in 21°
9´, to Cape Comorin, in 8° 4´, no large river succeeds in reaching the
western coast from the interior table-land. The Western Ghats form, in
fact, a lofty unbroken barrier between the waters of the central
plateau and the Indian Ocean. The drainage has therefore to make its
way across India to the eastwards, now turning sharply round
projecting ranges, now tumbling down ravines, or rushing along the
valleys, until the rain which the Bombay sea-breeze has dropped upon
the Western Ghats finally falls into the Bay of Bengal. In this way
the three great rivers of the Madras Presidency, viz., the Godavari,
the Kistna and the Cauvery, rise in the mountains overhanging the
western coast, and traverse the whole breadth of the central
table-land before they reach the sea on the eastern shores of India.
Of the three regions of India thus briefly surveyed, the first, or the
Himalayas, lies for the most part beyond the British frontier, but a
knowledge of it supplies the key to the ethnology and history of
India. The second region, or the great river plains in the north,
formed the theatre of the ancient race-movements which shaped the
civilization and the political destinies of the whole Indian
peninsula. The third region, or the triangular table-land in the
south, has a character quite distinct from either of the other two
divisions, and a population which is now working out a separate
development of its own. Broadly speaking, the Himalayas are peopled by
Mongoloid tribes; the great river plains of Hindustan are still the
home of the Aryan race; the triangular table-land has formed an arena
for a long struggle between that gifted race from the north and what
is known as the Dravidian stock in the south.
_Geology._
Geologically, as well as physically, India consists of three distinct
regions, the Himalayas, the Peninsula, and--between these two--the
Indo-Gangetic plain with its covering of alluvium and wind-blown
sands. The contrast between the Himalayas and the Peninsula is one of
fundamental importance. The former, from the Tertiary period even to
the present day, has been a region of compression; the latter, since
the Carboniferous period at least, has been a region of equilibrium or
of tension. In the former even the Pliocene beds are crumpled and
folded, overfolded and overthrust in the most violent fashion; in the
latter none but the oldest beds, certainly none so late as the
Permian, have been crumpled or crushed--occasionally they are bent and
frequently they are faulted, but the faults, though sometimes of
considerable magnitude, are simple dislocations, unaccompanied by any
serious disturbance of the strata. The greater part of the Himalayan
region lay beneath the sea from early Palaeozoic times to the Eocene
period, and the deposits are accordingly marine; the Peninsula, on the
other hand, has been land since the Permian period at least--there is,
indeed, no evidence that it was ever beneath the sea--only on its
margins are any marine deposits to be found. It should, however, be
mentioned that in the eastern part of the Himalayas some of the beds
resemble those of the Peninsula, and it appears that a part of the old
Indian continent has here been involved in the folds of the mountain
chain.
The geology of the Himalayas being described elsewhere (see
HIMALAYAS), the following account deals only with the Indo-Gangetic
plain and the Peninsula.
The _Indo-Gangetic Plain_ covers an area of about 300,000 sq. m., and
varies in width from 90 to nearly 300 m. It rises very gradually from
the sea at either end; the lowest point of the watershed between the
Punjab rivers and the Ganges is about 924 ft. above the sea. This
point, by a line measured down the valley, but not following the
winding of the river, is about 1050 m. from the mouth of the Ganges
and 850 m. from the mouth of the Indus, so that the average
inclination of the plain, from the central watershed to the sea, is
only about 1 ft. per mile. It is less near the sea, where for long
distances there is no fall at all. Near the watershed it is generally
more; but there is here no ridge of high ground between the Indus and
the Ganges, and a very trifling change of level would often turn the
upper waters of one river into the other. It is not unlikely that such
changes have in past time occurred; and if so an explanation is
afforded of the occurrence of allied forms of freshwater dolphins
(_Platanista_) and of many other animals in the two rivers and in the
Brahmaputra.
The alluvial deposits of the plain, as made known by the boring at
Calcutta, prove a gradual depression of the area in recent times.
There are peat and forest beds, which must have grown quietly at the
surface, alternating with deposits of gravel, sand and clay. The
thickness of the delta deposit is unknown; 481 ft. was proved at the
bore hole, but probably this represents only a small part of the
deposit. Outside the delta, in the Bay of Bengal, is a deep depression
known as the "swatch of no ground"; all around it the soundings are
only of 5 to 10 fathoms, but they very rapidly deepen to over 300
fathoms. Mr J. Ferguson has shown that the sediment is carried away
from this area by the set of the currents; probably then it has
remained free from sediment whilst the neighbouring sea bottom has
gradually been filled up. If so, the thickness of the alluvium is at
least 1800 ft., and may be much more. At Lucknow a boring was driven
through the Gangetic alluvium to a depth of 1336 ft. from the surface,
or nearly 1000 ft. below sea-level. Even at this depth there was no
indication of an approach to the base of the alluvial deposits.
[Illustration: Map of India (Northern Part)
Scale 1:7,500,000]
[Illustration: Geological Map]
The deposits of the Indo-Gangetic plain are of modern date and the
formation of the depression which they fill is almost certainly
connected with the elevation of the Himalayas. Both movements are
probably still going on. The alluvial deposits prove depression in
quite recent geological times; and within the Himalayan region
earthquakes are still common, whilst in Peninsular India they are
rare.
_Peninsular India._--The oldest rocks of this region consist of
gneiss, granite and other crystalline rocks. They cover a large area
in Bengal and Madras and extend into Ceylon; and they are found also
in Bundelkhand and in Gujarat. Upon them rest the unfossiliferous
strata known to Indian geologists as the Transition and Vindhyan
series. The Transition rocks are often violently folded and are
frequently converted into schists. In the south, where they are known
as the Dharwar series, they form long and narrow bands running from
north-north-west to south-south-east across the ancient gneiss; and it
is interesting to note that all the quartz-reefs which contain gold in
paying quantities occur in the Dharwar series. The Transition rocks
are of great but unknown age. The Vindhyan rocks which succeed them
are also of ancient date. But long before the earliest Vindhyan rocks
were laid down the Transition rocks had been altered and contorted.
Occasionally the Vindhyan beds themselves are strongly folded, as in
the east of the Cuddapah basin; but this was the last folding of any
violence which has occurred in the Peninsula. In more recent times
there have been local disturbances, and large faults have in places
been formed; but the greater part of the Peninsula rocks are only
slightly disturbed. The Vindhyan series is generally sharply marked
off from older rocks; but in the Godavari valley there is no
well-defined line between them and the Transition rocks. The Vindhyan
beds are divided into two groups. The lower, with an estimated
thickness of only 2000 ft., or slightly more, cover a large
area--extending, with but little change of character, from the Sone
valley in one direction to Cuddapah, and in a diverging line to near
Bijapur--in each case a distance of over 700 m. The upper Vindhyans
cover a much smaller area, but attain a thickness of about 12,000 ft.
The Vindhyans are well-stratified beds of sandstone and shale, with
some limestones. As yet they have yielded no trace of fossils, and
their exact age is consequently unknown. They are however certainly
Pre-Permian, and it is most probable that they belong to the early
part of the Palaeozoic era. The total absence of fossils is a
remarkable fact, and one for which it is difficult to account, as the
beds are for the most part quite unaltered. Even if they are entirely
of freshwater origin, we should expect that some traces of life from
the waters or neighbouring land would be found.
The Gondwana series is in many respects the most interesting and
important series of the Indian Peninsula. The beds are almost entirely
of freshwater origin. Many subdivisions have been made, but here we
need only note the main division into two great groups: Lower
Gondwanas, 13,000 ft. thick; Upper Gondwanas, 11,000 ft. thick. The
series is mainly confined to the area of country between the Nerbudda
and the Sone on the north, and the Kistna on the south; but the
western part of this region is in great part covered by newer beds.
The lowest Gondwanas are very constant in character, wherever they are
found; the upper members of the lower division show more variation,
and this divergence of character in different districts becomes more
marked in the Upper Gondwana series. Disturbances have occurred in the
lower series before the formation of the upper.
The Gondwana beds contain fossils which are of very great interest. In
large part these consist of plants which grew near the margins of the
old rivers, and which were carried down by floods, and deposited in
the alluvial plains, deltas and estuarine areas of the old Gondwana
period. The plants of the Lower Gondwanas consist chiefly of acrogens
(_Equisetaceae_ and ferns) and gymnogens (cycads and conifers), the
former being the more abundant. The same classes of plants occur in
the Upper Gondwanas; but there the proportions are reversed, the
conifers, and still more the cycads, being more numerous than the
ferns, whilst the _Equisetaceae_ are but sparingly found. But even
within the limits of the Lower Gondwana series there are great
diversities of vegetation, three distinct floras occurring in the
three great divisions of that formation. In many respects the flora of
the highest of these three divisions (the Panchet group) is more
nearly related to that of the Upper Gondwanas than it is to the other
Lower Gondwana floras. Although during the Gondwana period the flora
of India differed greatly from that of Europe, it was strikingly
similar to the contemporaneous floras of South America, South Africa
and Australia. It is somewhat remarkable that this characteristically
southern flora, known as the Glossopteris Flora (from the name of one
of the most characteristic genera), has also been found in the north
of Russia.
One of the most interesting facts in the history of the Gondwana
series is the occurrence near the base (in the Talchir group) of large
striated boulders in a fine mud or silt, the boulders in one place
resting upon rock (of Vindhyan age) which is also striated. These beds
are the result of ice-action, and it is interesting to note that a
similar boulder bed is associated with the Glossopteris-bearing
deposits of Australia, South Africa and probably South America.
The Damuda series, the middle division of the Lower Gondwanas, is the
chief source of coal in Peninsular India, yielding more of that
mineral than all other formations taken together. The Karharbari group
is the only other coal-bearing formation of any value. The Damudas are
8400 ft. thick in the Raniganj coal-field, and about 10,000 ft. thick
in the Satpura basin. They consist of three divisions; coal occurs in
the upper and lower, ironstone (without coal) in the middle division.
The Raniganj coal-field is the most important in India. It covers an
area of about 500 sq. m. and is traversed by the Damuda river, along
which run the road from Calcutta to Benares and the East Indian
railway. From its situation and importance this coal-field is better
known than any other in India. The upper or Raniganj series (stated by
the Geological Survey to be 5000 ft. thick) contains eleven seams,
having a total thickness of 120 ft., in the eastern district, and
thirteen seams, 100 ft. thick, in the western district. The average
thickness of the seams worked is from 12 to 18 ft., but occasionally a
seam attains a great thickness--20 to 80 ft. The lower or Barakar
series (2000 ft. thick) contains four seams, of a total thickness of
69 ft. Compared with English coals those of this coal-field are of but
poor quality; they contain much ash, and are generally non-coking. The
seams of the lower series are the best, and some of these at
Sanktoria, near the Barakar river, are fairly good for coke and gas.
The best coal in India is in the small coal-field at Karharbari. The
beds there are lower in the series than those of the Raniganj field;
they belong to the upper part of the Talchir group, the lowest of the
Gondwana series. The coal-bearing beds cover an area of only about 11
sq. m.; there are three seams, varying from 9 to 33 ft. thick. The
lowest seam is the best, and this is as good as English steam coal.
This coal-field, now largely worked, is the property of the East
Indian railway, which is thus supplied with fuel at a cheaper rate
than any other railway in the world. Indian coal usually contains
phosphoric acid, which greatly lessens its value for iron-smelting.
The Damuda series, which, as we have seen, is the chief source of coal
in India, is also one of the most important sources of iron. The ore
occurs in the middle division, coal in the highest and lowest. The ore
is partly a clay ironstone, like that occurring in the Coal-measures
of England, partly an oxide of iron or haematite, and it generally
contains phosphorus. Excellent iron-ore occurs in the crystalline
rocks south of the Damuda river as also in many other parts of India.
Laterite (see below) is sometimes used as ore. It is very earthy and
of a low percentage; but it contains only a comparatively small
proportion of phosphorus.
The want of limestone for flux, within easy reach, is generally a
great drawback as regards iron-smelting in India. _Kankar_ or _ghutin_
(concretionary carbonate of lime) is collected for this purpose from
the river-beds and alluvial deposits. It sometimes contains as much as
70% of carbonate of lime; but generally the amount is much less and
the fluxing value proportionally diminished. The real difficulty in
India is to find the ore, the fuel, and the flux in sufficiently close
proximity to yield a profit.
Contemporaneously with the formation of the upper part of the Gondwana
series marine deposits of Jurassic age were laid down in Cutch.
Cretaceous beds of marine origin are also found in Cutch, Kathiawar
and the Nerbudda valley on the northern margin of the Peninsula, and
near Pondicherry and Trichinopoly on its south-eastern margin. There
is a striking difference between the Cretaceous faunas of the two
areas, the fossils from the north being closely allied to those of
Europe, while those of the south (Pondicherry and Trichinopoly) are
very different and are much more nearly related to those from the
Cretaceous of Natal. It is now very generally believed that in
Jurassic and Cretaceous times a great land-mass stretched from South
Africa through Madagascar to India, and that the Cretaceous deposits
of Cutch, &c., were laid down upon its northern shore, and those of
Pondicherry and Trichinopoly upon its southern shore. The land
probably extended as far as Assam, for the Cretaceous fossils of Assam
are similar to those of the south.
The enormous mass of basaltic rock known as the Deccan Trap is of
great importance in the geological structure of the Indian Peninsula.
It now covers about 200,000 sq. m., and formerly extended over a much
wider area. Where thickest, the traps are at least 6000 ft. thick.
They form some of the most striking physical features of the
Peninsula, many of the most prominent hill ranges having been carved
out of the basaltic flows. The great volcanic outbursts which produced
this trap commenced in the Cretaceous period and lasted on into the
Eocene period.
Laterite is a ferruginous and argillaceous rock, varying from 30 to
200 ft. thick, which often occurs over the trap area and also over the
gneiss. As a rule it makes rather barren land; it is highly porous,
and the rain rapidly sinks into it. Laterite may be roughly divided
into two kinds, high-level and low-level laterites. It has usually
been formed by the decomposition _in situ_ of the rock on which it
rests, but it is often broken up and re-deposited elsewhere.
_Meteorology._
The great peninsula of India, with its lofty mountain ranges behind
and its extensive seaboard exposed to the first violence of the winds
of two oceans, forms an exceptionally valuable and interesting field
for the study of meteorological phenomena.
Himalayas.
From the gorge of the Indus to that of the Brahmaputra, a distance of
1400 m., the Himalayas form an unbroken watershed, the northern flank
of which is drained by the upper valleys of these two rivers; while
the Sutlej, starting from the southern foot of the Kailas Peak, breaks
through the watershed, dividing it into two very unequal portions,
that to the north-west being the smaller. The average elevation of the
Himalaya crest may be taken at not less than 19,000 ft., and therefore
equal to the height of the lower half of the atmosphere; and indeed
few of the passes are under 16,000 or 17,000 ft. Across this mountain
barrier there appears to be a constant flow of air, more active in the
day-time than at night, northwards to the arid plateau of Tibet. There
is no reason to believe that any transfer of air takes place across
the Himalayas in a southerly direction, unless indeed in those most
elevated regions of the atmosphere which lie beyond the range of
observation; but a nocturnal flow of cooled air, from the southern
slopes, is felt as a strong wind where the rivers debouch on the
plains, more especially in the early morning hours; and this probably
contributes in some degree to lower the mean temperature of that belt
of the plains which fringes the mountain zone.
Indus plain.
At the foot of the great mountain barrier, and separating it from the
more ancient land which now forms the highlands of the peninsula, a
broad plain, for the most part alluvial, stretches from sea to sea. On
the west, in the dry region, this is occupied partly by the alluvial
deposits of the Indus and its tributaries and the saline swamps of
Cutch, partly by the rolling sands and rocky surface of the desert of
Jaisalmer and Bikaner, and the more fertile tracts to the eastward
watered by the Luni. Over the greater part of this region rain is of
rare occurrence; and not infrequently more than a year passes without
a drop falling on the parched surface. On its eastern margin, however,
in the neighbourhood of the Aravalli hills, and again in the northern
Punjab, rain is more frequent, occurring both in the south-west
monsoon and also at the opposite season in the cold weather. As far
south as Sirsa and Multan the average rainfall does not much exceed 7
in.
Gangetic plain.
The alluvial plain of the Punjab passes into that of the Gangetic
valley without visible interruption. Up or down this plain, at
opposite seasons, sweep the monsoon winds, in a direction at right
angles to that of their nominal course; and thus vapour which has been
brought by winds from the Bay of Bengal is discharged as snow and rain
on the peaks and hillsides of the Western Himalayas. Nearly the whole
surface is under cultivation, and it ranks among the most productive
as well as the most densely populated regions of the world. The
rainfall diminishes from 100 in. in the south-east corner of the
Gangetic delta to less than 30 in. at Agra and Delhi, and there is an
average difference of from 15 to 25 in. between the northern and
southern borders of the plain.
Eastern Bengal.
Eastward from the Bengal delta, two alluvial plains stretch up between
the hills which connect the Himalayan system with that of the Burmese
peninsula. The first, or the valley of Assam and the Brahmaputra, is
long and narrow, bordered on the north by the Himalayas, on the south
by the lower plateau of the Garo, Khasi and Naga hills. The other,
short and broad, and in great part occupied by swamps and _jhils_,
separates the Garo, Khasi and Naga hills from those of Tippera and the
Lushai country. The climate of these plains is damp and equable, and
the rainfall is prolonged and generally heavy, especially on the
southern slopes of the hills. A meteorological peculiarity of some
interest has been noticed, more especially at the stations of Sibsagar
and Silchar, viz. the great range of the diurnal variation of
barometric pressure during the afternoon hours,--which is the more
striking, since at Rurki, Lahore, and other stations near the foot of
the Western Himalayas this range is less than in the open plains.
Central table-land.
The highlands of the peninsula, which are cut off from the encircling
ranges by the broad Indo-Gangetic plain, are divided into two unequal
parts by an almost continuous chain of hills running across the
country from west by south to east by north, just south of the Tropic
of Cancer. This chain may be regarded as a single geographical
feature, forming one of the principal watersheds of the peninsula, the
waters to the north draining chiefly into the Nerbudda and the Ganges,
those to the south into the Tapti, the Mahanadi, the Godavari and some
smaller streams. In a meteorological point of view it is of
considerable importance. Together with the two parallel valleys of the
Nerbudda and Tapti, which drain the flanks of its western half, it
gives, at opposite seasons of the year, a decided easterly and
westerly direction to the winds of this part of India, and condenses a
tolerably copious rainfall during the south-west monsoon.
Separated from this chain by the valley of the Nerbudda on the west,
and that of the Sone on the east, the plateau of Malwa and Baghelkhand
occupies the space intervening between these valleys and the Gangetic
plain. On the western edge of the plateau are the Aravalli hills,
which run from near Ahmedabad up to the neighbourhood of Delhi, and
include one hill, Mount Abu, over 5000 ft. in height. This range
exerts an important influence on the direction of the wind, and also
on the rainfall. At Ajmer, an old meteorological station at the
eastern foot of the range, the wind is predominantly south-west, and
there and at Mount Abu the south-west monsoon rains are a regularly
recurrent phenomenon,--which can hardly be said of the region of
scanty and uncertain rainfall that extends from the western foot of
the range and merges in the Bikaner desert.
Southern plateau.
The peninsula south of the Satpura range consists chiefly of the
triangular plateau of the Deccan, terminating abruptly on the west in
the Sahyadri range (Western Ghats), and shelving to the east (Eastern
Ghats). This plateau is swept by the south-west monsoon, but not until
it has surmounted the western barrier of the Ghats; and hence the
rainfall is, as a rule, light at Poona and places similarly situated
under the lee of the range, and but moderate over the more easterly
parts of the plateau. The rains, however, are prolonged some three or
four weeks later than in tracts to the north of the Satpuras, since
they are also brought by the easterly winds which blow from the Bay of
Bengal in October and the early part of November, when the recurved
southerly wind ceases to blow up the Gangetic valley, and sets towards
the south-east coast.
Southern India.
At the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats rises the bold
triangular plateau of the Nilgiris, and to the south of them come the
Anamalais, the Palnis, and the hills of Travancore. These ranges are
separated from the Nilgiris by a broad depression or pass known as the
Palghat Gap, some 25 m. wide, the highest point of which is only 1500
ft. above the sea. This gap affords a passage to the winds which
elsewhere are barred by the hills of the Ghat chain. The country to
the east of the gap receives the rainfall of the south-west monsoon;
and during the north-east monsoon ships passing Beypur meet with a
stronger wind from the land than is felt elsewhere on the Malabar
coast. In the strip of low country that fringes the peninsula below
the Ghats the rainfall is heavy and the climate warm and damp, the
vegetation being dense and characteristically tropical, and the steep
slopes of the Ghats, where they have not been artificially cleared,
thickly clothed with forest.
Burma.
In Lower Burma the western face of the Arakan Yoma hills, like that of
the Western Ghats in India, is exposed to the full force of the
south-western monsoon, and receives a very heavy rainfall. At Sandoway
this amounts to an annual mean of 212 in. It diminishes to the
northwards, but even at Chittagong it is over 104 in. annually.
The country around Mandalay, as well as the hill country to the north,
has suffered from severe earthquakes, one of which destroyed Ava in
1839. The general meridional direction of the ranges and valleys
determines the direction of the prevailing surface winds, this being,
however, subject to many local modifications. But it would appear that
throughout the year there is, with but slight interruption, a steady
upper current from the south-west, such as has been already noticed
over the Himalayas. The rainfall in the lower part of the Irrawaddy
valley, viz. the delta and the neighbouring part of the province of
Pegu, is very heavy; and the climate is mild and equable at all
seasons. But higher up the valley, and especially north of Pegu, the
country is drier, and is characterized by a less luxuriant vegetation
and a retarded and more scanty rainfall.
Climate.
Within the boundaries of India almost any extreme of climate that is
known to the tropics or the temperate zone can be found. It is
influenced from outside by two adjoining areas. On the north, the
Himalaya range and the plateau of Afghanistan shut it off from the
climate of central Asia, and give it a continental climate, the
characteristics of which are the prevalence of land winds, great
dryness of the air, large diurnal range of temperature, and little or
no precipitation. On the south the ocean gives it an oceanic climate,
the chief features of which are great uniformity of temperature, small
diurnal range of temperature, great dampness of the air, and more or
less frequent rain. The continental type of weather prevails over
almost the whole of India from December to May, and the oceanic type
from June to November, thus giving rise to the two great divisions of
the year, the dry season or north-east monsoon, and the rainy season
or south-west monsoon. India thus becomes the type of a tropical
monsoon climate. For the origin of the monsoon currents and their
distribution see MONSOON.
The two monsoon periods are divided by the change of temperature, due
to solar action upon the earth's surface, into two separate seasons;
and thus the Indian year may be divided into four seasons: the cold
season, including the months of January and February; the hot season,
comprising the months of March, April and May; the south-west monsoon
period, including the months of June, July, August, September and
October; and the retreating monsoon period, including the months of
November and December. The temperature is nearly constant in southern
India the whole year round, but in northern India, where the extremes
of both heat and cold are greatest, the variation is very large.
The cold weather.
In the cold season the mean temperature averages about 30° lower in
the Punjab than in southern India. In the Punjab, the United
Provinces, and northern India generally the climate resembles that of
the Riviera with a brilliant cloudless sky and cool dry weather. This
is the time for the tourist to visit India. In south India it is
warmer on the west coast than on the east, and the maximum temperature
is found round the headwaters of the Kistna. Calcutta, Bombay and
Madras all possess the equable climate that is induced by proximity to
the sea, but Calcutta enjoys a cold season which is not to be found in
the other presidency towns, while the hot season is more unendurable
there.
The hot weather.
The hot season begins officially in the Punjab on the 15th of March,
and from that date there is a steady rise in the temperature, induced
by the fiery rays of the sun upon the baking earth, until the break of
the rains in June. During this season the interior of the peninsula
and northern India is greatly heated; and the contrast of temperature
is not between northern and southern India, but between the interior
of India and the coast districts and adjacent seas. The greater part
of the Deccan and the Central Provinces are included within the
hottest area, though in May the highest temperatures are found in
Upper Sind, north-west Rajputana, and south-west Punjab. At Jacobabad
the thermometer sometimes rises to 125° in the shade.
The monsoon period.
The south-west monsoon currents usually set in during the first
fortnight of June on the Bombay and Bengal coasts, and give more or
less general rain in every part of India during the next three months.
But the distribution of the rainfall is very uneven. On the face of
the Western Ghats, and on the Khasi hills, overlooking the Bay of
Bengal, where the mountains catch the masses of vapour as it rises off
the sea, the rainfall is enormous. At Cherrapunji in the Khasi hills
it averages upwards of 500 in. a year. The Bombay monsoon, after
surmounting the Ghats, blows across the peninsula as a west and
sometimes in places a north-west wind; but it leaves with very little
rain a strip 100 to 200 m. in width in the western Deccan parallel
with the Ghats, and it is this part of the Deccan, together with the
Mysore table-land and the Carnatic, that is most subject to drought.
Similarly the Bengal monsoon passes by the Coromandel coast and the
Carnatic with an occasional shower, taking a larger volume to
Masulipatam and Orissa, and abundant rain to Bengal, Assam and Cachar.
The same current also supplies with rain the broad band across India,
which includes the Satpura range, Chota Nagpur, the greater part of
the Central Provinces and Central India, Orissa and Bengal. Rainfall
rapidly diminishes to the north-west from that belt. A branch of the
Bombay current blows pretty steadily through Rajputana to the Punjab,
carrying some rain to the latter province. But the greater part of
north-west India is served as a rule by cyclonic storms between the
two currents. In September the force of the monsoon begins rapidly to
decline, and after about the middle of the month it ceases to carry
rain to the greater part of north-western India. In its rear springs
up a gentle steady north-east wind, which gradually extends over the
Bay of Bengal, and is known as the north-east monsoon. A wind similar
in character, but rather more easterly in direction, simultaneously
takes possession of the Arabian Sea. The months of November and
December form a transition period between the monsoon and the cold
season. The most unhealthy period of the year follows immediately
after the rains, when malaria is prevalent, especially in northern
India.
_Flora._
Unlike many other large geographical areas, India is remarkable for
having no distinctive botanical features peculiar to itself. It
differs conspicuously in this respect from such countries as Australia
or South Africa. Its vegetation is in point of fact of a composite
character, and is constituted by the meeting and more or less blending
of adjoining floras,--those of Persia and the south-eastern
Mediterranean area to the north-west, of Siberia to the north, of
China to the east, and of Malaya to the south-east. Regarded broadly,
four tolerably distinct types present themselves.
Himalayas.
1. The upper levels of the Himalayas slope northwards gradually to the
Tibetan uplands, over which the Siberian temperate vegetation ranges.
This is part of the great temperate flora which, with locally
individualized species, but often with identical genera, ranges over
the whole of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. In the
western Himalayas this upland flora is marked by a strong admixture of
European species, such as the columbine (_Aquilegia_) and hawthorn
(_Crataegus Oxyacantha_). These disappear rapidly eastward, and are
scarcely found beyond Kumaon. The base of the Himalayas is occupied by
a narrow belt forming an extreme north-western extension of the
Malayan type described below. Above that there is a rich temperate
flora which in the eastern chain may be regarded as forming an
extension of that of northern China, gradually assuming westwards more
and more of a European type. _Magnolia_, _Aucuba_, _Abelia_ and
_Skimmia_ may be mentioned as examples of Chinese genera found in the
eastern Himalayas, and the tea-tree grows wild in Assam. The same
coniferous trees are common to both parts of the range. _Pinus
longifolia_ extends to the Hindu-Kush; _P. excelsa_ is found
universally except in Sikkim, and has its European analogue in _P.
Peuce_, found in the mountains of Greece. _Abies smithiana_ extends
into Afghanistan; _Abies webbiana_ forms dense forests at altitudes of
8000 to 12,000 ft., and ranges from Bhutan to Kashmir; several
junipers and the common yew (_Taxus baccata_) also occur. The deodar
(_Cedrus Deodara_), which is indigenous to the mountains of
Afghanistan and the north-west Himalaya, is nearly allied to the
Atlantic cedar and to the cedar of Lebanon, a form of which is found
in Cyprus. A notable further instance of the connexion of the western
Himalayan flora with that of Europe is the holm oak (_Quercus Ilex_),
which is characteristic of the Mediterranean region.
North-west.
2. The north-western area is best marked in Sind and the Punjab, where
the climate is very dry (the rainfall averaging less than 15 in.), and
where the soil, though fertile, is wholly dependent on irrigation for
its cultivation. The flora is a poor one in number of species, and is
essentially identical with that of Persia, southern Arabia and Egypt.
The low scattered jungle contains such characteristic species as
_Capparis aphylla_, _Acacia arabica_ (babul), _Populus euphratica_
(the "willows" of Ps. cxxxvii. 2), _Salvadora persica_ (erroneously
identified by Royle with the mustard of Matt. xiii. 31), tamarisk,
_Zizyphus_, _Lotus_, &c. The dry flora extends somewhat in a
south-east direction, and then blends insensibly with that of the
western peninsula; some species representing it are found in the upper
Gangetic plain, and a few are widely distributed in dry parts of the
country.
Assam and Malayan peninsula.
3. For the Malayan area, which Sir Joseph Hooker describes as forming
"the bulk of the flora of the perennially humid regions of India, as
of the whole Malayan peninsula, Upper Assam valley, the Khasi
mountains, the forests of the base of the Himalaya from the
Brahmaputra to Nepal, of the Malabar coast, and of Ceylon," see ASSAM,
CEYLON and MALAY PENINSULA.
Western India.
4. The western India type is difficult to characterize, and is in many
respects intermediate between the two just preceding. It occupies a
comparatively dry area, with a rainfall under 75 in. In respect to
positive affinities, Sir Joseph Hooker pointed out some relations with
the flora of tropical Africa as evidenced by the prevalence of such
genera as _Grewia_ and _Impatiens_, and the absence, common to both
countries, of oaks and pines which abound in the Malayan archipelago.
The annual vegetation which springs up in the rainy season includes
numerous genera, such as _Sida_ and _Indigofera_, which are largely
represented both in Africa and Hindustan. Palms also in both countries
are scanty, the most notable in southern India being the wild date
(_Phoenix sylvestris_); _Borassus_ and the coco-nut are cultivated.
The forests, though occasionally very dense, as in the Western Ghats,
are usually drier and more open than those of the Malayan type, and
are often scrubby. The most important timber trees are the _tún_
(_Cedrela Toona_), _sál_ (_Shorea robusta_), the present area of which
forms two belts separated by the Gangetic plain; satin wood
(_Chloroxylon Swietenia_), common in the drier parts of the peninsula;
sandal-wood, especially characteristic of Mysore; iron-wood (_Mesua
ferrea_), and teak (_Tectona grandis_).
_Fauna._
Lion.
_Mammals._--First among the wild animals of India must be mentioned
the lion (_Felis leo_), which is known to have been not uncommon
within historical times in Hindustan proper and the Punjab. At present
the lion is confined to the Gir, or rocky hill-desert and forest of
Kathiawar. A peculiar variety is there found, marked by the absence of
a mane; but whether this variety deserves to be classed as a distinct
species, naturalists have not yet determined. These lions at one time
were almost extinct, but after being preserved since about 1890 by the
Nawab of Junagarh, they have once more become comparatively plentiful.
A good lion, measures from 9 to 9½ ft. in length.
Tiger.
The characteristic beast of prey in India is the tiger (_F. tigris_),
which is found in every part of the country, from the slopes of the
Himalayas to the Sundarbans swamps. The average length of a tiger from
nose to tip of tail is 9 ft. to 10 ft. for tigers, and 8 ft. to 9 ft.
for tigresses, but a tiger of 12 ft. 4 in. has been shot. The advance
of cultivation, even more than the incessant attacks of sportsmen, has
gradually caused the tiger to become a rare animal in large tracts of
country; but it is scarcely probable that he will ever be exterminated
from India. The malarious _tarái_ fringing the Himalayas, the
uninhabitable swamps of the Gangetic delta, and the wide jungles of
the central plateau are at present the chief home of the tiger. His
favourite food appears to be deer, antelope and wild hog. When these
abound he will disregard domestic cattle. Indeed, the natives are
disposed to consider him as in some sort their protector, as he saves
their crops from destruction by the wild animals on which he feeds.
But when once he develops a taste for human blood, then the slaughter
he works becomes truly formidable. The confirmed man-eater, which is
generally an old beast, disabled from overtaking his usual prey, seems
to accumulate his tale of victims in sheer cruelty rather than for
food. A single tiger is known to have killed 108 people in the course
of three years. Another killed an average of about 80 persons per
annum. A third caused thirteen villages to be abandoned, and 250 sq.
m. of land to be thrown out of cultivation. A fourth, in 1869, killed
127 people, and stopped a public road for many weeks, until the
opportune arrival of an English sportsman, who at last killed him.
Such cases are, of course, exceptional, and generally refer to a
period long past, but they explain and justify the superstitious awe
with which the tiger is regarded by the natives. The favourite mode of
shooting the tiger is from the back of elephants, or from elevated
platforms (_macháns_) of boughs in the jungle. In Central India they
are shot on foot. In Assam they are sometimes speared from boats, and
in the Himalayas they are said to be ensnared by bird-lime. Rewards
are given by government to native _shikáris_ for the heads of tigers,
varying in time and place according to the need. In 1903 the number of
persons killed by tigers in the whole of India was 866, while forty
years previously 700 people were said to be killed annually in Bengal
alone.
Leopard.
The leopard or panther (_F. pardus_) is far more common than the tiger
in all parts of India, and at least equally destructive to life and
property. The greatest length of the leopard is about 7 ft. 6 in. A
black variety, as beautiful as it is rare, is sometimes found in the
extreme south of the peninsula, and also in Java.
The cheetah or hunting leopard (_Cynaelurus jubatus_) must be
carefully distinguished from the leopard proper. This animal appears
to be a native only of the Deccan, where it is trained for hunting the
antelope. In some respects it approaches the dog more nearly than the
cat tribe. Its limbs are long, its hair rough, and its claws blunt and
only partially retractile. The speed with which it bounds upon its
prey, when loosed from the cart, exceeds the swiftness of any other
mammal. If it misses its first attack, it scarcely ever attempts to
follow, but returns to its master. Among other species of the family
_Felidae_ found in India may be mentioned the ounce or snow leopard
(_F. uncia_), the clouded leopard (_F. nebulosa_), the marbled cat
(_F. marmorata_), the jungle cat (_F. chaus_), and the viverrine cat
(_F. viverrina_).
Wolf tribe.
Wolves (_Canis lupus_) abound throughout the open country, but are
rare in the wooded districts. Their favourite prey is sheep, but they
are also said to run down antelopes and hares, or rather catch them by
lying in ambush. Instances of their attacking man are not uncommon,
and the story of Romulus and Remus has had its counterpart in India
within comparatively recent times. The Indian wolf has a dingy
reddish-white fur, some of the hairs being tipped with black. By some
naturalists it is regarded as a distinct species, under the name of
_Canis pallipes_. Three distinct varieties, the white, the red and the
black wolf, are found in the Tibetan Himalayas. The Indian fox
(_Vulpes bengalensis_) is comparatively rare, but the jackal (_C.
aureus_) abounds everywhere, making night hideous by its
never-to-be-forgotten yells. The jackal, and not the fox, is usually
the animal hunted by the packs of hounds occasionally kept by
Europeans.
Dog.
The wild dog, or dhole (_Cyon_), is found in all the wilder jungles of
India, including Assam and Lower Burma. Its characteristic is that it
hunts in packs, sometimes containing thirty dogs, and does not give
tongue. When once a pack of wild dogs has put up any animal, that
animal's doom is sealed. They do not leave it for days, and finally
bring it to bay, or run it down exhausted. A peculiar variety of wild
dog exists in the Karen hills of Burma, thus described from a specimen
in confinement. It was black and white, as hairy as a skye-terrier,
and as large as a medium-sized spaniel. It had an invariable habit of
digging a hole in the ground, into which it crawled backwards,
remaining there all day with only its nose and ferrety eyes visible.
Among other dogs of India are the pariah, which is merely a mongrel,
run wild and half starved; the poligar dog, an immense creature
peculiar to the south; the greyhound, used for coursing; and the
mastiff of Tibet and Bhutan. The striped hyaena (_Hyaena striata_) is
common, being found wherever the wolf is absent. Like the wolf, it is
very destructive both to the flocks and to children.
Bear.
Of bears, the common black or sloth bear (_Melursus ursinus_) is
common throughout India wherever rocky hills and forests occur. It is
distinguished by a white horse-shoe mark on its breast. Its food
consists of ants, honey and fruit. When disturbed it will attack man,
and it is a dangerous antagonist, for it always strikes at the face.
The Himalayan or Tibetan sun bear (_Ursus torquatus_) is found along
the north, from the Punjab to Assam. During the summer it remains high
up in the mountains, near the limit of snow, but in the winter it
descends to 5000 ft. and even lower. Its congener, the Malayan sun
bear (_U. malayanus_), is found in Lower Burma.
Elephant.
The elephant (_Elephas indicus_) is found in many parts of India,
though not in the north-west. Contrary to what might be anticipated
from its size and from the habits of its African cousin, the Indian
elephant is now, at any rate, an inhabitant, not of the plains, but of
the hills; and even on the hills it is usually found among the higher
ridges and plateaus, and not in the valleys. From the peninsula of
India the elephant has been gradually exterminated, being only found
now in the primeval forests of Coorg, Mysore and Travancore, and in
the tributary state of Orissa. It still exists in places along the
_tarái_ or submontane fringe of the Himalayas. The main source of
supply at the present time is the confused mass of hills which forms
the north-east boundary of British India, from Assam to Burma. Two
varieties are there distinguished, the _gunda_ or tusker, and the
_makna_ or _hine_, which has no tusks. The reports of the height of
the elephant, like those of its intelligence, seem to be exaggerated.
The maximum is probably 12 ft. If hunted, the elephant must be
attacked on foot, and the sport is therefore dangerous, especially as
the animal has but few parts vulnerable to a bullet. The regular mode
of catching elephants is by means of a _keddah_, or gigantic stockade,
into which a wild herd is driven, then starved into submission, and
tamed by animals already domesticated. The practice of capturing them
in pitfalls is discouraged as cruel and wasteful. Elephants now form a
government monopoly everywhere in India. The shooting of them is
prohibited, except when they become dangerous to man or destructive to
the crops; and the right of capturing them is only leased out upon
conditions. A special law, under the title of "The Elephants
Preservation Act" (No. VI. of 1879), regulates this licensing system.
Whoever kills, captures or injures an elephant, or attempts to do so,
without a licence, is punishable by a fine of 500 rupees for the first
offence; and a similar fine, together with six months' imprisonment,
for a second offence. Though the supply is decreasing, elephants
continue to be in great demand. Their chief use is in the timber trade
and for government transport. They are also bought up by native chiefs
at high prices for purposes of ostentation.
Rhinoceros.
Of the rhinoceros, three distinct varieties are enumerated, two with a
single and one with a double horn. The most familiar is the
_Rhinoceros unicornis_, commonly found in the Brahmaputra valley. It
has but one horn, and is covered with massive folds of naked skin. It
sometimes attains a height of 6 ft.; its horn, which is much prized by
the natives for medicinal purposes, seldom exceeds 14 in. in length.
It frequents swampy, shady spots, and wallows in mud like a pig. The
traditional antipathy of the rhinoceros to the elephant seems to be
mythical. The Javan rhinoceros (_R. sondaicus_) is found in the
Sundarbans and also in Burma. It also has but one horn, and mainly
differs from the foregoing in being smaller, and having less prominent
"shields." The Sumatran rhinoceros (_R. sumatrensis_) is found from
Chittagong southwards through Burma. It has two horns and a bristly
coat.
Wild hog.
The wild hog (_Sus cristatus_) is well known as affording the most
exciting sport in the world--"pig-sticking." It frequents cultivated
situations, and is the most mischievous enemy of the villager. A rare
animal, called the pigmy hog (_S. salvanius_), exists in the _tarái_
of Nepal and Sikkim, and has been shot in Assam. Its height is only 10
in., and its weight does not exceed 12 lb.
Wild ass.
The wild ass (_Equus hemionus_) is confined to the sandy deserts of
Sind and Cutch, where, from its speed and timidity, it is almost
unapproachable.
Sheep and goats.
Many wild species of the sheep and goat tribe are to be found in the
Himalayan ranges. The _Ovis ammon_ and _O. poli_ are Tibetan rather
than Indian species. The _urial_ and the _shapu_ are kindred species
of wild sheep (_Ovis vignei_), found respectively in Ladakh and the
Suleiman range. The former comes down to 2000 ft. above the sea, the
latter is never seen at altitudes lower than 12,000 ft. The _barhal_,
or blue wild sheep (_O. nahura_), and the _markhor_ and _tahr_ (both
wild goats), also inhabit the Himalayas. A variety of the ibex is also
found there, as well as in the highest ranges of southern India. The
_sarau_ (_Nemorhaedus bubalinus_), allied to the chamois, has a wide
range in the mountains of the north, from the Himalayas to Assam and
Burma.
Antelopes.
The antelope tribe is represented by comparatively few species, as
compared with the great number peculiar to Africa. The antelope proper
(_Antilope_), the "black buck" of sportsmen, is very generally
distributed. Its special habitat is salt plains, as on the coast-line
of Gujarat and Orissa, where herds of fifty does may be seen,
accompanied by a single buck. The doe is of a light fawn colour and
has no horns. The colour of the buck is a deep brown-black above,
sharply marked off from the white of the belly. His spiral horns,
twisted for three or four turns like a corkscrew, often reach the
length of 30 in. The flesh is dry and unsavoury, but is permitted meat
for Hindus, even of the Brahman caste. The _nílgai_, or blue cow
(_Boselaephus tragocamelus_) is also widely distributed, but specially
abounds in Hindustan Proper and Gujarat. As with the antelope, the
male alone has the dark-blue colour. The _nílgai_ is held peculiarly
sacred by Hindus, from its fancied kinship to the cow, and on this
account its destructive inroads upon the crops are tolerated. The
four-horned antelope (_Tetracerus quadricornis_) and the gazelle
(_Gazella bennetti_), the chinkara or "ravine deer" of sportsmen, are
also found in India.
Deer.
The king of the deer tribe is the _sámbhar_ or _jarau_ (_Cervus
unicolor_), erroneously called "elk" by sportsmen. It is found on the
forest-clad hills in all parts of the country. It is of a deep-brown
colour, with hair on its neck almost like a mane; and it stands nearly
5 ft. high, with spreading antlers nearly 3 ft. in length. Next in
size is the swamp deer or _bara-singha_, signifying "twelve points"
(_C. duvauceli_), which is common in Lower Bengal and Assam. The
_chitál_ or spotted deer (_C. axis_) is generally admitted to be the
most beautiful inhabitant of the Indian jungles. Other species include
the hog deer (_C. porcinus_), the barking deer or muntjac (_Cervulus
muntjac_), and the chevrotain or mouse deer (_Tragulus meminna_). The
musk deer (_Moschus moschiferus_) is confined to Tibet.
Bison.
Buffalo.
The ox tribe is represented in India by some of its noblest species.
The _gaur_ (_Bos gaurus_), the "bison" of sportsmen, is found in all
the hill jungles of the country, in the Western Ghats, in Central
India, in Assam, and in Burma. This animal sometimes attains the
height of 20 hands (close on 7 ft.), measuring from the hump above the
shoulder. Its short curved horns and skull are enormously massive. Its
colour is dark chestnut, or coffee-brown. From the difficult nature of
its habitat, and from the ferocity with which it charges an enemy, the
pursuit of the bison is no less dangerous and no less exciting than
that of the tiger or the elephant. Akin to the gaur, though not
identical, are the _gayál_ or _mithun_ (_B. frontalis_), confined to
the hills of the north-east frontier, where it is domesticated for
sacrificial purposes by the aboriginal tribes, and the _tsine_ or
_banting_ (_B. sondaicus_), found in Burma. The wild buffalo (_Bos
bubalus_) differs from the tame buffalo only in being larger and more
fierce. The finest specimens come from Assam and Burma. The horns of
the bull are thicker than those of the cow, but the horns of the cow
are larger. A head has been known to measure 13 ft. 6 in. in
circumference, and 6 ft. 6 in. between the tips. The greatest height
is 6 ft. The colour is a slaty black; the hide is immensely thick,
with scanty hairs. Alone perhaps of all wild animals in India, the
buffalo will charge unprovoked. Even tame buffaloes seem to have an
inveterate dislike to Europeans.
Rat tribe.
The rat and mouse family is only too numerous. Conspicuous in it is
the loathsome bandicoot (_Nesocia bandicota_), which sometimes
measures 2 ft. in length, including its tail, and weighs 3 lb. It
burrows under houses, and is very destructive to plants, fruit and
even poultry. More interesting is the tree mouse (_Vandeleusia_),
about 7 in. long, which makes its nest in palms and bamboos. The field
rats (_Mus mettada_) occasionally multiply so exceedingly as to
diminish the out-turn of the local harvest, and to require special
measures for their destruction.
Birds.
_Birds._--The ornithology of India, though it is not considered so
rich in specimens of gorgeous and variegated plumage as that of other
tropical regions, contains many splendid and curious varieties. Some
are clothed in nature's gay attire, others distinguished by strength,
size and fierceness. The parrot tribe is the most remarkable for
beauty. Among birds of prey, four vultures are found, including the
common scavengers (_Gyps indicus_ and _G. bengalensis_). The eagles
comprise many species, but none to surpass the golden eagle of Europe.
Of falcons, there are the peregrine (_F. peregrinus_), the _shain_
(_F. peregrinator_), and the _lagar_ (_F. jugger_), which are all
trained by the natives for hawking; of hawks, the _shikara_ (_Astur
badius_), the goshawk (_A. palumbarius_), and the sparrow-hawk
(_Accipiter nisus_). Kingfishers of various kinds and herons are
sought for their plumage. No bird is more popular with natives than
the _maina_ (_Acridotheres tristis_), a member of the starling family,
which lives contentedly in a cage, and can be taught to pronounce
words, especially the name of the god Rama. Water-fowl are especially
numerous. Of game-birds, the floriken (_Sypheotis aurita_) is valued
as much for its rarity as for the delicacy of its flesh. Snipe
(_Gallinago coelestis_) abound at certain seasons, in such numbers
that one gun has been known to make a bag of one hundred brace in a
day. Pigeons, partridges, quail, plover, duck, teal, sheldrake,
widgeon--all of many varieties--complete the list of small game. The
red jungle fowl (_Gallus ferrugineus_), supposed to be the ancestor of
our own poultry, is not good eating; and the same may be said of the
peacock (_Pavo cristatus_), except when young. The pheasant does not
occur in India Proper, though a white variety is found in Burma.
Reptiles.
_Reptiles._--The serpent tribe in India is numerous; they swarm in all
the gardens, and intrude into the dwellings of the inhabitants,
especially in the rainy season. Most are comparatively harmless, but
the bite of others is speedily fatal. The cobra di capello (_Naia
tripudians_)--the name given to it by the Portuguese, from the
appearance of a hood which it produces by the expanded skin about the
neck--is the most dreaded. It seldom exceeds 3 or 4 ft. in length, and
is about 1¼ in. thick, with a small head, covered on the forepart with
large smooth scales; it is of a pale brown colour above, and the belly
is of a bluish-white tinged with pale brown or yellow. The Russelian
snake (_Vipera russellii_), about 4 ft. in length, is of a pale
yellowish-brown, beautifully variegated with large oval spots of deep
brown, with a white edging. Its bite is extremely fatal. Itinerant
showmen carry about these serpents, and cause them to assume a dancing
motion for the amusement of the spectators. They also give out that
they render snakes harmless by the use of charms or music,--in reality
it is by extracting the venomous fangs. But, judging from the frequent
accidents which occur, they sometimes dispense with this precaution.
All the salt-water snakes in India are poisonous, while the freshwater
forms are wholly innocuous.
The other reptiles include two species of crocodile (_C. porosus_ and
_C. palustris_) and the ghariyal (_Gavialis gangeticus_). These are
more ugly in appearance than destructive to human life. Scorpions also
abound.
Fishes.
_Fishes._--All the waters of India--the sea, the rivers and the
tanks--swarm with a great variety of fishes, which are caught in every
conceivable way, and furnish a considerable proportion of the food of
the poorer classes. They are eaten fresh, or as nearly fresh as may
be, for the art of curing them is not generally practised, owing to
the exigencies of the salt monopoly. In Burma the favourite relish of
_nga-pi_ is prepared from fish; and at Goalanda, at the junction of
the Brahmaputra with the Ganges, and along the Madras coast many
establishments exist for salting fish in bond. The indiscriminate
slaughter of fry, and the obstacles opposed by irrigation dams to
breeding fish, are said to be causing a sensible diminution in the
supply in certain rivers. Measures of conservancy have been suggested,
but their execution would be almost impracticable. Among Indian
fishes, the _Cyprinidae_ or carp family and the _Siluridae_ or
cat-fishes are best represented. From the angler's point of view, by
far the finest fish is the _mahseer_ (_Barbustor_), found in all hill
streams, whether in Assam, the Punjab or the South. One has been
caught weighing 60 lb., which gave play for more than seven hours.
Though called the salmon of India, the _mahseer_ is really a species
of barbel. One of the richest and most delicious of Indian fishes is
the _hilsa_ (_Clupea ilisha_), which tastes and looks like a fat white
salmon. But the enhanced price of fish and the decreased supply
throughout the country are matters of grave concern both to the
government and the people.
_Insects._--The insect tribes in India may be truly said to be
innumerable. The heat and the rains give incredible activity to
noxious or troublesome insects, and to others of a more showy class,
whose large wings surpass in brilliancy the most splendid colours of
art. Mosquitoes are innumerable, and moths and ants of the most
destructive kind, as well as others equally noxious and disagreeable.
Amongst those which are useful are the bee, the silk-worm, and the
insect that produces lac. Clouds of locusts occasionally appear, which
leave no trace of green behind them, and give the country over which
they pass the appearance of a desert. Their size is about that of a
man's finger, and their colour reddish. They are swept north by the
wind till they strike upon the outer ranges of the Himalayas.
POLITICAL DIVISIONS
India (including Burma) has a total area of 1,766,597 sq. m., and a
population (1901) of 294,361,056. Of this total, 1,087,204 sq. m., with
a population of 231,899,515, consists of British territory, administered
directly by British officers; while the remaining 679,393 sq. m., with a
population of 62,461,549, is divided up among various native states, all
of which acknowledge the suzerainty of the paramount power, but are
directly administered by semi-independent rulers, usually assisted by a
British resident.
British India.
The British possessions are distributed into thirteen provinces of
varying size, each with a separate head, but all under the supreme
control of the governor-general in council. These thirteen provinces or
local governments are Ajmer-Merwara, Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
British Baluchistan, Bengal, Bombay, Burma, Central Provinces with
Berar, Coorg, Eastern Bengal and Assam, Madras, North-West Frontier
Province, Punjab, and the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Each of
these provinces is described under its separate name.
The native states.
The native states are governed, as a rule, by native princes with the
help of a political officer appointed by the British government and
residing at their courts. Some of them administer the internal affairs
of their states with almost complete independence; others require more
assistance or a stricter control. These feudatory rulers possess
revenues and armies of their own, and the more important exercise the
power of life and death over their subjects; but the authority of each
is limited by treaties or engagements, or recognized practice by which
their subordinate dependence on the British government is determined.
That government, as suzerain in India, does not allow its feudatories to
form alliances with each other or with foreign states. It interferes
when any chief misgoverns his people; rebukes, and if needful removes,
the oppressor; protects the weak; and firmly imposes peace upon all.
There are in all nearly 700 distinct units, which may be divided into
the following groups.
Major states.
The most important states are Hyderabad, Mysore, Baroda, Kashmir and
Jammu, the Rajputana Agency, and the Central India Agency. The first
four of these are single units, each under its separate ruler; but
Rajputana and Central India are political groups consisting of many
states, enjoying different degrees of autonomy. Rajputana is the name of
a great territorial circle, containing twenty states in all; while under
the Central India Agency there are grouped 148 states and petty chiefs.
Minor states.
Amongst the minor states, subordinate to the various provincial
governments, five are controlled by Madras; 354 by Bombay, many of them
being quite petty; 26 by Bengal, of which Kuch Behar is the chief; 34 by
the Punjab, amongst which the Phulkian Sikh states and Bhawalpur are the
most important; 2 under Eastern Bengal and Assam; 15 under the Central
Provinces; and 2 under the United Provinces. Burma contains a number of
Shan states, which technically form part of British India, but are
administered through their hereditary chiefs. All the most important of
these native states are separately described.
Frontier states.
In addition to the internal states, which have a fixed status, there are
several frontier tracts of India, whose status is fluctuating or not
strictly defined. In Baluchistan there are the native states of Kalat
and Las Bela, and also tribal areas belonging to the Marri and Bugti
tribes. On the north-west frontier, in addition to the chief ships of
Chitral and Dir, there are a number of independent tribes which reside
within the political frontier of British India, but over which effective
control has never been exercised. The territory belonging to these
tribes, of whom the chief are the Waziris, Afridis, Orakzais, Mohmands,
Swatis and Bajouris, is attached to, but is not strictly within, the
North-West Frontier Province. Kashmir possesses as feudatories Gilgit
and a number of petty states, of which the most important are
Hunza-Nagar and Chilas, but effective control over these outlying states
has only been asserted in comparatively recent years for political
reasons. Nepal and Bhutan, though independent, are under various
commercial and other agreements with the government of India. On the
north-east frontier, as on the north-west, semi-independent tribes
extend across the frontier into independent country. Similarly Karenni,
on the Burmese border, is not included in British territory, but the
superintendent of the Shan states exercises some judicial and other
powers over it.
THE PEOPLE
According to the census of 1901 the population of India (including
Burma) was 294,361,056. But this vast mass of people does not constitute
a single nationality, neither is it divided into a number of different
nations of distinct blood and distinct language. They are drawn, indeed,
from four well-marked elements: the non-Aryan tribes or aborigines of
the country; the Aryan or Sanskrit-speaking race; the great mixed
population which has grown out of a fusion of the two previous elements;
and the Mahommedan invaders from the north-west. These four elements,
however, have become inextricably mixed together, some predominating in
one portion of the country, some in another, while all are found in
every province and native state. The chief modern divisions of the
population, therefore, do not follow the lines of blood and language,
but of religion and caste.
Of the four elements already enumerated the oldest are the wild tribes
of central India, such as the Bhils and Gonds, who probably represent
the original inhabitants of the country. These number some 11,000,000.
Second come the Dravidians of the south, amounting to about 54,000,000.
Thirdly come the Aryans, inhabiting mainly that portion of India north
of the Nerbudda which is known as Hindustan proper. Of these only the
Brahmans and Rajputs, about 20,000,000, are of pure Aryan blood. The
remaining 135,000,000 Hindus represent the fusion of Aryan and non-Aryan
elements. Fourthly come the Mahommedans, numbering some 62,000,000. Many
of them are the descendents of Arab, Afghan, Mogul and Persian invaders,
and the remainder are converts made to Islam in the course of the
centuries of Mahommedan rule.
Racial types.
The census report of 1901 divided the population of India into seven
distinct racial types: the Turko-Iranian type, represented by the
Baluch, Brahui and Afghans of the Baluchistan Agency and the
North-West Frontier Province; the Indo-Aryan type, occupying the
Punjab, Rajputana and Kashmir, and having as its characteristic
members the Rajputs, Khatris and Jats; the Scytho-Dravidian type of
western India, comprising the Mahrattas; the Kunbis, and the Coorgs,
probably formed by a mixture of Scythian and Dravidian elements; the
Aryo-Dravidian type found in the United Provinces, in parts of
Rajputana, and in Behar, represented in its upper strata by the
Hindustani Brahman, and in its lower by the Chamar. This type is
probably the result of the intermixture, in varying proportions, of
the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian types, the former element predominating
in the higher groups and the latter in the lower. The fifth type is
the Mongolo-Dravidian of Bengal and Orissa, comprising the Bengal
Brahmans and Kayasths, the Mahommedans of Eastern Bengal, and other
groups peculiar to this part of India. It is probably a blend of
Dravidian and Mongoloid elements with a strain of Indo-Aryan blood in
the higher groups. The sixth type is the Mongoloid of the Himalayas,
Nepal, Assam and Burma, represented by the Kanets of Lahoul and Kulu,
the Lepchas of Darjeeling, the Limbus, Murmis and Gurungs of Nepal,
the Bodo of Assam, and the Burmese. Seventh and last comes the
Dravidian type, extending from Ceylon to the valley of the Ganges, and
pervading the whole of Madras and Mysore and most of Hyderabad, the
Central Provinces, Central India and Chota Nagpur. Its most
characteristic representatives are the Paniyans of the south Indian
hills and the Santals of Chota Nagpur. This is probably the original
type of the population of India, now modified to a varying extent by
the admixture of Aryan, Scythian and Mongoloid elements.
Caste.
It is apparently from the differences in civilization and political
power resulting from these successive strata of conquerors over the
conquered that the Hindu system of caste arose. A caste is defined in
the census report of 1901 as a collection of families or groups of
families bearing a common name, which usually denotes or is associated
with a specific occupation; claiming common descent from a mythical
ancestor, human or divine, professing to follow the same calling, and
regarded by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a
single homogeneous community. A caste is almost invariably endogamous,
in the sense that a member of the large circle denoted by the common
name may not marry outside that circle, but within the circle there
are usually a number of smaller circles, each of which is also
endogamous. Thus it is not enough to say at the present day that a
Brahman cannot marry any woman who is not a Brahman; his wife must not
only be a Brahman, but must also belong to the same endogamous
division of the Brahman caste. The origin of caste was described by
Sir Denzil Ibbetson in the Punjab Census Report of 1881 in the
following terms: "We have the following steps in the process by which
caste has been evolved in the Punjab--(1) the tribal divisions common
to all primitive societies; (2) the gilds based upon hereditary
occupation common to the middle life of all communities; (3) the
exaltation of the priestly office to a degree unexampled in other
countries; (4) the exaltation of the Levitical blood by a special
insistence upon the necessarily hereditary nature of occupation; (5)
the preservation and support of this principle by the elaboration from
the theories of the Hindu creed or cosmogony of a purely artificial
set of rules regulating marriage and intermarriage, declaring certain
occupations and foods to be impure and polluting, and prescribing
the conditions and degree of social intercourse permitted between the
several castes. Add to these the pride of social rank and the pride of
blood, which are natural to man, and which alone could reconcile a
nation to restrictions at once irksome from a domestic and burdensome
from a material point of view, and it is hardly to be wondered at that
caste should have assumed the rigidity which distinguishes it in
India." Caste has, in fact, come to be the chief dominating factor in
the life of the ordinary native of India. All a man's actions from the
cradle to the grave are regulated by it; and the tendency in modern
India is for tribes to turn into castes. So widespread is its
influence that, though originally a purely Hindu institution, it has
come to exercise considerable influence over their Mahommedan
neighbours (see CASTE).
[Illustration: Map of India (Southern part).
Scale 1:7,500,000]
Religion.
The chief Indian religions with the numbers of their followers according
to the census of 1901 are: Hindu (207,147,026), Mahommedan (62,458,077),
Buddhist (9,476,759), Sikh (2,195,339), Jain (1,334,148), Christian
(2,923,241), Parsee (94,190), and Animist (8,584,148). The oldest of
these religions is Animism (q.v.), which represents the beginnings of
religion in India, and is still professed by the more primitive tribes,
such as Santals, Bhils and Gonds. The transition from this crude form of
religion to popular Hinduism (q.v.) is comparatively easy. The most
obvious characteristics of the ordinary Hindu are that he worships a
plurality of gods, looks upon the cow as a sacred animal, and accepts
the Brahmanical supremacy (see BRAHMANISM) and the caste system; and
when it is a question whether one of the animistic tribes has or has not
entered the fold of Hinduism, these two latter points seem to be the
proper test to apply. On the other hand there are various offshoots from
orthodox Hinduism, the distinguishing feature of which, in their earlier
history at least, is the obliteration of caste distinctions and the
rejection of the Brahmanical hierarchy. It is doubtful if Buddhism, and
still more so if Jainism and Sikhism, all of which are commonly
recognized as distinct religions, ever differed from Hinduism to a
greater extent than did the tenets of the earlier followers of Chaitanya
in Bengal or those of the Lingayats in Mysore; and yet these latter two
are regarded only as sects of Hinduism. Considerations of their history
and past political importance have led to the elevation of Buddhism,
Jainism and Sikhism to the rank of independent religions, while the
numerous other schismatic bodies are held to be only sects. But there is
a marked tendency both on the part of the sects and of the distinct
religions to lapse into the parent religion from which they sprang. In
this way both Buddhism (q.v.) and Jains (q.v.) have almost been
swallowed up by Hinduism; Sikhism (q.v.) is only preserved by the
military requirements of the British, and even the antagonism between
Hindu and Mahommedan is much less acute than it used to be. The
bewildering diversity of religious beliefs collected under the name of
Hinduism has no counterpart amongst the Mahommedans (see MAHOMMEDAN
RELIGION), who are limited as to their main tenets by the teaching of a
single book, the Koran. The two main sects are the Sunnis and the
Shiahs. In India the Sunnis greatly preponderate, but they usually share
with the Shiahs their veneration for Hasan and Husain and strictly
observe the Mohurrum.
The Mahommedans of India may be divided into two classes, pure
Mahommedans from the Mogul and Pathan conquering races, and Mahommedan
converts, who differ very little from the surrounding Hindu population
from which they originally sprang. The pure Mahommedans may again be
subdivided into four sections: Moguls, or the descendants of the last
conquering race, including Persians; Afghans or Pathans, who from their
proximity to the frontier are much more strongly represented, chiefly in
the Punjab and in the Rohilkhand division of the United Provinces;
Sayads, who claim to be lineally descended from the Prophet; and
Sheikhs, which is a name often adopted by converts. The remainder are
unspecified, but the following tribes or classes among Indian Mussulmans
are worthy of notice. In Bengal the vast majority of the Mahommedans
manifestly belong to the same race as the lowest castes of Hindus. They
are themselves subdivided into many classes, which in their devotion to
hereditary occupations are scarcely to be distinguished from Hindu
castes. In the Punjab, besides the Pathan immigrants from across the
frontier, Islam has taken a strong hold of the native population. The
census returned large numbers of Jats, Rajputs and Gujars among the
Mussulmans. Here, again, the Mahommedans are not strongly distinguished
from their Hindu brethren. Bombay possesses three peculiar classes of
Mussulmans, each of which is specially devoted to maritime trade--the
Memons, chiefly in Sind; the Borahs, mainly in Gujarat; and the Khojahs,
of whom half live in the island of Bombay. In southern India the
majority are known as Deccani Mussulmans, being descendants of the
armies led by the kings and nawabs of the Deccan. But the two peculiar
races of the south are the Moplahs and the Labbays, both of which are
seated along the coast and follow a seafaring life. They are descended
from the Arab traders who settled there in very early times, and were
recruited partly by voluntary adhesions and partly by forcible
conversions during the persecutions of Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sultan. The
Moplahs of Malabar are notorious for repeated outbreaks of bloody
fanaticism. In proportion to the total population Islam is most strongly
represented in the North-West Frontier Province, where it is the
religion of 92% of the inhabitants; then follow Kashmir and Sind with
about 75% each. Eastern Bengal and Assam with 58%, the Punjab with 49%,
Bengal with 18%, and the United Provinces with 14%. In the great
Mahommedan state of Hyderabad the proportion is only 10%. It appears
that the Mahommedans generally tend to increase at a faster rate than
the Hindus.
The Sikh religion is almost entirely confined to the Punjab. Of the
total number of 2,195,339 Sikhs all but 64,352 are found in the
Punjab, and two-thirds of the remainder are in the United Provinces
and Kashmir which adjoin it.
Buddhism had disappeared from India long before the East India Company
gained a foothold in the country, and at the present day there are
very few Buddhists in India proper. Of the 9,476,759 enumerated in the
census of 1901 all but some three hundred thousand were in Burma. The
greater part of the remainder are found in Bengal on the borders of
Burma, on the borders of Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, and in the Spiti,
Lahul and Kanawar districts of the Punjab Himalayas, where many of the
inhabitants are of Tibetan origin.
More than two-fifths of the Jains in India are found in Bombay and its
native states, including Baroda. They are proportionally most numerous
in central and western Rajputana and in Gujarat and Central India.
The Parsees, though influential and wealthy, are a very small
community, numbering only 94,000, of whom all but 7000 are found in
Bombay. The remainder are scattered all over India, but are most
numerous in Hyderabad, the Central India Agency, and the Central
Provinces.
The Christian community numbers 2,923,241, of whom, 2,664,313 are
natives and the remainder Europeans and Eurasians. Of the native
Christians about two-fifths are Roman Catholics and one-eighth Uniat
Syrians; one-ninth belong to the Anglican communion, one-eleventh are
Jacobite Syrians, and one-twelfth are Baptists; while Lutherans,
Methodists and Presbyterians are also represented. Nearly two-thirds
of the total number are found in the Madras Presidency, including its
native states. In Cochin and Travancore, where the Syrian church has
most of its adherents, nearly a quarter of the entire population
profess the Christian faith. More than four-fifths of the Christians
in Madras proper are found in the eight southernmost districts, the
scene of the labours of St Francis Xavier and the Protestant
missionary Schwarz. The adherents of the Syrian church, known as
"Christians of St Thomas," in Malabar, Travancore and Cochin are the
most ancient Christian community in the south. After these come the
Roman Catholics, who trace their origin to the teaching of St Francis
Xavier and the Madura Jesuits. The Protestant churches date only from
about the beginning of the 19th century, but their progress since that
time has been considerable. As is to be expected in the case of a
religion with a strong proselytizing agency, the growth of
Christianity is far more rapid than that of the general population.
Taking native Christians alone, their numbers increased from 1,246,288
in 1872 to 2,664,313 in 1901, and the rate of increase in the thirty
years was even greater than these figures would show, because they
include the Syrian church, whose numbers are practically constant. The
classes most receptive of Christianity are those who are outside the
Hindu system, or whom Hinduism regards as degraded. Amongst the Hindu
higher castes there are serious obstacles in the way of conversion, of
which family influence and the caste system are the greatest.
_Languages._--According to the linguistic survey of India no fewer than
147 distinct languages are recorded as vernacular in India. These are
grouped according to the following system:--
_Vernaculars of India._
Number of
languages spoken.
Malayo-Polynesian Family--
Malay Group (7831) 2
Mon-Khmer Family (427,760) 4
Tibeto-Chinese Family--
Tibeto-Burman Sub-family (9,560,454) 79
Siamese-Chinese Sub-family (1,724,085) 9
Dravidian Family (56,514,524) 14
Munda Family (3,179,275) 10
Indo-European Family, Aryan Sub-family--
Iranian Branch (1,377,023) 3
Indo-Aryan Branch (219,780,650) 22
Semitic Family (42,881) 1
Hamitic Family (5530) 1
Unclassed Languages 2
Andamanese (1882)
Gipsy Languages (344,143)
Others (125)
---
Total Vernaculars of India 147
The only representatives of the Malayo-Polynesian group in India are
the Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago and the Nicobarese. The
Mon-Khmer family, which is most numerous in Indo-China, is here
represented by the Talaings of southern Burma and the Khasis of Assam.
Of the Tibeto-Chinese family, the Tibeto-Burman subfamily, as its name
implies, is spoken from Tibet to Burma; while the Siamese-Chinese
subfamily is represented by the Karens and Shans of Burma. The Munda
or Kolarian family, which is now distinguished from the Dravidian, is
almost confined to Chota Nagpur, its best-known tribe being the
Santals. The Dravidian family includes the four literary languages of
the south, as well as many dialects spoken by hill tribes in central
India, and also the isolated Brahui in Baluchistan. Of the
Indo-European family, the Iranian branch inhabits Persia, Afghanistan
and Baluchistan; while the Indo-Aryan branch is spoken by the great
mass of the people of northern India. The only Semitic language is
Arabic, found at Aden, where also the Hamitic Somali was returned.
Gipsy dialects are used by the nomadic tribes of India, while
Andamanese has not been connected by philologists with any recognized
family of speech.
All the chief languages of India are described under their separate
names.
_Education._--The existing system of education in India is mainly
dependent upon the government, being directly organized by the state, at
least in its higher departments, assisted throughout by grants-in-aid
and under careful inspection. But at no period of its history has India
been an altogether unenlightened country. The origin of the Deva-Nagari
alphabet is lost in antiquity, though that is generally admitted not to
be of indigenous invention. Inscriptions on stone and copper, the
palm-leaf records of the temples, and in later days the widespread
manufacture of paper, all alike indicate, not only the general
knowledge, but also the common use, of the art of writing. From the
earliest times the caste of Brahmans has preserved, by oral tradition as
well as in MSS., a literature unrivalled alike in its antiquity and in
the intellectual subtlety of its contents. The Mahommedan invaders
introduced the profession of the historian, which reached a high degree
of excellence, even as compared with contemporary Europe. Through all
changes of government vernacular instruction in its simplest form has
always been given, at least to the children of respectable classes, in
every large village. On the one hand, the _tols_ or seminaries for
teaching Sanskrit philosophy at Benares and Nadiya recall the schools of
Athens and Alexandria; on the other, the importance attached to
instruction in accounts reminds us of the picture which Horace has left
of a Roman education. Even at the present day knowledge of reading and
writing is, owing to the teaching of Buddhist monks, as widely diffused
throughout Burma as it is in some countries of Europe. English efforts
to stimulate education have ever been most successful when based upon
the existing indigenous institutions.
During the early days of the East India Company's rule the promotion of
education was not recognized as a duty of government. The enlightened
mind of Warren Hastings did indeed anticipate his age by founding the
Calcutta _madrasa_ for Mahommedan teaching, and by affording steady
patronage alike to Hindu pundits and European students. But Wellesley's
schemes of imperial dominion did not extend beyond the establishment of
a college for English officials. Of the Calcutta colleges, that of
Sanskrit was founded in 1824, when Lord Amherst was governor-general,
the medical college by Lord William Bentinck in 1835, the Hooghly
_madrasa_ by a wealthy native gentleman in 1836. The Sanskrit college at
Benares had been established in 1791, the Agra college in 1823.
Meanwhile the missionaries made the field of vernacular education their
own. Discouraged by the official authorities, and ever liable to
banishment or deportation, they not only devoted themselves with courage
to their special work of evangelization, but were also the first to
study the vernacular dialects spoken by the common people. Just as two
centuries earlier the Jesuits at Madura, in the extreme south, composed
works in Tamil, which are still acknowledged as classical by native
authors, so did the Baptist mission at Serampur, near Calcutta, first
raise Bengali to the rank of a literary dialect. The interest of the
missionaries in education, which has never ceased to the present day,
though now comparatively overshadowed by government activity, had two
distinct aspects. They studied the vernacular, in order to reach the
people by their preaching and to translate the Bible; and they taught
English, as the channel of non-sectarian learning.
At last the government awoke to its own responsibility in the matter of
education, after the long and acrimonious controversy between the
advocates of English and vernacular teaching had worn itself out. The
present system dates from 1854, being based upon a comprehensive
despatch sent out by Sir C. Wood (afterwards Lord Halifax) in that year.
At that time the three universities were founded at Calcutta, Madras and
Bombay; English-teaching schools were established in every district; the
benefit of grants-in-aid was extended to the lower vernacular
institutions and to girls' schools; and public instruction was erected
into a department of the administration in every province, under a
director, with a staff of inspectors. In some respects this scheme may
have been in advance of the time; but it supplied a definite outline,
which has gradually been filled up with each succeeding year of
progress. A network of schools has now been spread over the country,
graduated from the indigenous village institutions up to the highest
colleges. All alike receive some measure of pecuniary support, which is
justified by the guarantee of regular inspection; and a series of
scholarships at once stimulates efficiency and opens a path to the
university for children of the poor.
During Lord Curzon's term of office the whole system of education in
India was examined, reported upon and improved. The five universities of
Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Allahabad and Lahore, which were formerly
merely examining bodies, had their senates reformed by the introduction
of experts; while hostels or boarding-houses for the college students
were founded, so as to approach more nearly to the English ideal of
residential institutions. The schools for secondary education were found
to be fairly prosperous, owing to the increasing demand for English
education; but more teachers and more inspectors were provided. In the
primary schools, however, which provide vernacular teaching for the
masses, there were only 4½ million pupils to the 300 millions of India.
In 1901 three out of every four country villages had no school, only
3,000,000 boys, or less than one-fifth of the total number of
school-going age, were in receipt of primary education, and only one
girl for every ten of the male sex, or 2½% of the female population of
school-going age. In order to remedy these defects primary education was
made a first charge upon provincial revenues, and a permanent annual
grant of £213,000 was made from the central government, with the result
that thousands of new primary schools have since been opened. The
technical schools may be divided into two classes, technical colleges
and schools and industrial schools. The former include colleges of
engineering and agriculture, veterinary colleges, schools of art and
similar institutions. Several of these, such as the Rurki and Sibpur
engineering colleges, the college of science at Poona, the Victoria
Jubilee Institute at Bombay and some of the schools of art, have shown
excellent results. The agricultural colleges have been less successful.
The industrial schools were largely engaged in 1901 in teaching
carpentry and smithy-work to boys who never intended to be carpenters or
smiths; but this misdirection of industry has since been remedied, and
the industrial schools have been made the first stepping-stone towards a
professional career. In addition a number of technical scholarships of
£150 each have been founded tenable in Europe or America.
ADMINISTRATION
By the act of parliament which transferred the government of India from
the company to the crown, the administration in England is exercised by
the sovereign through a secretary of state, who inherits all the powers
formerly belonging to the Court of Directors and the Board of Control,
and who, as a member of the cabinet, is responsible to parliament. In
administrative details he is assisted by the Council of India, an
advisory body, with special control over finance. This council consists
of not more than fifteen and not fewer than ten members, appointed by
the secretary of state for a term of seven years, of whom at least nine
must have served or resided in India for ten years. A Hindu and a
Mahommedan were for the first time appointed to the council in 1907.
The Supreme Government.
At the head of the government in India is the governor-general, styled
also viceroy, as representative of the sovereign. He is appointed by the
crown, and his tenure of office is five years. The supreme authority,
civil and military, including control over all the local governments, is
vested in the governor-general in council, commonly known as "the
Government of India," which has its seat at Calcutta during the cold
season from November to April, and migrates to Simla in the Punjab hills
for the rest of the year. The executive council of the governor-general is
composed of six ordinary members, likewise appointed by the crown for a
term of five years, of whom three must have served for ten years in India
and one must be a barrister, together with the commander-in-chief as an
extraordinary member. A Hindu barrister was first appointed a member of
council in 1909. The several departments of administration--Foreign, Home,
Finance, Legislative, Army, Revenue and Agriculture (with Public Works),
Commerce and Industry, Education (added in 1910)--are distributed among
the council after the fashion of a European cabinet, the foreign portfolio
being reserved by the viceroy; but all orders and resolutions are issued
in the name of the governor-general in council and must be signed by a
secretary.
The Legislative Council.
For legislative purposes the executive council is enlarged into a
legislative council by the addition of other members, _ex officio_,
nominated and elected. In accordance with regulations made under the
Indian Councils Act 1909, these additional members number 61, making 68 in
all with the viceroy, so arranged as to give an official majority of
three. The only _ex-officio_ additional member is the lieutenant-governor
of the province in which the legislative council may happen to meet;
nominated members number 35, of whom not more than 28 may be officials;
while 25 are elected, directly or indirectly, with special representation
for Mahommedans and landholders. Apart from legislation, the members of
the council enjoy the right to interpellate the government on all matters
of public interest, including the putting of supplementary questions; the
right to move and discuss general resolutions, which, if carried, have
effect only as recommendations; and the right to discuss and criticize in
detail the budget, or annual financial statement.
The local or provincial governments are fifteen in all, with varying
degrees of responsibility. First stand the two presidencies of Madras
(officially Fort St George) and Bombay, each of which is administered by
a governor and council appointed by the crown. The governor is usually
sent from England; the members of council may number four, of whom two
must have served in India for ten years. Next follow the five
lieutenant-governorships of Bengal, the United Provinces of Agra and
Oudh, the Punjab, Burma, and Eastern Bengal and Assam, for each of which
a council may be appointed, beginning with Bengal. Last come the chief
commissionerships, of which the Central Provinces (with Berar) rank
scarcely below the lieutenant-governorships, while the rest--the
North-West Frontier Province, British Baluchistan, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg
and the Andamans--are minor charges, generally associated with political
supervision over native states or frontier tribes. The two presidencies
and also the five lieutenant-governorships each possesses a legislative
council, modelled on that of the governor-general, but so that in every
case there shall be a majority of non-official members, varying from 13
to 3.
Districts.
Within the separate provinces the administrative unit is the district,
of which there are 249 in India. In every province except Madras there
are divisions, consisting of three or more districts under a
commissioner. The title of the district officer varies according to
whether the province is "regulation" or "non-regulation." This is an old
distinction, which now tends to become obsolete; but broadly speaking a
larger measure of discretion is allowed in the non-regulation provinces,
and the district officer may be a military officer, while in the
regulation provinces he must be a member of the Indian civil service. In
a regulation province the district officer is styled a collector, while
in a non-regulation province he is called a deputy-commissioner. The
chief non-regulation provinces are the Punjab, Central Provinces and
Burma; but non-regulation districts are also to be found in Bengal,
Eastern Bengal and Assam, the United Provinces and Sind.
The districts are partitioned out into lesser tracts, which are strictly
units of administration, though subordinate ones. The system of
partitioning, and also the nomenclature, vary in the different
provinces; but generally it may be said that the subdivision or _tahsil_
is the ultimate unit of administration. The double name indicates the
twofold principle of separation: the subdivision is properly the charge
of an assistant magistrate or executive officer, the _tahsil_ is the
charge of a deputy-collector or fiscal officer; and these two offices
may or may not be in the same hands. Broadly speaking, the subdivision
is characteristic of Bengal, where revenue duties are in the background,
and the _tahsil_ of Madras, where the land settlement requires attention
year by year. There is no administrative unit below the subdivision or
_tahsil_. The _thana_, or police division, only exists for police
purposes. The _pargana_, or fiscal division, under native rule, has now
but an historical interest. The village still remains as the
agricultural unit, and preserves its independence for revenue purposes
in most parts of the country. The township is peculiar to Burma.
The Judicial Service.
Bengal (including Eastern Bengal and Assam), Madras, Bombay and the old
North-Western Provinces each has a high court, established by charter
under an act of parliament, with judges appointed by the crown. Of the
other provinces the Punjab and Lower Burma have chief courts, and Oudh,
the Central Provinces, Upper Burma, Sind and the North-West Frontier
Province have judicial commissioners, all established by local
legislation. From the high courts, chief courts and judicial
commissioners an appeal lies to the judicial committee of the privy
council in England. Below these courts come district and sessions
judges, who perform the ordinary judicial work of the country, civil and
criminal. Their jurisdictions coincide for the most part with the
magisterial and fiscal boundaries. But, except in Madras, where the
districts are large, a single civil and sessions judge sometimes
exercises jurisdiction over more than one district. In the
non-regulation territory judicial and executive functions are to a large
extent combined in the same hands.
The law administered in the Indian courts is described in the article
INDIAN LAW.
Indian Services.
The chief of the Indian services is technically known as the Indian
civil service. It is limited to about a thousand members, who are chosen
by open competition in England between the ages of twenty-one and
twenty-four. Nearly all the higher appointments, administrative and
judicial, are appropriated by statute to this service, with the
exception of a few held by military officers on civil duty in the
non-regulation provinces. Other services mainly or entirely recruited in
England are the education department, police, engineering, public works,
telegraph and forest services. In addition to the British officials
employed in these services, there is a host of natives of India holding
superior or subordinate appointments in the government service.
According to a calculation made in 1904, out of 1370 appointments with a
salary of £800 a year and upwards, 1263 were held by Europeans, 15 by
Eurasians and 92 by natives of India. But below that line natives of
India greatly preponderate; of 26,908 appointments ranging between £800
and £60 a year, only 5205 were held by Europeans, 5420 by Eurasians and
16,283 by natives.
These figures show that less than 6500 Englishmen are employed to rule
over the 300 millions of India. On the other hand, natives manage the
greater part of the administration of the revenue and land affairs and
magisterial work. The subordinate courts throughout India are almost
entirely manned by native judges, who sit also on the bench in each of
the High Courts. Similarly in the other services. There are four
engineering colleges in India, which furnish to natives access to the
higher grades of the public works department; and the provincial
education services are recruited solely in India.
The Army.
Though the total strength of the army in India has undergone little
change, important reforms of organization have been effected in recent
years which have greatly improved its efficiency. In 1895, after long
discussion, the old presidency system was abolished and the whole army
was placed under one commander-in-chief, though it was not till 1904
that the native regiments of cavalry and infantry were re-numbered
consecutively, and the Hyderabad contingent and a few local battalions
were incorporated with the rest of the army. About the same time (1903)
the designation of British officers serving with native troops was
changed from "Indian Staff Corps" to "Indian Army." The entire force,
British and native, is now subdivided into a Northern and a Southern
Army, with Burma as an independent command attached to the latter. Each
of these armies is organized in divisions, nine in number, based on the
principles that the troops in peace should be trained in units of
command similar to those in which they would take the field, and that
much larger powers should be entrusted to the divisional commanders. At
the same time large sums of money have been expended on strategic works
along the north-west frontier, supply and transport has been
reorganized, rifle, gun and ammunition factories have been established,
and a Staff College at Quetta.
In 1907-1908 the actual strength of the army in India numbered 227,714
officers and men, of whom 73,947 were British troops; and the total
military expenditure amounted to £17,625,000, of which £2,996,000 was
for non-effective charges. In addition, the reserve of the native army
numbered 34,846 men, the volunteers 34,962, the frontier militia
(including the Khyber Rifles) about 6000, the levies (chiefly in
Baluchistan) about 6000, and the military police (chiefly in Burma)
about 22,000. These figures do not include the Imperial Service troops,
consisting of cavalry, infantry and transport corps, about 18,000 in
all, which are paid and officered by the native states furnishing them,
though supervised by British inspectors. The military forces otherwise
maintained by the several native states are estimated to number about
100,000 men, of varying degrees of efficiency.
Police.
The police, it is admitted, still form an unsatisfactory part of the
administration, though important reforms have recently been introduced.
The present system, which is modelled somewhat on that of the Irish
constabulary, dates from shortly after the Mutiny, and is regulated for
the greater part of the country by an act passed in 1861. It provides a
regular force in each district, under a superintendent who is almost
always a European, subordinate for general purposes to the district
magistrate. For the preservation of order this force is by no means
inefficient, but it fails as a detective agency and also in the
prosecution of crime, being distrusted by the people generally. As the
result of a Commission appointed in 1902, a considerable addition has
been made to the expenditure on police, which is being devoted to
increasing the pay of all the lower grades and to augmenting the number
of investigating officers. In 1901 the total strength of the civil
police force was about 145,000 men, maintained at a total cost of about
£2,200,000. In addition, the village watchmen or _chaukidars_, a
primitive institution paid from local sources but to some extent
incorporated in the general system, aggregated about 700,000; while a
special force of military police, numbering about 20,000 under officers
seconded from the army, is maintained along the frontier, more
especially in Burma.
Gaols.
The administration of gaols in India can be described more favourably.
As a rule, there is one gaol in each district, under the management of
the civil surgeon. Discipline is well maintained, though separate
confinement is practically unknown; and various industries (especially
carpet-weaving) are profitably pursued wherever possible. So much
attention has been directed to diet and sanitation that the death-rate
compares well with that of the general working population: in 1907 it
was as low as 18 per 1000. Convicts with more than six years to serve
are transported to the Andaman Islands, where the penal settlement is
organized on an elaborate system, permitting ultimately self-support on
a ticket of leave and even marriage. In 1907 the daily average gaol
population in India was 87,306, while the convicts in the Andamans
numbered 14,235.
Municipalities.
Local self-government, municipal and rural, in the form in which it
now prevails in India, is essentially a product of British rule.
Village communities and trade gilds in towns existed previously, but
these were only rudimentary forms of self-government. The beginnings
of municipal government occurred in the Presidency towns. Apart from
these the act of 1850 respecting improvements in towns initiated
consultative committees. In 1870 Lord Mayo delegated to local
committees the control over these improvement funds. But the system at
present in force is based upon legislation by Lord Ripon in 1882,
providing for the establishment of municipal committees and local
boards, whose members should be chosen by election with a
preponderance of non-official members. The large towns of Calcutta,
Bombay and Madras have municipalities of this character, and there are
large numbers of municipal committees and local boards all over the
country. There are also Port Trusts in the great maritime cities of
Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Karachi and Rangoon.
Land Settlement.
As the land furnishes the main source of Indian revenue, so the
assessment of the land tax is the main work of Indian administration. No
technical term is more familiar to Anglo-Indians, and none more strange
to the English public, than that of land settlement. No subject has
given rise to more voluminous controversy. It will be enough in this
place to explain the general principles upon which the system is based,
and to indicate the chief differences of application in the several
provinces. That the state should appropriate to itself a direct share in
the produce of the soil is a fundamental maxim of Indian finance that
has been recognized throughout the East from time immemorial. The germs
of rival systems can be traced in the old military and other service
tenures of Assam, and in the poll tax of Burma, &c. The exclusive
development of the land system is due to two conditions,--a
comparatively high state of agriculture and an organized plan of
administration,--both of which are supplied by the primitive village
community. During the lapse of untold generations, despite domestic
anarchy and foreign conquest, the Hindu village has in many parts
preserved its simple customs, written in the imperishable tablets of
traditions. The land was not held by private owners but by occupiers
under the petty corporation; the revenue was not due from individuals,
but from the community represented by its head-man. The aggregate
harvest of the village fields was thrown into a common fund, and before
the general distribution the head-man was bound to set aside the share
of the state. No other system of taxation could be theoretically more
just, or in practice less obnoxious to the people. Such is an outline of
the land system as it may be found at the present day throughout large
portions of India both under British and native rule; and such we may
fancy it to have been universally before the Mahommedan conquest. The
Mussulmans brought with them the avarice of conquerors, and a stringent
system of revenue collection. Under the Mogul empire, as organized by
Akbar the Great, the share of the state was fixed at one-third of the
gross produce of the soil; and a regular army of tax-collectors was
permitted to intervene between the cultivator and the supreme
government. The entire vocabulary of the present land system is borrowed
from the Mogul administration. The zamindar himself is a creation of the
Mahommedans, unknown to the early Hindu system. He was originally a mere
tax-collector, or farmer of the land revenue, who agreed to furnish a
lump sum from the tract of country assigned to him. If the Hindu village
system may be praised for its justice, the Mogul farming system had at
least the merit of efficiency. Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb extracted a
larger land revenue than the British do. When the government was first
undertaken by the East India Company, no attempt was made to understand
the social system upon which the land revenue was based. The zamindar
was conspicuous and useful; the village community and the cultivating
ryot did not force themselves into notice. The zamindar seemed a solvent
person, capable of keeping a contract; and his official position as
tax-collector was confused with the proprietary rights of an English
landlord. The superior stability of the village system was overlooked,
and in the old provinces of Bengal and Madras the village organization
has gradually been suffered to fall into decay. The consistent aim of
the British authorities has been to establish private property in the
soil, so far as is consistent with the punctual payment of the revenue.
The annual government demand, like the succession duty in England, is
universally the first liability on the land; when that is satisfied, the
registered landholder has powers of sale or mortgage scarcely more
restricted than those of a tenant in fee-simple. At the same time the
possible hardships, as regards the cultivator, of this absolute right of
property vested in the owner have been anticipated by the recognition of
occupancy rights or fixity of tenure, under certain conditions. Legal
rights are everywhere taking the place of unwritten customs. Land, which
was before merely a source of livelihood to the cultivator and of
revenue to the state, has now become the subject of commercial
speculation. The fixing of the revenue demand has conferred upon the
owner a credit which he never before possessed, by allowing him a
certain share of the unearned increment. This credit he may use
improvidently, but none the less has the land system of India been
raised from a lower to a higher stage of civilization.
The means by which the land revenue is assessed is known as
settlement, and the assessor is styled a settlement officer. In Bengal
the assessment has been accomplished once and for all, but throughout
the greater part of the rest of India the process is continually going
on. The details vary in the different provinces; but, broadly
speaking, a settlement may be described as the ascertainment of the
agricultural capacity of the land. Prior to the settlement is the work
of survey, which first determines the area of every village and
frequently of every field also. Then comes the settlement officer,
whose duty it is to estimate the character of the soil, the kind of
crop, the opportunities for irrigation, the means of communication and
their probable development in the future, and all other circumstances
which tend to affect the value of the produce. With these facts before
him, he proceeds to assess the government demand upon the land
according to certain general principles, which may vary in the several
provinces. The final result is a settlement report, which records, as
in a Domesday Book, the entire mass of agricultural statistics
concerning the district.
Lower Bengal and a few adjoining districts of the United Provinces and
of Madras have a permanent settlement, i.e. the land revenue has been
fixed in perpetuity. When the Company obtained the _diwání_ or financial
administration of Bengal in 1765, the theory of a settlement, as
described above, was unknown. The existing Mahommedan system was adopted
in its entirety. Engagements, sometimes yearly, sometimes for a term of
years, were entered into with the zamindars to pay a lump sum for the
area over which they exercised control. If the offer of the zamindar was
not deemed satisfactory, another contractor was substituted in his
place. But no steps were taken, and perhaps no steps were possible, to
ascertain in detail the amount which the country could afford to pay.
For more than twenty years these temporary engagements continued, and
received the sanction of Warren Hastings, the first titular
governor-general of India. Hastings' great rival, Francis, was among
those who urged the superior advantages of a permanent assessment. At
last, in 1789, a more accurate investigation into the agricultural
resources of Bengal was commenced, and the settlement based upon this
investigation was declared perpetual by Lord Cornwallis in 1793. The
zamindars of that time were raised to the status of landlords, with
rights of transfer and inheritance, subject always to the payment in
perpetuity of a rent-charge. In default of due payment, their lands were
liable to be sold to the highest bidder. The aggregate assessment was
fixed at _sikká_ Rs. 26,800,989, equivalent to Co.'s Rs. 28,587,722, or
say 2¾ millions sterling. While the claim of Government against the
zamindars was thus fixed for ever, it was intended that the rights of
the zamindars over their own tenants should be equally restricted. But
no detailed record of tenant-right was inserted in the settlement
papers, and, as a matter of fact, the cultivators lost rather than
gained in security of tenure. The same English prejudice which made a
landlord of the zamindar could recognize nothing but a tenant-at-will in
the ryot. By two stringent regulations of 1799 and 1812 the tenant was
practically put at the mercy of a rack-renting landlord. If he failed to
pay his rent, however excessive, his property was rendered liable to
distraint and his person to imprisonment. At the same time the operation
of the revenue sale law had introduced a new race of zamindars, who were
bound to their tenants by no traditions of hereditary sympathy, but
whose sole object was to make a profit out of their newly purchased
property. The rack-rented peasantry found no protection in the law
courts until 1859, when an act was passed which restricted the
landlord's powers of enhancement in certain specified cases. Later the
Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885, since amended by an act of 1898, created
various classes of privileged tenants, including one class known as
"settled ryots," in which the qualifying condition is holding land, not
necessarily the same land, for twelve years continuously in one village.
Outside the privileged classes of tenants the act gives valuable
protection to tenants-at-will. The progress in the acquisition of
occupancy rights by tenants may be judged from the fact that, whereas in
1877 it was stated of the Champaran district that the cultivator had
hardly acquired any permanent interest in the soil, the settlement
officer in 1900 reported that 87% of the occupied area was in the
possession of tenants with occupancy rights or holding at fixed rates.
It is believed that the ryots will eventually be able to secure, and to
hold against all comers, the strong legal position which the Bengal
Tenancy Act has given them.
The permanent settlement was confined to the three provinces of Bengal,
Behar and Orissa, according to their boundaries at that time. Orissa
proper, which was conquered from the Mahrattas in 1803, is subject to a
temporary settlement, which expired in 1897 and a re-settlement was made
in 1900. The enhancement in the revenue amounted to 52% of the previous
demand; but in estates in which the increase was specially large it was
decided to introduce the new rates gradually.
The Ryotwari system.
The prevailing system throughout the Madras presidency is the ryotwari,
which takes the cultivator or peasant proprietor as its rent-paying
unit, somewhat as the Bengal system takes the zamindar. This system
cannot be called indigenous to the country, any more than the zamindari
of Bengal. If any system deserves that name, it is that of village
assessment, which still lingers in the memories of the people in the
south. When the British declared themselves heir to the nawab of the
Carnatic at the opening of the 19th century, they had no adequate
experience of revenue management. The authorities in England favoured
the zamindari system already at work in Bengal, which appeared at least
calculated to secure punctual payment. The Madras Government was
accordingly instructed to enter into permanent engagements with
zamindars, and, where no zamindars could be found, to create
substitutes out of enterprising contractors. The attempt resulted in
failure in every case, except where the zamindars happened to be the
representatives of ancient lines of powerful chiefs. Several of such
chiefs exist in the extreme south and in the north of the presidency.
Their estates have been guaranteed to them on payment of a _peshkash_ or
permanent tribute, and are saved by the custom of primogeniture from the
usual fate of subdivision. Throughout the rest of Madras there are no
zamindars either in name or fact. The influence of Sir Thomas Munro
afterwards led to the adoption of the ryotwari system, which will always
be associated with his name. According to this system, an assessment is
made with the cultivating proprietor upon the land taken up for
cultivation year by year. Neither zamindar nor village officer
intervenes between the cultivator and the state, which takes directly
upon its own shoulders all a landlord's responsibility. The early
ryotwari settlements in Madras were based upon insufficient experience.
They were preceded by no survey, but adopted the crude estimates of
native officials. Since 1858 a department of revenue survey has been
organized, and the old assessments have been everywhere revised.
Nothing can be more complete in theory and more difficult of
exposition than a Madras ryotwari settlement. First, the entire area
of the district, whether cultivated or uncultivated, and of each field
within the district is accurately measured. The next step is to
calculate the estimated produce of each field, having regard to every
kind of both natural and artificial advantage. Lastly, a rate is fixed
upon every field, which may be regarded as roughly equal to one-third
of the gross and one-half of the net produce. The elaborate nature of
these inquiries and calculations may be inferred from the fact that as
many as thirty-five different rates are sometimes struck for a single
district, ranging from 6d. to £1, 4s. per acre. The rates thus
ascertained are fixed for a term of thirty years; but during that
period the aggregate rent-roll of a district is liable to be affected
by several considerations. New land may be taken up for cultivation,
or old land may be abandoned; and occasional remissions are permitted
under no less than eighteen specified heads. Such matters are
discussed and decided by the collector at the _jamabandi_ or court
held every year for definitely ascertaining the amount of revenue to
be paid by each ryot for the current season. This annual inquiry has
sometimes been mistaken by careless passers-by for an annual
reassessment of each ryot's holding. It is not, however, a change in
the rates for the land which he already holds, but an inquiry into and
record of the changes in his former holding or of any new land which
he may wish to take up.
In the early days of British rule no system whatever prevailed
throughout the Bombay presidency; and even at the present time there are
tracts where something of the old confusion survives. The modern "survey
tenure," as it is called, dates from 1838, when it was first introduced
into one of the _tálukas_ of Poona district, and it has since been
gradually extended over the greater part of the presidency. As its name
implies, the settlement is preceded by survey. Each field is measured,
and an assessment placed upon it according to the quality of the soil
without any attempt to fix the actual average produce. This assessment
holds good, without any possibility of modification, for a term of
thirty years. The Famine Commission of 1901 suggested the following
measures with a view to improving the position of the Bombay ryot: (1) A
tenancy law to protect expropriated ryots, (2) a bankruptcy law, (3) the
limitation of the right of transfer, in the interests of ryots who are
still in possession of their land.
The other Provinces.
In the other provinces variations of the zamindari and ryotwari systems
are found. In the United Provinces and the Punjab the ascertainment of
the actual rents paid is the necessary preliminary to the land revenue
demand. In the Central Provinces, where the landlords (_malguzars_)
derive their title from the revenue settlements made under British rule,
the rents are actually fixed by the settlement officer for varying
periods. In addition nearly every province has its own laws regulating
the subject of tenancy; the tenancy laws of the United Provinces and of
the Central Provinces were revised and amended during the decade
1891-1901.
The principles of the land revenue settlement and administration were
reviewed by the government of India in a resolution presented to
parliament in 1902, in which its policy is summarised as follows:--
Land Tenures and Settlements.
"In the review of their land revenue policy which has now been brought
to a close, the Government of India claim to have established the
following propositions, which, for convenience' sake, it may be
desirable to summarize before concluding this Resolution:--
(1) That a Permanent Settlement, whether in Bengal or elsewhere, is no
protection against the incidence and consequences of famine.
(2) That in areas where the State receives its land revenue from
landlords, progressive moderation is the key-note of the policy of
Government, and that the standard of 50% of the assets is one which is
almost uniformly observed in practice, and is more often departed from
on the side of deficiency than of excess.
(3) That in the same areas the State has not objected, and does not
hesitate, to interfere by legislation to protect the interests of the
tenants against oppression at the hands of the landlord.
(4) That in areas where the State takes the land revenue from the
cultivators, the proposal to fix the assessment at one-fifth of the
gross produce would result in the imposition of a greatly increased
burden upon the people.
(5) That the policy of long term settlements is gradually being
extended, the exceptions being justified by conditions of local
development.
(6) That a simplification and cheapening of the proceedings connected
with new settlements and an avoidance of the harassing invasion of an
army of subordinate officials, are a part of the deliberate policy of
Government.
(7) That the principle of exempting or allowing for improvements is
one of general acceptance, but may be capable of further extension.
(8) That assessments have ceased to be made upon prospective assets.
(9) That local taxation as a whole, though susceptible of some
redistribution, is neither immoderate nor burdensome.
(10) That over-assessment is not, as alleged, a general or widespread
source of poverty and indebtedness in India, and that it cannot fairly
be regarded as a contributory cause of famine.
The Government of India have further laid down liberal principles for
future guidance and will be prepared, where the necessity is
established, to make further advance in respect of:--
(11) The progressive and graduated imposition of large enhancements.
(12) Greater elasticity in the revenue collection, facilitating its
adjustment to the variations of the seasons, and the circumstances of
the people.
(13) A more general resort to reduction of assessments in cases of
local deterioration, where such reduction cannot be claimed under the
terms of settlement."
In 1900-1901 the total land revenue realized from territory under
British administration in India amounted to £17,325,000, the rate per
cultivated acre varying from 3s. 1d. in Madras to 10d. in the Central
Provinces. The general conclusion of the Famine Commission of 1901 was
that "except in Bombay, where it is full, the incidence of land revenue
is low to moderate in ordinary years, and it should in no way _per se_
be the cause of indebtedness."
Salt Administration.
Prior to the successive reductions of the salt duty in 1903, 1905 and
1907, next to land, salt contributed the largest share to the Indian
revenue; and, where salt is locally manufactured, its supervision
becomes an important part of administrative duty. Up to within quite
recent times the tax levied upon salt varied extremely in different
parts of the country, and a strong preventive staff was required to be
stationed along a continuous barrier hedge, which almost cut the
peninsula into two fiscal sections. The reform of Sir J. Strachey in
1878, by which the higher rates were reduced and the lower rates raised,
with a view to their ultimate equalization over the whole country,
effectually abolished this old engine of oppression. Communication is
now free; and it has been found that prices are absolutely lowered by
thus bringing the consumer nearer to his market, even though the rate of
taxation be increased. Broadly speaking the salt consumed in India is
derived from four sources: (1) importation by sea, chiefly from England
and the Red Sea and Aden; (2) solar evaporation in shallow tanks along
the seaboard; (3) the salt lakes in Rajputana; (4) quarrying in the salt
hills of the northern Punjab. The salt lakes in Rajputana have been
leased by the government of India from the rulers of the native states
in which they lie, and the huge salt deposits of the Salt Range mines
are worked under government control, as also are the brine works on the
Runn of Cutch. At the Kohat mines, and in the salt evaporation works on
the sea-coast, with the exception of a few of the Madras factories, the
government does not come between the manufacturer and the merchant,
except in so far as is necessary in order to levy the duty from the salt
as it issues from the factory. The salt administration is in the hands
of (1) the Northern India Salt Department, which is directly under the
government of India, and controls the salt resources of Rajputana and
the Punjab, and (2) the salt revenue authorities of Madras and Bombay.
The consumption of salt per head in India varies from 7 lb. in Rajputana
to 16.02 lb. in Madras. The salt duty, which stood in 1888 at Rs. 2½ per
maund, was reduced in 1903 to Rs. 2, in 1905 to Rs. 1½ and in 1907 to R.
1 per maund, the rate being uniform all over India. In 1907-1908 the
gross yield of the salt duty was £3,339,000, of which more than
one-fourth was derived from imported salt.
Opium.
The heading _Opium_ in the finance accounts represents the duty on the
export of the drug. The duty on local consumption, which is included
under excise, yielded £981,000 in 1907-1908. The opium revenue proper is
derived from two sources: (1) a monopoly of production in the valley of
the Ganges, and (2) a transit duty levied on opium grown in the native
states of western India, known as Malwa opium. Throughout British
territory the growth of the poppy is almost universally prohibited,
except in a certain tract of Bengal and the United Provinces, where it
is grown with the help of advances from government and under strict
supervision. The opium, known as "provision opium," is manufactured in
government factories at Patna and Ghazipur, and sold by auction at
Calcutta for export to China. The net opium revenue represents the
difference between the sum realized at these sales and the cost of
production. Malwa opium is exported from Bombay, the duty having
previously been levied on its passage into British territory. In
1907-1908 the net opium revenue from both sources amounted to
£3,576,000. The Chinese government having issued an edict that the
growth and consumption of opium in China should be entirely suppressed
within ten years, the government of India accordingly agreed in 1908
that the export of opium from India should be reduced year by year, so
that the opium revenue would henceforth rapidly decline and might be
expected to cease altogether. In 1908 an international commission that
met at Shanghai passed resolutions inviting all the states there
represented to take measures for the gradual suppression of the
manufacture, sale and distribution of opium, except for medicinal
purposes.
_Excise._--Excise, like salt, is not only a department of revenue
collection, but also to a great extent a branch of the executive. In
other words, excise duties in India are not a mere tax upon the
consumer, levied for convenience through the manufacturer and retail
dealer, but a species of government monopoly. The only excisable
articles are intoxicants and drugs; and the avowed object of the state
is to check consumption not less than to raise revenue. The limit of
taxation and restriction is the point at which too great encouragement
is given to smuggling. Details vary in the different provinces, but
the general plan of administration is the same. The right to
manufacture and the right to retail are both monopolies of government
permitted to private individuals only upon terms. Distillation of
country spirits is allowed according to two systems--either to the
highest bidder under strict supervision, or only upon certain spots
set apart for the purpose. The latter is known as the _sadr_ or
central distillery system. The right of sale is also usually farmed
out to the highest bidder, subject to regulations fixing the minimum
quantity of liquor that may be sold at one time. The brewing of beer
from rice and other grains, which is universal among the hill tribes
and other aboriginal races, is practically untaxed and unrestrained.
The European breweries at several hill stations pay the same tax as
imported beer. Apart from spirits, excise duties are levied upon the
sale of a number of intoxicating or stimulant drugs, of which the most
important are opium, bhang, ganja and charas. Opium is issued for
local consumption in India from the government manufactories at
Ghazipur and Patna in the Behar and Benares Agencies, and sold through
private retailers at a monopoly price. Bhang, ganja and charas are
three different narcotic drugs prepared from the hemp plant (_Cannabis
sativa_, var. _indica_). Scientifically speaking, bhang consists of
the dried leaves and small stalks, with a few fruits; ganja of the
flowering and fruiting heads of the female plant; while charas is the
resin itself, collected in various ways as it naturally exudes. The
plant grows wild in many parts of India; but the cultivation of it for
ganja is practically confined to a limited area in the Rajshahi
district of eastern Bengal, and charas is mainly imported from Central
Asia. The use of bhang in moderation is comparatively harmless; ganja
and charas when taken in excess are undoubtedly injurious, leading to
crime and sometimes to insanity. In accordance with the
recommendations of the Hemp Drugs Commission, the government of India
passed an act in 1896 providing that, in regard to ganja and charas,
cultivation of the plants should be restricted as much as possible,
and that a direct quantitative duty should be levied on the drugs on
issue from the warehouse in the province of consumption; while as
regards bhang, cultivation of the hemp for its production should be
prohibited or taxed, and collection of the drug from wild plants
permitted only under licence, a moderate quantitative duty being
levied in addition to vend fees. No duty whatever is now levied upon
tobacco in any part of India. The plant is universally grown by the
cultivators for their own smoking, and, like everything else, was
subject to taxation under native rule; but the impossibility of
accurate excise supervision has caused the British government to
abandon the impost. In 1907-1908 the total gross revenue from excise
amounted to £6,214,000, of which more than two-thirds was derived from
spirits and toddy.
Since 1894 a uniform customs duty of 5% _ad valorem_ has been levied
generally on imported goods, certain classes being placed on the free
list, of which the most important are food-grains, machinery, railway
material, coal, and cotton twist and yarn (exempted in 1896). Most
classes of iron and steel are admitted at the lower rate of 1%. Cotton
goods are taxed at 3½%, whether imported or woven in Indian mills.
Special duties are imposed on liquors, arms and ammunition and
petroleum, while imported salt pays the same duty as salt manufactured
locally. From 1899 to 1904 a countervailing duty was imposed on
bounty-fed beet sugar. There is also a customs duty at the rate of
about 3d. per 82 lb. on exported rice. In 1907-1908 the total customs
revenue amounted to £4,910,000, of which £664,000 was derived from the
export duty on rice and £223,730 from the excise on cotton
manufactures.
Since 1886 an assessed tax has been levied on all sources of income
except that derived from land. The rate is a little more than 2½% on
all incomes exceeding £133 a year, and a little more than 2% on
incomes exceeding £66, the minimum income liable to assessment having
been raised in 1903 from £33. The total number of persons assessed is
only about 260,000. In 1907-1908 the gross receipts from income tax
amounted to £1,504,000.
Other sources of revenue are stamps, levied on judicial proceedings
and commercial documents; registration of mortgages and other
instruments; and provincial rates, chiefly in Bengal and the United
Provinces for public works or rural police. The rates levied at a
certain percentage of the land revenue for local purposes are now
excluded from the finance accounts. In 1907-1908 the gross receipts
amounted to: from stamps, £4,259,000, of which more than two-thirds
was derived from the sale of court fee stamps; from registration,
£415,000; and from provincial rates, £526,000.
_Commerce and Industries._
India may almost be said to be a country of a single industry, that
industry being agriculture. According to the census of 1901 two-thirds
of the total population were employed in occupations connected with the
land, while not one-tenth of that proportion were supported by any other
single industry. The prosperity of agriculture therefore is of
overwhelming importance to the people of India, and all other industries
are only subsidiary to this main occupation. This excessive dependence
upon a single industry, which is in its turn dependent upon the accident
of the seasons, upon a favourable or unfavourable monsoon, has been held
to be one of the main causes of the frequent famines which ravage India.
_Agriculture._--The cultivation of the soil is the occupation of the
Indian people in a sense which is difficult to realize in England, and
which cannot be adequately expressed by figures. As the land tax forms
the mainstay of the imperial revenue, so the ryot or cultivator
constitutes the unit of the social system. The organized village
community contains many other members besides the cultivators; but
they all exist for his benefit, and all alike are directly maintained
from the produce of the village fields. Even in considerable towns,
the traders and handicraftsmen almost always possess plots of land of
their own, on which they raise sufficient grain to supply their
families with food. The operations of rural life are familiar to every
class. They are enveloped in a cloud of religious sanctions, and serve
to mark out by their recurring periods the annual round of common
life.
But though agriculture thus forms the staple industry of the country,
its practice is pursued in different provinces with infinite variety
of detail. Everywhere the same perpetual assiduity is found, but the
inherited experience of generations has taught the cultivators to
adapt their simple methods to differing circumstances. For irrigation,
native patience and ingenuity have devised means which compare not
unfavourably with the colossal projects of government. Manure is
copiously applied to the more valuable crops whenever manure is
available, its use being limited by poverty and not by ignorance. The
rotation of crops is not adopted as a principle of cultivation; but in
practice it is well known that a succession of exhausting crops cannot
be taken in consecutive seasons from the same field, and the advantage
of fallows is widely recognized. The periodicity of the seasons
usually allows two, and sometimes three, harvests in the year, but not
necessarily, nor indeed usually, from the same fields. For
inexhaustible fertility, and for retentiveness of moisture in a dry
year, no soil in the world can surpass the "black cotton-soil" of the
Deccan. In the broad river basins the inundations deposit annually a
fresh top-dressing of silt, thus superseding the necessity of manures.
_Wheat._--Within recent years wheat has become one of the most
important crops in India, more especially for export. The canal
colonies of the Punjab have turned northern India into one of the
great grain-fields of the British empire; and in 1904 India took the
first place in supplying wheat to the United Kingdom, sending nearly
25½ million cwts. out of a total of 97¾ millions. In 1905, however, it
fell back again into the third place, being passed by Russia and
Argentina. Wheat is grown chiefly in the Punjab, the United Provinces,
and the Central Provinces. In 1905-1906 there were 23 million acres
under wheat in the whole of India, of which 8½ million were in the
Punjab alone.
_Rice._--The name of rice has from time immemorial been so closely
associated with Indian agriculture that it is difficult to realize how
comparatively small an area is planted with this crop. With the
exception of the deltas of the great rivers and the long strip of land
fringing the western coast, rice may be called an occasional crop
throughout the remainder of the peninsula. But where it is grown it is
grown to the exclusion of all other crops. The rice crop is most
important in Burma, Bengal and Madras, and there is an average of 20
million acres under rice in the other provinces of British India. In
Bengal the area varies from 36 to 40 million acres according to the
season. In Burma, where the large waste area is being gradually
brought under cultivation, there has been an almost uninterrupted
increase in the area of the rice crop, and the rice export is one of
the main industries of the province. In ordinary years most of this
rice goes either to Europe or to the Farther East; but in famine
seasons a large part is diverted to peninsular India, and Burma is the
most important of the outside sources from which the deficient crops
are supplemented. In 1905-1906 the export of rice from India was
valued at 12½ millions sterling.
_Millets._--Taking India as a whole, the staple food grain is neither
rice nor wheat, but millets, which are probably the most prolific
grain in the world, and the best adapted to the vicissitudes of a
tropical climate. Excluding the special rice-growing tracts, different
kinds of millet are grown more extensively than any other crop from
Madras in the south at least as far as Rajputana in the north. The
_sorghum_ or great millet, generally known as _jowar_ or _cholum_, is
the staple grain crop of southern India. The spiked millet, known as
_bajra_ or _cumbu_, which yields a poorer food, is grown on dry sandy
soil in the Deccan and the Punjab. A third sort of millet, _ragi_ or
_marua_, is cultivated chiefly in Madras and Bengal. There are also
other kinds, which are included as a rule under the general head of
"other food grains." Millet crops are grown for the most part on
unirrigated land. In the Bombay Deccan districts they cover generally
upwards of 60% of the grain area, or an even larger proportion in
years of drought. In Gujarat about half the grain area is under
millets or maize in ordinary years. The grain is consumed almost
entirely in India, though a small amount is exported.
_Pulses._--Among pulses gram covers in ordinary years more than 10
millions of acres, chiefly in the United Provinces, the Punjab and
Bengal. Gram is largely eaten by the poorer classes, but it is also
used as horse-food. Other pulses, lentils, &c., are extensively grown,
but the area under these crops is liable to great contraction in years
of drought, as it consists for the most part of unirrigated lands.
_Oil-seeds._--Oil-seeds also form an important crop in all parts of
the country, being perhaps more universally grown than any other, as
oil is necessary, according to native custom, for application to the
person, for food, and for burning in lamps. In recent years the
cultivation of oil-seeds has received an extraordinary stimulus owing
to the demand for export to Europe, especially to France; but as they
can be grown after rice, &c., as a second crop, this increase has
hardly at all tended to diminish the production of food grains. The
four chief varieties grown are mustard or rape seed, linseed, _til_ or
gingelly (sesamum), and castor-oil. Bengal and the United Provinces
are at present the chief sources of supply for the foreign demand, but
gingelly is largely exported from Madras, and, to a smaller extent,
from Burma. These seeds are for the most part pressed in India either
in bullock presses or in oil-mills. The refuse or cake is of great
value to agriculturists, as it forms a food for cattle, and in the
case of sesamum it is eaten by the people. But a very large quantity
of the seeds is exported. The total value of oils and oil-seeds
exported in 1905-1906 was over 7½ millions sterling.
_Vegetables._--Vegetables are everywhere cultivated in garden plots
for household use, and also on a larger scale in the neighbourhood of
great towns. Among favourite native vegetables, the following may be
mentioned:--the egg-plant, called _brinjal_ or _baigan_ (_Solanum
Melongena_), potatoes, cabbages, cauliflower, radishes, onions,
garlic, turnips, yams, and a great variety of cucurbitaceous plants,
including _Cucumis sativus_, _Cucurbita maxima_, _Lagenaria vulgaris_,
_Trichosanthes dioica_, and _Benincasa cerifera_. Of these, potatoes,
cabbages, and turnips are of comparatively recent introduction. Almost
all English vegetables can be raised by a careful gardener. Potatoes
thrive best on the higher elevations, such as the Khasi hills, the
Nilgiris, the Mysore uplands, the Shan States, and the slopes of the
Himalayas; but they are also grown even in lowland districts.
_Fruits._--Among cultivated fruits are the following:--Mango
(_Mangifera indica_), plantain (_Musa paradisiaca_), pine-apple
(_Ananassa sativa_), pomegranate (_Punica Granatum_), guava (_Psidium
pomiferum_ and _P. pyriferum_), tamarind (_Tamarindus indica_), jack
(_Artocarpus integrifolia_), custard-apple (_Anona squamosa_), papaw
(_Carica Papaya_), shaddock (_Citrus decumana_), and several varieties
of fig, melon, orange, lime and citron. According to the verdict of
Europeans, no native fruits can compare with those of England. But the
mangoes of Bombay, of Multan, and of Malda in Bengal, and the oranges
of Nagpur and the Khasi hills, enjoy a high reputation; while the
guavas of Madras are made into an excellent preserve.
_Spices._--Among spices, for the preparation of curry and other hot
dishes, turmeric and chillies hold the first place, being very
generally cultivated. Next in importance come ginger, coriander,
aniseed, black cummin, and fenugreek. Pepper proper is confined to the
Malabar coast, from Kanara to Travancore. Cardamoms are a valuable
crop in the same locality, and also in the Nepalese Himalayas. _Pan_
or betel-leaf is grown by a special caste in most parts of the
country. Its cultivation requires constant care, but is highly
remunerative. The betel-nut or areca palm is chiefly grown in certain
favoured localities, such as the deltaic districts of Bengal and the
highlands of southern India.
_Palms._--Besides betel-nut (_Areca Catechu_), the palms of India
include the coco-nut (_Cocos nucifera_), the bastard date (_Phoenix
sylvestris_), the palmyra (_Borassus flabellifer_), and the true date
(_Phoenix dactylifera_). The coco-nut, which loves a sandy soil and a
moist climate, is found in greatest perfection along the strip of
coast-line that fringes the west of the peninsula, where it ranks next
to rice as the staple product. The bastard date, grown chiefly in the
country round Calcutta and in the north-east of the Madras presidency,
supplies both the jaggery sugar of commerce and intoxicating liquors
for local consumption. Spirit is also distilled from the palmyra,
especially in the neighbourhood of Bombay and in the south-east of
Madras. The true date is almost confined to Sind.
_Sugar._--Sugar is manufactured both from the sugar-cane and from the
bastard date-palm, but the total production is inadequate to the local
demand. The best cane is grown in the United Provinces, on irrigated
land. It is an expensive crop, requiring much attention, and not
yielding a return within the year; but the profits are proportionately
large. The normal area under sugar-cane in India is generally about 3
million acres, chiefly in the United Provinces, Bengal, and the
Punjab. A large share of the produce is consumed in the form of _gur_
or unrefined sugar, and the market for this preparation is independent
of foreign competition. The total import of sugar in 1905-1906 was
valued at £5,182,000, chiefly from Java and Mauritius.
_Indigo._--Owing to the manufacture of synthetic indigo by German
chemists the export trade in indigo, which was formerly the most
important business carried on by European capital in India, has been
almost entirely ruined. In the early years of the 19th century there
were colonies of English planters in many districts of Bengal, and it
was calculated that the planters of North Behar alone had a turnover
of a million sterling. The industry suffered depression owing to the
indigo riots of 1860 and the emancipation of the peasantry by the Land
Act of 1859; but in the closing decade of the century it received a
much more disastrous blow from the invention of the German chemists.
In 1895-1896 the area under indigo was 1,570,000 acres, and the value
of the exports £3,569,700, while in 1905-1906 the area had sunk to
383,000 acres, and the value of the exports to £390,879. The only hope
of rescuing the industry from total disappearance lies in the fact
that the natural indigo gives a faster dye than the manufactured
product, while an effort has also been made to introduce the
Java-Natal seed into India, which gives a much heavier yield, and so
may be better able to compete in price with synthetic indigo.
_Tea._--The cultivation of tea in India began within the memory of men
still living, and now has replaced indigo as the chief article for
European capital, more particularly in Assam. Unlike coffee-planting
the enterprise owes its origin to the initiation of government, and
has never attracted the attention of the natives. Early travellers
reported that the tea-plant was indigenous to the southern valleys of
the Himalayas; but they were mistaken in the identity of the shrub,
which was the _Osyris nepalensis_. The real tea (_Thea viridis_), a
plant akin to the camellia, grows wild in Assam, being commonly found
throughout the hilly tract between the valleys of the Brahmaputra and
the Barak. There it sometimes attains the dimensions of a large tree;
and from that, as well as from other indications, it has been
plausibly inferred that Assam is the original home of the plant,
which was thence introduced at a prehistoric date into China. The
real progress of tea-planting in Assam dates from about 1851, and was
greatly assisted by the promulgation of the Waste-land Rules of 1854.
By 1859 there were already fifty-one gardens in existence, owned by
private individuals; and the enterprise had extended from its original
headquarters in Lakhimpur and Sibsagar as far down the Brahmaputra as
Kamrup. In 1856 the tea-plant was discovered wild in the district of
Cachar in the Barak valley, and European capital was at once directed
to that quarter. At about the same time tea-planting was introduced
into the neighbourhood of the sanatorium of Darjeeling, among the
Sikkim Himalayas. The success of these undertakings engendered a wild
spirit of speculation in tea companies both in India and at home,
which reached its climax in 1865. The industry recovered but slowly
from the effects of this disastrous crisis, and did not again reach a
stable position until 1869. Since that date it has rapidly but
steadily progressed, and has been ever opening new fields of
enterprise. At the head of the Bay of Bengal in Chittagong district,
side by side with coffee on the Nilgiri hills, on the forest-clad
slopes of Kumaon and Kangra, amid the low-lying jungle of the Bhutan
Dwars, and even in Arakan, the energetic pioneers of tea-planting have
established their industry. Different degrees of success may have
rewarded them, but in no case have they abandoned the struggle. The
area under tea, of which nine-tenths lies in the new province of
Eastern Bengal and Assam, expanded by 85% during the sixteen years
from 1885 to 1901, while the production increased by 167%. This great
rise in the supply, unaccompanied by an equal expansion of the market
for Indian tea, involved the industry in great difficulties, to meet
which it became necessary to restrict the area under tea as far as
possible, and to reduce the quantity of leaf taken from the plant,
thus at the same time improving the quality of the tea. The area under
tea in 1885 was 283,925 acres and the yield 71,525,977 lb., while in
1905 the area had increased to 527,290 acres and the yield to
222,360,132 lb., while the export alone was 214,223,728 lb. As much as
92% of the export goes to the United Kingdom, where China tea has been
gradually ousted by tea from India and Ceylon. The other chief
countries that afford a market for Indian tea are Canada, Russia,
Australia, Turkey in Asia, Persia, and the United States. India's
consumption of tea is computed to average 8¼ million pounds, of which
5½ millions are Indian and the remainder Chinese. There should
therefore be considerable room for expansion in the home market. In
1905 there were 134 tea-planting companies registered in India, about
80% of the capital being held by shareholders in London.
_Coffee._--The cultivation of coffee is confined to southern India,
though attempts have been made to introduce the plant both into Lower
Burma and into the Eastern Bengal district of Chittagong. The coffee
tract may be roughly defined as a section of the landward slope of the
Western Ghats, extending from Kanara in the north to Travancore in the
extreme south. That tract includes almost the whole of Coorg, the
districts of Kadur and Hassan in Mysore, the Nilgiri hills, and the
Wynaad. The cultivation has also extended to the Shevaroy hills in
Salem district and to the Palni hills in Madura.
Unlike tea, coffee was not introduced into India by European
enterprise; and even to the present day its cultivation is largely
followed by the natives. The Malabar coast has always enjoyed a direct
commerce with Arabia, and at an early date gave many converts to
Islam. One of these converts, Baba Budan by name, is said to have gone
on a pilgrimage to Mecca and to have brought back with him the coffee
berry, which he planted on the hill range in Mysore still called after
him. According to local tradition this happened more than two
centuries ago. The shrubs thus sown lived on, but the cultivation did
not spread until the beginning of the 19th century. The state of
Mysore and the Baba Budan range also witnessed the first opening of a
coffee-garden by an English planter about 1840. The success of this
experiment led to the extension of coffee cultivation into the
neighbouring tract of Manjarabad, also in Mysore, and into the Wynaad
subdivision of the Madras district of Malabar. From 1840 to 1860 the
enterprise made slow progress; but since the latter date it has spread
with great rapidity along the whole line of the Western Ghats,
clearing away the primeval forest, and opening a new era of prosperity
to the labouring classes. The export of coffee in 1905 was 360,000
cwt., being the highest for sixteen years. The over-supply of cheap
Brazilian coffee in the consuming markets caused a heavy fall in
prices at the beginning of the decade, the average price in London in
1901 being 47s. per cwt. compared with 101s. in 1894. The United
Kingdom and France are the chief consumers. An agreement with France
at the beginning of the decade secured to Indian produce imported into
that country the benefits of the minimum tariff, thus protecting the
coffee industry from taxation in French ports on a scale which would
have seriously hampered the trade. There is practically no local
market for coffee in India.
_Cinchona._--The cultivation of cinchona was introduced into India in
the year 1860 under the auspices of government, owing to the efforts
of Sir Clements Markham, and a stock of plants was prepared and
distributed to planters in the Nilgiris and in Coorg. At the same time
governmental plantations were established in the Nilgiri hills and at
Darjeeling, and these have been continued up to the present time. A
considerable amount of the bark from private plantations is bought by
the government and treated at the government factories. The sulphate
of quinine and the cinchona febrifuge thus produced are issued for the
most part to medical officers in the various provinces, to gaols, and
to the authorities of native states; but a large and increasing amount
is disposed of in the form of 5-grain packets, costing a farthing
each, through the medium of the post-offices. This system brings the
drug easily within the reach of the people.
_Cattle._--Throughout the whole of India, except in Sind and the
western districts of the Punjab, horned cattle are the only beasts
used for ploughing. The well-known humped species of cattle
predominates everywhere, being divided into many varieties. Owing
partly to unfavourable conditions of climate and soil, partly to the
insufficiency of grazing ground, and partly to the want of selection
in breeding, the general condition of the cattle is miserably poor. As
cultivation advances, the area of waste land available for grazing
steadily diminishes, and the prospects of the poor beasts are becoming
worse rather than better. Their only hope lies in the introduction of
fodder crops as a regular stage in the agricultural course. There are,
however, some fine breeds in existence. In Mysore the _amrit mahal_, a
breed said to have been introduced by Hyder Ali for military purposes,
is still kept up by the state. In the Madras districts of Nellore and
Kurnool the indigenous breed has been greatly improved under the
stimulus of cattle shows and prizes founded by British officials. In
the Central Provinces there is a peculiar breed of trotting bullocks
which is in great demand for wheeled carriages. The large and handsome
oxen of Gujarat in Bombay and of Hariana in the Punjab are excellently
adapted for drawing heavy loads in a sandy soil. The fodder famines
that accompanied the great famines of 1897 and 1900 proved little
short of disastrous to the cattle in the affected provinces. In
Gujarat and the arid plains of the south-east Punjab the renowned
herds almost disappeared. In the affected districts of the Punjab the
loss of cattle averaged from 17 to 45% of the whole. In Rajputana more
than half of its thirteen or fourteen millions of stock is said to
have perished in 1900 alone. In one state the loss amounted to 90%,
and in four others to 70%. In Gujarat half of its 1½ million cattle
perished in spite of the utmost efforts to obtain fodder. The worst
cattle are to be found always in the deltaic tracts, but there their
place is to a large extent taken by buffaloes. These last are more
hardy than ordinary cattle; their character is maintained by crossing
the cows with wild bulls, and their milk yields the best _ghi_ or
clarified butter. Along the valley of the Indus, and in the sandy
desert which stretches into Rajputana, camels supersede cattle for
agricultural operations. The breed of horses has generally
deteriorated since the demand for military purposes has declined with
the establishment of British supremacy. In Bengal Proper, and also in
Madras, it may be broadly said that horses are not bred. But horses
are still required for the Indian army, the native cavalry, and the
police; and in order to maintain the supply of remounts a civil
veterinary department was founded in 1892, transferred in 1903 to the
army remount department. Horse-breeding is carried on chiefly in the
Punjab, the United Provinces, and Baluchistan, and government keep a
number of stallions in the various provinces. Formerly Norfolk
trotters held the first place in point of number, but their place has
been taken in recent years by English thoroughbreds, Arabs, and
especially Australians. For the supply of ordnance, baggage, and
transport mules a large number of donkey stallions have been imported
by the government annually from various European and other sources.
But the supply of suitable animals is not good, and their cost is
large; so the breeding of donkey stallions has been undertaken at the
Hissar farm in the Punjab.
_Forests._--The forests of India, both as a source of natural wealth
and as a department of the administration, are beginning to receive
their proper share of attention. Up to the middle of the 19th century
the destruction of forests by timber-cutters, by charcoal-burners, and
above all by shifting cultivation, was allowed to go on everywhere
unchecked. The extension of cultivation was considered as the chief
care of government, and no regard was paid to the improvident waste
going on on all sides. But as the pressure of population on the soil
became more dense, and the construction of railways increased the
demand for fuel, the question of forest conservation forced itself
into notice. It was recognized that the inheritance of future
generations was being recklessly sacrificed to satisfy the immoderate
desire for profit. And at the same time the importance of forests as
affecting the general meteorology of a country was being learned from
bitter experience in Europe. On many grounds, therefore, it became
necessary to preserve what remained of the forests in India, and to
repair the mischief of previous neglect even at considerable expense.
In 1844 and 1847 the subject was actively taken up by the governments
of Bombay and Madras. In 1864 Dr Brandis was appointed
inspector-general of forests to the government of India, and in the
following year an act of the legislature was passed (No. VII. of
1865). The regular training of candidates for the Forest Department in
the schools of France and Germany dates from 1867. In the interval
that has since elapsed, sound principles of forest administration have
been gradually extended. Indiscriminate timber-cutting has been
prohibited, the burning of the jungle by the hill tribes has been
confined within bounds, large areas have been surveyed and demarcated,
plantations have been laid out, and, generally, forest conservation
has become a reality. Systematic conservancy of the Indian forests
received a great impetus from the passing of the Forest Law in 1878,
which gave to the government powers of dealing with private rights in
the forests of which the chief proprietary right is vested in the
state. The Famine Commission of 1878 urged the importance of forest
conservancy as a safeguard to agriculture, pointing out that a supply
of wood for fuel was necessary if cattle manure was to be used to any
extent for the fields, and also that forest growth served to retain
the moisture in the subsoil. They also advised the protection and
extension of communal rights of pasture, and the planting of the
higher slopes with forest, with a view to the possible increase of the
water-supply. These recommendations embody the principle upon which
the management of the state forests is based. In 1894 the government
divided forests into four classes: forests the preservation of which
is essential on climatic or physical grounds, forests which supply
valuable timber for commercial purposes, minor forests, and pasture
lands. In the first class the special purpose of the forests, such as
the protection of the plains from devastation by torrents, must come
before any smaller interests. The second class includes tracts of
teak, _sal_ or _deodar_ timber and the like, where private or village
rights of user are few. In these forests every reasonable facility is
afforded to the people concerned for the full and easy satisfaction of
their needs, which are generally for small timber for building or
fuel, fodder and grazing for their cattle, and edible products for
themselves; and considerations of forest income are subordinated to
those purposes. Restrictions necessary for the proper conservancy of
the forests are, however, imposed, and the system of shifting
cultivation, which denudes a large area of forest growth in order to
place a small area under crops, is held to cost more to the community
than it is worth, and is only permitted, under due regulation, where
forest tribes depend on it for their sustenance. In the third place,
there are minor forests, which produce inferior or smaller timber.
These are managed mainly in the interests of the surrounding
population, and supply grazing or fuel to them at moderate rates,
higher charges being levied on consumers who are not inhabitants of
the locality. The fourth class includes pastures and grazing grounds.
In these even more than in the third class the interests of the local
community stand first. The state forests, which are under the control
of the forest department, amounted in 1901-1902 to about 217,500 sq.
m., or more than one-fifth of the total area of British India, varying
from 61% in Burma to 4% in the United Provinces.
_Timbers._--A large part of the reserved forests, where the control of
the forest department is most complete, consists of valuable timber,
in which the first place is held by teak, found at its best in Burma,
especially in the upper division, and on the south-west coast of
India, in Kanara and Malabar. It is also the most prevalent and
valuable product of the forests at the foot of the Ghats in Bombay,
and along the Satpura and Vindhya ranges, as far as the middle of the
Central Provinces. Here it meets the _sal_, which however is more
especially found in the sub-Himalayan tracts of the United Provinces
and Eastern Bengal and Assam. In the Himalayas themselves the _deodar_
and other conifers form the bulk of the timber, while in the lower
ranges, such as the Khasi hills in Assam, and those of Burma, various
pines are prominent. In the north-east of Assam and in the north of
Upper Burma the _Ficus elastica_, a species of india-rubber tree, is
found. The sandal-wood flourishes all along the southern portion of
the Ghats, especially about Mysore and Coorg; and in the same regions,
as well as in Upper India, the blackwood occurs. A valuable tree,
known as the padouk, is at present restricted almost entirely to the
Andaman Islands, with a scattering in Lower Burma. There are many
other timber trees that are in general demand in different parts of
India, but the above are the best known outside that country. There is
also the universal bamboo, and in the north-western tracts the equally
useful rattan. The annual timber yield of the Indian forests is about
fifty millions of cubic feet, excluding what is used for local
purposes. About half of this quantity comes from the forests of Burma,
where large amounts of teak and other woods are annually extracted,
chiefly through the agency of private firms. It is, however, only the
more valuable of the woods, such as teak, sandal-wood, ebony and the
like, which find a market abroad. The total value of the export trade
in forest produce averages between 1½ and 2 millions annually.
_Manufactures._
Manufacturing industries are being slowly developed in India, though
their growth has not yet materially affected the pressure on the land.
Next to agriculture, weaving is the most important industry in the
country, the cotton-mills of Bombay and the jute mills of Bengal having
increased greatly of recent years. On the other hand, the old indigenous
industries of India decayed greatly during the latter part of the 19th
century. The colonies of hand-workers in silk, cotton, carpets, brass
and silver ware, wood and ivory, and other skilled craftsmen, which
formerly existed in various parts of India, have fallen off both in the
extent of their output and in the artistic excellence of their work. An
attempt has been made to remedy the evil by means of schools of art, but
with little result.
_Cotton._--Cotton is the staple article of clothing in Eastern
countries, and Indian cotton and other piece goods used to find a
ready market in Europe before the English cotton manufacturer had
arisen. When European adventurers found the way to India, cotton and
silk always formed part of the rich cargoes that they brought home,
and the early settlers were always careful to fix their abode amid a
weaving population, at Surat, Calicut, Masulipatam or Hugli. But now
the larger part of the cotton goods used in India is manufactured in
mills in that country or in England, and the handloom weavers' output
is confined to the coarsest kinds of cloth, or to certain special
kinds of goods, such as the turbans and "saris" of Bombay, or the
muslins of Arni, Cuddapah, and Madura in Madras, and of Dacca in
Bengal. The extent to which village industries still survive is shown
by the fact that according to the census of 1901 there were 5,800,000
hand-loom weavers in India against only 350,000 workers in cotton
mills.
The present importance of the cotton crop dates only from the crisis
in Lancashire caused by the American War. Prior to 1860 the exports of
raw cotton from India used to average less than 3 millions sterling a
year, mostly to China; but after that date they rose by leaps, until
in 1866 they reached the enormous total of 37 millions. Then came the
crash, caused by the restoration of peace in the United States, and
the exports fell, until they now average little more than 8 millions a
year. The fact is that Indian cotton has a short staple, and cannot
compete with the best American cotton for spinning the finer qualities
of yarn. But while the cotton famine was at its height, the
cultivators were intelligent enough to make the most of their
opportunity. The area under cotton increased enormously, and the
growers managed to retain in their own hands a fair share of the
profit. The principal cotton-growing tracts are the plains of Gujarat
and Kathiawar, whence Indian cotton has received in the Liverpool
market the historic name of "Surat"; the highlands of the Deccan, and
the valleys of the Central Provinces and Berar. The total area under
cotton in 1905-1906 was 20½ million acres, and the export was
7,396,000 cwt.
It was estimated in 1905 that the world's output of cotton was
19,000,000 bales, of which 13¾ millions were produced in the United
States, 3 millions in India, and nearly 1¼ millions in Egypt, Japan
and China being India's best customers for the raw article. At the
same time the total number of spindles employed in working up the
world's raw cotton was 116 millions, of which 48 millions were in the
United Kingdom, 24 millions in the United States, and a little over 5
millions in India. There were 203 cotton mills in India, employing a
daily average of 196,369 persons. The Bombay Presidency possessed 70%
of the mills and much the same percentage of spindles and looms. The
industry dates from 1851, when the first mill was started. But though
India has special advantages in home-grown cotton and cheap labour,
the labour is so inefficient as to make competition with Europe
difficult. It is calculated that an Indian power-loom weaver working
72 hours a week can turn out 70 lb. of cloth, while a European working
54 hours can turn out 468 lb., and that one Lancashire weaver can do
the work of six Indian power-loom weavers and nine hand-loom weavers.
While these figures hold good, India cannot be a serious competitor
with Europe in the cotton industry.
_Jute._--Next to cotton, jute is the most important and prosperous of
Indian manufactures. With the advance of commerce it is more and more
required for its best-known use, as sacking for produce. Australia and
Argentina need it for wool and wheat, Chili and Brazil for nitrates
and coffee, Asiatic countries for rice, and the world as a whole for
its increased output of produce. The supply has not kept pace with the
demand, and the consequence was a steady appreciation in price from
1901 onwards. The cultivation of jute is confined, to a comparatively
restricted area, more than three-fourths of the total acreage being in
eastern Bengal and Assam, while nearly the whole of the remaining
fourth is in Bengal. In 1907, however, experiments were made towards
growing it in other parts of India. In Behar it has begun to replace
indigo, and some success was achieved in Orissa, Assam and Madras; but
jute is a very exhausting crop, and requires to be planted in lands
fertilized with silt or else with manure. About half the total crop is
exported, and the remainder used in the jute mills centred round
Calcutta, which supply cloth and bags for the grain export trade. The
number of jute mills in 1904 was 38, employing 124,000 hands, and
since then the number has tended constantly upwards. The export of
jute in 1905-1906 was 14,480,000 cwt. with a value of £12,350,000.
_Silk._--The silk industry in India has experienced many vicissitudes.
Under the East India Company large quantities of mulberry silk were
produced chiefly in Bengal, and exported to Europe; and Malda,
Murshidabad, and other places in that province have long been famous
for their silk manufactures. Other kinds of silk are native to certain
parts of India, such as those produced by the "castor oil" and the
_muga_ silkworms of Assam; but the chief of the wild silks is the
tussore silk, which is found in the jungles nearly throughout India.
Large quantities of comparatively coarse silk are made from silk so
produced. In Assam silk is still the national dress, and forms the
common costume of the women, but the men are relinquishing it as an
article of daily wear in favour of cotton. Amongst the Burmese,
however, silk still holds its own. Owing to disease among the
silk-worms the industry has declined of recent years; and in 1886 an
inquiry was held, which resulted in putting the silk-rearing industry
of Bengal on a better basis. The most hopeful ground, however, for
the industry is Kashmir, where Sir Thomas Wardle reported that the
silk was of as high a quality as from any part of the world. The most
important seat of the silk-weaving industry is Bengal, but there are
few parts of India where some silk fabrics are not woven. The silk
weavers of India possess the very highest skill in their craft, and
with competent and energetic management and increased capital the
industry could be revived and extended.
_Other Manufactures._--The demand of the Indian population for woollen
fabrics is very small in comparison with that for cotton, and although
the manufacture of blankets is carried on in many parts of India, the
chief part of the indigenous woollen industry was originally concerned
with shawls. Kashmir shawls were at one time famous, but the industry
is practically extinct. The chief seat of the woollen industry now is
the Punjab, where a considerable number of weavers, thrown out of work
by the decline of the shawl industry, have taken to carpet-making. The
chief centre of this industry is Amritsar. The output of the woollen
mills is chiefly used for the army and the police. In addition to
these and the cotton and jute mills there are indigo factories, rice
mills, timber mills, coffee works, oil mills, iron and brass
foundries, tile factories, printing presses, lac factories, silk
mills, and paper mills. There is a large trade in wood-carving, the
material being generally Indian ebony in northern India, sandal-wood
in southern India, and teak in Burma and elsewhere.
From an artistic point of view the metal manufactures are one of the
most important products of India.
_Brass and Copper Work._--The village brazier, like the village smith,
manufactures the necessary vessels for domestic use. Chief among these
vessels is the _lota_, or globular bowl, universally used in
ceremonial ablutions. The form of the _lota_, and even the style of
ornamentation, has been handed down unaltered from the earliest times.
Benares enjoys the first reputation for work in brass and copper. In
the south, Madura and Tanjore have a similar fame; and in the west,
Ahmedabad, Poona and Nasik. At Bombay itself large quantities of
imported copper are wrought up by native braziers. The temple bells of
India are well known for the depth and purity of their note. In many
localities the braziers have a special repute either for a peculiar
alloy or for a particular process of ornamentation. Silver is
sometimes mixed with the brass, and in rarer cases gold. The brass or
rather bell-metal ware of Murshidabad, known as _khagrai_, has more
than a local reputation, owing to the large admixture of silver in it.
Pottery.
Pottery is made in almost every village, from the small vessels
required in cooking to the large jars used for storing grain and
occasionally as floats to ferry persons across a swollen stream. But,
though the industry is universal, it has hardly anywhere risen to the
dignity of a fine art. Sind is the only province of India where the
potter's craft is pursued with any regard to artistic considerations;
and there the industry is said to have been introduced by the
Mahommedans. Sind pottery is of two kinds, encaustic tiles and vessels
for domestic use. In both cases the colours are the same,--turquoise
blue, copper green, dark purple or golden brown, under an exquisitely
transparent glaze. The usual ornament is a conventional flower
pattern, pricked in from paper and dusted along the pricking. The
tiles, which are evidently of the same origin as those of Persia and
Turkey, are chiefly to be found in the ruined mosques and tombs of the
old Mussulman dynasties; but the industry still survives at the little
towns of Saidpur and Bubri. Artistic pottery is made at Hyderabad,
Karachi, Tatta and Hala, and also at Multan and Lahore in the Punjab.
The Madura pottery deserves mention from the elegance of its form and
the richness of its colour. The United Provinces have, among other
specialties, an elegant black ware with designs in white metal worked
into its surface.
_Mineral Resources._
Putting aside salt, which has been already treated, the chief mining
resources of India at the present day are the coal mines, the gold
mines, the petroleum oil-fields, the ruby mines, manganese deposits,
mica mines in Bengal, and the tin ores and jade of Burma. Other minerals
which exist but have not yet been developed in paying quantities are
copper ore, alum, gypsum and plumbago.
_Coal._--Coal has been known to exist in India since 1774. The first
mine at Raniganj dates from 1820, and has been regularly worked up to
the present time. Coal of varying quality exists under a very
extensive area in India, being found in almost every province and
native state with the exception of Bombay and Mysore. In respect,
however, of both the number and size of its mines Bengal comes easily
first, with seven-eighths of the total output, the largest mines being
those of Raniganj, Jherria, and Giridih, while the Singareni mine in
Hyderabad comes next. Many of the Bengal mines, however, are very
small. There are some important mines in Assam and the Central
Provinces. The importance of the Indian coal production lies in the
hope that it holds out for the development of Indian industries,
especially in connexion with the nascent iron and steel industry. Coal
and iron are found in conjunction in the Central Provinces, and the
Tata Company has recently been formed to work them on a large scale.
The railways already use Indian coal almost exclusively, and Indian
coal is being taken yearly in greater quantities by ships trading to
Eastern ports. The total output in 1905-1906 was 8,417,739 tons; while
there were 47 companies engaged in coal-mining, of which 46 were in
Bengal.
_Gold._--The production of gold in India is practically confined to
the Kolar gold fields in Mysore. An uncertain but unimportant amount
is annually procured by sand-washing in various tracts of northern
India and Burma; and there have been many attempts, including the
great boom of 1880, to work mines in the Wynaad district of the Madras
Presidency. There are also mines in the Hyderabad state from which a
small amount of gold is produced. But the output of gold in Mysore
represents 99% of the annual Indian yield. Modern mining at Kolar
dates from 1881, but there are extensive old workings showing that
much gold had been extracted under native rule. The mines are worked
under leases from the Mysore government, which secure to the state a
royalty of 5% of the gold produced. Up to the end of 1903 the total
output of the Kolar mines reached the value of £19,000,000.
_Iron._--In purity of ore, and in antiquity of working, the iron
deposits of India probably rank first in the world. They are to be
found in every part of the country, from the northern mountains of
Assam and Kumaun to the extreme south of the Madras Presidency.
Wherever there are hills, iron is found and worked to a greater or
less extent. The indigenous methods of smelting the ore, which are
everywhere the same, and have been handed down unchanged through
countless generations, yield a metal of the finest quality in a form
well suited to native wants. But they require an extravagant supply of
charcoal; and even with the cheapness of native labour the product
cannot compete in price with imported iron from England. European
enterprise, attracted by the richness of the ore and the low rate of
wages, has repeatedly tried to establish iron-works on a large scale;
but hitherto every one of these attempts has ended in failure with the
exception of the iron-works at Barrakur in Bengal, first started in
1865, which after many years of struggle seem to have turned the
corner of success. The principal sources of iron-stone at present are
the Madras ores, chiefly at Salem, the Chanda ores in the Central
Provinces, and the ores obtained at and near Raniganj in Bengal.
_Petroleum._--The great oilfields of the Indian empire are in Burma,
which supplies 98% of the total output. Of the remainder nearly all
comes from Assam. In both provinces the growth of the yield has been
very great, the total output in 1901 being six times as large as in
1892; but even so it has failed to keep pace with the demand. A
regular service of steamers carries oil in bulk from Rangoon to
Calcutta, and now Burmese oil competes with the Russian product, which
had already driven the dearer American oil from the market (see
BURMA).
_Other Ores._--Manganese ore is found in very large quantities on a
tract on the Madras coast about midway between Calcutta and Madras.
Most of the ore goes to Great Britain. There are also valuable
deposits of manganese in the Central Provinces and, it is believed, in
Burma. The export of manganese, which had been only about ten years in
existence in 1905-1906, amounted then to 316,694 tons, with a value of
£250,000. Mica has long been obtained in Bengal, chiefly in the
Hazaribagh district, and there is a ruby-coloured variety which is
held in great estimation. In Madras also a mica industry has recently
grown up. Tin is found in the Tavoy and Mergui districts of Lower
Burma, and has for many years been worked in an unprogressive manner
chiefly by Chinese labour. In 1900 tin of good quality was found in
the Southern Shan States. Copper ore is found in many tracts
throughout India, plumbago in Madras, and corundum in southern India.
_Precious Stones._--Despite its legendary wealth, which is really due
to the accumulations of ages, India cannot be said to be naturally
rich in precious stones. Under the Mahommedan rule diamonds were a
distinct source of state revenue; and Akbar is said to have received a
royalty of £80,000 a year from the mines of Panna. But at the present
day the search for them, if carried on anywhere in British territory,
is an insignificant occupation. The name of Golconda has passed into
literature; but that city, once the Mussulman capital of the Deccan,
was rather the home of diamond-cutters than the source of supply. It
is believed that the far-famed diamonds of Golconda actually came from
the sandstone formation which extends across the south-east borders of
the nizam's dominions into the Madras districts of Ganjam and
Godavari. A few poor stones are still found in that region. Sambalpur,
on the upper channel of the Mahanadi river in the Central Provinces,
is another spot once famous for diamonds. So late as 1818 a stone is
said to have been found there weighing 84 grains and valued at £500.
The river-valleys of Chota Nagpur are also known to have yielded a
tribute of diamonds to their Mahommedan conquerors. At the present day
the only place where the search for diamonds is pursued as a regular
industry is the native state of Panna in Bundelkhand. The stones are
found by digging down through several strata of gravelly soil and
washing the earth. Even there, however, the pursuit is understood to
be unremunerative, and has failed to attract European capital. At the
present day the only important industries are the rubies and jade of
Burma. The former are worked by the Ruby Mines Company or by licensed
native miners under the company. The value of the rubies found has
increased rapidly, and the company, which was for some time worked
unprofitably under the lease granted in 1896, has now, with the aid of
favourable treatment from the government, become more prosperous.
Pearls are found off the southern coast of Madras and also in the
Mergui archipelago.
_Trade._
The trade of India with foreign countries is conducted partly by sea and
partly across the land frontiers; but the frontier trade, though capable
of much extension, is only a small fraction of the whole. The sea-borne
trade is carried on chiefly through the four great ports of Calcutta,
Bombay, Karachi, and Rangoon, of which Calcutta serves the fertile
valley of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, Bombay serves the cotton-trade of
western India, Karachi exports the wheat crop of the Punjab, and Rangoon
the rice crop of Burma. Madras, which has been supplied with an
artificial harbour, serves southern India, and Chittagong is rising into
prominence as the point of departure for the tea and jute of eastern
Bengal and Assam. The land trade is carried on with Persia, Afghanistan,
Nepal, Tibet and western China. The new caravan route to Persia from
Quetta by way of the Nushki railway offers facilities to traders, of
which increasing advantage has been taken, but the trade is still small.
Afghanistan under Abdur Rahman imposed prohibitive imposts upon trade,
and the present amir followed his father's policy, but his visit to
India in 1907 may result in improved relations. The trade with the
tribes lying north of the Malakand Pass has improved considerably since
the frontier war of 1897-98, but they are a poor community. Nepal takes
the largest share of the frontier trade. The trade with Tibet has
slightly improved since the treaty of Lhasa of 1904, but it still
amounts to only £90,000 annually. The trade with western China is about
half a million annually, and shows signs of development.
Exports.
A review of Indian trade by the director-general of the statistical
department in India is annually presented to parliament, and therefore
it is only necessary here to mention the main channels that it has
taken of recent years. The chief exports are raw cotton, cotton goods
and yarn, rice, wheat, oil-seeds, raw jute and jute-manufactures,
hides and skins, tea, opium and lac. In 1905-1906 there was great
activity in both the cotton and jute industries. In Bombay new cotton
mills were erected, and old ones extended, high-speed machinery was
widely introduced, and 12,000 new looms were set up. Similarly the
jute trade far surpassed all records. The crop was a record one, but
the demand far exceeded the supply, the cultivators reaped profits of
eight millions more than the previous year, and 2000 new looms were
set up in Calcutta. The tea outlook was good, and the coffee industry
was recovering from the effects of plant disease and Brazilian
competition. But both the indigo and opium trades are declining
industries, which mean a serious loss to the Indian exchequer. Indigo
fell to about one-tenth of its value in the previous decade; and an
agreement was come to with China in 1907, by which the area under
opium is to be gradually reduced. The total exports for 1905-1906 were
valued at £112,000,000.
Imports.
The chief articles of import are cotton goods, cotton yarn, metals,
sugar, mineral oils, machinery and mill-work, woollen manufactures,
provisions, hardware and cutlery, silk, liquors, apparel, railway
material and chemicals. Cotton manufactures and yarns are imported
almost exclusively from the United Kingdom, and amount to about 40% of
the total trade. Metals, including hardware and cutlery, railway
material, &c., supply about a fifth. The only other important article
of import is sugar, which came to about 5 millions in 1905-1906. The
balance of trade is always against India, because she is a debtor
country, and has to pay interest on borrowed capital, and the "home
charges" for the upkeep of the civil and military services and of the
secretary of state's establishment in London. The total imports for
1905-1906 were valued at 82½ millions sterling, including 14 millions
of gold and silver, which are continually hoarded by the people of
India.
Trading classes.
Broadly speaking, the greater part of the internal trade remains in
the hands of the natives. Europeans control the shipping business and
have a share in the collection of some of the more valuable staples of
exports, such as cotton, jute, oil-seeds and wheat. But the work of
distribution and the adaptation of the supply to the demand of the
consumer naturally fall to those who are best acquainted with native
wants. The Vaisya, or trading caste of Manu, has no longer any
separate existence; but its place is occupied by several well-marked
classes. On the western coast the Parsees, by the boldness and extent
of their operations, tread close upon the heels of the most prosperous
English houses. In the interior of the Bombay presidency, business is
mainly divided between two classes, the Bunniahs of Gujarat and the
Marwaris from Rajputana. Each of these profess a peculiar form of
religion, the former being Vishnuvites of the Vallabhacharí sect, the
latter Jains. In the Deccan their place is taken by Lingayats from the
south, who again follow their own form of Hinduism, which is an
heretical species of Siva worship. Throughout Mysore, and in the north
of Madras, Lingayats are still found, but along the eastern sea-board
the predominating classes of traders are those named Chetties and
Komatis. In Bengal many of the upper castes of Sudras have devoted
themselves to general trade; but there again the Jain Marwaris from
Rajputana occupy the front rank. Their headquarters are in Murshidabad
district, and their agents are to be found throughout the valley of
the Brahmaputra, as far up as the unexplored frontier of China.
Local trade.
Local trade is conducted either at the permanent bazaars of great
towns, at weekly markets held in certain villages, at annual
gatherings primarily held for religious purposes, or by means of
travelling brokers and agents. The cultivator himself, who is the
chief producer and also the chief customer, knows little of the great
towns, and expects the dealer to come to his own door. Each village
has at least one resident trader, who usually combines in his own
person the functions of money-lender, grain dealer and cloth seller.
The simple system of rural economy is entirely based upon the dealings
of this man, whom it is the fashion sometimes to decry as a usurer,
but who is really the one thrifty person among an improvident
population. Abolish the money-lender, and the general body of
cultivators would have nothing to depend upon but the harvest of a
single year. The money-lender deals chiefly in grain and in specie. In
those districts where the staples of export are largely grown, the
cultivators commonly sell their crops to travelling brokers, who
re-sell to larger dealers, and so on until the commodities reach the
hands of the agents of the great shipping houses. The wholesale trade
thus rests ultimately with a comparatively small number of persons,
who have agencies, or rather corresponding firms, at the great central
marts. Buying and selling in their aspects most characteristic of
India are to be seen, not at these great towns, nor even at the weekly
markets, but at the fairs which are held periodically at certain spots
in most districts. Religion is always the original pretext of these
gatherings or _melás_, at some of which nothing is done beyond bathing
in the river, or performing various superstitious ceremonies. But in
the majority of cases religion has become a mere excuse for secular
business. Crowds of petty traders attend, bringing all those
miscellaneous articles that can be packed into a pedlar's wallet; and
the neighbouring villagers look forward to the occasion to satisfy
alike their curiosity and their household wants.
Finance.
The control of the revenues of India is vested by act of parliament in
the secretary of state for India in council. Subject to his control
the government of India enjoys a certain discretionary power, but no
new expenditure may be incurred without his sanction. There is a
special member for finance in the governor-general's council, and all
important matters are brought before the council. The central
government keeps in its own hands certain revenues, such as salt, the
post-office, telegraphs, railways, army and Indian Marine, in addition
to the districts of Coorg, Ajmere and the North-West Frontier
province. The other provinces raise and administer their own revenues,
subject to the central control; they are allowed a certain proportion
of the revenue to meet their own administrative charges, and so have
an interest in economical expenditure. The apportionment of the
revenues is settled afresh every five years. In 1893 the Indian mints
were closed to the free coinage of silver, and in 1899 the British
sovereign was made legal tender at the rate of 1s. 4d. per rupee; so
that since that year the finances of India have been practically upon
a gold basis. The principal heads of revenue are land, opium, salt,
stamps, excise, customs, assessed taxes, forests, registration and
tributes from native states; and the chief heads of expenditure are
charges of collection, interest, post-office, telegraph and mint,
civil departments, famine relief and insurance, railways, irrigation,
other public works and army. The point most frequently criticized in
the finances of India is the "home charges" which amount on an average
to about 18½ millions a year. Of this total about 9½ millions are for
interest on railways and other public works, 5 millions for pensions
and furlough pay for civil and military officers, 2½ millions for
stores and 1½ millions miscellaneous. These charges constitute the
home expenditure on revenue account, but there are also other
remittances from India on capital account which bring up the total
disbursements in England to an annual average of about 21¼ millions.
_Public Works._
Public works in India fall under three categories--railways, irrigation,
and roads and buildings. The railways are managed in various ways, the
other two classes of works are carried out through the agency of
separate departments in Madras and Bombay, and of officers of the
government of India public works department, either under local or
central control, in other provinces.
Railways.
Railways in India serve different purposes--the ordinary purpose of
trade and passenger communication, and also the special purposes pf the
safeguarding the internal and external peace of the country, and of
protecting special districts against famine by facilitating the movement
of grain. For this reason the interest on capital expended on all the
lines cannot be judged by a purely commercial standard. They are
administered in three separate ways--as guaranteed, state or assisted
lines. In the early days of railway enterprise the agency of private
companies guaranteed by the state was exclusively employed, and nearly
all the great trunk lines were made under this system, but the leases of
the last three of these lines, the Great Indian Peninsula, the Bombay
Baroda and Central India, and the Madras companies, fell in respectively
in 1900, 1905 and 1907. In 1870 a new policy of railway development by
the direct agency of the state was inaugurated; and in 1880 the system
of encouraging private enterprise by state assistance was again resorted
to. Both agencies are now employed side by side. The administration of
railways was formerly under a secretary in the public works department;
but since 1905 it has been placed in charge of a railway board,
consisting of a president and two members, which is connected with,
though not subordinate to, the department of commerce and industry. In
1908 the total length of railways open in India was 30,578, m., which
carried 330 million passengers and 64 million tons of goods, and yielded
a net profit exceeding 4%.
Irrigation.
Facilities for irrigation (q.v.) vary widely, and irrigation works
differ both in extent and in character. The main distinction arises from
the fact that the rivers of northern India are fed by the Himalayan
snows, and, therefore, afford a supply of water which surpasses in
constancy and volume any of the rivers of the south. In Bombay and
Madras almost all the irrigation systems, except in the deltas of the
chief rivers, are dependent on reservoirs or "tanks," which collect the
rainfall of the adjacent hills. In Sind and the Punjab there are many
canals which act merely as distributaries of the overflow of the great
rivers at the time of inundation; but where the utility of the canals
has been increased by permanent head-works the supply of water is
perennial and practically inexhaustible, thus contrasting favourably
with the less certain protection given by tanks. The Irrigation
Commission of 1901 advised an expenditure of 30 millions sterling,
spread over a term of twenty years, and irrigating 6½ million acres in
addition to the 47 millions already irrigated at that time; but it was
estimated that that programme would practically exhaust the irrigable
land in India, and that some of the later works would be merely
protective against the danger of famine, and would not be financially
productive.
Buildings and roads.
In addition to the provision and maintenance of roads and the
construction of public buildings, the department of public works also
provides all works of a public nature, such as water-supply,
sanitation, embankments, lighthouses, ferries and bridges, which
require technical skill. Road-making is an ordinary form of relief
work in times of famine. In the famine of 1896-1897, for instance, 579
m. of new roads were made in the Central Provinces alone, and 819 m.
were repaired. One of the finest roads in the world is the Grand Trunk
Road which stretches across India from Calcutta to Peshawar, and which
is metalled most of the way with _kankar_, a hard limestone outgrowth.
The great buildings of ancient India are described under the names of
the different cities which contain them.
Post Office.
The post-office of India is under the control of a director-general,
in subordination to the department of commerce and industry; and this
officer has under him a postmaster-general or deputy
postmaster-general in each province. In 1906 the district post,
originally provided for local convenience and maintained by a local
cess, was amalgamated with the imperial post. The mileage over which
mails are carried by railway has been constantly increasing with the
development of the railway system, but a far larger number are still
carried by runners and boats. The total number of letters, &c.,
carried by the post exceeds 800 millions, and the service yields a
small profit to the state. In connexion with the post-office there are
inland money order and savings-bank businesses; and in addition the
value-payable system, by which the post-office undertakes to recover
from the addressee the value of an article sent by post and to remit
the amount to the sender, has found great popularity.
Excluding the Indo European telegraph wire, the whole telegraph
system of India forms an imperial charge, administered through a
director-general. The total length of line is about 69,000 m., and the
net profits of the service approximately pay for new expenditure on
capital account.
Telegraphs.
Telegraphic communication with Europe is maintained by the cable of
the Eastern Telegraph Company via Aden, and by the Indo-European
system, of which the eastern portion from Teheran and Fao to Karachi
belongs to the government of India. The administration of the
Indo-European department is in London under the direct control of the
secretary of state. The system comprises two sections. The first,
called the Persian Gulf section, runs from Karachi to Bushire, from
Jask to Muscat, and from Bushire to Fao, where a connexion is made
with the Ottoman government line. It includes also the Makran coast
lines, running from Jask to Guadur, and thence to Karachi. The second
section, known as the Persian section, consists of land lines running
from Bushire to Teheran. These land lines, as well as the Makran coast
lines, are worked under a treaty with the Persian government. A
connexion for extending the system through Persia was signed in 1901,
the route to be followed being from Kashan near Teheran to the
Baluchistan frontier via Yezd and Kerman.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_Imperial Gazetteer of India_ (new edition, 1907-1909);
_Census of India_ (1901); _Statistical Atlas of India_ (1895); G. A.
Grierson, _Linguistic Survey of India_ (1903); Sir Thomas Holdich,
_India_ ("Regions of the World" series) (1902); Sir John Strachey,
_India_ (1903); W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_ (1907); W. S.
Lilly, _India and its Problems_ (1902); Sidney Low, _A Vision of
India_ (1906); R. D. Oldham, _Geology of India_ (1893); W. T.
Blanford, _Geology of India_ (1880), and _Fauna of British India_
(1888); R. Lydekker, _Great and Small Game of India_ (1900); Sir J. D.
Hooker, _Flora of British India_ (1875); J. S. Gamble, _Manual of
Indian Timbers_ (1902); _Indian Land Revenue Policy_ (Calcutta, 1902);
B. H. Baden-Powell, _The Indian Village Community_ (1896); Abdullah
Yusuf Ali, _Life and Labour of the People of India_ (1907); Theodore
Morison, _Industrial Organization of an Indian Province_ (1906);
Professor Wyndham Dunstan, _Coal Resources of India_ (Society of Arts,
1902); Sir George Watt, _Dictionary of Economic Products of India_
(1908); Sir George Birdwood, _Industrial Arts of India_ (1880); R. H.
Mahon, _Iron and Steel in India_ (1899); _Lord Curzon in India_
(1906); _India Office List_; _The Statesman's Year-Book_; and the
government of India's annual reports. (W. W. H.; J. S. Co.)
HISTORY
For an orthodox Hindu the history of India begins more than three
thousand years before the Christian era with the events detailed in the
great epic of the _Mahabharata_; but by the sober historian these can
only be regarded as legends. See the article INSCRIPTIONS: section
_Indian_, for a discussion of the scientific basis of the early history.
It is needless to repeat here the analysis given in that article. The
following account of the earlier period follows the main outlines of the
traditional facts, corrected as far as possible by the inscriptional
record; and further details will be found in the separate biographical,
racial and linguistic articles, and those on the geographical areas into
which India is administratively divided.
Legends.
Our earliest glimpses of India disclose two races struggling for the
soil, the Dravidians, a dark-skinned race of aborigines, and the Aryans,
a fair-skinned people, descending from the north-western passes.
Ultimately the Dravidians were driven back into the southern table-land,
and the great plains of Hindustan were occupied by the Aryans, who
dominated the history of India for many centuries thereafter.
The _Rig-Veda_ forms the great literary memorial of the early Aryan
settlements in the Punjab. The age of this primitive folk-song is
unknown. The Hindus believe, without evidence, that it existed "from
before all time," or at least 3001 years B.C.--nearly 5000 years ago.
European scholars have inferred from astronomical dates that its
composition was going on about 1400 B.C. But these dates are themselves
given in writings of later origin, and might have been calculated
backwards. We only know that the Vedic religion had been at work long
before the rise of Buddhism in the 6th century B.C. Nevertheless, the
antiquity of the _Rig-Veda_, although not to be expressed in figures, is
abundantly established. The earlier hymns exhibit the Aryans on the
north-western frontiers of India just starting on their long journey.
They show us the Aryans on the banks of the Indus, divided into various
tribes, sometimes at war with each other, sometimes united against the
"black-skinned" aborigines. Caste, in its later sense, is unknown. Each
father of a family is the priest of his own household. The chieftain
acts as father and priest to the tribe; but at the greater festivals he
chooses some one specially learned in holy offerings to conduct the
sacrifice in the name of the people. The chief himself seems to have
been elected. Women enjoyed a high position, and some of the most
beautiful hymns were composed by ladies and queens. Marriage was held
sacred. Husband and wife were both "rulers of the house" (_dampati_),
and drew near to the gods together in prayer. The burning of widows on
their husbands' funeral-pile was unknown, and the verses in the _Veda_
which the Brahmans afterwards distorted into a sanction for the practice
have the very opposite meaning.
The Aryan tribes in the _Veda_ are acquainted with most of the metals.
They have blacksmiths, coppersmiths and goldsmiths among them, besides
carpenters, barbers and other artisans. They fight from chariots, and
freely use the horse, although not yet the elephant, in war. They have
settled down as husbandmen, till their fields with the plough, and live
in villages or towns. But they also cling to their old wandering life,
with their herds and "cattle-pens." Cattle, indeed, still form their
chief wealth, the coin (Lat. _pecunia_) in which payments of fines are
made; and one of their words for war literally means "a desire for
cows." They have learned to build "ships," perhaps large river-boats,
and seem to have heard something of the sea. Unlike the modern Hindus,
the Aryans of the _Veda_ ate beef, used a fermented liquor or beer made
from the _soma_ plant, and offered the same strong meat and drink to
their gods. Thus the stout Aryans spread eastwards through northern
India, pushed on from behind by later arrivals of their own stock, and
driving before them, or reducing to bondage, the earlier "black-skinned"
races. They marched in whole communities from one river-valley to
another, each house-father a warrior, husbandman and priest, with his
wife and his little ones, and cattle.
Early states.
About the beginning of the 6th century B.C. the settled country between
the Himalaya mountains and the Nerbudda river was divided into sixteen
independent states, some monarchies and some tribal republics, the most
important of which were the four monarchies of Kosala, Magadha, the
Vamsas and Avanti. Kosala, the modern kingdom of Oudh, appears to have
been the premier state of India in 600 B.C. Later the supremacy was reft
from it by the kingdom of Magadha, the modern Behar (q.v.). South of
Kosala lay the kingdom of the Vamsas, and south of that again the
kingdom of Avanti. In the north-west was Gandhara, on the banks of the
Indus, in the neighbourhood of Peshawar. The history of these early
states is only a confused record of war and intermarriages, and is still
semi-mythical. The list of the sixteen states ignores everything north
of the Himalayas, south of the Vindhyas, and east of the Ganges where it
turns south.
Capital cities.
The principal cities of India at this date were Ayodhya, the capital of
Kosala at the time of the Ramayana, though it afterwards gave place to
Sravasti, which was one of the six great cities of India in the time of
Buddha: archaeologists differ as to its position. Baranasi, the modern
Benares, had in the time of Megasthenes a circuit of 25 m. Kosambi, the
capital of the Vamsas, lay on the Jumna, 230 m. from Benares. Rajagriha
(Rajgir), the capital of Magadha, was built by Bimbisara, the
contemporary of Buddha. Roruka, the capital of Sovira, was an important
centre of the coasting trade. Saketa was sometime the capital of Kosala.
Ujjayini, the modern Ujjain, was the capital of Avanti. None of these
great cities has as yet been properly excavated.
Social life.
In those early days the Aryan tribes were divided into four social
grades on a basis of colour: the Kshatriyas or nobles, who claimed
descent from the early leaders; the Brahmans or sacrificing priests; the
Vaisyas, the peasantry; and last of all the Sudras, the hewers of wood
and drawers of water, of non-Aryan descent. Even below these there were
low tribes and trades, aboriginal tribes and slaves. In later documents
mention is made of eighteen gilds of work-people, whose names are
nowhere given, but they probably included workers in wood, workers in
metal, workers in stone, weavers, leather-workers, potters,
ivory-workers, dyers, fisher-folk, butchers, hunters, cooks, barbers,
flower-sellers, sailors, basket-makers and painters.
It is supposed that sea-going merchants, mostly Dravidians, and not
Aryans, availing themselves of the monsoons, traded in the 7th century
B.C. from the south-west ports of India to Babylon, and that there they
became acquainted with a Semitic alphabet, which they brought back with
them, and from which all the alphabets now used in India, Burma, Siam
and Ceylon have been gradually evolved. For the early inscriptional
remains, see INSCRIPTIONS: _India_. The earliest written records in
India, however, are Buddhist. The earliest written books are in Pali and
Buddhist Sanskrit.
_The Buddhist Period._
The systems called Jainism (see JAINS) and Buddhism (q.v.) had their
roots in prehistoric philosophies, but were founded respectively by
Vardhamana Mahavira and Gotama Buddha, both of whom were preaching in
Magadha during the reign of Bimbisara (c. 520 B.C.).
During the next two hundred years Buddhism spread over northern India,
perhaps receiving a new impulse from the Greek kingdoms in the Punjab.
About the middle of the 3rd century B.C. Asoka, the king of Magadha or
Behar, who reigned from 264 B.C. to 227 B.C., became a zealous convert
to Buddhism. He is said to have supported 64,000 Buddhist priests; he
founded many religious houses, and his kingdom is called the Land of the
Monasteries (Vihara or Behar) to this day. He did for Buddhism what
Constantine effected for Christianity; he organized it on the basis of a
state religion. This he accomplished by five means--by a council to
settle the faith, by edicts promulgating its principles, by a state
department to watch over its purity, by missionaries to spread its
doctrines, and by an authoritative collection of its sacred books. In
246 B.C. Asoka is said[2] to have convened at Pataliputra (Patna) the
third Buddhist council of one thousand elders (the tradition that he
actually convened it rests on no actual evidence that we possess). Evil
men, taking on them the yellow robe of the order, had given forth their
own opinions as the teaching of Buddha. Such heresies were now
corrected; and the Buddhism of southern Asia practically dates from
Asoka's council. In a number of edicts, both before and after the synod,
he published throughout India the grand principles of the faith. Such
edicts are still found graven deep upon pillars, in caves and on rocks,
from the Yusafzai valley beyond Peshawar on the north-western frontier,
through the heart of Hindustan, to Kathiawar and Mysore on the south and
Orissa in the east. Tradition states that Asoka set up 64,000 memorial
columns; and the thirty-five inscriptions extant in our own day show how
widely these royal sermons were spread over India. In the year of the
council, the king also founded a state department to watch over the
purity and to direct the spread of the faith. A minister of justice and
religion (Dharma Mahamatra) directed its operations; and, one of its
first duties being to proselytize, he was specially charged with the
welfare of the aborigines among whom its missionaries were sent. Asoka
did not think it enough to convert the inferior races without looking
after their material interests. Wells were to be dug and trees planted
along the roads; a system of medical aid was established throughout his
kingdom and the conquered provinces, as far as Ceylon, for both man and
beast. Officers were appointed to watch over domestic life and public
morality, and to promote instruction among the women as well as the
youth.
Asoka recognized proselytism by peaceful means as a state duty. The rock
inscriptions record how he sent forth missionaries "to the utmost limits
of the barbarian countries," to "intermingle among all unbelievers" for
the spread of religion. They shall mix equally with Brahmans and
beggars, with the dreaded and the despised, both within the kingdom
"and in foreign countries, teaching better things." Conversion is to be
effected by persuasion, not by the sword. This character of a
proselytizing faith which wins its victories by peaceful means has
remained a prominent feature of Buddhism to the present day. Asoka,
however, not only took measures to spread the religion; he also
endeavoured to secure its orthodoxy. He collected the body of doctrine
into an authoritative version, in the Magadhi language or dialect of his
central kingdom in Behar--a version which for two thousand years has
formed the canon (_pitakas_) of the southern Buddhists.
The fourth and last of the great councils was held in Kashmir under the
Kushan king Kanishka (see below). This council, which consisted of five
hundred members, compiled three commentaries on the Buddhist faith.
These commentaries supplied in part materials for the Tibetan or
northern canon, drawn up at a subsequent period. The northern canon, or,
as the Chinese proudly call it, the "greater vehicle of the law,"
includes many later corruptions or developments of the Indian faith as
originally embodied by Asoka in the "lesser vehicle," or canon of the
southern Buddhists.
The Kanishka commentaries were written in the Sanskrit language, perhaps
because the Kashmir and northern priests who formed his council belonged
to isolated Aryan colonies, which had been little influenced by the
growth of the Indian vernacular dialects. In this way Kanishka and his
Kashmir council became in some degree to the northern or Tibetan
Buddhists what Asoka and his council had been to the Buddhists of Ceylon
and the south.[3]
Buddhism and Brahmanism.
Buddhism never ousted Brahmanism from any large part of India. The two
systems co-existed as popular religions during more than a thousand
years (250 B.C. to about A.D. 800), and modern Hinduism is the joint
product of both. Certain kings and certain eras were intensely
Buddhistic; but the continuous existence of Brahmanism is abundantly
proved from the time of Alexander (327 B.C.) downwards. The historians
who chronicled his march, and the Greek ambassador Megasthenes, who
succeeded them (300 B.C.) in their literary labours, bear witness to the
predominance of the old faith in the period immediately preceding Asoka.
Inscriptions, local legends, Sanskrit literature, and the drama disclose
the survival of Brahman influence during the next six centuries (250
B.C.-A.D. 400). From A.D. 400 we have the evidence of the Chinese
pilgrims, who toiled through Central Asia into India as the birthplace
of their faith. Fa-Hien entered India from Afghanistan, and journeyed
down the whole Gangetic valley to the Bay of Bengal in A.D. 399-413. He
found Brahman priests equally honoured with Buddhist monks, and temples
to the Indian gods side by side with the religious houses of his own
faith. Hsüan Tsang also travelled to India from China by the Central
Asia route, and has left a fuller record of the state of the two
religions in the 7th century. His journey extended from A.D. 629 to 645,
and everywhere throughout India he found the two faiths eagerly
competing for the suffrages of the people. By that time, indeed,
Brahmanism was beginning to assert itself at the expense of the other
religion. The monuments of the great Buddhist monarchs, Asoka and
Kanishka, confronted him from the time he neared the Punjab frontier;
but so also did the temples of Siva and his "dread" queen Bhima.
Throughout north-western India he found Buddhist convents and monks
surrounded by "swarms of heretics." The political power was also
divided, although Buddhist sovereigns predominated. A Buddhist monarch
ruled over ten kingdoms in Afghanistan. At Peshawar the great monastery
built by Kanishka was deserted, but the populace remained faithful. In
Kashmir king and people were devout Buddhists, under the teaching of
five hundred monasteries and five thousand monks. In the country
identified with Jaipur, on the other hand, the inhabitants were devoted
to heresy and war.
Decline of Buddhism.
During the next few centuries Brahmanism gradually became the ruling
religion. There are legends of persecutions instigated by Brahman
reformers, such as Kumarila Bhatta and Sankar-Acharjya. But the downfall
of Buddhism seems to have resulted from natural decay, and from new
movements of religious thought, rather than from any general suppression
by the sword. Its extinction is contemporaneous with the rise of
Hinduism, and belongs to a subsequent part of this sketch. In the 11th
century, only outlying states, such as Kashmir and Orissa, remained
faithful; and before the Mahommedans fairly came upon the scene Buddhism
as a popular faith had disappeared from India. During the last ten
centuries Buddhism has been a banished religion from its native home.
But it has won greater triumphs in its exile than it could ever have
achieved in the land of its birth. It has created a literature and a
religion for more than a third of the human race, and has profoundly
affected the beliefs of the rest. Five hundred millions of men, or 35%
of the inhabitants of the world, still follow the teaching of Buddha.
Afghanistan, Nepal, Eastern Turkestan, Tibet, Mongolia, Manchuria,
China, Japan, the Eastern Archipelago, Siam, Burma, Ceylon and India at
one time marked the magnificent circumference of its conquests. Its
shrines and monasteries stretched in a continuous line from the Caspian
to the Pacific, and still extend from the confines of the Russian empire
to the equatorial archipelago. During twenty-four centuries Buddhism has
encountered and outlived a series of powerful rivals. At this day it
forms one of the three great religions of the world, and is more
numerously followed than either Christianity or Islam. In India its
influence has survived its separate existence: it supplied a basis upon
which Brahmanism finally developed from the creed of a caste into the
religion of the people. The noblest survivals of Buddhism in India are
to be found, not among any peculiar body, but in the religion of the
people; in that principle of the brotherhood of man, with the
reassertion of which each new revival of Hinduism starts; in the asylum
which the great Hindu sects afford to women who have fallen victims to
caste rules, to the widow and the out-caste; in the gentleness and
charity to all men, which takes the place of a poor-law in India, and
gives a high significance to the half satirical epithet of the "mild"
Hindu.
_Hindu Period._
The external history of India may be considered to begin with the Greek
invasion in 327 B.C. Some indirect trade between India and the Levant
seems to have existed from very ancient times. Homer was acquainted with
tin and other articles of Indian merchandise by their Sanskrit names;
and a long list has been made of Indian products mentioned in the Bible.
In the time of Darius (see PERSIA) the valley of the Indus was a Persian
satrapy. But the first Greek historian who speaks clearly of India was
Hecataeus of Miletus (549-486 B.C.); the knowledge of Herodotus (450
B.C.) ended at the Indus; and Ctesias, the physician (401 B.C.), brought
back from his residence in Persia only a few facts about the products of
India, its dyes and fabrics, its monkeys and parrots. India to the east
of the Indus was first made known in Europe by the historians and men of
science who accompanied Alexander the Great in 327 B.C. Their
narratives, although now lost, are condensed in Strabo, Pliny and
Arrian. Soon afterwards Megasthenes, as Greek ambassador resident at a
court in Bengal (306-298 B.C.), had opportunities for the closest
observation. The knowledge of the Greeks and Romans concerning India
practically dates from his researches, 300 B.C.
Alexander's march.
Alexander the Great entered India early in 327 B.C. Crossing the lofty
Khawak and Kaoshan passes of the Hindu Kush, he advanced by Alexandria,
a city previously founded in the Koh-i-Daman, and Nicaea, another city
to the west of Jalalabad, on the road from Kabul to India. Thence he
turned eastwards through the Kunar valley and Bajour, and crossed the
Gouraios (Panjkora) river. Here he laid siege to Mount Aornos, which is
identified by some authorities with the modern Mahaban, though this
identification was rejected by Dr Stein after an exhaustive survey of
Mount Mahaban in 1904. Alexander crossed the Indus at Ohind, 16 m. above
Attock, receiving there the submission of the great city of Taxila,
which is now represented by miles of ruins near the modern Rawalpindi.
Crossing the Hydaspes (Jhelum) he defeated Porus in a great battle, and
crossing the Acesines (Chenab) near the foot of the hills and the
Hydraotes (Ravi), reached the Hyphasis (Beas). Here he was obliged by
the temper of his army to retrace his steps, and retreat to the Jhelum,
whence he sailed down the river to its confluence with the Indus, and
thence to Patala, probably the modern Hyderabad. From Patala the admiral
Nearchos was to sail round the coast to the Euphrates, while Alexander
himself marched through the wilds of Gedrosia, or modern Makran.
Ultimately, after suffering agonies of thirst in the desert, the army
made its way back to the coast at the modern harbour of Pasin, whence
the return to Susa in Persia was comparatively easy.
During his two years' campaign in the Punjab and Sind, Alexander
captured no province, but he made alliances, founded cities and planted
garrisons. He had transferred much territory to chiefs and confederacies
devoted to his cause; every petty court had its Greek faction; and the
detachments which he left behind at various positions, from the Afghan
frontier to the Beas, and from near the base of the Himalaya to the Sind
delta, were visible pledges of his return. At Taxila (Dehri-Shahan) and
Nicaea (Mong) in the northern Punjab, at Alexandria (Uchch) in the
southern Punjab, at Patala (Hyderabad) in Sind, and at other points
along his route, he established military settlements of Greeks or
allies. A large body of his troops remained in Bactria; and, in the
partition of the empire which followed Alexander's death in 323 B.C.,
Bactria and India eventually fell to Seleucus Nicator, the founder of
the Syrian monarchy (see SELEUCID).
Chandragupta Maurya.
Meanwhile a new power had arisen in India. Among the Indian adventurers
who thronged Alexander's camp in the Punjab, each with his plot for
winning a kingdom or crushing a rival, Chandragupta Maurya, an exile
from the Gangetic valley, seems to have played a somewhat ignominious
part. He tried to tempt the wearied Greeks on the banks of the Beas with
schemes of conquest in the rich south-eastern provinces; but, having
personally offended their leader, he had to fly the camp (326 B.C.). In
the confused years which followed, he managed with the aid of plundering
bands to form a kingdom on the ruins of the Nanda dynasty in Magadha or
Behar (321 B.C.). He seized the capital, Pataliputra, the modern Patna,
established himself firmly in the Gangetic valley, and compelled the
north-western principalities, Greeks and natives alike, to acknowledge
his suzerainty. While, therefore, Seleucus was winning his way to the
Syrian monarchy during the eleven years which followed Alexander's
death, Chandragupta was building up an empire in northern India.
Seleucus reigned in Syria from 312 to 280 B.C., Chandragupta in the
Gangetic valley from 321 to 296 B.C. In 312 B.C. the power of both had
been consolidated, and the two new sovereignties were brought face to
face. In that year Seleucus, having recovered Babylon, proceeded to
re-establish his authority in Bactria (q.v.) and the Punjab. In the
latter province he found the Greek influence decayed. Alexander had left
behind a mixed force of Greeks and Indians at Taxila. No sooner was he
gone than the Indians rose and slew the Greek governor; the Macedonians
massacred the Indians; a new governor, sent by Alexander, murdered the
friendly Punjab prince, Porus, and was himself driven out of the country
by the advance of Chandragupta from the Gangetic valley. Seleucus, after
a war with Chandragupta, determined to ally himself with the new power
in India rather than to oppose it. In return for five hundred elephants,
he ceded the Greek settlements in the Punjab and the Kabul valley, gave
his daughter to Chandragupta in marriage, and stationed an ambassador,
Megasthenes, at the Gangetic court (302 B.C.). Chandragupta became
familiar to the Greeks as Sandrocottus, king of the Prasii; his
capital, Pataliputra was called by them Palimbothra. On the other hand,
the names of Greeks and kings of Grecian dynasties appear in the rock
inscriptions, under Indian forms.
Previous to the time of Megasthenes the Greek idea of India was a very
vague one. Their historians spoke of two classes of Indians--certain
mountainous tribes who dwelt in northern Afghanistan under the
Caucasus or Hindu Kush, and a maritime race living on the coast of
Baluchistan. Of the India of modern geography lying beyond the Indus
they practically knew nothing. It was this India to the east of the
Indus that Megasthenes opened up to the western world. He describes
the classification of the people, dividing them, however, into seven
castes instead of four, namely, philosophers, husbandmen, shepherds,
artisans, soldiers, inspectors and the counsellors of the king. The
philosophers were the Brahmans, and the prescribed stages of their
life are indicated. Megasthenes draws a distinction between the
Brahmans ([Greek: Brachmanes]) and the Sarmanae ([Greek: Sarmanai]),
from which some scholars have inferred that the Buddhist Sarmanas were
a recognized class fifty years before the council of Asoka. But the
Sarmanae also include Brahmans in the first and third stages of their
life as students and forest recluses. The inspectors or sixth class of
Megasthenes have been identified with Asoka's _Mahamatra_ and his
Buddhist inspectors of morals.
The Greek ambassador observed with admiration the absence of slavery
in India, the chastity of the women, and the courage of the men. In
valour they excelled all other Asiatics; they required no locks to
their doors; above all, no Indian was ever known to tell a lie. Sober
and industrious, good farmers and skilful artisans, they scarcely ever
had recourse to a lawsuit, and lived peaceably under their native
chiefs. The kingly government is portrayed almost as described in
Manu, with its hereditary castes of councillors and soldiers.
Megasthenes mentions that India was divided into one hundred and
eighteen kingdoms; some of which, such as that of the Prasii under
Chandragupta, exercised suzerain powers. The village system is well
described, each little rural unit seeming to be an independent
republic. Megasthenes remarked the exemption of the husbandmen
(Vaisyas) from war and public services, and enumerates the dyes,
fibres, fabrics and products (animal, vegetable and mineral) of India.
Husbandry depended on the periodical rains; and forecasts of the
weather, with a view to "make adequate provision against a coming
deficiency," formed a special duty of the Brahmans. "The philosopher
who errs in his predictions observes silence for the rest of his
life."
Before the year 300 B.C. two powerful monarchies had thus begun to act
upon the Brahmanism of northern India, from the east and from the west.
On the east, in the Gangetic valley, Chandragupta (320-296 B.C.) firmly
consolidated the dynasty which during the next century produced Asoka
(264-228 or 227 B.C.), and established Buddhism throughout India. On the
west, the Seleucids diffused Greek influences, and sent forth
Graeco-Bactrian expeditions to the Punjab. Antiochus Theos (grandson of
Seleucus Nicator) and Asoka (grandson of Chandragupta), who ruled these
two monarchies in the 3rd century B.C., made a treaty with each other
(256). In the next century Eucratides, king of Bactria, conquered as far
as Alexander's royal city of Patala, and possibly sent expeditions into
Cutch and Gujarat, 181-161 B.C. Of the Graeco-Indian monarchs, Menander
(q.v.) advanced farthest into north-western India, and his coins are
found from Kabul, near which he probably had his capital, as far as
Muttra on the Jumna.[4] The Buddhist dynasty of Chandragupta profoundly
modified the religion of northern India from the east; the Seleucid
empire, with its Bactrian and later offshoots, deeply influenced the
science and art of Hindustan from the west.
Greek influence on art.
Brahman astronomy owed much to the Greeks, and what the Buddhists were
to the architecture of northern India, that the Greeks were to its
sculpture. Greek faces and profiles constantly occur in ancient Buddhist
statuary, and enrich almost all the larger museums in India. The purest
specimens have been found in the North-west frontier province (the
ancient Gandhara) and the Punjab, where the Greeks settled in greatest
force. As we proceed eastward from the Punjab, the Greek type begins to
fade. Purity of outline gives place to lusciousness of form. In the
female figures, the artists trust more and more to swelling breasts and
towering chignons, and load the neck with constantly accumulating
jewels. Nevertheless, the Grecian type of countenance long survived in
Indian art. It is entirely unlike the present coarse conventional ideal
of sculptured beauty, and may even be traced in the delicate profiles on
the so-called sun temple at Kanarak, built in the 12th century A.D. on
the remote Orissa shore.
The Maurya Dynasty.
Chandragupta (q.v.) was one of the greatest of Indian kings. The
dominions that he had won back from the Greeks he administered with
equal power. He maintained an army of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 horsemen,
36,000 men with the elephants, and 24,000 men with the chariots, which
was controlled by an elaborate war-office system. The account given of
his reign by Megasthenes makes him better known to us than any other
Indian monarch down to the time of Akbar. In 297 B.C. he was succeeded
by his son, Bindusara, who is supposed to have extended his dominions
down to Madras. In 272 B.C. he in turn was succeeded by Asoka, the
Buddhist emperor, the religious side of whose reign has already been
described. Asoka's empire included the greater part of Afghanistan, a
large part of Baluchistan, Sind, Kashmir, Nepal, Bengal to the mouths of
the Ganges, and peninsular India down to the Palar river. After Asoka
the Mauryas dwindled away, and the last of them, Brihadratha, was
treacherously assassinated in 184 B.C. by his commander-in-chief,
Pushyamitra Sunga, who founded the Sunga dynasty.
Sunga, Kanva, and Andhra Dynasties.
During the 2nd century B.C. north-western India was invaded and
partially conquered by Antiochus III. the Great, Demetrius (q.v.),
Eucratides (q.v.) and Menander (q.v.). With the last of these
Pushyamitra Sunga waged successful war, driving him from the Gangetic
valley and confining him to his conquests in the west. Pushyamitra
established his own paramountcy over northern India; but his reign is
mainly memorable as marking the beginning of the Brahmanical reaction
against Buddhism, a reaction which Pushyamitra is said to have forwarded
not only by the peaceful revival of Hindu rites but by a savage
persecution of the Buddhist monks. The Sunga dynasty, after lasting 112
years, was succeeded by the Kanva dynasty, which lasted 45 years, i.e.
until about 27 B.C., when it was overthrown by an unknown king of the
Andhra dynasty of the Satavahanas, whose power, originating in the
deltas of the Godavari and Kistna rivers, by A.D. 200 had spread across
India to Nasik and gradually pushed its way northwards.
The Saka Satraps.
About A.D. 100 there appeared in the west three foreign tribes from the
north, who conquered the native population and established themselves in
Malwa, Gujarat and Kathiawar. These tribes were the Sakas, a horde of
pastoral nomads from Central Asia (see SAKA), the Pahlavas, whose name
is supposed to be a corruption of "Parthiva" (i.e. Parthians of Persia),
and the Yavanas (Ionians), i.e. foreigners from the old Indo-Greek
kingdoms of the north west frontier, all of whom had been driven
southwards by the Yue-chi (q.v.). Their rulers, of whom the first to be
mentioned is Bhumaka, of the Kshaharata family, took the Persian title
of satrap (Kshatrapa). They were hated by the Hindus as barbarians who
disregarded the caste system and despised the holy law, and for
centuries an intermittent struggle continued between the satraps and the
Andhras, with varying fortune. Finally, however, about A.D. 236, the
Andhra dynasty, after an existence of some 460 years, came to an end,
under circumstances of which no record remains, and their place in
western India was taken by the Kshaharata satraps, until the last of
them was overthrown by Chandragupta Vikramaditya at the close of the 4th
century.
The Kushan Dynasty A.D. 45-225.
Meanwhile, the Yue-chi had themselves crossed the Hindu Kush to the
invasion of north-western India (see YUE-CHI). They were originally
divided into five tribes, which were united under the rule of Kadphises
I.[5] (? A.D. 45-85), the founder of the Kushan dynasty, who conquered
the Kabul valley, annihilating what remained there of the Greek
dominion, and swept away the petty Indo-Greek and Indo-Parthian
principalities on the Indus. His successors completed the conquest of
north-western India from the delta of the Indus eastwards probably as
far as Benares. One effect of the Yue-chi conquests was to open up a
channel of commerce with the Roman empire by the northern trade routes;
and the Indian embassy which, according to Dion. Cassius (ix. 58),
visited Trajan after his arrival at Rome in A.D. 99, was probably[6]
sent by Kadphises II. (Ooemokadphises) to announce his conquest of
north-western India. The most celebrated of the Kushan kings, however,
was Kanishka, whose date is still a matter of controversy.[7] From his
capital at Purushapura (Peshawar) he not only maintained his hold on
north-western India, but conquered Kashmir, attacked Pataliputra,
carried on a successful war with the Parthians, and led an army across
the appalling passes of the Taghdumbash Pamir to the conquest of
Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan. It is not, however, as a conqueror that
Kanishka mainly lives on in tradition, but as a Buddhist monarch, second
in reputation only to Asoka, and as the convener of the celebrated
council of Kashmir already mentioned.
The dynasties of the Andhras in the centre and south and of the Kushans
in the north came to an end almost at the same time (c. A.D. 236-225
respectively). The history of India during the remainder of the 3rd
century is all but a blank, a confused record of meaningless names and
disconnected events; and it Is not until the opening of the 4th century
that the veil is lifted, with the rise to supreme power in Magadha (A.D.
320) of Chandragupta I., the founder of the Gupta dynasty and empire
(see GUPTA), the most extensive since the days of Asoka. He was
succeeded by Chandragupta II. Vikramaditya, whose court and
administration are described by the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien, and who is
supposed to have been the original of the mythical king Vikramaditya,
who figures largely in Indian legends. The later Guptas were overwhelmed
(c. 470) by the White Huns, or Ephthalites (q.v.), who after breaking
the power of Persia and assailing the Kushan kingdom of Kabul, had
poured into India, conquered Sind, and established their rule as far
south as the Nerbudda. The dominion of the Huns in India, as elsewhere,
was a mere organization for brigandage on an imperial scale and it did
not long survive. It was shaken (c. 528) by the defeat, at the hands of
tributary princes goaded to desperation, of Mihiragula, the most
powerful and bloodthirsty of its rulers--the "Attila of India." It
collapsed with the overthrow of the central power of the White Huns on
the Oxus (c. 565) by the Turks. Though, however, this stopped the
incursions of Asiatic hordes from the north-west, and India was to
remain almost exempt from foreign invasion for some 500 years, the
Ephthalite conquest added new and permanent elements to the Indian
population. After the fall of the central power, the scattered Hunnish
settlers, like so many before them, became rapidly Hinduized, and are
probably the ancestors of some of the most famous Rajput clans.[8]
The last native monarch, prior to the Mahommedan conquest, to establish
and maintain paramount power in the north was Harsha, or Harshavardhana
(also known as Siladitya), for whose reign (606-648) full and
trustworthy materials exist in the book of travels written by the
Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang and the _Harsha-charita_ (Deeds of Harsha)
composed by Bana, a Brahman who lived at the royal court. Harsha was the
younger son of the raja of Thanesar, and gained his first experience of
campaigning while still a boy in the successful wars waged by his
father and brother against the Huns on the north-western frontier. After
the treacherous murder of his brother by Sasanka, king of Central
Bengal, he was confirmed as raja, though still very young, by the nobles
of Thanesar in 606, though it would appear that his effective rule did
not begin till six years later.[9] His first care was to revenge his
brother's death, and though it seems that Sasanka escaped destruction
for a while (he was still ruling in 619), Harsha's experience of warfare
encouraged him to make preparations for bringing all India under his
sway. By the end of five and a half years he had actually conquered the
north-western regions and also, probably, part of Bengal. After this he
reigned for 34½ years, devoting most of his energy to perfecting the
administration of his vast dominions, which he did with such wisdom and
liberality as to earn the commendation of Hsüan Tsang. In his campaigns
he was almost uniformly successful; but in his attempt to conquer the
Deccan he was repulsed (620) by the Chalukya king, Pulikesin II., who
successfully prevented him from forcing the passes of the Nerbudda.
Towards the end of his reign Harsha's empire embraced the whole basin of
the Ganges from the Himalayas to the Nerbudda, including Nepal,[10]
besides Malwa, Gujarat and Surashtra (Kathiawar); while even Assam
(Kamarupa) was tributary to him. The empire, however, died with its
founder. His benevolent despotism had healed the wounds inflicted by the
barbarian invaders, and given to his subjects a false feeling of
security. For he left no heir to carry on his work; his death "loosened
the bonds which restrained the disruptive forces always ready to operate
in India, and allowed them to produce their normal result, a medley of
petty states, with ever-varying boundaries, and engaged in unceasing
internecine war."[11]
The Deccan.
In the Deccan the middle of the 6th century saw the rise of the Chalukya
dynasty, founded by Pulikesin I. about A.D. 550. The most famous monarch
of this line was Pulikesin II., who repelled the inroads of Harsha (A.D.
620), and whose court was visited by Hsüan Tsang (A.D. 640); but in A.D.
642 he was defeated by the Pallavas of Conjeeveram, and though his son
Vikramaditya I. restored the fallen fortunes of his family, the
Chalukyas were finally superseded by the Rashtrakutas about A.D. 750.
The Kailas temple at Ellora was built in the reign of Krishna I. (c.
A.D. 760). The last of the Rashtrakutas was overthrown in A.D. 973 by
Taila II., a scion of the old Chalukya stock, who founded a second
dynasty known as the Chalukyas of Kalyani, which lasted like its
predecessor for about two centuries and a quarter. About A.D. 1000 the
Chalukya kingdom suffered severely from the invasion of the Chola king,
Rajaraja the Great. Vikramanka, the hero of Bilhana's historical poem,
came to the throne in A.D. 1076 and reigned for fifty years. After his
death the Chalukya power declined. During the 12th and 13th centuries a
family called Hoysala attained considerable prominence in the Mysore
country, but they were overthrown by Malik Kafur in A.D. 1310. The
Yadava kings of Deogiri were descendants of feudatory nobles of the
Chalukya kingdom, but they, like the Hoysalas, were overthrown by Malik
Kafur, and Ramachandra, the last of the line, was the last independent
Hindu sovereign of the Deccan.
The Kingdoms of the South.
According to ancient tradition the kingdoms of the south were
three--Pandya, Chola and Chera. Pandya occupied the extremity of the
peninsula, south of Pudukottai, Chola extended northwards to Nellore,
and Chera lay to the west, including Malabar, and is identified with the
Kerala of Asoka. All three kingdoms were occupied by races speaking
Dravidian languages. The authentic history of the south does not begin
until the 9th and 10th centuries A.D., though the kingdoms are known to
have existed in Asoka's time.
The Pandya Kingdom.
The most ancient mention of the name Pandya occurs in the 4th century
B.C., and in Asoka's time the kingdom was independent, but no early
records survive, the Inscriptions of the dynasty being of late date,
while the long lists of kings in Tamil literature are untrustworthy.
During the early centuries of the Christian era the Pandya and Chera
kingdoms traded with Rome. The most ancient Pandya king to whom a
definite date can be ascribed is Rajasimha (c. A.D. 920). Records begin
towards the end of the 12th century, and the dynasty can be traced from
then till the middle of the 16th century. The most conspicuous event in
its history was the invasion by the Sinhalese armies of Parakramabahu,
king of Ceylon (c. A.D. 1175). The early records of the Chera kingdom
are still more meagre; and the authentic list of the rajas of Travancore
does not begin till A.D. 1335, and the rajas of Cochin two centuries
later.
The Chola Kingdom.
The Chola kingdom, like the Pandya, is mentioned by the Sanskrit
grammarian Katyayana in the 4th century B.C., and was recognized by
Asoka as independent. The dynastic history of the Cholas begins about
A.D. 860, and is known from then until its decline in the middle of the
13th century. During those four centuries their history is intertwined
with that of the Pallavas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and other minor
dynasties. In A.D. 640 the Chola country was visited by Hsüan Tsang, but
the country at that time was desolate, and the dynasty of small
importance. In A.D. 985 Rajaraja the Great came to the throne, and after
a reign of twenty-seven years died the paramount ruler of southern
India. He conquered and annexed the island of Ceylon, and was succeeded
by four equally vigorous members of the dynasty; but after the time of
Vikrama (A.D. 1120) the Chola power gradually declined, and was
practically extinguished by Malik Kafur.
The Pallava Confederacy.
The name of the Pallavas appears to be identical with that of the
Pahlavas, a foreign tribe, frequently mentioned in inscriptions and
Sanskrit literature. It is supposed, therefore, that the Pallavas came
from the north, and gradually worked their way down to Malabar and the
Coromandel coast. When first heard of in the 2nd century A.D. they are a
ruling race. The Pallavas appear, like the Mahrattas in later times, to
have imposed tribute on the territorial governments of the country. The
first Pallava king about whom anything substantial is known was
Siva-skanda-varman (c. A.D. 150), whose capital was Kanchi
(Conjeeveram), his power extending into the Telugu country as far as the
Kistna river. Two centuries later Samudragupta conquered eleven kings of
the south, of whom three were Pallavas. It appears that in the 4th
century three Pallava chiefs were established at Kanchi, Vengi and
Palakkada, the latter two being subordinate to the first, and that
Pallava rule extended from the Godavari on the north to the Southern
Vellaru river on the south, and stretched across Mysore from sea to sea.
About A.D. 609 Pulikesin II., the Chalukya king, defeated
Mahendra-Varman, a Pallava chief, and drove him to take refuge behind
the walls of Kanchi. About A.D. 620 a prince named Vishnuvardhana
founded the Eastern Chalukya line in the province of Vengi, which was
taken from the Pallavas. Hsüan Tsang visited Kanchi, the Pallava
capital, in the year A.D. 640; the country was, according to his
account, 1000 m. in circumference, and the capital was a large city 5 or
6 m. in circumference. In A.D. 642 the Pallavas defeated in turn
Pulikesin II. The conflict became perennial, and when the Rashtrakutas
supplanted the Chalukyas in the middle of the 8th century, they took up
the old quarrel with the Pallavas. Towards the end of the 10th century
the Pallava power, which had lasted for ten centuries, was destroyed by
the Chola monarch, Rajaraja the Great. Pallava nobles existed to the end
of the 17th century, and the raja of Pudukottai claims descent from the
ancient royal family.
_Mahommedan Period._
At the time that Buddhism was being crushed out of India by the
Brahmanic reaction, a new faith was being born in Arabia, destined to
supply a youthful fanaticism which should sweep the country from the
Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and from the western to the eastern sea.
Mahomet, the founder of Islam, died at Medina in A.D. 632, while the
Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang was still on his travels. The first
Mahommedan invasion of India is placed in 664, only thirty-two years
after the death of the prophet. The Punjab is said to have been ravaged
on this occasion with no permanent results. The first Mahommedan
conquest was the outlying province of Sind. In 711, or seventy-nine
years after the death of Mahomet, an Arab army under Mahommed b. Kasim
invaded and conquered the Hindus of Sind in the name of Walid I., caliph
of Damascus, of the Omayyad line. In the same year Roderic, the last of
the Goths, fell before the victorious Saracens in Spain. But in India
the bravery of the Rajputs and the devotion of the Brahmans seem to have
afforded a stronger national bulwark than existed in western Europe. In
750 the Hindus rose in rebellion and drove out the Mussulman tyrant, and
the land had rest for one hundred and fifty years.
Mahmud of Ghazni.
The next Mahommedan invasion of India is associated with the name of
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. Mahmud was the eldest son of Sabuktagin,
surnamed Nasr-ud-din, in origin a Turkish slave, who had established his
rule over the greater part of modern Afghanistan and Khorassan, with
Ghazni as his capital. In 977 Sabuktagin is said to have defeated
Jaipal, the Hindu raja of Lahore, and to have rendered the Punjab
tributary. But his son Mahmud was the first of the great Mussulman
conquerors whose names still ring through Asia. Mahmud succeeded to the
throne in 997. During his reign of thirty-three years he extended the
limits of his father's kingdom from Persia on the east to the Ganges on
the west; and it is related that he led his armies into the plains of
India no fewer than seventeen times. In 1001 he defeated Raja Jaipal a
second time, and took him prisoner. But Anandpal, son of Jaipal, raised
again the standard of national independence, and gathered an army of
Rajput allies from the farthest corners of Hindustan. The decisive
battle was fought in the valley of Peshawar. Mahmud won the day by the
aid of his Turkish horsemen, and thenceforth the Punjab has been a
Mahommedan province, except during the brief period of Sikh supremacy.
The most famous of Mahmud's invasions of India was that undertaken in
1025-1026 against Gujarat. The goal of this expedition was the temple
dedicated to Siva at Somnath, around which so many legends have
gathered. It is reported that Mahmud marched through Ajmere to avoid the
desert of Sind; that he found the Hindus gathered on the neck of the
peninsula of Somnath in defence of their holy city; that the battle
lasted for two days; that in the end the Rajput warriors fled to their
boats, while the Brahman priests retired into the inmost shrine; that
Mahmud, introduced into this shrine, rejected all entreaties by the
Brahmans to spare their idol, and all offers of ransom; that he smote
the image with his club, and forthwith a fountain of precious stones
gushed out. Until the British invasion of Afghanistan in 1839, the club
of Mahmud and the wood gates of Somnath were preserved at the tomb of
the great conqueror near Ghazni. The club has now disappeared, and the
gates brought back to India by Lord Ellenborough are recognized to be a
clumsy forgery. To Mahommedans Mahmud is known, not only as a champion
of the faith, but as a munificent patron of literature. The dynasty that
he founded was not long-lived. Fourteen of his descendants occupied his
throne within little more than a century, but none of them achieved
greatness. A blood-feud arose between them and a line of Afghan princes
who had established themselves among the mountains of Ghor. In 1155
Bahram, the last of the Ghaznivide Turks, was overthrown by Ala-ud-din
of Ghor, and the wealthy and populous city of Ghazni was razed to the
ground. But even the Ghoride conqueror spared the tomb of Mahmud.
Khusru, the son of Bahram, fled to Lahore, and there established the
first Mahommedan dynasty within India. It speedily ended with his son,
also called Khusru, whom Mahommed Ghori, the relentless enemy of the
Ghaznivide house, carried away into captivity in 1186.
The Afghans of Ghor thus rose to power on the downfall of the Turks of
Ghazni. The founder of the family is said to have been Izzud-din al
Husain, whose son Ala-ud-din destroyed Ghazni, as already mentioned.
Ala-ud-din had two nephews, Ghiyas-ud-din and Muiz-ud-din, the latter of
whom, also called Shahab-ud-din by Mussulman chroniclers, and generally
known in history as Mahommed Ghori, is the second of the great
Mahommedan conquerors of India. In 1175 he took Multan and Uchch; in
1186 Lahore fell into his hands; in 1191 he was repulsed before Delhi,
but soon afterwards he redeemed this disaster. Hindustan proper was at
that period divided between the two Rajput kingdoms of Kanauj and Delhi.
Mahommed Ghori achieved his object by playing off the rival kings
against each other. By 1193 he had extended his conquests as far east as
Benares, and the defeated Rajputs migrated in a body to the hills and
deserts now known as Rajputana. In 1199 one of his lieutenants, named
Bakhtiyar, advanced into Bengal, and expelled by an audacious stratagem
the last Hindu raja of Nadia. The entire northern plain, from the Indus
to the Brahmaputra, thus lay under the Mahommedan yoke. But Mahommed
Ghori never settled permanently in India. His favourite residence is
said to have been the old capital of Ghazni, while he governed his
Indian conquests through the agency of a favourite slave, Kutb-ud-din.
Mahommed Ghori died in 1206, being assassinated by some Ghakkar
tribesmen while sleeping in his tent by the bank of the Indus; on his
death both Ghor and Ghazni drop out of history, and Delhi first appears
as the Mahommedan capital of India.
The Slave Dynasty.
On the death of Mahommed Ghori, Kutb-ud-din at once laid aside the title
of viceroy, and proclaimed himself sultan of Delhi. He was the founder
of what is known as the slave dynasty, which lasted for nearly a century
(1206-1288). The name of Kutb is preserved in the minar, or pillar of
victory, which still stands amid the ruins of ancient Delhi, towering
high above all later structures. Kutb himself is said to have been
successful as a general and an administrator, but none of his successors
has left a mark in history.
Ala-ud-din.
In 1294 Ala-ud-din Khilji, the third of the great Mahommedan conquerors
of India, raised himself to the throne of Delhi by the treacherous
assassination of his uncle Feroz II. who had himself supplanted the last
of the slave dynasty. Ala-ud-din had already won military renown by his
expeditions into the yet unsubdued south. He had plundered the temples
at Bhilsa in central India, which are admired to the present day as the
most interesting examples of Buddhist architecture in the country. At
the head of a small band of horsemen, he had ridden as far south as
Deogiri (Daulatabad) in the Deccan (q.v.), and plundered the Yadava
capital. When once established as sultan, he planned more extensive
schemes of conquest. One army was sent to Gujarat under Alaf Khan, who
conquered and expelled the last Rajput king of Anhalwar or Patan.
Another army, led by the sultan in person, marched into the heart of
Rajputana, and stormed the rock-fortress of Chitor, where the Rajputs
had taken refuge with their women and children. A third army, commanded
by Malik Kafur, a Hindu renegade and favourite of Ala-ud-din, penetrated
to the extreme south of the peninsula, scattering the unwarlike
Dravidian races, and stripping every Hindu temple of its accumulations
of gold and jewels. To this day the name of Malik Kafur is remembered in
the remote district of Madura, in association with irresistible fate and
every form of sacrilege.
Mahommed b. Tughlak.
Ala-ud-din died In 1316, having subjected to Islam the Deccan and
Gujarat. Three successors followed him upon the throne, but their united
reigns extended over only five years. In 1321 a successful revolt was
headed by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak, governor of the Punjab, who is said to
have been of Turkish origin. The Tughlak dynasty lasted for about
seventy years, until it was swept away by the invasion of Timur, the
fourth Mahommedan conqueror of India, in 1398. Tughlak's son and
successor, Mahommed b. Tughlak, who reigned from 1325 to 1351, is
described by Elphinstone as "one of the most accomplished princes and
one of the most furious tyrants that ever adorned or disgraced human
nature." He wasted the treasure accumulated by Ala-ud-din in purchasing
the retirement of the Mogul hordes, who had already made their
appearance in the Punjab. When the internal circulation failed, he
issued a forced currency of copper, which is said to have deranged the
whole commerce of the country. At one time he raised an army for the
invasion of Persia. At another he actually despatched an expedition
against China, which perished miserably in the Himalayan passes. When
Hindustan was thus suffering from his misgovernment, he conceived the
project of transferring the seat of empire to the Deccan, and compelled
the inhabitants of Delhi to remove a distance of 700 m. to Deogiri or
Daulatabad. And yet during the reign of this sultan both the Tughlak
dynasty and the city of Delhi are said to have attained their utmost
growth. Mahommed was succeeded by his cousin Feroz, who likewise was not
content without a new capital, which he placed a few miles north of
Delhi, and called after his own name. He was a kind-hearted and popular,
but weak, ruler. Meanwhile the remote provinces of the empire began to
throw off their allegiance to the sultans of Delhi. The independence of
the Afghan kings of Bengal is generally dated from 1336, when Mahommed
Tughlak was yet on the throne. The commencement of the reign of
Ala-ud-din, the founder of the Bahmani dynasty in the Deccan, is
assigned to 1347. Zafar Khan, the first of the Ahmedabad kings, acted as
an independent ruler from the time of his first appointment as governor
of Gujarat in 1391. These and other revolts prepared the way for the
fourth great invasion of India under Timur (Tamerlane).
Timur's invasion.
Accordingly, when Timur invaded India in 1398, he encountered but little
organized resistance. Mahmud, the last of the Tughlak dynasty, being
defeated in a battle outside the walls of Delhi, fled into Gujarat. The
city was sacked and the inhabitants massacred by the victorious Moguls.
But the invasion of Timur left no permanent impress upon the history of
India, except in so far as its memory fired the imagination of Baber,
the founder of the Mogul dynasty. The details of the fighting and of the
atrocities may be found related in cold blood by Timur himself in the
_Malfuzat-i-Timuri_, which has been translated in Elliot's _History of
India as told by its own Historians_, vol. iii. Timur marched back to
Samarkand as he had come, by way of Kabul, and Mahmud Tughlak ventured
to return to his desolate capital. He was succeeded by what is known as
the Sayyid dynasty, which held Delhi and a few miles of surrounding
country for about forty years. The Sayyids were in their turn expelled
by Bahlol, an Afghan of the Lodi tribe, whose successors removed the
seat of government to Agra, which thus for the first time became the
imperial city. In 1526 Baber, the fifth in descent from Timur, and also
the fifth Mahommedan conqueror, invaded India at the instigation of the
governor of the Punjab, won the victory of Panipat over Ibrahim, the
last of the Lodi dynasty, and founded the Mogul empire, which lasted, at
least in name, until 1857.
Vijayanagar.
In southern India at this time authentic history begins with the Hindu
empire of Vijayanagar, which exercised an ill-defined sovereignty over
the entire south from the 14th to the 16th century. The empire of
Vijayanagar represents the last stand made by the national faith in
India against conquering Islam. For at least two centuries its sway over
the south was undisputed, and its rajas waged wars and concluded
treaties of peace with the sultans of the Deccan on equal terms.
Bahmani Dynasty.
The earliest of the Mahommedan dynasties in the Deccan was that founded
by Ala-ud-din in 1347, which has received the name of the Bahmani
dynasty. The capital was first at Gulbarga, and was afterwards removed
to Bidar, both which places still possess magnificent palaces and
mosques in ruins. Towards the close of the 14th century the Bahmani
empire fell to pieces, and five independent kingdoms divided the Deccan
among them. These were--(1) the Adil Shahi dynasty, with its capital at
Bijapur, founded in 1490 by a Turk; (2) the Kutb Shahi dynasty, with
its capital at Golconda, founded in 1512 by a Turkoman adventurer; (3)
the Nizam Shahi dynasty, with its capital at Ahmednagar, founded in 1490
by a Brahman renegade; (4) the Imad Shahi dynasty of Berar, with its
capital at Ellichpur, founded in 1484 also by a Hindu from Vijayanagar;
(5) the Barid Shahi dynasty, with its capital at Bidar, founded about
1492 by one who is variously described as a Turk and a Georgian slave.
It is, of course, impossible here to trace in detail the history of
these several dynasties. In 1565 they combined against the Hindu raja of
Vijayanagar, who was defeated and slain in the decisive battle of
Talikota. But, though the city was sacked and the supremacy of
Vijayanagar for ever destroyed, the Mahommedan victors did not
themselves advance far into the south. The Naiks or feudatories of
Vijayanagar everywhere asserted their independence. From them are
descended the well-known Palegars of the south, and also the present
raja of Mysore. One of the blood-royal of Vijayanagar fled to
Chandragiri, and founded a line which exercised a prerogative of its
former sovereignty by granting the site of Madras to the English in
1639. Another scion claiming the same high descent lingers to the
present day near the ruins of Vijayanagar, and is known as the raja of
Anagundi, a feudatory of the nizam of Hyderabad. Despite frequent
internal strife, the sultans of the Deccan retained their independence
until conquered by the Mogul emperor Aurangzeb in the latter half of the
17th century. To complete this sketch of India at the time of Baber's
invasion it remains to say that an independent Mahommedan dynasty
reigned at Ahmedabad in Gujarat for nearly two centuries (from 1391 to
1573), until conquered by Akbar; and that Bengal was similarly
independent, under a line of Afghan kings, with Gaur for their capital,
from 1336 to 1573.
The Mogul Dynasty.
When, therefore, Baber invaded India in 1525, the greater part of the
country was Mahommedan, but it did not recognize the authority of the
Afghan sultan of the Lodi dynasty, who resided at Agra, and also ruled
the historical capital of Delhi. After having won the battle of Panipat
(1526) Baber was no more acknowledged as emperor of India than his
ancestor Timur had been. Baber, however, unlike Timur, had resolved to
settle in the plains of Hindustan, and carve out for himself a new
empire with the help of his Mogul followers. His first task was to repel
an attack by the Rajputs of Chitor, who seem to have attempted to
re-establish at this time a Hindu empire. The battle was fought at Sikri
near Agra, and is memorable for the vow made by the easy-living Baber
that he would never again touch wine. Baber was again victorious, but
died shortly afterwards in 1530. He was succeeded by his son Humayun,
who is chiefly known as being the father of Akbar. In Humayun's reign
the subject Afghans rose in revolt under Sher Shah, a native of Bengal,
who for a short time established his authority over all Hindustan.
Humayun was driven as an exile into Persia; and, while he was flying
through the desert of Sind, his son Akbar was born to him in the petty
fortress of Umarkot. But Sher Shah was killed at the storming of the
rock-fortress of Kalinjar, and Humayun, after many vicissitudes,
succeeded in re-establishing his authority at Lahore and Delhi.
Akbar.
Humayun died by an accident in 1556, leaving but a circumscribed
kingdom, surrounded on every side by active foes, to his son Akbar, then
a boy of only fourteen years. Akbar the Great, the real founder of the
Mogul empire as it existed for two centuries, was the contemporary of
Queen Elizabeth of England. He was born in 1542, and his reign lasted
from 1556 to 1605. When his father died he was absent in the Punjab,
fighting the revolted Afghans, under the guardianship of Bairam Khan, a
native of Badakshan, whose military skill largely contributed to recover
the throne for the Mogul line. For the first seven years of his reign
Akbar was perpetually engaged in warfare. His first task was to
establish his authority in the Punjab, and in the country around Delhi
and Agra. In 1567 he stormed the Rajput stronghold of Chitor, and
conquered Ajmere. In 1570 he obtained possession of Oudh and Gwalior,
In 1572 he marched in person into Gujarat, defeated the last of the
independent sultans of Ahmedabad, and formed the province into a Mogul
viceroyalty or subah. In the same year his generals drove out the
Afghans from Bengal, and reunited the lower valley of the Ganges to
Hindustan. Akbar was then the undisputed ruler of a larger portion of
India than had ever before acknowledged the sway of one man. But he
continued to extend his conquests throughout his lifetime. In 1578
Orissa was annexed to Bengal by his Hindu general Todar Mall, who
forthwith organized a revenue survey of the whole province. Kabul
submitted in 1581, Kashmir in 1587, Sind in 1592, and Kandahar in 1594.
At last he turned his arms against the Mahommedan kings of the Deccan,
and wrested from them Berar; but the permanent conquest of the south was
reserved for Aurangzeb.
If the history of Akbar were confined to this long list of conquests,
his name would on their account alone find a high place among those
which mankind delights to remember. But it is as a civil administrator
that his reputation is cherished in India to the present day. With
regard to the land revenue, the essence of his procedure was to fix the
amount which the cultivators should pay at one-third of the gross
produce, leaving it to their option to pay in money or in kind. The
total land revenue received by Akbar amounted to about 16½ millions
sterling. Comparing the area of his empire with the corresponding area
now under the British, it has been calculated that Akbar, three hundred
years ago, obtained 15½ millions where they obtain only 13½ millions--an
amount representing not more than one-half the purchasing power of
Akbar's 15½ millions. The distinction between _khalsa_ land, or the
imperial demesne, and _jagir_ lands, granted revenue free or at quit
rent in reward for services, also dates from the time of Akbar. As
regards his military system, Akbar invented a sort of feudal
organization, by which every tributary raja took his place by the side
of his own Mogul nobles. In theory it was an aristocracy based only upon
military command; but practically it accomplished the object at which it
aimed by incorporating the hereditary chiefships of Rajputana among the
mushroom creations of a Mahommedan despotism. Mussulmans and Hindus were
alike known only as _mansabdars_ or commanders of so many horse, the
highest title being that of _amir_, of which the plural is _umrah_ or
_omrah_. The third and last of Akbar's characteristic measures were
those connected with religious innovation, about which it is difficult
to speak with precision. The necessity of conciliating the proud
warriors of Rajputana had taught him toleration from his earliest days.
His favourite wife was a Rajput princess, and another wife is said to
have been a Christian. Out of four hundred and fifteen of his
_mansabdars_ whose names are recorded, as many as fifty-one were Hindus.
Starting from the broad ground of general toleration, Akbar was
gradually led on by the stimulus of cosmopolitan discussion to question
the truth of his inherited faith. The counsels of his friend Abul Fazl,
coinciding with that sense of superhuman omnipotence which is bred of
despotic power, led him at last to promulgate a new state religion,
based upon natural theology, and comprising the best practices of all
known creeds. In this strange faith Akbar himself was the prophet, or
rather the head of the church. Every morning he worshipped the sun in
public, as being the representative of the divine soul that animates the
universe, while he was himself worshipped by the ignorant multitude.
Akbar died in 1605, in his sixty-third year. He lies buried beneath a
plain slab in the magnificent mausoleum which he had reared at Sikandra,
near his capital of Agra. As his name is still cherished in India, so
his tomb is still honoured, being covered by a cloth presented by Lord
Northbrook when viceroy in 1873.
Jahangir.
The reign of Jahangir, his son, extended from 1605 to 1627. It is
chiefly remarkable for the influence exercised over the emperor by his
favourite wife, surnamed Nur Jahan. The currency was struck in her name,
and in her hands centred all the intrigues that made up the work of
administration. She lies buried by the side of her husband at Lahore,
whither the seat of government had been moved by Jahangir, just as
Akbar had previously transferred it from Delhi to Agra. It was in the
reign of Jahangir that the English first established themselves at
Surat, and also sent their first embassy to the Mogul court.
Shah Jahan.
Jahangir was succeeded by his son Shah Jahan, who had rebelled against
his father, as Jahangir had rebelled against Akbar. Shah Jahan's reign
is generally regarded as the period when the Mogul empire attained its
greatest magnificence, though not its greatest extent of territory. He
founded the existing city of Delhi, which is still known to its
Mahommedan inhabitants as Shahjahanabad. At Delhi also he erected the
celebrated peacock throne; but his favourite place of residence was
Agra, where his name will ever be associated with the marvel of Indian
architecture, the Taj Mahal. That most chaste and most ornamental of
buildings was erected by Shah Jahan as the mausoleum of his favourite
wife Mumtäz Mahal, and he himself lies by her side (see AGRA). Shah
Jahan had four sons, whose fratricidal wars for the succession during
their father's lifetime it would be tedious to dwell upon. Suffice it to
say that Aurangzeb, by mingled treachery and violence, supplanted or
overthrew his brothers and proclaimed himself emperor in 1658, while
Shah Jahan was yet alive.
Aurangzeb.
Aurangzeb's long reign, from 1658 to 1707, may be regarded as
representing both the culminating point of Mogul power and the beginning
of its decay. Unattractive as his character was, it contained at least
some elements of greatness. None of his successors on the throne was any
thing higher than a debauchee or a puppet. He was the first to conquer
the independent sultans of the Deccan, and to extend his authority to
the extreme south. But even during his lifetime two new Hindu
nationalities were being formed in the Mahrattas and the Sikhs; while
immediately after his death the nawabs of the Deccan, of Oudh, and of
Bengal raised themselves to practical independence. Aurangzeb had indeed
enlarged the empire, but he had not strengthened its foundations. During
the reign of his father Shah Jahan he had been viceroy of the Deccan or
rather of the northern portion only, which had been annexed to the Mogul
empire since the reign of Akbar. His early ambition was to conquer the
Mahommedan kings of Bijapur and Golconda, who, since the downfall of
Vijayanagar, had been practically supreme over the south.
Rise of Mahratta power.
This object was not accomplished without many tedious campaigns, in
which Sivaji, the founder of the Mahratta confederacy, first comes upon
the scene. In name Sivaji was a feudatory of the house of Bijapur, on
whose behalf he held the rock-forts of his native Ghats; but in fact he
found his opportunity in playing off the Mahommedan powers against one
another, and in rivalling Aurangzeb himself in the art of treachery. In
1680 Sivaji died, and his son and successor, Sambhaji, was betrayed to
Aurangzeb and put to death. The rising Mahratta power was thus for a
time checked, and the Mogul armies were set free to operate in the
eastern Deccan. In 1686 the city of Bijapur was taken by Aurangzeb in
person, and in the following year Golconda also fell. No independent
power then remained in the south, though the numerous local chieftains,
known as _palegars_ and _naiks_, never formally submitted to the Mogul
empire. During the early years of his reign Aurangzeb had fixed his
capital at Delhi, while he kept his dethroned father, Shah Jahan, in
close confinement at Agra. In 1682 he set out with his army on his
victorious march into the Deccan, and from that time until his death in
1707 he never again returned to Delhi. In this camp life Aurangzeb may
be taken as representative of one aspect of the Mogul rule, which has
been picturesquely described by European travellers of that day. They
agree in depicting the emperor as a peripatetic sovereign, and the
empire as held together by its military highways no less than by the
strength of its armies. The Grand Trunk road running across the north of
the peninsula, is generally attributed to the Afghan usurper, Sher Shah.
The other roads branching out southward from Agra, to Surat and
Burhanpur and Golconda, were undoubtedly the work of Mogul times. Each
of these roads was laid out with avenues of trees, with wells of water,
and with frequent _saráis_ or rest-houses. Constant communication
between the capital and remote cities was maintained by a system of
foot-runners, whose aggregate speed is said to have surpassed that of a
horse. Commerce was conducted by means of a caste of bullock-drivers,
whose occupation in India is hardly yet extinct.
Decline of Mogul Empire.
On the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the decline of the Mogul empire set
in with extraordinary rapidity. Ten emperors after Aurangzeb are
enumerated in the chronicles, but none of them has left any mark on
history. His son and successor was Bahadur Shah, who reigned only five
years. Then followed in order three sons of Bahadur Shah, whose united
reigns occupy only five years more. In 1739 Nadir Shah of Persia, the
sixth and last of the great Mahommedan conquerors of India, swept like a
whirlwind over Hindustan, and sacked the imperial city of Delhi.
Thenceforth the Great Mogul became a mere name, though the hereditary
succession continued unbroken down to the time of the Mutiny. Real power
had passed into the hands of Mahommedan courtiers and Mahratta generals,
both of whom were then carving for themselves kingdoms out of the
dismembered empire, until at last British authority placed itself
supreme over all. From the time of Aurangzeb no Mussulman, however
powerful, dared to assume the title of sultan or emperor, with the
single exception of Tippoo's brief paroxysm of madness. The name of
_nawáb_, corrupted by Europeans into "nabob," appears to be an invention
of the Moguls to express delegated authority, and as such it is the
highest title conferred upon Mahommedans at the present day, as
_maharaja_ is the highest title conferred upon Hindus. At first nawabs
were only found in important cities, such as Surat and Dacca, with the
special function of administering civil justice; criminal justice was in
the hands of the _kotwál_. The corresponding officials at that time in a
large tract of country were the _subahdar_ and the _faujdar_. But the
title of subahdar, or viceroy, gradually dropped into desuetude, as the
paramount power was shaken off, and nawab became a territorial title
with some distinguishing adjunct. During the troubled period of intrigue
and assassination that followed on the death of Aurangzeb, two
Mahommedan foreigners rose to high position as courtiers and generals,
and succeeded in transmitting their power to their sons. The one was
Chin Kulich Khan, also called Asaf Jah, and still more commonly
Nizam-ul-Mulk, who was of Turkoman origin, and belonged to the Sunni
sect. His independence at Hyderabad in the Deccan dates from 1712. The
other was Saadat Ali Khan, a Persian, and therefore a Shiah, who was
appointed subahdar or nawab of Oudh about 1720. Thenceforth these two
important provinces paid no more tribute to Delhi, though their
hereditary rulers continued to seek formal recognition from the emperor
on their succession. The Mahrattas were in possession of the entire west
and great part of the centre of the peninsula; while the rich and
unwarlike province of Bengal, though governed by an hereditary line of
nawabs founded by Murshid Kuli Khan in 1704, still continued to pour its
wealth into the imperial treasury. The central authority never recovered
from the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739, who carried off plunder
variously estimated at from 8 to 30 millions sterling. The Mahrattas
closed round Delhi from the south, and the Afghans from the west. The
victory of Panipat, won by Ahmad Shah Durani over the united Mahratta
confederacy in 1761, gave the Mahommedans one more chance of rule. But
Ahmad Shah had no ambition to found a dynasty of his own, nor were the
British in Bengal yet ready for territorial conquest.
End of Mogul line.
Shah Alam, the lineal heir of the Mogul line, was thus permitted to
ascend the throne of Delhi, where he lived during the great part of a
long life as a puppet in the hands of Mahadji Sindhia. He was succeeded
by Akbar II., who lived similarly under the shadow of British
protection. Last of all came Bahadur Shah, who atoned for his
association with the mutineers in 1857 by banishment to Burma. Thus
ended the Mogul line, after a history which covers three hundred and
thirty years. Mahommedan rule remodelled the revenue system, and has
left behind fifty millions of Mussulmans in British India.
_Early European Settlements._
Mahommedan invaders have always entered India from the north-west. Her
new conquerors approached from the sea and from the south. From the time
of Alexander to that of Vasco da Gama, Europe had enjoyed little direct
intercourse with the East. An occasional traveller brought back stories
of powerful kingdoms and of untold wealth; but the passage by sea was
unthought of, and by land many wide deserts and warlike tribes lay
between. Commerce, indeed, never ceased entirely, being carried on
chiefly by the Italian cities on the Mediterranean, which traded to the
ports of the Levant. But to the Europeans of the 15th century India was
practically an unknown land, which powerfully attracted the imagination
of spirits stimulated by the Renaissance and ardent for discovery. In
1492 Christopher Columbus set sail under the Spanish flag to seek India
beyond the Atlantic, bearing with him a letter to the great khan of
Tartary. The expedition under Vasco da Gama started from Lisbon five
years later, and, doubling the Cape of Good Hope, cast anchor off the
city of Calicut on the 20th of May 1498, after a prolonged voyage of
nearly eleven months. From the first da Gama encountered hostility from
the "Moors," or rather Arabs, who monopolized the sea-borne trade; but
he seems to have found favour with the zamorin, or Hindu raja of
Malabar. It may be worth while to recall the contemporary condition of
India at that epoch. An Afghan of the Lodi dynasty was on the throne of
Delhi, and another Afghan king was ruling over Bengal. Ahmedabad in
Gujarat, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Ahmednagar and Ellichpur in the Deccan were
each the capital of an independent Mahommedan kingdom; while the Hindu
raja of Vijayanagar was recognized as paramount over the entire south.
Neither Mogul nor Mahratta had yet appeared above the political horizon.
Portuguese expeditions.
After staying nearly six months on the Malabar coast, da Gama returned
to Europe by the same route as he had come, bearing with him the
following letter from the zamorin to the king of Portugal: "Vasco da
Gama, a nobleman of your household, has visited my kingdom and has given
me great pleasure. In my kingdom there is abundance of cinnamon, cloves,
ginger, pepper, and precious stones. What I seek from thy country is
gold, silver, coral, and scarlet." The arrival of da Gama at Lisbon was
celebrated with national rejoicings scarcely less enthusiastic than had
greeted the return of Columbus. If the West Indies belonged to Spain by
priority of discovery, Portugal might claim the East Indies by the same
right. Territorial ambition combined with the spirit of proselytism and
with the greed of commerce to fill all Portuguese minds with the dream
of a mighty Oriental empire. The early Portuguese discoverers were not
traders or private adventurers, but admirals with a royal commission to
conquer territory and promote the spread of Christianity. A second
expedition, consisting of thirteen ships and twelve hundred soldiers,
under the command of Cabral, was despatched in 1500. "The sum of his
instructions was to begin with preaching, and, if that failed, to
proceed to the sharp determination of the sword." On his outward voyage
Cabral was driven by stress of weather to the coast of Brazil.
Ultimately he reached Calicut, and established factories both there and
at Cochin, in the face of active hostility from the natives. In 1502 the
king of Portugal obtained from Pope Alexander VI. a bull constituting
him "lord of the navigation, conquest, and trade of Ethiopia, Arabia,
Persia, and India." In that year Vasco da Gama sailed again to the East,
with a fleet numbering twenty vessels. He formed an alliance with the
rajas of Cochin and Cannanore against the zamorin of Calicut, and
bombarded the latter in his palace. In 1503 the great Alfonso
d'Albuquerque is first heard of, as in command of one of three
expeditions from Portugal. In 1505 a large fleet of twenty sail and
fifteen hundred men was sent under Francisco de Almeida, the first
Portuguese viceroy of India. In 1509 Albuquerque succeeded as governor,
and widely extended the area of Portuguese influence. Having failed in
an attack upon Calicut, he seized Goa, which from 1530 became the
capital of Portuguese India. Then, sailing round Ceylon, he captured
Malacca, the key of the navigation of the Indian archipelago, and opened
a trade with Siam and the Spice Islands (Moluccas). Lastly, he sailed
back westwards, and, after penetrating into the Red Sea, and building a
fortress at Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, returned to Goa only to die in
1515. In 1524 Vasco da Gama came out to the East for the third time, and
he too died at Cochin.
For exactly a century, from 1500 to 1600, the Portuguese enjoyed a
monopoly of Oriental trade.
Decline of the Portuguese.
Their three objects were conquest, commerce and conversion, and for all
three their position on the Malabar coast strip was remarkably well
adapted. Shut off by the line of the Ghats from Mahommedan India of that
day, they were able to dominate the petty chiefs of Malabar, who
welcomed maritime commerce, and allowed religious freedom in their
domains. Their trade relations with Vijayanagar were very close, when
that great empire was at the height of its power; but in 1564
Vijayanagar went down before the five Mahommedan states of southern
India on the field of Talikota, and with its fall began the decline of
Portugal. During the whole of the 16th century the Portuguese disputed
with the Mahommedans the supremacy of the Indian seas, and the
antagonism between Christianity and Islam became gradually more intense,
until the Portuguese power assumed a purely religious aspect. In 1560
the Inquisition with all its horrors was introduced into Goa. But
Portugal was too small a country to keep up the struggle for long. The
drain of men told upon her vitality, their quality deteriorated, and
their bigotry and intolerance raised even a fiercer opposition to them
within the bounds of India; and as the Dutch and British came into
prominence the Portuguese gradually faded away. In 1603 and 1639 the
Dutch blockaded Goa; during the first half of the 17th century they
routed the Portuguese everywhere in India, Ceylon and Java. Similarly in
1611 the British defeated them off Cambay and in 1615 won a great
victory at Swally. After the middle of the 17th century the Asiatic
trade of Portugal practically disappeared, and now only Goa, Daman and
Diu are left to her as relics of her former greatness.
Dutch settlements.
The Dutch were the first European nation to break through the Portuguese
monopoly. During the 16th century Bruges, Antwerp and Amsterdam became
the great emporia whence Indian produce, imported by the Portuguese, was
distributed to Germany and even to England. At first the Dutch,
following in the track of the English, attempted to find their way to
India by sailing round the north coasts of Europe and Asia. William
Barents is honourably known as the leader of three of these arctic
expeditions, in the last of which he perished. The first Dutchman to
double the Cape of Good Hope was Cornelius Houtman, who reached Sumatra
and Bantam in 1596. Forthwith private companies for trade with the East
were formed in many parts of the United Provinces, but in 1602 they were
all amalgamated by the states-general into "The United East India
Company of the Netherlands." Within a few years the Dutch had
established factories on the continent of India, in Ceylon, in Sumatra,
on the Persian Gulf and on the Red Sea, besides having obtained
exclusive possession of the Moluccas. In 1618 they laid the foundation
of the city of Batavia in Java, to be the seat of the supreme government
of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies. At about the same time they
discovered the coast of Australia, and in North America founded the city
of New Amsterdam or Manhattan, now New York. During the 17th century the
Dutch maritime power was the first in the world. The massacre of Amboyna
in 1623 led the English East India Company to retire from the Eastern
seas to the continent of India, and thus, though indirectly, contributed
to the foundation of the British Indian empire. The long naval wars and
bloody battles between the English and the Dutch within the narrow seas
were not terminated until William of Orange united the two crowns in
1689. In the far East the Dutch ruled without a rival, and gradually
expelled the Portuguese from almost all their territorial possessions.
In 1635 they occupied Formosa; in 1641 they took Malacca, a blow from
which the Portuguese never recovered; in 1652 they founded a colony at
the Cape of Good Hope, as a half-way station to the East; in 1658 they
captured Jaffna, the last stronghold of the Portuguese in Ceylon; by
1664 they had wrested from the Portuguese all their earlier settlements
on the pepper-bearing coast of Malabar.
Decline of the Dutch.
The rapid and signal downfall of the Dutch colonial empire is to be
explained by its short-sighted commercial policy. It was deliberately
based upon a monopoly of the trade in spices, and remained from first to
last destitute of the true imperial spirit. Like the Phoenicians of old,
the Dutch stopped short of no acts of cruelty towards their rivals in
commerce; but, unlike the Phoenicians, they failed to introduce a
respect for their own higher civilization among the natives with whom
they came in contact. The knell of Dutch supremacy was sounded by Clive,
when in 1758 he attacked the Dutch at Chinsura both by land and water,
and forced them to an ignominious capitulation. In the great French war
from 1781 to 1811 England wrested from Holland every one of her
colonies, though Java was restored in 1816 and Sumatra in exchange for
Malacca in 1824. At the present time the Dutch flag flies nowhere on the
mainland of India, though the quaint houses and regular canals at
Chinsura, Negapatam, Jaffna, and many petty ports on the Coromandel and
Malabar coasts remind the traveller of familiar scenes in the
Netherlands.
British expeditions.
The earliest English attempts to reach the East were the expeditions
under John Cabot in 1497 and 1498. Their objective was not so much India
as Japan (Cipangu), of which they only knew vaguely as a land of spices
and silks, and which they hoped to reach by sailing westward. They
failed, but discovered Newfoundland, and sailed along the coast of
America from Labrador to Virginia. In 1553 the ill-fated Sir Hugh
Willoughby attempted to force a passage along the north of Europe and
Asia. Sir Hugh himself perished miserably, but his second in command,
Chancellor, reached a harbour on the White Sea, now Archangel. Thence he
penetrated by land to the court of the grand-duke of Moscow, and laid
the foundation of the Russia Company for carrying on the overland trade
with India through Persia, Bokhara and Moscow. Many subsequent attempts
were made at the North-West Passage from 1576 to 1616, which have left
on our modern maps the imperishable names of Frobisher, Davis, Hudson
and Baffin. Meanwhile, in 1577, Sir Francis Drake had circumnavigated
the globe, and on his way home had touched at Ternate, one of the
Moluccas, the king of which island agreed to supply the English nation
with all the cloves it produced. The first Englishman who actually
visited India was Thomas Stephens in 1579. He had been educated at
Winchester, and became rector of the Jesuits' College in Goa. His
letters to his father are said to have roused great enthusiasm in
England to trade directly with India. In 1583 four English merchants,
Ralph Fitch, John Newbery, William Leedes and James Story, went out to
India overland as mercantile adventurers. The jealous Portuguese threw
them into prison at Ormuz, and again at Goa. At length Story settled
down as a shopkeeper at Goa, Leedes entered the service of the Great
Mogul, Newbery died on his way home overland, and Fitch, after a
lengthened peregrination in Bengal, Pegu, Siam and other parts of the
East Indies, returned to England.
East India Company.
The defeat of the "Invincible Armada" in 1588, at which time the crowns
of Spain and Portugal were united, gave a fresh stimulus to maritime
enterprise in England; and the successful voyage of Cornelius Houtman in
1596 showed the way round the Cape of Good Hope into waters hitherto
monopolized by the Portuguese. The "Governor and Company of Merchants of
London trading into the East Indies" was founded by Queen Elizabeth on
the 31st of December 1600, and the first expedition of four ships under
James Lancaster left Torbay towards the end of April 1601, and reached
Achin in Sumatra on the 5th of June 1602, returning with a cargo of
spices. Between 1600 and 1612 there were twelve separate voyages, but in
the latter year a joint-stock system began involving continual
communication with the Indies. At first the trade was mainly with the
Indian archipelago, but soon the English began to feel their way towards
the mainland of India itself. In 1608 Captain Hawkins visited Jahangir
at Agra, and obtained permission to build a factory at Surat, which was
subsequently revoked, and in 1609 some English merchants obtained an
unstable footing at Surat. Wherever the English went they were met by
the hostility of the Portuguese; and on the 29th of November 1612 the
Portuguese admiral with four ships attempted to capture the English
vessels under Captain Best at Swally, off the mouth of the Tapti river;
but the Portuguese were severely defeated, to the great astonishment of
the natives, and that action formed the beginning of British maritime
supremacy in Indian seas. The first fruits of the victory were the
foundation of a factory at Surat and at other places round the Gulf of
Cambay and in the interior. From the imperial firman of December 1612
dates the British settlement on the mainland of India. At this point
begins the Indian history of the company, for the domestic history of
which see EAST INDIA COMPANY.
Rivalry with Portugal.
The ten years that elapsed between the battle of Swally in 1612 and the
British capture of Ormuz in 1622 sufficed to decide the issue in the
struggle for supremacy between the British and the Portuguese. The
latter, unwillingly linked to the dying power of Spain, were already
decadent, and on the 20th of January 1615 a great Portuguese armada,
consisting of six great galleons, three smaller ships, two galleys and
sixty rowed barges, was defeated for the second time in Swally roads by
Captain Nicholas Downton, in command of four British vessels. In 1618
the English opened trade between Surat and Jask in the Persian Gulf, and
in 1620 gained a victory over the Portuguese fleet there. Early in 1622
the English fleet gained a second decisive victory, and captured Ormuz,
the pearl of the Portuguese possessions in Asia. From this date onwards
India and the Persian Gulf lay open to the English as far as Portugal
was concerned, and before Portugal broke loose from Spain in 1640 her
supremacy in Asiatic seas was hopelessly lost. In 1642 she partially and
in 1654 finally accepted the situation, and opened all her Eastern
possessions to English trade.
Rivalry with the Dutch.
The struggle with the young and growing power of Holland was destined to
be a much more serious affair than that with the exhausted power of
Portugal. The Dutch had just emerged victorious from the struggle with
Spain, and were pulsing with national life. In 1602 the Dutch routed the
Portuguese near Bantam, and opened the road to the Spice Islands. In
1603 they threatened Goa, in 1619 they fixed their capital at Batavia,
in 1638 they drove the Portuguese from Ceylon and in 1641 from Malacca.
When Portugal emerged in 1640 from her sixty years' captivity to Spain,
she found that her power in the Eastern seas had passed to the Dutch,
and thenceforward the struggle lay between the Dutch and the English.
The Dutch were already too strongly entrenched in the Indian archipelago
for English competition to avail there, and the intense rivalry between
the two nations led to the tragedy of Amboyna in 1623, when Governor Van
Speult put to torture and death nine Englishmen on a charge of
conspiring to take the Dutch forts. This outrage was not avenged until
the time of Cromwell (1654), and in the meantime the English abandoned
the struggle for the Spice Islands, and turned their attention entirely
to the mainland of India. In 1616 the Dutch began to compete with the
English at Surat, and their piracies against native vessels led to the
Mogul governor seizing English warehouses; but soon the native
authorities learnt to discriminate between the different European
nations, and the unscrupulous methods of the Dutch cast them into
disfavour.
Madras settlements.
In 1611 Captain Hippon in the seventh separate voyage essayed a landing
at Pulicat, but was driven off by the Dutch, who were already settled
there, and sailed farther up the coast to Pettapoli, where he founded
the first English settlement in the Bay of Bengal, which finally
perished through pestilence in 1687. Captain Hippon, however, also
touched at Masulipatam, the chief sea-port of the kings of Golconda. In
1628 the Dutch won over the native governor there, and the English were
compelled to retreat to Armagon, where they built the first English fort
in India. In 1639 Francis Day, the chief at Armagon, founded Madras,
building Fort St George (1640), and transferring thither the chief
factory from Masulipatam. Here the English obtained their first grant of
Indian soil, apart from the plots on which their factories were built.
In 1653 Madras was raised to an independent presidency, and in 1658 all
the settlements in Bengal and on the Coromandel coast were made
subordinate to Fort St George.
Bengal settlements.
In 1633 eight Englishmen from Masulipatam, under Ralph Cartwright,
sailed northward to Harishpur near Cuttack on the mouth of the Mahanadi,
and entered into negotiations to trade with the governor of Orissa; and
in June 1633 Cartwright founded a factory at Balasore, which proved very
unhealthy. In 1651 the English reached Hugli, which was at that time the
chief port of Bengal; about that year Gabriel Boughton, a surgeon,
obtained from the Mogul viceroy permission for the English to trade in
Bengal. In 1657 Hugli became the head agency in Bengal, with Balasore
and Cossimbazar in the Gangetic delta and Patna in Behar under its
control. In that year the name of Job Charnock, the future founder of
Calcutta, appeared in the lowest grade of the staff.
Acquisition of Bombay.
The company had long fixed an eye on Bombay. Its position half way down
the Indian seaboard gave it both strategic and commercial importance,
while it lay beyond the authority of the Moguls, and so could be
fortified without offending them. In 1626 the company joined with the
Dutch under Van Speult in attacking Bombay, but could not retain
possession. In 1661 Charles II. received Bombay from Portugal as part of
the Infanta Catherine's dowry, but effective possession was not taken
until 1665, and in 1668 Charles handed the island over to the company.
At first the loss of life, owing to the unhealthiness of the climate,
was appalling; but in spite of that fact it gradually prospered, until
it reached its present position as the second port and city of India. In
1670 Gerald Aungier fortified the island, and so became the true founder
of its prosperity. In 1674 a treaty was entered into with Sivaji. In
1682 Sir Josiah Child at home and Sir John Child in India formed a
combination, which recognized that in the struggle between the Mogul and
the Mahrattas the English must meet force with force; and in 1687 Bombay
supplanted Surat as the chief seat of the English in India.
The founding of Calcutta.
In 1664 Shaista Khan, the brother of the empress Nur Jahan, became
viceroy of Bengal, and though a strong and just ruler from the native
point of view, was not favourable to the foreign traders. In 1677 the
president of Madras had to warn him that unless his exactions ceased,
the company would be obliged to withdraw from Bengal. In 1679 the
English obtained from the Mogul emperor a firman exempting them from
dues everywhere except at Surat; but Shaista Khan refused to recognize
the document, and on the 14th of January 1686 the court of directors
resolved to have recourse to arms to effect what they could not obtain
by treaty. This was the first formal repudiation of the doctrine of
unarmed traffic laid down by Sir Thomas Roe in 1616. An expedition was
despatched to India consisting of six companies of infantry and ten
ships under Captain Nicholson. Two of the ships with 308 soldiers
arrived at the Hugli river in the autumn of 1686. At this time Job
Charnock was the chief of the Bengal council, and, owing to an affray
with the Mogul troops at Hugli on the 28th of October 1686, he embarked
the company's goods and servants on board light vessels and dropped down
the river to Sutanati, the site of the modern Calcutta. At this place,
about 70 m. from the sea and accessible at high tide to heavily armed
ships, the stream had scooped for itself a long deep pool, now Calcutta
harbour, while the position was well chosen to make a stand against the
Bengal viceroy. On the 20th of December 1686 Charnock first settled at
Calcutta, but in the following February Shaista Khan despatched an army
against him, and he was forced to drop farther down the river to Hijili.
In June Charnock was obliged to make an honourable capitulation, and
returned to Ulubaria, 16 m. below Calcutta, thence moving in September
to Calcutta for the second time. On the 8th of November 1688 Captain
Heath arrived with orders from England, and took away Charnock against
his will; but after peace was restored between the Mogul emperor and the
company in February 1690, Charnock returned to Calcutta for the third
and last time on the 24th of August of that year. It was thus by his
courage and persistence that the modern capital of India was eventually
founded. As the result of the war with the Mogul empire, which lasted
from 1686 to 1690, the company perceived that a land war was beyond
their strength, but their sea-power could obtain them terms by
blockading the customs ports and threatening the pilgrim route to Mecca.
From this time onwards they saw that they could no longer trust to
defenceless factories. During this first period of their dealings with
India the aims of the British were purely those of traders, without any
aspirations to military power or territorial aggrandizement; but in the
period that followed, the gradual decay of the Mogul empire from within,
and the consequent anarchy, forced the English to take up arms in their
own defence, and triumphing over one enemy after another they found
themselves at last in the place of the Moguls.
_India under the Company._
The political history of the British in India begins in the 18th century
with the French wars in the Carnatic. The British at Fort St George and
the French at Pondicherry for many years traded side by side without
either active rivalry or territorial ambition. The British, especially,
appear to have been submissive to the native powers at Madras no less
than in Bengal. They paid their annual rent of 1200 pagodas (say £500)
to the deputies of the Mogul empire when Aurangzeb annexed the south,
and on two several occasions bought off a besieging army with a heavy
bribe.
On the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the whole of southern India became
practically independent of Delhi. In the Deccan proper, the
Nizam-ul-Mulk founded an independent dynasty, with Hyderabad for its
capital, which exercised a nominal sovereignty over the entire south.
The Carnatic, or the lowland tract between the central plateau and the
eastern sea, was ruled by a deputy of the nizam, known as the nawab of
Arcot, who in his turn asserted claims to hereditary sovereignty.
Farther south, Trichinopoly was the capital of a Hindu raja, and Tanjore
formed another Hindu kingdom under a degenerate descendant of the line
of Sivaji. Inland, Mysore was gradually growing into a third Hindu
state, while everywhere local chieftains, called _palegars_ or _naiks_,
were in semi-independent possession of citadels or hill-forts.
French and British wars.
In that condition of affairs the flame of war was kindled between the
British and the French in Europe in 1745. Dupleix was at that time
governor of Pondicherry and Clive was a young writer at Madras. A
British fleet first appeared on the Coromandel coast, but Dupleix by a
judicious present induced the nawab of Arcot to interpose and prevent
hostilities. In 1746 a French squadron arrived, under the command of La
Bourdonnais. Madras surrendered almost without a blow, and the only
settlement left to the British was Fort St David, a few miles south of
Pondicherry, where Clive and a few other fugitives sought shelter. The
nawab, faithful to his policy of impartiality, marched with 10,000 men
to drive the French out of Madras, but he was signally defeated by a
French force of only four hundred men and two guns. In 1748 a British
fleet arrived under Admiral Boscawen and attempted the siege of
Pondicherry, while a land force co-operated under Major Stringer
Lawrence, whose name afterwards became associated with that of Clive.
The French successfully repulsed all attacks, and at last peace was
restored, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which gave back Madras to
the British (1748).
Clive.
The first war with the French was merely an incident in the greater
contest in Europe. The second war had its origin in Indian politics,
while England and France were at peace. The easy success of the French
arms had inspired Dupleix with the ambition of founding a French empire
in India, under the shadow of the existing Mahommedan powers. Disputed
successions at Hyderabad and at Arcot supplied his opportunity. On both
thrones he placed nominees of his own, and for a short time posed as the
supreme arbiter of the entire south. In boldness of conception, and in
knowledge of Oriental diplomacy, Dupleix has had probably no rival. But
he was no soldier, and he was destined in that sphere to encounter the
"heaven-born genius" of Clive. For the British of Madras, under the
instinct of self-preservation, were compelled to maintain the cause of
another candidate to the throne of Arcot in opposition to the nominee of
Dupleix. This candidate was Mahommed Ali, afterwards known in history as
Wala-jah. The war that then ensued between the French and British, each
with their native allies, has been exhaustively described in the pages
of Orme. The one incident that stands out conspicuously is the capture
and subsequent defence of Arcot by Clive in 1751. This heroic feat, even
more than the battle of Plassey, established the reputation of the
British for valour throughout India. Shortly afterwards Clive returned
to England in ill-health, but the war continued fitfully for many years.
On the whole, British Influence predominated in the Carnatic, and their
candidate, Mahommed Ali, maintained his position at Arcot. But the
French were no less supreme in the Deccan, whence they were able to take
possession of the coast tract called "the Northern Circars." The final
struggle was postponed until 1760, when Colonel (afterwards Sir Eyre)
Coote won the decisive victory of Wandiwash over the French general
Lally, and proceeded to invest Pondicherry, which was starved into
capitulation in January 1761. A few months later the hill-fortress of
Gingee (Chenji) also surrendered. In the words of Orme, "That day
terminated the long hostilities between the two rival European powers in
Coromandel, and left not a single ensign of the French nation avowed by
the authority of its Government in any part of India."
Meanwhile the interest of history shifts with Clive to Bengal.
Black Hole of Calcutta.
At the time of Aurangzeb's death in 1707 the nawab or governor of Bengal
was Murshid Kuli Khan, known also as Jafar Khan. By birth a Brahman, and
brought up as a slave in Persia, he united the administrative ability of
a Hindu to the fanaticism of a renegade. Hitherto the capital of Bengal
had been at Dacca on the eastern frontier of the empire, whence the
piratical attacks of the Portuguese and of the Arakanese or Mughs could
be most easily checked. Murshid Kuli Khan transferred his residence to
Murshidabad, in the neighbourhood of Cossimbazar, the river port of all
the Ganges trade. The British, the French and the Dutch had each
factories at Cossimbazar, as well as at Dacca, Patna and Malda. But
Calcutta was the headquarters of the British, Chandernagore of the
French, and Chinsura of the Dutch, all three towns being situated close
to each other in the lower reaches of the Hugli, where the river is
navigable for large ships. Murshid Kuli Khan ruled over Bengal
prosperously for twenty-one years, and left his power to a son-in-law
and a grandson. The hereditary succession was broken in 1740 by Ali
Vardi Khan, who was the last of the great nawabs of Bengal. In his days
the Mahratta horsemen began to ravage the country, and the British at
Calcutta obtained permission to erect an earth-work, which is known to
the present day as the Mahratta ditch. Ali Vardi Khan died in 1756, and
was succeeded by his grandson, Suraj-ud-Dowlah, a youth of only nineteen
years, whose ungovernable temper led to a rupture with the British
within two months after his accession. In pursuit of one of his own
family who had escaped from his vengeance, he marched upon Calcutta with
a large army. Many of the British fled down the river in their ships.
The remainder surrendered after a feeble resistance, and were thrown as
prisoners into the "black hole" or military jail of Fort William, a room
18 ft. by 14 ft. 10 in. in size, with only two small windows barred with
iron. It was the month of June, in which the tropical heat of Calcutta
is most oppressive. When the door of the prison was opened in the
morning, only twenty-three persons out of one hundred and forty-six were
found alive.
Battle of Plassey.
The news of this disaster fortunately found Clive returned to Madras,
where also was a squadron of king's ships under Admiral Watson. Clive
and Watson promptly sailed to the mouth of the Ganges with all the
troops that could be got together. Calcutta was recovered with little
fighting, and the nawab consented to a peace which restored to the
company all their privileges, and gave them compensation for their
losses of property. It is possible that matters might have ended here if
a fresh cause of hostilities had not suddenly arisen. War had just been
declared between the British and French in Europe, and Clive, following
the traditions of his early warfare in the Carnatic, attacked and
captured Chandernagore. Suraj-ud-Dowlah, exasperated by this breach of
neutrality within his own dominions, took the side of the French. But
Clive, again acting upon the policy he had learned from Dupleix, had
provided himself with a rival candidate to the throne. Undaunted, he
marched out to the battlefield of Plassey (Palasi), at the head of about
900 Europeans and 2000 sepoys, with 8 pieces of artillery. The
Mahommedan army is said to have consisted of 35,000 foot, 15,000 horse
and 50 pieces of cannon. But there was a traitor in the Mahommedan camp
in the person of Mir Jafar, who had married a sister of the late nawab,
Ali Vardi Khan. The battle was short but decisive. After a few rounds of
artillery fire, Suraj-ud-Dowlah fled, and the road to Murshidabad was
left open.
The battle of Plassey was fought on the 23rd of June 1757, an
anniversary afterwards remembered when the mutiny was at its height in
1857. History has agreed to adopt this date as the beginning of the
British empire in the East; but the immediate results of the victory
were comparatively small, and several more hard-won fights were fought
before even the Bengalis would admit the superiority of the British
arms. For the moment, however, all opposition was at an end. Clive,
again following in the steps of Dupleix, placed his nominee, Mir Jafar,
upon the _masnad_ at Murshidabad, being careful to obtain a patent of
investiture from the Mogul court. Enormous sums were exacted from Mir
Jafar as the price of his elevation. The company claimed 10,000,000
rupees as compensation for losses; for the British, the Armenian and the
Indian inhabitants of Calcutta there were demanded the sums of
5,000,000, 2,000,000 and 1,000,000 rupees; for the squadron 2,500,000
rupees, and an equal sum for the army. The members of the council
received the following amounts: Mr Drake, the governor, and Colonel
Clive 280,000 rupees each; and Mr Becher, Mr Watts and Major Kilpatrick
240,000 rupees each. The whole amounted to £2,340,000. The British,
deluded by their avarice, still cherished extravagant ideas of Indian
wealth; nor would they listen to the unwelcome truth. But it was found
that there were no funds in the treasury to satisfy their inordinate
demands, and they were obliged to be contented with one-half the
stipulated sums, which, after many difficulties, were paid in specie and
in jewels, with the exception of 584,905 rupees. The shares of the
council were, however, paid in full. At the same time the nawab made a
grant to the company of the _zamindari_ rights over an extensive tract
of country round Calcutta, now known as the district of the Twenty-four
Parganas. The area of this tract was about 882 sq. m., and it paid a
revenue or quit rent of about £23,000. The gross rental at first payable
to the company was £53,000, but within a period of ten years it had
risen to £146,000. Originally the company possessed only the _zamindari_
rights, i.e. revenue jurisdiction. The superior lordship, or right to
receive the quit rent, remained with the nawab; but in 1759 this also
was parted with by the nawab in favour of Clive, who thus became the
landlord of his own masters, the company. At that time also Clive was
enrolled among the nobility of the Mogul empire, with the rank of
commander of 6000 foot and 5000 horse. Clive's _jagir_, as it was
called, subsequently became a matter of inquiry in England, and on his
death it passed to the company, thus merging the _zamindari_ in the
proprietary rights.
In 1758 Clive was appointed by the court of directors to be governor of
all the company's settlements in Bengal. From two quarters troubles
threatened, which perhaps Clive alone was capable of overcoming. On the
west the shahzada or imperial prince, known afterwards as the emperor
Shah Alam, with a mixed army of Afghans and Mahrattas, and supported by
the nawab wazir of Oudh, was advancing his own claims to the province of
Bengal. In the south the influence of the French under Lally and Bussy
was overshadowing the British at Madras. But the name of Clive exercised
a decisive effect in both directions. Mir Jafar was anxious to buy off
the shahzada, who had already invested Patna. But Clive in person
marched to the rescue, with an army of only 450 Europeans and 2500
sepoys, and the Mogul army dispersed without striking a blow. In the
same year Clive despatched a force southwards under Colonel Forde, which
captured Masulipatam from the French, and permanently established
British influence throughout the Northern Circars, and at the court of
Hyderabad. He next attacked the Dutch, the sole European nation that
might yet be a formidable rival to the English. He defeated them by both
land and water; and from that time their settlement at Chinsura existed
only on sufferance.
Massacre of Patna.
From 1760 to 1765, while Clive was at home, the history of the British
in Bengal contains little that is creditable. Clive had left behind him
no system of government, but merely the tradition that unlimited sums of
money might be extracted from the natives by the mere terror of the
British name. In 1761 it was found expedient and profitable to dethrone
Mir Jafar, the nawab of Murshidabad, and substitute his son-in-law, Mir
Kasim, in his place. On that occasion, besides private donations, the
British received a grant of the three districts of Burdwan, Midnapur and
Chittagong, estimated to yield a net revenue of half a million sterling.
But Mir Kasim proved to possess a will of his own, and to cherish dreams
of independence. He retired from Murshidabad to Monghyr, a strong
position on the Ganges, which commanded the only means of communication
with Upper India. There he proceeded to organize an army, drilled and
equipped after European models, and to carry on intrigues with the nawab
wazir of Oudh. The company's servants claimed the privilege of carrying
on private trade throughout Bengal, free from inland dues and all other
imposts. The assertion of this claim caused frequent affrays between the
customs' officers of the nawab and those traders who, whether falsely or
not, represented that they were acting on behalf of the servants of the
company. The nawab alleged that his civil authority was everywhere being
set at nought. The majority of the council at Calcutta would not listen
to his statements. The governor, Mr Vansittart, and Warren Hastings,
then a junior member of council, attempted to effect some compromise.
But the controversy had become too hot. The nawab's officers fired upon
a British boat, and forthwith all Bengal was in a blaze. A force of 2000
sepoys was cut to pieces at Patna, and about 200 Englishmen in various
parts of the province fell into the hands of the Mahommedans, and were
subsequently massacred. But as soon as regular warfare commenced Mir
Kasim met with no more successes. His trained regiments were defeated in
two pitched battles by Major Adams, at Gheria and at Udha-nala, and he
himself took refuge with the nawab wazir of Oudh, who refused to deliver
him up. This led to a prolongation of the war. Shah Alam, who had now
succeeded his father as emperor, and Shuja-ud-Daula, the nawab wazir of
Oudh, united their forces, and threatened Patna, which the British had
recovered. A more formidable danger appeared in the British camp, in
the form of the first sepoy mutiny. This was quelled by Major
(afterwards Sir Hector) Munro, who ordered twenty-four of the
ringleaders to be blown from guns, an old Mogul punishment. In 1764
Major Munro won the decisive battle of Buxar, which laid Oudh at the
feet of the conquerors, and brought the Mogul emperor as a suppliant to
the British camp.
Clive's reforms.
Meanwhile the council at Calcutta had twice found the opportunity they
desired of selling the government of Bengal to a new nawab. But in 1765
Clive (now Baron Clive of Plassey, in the peerage of Ireland) arrived at
Calcutta, as governor of Bengal for the second time, to settle the
entire system of relations with the native powers. Two objects stand out
conspicuously in his policy. First, he sought to acquire the substance,
though not the name, of territorial power, by using the authority of the
Mogul emperor for so much as he wished, and for no more; and, secondly,
he desired to purify the company's service by prohibiting illicit gains,
and at the same time guaranteeing a reasonable remuneration from honest
sources. In neither respect were the details of his plans carried out by
his successors. But the beginning of the British administration of India
dates from this second governorship of Clive, just as the origin of the
British empire in India dates from his victory at Plassey. Clive's first
step was to hurry up from Calcutta to Allahabad, and there settle in
person the fate of half northern India. Oudh was given back to the nawab
wazir, on condition of his paying half a million sterling towards the
expenses of the war. The provinces of Allahabad and Kora, forming the
lower part of the Doab, were handed over to Shah Alam himself, who in
his turn granted to the company the _diwani_ or financial administration
of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, together with the Northern Circars. A
puppet nawab was still maintained at Murshidabad, who received an annual
allowance of about half a million sterling; and half that amount was
paid to the emperor as tribute from Bengal. Thus was constituted the
dual system of government, by which the British received all the
revenues and undertook to maintain an army for the defence of the
frontier, while the criminal jurisdiction vested in the nawab. In Indian
phraseology, the company was _diwan_ and the nawab was _nazim_. As a
matter of general administration, the actual collection of the revenues
still remained for some years in the hands of native officials. In
attempting to reorganize and purify the company's service, Clive
undertook a task yet more difficult than to partition the valley of the
Ganges. The officers, civil and military alike, were all tainted with
the common corruption. Their legal salaries were absolutely
insignificant, but they had been permitted to augment them ten and a
hundredfold by means of private trade and gifts from the native powers.
Despite the united resistance of the civil servants, and an actual
mutiny of two hundred military officers, Clive carried through his
reforms. Both private trade and the receipt of presents were absolutely
prohibited for the future, while a substantial increase of pay was
provided out of the monopoly of salt.
Warren Hastings.
Lord Clive quitted India for the third and last time in 1767. Between
that date and the arrival of Warren Hastings in 1772 nothing of
importance occurred in Bengal beyond the terrible famine of 1770, which
is officially reported to have swept away one-third of the inhabitants.
The dual system of government, however, established by Clive, had proved
a failure. Warren Hastings, a tried servant of the company,
distinguished alike for intelligence, for probity and for knowledge of
oriental manners, was nominated governor by the court of directors, with
express instructions to carry out a predetermined series of reforms. In
their own words, the court had resolved to "stand forth as diwan, and to
take upon themselves, by the agency of their own servants, the entire
care and administration of the revenues." In the execution of this plan,
Hastings removed the exchequer from Murshidabad to Calcutta, and for the
first time appointed European officers, under the now familiar title of
collectors, to superintend the revenue collections and preside in the
civil courts. The urgency of foreign affairs, and subsequently internal
strife at the council table, hindered Hastings from developing farther
the system of civil administration, a task finally accomplished by Lord
Cornwallis.
First Governor-General.
Though Hastings always prided himself specially upon that reform, as
well as upon the improvements he introduced into the collection of the
revenues from salt and opium, his name will be remembered in history for
the boldness and success of his foreign policy. From 1772 to 1774 he was
governor of Bengal; from 1774 to 1785 he was the first titular
governor-general of India, presiding over a council nominated, like
himself, not by the company, but by an act of parliament, known as the
Regulating Act. In his domestic policy he was greatly hampered by the
opposition of Sir Philip Francis; but, so far as regards external
relations with Oudh, with the Mahrattas, and with Hyder Ali, he was
generally able to compel assent to his own measures. His treatment of
Oudh may here be passed over as not being material to the general
history of India, while the personal aspects of his rule are discussed
in a separate article (see HASTINGS, WARREN). To explain his Mahratta
policy, it will be necessary to give a short retrospective sketch of the
history of that people.
Rise of the Mahrattas.
Sivaji the Great, as already mentioned, died in 1680, while Aurangzeb
was still on the throne. The family of Sivaji produced no great names,
either among those who continued to be the nominal chiefs of the
Mahratta confederacy, with their capital at Satara, or among the rajas
of Kolhapur and Tanjore. All real power passed into the hands of the
peshwa, or Brahman minister, who founded in his turn an hereditary
dynasty at Poona, dating from the beginning of the 18th century. Next
rose several Mahratta generals, who, though recognizing the suzerainty
of the peshwa, carved out for themselves independent kingdoms in
different parts of India, sometimes far from the original home of the
Mahratta race. Chief among these generals were the gaikwar in Gujarat,
Sindhia and Holkar in Malwa, and the Bhonsla raja of Berar and Nagpur.
At one time it seemed probable that the Mahratta confederacy would expel
the Mahommedans even from northern India; but the decisive battle of
Panipat, won by the Afghans in 1761, gave a respite to the Delhi empire.
The Mahratta chiefs never again united heartily for a common purpose,
though they still continued to be the most formidable military power in
India. In especial, they dominated over the British settlement of Bombay
on the western coast, which was the last of the three presidencies to
feel the lust of territorial ambition. For more than a hundred years,
from its acquisition in 1661 to the outbreak of the first Mahratta war
in 1775, the British on the west coast possessed no territory outside
the island of Bombay and their fortified factory at Surat.
First Mahratta War.
The Bombay government was naturally emulous to follow the example of
Madras and Bengal, and to establish its influence at the court of Poona
by placing its own nominee upon the throne. The attempt took form in
1775 in the treaty of Surat, by which Raghunath Rao, one of the
claimants to the throne of the peshwa, agreed to cede Salsette and
Bassein to the British, in consideration of being himself restored to
Poona. The military operations that followed are known as the first
Mahratta War. Warren Hastings, who in his capacity of governor-general
claimed a right of control over the decisions of the Bombay government,
strongly disapproved of the treaty of Surat, but, when war once broke
out, he threw the whole force of the Bengal army into the scale. One of
his favourite officers, General Goddard, marched across the peninsula,
and conquered the rich province of Gujarat almost without a blow.
Another, Captain Popham, stormed the rock-fortress of Gwalior, which was
regarded as the key of Hindustan. These brilliant successes atoned for
the disgrace of the convention of Wargaon in 1779, when the Mahrattas
dictated terms to a Bombay force, but the war was protracted until 1782.
It was then closed by the treaty of Salbai, which practically restored
the _status quo_. Raghunath Rao, the English claimant, was set aside;
Gujarat was restored, and only Salsette and some other small islands
were retained by the English.
First Mysore War.
Meanwhile Warren Hastings had to deal with a more formidable enemy than
the Mahratta confederacy. The reckless conduct of the Madras government
had roused the hostility both of Hyder Ali of Mysore and of the nizam of
the Deccan, the two strongest Mussulman powers in India, who attempted
to draw the Mahrattas into an alliance against the British. The
diplomacy of Hastings won over the nizam and the Mahratta raja of
Nagpur, but the army of Hyder Ali fell like a thunderbolt upon the
British possessions in the Carnatic. A strong detachment under Colonel
Baillie was cut to pieces at Perambakam, and the Mysore cavalry ravaged
the country unchecked up to the walls of Madras. For the second time the
Bengal army, stimulated by the energy of Hastings, saved the honour of
the British name. Sir Eyre Coote, the victor of Wandiwash, was sent by
sea to relieve Madras with all the men and money available, while
Colonel Pearse marched south overland to overawe the raja of Berar and
the nizam. The war was hotly contested, for Sir Eyre Coote was now an
old man, and the Mysore army was well-disciplined and equipped, and also
skilfully handled by Hyder and his son Tippoo. Hyder died in 1782, and
peace was finally concluded with Tippoo in 1784, on the basis of a
mutual restitution of all conquests.
Permanent settlement of Bengal.
It was Warren Hastings's merit to organize the empire which Clive
founded. He was governor or governor-general for thirteen years, a
longer period than any of his successors. During that time the British
lost the American colonies, but in India their reputation steadily rose
to its highest pitch. Within a year Hastings was succeeded by Lord
Cornwallis, the first English nobleman of rank who undertook the office
of governor-general. His rule lasted from 1786 to 1793, and is
celebrated for two events--the introduction of the permanent settlement
into Bengal and the second Mysore war. If the foundations of the system
of civil administration were laid by Hastings, the superstructure was
erected by Cornwallis. It was he who first entrusted criminal
jurisdiction to Europeans, and established the Nizamat Sadr Adalat, or
appellate court of criminal judicature, at Calcutta; and it was he who
separated the functions of collector and judge. The system thus
organized in Bengal was afterwards extended to Madras and Bombay, when
those presidencies also acquired territorial sovereignty. But the
achievement most familiarly associated with the name of Cornwallis is
the permanent settlement of the land revenue of Bengal. Up to this time
the revenue had been collected pretty much according to the old Mogul
system. _Zamindars_, or government farmers, whose office always tended
to become hereditary, were recognized as having a right of some sort to
collect the revenue from the actual cultivators. But no principle of
assessment existed, and the amount actually realized varied greatly from
year to year. Hastings had the reputation of bearing hard upon the
_zamindars_, and was absorbed in other critical affairs of state or of
war. On the whole he seems to have looked to experience, as acquired
from a succession of quinquennial settlements, to furnish the standard
rate of the future. Francis, on the other hand, Hastings's great rival,
deserves the credit of being among the first to advocate a limitation of
the state demand in perpetuity. The same view recommended itself to the
authorities at home, partly because it would place their finances on a
more stable basis, partly because it seemed to identify the _zamindar_
with the more familiar landlord. Accordingly, Cornwallis took out with
him in 1787 instructions to introduce a permanent settlement. The
process of assessment began in 1789 and terminated in 1791. No attempt
was made to measure the fields or calculate the out-turn, as had been
done by Akbar, and is now done when occasion requires in the British
provinces; but the amount payable was fixed by reference to what had
been paid in the past. At first the settlement was called decennial, but
in 1793 it was declared permanent for ever. The total assessment
amounted to _sikka_ Rs. 26,800,989, or about 2¾ millions sterling.
Though Lord Cornwallis carried the scheme into execution, all praise or
blame, so far as details are concerned, must belong to Sir John Shore,
afterwards Lord Teignmouth, whose knowledge of the country was
unsurpassed by that of any civilian of his time. Shore would have
proceeded more cautiously than Cornwallis's preconceived idea of a
proprietary body and the court of directors' haste after fixity
permitted.
Second Mysore War.
The second Mysore War of 1790-92 is noteworthy on two accounts: Lord
Cornwallis, the governor-general, led the British army in person, with a
pomp and lavishness of supplies that recalled the campaigns of
Aurangzeb; and the two great native powers, the nizam of the Deccan and
the Mahratta confederacy, co-operated as allies of the British. In the
result, Tippoo Sultan submitted when Lord Cornwallis had commenced to
beleaguer his capital. He agreed to yield one-half of his dominions to
be divided among the allies, and to pay three millions sterling towards
the cost of the war. Those conditions he fulfilled, but ever afterwards
he burned to be revenged upon his conquerors.
Wellesley.
The period of Sir John Shore's rule as governor-general, from 1793 to
1798, was uneventful. In 1798 Lord Mornington, better known as the
marquis Wellesley, arrived in India, already inspired with imperial
projects that were destined to change the map of the country. Mornington
was the friend and favourite of Pitt, from whom he is thought to have
derived the comprehensiveness of his political vision and his antipathy
to the French name. From the first he laid down as his guiding principle
that the British must be the one paramount power in the peninsula, and
that the native princes could only retain the insignia of sovereignty by
surrendering the substance of independence. The subsequent political
history of India has been but the gradual development of this policy,
which received its finishing touch when Queen Victoria was proclaimed
empress of India in 1877.
The French Menace.
To frustrate the possibility of a French invasion of India, led by
Napoleon in person, was the governing idea of Wellesley's foreign
policy; for France at this time, and for many years later, filled the
place afterwards occupied by Russia in the imagination of British
statesmen. Nor was the possibility so remote as might now be thought.
French regiments guarded and overawed the nizam of Hyderabad. The
soldiers of Sindhia, the military head of the Mahratta confederacy, were
disciplined and led by French adventurers. Tippoo Sultan carried on a
secret correspondence with the French directorate, and allowed a tree of
liberty to be planted in his dominions. The islands of Mauritius and
Bourbon afforded a convenient half-way house both for French intrigue
and for the assembling of a hostile expedition. Above all, Napoleon
Buonaparte was then in Egypt, dreaming of the conquests of Alexander;
and no man knew in what direction he might turn his hitherto unconquered
legions. Wellesley first addressed himself to the nizam, where his
policy prevailed without serious opposition. The French battalions at
Hyderabad were disbanded and the nizam bound himself by treaty not to
take any European into his service without the consent of the British
government--a clause since inserted in every engagement entered into
with native powers. Next, the whole weight of Wellesley's resources was
turned against Tippoo, whom Cornwallis had defeated but not subdued. His
intrigues with the French were laid bare, and he was given an
opportunity of adhering to the new subsidiary system. On his refusal war
was declared, and Wellesley came down in state to Madras to organize the
expedition in person and watch over the course of events. One British
army marched into Mysore from Madras, accompanied by a contingent from
the nizam. Another advanced from the western coast. Tippoo, after
offering but a feeble resistance in the field, retired into
Seringapatam, and, when his capital was stormed, died fighting bravely
in the breach (1799). Since the battle of Plassey no event so greatly
impressed the native imagination as the capture of Seringapatam, which
won for General Harris a peerage and for Wellesley an Irish marquisate.
In dealing with the territories of Tippoo, Wellesley acted with
moderation. The central portion, forming the old state of Mysore, was
restored to an infant representative of the Hindu rajas, whom Hyder Ali
had dethroned, while the rest was partitioned between the nizam and the
British. At about the same time the province of the Carnatic, or all
that large portion of southern India ruled by the nawab of Arcot, and
also the principality of Tanjore, were placed under direct British
administration, thus constituting the Madras presidency almost as it has
existed to the present day.
Wars with Sindhia and Holkar.
The Mahrattas had been the nominal allies of the British in both their
wars with Tippoo, but they had never given active assistance, nor were
they secured to the British side as the nizam now was. The Mahratta
powers at this time were five in number. The recognized head of the
confederacy was the peshwa of Poona, who ruled the hill country of the
Western Ghats, the cradle of the Mahratta race. The fertile province of
Gujarat was annually harried by the horsemen of the gaekwar of Baroda.
In central India two military leaders, Sindhia of Gwalior and Holkar of
Indore, alternately held the pre-eminency. Towards the east the Bhonsla
raja of Nagpur reigned from Berar to the coast of Orissa. Wellesley
tried assiduously to bring these several Mahratta powers within the net
of his subsidiary system. At last, in 1802, the necessities of the
peshwa, who had been defeated by Holkar, and driven as a fugitive into
British territory, induced him to sign the treaty of Bassein, by which
he pledged himself to hold communications with no other power, European
or native, and ceded territory for the maintenance of a subsidiary
force. This greatly extended the British territorial influence in
western India, but led directly to the second Mahratta war, for neither
Sindhia nor the raja of Nagpur would tolerate this abandonment of
Mahratta independence. The campaigns that followed are perhaps the most
glorious in the history of the British arms in India. The general plan
and the adequate provision of resources were due to the marquis
Wellesley, as also the indomitable spirit that could not anticipate
defeat. The armies were led by General Arthur Wellesley (afterwards duke
of Wellington) and General (afterwards Lord) Lake. Wellesley operated in
the Deccan, where, in a few short months, he won the decisive victories
of Assaye and Argaum. Lake's campaign in Hindustan was no less
brilliant, though it has received less notice from historians. He won
pitched battles at Aligarh and Laswari, and captured the cities of Delhi
and Agra, thus scattering the French troops of Sindhia, and at the same
time coming forward as the champion of the Mogul emperor in his
hereditary capital. Before the year 1803 was out, both Sindhia and the
Bhonsla raja were glad to sue for peace. Sindhia ceded all claims to the
territory north of the Jumna, and left the blind old emperor Shah Alam
once more under British protection. The Bhonsla raja forfeited Orissa to
the English, who had already occupied it with a flying column, and Berar
to the nizam, who gained a fresh addition by every act of complaisance
to the British government. The freebooter, Jaswant Rao Holkar, alone
remained in the field, supporting his troops by ravages through Malwa
and Rajputana. The concluding years of Wellesley's rule were occupied
with a series of operations against Holkar, which brought no credit to
the British name. The disastrous retreat of Colonel Monson through
Central India (1804) recalled memories of the convention of Wargaum, and
of the destruction of Colonel Baillie's force by Hyder Ali. The repulse
of Lake in person at the siege of Bharatpur (Bhurtpore) (1805) is
memorable as an instance of a British army in India having to turn back
with its object unaccomplished.
Barlow.
The ambitious policy and the continuous wars of Lord Wellesley exhausted
the patience of the court of directors at home. In 1804 Lord Cornwallis
was sent out as governor-general a second time, with instructions to
bring about peace at any price, while Holkar was still unsubdued, and
Sindhia was threatening a fresh war. But Cornwallis was now an old man
and broken down in health. Travelling up to the north-west during the
rainy season, he sank and died at Ghazipur, before he had been ten weeks
in the country. His immediate successor was Sir George Barlow, a civil
servant of the company, who, as a _locum tenens_, had no alternative but
to carry out faithfully the orders of his employers. He is charged with
being, under these orders, the only governor-general who diminished the
area of British territory, and with violating engagements by abandoning
the Rajput chiefs to the tender mercies of Holkar and Sindhia. During
his administration also occurred the mutiny of the Madras sepoys at
Vellore, which, though promptly suppressed, sent a shock of insecurity
through the empire.
Lord Minto, governor-general from 1807 to 1813, consolidated the
conquests which Wellesley had acquired. His only military exploits were
the occupation of the island of Mauritius, and the conquest of Java by
an expedition which he accompanied in person. The condition of central
India continued to be disturbed, but Lord Minto succeeded in preventing
any violent outbreaks without himself having recourse to the sword. The
company had ordered him to follow a policy of non-intervention, and he
managed to obey his orders without injuring the prestige of the British
name. In his time the Indian government first opened relations with a
new set of foreign powers by sending embassies to the Punjab, to
Afghanistan and to Persia. The ambassadors were all trained in the
school of Wellesley, and formed perhaps the most illustrious trio of
"politicals" that the Indian service has produced. Sir Charles Metcalfe
was the envoy to the court of Ranjit Singh at Lahore; Mountstuart
Elphinstone met the shah of Afghanistan at Peshawar; and Sir John
Malcolm was despatched to Persia. If it cannot be said that any of these
missions were fruitful in permanent results, at least they introduced
the English to a new set of diplomatic relations, and widened the sphere
of their influence.
Gurkha War.
The successor of Lord Minto was Lord Moira, better known as the marquis
of Hastings, who governed India for the long period of nine years, from
1814 to 1823. This period was marked by two wars of the first magnitude,
the campaigns against the Gurkhas of Nepal, and the third and last
Mahratta War. The Gurkhas, the present ruling race in Nepal, are Hindu
immigrants who claim a Rajput origin. Their sovereignty dates only from
1767, in which year they overran the valley of Katmandu, and gradually
extended their power over all the hills and valleys of Nepal. Organized
upon a sort of military and feudal basis, they soon became a terror to
all their neighbours, marching east into Sikkim, west into Kumaon, and
south into the Gangetic plains. In the last quarter their victims were
British subjects, and at last it became imperatively necessary to check
their advance. Sir George Barlow and Lord Minto had remonstrated in
vain, and nothing was left to Lord Moira but to take up arms. The
campaign of 1814 was little short of disastrous. After overcoming the
natural difficulties of a malarious climate and precipitous hills, the
sepoys were on several occasions fairly worsted by the unexpected
bravery of the little Gurkhas, whose heavy knives or kukris dealt
terrible execution. But in 1815 General Ochterlony, who commanded the
army operating by way of the Sutlej, stormed one by one the hill forts
which still stud the Himalayan states now under the Punjab government,
and compelled the Nepal darbar to sue for peace. In the following year
the same general advanced from Patna into the valley of Katmandu, and
finally dictated the terms which had before been rejected, within a few
miles of the capital. By the treaty of Segauli, which defines the
English relations with Nepal to the present day, the Gurkhas withdrew on
the one hand from Sikkim, and on the other from those lower ranges of
the western Himalayas which have supplied the health-giving stations of
Naini Tal, Mussoorie and Simla.
Pindaris.
Meanwhile the condition of central India was every year becoming more
unsatisfactory. Though the great Mahratta chiefs were learning to live
rather as peaceful princes than as leaders of predatory bands, the
example of lawlessness they had set was being followed, and bettered in
the following, by a new set of freebooters, known as the Pindaris. As
opposed to the Mahrattas, who were at least a nationality bound by some
traditions of a united government, the Pindaris were merely irregular
soldiers, corresponding most nearly to the free companies of medieval
Europe. Of no common race and of no common religion, they welcomed to
their ranks the outlaws and broken tribes of all India--Afghans,
Mahrattas or Jats. Their headquarters were in Malwa, but their
depredations were not confined to central India. In bands, sometimes
numbering a few hundreds, sometimes many thousands, they rode out on
their forays as far as the Coromandel coast. The most powerful of the
Pindari captains, Amir Khan, had an organized army of many regiments,
and several batteries of cannon. Two other leaders, known as Chitu and
Karim, at one time paid a ransom to Sindhia of £100,000. To suppress the
Pindari hordes, who were supported by the sympathy, more or less open,
of all the Mahratta chiefs, Lord Hastings (1817) collected the strongest
British army that had been seen in India, numbering nearly 120,000 men,
half to operate from the north, half from the south. Sindhia was
overawed, and remained quiet. Amir Khan consented to disband his army,
on condition of being guaranteed the possession of what is now the
principality of Tonk. The remaining bodies of Pindaris were attacked in
their homes, surrounded, and cut to pieces. Karim threw himself upon the
mercy of the conquerors. Chitu fled to the jungles, and was killed by a
tiger.
Third Mahratta War.
In the same year (1817) as that in which the Pindaris were crushed, and
almost in the same month (November), the three great Mahratta powers at
Poona, Nagpur and Indore rose against the English. The peshwa, Baji Rao,
had long been chafing under the terms imposed by the treaty of Bassein
(1802), and the subsequent treaty of Poona (1817), which riveted yet
closer the chains of dependence upon the paramount power. Elphinstone,
then resident at his court, foresaw what was coming and ordered up a
European regiment from Bombay. The next day the residency was burned
down, and Kirkee was attacked by the whole army of the peshwa. The
attack was bravely repulsed, and the peshwa immediately fled from his
capital. Almost the same plot was enacted at Nagpur, where the honour of
the British name was saved by the sepoys who defended the hill of
Sitabaldi against enormous odds. The army of Holkar was defeated in the
following month at the pitched battle of Mehidpur. All open resistance
was now at an end. Nothing remained but to follow up the fugitives, and
determine the conditions of the general pacification. In both these
duties Sir John Malcolm played a prominent part. The peshwa himself
surrendered, and was permitted to reside at Bithur, near Cawnpore, on a
pension of £80,000 a year. His adopted son was the infamous Nana Sahib.
To fill the peshwa's place to some extent at the head of the Mahratta
confederacy, the lineal descendant of Sivaji was brought forth from
obscurity, and placed upon the throne of Satara. The greater part of the
peshwa's dominions was ultimately incorporated in the Bombay presidency,
while the nucleus of the Central Provinces was formed out of territory
taken from the peshwa and the raja of Nagpur. An infant was recognized
as the heir of Holkar, and a second infant was proclaimed raja of Nagpur
under British guardianship. At the same time the several states of
Rajputana accepted the position of feudatories of the paramount power.
The map of India, as thus drawn by Lord Hastings, remained substantially
unchanged until the time of Lord Dalhousie. But the proudest boast of
Lord Hastings and Sir John Malcolm was, not that they had advanced the
_pomoerium_, but that they had conferred the blessings of peace and good
government upon millions who had suffered unutterable things from
Mahratta and Pindari tyranny.
First Burmese War.
The marquis of Hastings was succeeded by Lord Amherst, after the
interval of a few months, during which Mr Adam, a civil servant, acted
as governor-general. Lord Amherst's administration lasted for five
years, from 1823 to 1828. It is known in history by two prominent
events, the first Burmese War and the capture of Bharatpur. For some
years past the north-east frontier had been disturbed by the
restlessness of the Burmese. The successors of Alompra, after having
subjugated all Burma, and overrun Assam, which was then an independent
kingdom, began a series of encroachments upon British territory in
Bengal. As all peaceful proposals were scornfully rejected, Lord
Amherst was compelled to declare war in 1824. Little military glory
could be gained by beating the Burmese, who were formidable only from
the pestilential character of their country. One expedition with
gunboats proceeded up the Brahmaputra into Assam; another marched by
land through Chittagong into Arakan, for the Bengal sepoys refused to go
by sea; a third, and the strongest, sailed from Madras direct to the
mouth of the Irrawaddy. The war was protracted over two years. At last,
after the loss of about 20,000 lives and an expenditure of £14,000,000,
the king of Ava consented to sign the treaty of Yandabu, by which he
abandoned all claim to Assam, and ceded the provinces of Arakan and
Tenasserim, which were already in the military occupation of the
British. He retained all the valley of the Irrawaddy, down to the sea at
Rangoon. The capture of Bharatpur in central India by Lord Combermere in
1826 wiped out the repulse which Lord Lake had received before that city
in January 1805. A disputed succession necessitated British
intervention. Artillery could make little impression upon the massive
walls of mud, but at last a breach was effected by mining, and the city
was taken by storm, thus losing its general reputation throughout India
for impregnability, which had threatened to become a political danger.
Bentinck.
The next governor-general was Lord William Bentinck, who had been
governor of Madras twenty years earlier at the time of the mutiny of
Vellore. His seven years' rule (from 1828 to 1835) is not signalized by
any of those victories or extensions of territory by which chroniclers
delight to measure the growth of empire. But it forms an epoch in
administrative reform, and in the benign process by which the hearts of
a subject population are won over to venerate as well as obey their
alien rulers. The modern history of the British in India, as benevolent
administrators ruling the country with an eye to the good of the
natives, may be said to begin with Lord William Bentinck. According to
the inscription upon his statue at Calcutta, from the pen of Macaulay:
"He abolished cruel rites; he effaced humiliating distinctions; he gave
liberty to the expression of public opinion; his constant study it was
to elevate the intellectual and moral character of the nations committed
to his charge." His first care on arrival in India was to restore
equilibrium to the finances, which were tottering under the burden
imposed upon them by the Burmese War. This he effected by reductions in
permanent expenditure, amounting in the aggregate to 1½ millions
sterling, as well as by augmenting the revenue from land that had
escaped assessment, and from the opium of Malwa. He also widened the
gates by which educated natives could enter the service of the company.
Some of these reforms were distasteful to the covenanted service and to
the officers of the army, but Lord William was always staunchly
supported by the court of directors and by the Whig ministry at home.
Suttee.
His two most memorable acts are the abolition of suttee and the
suppression of the Thugs. At this distance of time it is difficult to
realize the degree to which these two barbarous practices had corrupted
the social system of the Hindus. European research has clearly proved
that the text in the _Vedas_ adduced to authorize the immolation of
widows was a wilful mistranslation. But the practice had been engrained
in Hindu opinion by the authority of centuries, and had acquired the
sanctity of a religious rite. The emperor Akbar is said to have
prohibited it by law, but the early British rulers did not dare so far
to violate the religious customs of the people. In the year 1817 no
fewer than seven hundred widows are said to have been burned alive in
the Bengal presidency alone. To this day the most holy spots of Hindu
pilgrimage are thickly dotted with little white pillars, each
commemorating a suttee. In the teeth of strenuous opposition, from both
Europeans and natives, Lord William carried the regulation in council on
the 4th of December 1829, by which all who abetted suttee were declared
guilty of "culpable homicide." The honour of suppressing Thuggism must
be shared between Lord William and Captain Sleeman. Thuggism was an
abnormal excrescence upon Hinduism, in so far as the bands of secret
assassins were sworn together by an oath based on the rites of the
bloody goddess Kali. Between 1826 and 1835 as many as 1562 Thugs were
apprehended in different parts of British India, and by the evidence of
approvers the moral plague spot was gradually stamped out.
Two other historical events are connected with the administration of
Lord William Bentinck. In 1833 the charter of the East India Company was
renewed for twenty years, but only upon the terms that it should abandon
its trade and permit Europeans to settle freely in the country. At the
same time a legal or fourth member was added to the governor-general's
council, who might not be a servant of the company, and a commission was
appointed to revise and codify the law. Macaulay was the first legal
member of council, and the first president of the law commission. In
1830 it was found necessary to take the state of Mysore under British
administration, where it continued until 1881, when it was restored to
native rule; and in 1834 the frantic misrule of the raja of Coorg
brought on a short and sharp war. The raja was permitted to retire to
Benares, and the brave and proud inhabitants of that mountainous little
territory decided to place themselves under the rule of the company; so
that the only annexation effected by Lord William Bentinck was "in
consideration of the unanimous wish of the people."
Auckland.
Sir Charles (afterwards Lord) Metcalfe succeeded Lord William as senior
member of council. His short term of office is memorable for the measure
which his predecessor had initiated, but which he willingly carried into
execution, for giving entire liberty to the press. Public opinion in
India, as well as the express wish of the court of directors at home,
pointed to Metcalfe as the most fit person to carry out the policy of
Bentinck, not provisionally, but as governor-general for a full term.
Party exigencies, however, led to the appointment of Lord Auckland. From
that date commences a new era of war and conquest, which may be said to
have lasted for twenty years. All looked peaceful until Lord Auckland,
prompted by his evil genius, attempted by force to place Shah Shuja upon
the throne of Kabul, an attempt which ended in gross mismanagement and
the annihilation of the British garrison in that city. The disaster in
Afghanistan was quickly followed by the conquest of Sind, the two wars
in the Punjab, the second Burmese War, and last of all the Mutiny.
First Afghan War.
The attention of the British government had been directed to Afghan
affairs ever since the time of Sir John Shore, who feared that Zaman
Shah, then holding his court at Lahore, might follow in the path of
Ahmed Shah, and overrun Hindustan. The growth of the powerful Sikh
kingdom of Ranjit Singh effectually dispelled any such alarms for the
future. Subsequently, in 1809, while a French invasion of India was
still a possibility to be guarded against, Mountstuart Elphinstone was
sent by Lord Minto on a mission to Shah Shuja to form a defensive
alliance. Before the year was out Shah Shuja had been driven into exile,
and a third brother, Mahmud Shah, was on the throne. In 1837, when the
curtain rises upon the drama of British interference in Afghanistan, the
usurper, Dost Mahommed Barakzai, was firmly established at Kabul. His
great ambition was to recover Peshawar from the Sikhs; and when Captain
Alexander Burnes arrived on a mission from Lord Auckland, with the
ostensible object of opening trade, the Dost was willing to promise
everything, if only he could get Peshawar. But Lord Auckland had another
and more important object in view. At this time the Russians were
advancing rapidly in Central Asia, and a Persian army, not without
Russian support, was besieging Herat, the traditional bulwark of
Afghanistan on the east. A Russian envoy was at Kabul at the same time
as Burnes. The latter was unable to satisfy the demands of Dost Mahommed
in the matter of Peshawar, and returned to India unsuccessful. Lord
Auckland forthwith resolved upon the hazardous plan of placing a more
subservient ruler upon the throne of Kabul. Shah Shuja, now in exile at
Ludhiana, was selected for the purpose. At this time both the Punjab
and Sind were independent kingdoms. Sind was the less powerful of the
two, and, therefore, a British army escorting Shah Shuja made its way by
that route to enter Afghanistan through the Bolan Pass. Kandahar
surrendered, Ghazni was taken by storm, Dost Mahommed fled across the
Hindu Kush, and Shah Shuja was triumphantly led into the Bala Hissar at
Kabul in August 1839. During the two years that followed Afghanistan
remained in the military occupation of the British. The catastrophe
occurred in November 1841, when Sir Alexander Burnes was assassinated in
the city of Kabul. The troops in the cantonments were then under the
command of General Elphinstone (not to be confounded with the civilian
Mountstuart Elphinstone), with Sir William Macnaghten as chief political
adviser. Elphinstone was an old man, unequal to the responsibilities of
the position. Macnaghten was treacherously murdered at an interview with
the Afghan chief, Akbar Khan, eldest son of Dost Mahommed. After
lingering in their cantonments for two months, the British army set off
in the depth of winter to find its way back to India through the passes.
When they started they numbered 4000 fighting men, with 12,000 camp
followers. A single survivor, Dr Brydon, reached the friendly walls of
Jalalabad, where General Sale was gallantly holding out. The rest
perished in the defiles of Khurd Kabul and Jagdalak, either from the
knives and matchlocks of the Afghans or from the effects of cold. A few
prisoners, mostly women, children and officers, were considerately
treated by the orders of Akbar Khan. (See AFGHANISTAN.)
Within a month after the news reached Calcutta, Lord Auckland had been
superseded by Lord Ellenborough, whose first impulse was to be satisfied
with drawing off in safety the garrisons from Kandahar and Jalalabad.
But bolder counsels prevailed. General Pollock, who was marching
straight through the Punjab to relieve General Sale, was ordered to
penetrate to Kabul, while General Nott was only too glad not to be
forbidden to retire from Kandahar through Kabul. After a good deal of
fighting, the two British forces met at their common destination in
September 1842. The great _bazar_ at Kabul was blown up with gunpowder
to fix a stigma upon the city; the prisoners were recovered; and all
marched back to India, leaving Dost Mahommed to take undisputed
possession of his throne. The drama closed with a bombastic proclamation
from Lord Ellenborough, who had caused the gates from the tomb of Mahmud
of Ghazni to be carried back as a memorial of "Somnath revenged."
Annexation of Sind.
Lord Ellenborough, who loved military display, had his tastes gratified
by two more wars. In 1843 the Mahommedan rulers of Sind, known as the
"meers" or amirs, whose only fault was that they would not surrender
their independence, were crushed by Sir Charles Napier. The victory of
Meeanee, in which 3000 British troops defeated 20,000 Baluchis, is
perhaps the most brilliant feat of arms in Indian history; but an honest
excuse can scarcely be found for the annexation of the country. In the
same year a disputed succession at Gwalior, fomented by femimine
intrigue, resulted in an outbreak of the overgrown army which the
Sindhia family had been allowed to maintain. Peace was restored by the
battles of Maharajpur and Punniar, at the former of which Lord
Ellenborough was present in person.
First Sikh War.
In 1844 Lord Ellenborough was recalled by the court of directors, who
differed from him on many points of administration, and distrusted his
erratic genius. He was succeeded by Sir Henry (afterwards Lord)
Hardinge, who had served through the Peninsular War and had lost a hand
at Ligny. It was felt on all sides that a trial of strength between the
British and the Sikhs was at hand. (For the origin of the Sikh power see
PUNJAB.)
Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh kingdom in the Punjab, had
faithfully fulfilled all his obligations towards the British. But on his
death in 1839 no successor was left to curb the ambition of the Sikh
nationality.
In 1845 the _khalsa_, or Sikh army, numbering 60,000 men with 150 guns,
crossed the Sutlej and invaded British territory. Sir Hugh Gough, the
commander-in-chief, together with the governor-general, hurried up to
the frontier. Within three weeks four pitched battles were fought, at
Mudki, Ferozeshah, Aliwal and Sobraon. The British loss on each occasion
was heavy; but by the last victory the Sikhs were fairly driven into and
across the Sutlej, and Lahore surrendered to the British. By the terms
of peace then dictated the infant son of Ranjit, Dhuleep Singh, was
recognized as raja; the Jullundur Doab, or tract between the Sutlej and
the Ravi, was annexed; the Sikh army was limited to a specified number;
Major Henry Lawrence was appointed to be resident at Lahore; and a
British force was detailed to garrison the Punjab for a period of eight
years.
Dalhousie.
Lord Dalhousie succeeded Lord Hardinge, and his eight years'
administration (from 1848 to 1856) was more pregnant of results than
that of any governor-general since Wellesley. Though professedly a man
of peace, he was compelled to fight two wars, in the Punjab and in
Burma. These both ended in large acquisitions of territory, while
Nagpur, Oudh and several minor states also came under British rule. But
Dalhousie's own special interest lay in the advancement of the moral and
material condition of the country. The system of administration carried
out in the conquered Punjab by the two Lawrences and their assistants is
probably the most successful piece of difficult work ever accomplished
by Englishmen. Lower Burma prospered under their rule scarcely less than
the Punjab. In both cases Lord Dalhousie deserves a large share of the
credit. No branch of the administration escaped his reforming hand. He
founded the public works department, to pay special attention to roads
and canals. He opened the Ganges canal, still the largest work of the
kind in the country, and he turned the sod of the first Indian railway.
He promoted steam communication with England via the Red Sea, and
introduced cheap postage and the electric telegraph. It is Lord
Dalhousie's misfortune that these benefits are too often forgotten in
the vivid recollections of the Mutiny, which avenged his policy of
annexation.
Second Sikh War.
Lord Dalhousie had not been six months in India before the second Sikh
war broke out. Two British officers were treacherously assassinated at
Multan. Unfortunately Henry Lawrence was at home on sick leave. The
British army was not ready to act in the hot season, and, despite the
single-handed exertions of Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Herbert) Edwardes,
this outbreak of fanaticism led to a general rising. The _khalsa_ army
again came together, and more than once fought on even terms with the
British. On the fatal field of Chillianwalla, which patriotism prefers
to call a drawn battle, the British lost 2400 officers and men, besides
four guns and the colours of three regiments. Before reinforcements
could come out from England, with Sir Charles Napier as
commander-in-chief, Lord Gough had restored his own reputation by the
crowning victory of Gujrat, which absolutely destroyed the Sikh army.
Multan had previously fallen; and the Afghan horse under Dost Mahommed,
who had forgotten their hereditary antipathy to the Sikhs in their
greater hatred of the British name, were chased back with ignominy to
their native hills. The Punjab henceforth became a British province,
supplying a virgin field for the administrative talents of Dalhousie and
the two Lawrences. Raja Dhuleep Singh received an allowance of £50,000 a
year, on which he retired as a country gentleman to Norfolk in England.
(See PUNJAB.)
Second Burmese War.
The second Burmese war of 1852 was caused by the ill-treatment of
European merchants at Rangoon, and the insolence offered to the captain
of a frigate who had been sent to remonstrate. The whole valley of the
Irrawaddy, from Rangoon to Prome, was occupied in a few months, and, as
the king of Ava refused to treat, it was annexed, under the name of
Pegu, to the provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim, which had been acquired
in 1826.
The doctrine of lapse.
Lord Dalhousie's dealings with the feudatory states of India, though
actuated by the highest motives, seem now to have proceeded upon
mistaken lines. His policy of annexing each native state on the death of
its ruler without natural heirs produced a general feeling of insecurity
of tenure among the princes, and gave offence to the people of India.
This policy was reversed when India was taken over by the crown after
the Mutiny; and its reversal has led to the native princes being amongst
the most loyal subjects of the British government. The first state to
escheat to the British government was Satara, which had been
reconstituted by Lord Hastings on the downfall of the peshwa Baji Rao in
1818. The last direct representative of Sivaji died without a male heir
in 1848, and his deathbed adoption was set aside. In the same year the
Rajput state of Karauli was saved by the interposition of the court of
directors, who drew a fine distinction between a dependent principality
and a protected ally. In 1853 Jhansi suffered the same fate as Satara.
But the most conspicuous application of the doctrine of lapse was the
case of Nagpur. The last of the Bhonslas, a dynasty older than the
British government itself, died without a son, natural or adopted, in
1853. That year also saw British administration extended to the Berars,
or the assigned districts which the nizam of Hyderabad was induced to
cede as a territorial guarantee for the subsidies which he perpetually
kept in arrear. Three more distinguished names likewise passed away in
1853, though without any attendant accretion to British territory. In
the extreme south the titular nawab of the Carnatic and the titular raja
of Tanjore both died without heirs. Their rank and their pensions died
with them, though compassionate allowances were continued to their
families. In the north of India, Baji Rao, the ex-peshwa who had been
dethroned in 1818, lived on till 1853 in the enjoyment of his annual
pension of £80,000. His adopted son, Nana Sahib, inherited his
accumulated savings, but could obtain no further recognition.
Annexation of Oudh.
The annexation of the province of Oudh was justifiable on the ground of
morals, though not on that of policy. Ever since the nawab wazir,
Shuja-ud-Dowlah, received back his forfeited territories from the hands
of Lord Clive in 1765, the very existence of Oudh as an independent
state had depended only upon the protection of British bayonets. Thus,
preserved alike from foreign invasion and from domestic rebellion, the
long line of subsequent nawabs had given way to that neglect of public
affairs and those private vices which naturally flow from irresponsible
power. Their only redeeming virtue was steady loyalty to the British
government. Warning after warning had been given to the nawabs, who had
assumed the title of king since 1819, to put their house in order; but
every warning was neglected, and Lord Dalhousie at last carried into
effect what both the previous governors-general had threatened. In 1856,
the last year of his rule, he issued orders to General (afterwards Sir
James) Outram, then resident at the court of Lucknow, to assume the
direct administration of Oudh, on the ground that "the British
government would be guilty in the sight of God and man, if it were any
longer to aid in sustaining by its countenance an administration fraught
with suffering to millions." The king, Wajid Ali, bowed to irresistible
force, though he ever refused to recognize the justice of his
deposition. After a mission to England, by way of protest and appeal, he
settled down in the pleasant suburb of Garden Reach near Calcutta, where
he lived in the enjoyment of a pension of £120,000 a year. Oudh was thus
annexed without a blow; but it may be doubted whether the one measure of
Lord Dalhousie upon which he looked back himself with the clearest
conscience was not the very one that most alarmed native public opinion.
The Mutiny.
Lord Dalhousie was succeeded by his friend, Lord Canning, who, at the
farewell banquet in England given to him by the court of directors,
uttered these prophetic words: "I wish for a peaceful term of office.
But I cannot forget that in the sky of India, serene as it is, a small
cloud may arise, no larger than a man's hand, but which, growing larger
and larger, may at last threaten to burst and overwhelm us with ruin."
In the following year the sepoys of the Bengal army mutinied, and all
the valley of the Ganges from Patna to Delhi rose in open rebellion.
The various motives assigned for the Mutiny appear inadequate to the
European mind. The truth seems to be that native opinion throughout
India was in a ferment, predisposing men to believe the wildest stories,
and to act precipitately upon their fears. The influence of panic in an
Oriental population is greater than might be readily believed. In the
first place, the policy of Lord Dalhousie, exactly in proportion as it
had been dictated by the most honourable considerations, was utterly
distasteful to the native mind. Repeated annexations, the spread of
education, the appearance of the steam engine and the telegraph wire,
all alike revealed a consistent determination to substitute an English
for an Indian civilization. The Bengal sepoys, especially, thought that
they could see into the future farther than the rest of their
countrymen. Nearly all men of high caste, and many of them recruited
from Oudh, they dreaded tendencies which they deemed to be
denationalizing, and they knew at first hand what annexation meant. They
believed it was by their prowess that the Punjab had been conquered, and
all India was held quiet. The numerous dethroned princes, their heirs
and their widows, were the first to take advantage of the spirit of
disaffection that was abroad. They had heard of the Crimean War, and
were told that Russia was the perpetual enemy of England. Owing to the
silladar system, under which the native cavalry provided their own
horses and accoutrements, many of the sowars were in debt, and were in
favour of a change which would wipe out the existing régime and with it
the money-lender.
But in addition to these general causes of unrest the condition of the
native army had long given cause for uneasiness to acute observers.
During the course of its history it had broken out into mutiny at
recurrent intervals, the latest occasion being the winter of 1843-1844,
when there were two separate mutinies in Sind and at Ferozepur. Moreover
the spirit of the sepoys during the Sikh wars was unsatisfactory, and
led to excessive casualties amongst the British officers and soldiers.
Both General Jacob and Sir Charles Napier had prophesied that the Mutiny
would take place. Sir Hugh Gough and other commanders-in-chief had
petitioned for the removal of India's chief arsenal from Delhi to
Umballa; and Lord Dalhousie himself had protested against the reduction
of the British element in the army. But all these warnings were
disregarded with a blindness as great as was the incapacity that allowed
the Mutiny to gather head unchecked after its first outbreak at Meerut.
Moreover the outbreak was immediately provoked by an unparalleled
instance of carelessness. It has recently been proved by Mr G. W.
Forrest's researches in the Government of India records that the sepoys'
belief that their cartridges were greased with the fat of cows and pigs
had some foundation in fact. Such a gross violation of their caste
prejudices would alone be sufficient to account for the outbreak that
followed. (For the military incidents of the Mutiny see INDIAN MUTINY.)
Transfer to the Crown.
The Mutiny sealed the fate of the East India company, after a life of
more than two and a half centuries. The Act for the Better Government of
India (1858), which finally transferred the entire administration from
the company to the crown, was not passed without an eloquent protest
from the directors, nor without acrimonious party discussion in
parliament. It enacts that India shall be governed by, and in the name
of, the sovereign of England through a principal secretary of state,
assisted by a council. The governor-general received the new title of
viceroy. The European troops of the company, numbering about 24,000
officers and men, were amalgamated with the royal service, and the
Indian navy was abolished. By the Indian Councils Act 1861 the
governor-general's council and also the councils at Madras and Bombay
were augmented by the addition of non-official members, either natives
or Europeans, for legislative purposes only; and by another act passed
in the same year high courts of judicature were constituted out of the
existing supreme courts and company's courts at the presidency towns.
_India under the Crown._
It fell to the lot of Lord Canning both to suppress the Mutiny and to
introduce the peaceful revolution that followed. As regards his
execution of the former part of his duties, it is sufficient to say that
he preserved his equanimity undisturbed in the darkest hours of peril,
and that the strict impartiality of his conduct incurred alternate
praise and blame from the fanatics on either side. The epithet then
scornfully applied to him of "Clemency" Canning is now remembered only
to his honour. On November 1, 1858, at a grand durbar held at Allahabad
the royal proclamation was published which announced that the queen had
assumed the government of India. This document, which has been called
the Magna Charta of the Indian people, went on to explain the policy of
political justice and religious toleration which it was her royal
pleasure to pursue, and granted an amnesty to all except those who had
directly taken part in the murder of British subjects. Peace was
proclaimed throughout India on the 8th of July 1859; and in the
following cold season Lord Canning made a viceregal progress through the
upper provinces, to receive the homage of loyal princes and chiefs, and
to guarantee to them the right of adoption. The suppression of the
Mutiny increased the debt of India by about 40 millions sterling, and
the military changes that ensued augmented the annual expenditure by
about 10 millions. To grapple with this deficit, James Wilson was sent
out from the treasury as financial member of council. He reorganized the
customs system, imposed an income tax and licence duty and created a
state paper currency. The penal code, originally drawn up by Macaulay in
1837, passed into law in 1860, together with codes of civil and criminal
procedure.
Lord Canning left India in March 1862, and died before he had been a
month in England. His successor, Lord Elgin, only lived till November
1863, when he too fell a victim to the excessive work of the
governor-generalship, dying at the Himalayan station of Dharmsala, where
he lies buried. He was succeeded by Sir John Lawrence, the saviour of
the Punjab. The chief incidents of his administration were the Bhutan
war and the terrible Orissa famine of 1866. Lord Mayo, who succeeded him
in 1869, carried on the permanent British policy of moral and material
progress with a special degree of personal energy. The Umballa durbar,
at which Shere Ali was recognized as amir of Afghanistan, though in one
sense the completion of what Lord Lawrence had begun, owed much of its
success to the personal influence of Lord Mayo himself. The same
quality, combined with sympathy and firmness, stood him in good stead in
all his dealings both with native chiefs and European officials. His
example of hard work stimulated all to their best. While engaged in
exploring with his own eyes the furthest corners of the empire, he fell
by the hand of an assassin in the convict settlement of the Andaman
islands in 1872. His successor was Lord Northbrook, whose ability showed
itself chiefly in the department of finance. During the time of his
administration a famine in Lower Bengal in 1874 was successfully
obviated by government relief and public works, though at an enormous
cost; the gaekwar of Baroda was dethroned in 1875 for misgovernment and
disloyalty, while his dominions were continued to a nominated child of
the family; and the prince of Wales (Edward VII.) visited the country in
the cold season of 1875-1876. Lord Lytton followed Lord Northbrook in
1876. On the 1st of January 1877 Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress
of India at a durbar of great magnificence, held on the historic "Ridge"
overlooking the Mogul capital Delhi. But, while the princes and high
officials of the country were flocking to this gorgeous scene, the
shadow of famine was already darkening over the south of India. Both the
monsoons of 1876 had failed to bring their due supply of rain, and the
season of 1877 was little better. The consequences of this prolonged
drought, which extended from Cape Comorin to the Deccan, and
subsequently invaded northern India, were more disastrous than any
similar calamity up to that time from the introduction of British rule.
Despite unparalleled importations of grain by sea and rail, despite the
most strenuous exertions of the government, which incurred a total
expenditure on this account of 11 millions sterling, the loss of life
from actual starvation and its attendant train of diseases was
lamentable. In the autumn of 1878 the affairs of Afghanistan again
forced themselves into notice. Shere Ali, the amir, who had been
hospitably entertained by Lord Mayo, was found to be favouring Russian
intrigues. A British envoy was refused admittance to the country, while
a Russian mission was received with honour. This led to a declaration of
war. British armies advanced by three routes--the Khyber, the Kurram and
the Bolan--and without much opposition occupied the inner entrances of
the passes. Shere Ali fled to Afghan Turkestan, and there died. A treaty
was entered into with his son, Yakub Khan, at Gandamak, by which the
British frontier was advanced to the crests or farther sides of the
passes and a British officer was admitted to reside at Kabul. Within a
few months the British resident, Sir Louis Cavagnari, was treacherously
attacked and massacred, together with his escort, and a second war
became necessary. Yakub Khan abdicated, and was deported to India, while
Kabul was occupied in force.
Lord Ripon.
At this crisis of affairs a general election in England resulted in a
change of government. Lord Lytton resigned with the Conservative
ministry, and the marquis of Ripon was nominated as his successor in
1880. Shortly afterwards a British brigade was defeated at Maiwand by
the Herati army of Ayub Khan, a defeat promptly and completely retrieved
by the brilliant march of General Sir Frederick Roberts from Kabul to
Kandahar, and by the total rout of Ayub Khan's army on the 1st of
September 1880. Abdur Rahman Khan, the eldest male representative of the
stock of Dost Mahommed, was then recognized as amir of Kabul. Lord Ripon
was sent out to India by the Liberal ministry of 1880 for the purpose of
reversing Lord Lytton's policy in Afghanistan, and of introducing a more
sympathetic system into the administration of India. The disaster at
Maiwand, and the Russian advance east of the Caspian, prevented the
proposed withdrawal from Quetta; but Kandahar was evacuated, Abdur
Rahman was left in complete control of his country and was given an
annual subsidy of twelve lakhs of rupees in 1883. In the second purpose
of his administration Lord Ripon's well-meant efforts only succeeded in
setting Europeans and natives against each other. His term of office was
chiefly notable for the agitation against the Ilbert Bill, which
proposed to subject European offenders to trial by native magistrates.
The measure aroused a storm of indignation amongst the European
community which finally resulted in the bill being shorn of its most
objectionable features. Lord Ripon's good intentions and personal
sympathy were recognized by the natives, and on leaving Bombay he
received the greatest ovation ever accorded to an Indian viceroy.
The Panjdeh scare.
After the arrival of Lord Dufferin as governor-general the incident
known as the Panjdeh Scare brought Britain to the verge of war with
Russia. During the preceding decades Russia had gradually advanced her
power from the Caspian across the Turkoman steppes to the border of
Afghanistan, and Russian intrigue was largely responsible for the second
Afghan war. In February 1884 Russia annexed Merv. This action led to an
arrangement in August of the same year for a joint Anglo-Russian
commission to delimit the Afghan frontier. In March 1885, while the
commission was at work, Lord Dufferin was entertaining the amir Abdur
Rahman at a durbar at Rawalpindi. The durbar was interrupted by the news
that a Russian general had attacked and routed the Afghan force holding
the bridge across the river Kushk, and the incident might possibly have
resulted in war between Britain and Russia but for the slight importance
that Abdur Rahman attributed to what he termed a border scuffle.
Increase in the Army.
The incident, however, led to military measures being taken by the
government of Lord Dufferin, which had far-reaching effects on Indian
finance. The total strength of the army was raised by 10,000 British and
20,000 native troops, at an annual cost of about two millions sterling;
and the frontier post of Quetta, in the neighbourhood of Kandahar, was
connected with the Indian railway system by a line that involved very
expensive tunnelling.
Imperial Service troops.
The Panjdeh incident was likewise the cause of the establishment of
Imperial Service troops in India. At the moment when war seemed
imminent, the leading native princes made offers of pecuniary aid. These
offers were declined, but it was intimated to them at a later date that,
if they would place a small military force in each state at the disposal
of the British government, to be commanded by state officers, but
drilled, disciplined and armed under the supervision of British officers
and on British lines, the government would undertake to find the
necessary supervising officer, arms and organization. The proposal was
widely accepted, and the Imperial Service troops, as they are called,
amount at present to some 20,000 cavalry, infantry and transport, whose
efficiency is very highly thought of. They have rendered good service in
the wars on the north-west frontier, and also in China and Somaliland.
Later in the same year (1885) occurred the third Burmese war. For the
causes of the dispute with King Thebaw, and a description of the
military operations which ensued before the country was finally
pacified, see BURMA.
From 1885 onwards the attention of the Indian government was
increasingly devoted to the north-west frontier. Between the years 1885
and 1895 there were delimited at various times by joint commissions the
Russo-Afghan frontier between the Oxus and Sarakhs on the Persian
frontier, the Russo-Afghan frontier from Lake Victoria to the frontier
of China and the Afghan-Indian frontier from the Kunar river to a point
in the neighbourhood of the Nawa Kotal. To the westward, after various
disagreements and two military expeditions, the territories comprising
the Zhob, Barhan and Bori valleys, occupied by Pathan tribes, were in
1890 finally incorporated in the general system of the Trans-Indus
protectorate. About the same time in the extreme north the post of
British resident in Gilgit was re-established, and the supremacy of
Kashmir over the adjoining petty chiefships of Hunza-Nagar was enforced
(1891-1892). In 1893 the frontiers of Afghanistan and British India were
defined by a joint agreement between the two governments, known as the
Durand agreement. There followed on the part of the British authorities,
interference in Chitral, ending in an expedition in 1895 and the
ejection of the local chiefs in favour of candidates amenable to British
influence. A more formidable hostile combination, however, awaited the
government of India. By the agreement of 1893 with the amir most of the
Waziri clan and also the Afridis had been left outside the limits of the
amir's influence and transferred to the British zone. Soon after that
date the establishment by the British military authorities of posts
within the Waziri country led to apprehension on the part of the local
tribesmen. In 1895 the occupation of points within the Swat territory
for the safety of the road from India to Chitral similarly roused the
suspicion of the Swatis. The Waziris and Swatis successively rose in
arms, in June and July 1897, and their example was followed by the
Mohmands. Finally, in August the powerful Afridi tribe joined the
combination and closed the Khyber Pass, which runs through their
territory, and which was held by them, on conditions, in trust for the
government of India. This led to the military operations known as the
Tirah campaign, which proved very costly both in men and money.
The currency.
Meanwhile considerable difficulties had been experienced with the Indian
currency, which was on a purely silver basis. Before 1873 the
fluctuations in the value of silver as compared with gold had been
comparatively small, and the exchange value of the rupee was rarely less
than two shillings. But after 1873, in consequence of changes in the
monetary systems of France and Germany, and the increased production of
silver, this stability of exchange no longer continued, and the rupee
sank steadily in value, till it was worth little more than half its
face value. This great shrinkage in exchange caused considerable loss to
the Indian government in remitting to Europe, and entailed hardship upon
Anglo-Indians who received pensions or other payments in rupees, while
on the other hand it supplied an artificial stimulus to the export trade
by increasing the purchasing power of gold. This advantage, however, was
outweighed by the uncertainty as to what the exchange value of the rupee
might be at any particular date, which imported a gambling element into
commerce. Accordingly in June 1893 an act was passed closing the Indian
mints to the free coinage of silver. Six years later, in 1899, the
change was completed by an act making gold legal tender at the rate of
£1 for Rs.15, or at the rate of is. 4d. per rupee, and both the
government and the individual now know exactly what their obligations
will be.
Lord Curzon's reforms.
When Lord Curzon became viceroy in 1898, he reversed the policy on the
north-west frontier which had given rise to the Tirah campaign, withdrew
outlying garrisons in tribal country, substituted for them tribal
militia, and created the new North-West Frontier province, for the
purpose of introducing consistency of policy and firmness of control
upon that disturbed border. In addition, after making careful inquiry
through various commissions, he reformed the systems of education and
police, laid down a comprehensive scheme of irrigation, improved the
leave rules and the excessive report-writing of the civil service,
encouraged the native princes by the formation of the Imperial Cadet
Corps and introduced many other reforms. His term of office was also
notable for the coronation durbar at Delhi in January 1903, the
expedition to Lhasa in 1904, which first unveiled that forbidden city to
European gaze, and the partition of Bengal in 1905. In December 1904
Lord Curzon entered upon a second term of office, which was
unfortunately marred by a controversy with Lord Kitchener, the
commander-in-chief, as to the position of the military member of
council. Lord Curzon, finding himself at variance with the secretary of
state, resigned before the end of the first year, and was succeeded by
Lord Minto.
Lord Minto. The unrest.
The new viceroy, who might have expected a tranquil time after the
energetic reforms of his predecessor, soon found himself face to face
with the most serious troubles, euphemistically called the "unrest,"
that British rule has had to encounter in India since the Mutiny. For
many years the educated class among the natives had been claiming for
themselves a larger share in the administration, and had organized a
political party under the name of the National Congress, which held
annual meetings at Christmas in one or ether of the large cities of the
peninsula. This class also exercised a wide influence through the press,
printed both in the vernacular languages and in English, especially
among young students. There is no doubt too that the adoption of Western
civilization by the Japanese and their victorious war with Russia set in
motion a current through all the peoples of the East. The occasion
though not the cause of trouble arose from the partition of Bengal,
which was represented by Bengali agitators as an insult to their mother
country. While the first riots occurred in the Punjab and Madras, it is
only in Bengal and eastern Bengal that the unrest has been bitter and
continuous. This is the centre of the _swadeshi_ movement for the
boycott of English goods, of the most seditious speeches and writings
and of conspiracies for the assassination of officials. At first the
government attempted to quell the disaffection by means of the ordinary
law, with fair success outside Bengal; but there, owing to the secret
ramifications of the conspiracy, it has been found necessary to adopt
special measures. Recourse has been had to a regulation of the year
1818, by which persons may be imprisoned or "deported" without reason
assigned; and three acts of the legislature have been passed for dealing
more directly with the prevalent classes of crime: (1) an Explosives
Act, containing provisions similar to those in force in England; (2) a
Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, which can only be applied
specially by proclamation; and (3) a Criminal Law Amendment Act, of
which the two chief provisions are--a magisterial inquiry in private
(similar to the Scotch procedure) and a trial before three judges of the
High Court without a jury.
Reforms.
While the law was thus sternly enforced, important acts of conciliation
and measures of reform were carried out simultaneously. In 1907 two
natives, a Hindu and a Mahommedan, were appointed to the secretary of
state's council; and in 1909 another native, a Hindu barrister, was for
the first time appointed, as legal member, to the council of the
viceroy. Occasion was taken of the fiftieth anniversary of the
assumption by the crown of the government of India to address a message
(on November 2, 1908) by the king-emperor to the princes and peoples,
reviewing in stately language the later development, and containing
these memorable words:--
"From the first, the principle of representative institutions began to
be gradually introduced, and the time has come when, in the judgment
of my viceroy and governor-general and others of my counsellors, that
principle may be prudently extended. Important classes among you,
representing ideas that have been fostered and encouraged by British
rule, claim equality of citizenship, and a greater share in
legislation and government. The politic satisfaction of such a claim
will strengthen, not impair, existing authority and power.
Administration will be all the more efficient if the officers who
conduct it have greater opportunities of regular contact with those
whom it affects and with those who influence and reflect common
opinion about it."
The policy here adumbrated was (at least partly) carried into effect by
parliament in the Indian Councils Act 1909, which reconstituted all the
legislative councils by the addition of members directly elected, and
conferred upon these councils wider powers of discussion. It further
authorized the addition of two members to the executive councils at
Madras and Bombay, and the creation of an executive council in Bengal
and also (subject to conditions) in other provinces under a
lieutenant-governor. Regulations for bringing the act into operation
were issued by the governor-general in council, with the approval of the
secretary of state, in November 1909. They provided (_inter alia_) for a
non-official majority in all of the provincial councils, but not in that
of the governor-general; for an elaborate system of election of members
by organized constituencies; for nomination where direct election is not
appropriate; and for the separate representation of Mahommedans and
other special interests. They also contain provisions authorizing the
asking of supplementary questions, the moving and discussion of
resolutions on any matter of public interest and the annual
consideration of the contents of the budget. In brief, the legislative
councils were not only enlarged, but transformed into debating bodies,
with the power of criticizing the executive. The first elections took
place during December 1909, with results that showed widespread interest
and were generally accepted as satisfactory. The new council of the
governor-general met in the following month.
AUTHORITIES.--Vincent A. Smith, _The Early History of India_ (Oxford,
1904, 2nd ed., 1908); and _Asoka_ ("Rulers of India" series, Oxford,
1901); J. W. McCrindle, _Ancient India_ (1901); T. W. Rhys Davids,
_Buddhist India_ (1903); _Imperial Gazetteer of India_ (1907-1909);
Sir J. Campbell, _Gazetteer of Bombay_ (1896); Stanley Lane-Poole,
_Medieval India_ ("Story of the Nations" series, 1903); _The
Mohammedan Dynasties_ (1894) and _The Mogul Emperors_ (1892); H. C.
Fanshawe, _Delhi Past and Present_ (1902); Sir H. M. Elliot, _History
of India as told by its own Historians_ (1867). For the "unrest," its
causation and history, see the series of articles in _The Times_,
beginning July 16, 1910. (W. W. H.; J. S. Co.)
INDIAN COSTUME
Personal attire in India so far resembles a uniform that a resident can
tell from a garb alone the native place, religion and social standing of
the wearer. This is still true, though the present facility of
intercommunication has had its effect in tending to assimilate the
appearance of natives. Together with costume it is necessary to study
the methods of wearing the hair, for each race adopts a different
method.
The population of India, of which the main divisions are religious,
falls naturally into four groups, (1) Mahommedans, (2) Hindus, (3)
Sikhs, (4) Parsees. To these may be added aboriginal races such as
Bhils, Sonthals, Gonds, &c., whose costume is chiefly noticeable from
its absence.
_Mahommedan Men._--Apart from the two sects, Sunnis and Shias, whose
garb differs in some respects, there are four families of Moslems, viz.
Pathans, Moguls, Syeds and Sheiks. The first came to India with Sultan
Mahmud Ghaznavi in A.D. 1002; the second are of Tatar origin and came to
India with Baber; the Syeds claim descent from Mahomet, while Sheiks
comprise all other Mussulmans, including converted Hindus. It is now no
longer possible to distinguish these families by their turbans as was
formerly the case.
_Hair._--In the _hadis_, or traditional sayings of Mahomet other than
those to be found in the Koran, it is laid down that the head is to be
shaved and the beard to be allowed to grow naturally to "a legal"
length, i.e. 7 or 8 in. long. This is known as _fitrah_ or the custom of
prophets. The beard is frequently dyed with henna and indigo for much
the same reasons as in Europe by elderly men; this is entirely optional.
The wearing of whiskers while shaving the chin was a Mogul fashion of
the 17th and 18th centuries and is now seldom seen except among Deccani
Mahommedans. The mustachios must not grow below the line of the upper
lip, which must be clearly seen; a division or parting is made below the
nose. The lower lip is also carefully kept clear. Hair under the arms or
elsewhere on the body except the breast is always removed.
Mahommedan clothing for indoor wear consists of three pieces: (a)
Head-dress, (b) body-covering, (c) covering for the legs.
_Head-dress._--This is of two kinds: the turban and the cap. The former
is chiefly worn in northern India, the latter in Oudh and the United
Provinces. What is known in Europe as a turban (from the Persian
_sarband_, a binding for the head) is in India divided into two classes.
The first, made of a single piece of cloth 20 to 30 in. wide and from 6
to 9 yds. long, is bound round the head from right to left or from left
to right indifferently and quite simply, so as to form narrow angles
over the forehead and at the back. This form is called _amamah_
(Arabic), _dastar_ (Persian), _shimla_ or _shamla_, _safa_, _lungi_,
_sela_, _rumal_, or _dopatta_. The terms _amamah_ and _dastar_ are used
chiefly with reference to the turbans of priests and _ulema_, that is
learned and religious persons. They are usually white; formerly Syeds
wore them of green colour. They are never of bright hue. The _lungi_ is
made of cloth of a special kind manufactured mostly in Ludhiana. It is
generally blue and has an ornamented border. In the case of Pathans and
sometimes of Punjabi Moslems it is bound round a tall red conical cap
called a _kullah_ (Plate I. fig. 1). The ends are frequently allowed to
hang down over the shoulders, and are called _shimla_ or _shamla_, terms
which also apply to the whole head-dress. The names _safa_, _sela_,
_rumal_ and _dopatta_ are sometimes given to this form of turban. The
_sela_ is gaudier and more ornamental generally; it is worn by the
nobles and wealthier classes.
The second form of the turban is known as the _pagri_.[12] This
head-dress is of Hindu origin but is much worn by Mahommedans. It is a
single piece of cloth 6 to 8 in. wide, and of any length from 10 to 50
yds. The methods of binding the _pagri_ are innumerable, each method
having a distinctive name as _arabi_ (Arab fashion); _mansabi_ (official
fashion, much used in the Deccan); _mushakhi_ (sheik fashion);
_chakridar_ (worn by hadjis, that is those who have made the pilgrimage
to Mecca); _khirki-dar_ (a fashion of piling the cloth high, adopted by
retainers of great men); _latudar_ (top-shaped, worn by _kayasths_ or
writers); _joridar_ (the cloth twisted into rope shape) (Plate I. fig.
6); _siparali_ (shield-shaped, worn by the Shia sect); _murassa_, or
_nastalikh_ (ornately bound), _latpati_ (carelessly bound) (Plate I.
fig. 4). Many other fashions which it would be difficult to describe can
best be learned by studying pictures with the help of a competent
teacher. The _chira_ is a pagri of checked cloth. The _mandil_ is of
gold or highly ornamented cloth; it is worn by nobles and persons of
distinction.
The cap or _topi_ is not bound round the head, but is placed upon it.
It is made of cut and sewn cloth. Some varieties are _dopallari_, a
skull-cap; _kishtinuma_, or boat-shaped cap; _goltopi_, a round cap of
the kind known in England as "pork-pie"; _bezwi_, or egg-shaped cap;
_sigoshia_, or three-cornered cap; _chaugoshia_, or four-cornered cap;
_tajdar_, or crown-shaped cap; &c. Many other caps are named after the
locality of manufacture or some peculiarity of make, e.g.
_Kashmire-kitopi_; _jhalardar_, fringed cap, &c.
A form of cap much worn in Bengal and western India is known as _Irani
kullah_, or Persian cap. It is made of goatskin and is shaped like a
_tarbush_ but has no tassel. The cap worn in cold weather is called
_top_, _topa_, or _kantop_ (ear-cover) (Plate I. fig. 2); these are
sometimes padded with cotton. Caps are much worn by Mussulmans of Delhi,
Agra, Lucknow and other cities of the United provinces.
The _tarbush_ or _turki-topi_ was introduced into India by Sir Sayyid
Ahmad (Plate I. fig. 3). It must not be confused with the Moorish "fez,"
which is skull-shaped. The _tarbush_ is of Greek origin and was adopted
by Sultan Mahmud of Turkey in the early part of the 19th century. To
remove the head-dress of whatever kind is, in the East, an act of
discourtesy; to strike it off is a deep insult.
_Clothing._--The following rules from the _hadith_ or traditional
sayings of the prophet are noteworthy:--"Wear white garments, for verily
they are full of cleanliness, and pleasant to the eye." "It is lawful
for the woman of my people to clothe herself in silken garments, and to
wear ornaments of gold; but it is forbidden to man: any man who shall
wear silken garments in this world, shall not wear them in the next."
"God will not be merciful to him who through vanity wears long trousers"
(i.e. reaching below the ankle). The foregoing rules are now only
observed by the ultra-orthodox, such as the Wahabi sect and by ulemas,
or learned elderly men. The Mogul court of Delhi, especially during the
reign of Mahommed Shah, nicknamed _Rangila_ or the "dandy," greatly
influenced change in these matters. Coloured clothing, gold ornaments
and silken raiment began to be worn commonly by Mussulman men in his
reign.
For the upper part of the body the principal article of clothing is the
_kurta_. The Persian name for this is _pairahan_ and the Arabic _kamis_,
whence "chemise." This _kurta_ is the equivalent for the shirt of
Europe. It is usually of white cotton, and has the opening or _gala_ in
front, at the back, or on either side indifferently. It was formerly
fastened with strings, but now with the _ghundi_ (the old form of
button) and _tukmah_ or loop. In southern India, Gujarat and in the
United Provinces the _kurta_ is much the same as to length and fit as
the English shirt; as the traveller goes northward from Delhi to the
Afghan border he sees the _kurta_ becoming longer and looser till he
finds the Pathan wearing it almost to his ankles, with very full wide
sleeves. The sleeves are everywhere long and are sometimes fastened with
one or two buttons at the wrist.
Mussulmans always wear some form of trousers. They are known as _izar_
(Arabic) or _pa'ejáma_[13] (Persian). This article of clothing is
sometimes loose, sometimes tight all the way, sometimes loose as far as
the knee and tight below like Jodhpur riding breeches. They are fastened
round the waist with a scarf or string called _kamarband_ (waistband) or
_izarband_, and are usually of white cotton. The varieties of cut are
sharai or canonical, orthodox, which reach to the ankles and fit as
close to the leg as European trousers; _rumi_ or _ghararedar_, which
reach to the ankles but are much wider than European trousers (this
pattern is much worn by the Shias); and _tang_ or _chust_, reaching to
the ankles, from which to the knee they fit quite close. When this last
kind is "rucked" at the ankle it is called _churidar_ (Plate I. fig. 4).
They are sometimes buttoned at the ankle, especially in the Meerut
district. The _shalwar_ pattern, very large round the waist and
hanging in folds, is worn by Pathans, Baluchis, Sindis, Multanis, &c.
[Illustration: PLATE I.
FIG. 1.--Punjabi Mahommedan wearing _lungi_ bound round a red or gold
_kullah_.
FIG. 2.--Mahommedan Saint, _pir_, wearing the _kantop_, ear-cap.
FIG. 3.--Student of the Aligarh College wearing the _tarbush_.
FIG. 4.--Punjabi Mahommedan wearing _pagri_, with _shimla_, _achkan
izar_ or _paejamas_.
FIG. 5.--Bombay or Gujarati Bora wearing white and gold turban with
red top.
FIG. 6.--Mahommedan Jat cultivators. Wife:--with _izar_, _kurta_, and
_orhni_ or _chadar_; husband:--with _majba_, _chadar_, and _joridar
pagri_.
FIG. 7.--The Parsi _khoka_, a tall hat of glazed chintz.
FIG. 8.--Parsi woman wearing Parsi _sari_ and _mathabana_ or white
hair cover.
FIG. 9.--Parsi schoolgirl.
FIG. 10.--Parsi pith hat with felt brim.
_From Pen and Ink Drawings by J. Lockwook Kipling, C.I.E._]
[Illustration: PLATE II.
FIG. 1.--Deccan Brahman wearing _pagri_, _dhoti_ or _pitamber_, _anga_
and _dopatta_.
FIG. 2.--Brahman wearing _dhoti_ and _janeo_ or sacred thread. This is
the dining and sacrificial dress of most Hindus.
FIG. 3.--Rajput wearing _chapkan_, which is worn both by Mussulmans
and Hindus, buttoning on different sides.
FIG. 4.--Hindu woman showing method of wearing the _sari_.
FIG. 5.--Bengali _Babu_ wearing the most popular form of the
embroidered cap.
FIG. 6.--Sikh devotee, _Akali_ or _Nihung_, vowed to the wearing of
blue and steel, &c.
_From Pen and Ink Drawings by J. Lockwood Kipling, C.I.E._]
The new fashion in vogue amongst the younger generation of Mussulman is
called the _ikbarah_ or _patalunnuma_, which is like the European
trousers. They are usually made of calico; they have no buttons but are
fastened with string (kamarband). Bathing drawers are called _ghutannah_
and reach to the knee. The tight drawers worn by wrestlers are called
_janghiah_.
Garments for outdoor wear are the _anga_, or _angarkha_, the _chapkan_,
the _achkan_ or _sherwani_; the _anga_, a coat with full sleeves, is
made of any material, white or coloured. It is slit at the sides, has
perpendicularly cut side-pockets, and is fastened with strings just
below the breast. It is opened on the right or left side according to
local custom. The _anga_ is now considered old-fashioned, and is chiefly
worn by elderly men or religious persons. It is still not uncommon in
Delhi, Agra, Lucknow and at native courts, but is being superseded by
the _achkan_ (Plate I. fig. 4), which is buttoned straight down the
front. Both _anga_ and _achkan_ reach to a little below the knee, as
also does the _chapkan_, a relic of Mogul court dress, best known as the
shield-like and highly adorned coat worn by government _chaprasis_
(Plate II. fig. 3). Over the _anga_ is sometimes worn an overcoat called
a _choga_; this is made of any material, thick or thin, plain or
ornamented; it has one or two fastenings only, loops below the breast
whence it hangs loosely to below the knees. The _choga_ is sometimes
known by its Arabic names _aba_ or _kaba_, terms applied to it when worn
by priests or ulemas. In cold weather Pathans and other border residents
wear _posteens_, sleeved coats made of sheepskin with the woolly side
in. In India farther south in cold weather an overcoat called _dagla_ is
worn; this is an _anga_ padded with cotton wool. A padded _choga_ is
called _labada_; when very heavily padded _farghul_. Whereas the
European wears his waistcoat _under_ his coat, the Indian wears his
_over_ his _anga_ or _chapkan_ (not over the _achkan_). A sleeveless
waistcoat generally made of silk is called a _sadari_; when it has half
sleeves it is called _nimastin_; the full-sleeved waistcoat worn in
winter padded with cotton is called _mirzai_. For ceremonial purposes a
coat called _jama_ is worn. This fits closely as to the upper part of
the body, but flows loosely below the waist. It is generally white, and
is fastened in front by strings.
In Gujarat and other parts of western India are to be found classes of
Moslems who differ somewhat from those met with elsewhere, such as
Memans, Boras and Khojas. The first are Sunnis: the two last Shias.
Memans wear (1) a gold embroidered skull-cap, (2) a long _kamis_
fastened at the neck with 3 or 4 buttons on a gold chain, (3)
_sadariya_, i.e. a tight waistcoat without sleeves, fastened in front
with small silk buttons and loops, (4) an over-waistcoat called
_shaya-sadriya_ instead of the _anga_, with sleeves, and slits at the
sides (probably of Arab origin). When he does not wear a skull-cap his
_amamah_ is made after the arched Arab form, or is a Kashmir scarf wound
round a skull-cap made of Java straw. The Bora adopts one of four forms
of pagri; the _Ujjain_, a small neatly bound one; the _Ahmadabad_, a
loose high one; the _Surat_, fuller and higher than the _Ujjain_ pattern
(Plate I. fig. 5); or the _Kathiawada_, a conical turban with a gold
stripe in the middle of the cone. The Bora wears the _anga_, otherwise
he resembles the Meman. The Khoja wears a _pagri_ smaller than the
Meman's, called a _Moghalai phenta_; this leaves a portion of the head
bare at the back. The material is always of _kashida_, a kind of
embroidered cloth. Amongst Mahommedans only Pathans wear ear-rings.
MAHOMMEDAN WOMEN. _Head-dress._--The _rupatta_ (also called _dopatta_),
or veil, is of various colours and materials. Its length is about 3
yds., its width about 1½. It is worn over the head and thrown over the
left shoulder. It is considered essential to modesty to cover the head.
This head-dress is also known as _orhna_, _orhni_, _pochan_, _pochni_
(Baluchistan and western India) _chundri_, _reo_ (Sind), _sipatta_,
_takrai_ or _chadar_ (Pathan). Among the poorer classes it is called
_pacholi_. Farther south in India when of thicker material it is called
_chadar_ or _chaddar_. It is called _pachedi_, _potra_ or _malaya_ by
Meman, Bora and Khoja women. As a rule married women wear brighter
colours than unmarried ones. In Kashmir a small round cap, _goltopi_,
is worn. The _kassawa_ is a handkerchief bound over the head and tied at
the back, and is worn by Mahommedan women indoors to keep the hair tidy;
Mahommedan women plait their hair and let it hang down behind (Plate I.
fig. 6).
_Clothing._--A short jacket fastened at the back and with short sleeves
is worn. It may be of any material. In Sind, Gujarat and other parts of
western India it is called a _choli_. It is also very generally known as
_angiya_. Other common names are _mahram_ and _sinaband_ (breast-cover).
The _kurta_ is a sort of sleeveless shirt, open in front and reaching to
the waist. It may be of any material. When this is worn with the
_angiya_ it is worn over it. This combination of dress is worn only by
young married women. In Kashmir and northern India generally the
_angiya_ is not worn, and the _kurta_ is worn instead. This is like the
_kamis_ of the man, already described; it has full sleeves, is open at
the front, which is embroidered, and reaches to the knee or lower. Among
Pathans there are two kinds of _kurta_ (_kamis_ or _khat_); one worn by
married women called _gìradana khat_ is dark red or blue, embroidered
with silk in front; the _jalana khat_ worn by unmarried women is less
conspicuous for colour and ornament. A large pocket (_jeb_) is often
sewn on in front like the Highlander's sporran.
The _Pa'ejamas_, also called _izar_, are cut like those of men, and
known by the same names. They differ only in being of silk or other fine
material and being coloured (Plate I. fig. 6). Among Pathans they are
called _partog_ or _partek_ (_pardek_), and those of unmarried girls are
of white, while married women wear them of _susi_, a kind of coloured
silk or cotton. As a general rule the wearing of _paijamas_ is the chief
distinction between Mussulman and Hindu women. In the Shahpur and other
districts, however, where Mahommedans have followed Hindu customs,
Moslem women wear the _majla_, a cloth about 3 yds. long by 1½ wide tied
tightly round the waist so as to fall in folds over the legs. Even
Mahommedan men sometimes wear the _majla_ in these districts. This form
of dress is known among Moslems as _tahband_ [lower binding] (Plate I.
fig. 6). In Rajputana, Gujarat and the southern Punjab, Mahommedan women
sometimes wear a _lhenga_ or _ghagra_ skirt without trousers; in the
Sirsa district and parts of Gujarat the ghagra is worn over the
trousers. The _sadari_ or waistcoat is worn by women as well as men. The
_tillak_ or _peshwaz_ is a dress or robe the skirt and bodice of which
are made in one piece, usually of red or other coloured material; it is
common in Gujarat, Rajputana and the Sirsa district, and is the style
usually adopted by nautch girls when dancing. Meman women wear also the
_aba_, or overcoat, which differs from that worn by men in that it has
loose half sleeves, and fastens with two buttons at each side of the
neck over the shoulders; it is embroidered on the breast, and adorned
with gold lace on the skirts.
In Delhi, Lucknow, Agra and other towns in the Punjab and the United
Provinces a special wedding dress is worn by the bride, called
_rit-kajora_, the "dress of custom." It is worn on the wedding night
only; and it is a rule that no scissors are employed in making it. The
trouser string of this dress is not the usual _kamarband_, but is made
of untwisted cotton thread called _kalawa_. Out of doors Mahommedan
women wear the _burka_, a long loose white garment entirely covering the
head and body. It has two holes for the eyes. Mahommedan women pencil
the eyes with _kohl_ or _surma_, use _missi_ for the teeth and colour
the palms and nails of the hand with henna. A nose-ring is a sign of
marriage.
HINDUS.--Caste does not influence dress amongst Hindus as much as might
be expected. The garment distinctive of the Hindus of all castes, men
and women, all over India, is the _dhoti_ or loin cloth. It is a very
ancient dress, and their gods are represented as clothed in it in old
sculptures.
The general term used for clothing is _kapra_, _lata_ or _luga_. Under
Mahommedan influence Hindu clothing developed into "suits," consisting
of five pieces for men, hence called _pancho tuk kapra_--(1) head-dress,
(2) _dhoti_, (3) coat, (4) _chaddar_ or sheet, (5) bathing cloth; and
three for women, hence called _tin tuk_--(1) _dhoti_, (2) jacket, (3)
shawl.
_Men._--The Hindu (except the Rajput) shaves his head, leaving only a
top-knot on the point of the skull. He shaves the face (except the
eye-brows) and his body. The Rajput wears a full beard and whiskers,
usually parted in the middle. He sometimes draws the beard and whiskers
to the side of the head, and to keep it tidy wraps round it a cloth
called _dhata_ or _galmocha_.
_Head-dress._--Hindus wear sometimes turbans and sometimes caps. When
the turban is worn it is always of the _pagri_ form, never the _amamah_.
Hindus wind the _pagri_ in various ways as described for Mussulmans, but
the angles are formed over the ears and not from front to back.
Mahrattas wear flat red pagris, with a small conical peak variously
shaped and placed. The _pagri_ is known in different parts of India as
_pag_, _phenta_, _phag_, _phagdi_ and many other names. In Bengal a sort
of turban is worn which can be taken off like a hat. When Hindus wear
caps or _topis_ they resemble those worn by Mahommedans, but they never
wear the _fez_, _tarbush_ or _irani topi_. In Gaya a peculiar cap made
of _tal_ leaves is worn in rainy weather, called _ghunga_. Bengalis,
whether Brahmans or of other castes, frequently go bareheaded.
_Body Clothing._--The _dhoti_ is a simple piece of cloth (cotton),
generally white. It is wound round the loins, the end passed between the
legs from front to back and tucked in at the waist behind (Plate II.
fig. 2). The small form of _dhoti_ worn by men of the lower class is
called _langoti_. It does not fall below mid-thigh. A Brahman's _dhoti_,
as also that of some other castes, reaches to a little below the knee; a
Rajput's to his ankles. The _dhoti_ is known under many names, _dhutia_,
_pitambar_, _lungi_, &c. In some parts of India half the dhoti only is
wound round the loins, the other half being thrown over the left
shoulder. Some upper classes of Hindus wear for coat the _kurta_; most
wear the _angharka_ (Plate II. fig. 1), a short _anga_ reaching to the
waist. It is also known as _kamri_, _baktari_, _badan_ or _bandi_.
Hindus wear the _angharkha_ or _anga_ as Mahommedans do, but whereas the
Mahommedan has the opening on the left the Hindu wears it on the right.
When the _kurta_ is worn it is worn under the _anga_. The _chaddar_
(_chadar_ or _dopatta_) is of various kinds. It is a piece of cotton
cloth 3 yds. long by 1 yd. wide. It is worn across the shoulders, or
wrapped round the body, but when bathing, round the loins. Hindus, both
men and women, wear ear-rings.
_The Brakminical thread_ (_janeo_) (Plate II. fig. 2) is a cord made of
twisted cotton prepared with many ceremonies. It is worn over the left
shoulder and hangs down to the right hip. It is of three strands till
the wearer is married, when it becomes six or nine. It is 96
handbreadths in length, and is knotted. Rajputs also wear this thread,
similar in make and length, but the knots are different.
Caste and sect marks also distinguish Hindus from each other.
_Women._--The hair is sometimes worn plaited (_chotì_), usually an odd
number of thin plaits made into one large one, falling down the back and
fastened at the end with ribbons. Another style is wearing it in a knot
after the ancient Grecian fashion; it is always worn smooth in front and
parted in the middle. Over the head is worn the _orhna_ or veil. The end
is thrown over the left shoulder in such a manner as to conceal the
breast. On the upper part of the body the _kurta_ is sometimes worn. A
bodice called _angiya_ is worn. This covers the breast and shoulder; it
has half sleeves, is very short, and is fastened at the back with
strings.
The skirt is called _lhenga_ or _ghagra_. It is worn mostly in Rajputana
hanging in full flounces to the knee or a little below. In Bengal,
Madras and Bombay Presidencies women do not wear a skirt, only a _choli_
and _sari_. This last is a long piece of cotton or silk cloth. Half is
draped round the waist and hangs to the feet in folds; the remainder is
passed over the head and thrown over the left shoulder (Plate II. fig.
4).
SIKH.--The Sikh does not shave or cut his hair. The beard is parted in
the middle and carried up each side of the face to the top of the head.
A piece of cloth called _dhata_ or _galmocha_ is wound round the chin
and head so as to keep the hair clean and tidy. The hair of the head is
tied into a knot (_kes_) at the top of the head or at the back, a
distinguishing mark of the Sikh. His religion requires the Sikh to
carry five articles--_kes_, the knot of hair on the head; the _kanga_, a
comb; the _kard_, a knife; the _kach_, a pair of short trousers peculiar
to the Sikh; and the _khara_, an iron bangle on the wrist. It is _de
rigueur_ that he should carry some piece of iron on his person. His
head-dress he calls a _pag_; it is a turban of _amamah_ shape but
enormously large. The Sikh nobility and gentry wear two turbans, either
both of pagri form or one of pagri and one of _amamah_ form. Each is of
a different colour.
The Sikh calls his _kurta jhagga_; it is very large and loose, bound
with a scarf round the waist. The _kach_ is a sort of knickerbockers
reaching to just below the knee, which they encircle tightly. Over all
the Sikh wears the _choga_. In outlying villages he wears instead of the
_kurta_ a _chadar_ or cloth, which he calls _khes_, on the upper part of
his body. Some village Sikhs wear a _tahband_ or waistcloth instead of
the _kach_. Sikhs are fond of jewelry and wear ear-rings. The dress of
Sikh women does not differ greatly from that of Hindu women; but in the
Sirsa district and some other parts she wears the Mahommedan _sutan_ or
trousers, under the _lhenga_ or skirt. There is a small sect of Sikh
known as _Akali_ or _Nihang_. Their dress is entirely of dark blue
colour, the turban being also blue, high and pointed; on it are fastened
three steel quoits. The quoit was the ancient weapon of the Sikh, who
calls it _chakar_. Certain steel blades are stuck through the body of
the turban. The Akalis also wear large flat iron rings round the neck
and arms (Plate II. fig. 6).
PARSIS.--When the Parsis were first admitted into India, certain
conditions were imposed upon them by the Hindus; among others they were
not to eat beef, and they were to follow the Hindu custom of wearing a
top-knot of hair. Old-fashioned Parsis in country districts still follow
these customs. To uncover the head is looked upon as a sin; hence Parsis
of both sexes always wear some head covering whether indoors or out. In
the house the man wears a skull cap; out of doors the older Parsis wear
the _khoka_, a tall hat, higher in front than at the back, made of a
stiff shiny material, with a diaper pattern (Plate I. fig. 7). The
younger generation adopted a round pith hat with a rolled edge of felt,
but, under the influence of the _swadeshi_ movement, they have generally
reverted to the older form (Plate I. fig. 10). Next to the skin the
Parsi wears a _sadra_ or sacred shirt, with a girdle called _kasti_.
Over the _sadra_ a white cotton coat is worn, reaching to a little below
the waist. The Parsi wears loose cotton trousers like a Mussulman. In
country districts he wears a _jama_, and over the _jama_ a _pechodi_ or
shoulder cloth. The young Parsi in Bombay has adopted European dress to
a great extent, except as to head-gear. The Parsi woman dresses her hair
in the old Greek fashion with a knot behind. She also wears a _sadra_ or
sacred shirt. Country Parsis in villages wear a tight-fitting sleeveless
bodice, and trousers of coloured cloth. Over all she winds a silken
_sari_ or sheet round the body; it is then passed between the legs and
the end thrown over the right shoulder. Out of doors she covers her head
and right temple (Plate I. fig. 8). In towns the _sari_ is not passed
between the legs, but hangs in loose folds so as to hide the trousers.
The upper classes wear a sleeved _polka_ jacket instead of the bodice.
Parsi children up to the age of seven wear cotton frocks called
_jabhlan_. They wear long white trousers of early Victorian cut, with
frills at the bottom. They wear a round cap like a smoking-cap. The
little girls wear their hair flowing loose (Plate I. fig. 9).
SHOES.--There is no distinction between the shoes worn by Hindus,
Moslems, Sikhs or Parsis, but Hindus will not wear them when made of
cow's leather. Shoes are called _juta_, _juti_ or _jute_ by Mahommedans,
and _jore_ or _zore_ by Hindus. Shoes are usually distinguished by the
name of the material, as _nari ka juta_, leather shoes, _banati juta_,
felt shoes, and so on.
There are innumerable styles of cut of shoe, three being the commonest:
(1) _Salimshahi_, these are shaped like English slippers, but are
pointed at the toe, terminating in a thin wisp turned back and fastened
to the instep. They are mostly made of thin red leather, plain in the
case of poorer people and richly embroidered in the case of rich
people. This cut of shoe is most in vogue amongst Moslems. (2) _Gol
panje ki juti_, like English slippers, but rounded at the toes. (3)
_Ghelta_ or _nagphani_ (snake's head) _juta_, the toe is turned up,
while the back part is folded inwards and trodden under the heel. Ladies
usually wear shoes of this fashion, known as _phiri juti_. Women's shoes
differ only in size and in being made of finer material, and in being
embroidered. Hindu women seldom wear shoes. On the northern frontier the
pattern known as the _kafshi_ is worn; this is a slipper having neither
sides nor back; the sole towards the heel is narrow and raised by a
small iron-shod heel. In the hills shoes resembling sandals, called
_chaplis_, made of wood, straw or grass are worn. The soles are very
thick, and are secured with straps; there is generally a loop for the
big toe. They are known as _phulkarru_ in Kashmir, and _pula_ in Kulu
and Chamba.
Shoes are invariably removed on entering mosques or other holy places.
It is also customary to remove them when entering a house. Orientals sit
on the floor in preference to chairs; hence it is thought very necessary
by them that the carpet should be kept clean, which could not be done
were persons to keep their shoes on. While it would be considered a
breach of good manners to enter a room with the shoes on, an exception
has been made in favour of those natives who have adopted European boots
or shoes. The babus of Bengal have taken to English-made shoes of patent
leather worn over white socks or stockings.
AUTHORITIES.--The Indian section of the Victoria and Albert Museum
(London) includes an exhibition of oriental dress; and the library of
the India Office many prints and photographs. The following books may
be consulted: _Coloured Drawings illustrating the Manners and Customs
of Natives of India_ (originally prepared by order of the marquess
Wellesley, Governor-General; _vide_ Council minute dated 16th August,
1866) (1 vol.); J. Forbes Watson and J. W. Kaye, _The People of
India_; F. Baltazar Solvyns, _Les Hindous_ (4 vols. illustrated,
Paris, 1808); India Office Library, 3 small portfolios of pictures of
Katch and Bombay men and women; _Costume of Bala Ghat_ (Carnatic),
S.E. India (large water-colours, India Office Library); Illustrations
of various trades in Kashmir, by Indian artists (India Office
Library); R. H. Thalbhoy, _Portrait Gallery of Western India_ (1886)
(chiefly portraits of Parsi notables); Edward Tuite Dalton, C.S.I.,
_Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_ (1 vol., 1872); Talboys Wheeler,
_History of the Imperial Assembly at Delhi, 1st January 1877_; _Queen
Victoria's Jubilee, 6th February 1887_ (in Urdu, illustrated); T. H.
Hendley, C.I.E., V.D., _Rulers of India and Chiefs of Rajputana_
(London, 1897)--the last three are useful for the study of ceremonial
dress; G. A. Grierson, _Bihar Peasant Life_ (Calcutta, 1885; this is a
most valuable work of learning and research; in division 2,
subdivision 3, chapter 1, on clothes, will be found names and
descriptions of every article of clothing used in south, central and
eastern India); H. B. Baden-Powell, _Handbook of Manufactures and Arts
of the Punjab_ (Lahore, 1872); W. W. Hunter, _Statistical Account of
Bengal_ (1875); Hughes' _Dictionary of Islam_ (London, 1895); Sir
Denzil Ibbetson, _Outlines of Punjab Ethnography_; E. Thurston,
_Castes and Tribes of Southern India_. It is to be hoped that steps
will shortly be taken to arrange articles of costume now displayed at
the Indian Section, Victoria and Albert Museum, in some systematic
order so as to assist students in arriving at a scientific knowledge
of the subject. (C. G.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The spelling throughout all the articles dealing with India is
that adopted by the government of India, modified in special
instances with deference to long-established usage.
[2] The historicity of this convention, not now usually admitted by
scholars, is maintained by Bishop Copleston of Calcutta in his
_Buddhism, Primitive and Present_ (1908).
[3] In 1909 the excavation of a ruined stupa near Peshawar disclosed
a casket, with an inscription of Kanishka, and containing fragments
of bones believed to be those of Buddha himself.
[4] In 1909 an inscription in Brahmi characters was discovered near
Bhilsa in Central India recording the name of a Greek, Heliodorus. He
describes himself as a worshipper of Bhagavata (= Vishnu), and states
that he had come from Taxila in the name of the great king
Antialcidas, who is known from his coins to have lived c. 170 B.C.
[5] This is the conventional European form of the name. For other
forms see YUE-CHI.
[6] V. A. Smith, _Early Hist. of India_, p. 238.
[7] Smith, _op. cit._ pp. 239, &c., says that he probably succeeded
Kadphises II. about A.D. 120. Dr Fleet dates the beginning of
Kanishka's reign 58 B.C. (see INSCRIPTIONS: _Indian_). Mr Vincent
Smith (_Imp. Gaz. of India, The Indian Empire_, ed. 1908, vol. ii. p.
289, note) dissents from this view, which is also held by Dr Otto
Franke of Berlin, stating that Dr Stein's discoveries in Chinese
Turkestan "strongly confirm the view" held by himself.
[8] See V. A. Smith, _op. cit._ pp. 297, &c.
[9] His era, however, is dated from 606.
[10] So V. A. Smith, _op. cit._ p. 314, who on this point differs
from Sylvain Levi and Ettinghausen.
[11] For Harsha's reign see Smith, _op. cit._ xiii. 311-331.
[12] This has been Englished by Anglo-Indians into "puggaree" or
"pugree" and applied to a scarf of white cotton or silk wound round a
hat or helmet as a protection against the sun.
[13] Anglicized as "pyjamas" (in America "pajamas"), the term is used
of a form of night-wear for men which has now generally superseded
the night-shirt. This consists of a loose coat and trousers of silk,
wool or other material; the trousers are fastened by a cord round the
waist.
INDIA, FRENCH, a general name for the French possessions in India--on
the Coromandel coast, Pondicherry, Karikal and Yanaon; on the Malabar
coast, Mahé; and in Bengal, Chandernagore. In addition there are a few
"lodges" elsewhere, but they are merely nominal remnants of French
factories. The total area amounts to 203 sq. m., of which 113 sq. m.
belong to the territory of Pondicherry. In 1901 the total population
amounted to 273,185. By decree of the 25th of January 1879 French India
was provided with an elective general council and elective local
councils. The results of this measure have not been very satisfactory,
and the qualifications for and the classes of the franchise have been
modified. The governor resides at Pondicherry, and is assisted by a
council. There are two tribunals of first instance (at Pondicherry and
Karikal), one court of appeal (at Pondicherry) and five justices of the
peace. The agricultural produce consists of rice, earth-nuts, tobacco,
betel nuts and vegetables.
_History._--The first French expedition to India is believed to have
taken place in the reign of Francis I., when two ships were fitted out
by some merchants of Rouen to trade in eastern seas; they sailed from
Havre in that year and were never afterwards heard of. In 1604 a company
was granted letters patent by Henry IV., but the project failed. Fresh
letters patent were issued in 1615, and two ships went to India, only
one returning. _La Compagnie des Indes_ was formed under the auspices of
Richelieu (1642) and reconstructed under Colbert (1664), sending an
expedition to Madagascar. In 1667 the French India Company sent out
another expedition, which reached Surat in 1668, where the first French
factory in India was established. In 1672 Saint Thomé was taken, but the
French were driven out by the Dutch and retired to Pondicherry (1674).
In 1741 Dupleix became governor of Pondicherry and in 1744 war broke out
between France and England; for the remaining history of the French in
India see INDIA.
See Haurigot, _French India_ (Paris, 1887); Henrique, _Les Colonies
françaises_ (Paris, 1889); Lee, _French Colonies_ (Foreign Office
Report, 1900); _L'Année coloniale_ (Paris, 1900); and F. C. Danvers,
_Records of the India Office_ (1887).
INDIANA, a north-central state of the United States of America, the
second state to be erected from the old North-West Territory; popularly
known as the "Hoosier State." It is located between latitudes 37° 47´
and 41° 50´ N. and longitudes 84° 49´ and 88° 2´ W. It is bounded on the
N. by Michigan and Lake Michigan, on the E. by Ohio, on the S. by
Kentucky from which it is separated by the Ohio river, and on the W. by
Illinois. Its total area is 36,350 sq. m., of which 440 sq. m. are water
surface.
_Physiography._--Topographically, Indiana is similar to Ohio and
Illinois, the greater part of its surface being undulating prairie
land, with a range of sand-hills in the N. and a chain of picturesque
and rocky hills, known as "Knobs," some of which rise to a height of
500 ft., in the southern counties along the Ohio river. This southern
border of hills is the edge of the "Cumberland Plateau" physiographic
province. In the northern portion of the state there are a number of
lakes, of glacial origin, of which the largest are English Lake in
Stark county, James Lake and Crooked Lake in Steuben county, Turkey
Lake and Tippecanoe Lake in Kosciusko county and Lake Maxinkuckee in
Marshall county. In the limestone region of the south there are
numerous caves, the most notable being Wyandotte Cave in Crawford
county, next to Mammoth Cave the largest in the United States. In the
southern and south-central part of the state, particularly in Orange
county, there are many mineral springs, of which the best known are
those at French Lick and West Baden. The larger streams flow in a
general south-westerly direction, and the greater part of the state is
drained into the Ohio through the Wabash river and its tributaries.
The Wabash, which has a total length of more than 500 m., has its
headwaters in the western part of Ohio, and flows in a north-west,
south-west, and south direction across the state, emptying into the
Ohio river and forming for a considerable distance the boundary
between Indiana and Illinois. It is navigable for river steamboats at
high water for about 350 m. of its course. Its principal tributaries
are the Salamanie, Mississinewa, Wild Cat, Tippecanoe and White
rivers. Of these the White river is by far the most important, being
second only to the Wabash itself in extent of territory drained. It is
formed by the confluence of its East and West Forks, almost 50 m.
above its entrance into the Wabash, which it joins about 100 m. above
the Ohio. Other portions of the state are drained by the Kankakee, a
tributary of the Illinois, the St Joseph and its principal branch, the
Elkhart, which flow north through the south-west corner of Michigan
and empty into Lake Michigan; the St Mary's and another St Joseph,
whose confluence forms the Maumee, which empties into Lake Erie; and
the White Water, which drains a considerable portion of the south-west
part of the state into the Ohio.
_Flora and Fauna._--The flora of the state is varied, between 1400 and
1500 species of flowering plants being found. Among its native fruits
are the persimmon, the paw-paw, the goose plum and the fox grape.
Cultivated fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes and
berries, are raised in large quantities for the market. The economic
value of the forests was originally great, but there has been reckless
cutting, and the timber-bearing forests are rapidly disappearing. As
late as 1880 Indiana was an important timber-producing state, but in
1900 less than 30% of the total acreage of the state--only about
10,800 sq. m.--was woodland, and on very little of this land were
there forests of commercial importance. There are about 110 species of
trees in the state, the commonest being the oak. The bald cypress, a
southern tree, seems to be an anomalous growth. Blue grass is valuable
for grazing and hay-making. The principal crops include Indian corn,
wheat, oats, potatoes, buckwheat, rye and clover.
The fauna originally included buffalo, elk, deer, wolves, bear, lynx,
beaver, otter, porcupine and puma, but civilization has driven them
all out entirely. Rattlesnakes and copperheads were formerly common in
the south. The game birds include quail (Bob White), ruffed grouse
and a few pinnated grouse (once very plentiful, then nearly
exterminated, but now apparently reappearing under strict protection),
and such water birds as the mallard duck, wood duck, blue- and
green-winged teals, Wilson's snipe, and greater and lesser yellow legs
(snipe). The song birds and insectivorous birds include the cardinal
grosbeak, scarlet and summer tanagers, meadow lark, song sparrow,
catbird, brown thrasher, wood thrush, house wren, robin, blue bird,
goldfinch, red-headed woodpecker, flicker (golden-winged woodpecker),
and several species of warblers. The game fish include the bass
(small-mouth and large-mouth), brook trout, pike, pickerel, and
muskallonge, and there are many other large and small food fishes.
_Climate._--The climate of Indiana is unusually equable. The mean
annual temperature is about 52° F., ranging from 49° F. in the north
to 54° in the south. The mean monthly temperature varies from 25° in
the months of December and January to 77°-79° in July and August. Cold
winds from the Great Lakes region frequently cause a fall in
temperature to an extreme of -25° F. in the north and north central
parts of the state. The mean annual rainfall for the entire state is
about 43 in., varying from 35 in. in the north to 46 in. in the Ohio
Valley.
The soil of the greater part of the state consists of a drift deposit
of loose calcareous loam, which extends to a considerable depth, and
which is exceedingly fertile. In the Ohio and White Water river
valleys a sandstone and limestone formation predominates. The north
and north central portions of the state, formerly rather swampy, have
become since the clearing of the forests as productive as the south
central. The most fertile part of the state is the Wabash valley; the
least fertile the sandy region, of small extent, immediately south of
Lake Michigan.
_Industry and Manufactures._--Agriculture has always been and still is
the chief industry of the state of Indiana. According to the census of
1900, 94.1% of the land area was included in farms, and of this 77.2%
was improved. The proportion of farms rented comprised 28.6% of the
whole number, four-fifths of these being rented on a share basis. The
average size of farms, which in 1850 was 136.2 acres, had decreased to
105.3 acres in 1880 and to 97.4 acres in 1900. The value of the farm
property increased from $726,781,857 in 1880 to $978,616,471 in 1900.
The farms are commonly cultivated on the three-crop rotation system.
The proximity of such good markets as Chicago, Cincinnati, St Louis
and Louisville, in addition to the local markets, and the unusual
opportunities afforded by the railways that traverse every portion of
the state, have been important factors in the rapid agricultural
advance which has enabled Indiana to keep pace with the newly
developed states farther west. Indiana was ninth in the value of its
agricultural products in 1889, and retained the same relative rank in
1899, although the value had considerably more than doubled,
increasing from $94,759,262 in 1889 to $204,450,196 in 1899. The
principal crops in which the state has maintained a high relative rank
are Indian corn, wheat and hay; the acreage devoted to each of these
increased considerably in the decade 1890-1900. In 1907, according to
the Department of Agriculture, the acreage of Indian corn was
4,690,000 acres (7th of the states), and the yield was 168,840,000
bushels (5th of the states); of wheat, 2,362,000 acres (6th of the
states) was planted, and the crop was 34,013,000 bushels (7th of the
states); and 2,328,000 acres of hay (the 8th largest acreage among the
states of the United States) produced 3,143,000 tons (the 8th largest
crop). Other important staple crops are oats, rye and potatoes, of
which the crops in 1907 were respectively 36,683,000 bushels, 961,000
bushels, and 7,308,000 bushels. There are no well-defined crop belts,
the production of the various crops being general throughout the
state, except in the case of potatoes, most of which are raised in the
sandy regions of the north. The value of the orchard products is
large, and is steadily increasing: in the decade 1890-1900 the number
of pear trees increased from 204,579 to 868,184, and between 1889 and
1899 the crop increased from 157,707 to 231,713 bushels. Of apple
trees, which surpass all other orchard trees in number, there were
more than 8,600,000 in 1900. The total value of the state's orchard
products in 1899 was $3,166,338, and the value of small fruits was
$1,113,527. The canning industry both for fruits and small vegetables
has become one of much importance since 1890.
Stock-raising is an industry of growing importance, the value of the
live stock in the state increasing from $71,068,758 in 1880 to
$93,361,422 in 1890 and $109,550,761 in 1900. Sheep-raising, however,
which is confined largely to the north and east portions of the state,
decreased slightly in importance between 1890 and 1900. The value of
the dairy products sold in 1899 (census of 1900) was $8,027,370,
nearly one-half of which was represented by butter; and the total
value of dairy products was $15,739,594.
In the value, extent and producing power of her manufacturing
industries Indiana has made remarkable advance since 1880. This
increase, which more than kept pace with that of the country as a
whole, was due largely to local causes, among which may be mentioned
the unusual shipping facilities afforded by the network of railways,
the discovery and development of natural gas, and the proximity of
coal fields, the gas and the coal together furnishing an ample supply
of cheap fuel. The number of manufacturing establishments (under the
"factory" system) within the state was 7128 in 1900, 7044 in 1905;
their invested capital was $219,321,080 in 1900 and $312,071,234 in
1905, an increase of 42.3%; and the value of their total product was
$337,071,630 in 1900 and $393,954,405 in 1905, an increase of 16.9%.
The most important manufactured products in 1905 were flour and grist
mill products, valued at $36,473,543; in 1900, when they were second
in importance to slaughter-house products and packed meats, they were
valued at $29,037,843. Next in importance in 1905 was the slaughtering
and meat-packing industry, of which the total product was valued at
$29,352,593; in 1900 it was valued at $43,862,273. Other important
manufactured products were: those of machine shops and foundries, the
value of which increased from $17,228,096 in 1900 to $23,108,516 in
1905, or 34.1%; distilled liquors, the value of which had increased
from $16,961,058 in 1900 to $20,520,261 in 1905, an increase of 21%;
iron and steel, valued at $19,338,481 in 1900 and at $16,920,326 in
1905; carriages and wagons, valued at $12,661,217 in 1900 and at
$15,228,337 in 1905; lumber and timber products, valued at $19,979,971
in 1900 and at $14,559,662 in 1905; and glass, valued at $14,757,883
in 1900 and at $14,706,929 in 1905--this being 3.7% of the product
value of all manufactures in the state in 1905, and 18.5% of the value
of glass produced in the United States in that year. The growth in the
preceding decade of the iron and steel industry, the products of which
increased in value from $4,742,760 in 1890 to $19,338,481 in 1900
(307.7%), and of the manufacture of glass, the value of which
increased from $2,995,409 in 1890 to $14,757,883 in 1900 (392.7%), is
directly attributable to the development of natural gas as fuel; the
decrease in the value of the products of these same industries in
1900-1905 is partly due to the growing scarcity of the natural gas
supply. As compared with the other states of the United States in
value of manufactured products, Indiana ranked second in 1900 and in
1905 in carriages and wagons, glass and distilled liquors; was seventh
in 1900 and fourth in 1905 in furniture; was fourth in 1900 and
seventh in 1905 in wholesale slaughtering and meat-packing; was fifth
in 1900 and sixth in 1905 in agricultural implements; and in iron and
steel and flour and grist mill products was fifth in 1900 and eighth
in 1905. The most important manufacturing centres are Indianapolis,
Terre Haute, Evansville, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Anderson, Hammond,
Richmond, Muncie, Michigan City and Elwood, each having a gross annual
product of more than $6,000,000.
According to the annual report on _Mineral Resources of the United
States_ for 1906, Indiana ranked fifth in the Union in the value of
natural gas produced, sixth in petroleum, and sixth in coal. Natural
gas was discovered in 1886 in the east-central part of the state, and
its general application to manufacturing purposes caused an industrial
revolution in the immediate region. Pipe lines carried it to various
manufacturing centres within the state and to Chicago, Ill., and
Dayton, Ohio. During the early years an enormous amount was wasted;
this was soon prohibited by law, and a realization that the supply was
not unlimited resulted in a better appreciation of its great value.
The gas, which is found in the Trenton limestone, had an initial
pressure at the point of discovery of 325 lb.; this pressure had
decreased in the field centre by January 1896 to 230 lb., and by
January 1901 to 115 lb., the general average of pressure at the latter
date being 80 lb. The gas field extends over Hancock, Henry, Hamilton,
Tipton, Madison, Grant and Delaware counties. The value of the output
fell from $7,254,539 in 1900 to $1,750,715 in 1906, when the state's
product was only 4.2% of that of the entire country. On the 1st of
January 1909 there were 3223 wells in operation, some of which were
1200 ft. deep. It has been found that "dead" gas wells, if drilled
somewhat deeper, generally become active oil wells. The development of
the petroleum field, which extends over Adams, Wells, Jay, Blackford
and Grant counties, was rapid up to 1904. The annual output increased
from 33,375 barrels in 1889 to 11,339,124 barrels in 1904, the latter
amount being valued at $12,235,674 and being 12.09% of the value of
the product of the entire country. In 1906 there was an output of only
7,673,477 barrels, valued at $6,770,066, being 7.3% of the product
value of the entire country. The Indiana coal fields, which cover an
area of between 7000 and 7500 sq. m. in the west and south-west,
chiefly in Clay, Vigo, Sullivan, Vermilion and Greene counties,
yielded in 1902 9,446,424 tons, valued at $10,399,660; in 1907,
13,985,713 tons, valued at $15,114,300; the production more than
trebled since 1896, when it was 3,905,779 tons. The deposits consist
of workable veins, 50 to 220 ft. in depth, and averaging 80 ft. below
the surface. It is a high grade block, or "splint" coal, remarkably
free from sulphur and rich in carbon, peculiarly adapted to blast
furnace use. The quarries and clay beds of the state are of great
value. The quarries of sandstone and limestone are chiefly in the
south and south-central portions of the state. The value of the
limestone quarried in 1908 was $3,643,261, as compared with $2,553,502
in 1902. The Bedford oolitic limestone quarries in Owen, Monroe,
Lawrence, Washington and Crawford counties furnish one of the most
valuable and widely used building stones in the United States, the
value of the product in 1905 being $2,492,960, of which $2,393,475 was
from Lawrence and Monroe counties and $1,550,076 from Lawrence county
alone. Beds of brick-clays and potters' clay are widely distributed
throughout the state, the total value of pottery products in 1902
being $5,283,733 and in 1906 $7,158,234. Marls adapted to the
manufacture of Portland cement are found along the Ohio river, and in
the lake region in the north. In 1905 and 1906 Indiana ranked third
among the states in the production of Portland cement, which in 1908
was 6,478,165 barrels, valued at $5,386,563--an enormous advance
over 1903, when the product was 1,077,137 barrels, valued at
$1,347,797. The production of natural rock cement, chiefly in Clark
county, is one of the two oldest industries in the state, but in
Indiana as elsewhere it is falling off--from an output in 1903 of
about 1,350,000 barrels to 212,901 barrels (valued at $240,000) in
1908. There are many mineral springs in the state, and there are
famous resorts at French Lick and West Baden in Orange county. A large
part of the water bottled is medicinal: hence the high average price
per gallon ($0.99 in 1907 when 514,366 gallons were sold, valued at
$507,746, only 2% being table waters). In 1907 19 springs were
reported at which mineral waters were bottled and sold; they were in
Allen, Hendricks, Pike, Bartholomew, Warren, Clark, Martin, Brown,
Gibson, Wayne, Orange, Vigo and Dearborn counties. A law of 1909
prohibited the pumping of certain mineral waters if such pumping
diminished the flow or injured the quality of the water of any spring.
[Illustration: Map of Indiana.]
_Communications._--During the early period, the settlement of the
northern and central portions of the state was greatly retarded by the
lack of highways or navigable waterways. The Wabash and Erie canal
(1843), which connected Lake Erie with the Ohio river, entering the
state in Allen county, east of Fort Wayne, and following the Wabash
river to Terre Haute and the western fork of the White river from
Worthington, Greene county, to Petersburg, Pike county, whence it ran
south-south-west to Evansville; and the White Water canal from
Hagerstown, Wayne county, mostly along the course of the White Water
river, to Lawrenceburg, on the Ohio river, in the south-eastern corner
of the state, although now abandoned, served an important purpose in
their day. The completion (about 1850) of the National Road, which
traversed the state, still further aided the internal development.
With the beginning of railway construction (about 1847), however, a
new era was opened. Indiana is unusually well served with railways,
which form a veritable network of track in every part of the state. It
is traversed by nearly all the great transcontinental trunk line
systems, and also by important north and south lines. The total
railway mileage in January 1909 was 7286.20 m. There has been a great
development also in interurban electric lines, which have been adapted
both to passenger and to light freight and express traffic; in 1908
there were 31 interurban electric lines within the state with a
mileage of 1500 m. Indianapolis is the centre of this interurban
network. The first trolley sleeping cars were those used on the Ohio
and Indiana interurban railways. The deepening of the channel of the
Wabash river was begun in 1872. Below Vincennes before 1885 boats of
3-ft. draft could navigate the river, but after work was concentrated
in 1885 on the lock at Grand Rapids, near Mt Carmel, Ill., the channel
was soon clogged again, and in 1909 it was impossible for boats with a
greater draft than 20 in. to go from Mt Carmel to Vincennes, although
up to June 1909 about $810,000 had been spent by the Federal
government on improving this river. In 1879 an appropriation was made
for the improvement of the channel of the White river, but no work was
done here between 1895 and 1909, and although the lower 13 m. of the
river was navigable for boats with a draft of 3 ft. or less, there was
practically no traffic up to 1909 on the White, because there was no
outlet for it by the Wabash river.
_Population._--The population of Indiana, according to the Federal
Census of 1910, was 2,700,876, and the rank of the state in the Union as
regards population was ninth. In 1810, the year following the erection
of the western part of Indiana into Illinois Territory, the population
was 24,520, in 1820 it had increased to 147,178, in 1850 to 988,416, in
1870 to 1,680,637, in 1890 to 2,192,404, and in 1900 to 2,516,462. In
1900 34.3% was urban, i.e. lived in places of 2500 inhabitants and over.
The foreign-born population in the same year amounted to 142,121, or
5.6% of the whole, and the negro population to 57,505, or 2.3%. There
were in 1900 five cities with a population of more than 35,000, viz.
Indianapolis (169,164), Evansville (59,007), Fort Wayne (45,115), Terre
Haute (36,673), and South Bend (35,999). In the same year there were 14
cities with a population of less than 35,000 (all less than 21,000) and
more than 10,000; and there were 21 places with a population of less
than 10,000 and more than 5000. In 1906 it was estimated that there were
938,405 members of different religious denominations; of this total
233,443 were Methodists (210,593 of the Northern Church), 174,849 were
Roman Catholics, 108,188 were Disciples of Christ (and 10,259 members of
the Churches of Christ), 92,705 were Baptists (60,203 of the Northern
Convention, 13,526 of the National (Colored) Convention, 8132 Primitive
Baptists, and 6671 General Baptists), 58,633 were Presbyterians (49,041
of the Northern Church, and 6376 of the Cumberland Church--since united
with the Northern), 55,768 were Lutherans (34,028 of the Evangelical
Lutheran Synodical Conference, 8310 of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint
Synod of Ohio and other states), 52,700 were United Brethren (48,059 of
the Church of the United Brethren in Christ; the others of the "Old
Constitution") and 21,624 of the German Evangelical Synod.
_Constitution._--Indiana is governed under a constitution adopted in
1851, which superseded the original state constitution of 1816. An
amendment to the constitution may be proposed by either branch of the
General Assembly; if a majority of both houses votes in favour of an
amendment and it is favourably voted upon by the General Assembly chosen
by the next general election, the amendment is submitted to popular vote
and a majority vote is necessary for its ratification. The constitution
of 1816 had conferred the suffrage upon all "white male citizens of the
United States of the age of twenty-one and upward," had prohibited
slavery, and had provided that no alteration of the constitution should
ever introduce it. The new constitution contained similar suffrage
restrictions, and further by Article XIII., which was voted upon
separately, prohibited the entrance of negroes or mulattoes into the
state and made the encouragement of their immigration or employment an
indictable offence. This prohibition was held by the United States
Supreme Court in 1866 to be in conflict with the Federal Constitution
and therefore null and void. It was not until 1881 that the restriction
of the suffrage to "white" males, which was in conflict with the
Fifteenth Amendment (1870) to the Federal Constitution, was removed by
constitutional amendment. Since that date those who may vote have been
all male citizens twenty-one years old and upward who have lived in
Indiana six months immediately preceding the election, and every
foreign-born male of the requisite age who has lived in the United
States one year and in Indiana six months immediately preceding the
election, and who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of
the United States; but the General Assembly has the power to deprive of
the suffrage any person convicted of an infamous crime. The Australian
ballot was adopted in 1889. The general state election (up to 1881, held
in October) takes place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November of even-numbered years. The governor and lieutenant-governor
(minimum age, 30 years) and the clerk of the Supreme Court are chosen in
presidential years for a term of four years,[1] the other state
officers--secretary of state, attorney-general, auditor, treasurer and
superintendent of public instruction--every two years. The state
legislature, known as the General Assembly, which meets biennially in
odd-numbered years and in special session summoned by the governor,
consists of a Senate of fifty members (minimum age, 25 years) elected
for four years, and a House of Representatives of one hundred members
(minimum age, 21 years) elected for two years. Two-thirds of each house
constitute a quorum to do business. The governor has the veto power, but
the provision that a bill may be passed over his veto by a majority of
all elected members renders it little more than an expression of
opinion.
_Law._--The judiciary consists of a Supreme Court of five members
elected for districts by the state at large for a term of six years, an
appellate court (first constituted in 1891), and a system of circuit and
minor criminal and county courts. The system of local government has
undergone radical changes in recent years. A law of 1899, aimed to
separate the legislative and executive functions, provided for the
election of legislative bodies in every township and county. These
bodies have control of the local expenditures and tax levies, and
without their consent the local administrative officers cannot contract
debts. In 1905 a new municipal code, probably the most elaborate and
complete local government act in the United States, providing for a
uniform system of government in all cities and towns, went into effect.
It was constructed on the lines of the Indianapolis city charter,
adopted in 1891, and repealed all individual charters and special
corporation acts. Its controlling principle is the more complete
separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers. For this
purpose all cities are divided into five classes according to
population, the powers being concentrated and simplified by degrees in
the case of the smaller cities, and reaching a maximum of separation and
completeness in class 1, i.e. cities of 100,000 and over, which includes
only Indianapolis. In all classes the executive officer is a mayor
elected for four years and ineligible to succeed himself. There are six
administrative departments (the number is often less in cities of the
lower classes, where several departments may be combined under one
head)--departments of public works, public safety, public health and
charities, law, finance, and collection and assessment. There is a city
court with elected judge or judges, and an elected common council, which
may authorize the municipal ownership of public utilities by ordinance,
and can pass legislation over the mayor's veto by a two-thirds vote.
Communities under 2500 in population are regarded as towns, and have a
separate form of government by a board of trustees.
Until 1908 the state had a prohibition law "by remonstrance," under
which if a majority of the legal voters of a township or city ward
remonstrated against the granting of licences for the sale of liquor, no
licence could be granted by the county commissioners in that township or
ward. Under this system 800 out of 1016 townships and more than 30
entire counties were in 1908 without saloons. In 1908, when the
Republican party had declared in favour of county option and the
Democratic party favoured township and ward option, a special session of
the legislature, called by the Republican governor, passed the Cox Bill
for county options.
_Education._--Indiana has a well-organized free public school system.
Provision was made for such a system in the first state constitution, to
utilize the school lands set aside in all the North-West Territory by
the Ordinance of 1787, but the existing system is of late growth. The
first step toward such a system was a law of 1824 which provided for the
election of school trustees in every township and for the erection of
school buildings, but made no provision for support. Therefore, before
1850 what schools there were were not free. The constitution of 1851
made further and more complete provisions for a uniform system, and on
that basis the general school law of 1852 erected the framework of the
existing system. It provided, for the organization of free schools,
supported by a property tax, and for county and township control. The
movement, however, was retarded in 1858 by a decision of the supreme
court holding that under the law of 1852 the system was not "uniform" as
provided for by the constitution. In 1865 a new and more satisfactory
law was passed, which with supplemental legislation is still in force.
Under the existing system supreme administrative control is vested in a
state superintendent elected biennially. County superintendents, county
boards, and township trustees are also chosen, the latter possessing the
important power of issuing school bonds. Teachers' institutes are
regularly held, and a state normal school, established in 1870, is
maintained at Terre Haute. There are normal schools at Valparaiso,
Angola, Marion and Danville, and a Teachers' College at Indianapolis,
which are on the state's "accredited" list and belong to the normal
school system. In 1897 a compulsory education law was enacted. In
1906-1907 the state school tax was increased from 11.6 cents per $100 to
13.6 cents per $100; an educational standard was provided, coming into
effect in August 1908, for public school teachers, in addition to the
previous requirement of a written test; a regular system of normal
training was authorized; uniform courses were provided for the public
high schools; and small township schools with twelve pupils or less were
discontinued, and transportation supplied for pupils in such abandoned
schools to central school houses. The proportion of illiterates is very
small, in 1900, 95.4% of the population (of 10 years old or over) being
able to read and write. The total school revenue from state and local
sources in 1905 amounted to $10,642,638, or $13.85 per capita of
enumeration ($19.34 per capita of enrolment). In 1824 a state college
was opened at Bloomington; it was re-chartered in 1838 as the State
University. Purdue University (1874) at Lafayette, maintained under
state control, received the benefit of the Federal grant under the
Morrill Act. Other educational institutions of college rank include
Vincennes University (non-sectarian), at Vincennes; Hanover College
(1833, Presbyterian), at Hanover; Wabash College (1832, non-sectarian),
at Crawfordsville; Franklin College (1837, Baptist), at Franklin; De
Pauw University (1837, Methodist Episcopal), at Greencastle; Butler
University (1855, Christian), at Indianapolis; Earlham College (1847,
Friends), at Richmond; Notre Dame University (1842, Roman Catholic), at
Notre Dame; Moore's Hill College (1856, Methodist Episcopal), at Moore's
Hill; the University of Indianapolis (non-sectarian), a loosely
affiliated series of schools at Indianapolis, centring around Butler
University; and Rose Polytechnic Institute (1883, non-sectarian), at
Terre Haute.
The charitable and correctional institutions of Indiana are well
administered in accordance with the most improved modern methods, and
form one of the most complete and adequate systems possessed by any
state in the Union. The state was one of the first to establish
schools for the deaf and the blind. Its Institution for the Education
of the Deaf was established in 1844, and its Institution for the
Education of the Blind in 1847, both being in Indianapolis. The first
State Hospital for the Insane was opened in Indianapolis in 1848 and
became the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane in 1883; other
similar institutions are the Northern Indiana Hospital at Logansport
(1888), the Eastern at Richmond (1890), the Southern at Evansville
(1890), and the South-eastern at North Madison (1905). There are a
Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Knightstown (1868), and a
State Soldiers' Home at Lafayette (1896); a School for Feeble-Minded
Youth (1879), removed from Knightstown to Fort Wayne in 1890; a
village for epileptics at New Castle (1907); and a hospital for the
treatment of tuberculosis, authorized in 1907, for which a site at
Rockville was purchased in 1908. There are five state penal and
correctional institutions: the Indiana Boys' School (1868-1883, the
House of Refuge; 1883-1903, the Reform School for Boys), at
Plainfield; the Indiana Girls' School, established at Indianapolis
(1873), and removed to Clermont in 1907; a woman's prison (the first
in the United States, authorized in 1869 and opened in 1873 at
Indianapolis), which is entirely under the control of women (as is
also the Indiana Girls' School) and has a correctional department
(1908), in reality a state workhouse for women, formed with a view to
removing as far as possible sentenced women from the county jails; a
reformatory (1897), at Jeffersonville, conducted upon a modification
of the "Elmira plan," formerly the State Prison (1822), later (1860)
the State Prison South, so called to distinguish it from the State
Prison North (1860) at Michigan City; and the prison at Michigan City,
which became the Indiana State Prison in 1897. The old State Prison at
Jeffersonville was at first conducted on the lease system, but public
opinion compelled the abandonment of that system some years before the
Civil War. The prisoners of the reformatory work under a law providing
for trade schools; the product of the work is sold to the state
institutions and to the civil and political divisions of the state,
the surplus being disposed of on the market. At the State Prison
practically one half the prisoners are employed on contracts. Not more
than 100 may be employed on any one contract, and the day's work is
limited to eight hours. The remainder of the population of the prison
is employed on state account. The policy of indeterminate sentence and
paroles was adopted in 1897 in the two prisons and the reformatory.
Prisoners released upon parole are carefully supervised by state
agents. Indiana has an habitual-criminal law, and a law providing for
the sterilization of mental degenerates, confirmed criminals, and
rapists. There are also an adult probation law and a juvenile court
law, the latter applying to every county in the state. Each of the
state institutions mentioned above is under the control of a separate
bi-partisan board of four members. The whole system of public
charities is under the supervision of a bi-partisan Board of State
Charities (1889), which is appointed by the governor, and to which the
excellent condition of state institutions is largely due. In the
counties there are unsalaried boards of county charities and
correction and county boards of children's guardians, appointed by the
circuit judges. The township trustees, 1016 in number, are ex-officio
overseers of the poor. They dispense official outdoor relief. Nowhere
else have the principles of organized charities in the administration
of public outdoor relief been applied to an entire state. Each county
provides for the indoor care of the poor in poor asylums and
children's homes, and for local prisoners in county jails. Provision
is made for truant, dependent, neglected and delinquent children. No
child can be made a public ward except upon order of the juvenile
court, and all such children may be placed in family homes by agents
of the Board of State Charities.
_Finance._--The total true value of taxable property in the state was,
according to the tax levy of 1907, $1,767,815,487, and the total
taxes, including delinquencies, in the same year amounted to
$38,880,257. The total net receipts for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1908, were $4,771,628, and the total net expenditure
$5,259,002, the cash balance in the treasury for the year ending
September 30, 1907, amounted to $1,096,459, leaving a cash balance on
September 30, 1908, of $609,085. The total state debt on September 30,
1908, was $1,389,615.
_History._--Of the prehistoric inhabitants of Indiana little is known,
but extensive remains in the form of mounds and fortifications abound in
every part of the state, being particularly numerous in Knox and
Sullivan counties. Along the Ohio river are remnants of several
interesting stone forts. Upon the earliest arrival of Europeans the
state was inhabited chiefly by the various tribes of the Miami
Confederacy, a league of Algonquian Indians formed to oppose the advance
of the Iroquois. The first Europeans to visit the state were probably
French _coureurs des bois_ or Jesuit missionaries. La Salle, the
explorer, it is contended, must have passed through parts of Indiana
during his journeys of 1669 and the succeeding years. Apparently a
French trading post was in existence on the St Joseph river of Michigan
about 1672, but it was in no sense a permanent settlement and seems soon
to have been abandoned. It seems probable that the Wabash-Maumee portage
was known to Father Claude Jean Allouez as early as 1680. When, a few
years later, this portage came to be generally used by traders, the
necessity of establishing a base on the upper Wabash as a defence
against the Carolina and Pennsylvania traders, who had already reached
the lower Wabash and incited the Indians to hostility against the
French, became evident; but it was not, apparently, until the second
decade of the 18th century that any permanent settlement was made. About
1720 a French post was probably established at Ouiatenon (about 5 m.
S.W. of the present city of Lafayette), the headquarters of the Wea
branch of the Miami, on the upper Wabash. The military post at Vincennes
was founded about 1731 by François Margane, Sieur de Vincennes (or
Vincent), but it was not until about 1735 that eight French families
were settled there. Vincennes, which thus became the first actual white
settlement in Indiana, remained the only one until after the War of
Independence, although military posts were maintained at Ouiatenon and
at the head of the Maumee, the site of the present Fort Wayne, where
there was a French trading post (1680) and later Fort Miami. After the
fall of Quebec the British took possession of the other forts, but not
at once of Vincennes, which remained for several years under the
jurisdiction of New Orleans, both under French and Spanish rule. The
British garrisons at Ouiatenon and Fort Miami (near the site of the
later Fort Wayne) on the Maumee were captured by the Indians as a result
of the Pontiac conspiracy. All Indiana was united with Canada by the
Quebec Act (1774), but it was not until three years later that the forts
and Vincennes were occupied by the British, who then realized the
necessity of ensuring possession of the Mississippi Valley to prevent
its falling into the hands of the rebellious colonies. Nevertheless, in
1778 Vincennes fell an easy prey to agents sent to occupy it by George
Rogers Clark, and although again occupied a few months later by General
Henry Hamilton, the lieutenant-governor at Detroit, it passed finally
into American control in February 1779 as a result of Clark's remarkable
march from Kaskaskia. Fort Miami remained in British hands until the
close of the war.
The first American settlement was made at Clarksville, between the
present cities of Jeffersonville and New Albany, at the Falls of the
Ohio (opposite Louisville), in 1784. The decade following the close of
the war was one of ceaseless Indian warfare. The disastrous defeats of
General Josiah Harmar (1753-1813) in October 1790 on the Miami river in
Ohio, and of Governor Arthur St Clair on the 4th of November 1791 near
Fort Recovery, Ohio, were followed in 1792 by the appointment of General
Anthony Wayne to the command of the frontier. By him the Indians were
signally defeated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers (or Maumee Rapids) on
the 20th of August 1794, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, was erected on the
Maumee river. On the 3rd of August 1795, at Greenville, Ohio, a treaty
was concluded between Wayne and twelve Indian tribes, and a narrow slice
of the east-south-eastern part of the present state (the disputed lands
in the valley of the Maumee) and various other small but not
unimportant tracts were ceded to the United States. Then came several
years' respite from Indian war, and settlers began at once to pour into
the region. The claims of Virginia (1784) and the other eastern states
having been extinguished, a clear field existed for the establishment of
Federal jurisdiction in the "Territory North-West of the Ohio," but it
was not until 1787 that by the celebrated Ordinance of that year such
jurisdiction became an actuality. The North-West Territory was governed
by its first governor, Arthur St Clair, until 1799, when it was accorded
a representative government. In 1800 it was divided, and from its
western part (including the present states of Indiana, Illinois and
Wisconsin, the north-east part of Minnesota, and a large part--from 1803
to 1805 all--of the present state of Michigan) Indiana Territory was
erected, with General William Henry Harrison--who had been secretary of
the North-West Territory since 1798--as its first governor, and with
Vincennes as the seat of government. Harrison made many treaties with
the Indians, the most important being that signed at Fort Wayne on the
7th of June 1803, defining the Vincennes tract transferred to the United
States by the Treaty of Greenville; those signed at Vincennes on the
18th and the 27th of August 1804, transferring to the United States a
strip north of the Ohio river and south of the Vincennes tract; that
concluded at Grouseland on the 21st of August 1805, procuring from the
Delawares and others a tract along the Ohio river between the parcels of
1795 and 1804; and the treaties of Fort Wayne, signed on the 30th of
September 1809, and securing one tract immediately west of that of 1795
and another north of the Vincennes tract defined in 1803. In January
1805 Michigan Territory was erected from the northern part of Indiana
Territory, and in July following the first General Assembly of Indiana
Territory met at Vincennes. In March 1809 the Territory was again
divided, Illinois Territory being established from its western portion;
Indiana was then reduced to its present limits. In 1810 began the last
great Indian war in Indiana, in which the confederated Indians were led
by Tecumseh, the celebrated Shawnee chief; it terminated with their
defeat at Tippecanoe (the present Battle Ground) by Governor Harrison on
the 7th of November 1811. After the close of the second war with Great
Britain, immigration began again to flow rapidly into the Territory,
and, having attained a sufficient population, Indiana was admitted to
the Union as a state by joint resolution of Congress on the 11th of
December 1816. The seat of government was established at Corydon,
whither it had been removed from Vincennes in 1813. In 1820 the site of
the present Indianapolis was selected for a new capital, but the seat of
government was not removed thither until 1825.
The first great political problem presenting itself was that of slavery,
and for a decade or more the only party divisions were on pro-slavery
and anti-slavery lines. Although the Ordinance of 1787 actually
prohibited slavery, it did not abolish that already in existence.
Slavery had been introduced by the French, and was readily accepted and
perpetuated by the early American settlers, almost all of whom were
natives of Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia or the Carolinas. According to
the census of 1800 there were 175 slaves in the Territory. The
population of settlers from slave states was considerably larger than in
Illinois, the proportion being 20% as late as 1850. It was but natural,
therefore, that efforts should at once have been made to establish the
institution of slavery on Indiana soil, and as early as 1802 a
convention called to consider the expediency of slavery asked Congress
to suspend the prohibitory clause of the Ordinance for ten years, but a
committee of which John Randolph of Virginia was chairman reported
against such action. Within the Territory there were several attempts to
escape, by means of legislation, the effects of the Ordinance. These
efforts consisted in (1) a law regulating the status of "servants," by
which it was sought to establish a legal relation between master and
slave; (2) a law by which it was sought to establish practical slavery
by a system of indenture. By 1808 the opponents of slavery, found
chiefly among the Quaker settlers in the south-eastern counties, began
to awake to the danger that confronted them, and in 1809 elected their
candidate, Jonathan Jennings (1776-1834) to Congress on an anti-slavery
platform. In 1810, by which year the number of slaves had increased to
237, the anti-slavery party was strong enough to secure the repeal of
the indenture law, which had received the unwilling acquiescence of
Governor Harrison. Jennings was re-elected in 1811, and subsequently was
chosen first governor of the state on the same issue, and the state
constitution of 1816 pronounced strongly against slavery. The liberation
of most of the slaves in the eastern counties followed; and some
slave-holders removed to Kentucky. In 1830 there were only three slaves
in the state, and the danger of the establishment of slavery as an
institution on a large scale was long past.
The problem of "internal improvements" came to be of paramount
importance in the decade 1820-1830. In 1827 Congress granted land to aid
in the construction of a canal to connect Lake Erie and the Ohio river.
This canal was completed from the St Joseph river to the Wabash in 1835,
opened in 1843, and later abandoned. In 1836 the state legislature
passed a law providing for an elaborate system of public improvements,
consisting largely of canals and railways. The state issued bonds to the
value of $10,000,000, a period of wild speculation followed, and the
financial panic of 1837 forced the abandonment of the proposed plan and
the sale to private persons of that part already completed. The
legislature authorized the issue of $1,500,000 in treasury bonds, which
by 1842 had fallen in value to 40 or 50% of their face value. A new
constitution was adopted in February 1851 by a vote of 109,319 against
26,755.
Despite its large Southern population, Indiana's answer to President
Lincoln's first call for volunteers at the outbreak of the Civil War was
prompt and spirited. From first to last the state furnished 208,000
officers and men for the Union armies, besides a home legion of some
50,000, organized to protect the state against possible invasion. The
efficiency of the state military organization, as well as that of the
civil administration during the trying years of the war, was largely due
to the extraordinary ability and energy of Governor Oliver P. Morton,
one of the greatest of the "war governors" of the North. The problems
met and solved by Governor Morton, however, were not only the
comparatively simple ones of furnishing troops as required. The
legislature of 1863 and the state officers were opposed to him
politically, and did everything in their power to thwart him and deprive
him of his control of the militia. The Republican members seceded,
legislative appropriations were blocked, and Governor Morton was
compelled to take the extraconstitutional step of arranging with a New
York banking house for the payment of the interest on the state debt, of
borrowing money for state expenditure on his own responsibility, and of
constituting an unofficial financial bureau, which disbursed money in
disregard of the state officers. Furthermore Indiana was the principal
centre of activity of the disloyal association known as the Knights of
the Golden Circle, or Sons of Liberty, which found a ready growth among
the large Southern population. Prominent among Southern sympathisers was
Senator Jesse D. Bright (1812-1875), who on the 5th of February 1862 was
expelled from the United States Senate for writing a letter addressed to
Jefferson Davis, as President of the Confederacy, in which he
recommended a friend who had an improvement in fire-arms to dispose of.
The Knights of the Golden Circle at first confined their activities to
the encouragement of desertion, and resistance to the draft, but in 1864
a plot to overthrow the state government was discovered, and Governor
Morton's prompt action resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of
arms and ammunition, and the arrest, trial and conviction of several of
the leaders. In June 1863 the state was invaded by Confederate cavalry
under General John H. Morgan, but most of his men were captured in
Indiana and he was taken in Ohio. There were other attempts at invasion,
but the expected rising, on which the invaders had counted, did not take
place, and in every case the home legion was able to capture or drive
out the hostile bands.
Politically Indiana has been rather evenly divided between the great
political parties. Before the Civil War, except when William Henry
Harrison was a candidate for the presidency, its electoral vote was
generally given to the Democratic party, to which also most of its
governors belonged. After the war the control of the state alternated
with considerable regularity between the Republican and Democratic
parties, until 1896, between which time and 1904 the former were
continuously successful. In 1908 a Democratic governor was elected, but
Republican presidential electors were chosen.
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
_Territorial._
Arthur St Clair (North-West Territory) 1787-1800
John Gibson, Territorial Secretary (acting) 1800-1801
William Henry Harrison 1801-1812
John Gibson, Territorial Secretary (acting) 1812-1813
Thomas Posey 1813-1816
_State._
Jonathan Jennings 1816-1822 Democratic-
Republican
Ratliff Boone (acting) 1822 "
William Hendricks 1822-1825 "
James B. Ray, President of Senate (acting) 1825 "
James B. Ray 1825-1831 "
Noah Noble 1831-1837 "
David Wallace 1837-1840 Whig
Samuel Bigger 1840-1843 "
James Whitcomb 1843-1848 Democrat
Paris C. Dunning, Lt.-Gov. (acting) 1848-1849 "
Joseph A. Wright 1849-1857 "
Ashbel P. Willard 1857-1860 "
Abram A. Hammond, Lt.-Gov. (acting) 1860-1861 "
Henry S. Lane 1861 Republican
Oliver P. Morton, Lt.-Gov. (acting) 1861-1865 "
Oliver P. Morton 1865-1867 "
Conrad Baker, Lt-Gov. (acting) 1867-1869 "
Conrad Baker 1869-1873 "
Thomas A. Hendricks 1873-1877 Democrat
James D. Williams 1877-1880 "
Isaac P. Gray, Lt.-Gov. (acting) 1880-1881 "
Albert G. Porter 1881-1885 Republican
Isaac P. Gray 1885-1889 Democrat
Alvin P. Hovey 1889-1891 Republican
Ira J. Chase, Lt.-Gov. (acting) 1891-1893 "
Claude Matthews 1893-1897 Democrat
James A. Mount 1897-1901 Republican
Winfield T. Durbin 1901-1905 "
J. Frank Hanly 1905-1909 "
Thomas R. Marshall 1909- Democrat
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--There is a bibliography of Indiana history, by Isaac S.
Bradley, in the _Proceedings_ of the Wisconsin State Historical
Society for 1897. The _History of Indiana_ by William Henry Smith (2
vols., Indianapolis, 1897) is the best general account of Indiana
history and institutions. J. B. Dillon's _History of Indiana_
(Indianapolis, 1859) is the most authoritative account of the early
history to 1816. J. P. Dunn's _Indiana, a Redemption from Slavery_
(Boston, 1888) in the "American Commonwealth" series, as its secondary
title indicates, is devoted principally to the struggle over the
provision in the Ordinance of 1787 prohibiting slavery. For the Civil
War period consult J. A. Woodburn, "Party Politics in Indiana during
the Civil War" in _Annual Report of the American Historical
Association_ (Washington, 1902); W. H. H. Terrell, "Indiana in the War
of the Rebellion" (Official _Report_ of the Adjutant-General
Indianapolis, 1869); and E. B. Pitman, _Trials for Treason at
Indianapolis_ (Indianapolis, 1865). See also De W. C. Goodrich and C.
R. Tuttle, _Illustrated History of the State of Indiana_ (Chicago,
1875); the same, revised and enlarged by W. S. Haymond (Indianapolis,
1879); O. H. Smith, _Early Indiana Trials and Sketches_ (Indianapolis,
1858); and Nathaniel Bolton, "Early History of Indianapolis and
Central Indiana," in Indiana Historical Society _Publications_, No. 5.
"The Executive Journal of Indiana Territory" has been reprinted in the
Indiana Historical Society's _Publications_, vol. iii., 1900. For
government and administration see E. L. Hendricks, _History and
Government of Indiana_ (New York, 1908), _The Legislative and State
Manual of Indiana_ (Indianapolis, published biennially by the State
librarian), _Constitutions of 1816 and 1851 of the State of Indiana
with Amendments_ (Indianapolis, 1897), _School Law of Indiana, with
Annotations_ (Indianapolis, 1904), and Wm. A. Rawles, _Centralizing
Tendencies in the Administration of Indiana_ (New York and London,
1903), Columbia Univ. Press. "The New Municipal Code of Indiana" is
explained in an article by H. O. Stechhan in the _Forum_
(October-December, 1905). For education see Fassett A. Cotton's
_Education in Indiana_ (Indianapolis, 1905), and James A. Woodburn,
_Higher Education in Indiana_ (Washington, 1891), U.S. Documents,
Bureau of Education, Circulars of Information, No. 1. For resources,
industries, &c., consult the _Reports of the Chief of the Bureau of
Statistics of Indiana_ (biennial, Indianapolis, 1886 to date), _Annual
Report of the Department of Geology and Natural Resources_
(Indianapolis, 1869 to date), and _Reports of the State Agricultural
Society_. See also the _Reports_ of the Twelfth Federal Census for
detailed statistical matter as to production, industries and
population.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] No man can serve as governor for more than four years in any
period of eight years.
INDIANAPOLIS, the capital and largest city of Indiana, U.S.A., situated
on the W. fork of the White river, in Marion county, of which it is the
county-seat, and at almost the exact geographical centre of the state.
It is 824 m. W. of New York by rail, and 183 m. S.E. of Chicago, and is
about 710 ft. above sea-level, and about 138 ft. above Lake Erie. Its
area is 30.77 sq. m., of which 29.95 sq. m. is land. Pop. (1880) 75,074;
(1890) 105,436; (1900) 169,164, of whom 17,122 were foreign-born (8362
being by birth German, 3765 Irish, and 1154 English) and 15,931 were
negroes; (1910 census) 233,650. Indianapolis is near the centre of
population of the United States. From 1847, when the first railway
entered the city, Indianapolis has steadily grown in importance as a
railway centre. It is served by the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville,
the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago &
St Louis (New York Central System), the Lake Erie & Western (New York
Central System), the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis
(Pennsylvania System) and the Vandalia (Pennsylvania System) railways.
At the Union Station more than 150 trains enter and depart daily,
carrying more than 30,000 passengers. Outside the city there is a "belt
line," 15½ m. long, connecting the several railways and carrying more
than 1,000,000 freight cars annually; and an extensive electric street
railway system, with more than 150 m. of track and with interurban
connexions, serves every part of the city and its suburbs. The city has
a large traction terminal station, and is the principal centre for the
interurban electric lines of Indiana, which handle freight as well as
passengers; in 1908 twenty-five interurban electric lines entered the
city and operated about 400 cars every 24 hours.
Physically Indianapolis is one of the most attractive inland cities in
America. It is built on a level plain surrounded by low, gently sloping
and beautifully wooded hills. Four principal avenues radiate from points
near a central circle to the four corners of the city. The other streets
run at right angles to one another. Streets and avenues are 90 ft. wide,
except Washington Street, which has a width of 120 ft. An excellent
system of parks--8 within the city with an aggregate area of 1311 acres,
and 3 with an aggregate area of 310 acres just outside the city
limits--adds to the beauty of the city, among the most attractive being
the Riverside, the St Clair, the University, the Military, the Fair
View, the Garfield and the Brookside. The city is lighted by gas and
electricity,--it was one of the first cities in the United States to
adopt electric lighting,--and has a good water-supply system, owned by a
private corporation, with a 4½ acre filter plant of 18,000,000 gallons
_per diem_ capacity and an additional supply of water pumped from deep
wells outside the city. The public buildings and business blocks are
built mostly of Indiana building stone. The state capitol stands in a
square 8 acres in extent, and has a central tower and dome 240 ft. high.
It covers 2 acres of ground and cost $2,000,000. The Marion county
court-house cost $1,750,000. Other noteworthy buildings are the Federal
building (containing post-office, custom-house and Federal court-rooms;
erected at a cost of $3,000,000); Tomlinson Hall, capable of seating
3000 persons, given to the city by Daniel Tomlinson; the Propylaeum, a
club-house for women; the Commercial club; Das Deutsche Haus, belonging
to a German social club; the Maennerchor club-house; the Union railway
station; the traction terminal building; the city hall, and the public
library. Near the city is the important United States army post, Fort
Benjamin Harrison, named in honour of President Benjamin Harrison, whose
home was in Indianapolis. In or near the city are the Central Indiana
Hospital for the Insane, the Indiana Institution for the Education of
the Blind, the Indiana Institution for the Education of the Deaf, the
Indiana Girls' School (included with the Women's prison until 1899, and
under the same management as the prison from 1899 to 1903, when it
became a separate institution,--it was removed to Clermont, 10 m. from
Indianapolis, in 1907), and a Women's prison (opened in 1873, the first
in the United States), which is under female management. The public
library, founded in 1871, contains more than 100,000 volumes. There are
ten other libraries, the most important of which are the state law
library (about 40,000 volumes) and the state library (about 46,000
volumes).
The city is an educational centre of considerable importance. The
university of Indianapolis (1896) is a loose association of three really
independent institutions--the Indiana Law School (1894), the Indiana
Dental College (1879), and Butler University (chartered in 1849 and
opened in 1855 as the North-western Christian University, and named
Butler University in 1877 in honour of Ovid Butler, a benefactor). Other
educational institutions are the Indianapolis College of Law (1897), the
Indiana Medical College (the School of Medicine of Purdue University,
formed in 1905 by the consolidation of the Medical College of Indiana,
the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Fort Wayne
College of Medicine), the State College of Physicians and Surgeons (the
medical school of Indiana University), the Indiana Veterinary College
(1892), the Indianapolis Normal School, the Indiana Kindergarten and
Primary Normal Training School (private), and the Winona Technical
Institute. The last named was opened in 1904, and is controlled by the
Winona Lake corporation, having official connexion with several national
trade unions. It has departments of pharmacy, chemistry, electrical
wiring, lithography, house-painting, printing, carpentry, moulding,
tile-setting, bricklaying, machinery and applied science. The art
association of Indianapolis was founded in 1883; and under its auspices
is conducted an art school (1902) in accordance with the bequest of John
Herron (1817-1895), the school and museum of the association being
housed in the John Herron Art Institute, dedicated in 1906.
The city has several fine monuments, among which are statues of Oliver
P. Morton, George Rogers Clark, William Henry Harrison, Benjamin
Harrison, Thomas A. Hendricks and Major-General Henry W. Lawton. The
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, erected by the state, stands in the
circle in the centre of the city, rises to a height of 284.5 ft. above
the street level, and is surmounted by a statue of Victory 38 ft. high.
On the east and west faces of the base are two great stone groups of
Peace and War respectively. The monument was erected after designs by
Bruno Schmidt of Berlin, with fountains at the base said to be among the
largest in the world, their capacity being 20,000 gallons per minute.
The city's central geographical position, its extensive railway
connexions, and its proximity to important coal-fields have combined to
make it one of the principal industrial centres of the Middle West. The
value of its "factory" products was 17.6% of the state's total in 1900
and 20.9% of the total in 1905. The increase in the value of the
"factory" product between 1900 and 1905 was from $59,322,234 to
$82,227,950, or 38.6%. Indianapolis is the principal live stock centre
of the Ohio Valley, and has extensive stock-yards covering more than 100
acres. Slaughtering and meat-packing is the most important industry, the
value of the product amounting to $24,458,810 in 1905; this industry
dates from about 1835. Among other important manufactures are foundry
and machine shop products ($6,944,392 in 1905); flour and grist-mill
products ($4,428,664); cars and shop construction and repairs by steam
railways ($2,502,789); saws; waggons and carriages ($2,049,207);
printing and publishing (book and job, $1,572,688; and newspapers and
periodicals, $2,715,666); starch; cotton and woollen goods; furniture
($2,528,238); canned goods ($1,693,818); lumber and timber ($1,556,466);
structural iron work ($1,541,732); beer ($1,300,764); and planing-mill
products, sash, doors and blinds ($1,111,264).
Indianapolis is governed under a form of government adopted originally
in a special charter of 1891 and in 1905 incorporated in the new state
municipal code, which was based upon it, It provides for a mayor
elected every four years, a single legislative chamber, a common
council, and various administrative departments--of public safety,
public health, &c. The guiding principle of the charter, which is
generally accepted as a model of its kind, is that of the complete
separation of powers and the absolute placing of responsibility.
On the admission of Indiana as a state, Congress gave to it four
sections of public land as a site on which to establish a state capital.
This was located in 1820 in almost the exact geographical centre of the
state, where a small settlement had recently been made, and the town of
Indianapolis was laid out in the following year. It was then in the
midst of dense forests and was wholly unconnected by roads with other
parts of the state. Upon its final acceptance as the capital, there was
some activity in land speculation, but Indianapolis had only 600
inhabitants and a single street when the seat of government was removed
thither in 1824. The legislature met here for the first time in 1825.
Some impetus was given to the city's growth by the completion of the
National Road, and later by the opening of railways, but until after the
Civil War its advancement was slow. It was incorporated as a town in
1832, its population then being 1000. The first state capitol was
completed in 1836. Indianapolis suffered severely from the business
panic of 1837, and ten years later, when it received its first city
charter, it had only about 6000 inhabitants; in the same year a free
public school system was inaugurated.
AUTHORITIES.--B. R. Sulgrove, _History of Indianapolis and Marion
County_ (Philadelphia, 1884); M. R. Hyman, _Handbook of Indianapolis_
(Indianapolis, 1907); Nathaniel Bolton, "Early History of Indianapolis
and Central Indiana" (Indiana Historical Society's _Publications_, No.
5, 1897); W. R. Holloway, _Indianapolis, a Historical and Statistical
Sketch_ (Indianapolis, 1870); the Indianapolis Board of Trade's
_Report on the Industries of Indianapolis_ (1889); _Civic Studies of
Indianapolis_ (Indianapolis, 1907 seq.), edited by Arthur W. Dunne;
and P. S. Heath's sketch of Indianapolis in L. P. Powell's _Historic
Towns of the Western States_ (New York, 1901).
INDIAN ARCHITECTURE. The development of architectural art in India is of
the highest interest for the history of the subject; and whatever may be
our estimate of its aesthetic qualities, we can hardly fail to realize
that Indian builders attained with marked success the aims they had
before them, though they employed arrangements and adopted forms and
details very different from those of western builders in ancient and
medieval times. These forms and adaptations, of course, require study
properly to understand them, and to recognize the adjustment of the
designs to their purposes. But besides the scientific advantages of such
a study, it has been well remarked by Fergusson, to whose genius the
history of Indian architecture is so specially due as its creator, that
"it will undoubtedly be conceded by those who are familiar with the
subject that, for certain qualities, the Indian buildings are
unrivalled. They display an exuberance of fancy, a lavishness of labour,
and an elaboration of detail to be found nowhere else." Besides, if
anywhere the history of a country is imprinted in its architecture, it
is in India that it throws the most continuous, distinct and varied
light on that history.
In the early architecture of India, as in that of Burma, China and Japan
till the present day, wood was solely or almost solely employed; and it
was only about the 3rd century B.C. that stone became largely used as
the material for important structures; if brick or stone were in use
previously, it was only for foundations and engineering purposes. Even
at the end of the 4th century B.C. Megasthenes states that Pataliputra,
the capital of Chandragupta--the Sandrokottos of Greek writers--was
"surrounded by a wooden wall pierced with loop-holes for the discharge
of arrows." And if the capital were defended by such palisading, we may
fairly infer that the architecture of the time was wholly wooden. On the
Sanchi gateways, brick walls are indeed represented, but apparently only
as fences or limits with serrated copings, but not in architectural
structures. And at whatever date stone came to be introduced, the Hindus
continued and repeated the forms they had employed in the earlier
material, and preserved their own style, so that it bore witness to the
general antecedent use of wood. Hence we are able to trace its
conversion into lithic forms until finally its origin disappears in its
absorption in later styles.
India possesses no historical work to afford us a landmark previous to
the invasion of Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C., nor do we
know of an architectural monument of earlier date. For later periods
there are fortunately a few examples dated by inscriptions, and for
others by applying the scientific principles developed by Thomas Rickman
for the discrimination of other styles and the relative ages of
architectural works, we are enabled to arrange the monuments of India
approximately in chronological sequence or order of succession.
The invasion of Alexander and the westward spread of Buddhism brought
India into contact with Persia, where the Achaemenian kings had hewn out
mausolea in the rocks, and built palaces with stone basements, doorways
and pillars, filling in the walls with bricks. These works would attract
the attention of Indian visitors--ambassadors, missionaries and
merchants; and the report of such magnificent works would lead to their
imitation.
About the middle of the 3rd century B.C. we find the great Asoka, the
grandson of Chandragupta, in communication with the contemporary kings
of Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Epirus and Cyrene; and to his reign belong
the great stone pillars, with capitals of Persian type, that are
engraved with his religious edicts. A convert to Buddhism, Asoka is
credited with the construction all over the country of vast numbers of
stupas--monumental structures enshrining relics of Sakyamuni Buddha or
other Buddhist saints; and with them were erected monasteries and
chapels for the monks.
On the monumental pillars, known as lats, set up by this emperor,
besides the Persepolitan form of capital, we find the honeysuckle with
the bead and reel and the cable ornaments that were employed in earlier
Persian carvings; and though not continued later in India proper, these
prevailed in use in Afghanistan for some centuries after the Christian
era. This seems to indicate that these forms first came from Persia
along with the ideas that led to the change of wooden architecture for
that of stone.
The stupas were structures that may be regarded as conventional
architectural substitutes for funeral tumuli, and were constructed to
enshrine relics of Buddha or of his more notable disciples, or even to
mark the scene of notable events in the tradition of his life. How
relic-worship originated and came to hold so large a place in the
Buddhist cult we can hardly conjecture: the sentiment could not have
arisen for the first time on the death of Gotama Buddha, when, we are
told, eight stupas were built over his corporeal relics, a ninth over
the vessel with which they were divided, and a tenth over the charcoal
of the funeral pile.
These stupas, known as dagabas in Ceylon, and chaityas in Nepal, are
called _topes_ in the ordinary patois of upper India. They consisted of
a low circular drum supporting a hemispherical dome of less diameter and
leaving a ramp or berme round it of a few feet in width. Round the drum
was an open passage for circumambulation, and the whole was enclosed by
a massive stone railing with lofty gates on four sides. These railings
and gateways are their principal architectural features; the rails are
constructed as closely as possible after wooden patterns, and examples
are still found at Sanchi and Buddh-Gaya[1]; what remained of the
Bharahat stupa was transferred to the Calcutta Museum, and portions of
the Amravati rail are now in the British and Madras museums. The
uprights and cross bars of the rails were in many cases covered with
elaborate carvings of scenes of the most varied kinds, and are
illustrative of manners and customs as well as of the art of sculpture.
[Illustration: PLATE I.
FIG. 8.--SANCHI NORTH GATEWAY.
_Photo, F. Frith & Co._
FIG. 9.--THE KUTB MINAR NEAR DELHI.
_Photo lent by the India Office._
FIG. 10.--SHER SHAH'S MOSQUE AT DELHI.]
[Illustration: PLATE II.
FIG. 11.--GREAT TEMPLE AT HALEBID.
FIG. 12.--ROOF OF DOME OF VIMALA'S TEMPLE ON MOUNT ABU.
(_From Photographs kindly lent by the India Office._)]
The great stupa at Sanchi in Bhopal is now the most entire of the class,
as it still retains the gateways--styled _torans_--which must have been
a feature of all stupas, though perhaps mostly in wood (see Plate I.
fig. 8). The whole of the superstructure of the Sanchi examples is
essentially wooden in character, and we are astonished that it should
have stood "for twenty centuries nearly uninjured." These torans
reappear to this day in Japan as _tori-i_ and in China as _p'ai-lus_ or
_p'ai-fangs_. The whole of the surfaces, inside and out, are carved with
elaborate sculptures of much interest. A cast of the eastern toran from
Sanchi is to be seen in the museums at S. Kensington, Edinburgh, Dublin,
Paris and Berlin. On the southern one, an inscription appears to
indicate that it was erected about 150 B.C.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Cave at Karli near Bombay. Section and plan.]
The earlier cave temples are of about the same age as the stupas; some
of those in Behar bear inscriptions of Asoka and of his successor in the
2nd century B.C. And the earlier cave façades in western India indicate
the identity of style and construction in the patterns from which both
must have been copied. These Buddhist rock excavations are of two types:
the chaitya or chapel caves, with vaulted roofs of considerable height,
the earliest with wooden fronts and later with a screen wall left in the
rock, but in both forms with a large horse-shoe shaped window over the
entrance. The interior usually consisted of a nave, separated from the
side aisles by pillars, and containing a chaitya or small stupa at the
inner and circular end. The façades of these chaitya chapels were
covered with sculpture--some of them very richly; and to protect them
from the weather a screen was contrived and cut in the rock in front of
the façade, with large windows in the upper half for the entrance of
light. This mode of lighting by a great arch over the entrance has
attracted considerable attention, as being admirably adapted for its
purpose. As Fergusson remarked, "nothing invented before or since is
lighted so perfectly, and the disposition of the parts or interior for
an assembly of the faithful ... is what the Christians nearly reached in
after-times but never quite equalled."
The second type of rock excavations are known as viharas or monasteries
devoted to the residence of monks and ascetics. They usually consisted
of a hall surrounded by a number of cells--the earliest with stone beds
in them. In the later viharas there was a shrine in the centre of the
back wall containing a large image of the Buddha. In the Orissa caves,
near Cuttach, we have a series of excavations that do not conform to
these arrangements: they are early, dating as far back as the 2nd
century B.C., but they belong to the Jain sect, which dates from the
same age as the Buddhist.
On the north-west frontiers of India, about the Swat and Yusufzai
districts, anciently known as Gandhara, are found a remarkable class of
remains, much ruined, but that must have abounded in sculptures
belonging to the Buddhist cult. It is among these we find the first
representations of Buddha and of the characters belonging to the
Buddhist pantheon. The influence of classical art manifested in these
images leaves no doubt that they were modelled after western patterns,
carried thither by Greeks or brought from the Levant by Buddhist
emissaries. The scenes depicted, however, have frequently an
architectural setting in which we find represented façades with pillars
fashioned with distinctly Corinthian capitals. These sculptures we can
now assign with confidence, from dated epigraphs, to dates from the last
years of the century B.C. till the 4th century A.D. One inscription of
A.D. 47 is of a king Gondophernes, who is mentioned in the legend of the
apostle Thomas.
In the time of the great Gupta dynasty, from about A.D. 320 to 500, the
architectural forms developed in variety and richness of decoration. To
the columns were given higher square bases than before, and sometimes a
sur-base; the capitals, which previously had a vase as the chief member,
were developed by a foliaged ornament, springing from the mouth of the
vase and falling down upon it from the four corners, and so lending
strength to the neck whilst converting the round capital into a square
support for the abacus. Often, too, a similar arrangement of foliage was
applied to the early bases; and this form quite superseded the
Persepolitan pillar, with its bell-shaped capital, which now disappeared
from Indian art. The shafts were round or of sixteen or more sides;
pilasters were ornamented on the shafts; and the spires of the temple
were simple in outline and rose almost vertically at first and curving
inwards towards the summit, which was always capped by a large circular
fluted disk supporting a vase, whilst the surface of the tower was
covered with a peculiar sort of horse-shoe diaper. This style prevailed
all over Hindustan, and was continued with modifications varying with
age and locality down almost to the Mahommedan conquest.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Plan of Temple of Martand.]
In Kashmir from the 8th century, if not earlier, till the Mahommedan
conquest we find a style of architecture possessing a certain
quasi-classical element which has little if any connexion with the art
of the rest of India. The best-known example of this Kashmir style is
the temple of Martand, about 3 m. east from Islamabad or Anatnag, the
old capital. It stands in a court 220 ft. long by 142 ft. wide
surrounded by the ruins of some eighty small cells, with a large
entrance porch at the east end. The temple itself was 60 ft. long by 38
ft. wide, with two wings, and consisted of two apartments--a _naos_ and
_cella_. The trefoiled or cusped arch on the doors of the temple and
cells is a striking peculiarity of the style, and may have been derived
from the section of the Buddhist _chaitya_. It is used decoratively,
however, rather than constructively. The pillars and pilasters of the
portico and temple bear a close resemblance to some of the later forms
of the Roman Doric, and have usually sixteen shallow flutes on the
shafts, with numerous members in the base and capital. A triangular
pediment surmounts the doorways, and on gable-ends or projecting faces
are representations of double sloping roofs, much in the style of modern
Kashmir wooden roofs, of which also many of the temple-roofs in Nepal
are exaggerated examples. The Martand temple was, in all probability,
built in the 8th century, between A.D. 725 and 760, and was erected as a
temple of the Sun, one of whose names is Martand. For, till the 12th
century at least, Sun-worship was quite prevalent in the north and west
of India. At a remote village called Buniar is a much better preserved
specimen of the style: and at Avantipur, Vangath, Payer and Pandrethan
are other interesting examples of the style. That at Pandrethan about 3
m. from Srinagar is a well-preserved little temple, built between A.D.
906 and 921, and perhaps exhibits the most clearly the characteristics
of the style.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Temple of Pandrethan.]
In the Himalayas the architecture is still largely wooden, raised on
stone basements and is often picturesque. In the Nepal valley we meet
with hemispherical chaityas or stupas on low bases with lofty brick
spires, and some of them of great antiquity, along with temples having
three or four storeys divided by sloping roofs, and others in the modern
Hindu style of northern India.
In South Kanara, especially at Mudbidare (Mudbidri), there are also Jain
temples and tombs with double and triple sloping roofs that resemble the
native temples of Nepal, with which, however, they had no connexion. The
whole style is closely in imitation of wooden originals, the forms of
which have been derived from the local thatched dwellings of the
district. The interiors of the Kanara temples are often very rich in
carving, the massive pillars being carved like ivory or the precious
metals. Associated with these and other temples are elegant, monolithic
pillars placed on square bases, the shafts richly carved and the
capitals wide-spreading, some of them supporting, on four very small
colonnettes, a square roof elaborately modelled. These _stambhas_ or
pillars are the representatives of the early Buddhist _lats_ or columns
raised at their temples, and bear emblems distinctive of the sects to
which they respectively belong.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Kailas at Ellora.]
The southern portion of the peninsula is peopled by a race known as
Dravidians, and to the style of architecture practised over most of this
area we may conveniently apply the name of the race. This Dravidian
architecture was essentially different from that of other regions of
India and is of one type. One of the best-known groups of monuments in
this style is that of the "Seven Pagodas" or the Mamallapuram raths, on
the seashore, south from Madras. These _raths_ are each hewn out of a
block of granite, and are rather models of temples than such. They are
the earliest forms of Dravidian architecture and belong to the 7th
century. To the same age belongs the temple of Kailasanath at
Conjeeveram, and to the following century some of the temples in the
south of the Bombay Presidency, and the famous monolithic temple of the
Kailas at Ellora near Aurangabad.
Buildings in the Dravidian style are very numerous in proportion to the
extent of the area in which they are found. The temples generally
consist of a square base, ornamented externally by thin tall pilasters,
and containing the cell in which the image is kept. In front of this may
be added a _mantapam_ or hall, or even two such. Over the shrine rises
the spire, of pyramidal form, but always divided into storeys and
crowned by a small dome, either circular or polygonal in shape. The
cornices are of double curvature, whilst in other Indian styles they are
mostly straight with a downward slope. Another feature of these temples,
especially those of later date, is the _gopurams_ or great gateways,
placed at the entrances to the surrounding courts, and often on all four
sides. In general design they are like the spires over the shrines, but
about twice as wide as deep, and very frequently far more imposing than
the temples themselves.
[Illustration: Reproduced, by permission of Mr John Murray, from Dr
Burgess's _The Cave Temples of India_.
FIG. 5.--Plan of Kailas at Ellora.]
The style is distinctly of wooden origin, and of this the very
attenuated pilasters on the outer walls and the square pillars of small
section are evidences. As the contemporary northern styles are
characterized by the prevalence of vertical lines, the Dravidian is
marked by horizontal mouldings and shadows, and the towers and
_gopurams_ are storeyed. The more important temples are also surrounded
by courts enclosing great corridors and pillared halls.
One of the best examples of this style is the great temple at Tanjore.
It would appear to have been begun on a definite plan, and not as a
series of extensions of some small temple which, by accident, had grown
famous and acquired wealth by which successively to enlarge its courts,
as that at Tiruvallur seems to have grown by a series of accretions. The
body of the Tanjore temple is of two storeys and fully 80 ft. high,
whilst the sikhara or pyramidal tower rises in eleven storeys to a total
height of 190 ft. This dominates the _gopurams_ over the entrances to
the court in which it stands, and to an outer court, added in front of
the first, but which does not, as in other cases, surround it. The
central shrine, so far as we know, was erected about A.D. 1025.
The Srirangam temple in Trichinopoly, the largest in India, is
architecturally the converse of this: it is one of the latest in date,
the fifth court having been left unfinished in the middle of the 18th
century. The shrine is quite insignificant and distinguished only by a
gilt dome, whilst proceeding outwards, the _gopurams_ to each court are
each larger and more decorative than the preceding. The successive
independent additions, however, proved incompatible with any considered
design or arrangement of parts.
Most of the Deccan was ruled by the Chalukya dynasty from early in the
6th century, and the style prevailing over this area, from the
Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers to the Tapti and Mahanadi, may be styled,
from them, as Chalukyan.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Temple at Tanjore.]
The earliest temples in this style, however, are not very clearly marked
off from the Dravidian and the more northern styles. Some of them have
distinctly northern spires, others are closely allied to the southern
style; and it was perhaps only gradually that the type acquired its
distinctive characteristics. Till a late date we find temples with
towers differing so little in form from Dravidian _vimanas_ that, other
details apart, they might readily be ascribed to that order.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Temple at Tiruvallur, near Tanjore.]
Among Chalukyan temples a prevalent form is that of three shrines round
one central hall. The support of the roofs of these halls is almost
always after the Dravidian plan of four pillars, or multiples of four,
in squares, so that larger domes were never attempted. Both in Dravidian
and northern temples the projections on the walls are generally formed
by increments of slight thickness added flatly to their faces, and,
however thick, they are so placed as to leave the true corners of the
shrines, &c., more or less recessed. In the Chalukyan temples the sides
are often made prominent by increments placed over them, or the whole
plan is star-shaped, the projecting angles having equal adjacent faces
lying in a circle, as in the temple of Belur in Mysore, built about A.D.
1120, and in others. The roofs are stepped and more or less pyramidal
in form, with breaks corresponding to the minor angles made on the
walls.
Some of the details of this style are very elaborate; in fact, many of
the finer temples were completely overlaid with sculptural ornament. The
pillars are markedly different from the earlier Dravidian forms: they
are massive, richly carved, often circular and highly polished. Their
capitals are usually spread out, with a number of circular mouldings
immediately below; and under these is a square block, while the middle
section of the shaft is richly carved with mouldings in the round. In
many cases the capitals and circular mouldings have been actually turned
in a sort of lathe. They are almost always in pairs of the same design,
the whole effect being singularly varied and elegant.
The great temple at Halebid (see Plate II. fig. 11), begun about A.D.
1250, was left unfinished at the Mahommedan conquest in 1310. It is a
double temple, measuring 160 ft. by 122 ft., and is covered with an
amazing amount of the richest sculpture. But the spires were never
raised over the shrines. The Kedaresvara temple at Balagamvi is perhaps
one of the oldest of the style in Mysore, and there are other good
examples at Kubattur, Harnhalli, Arsikere, Harihar, Koravangala and
elsewhere; but their plans vary greatly.
Coming now to Northern India, we find the Hindu architectural style more
widely spread and more varied than in the south, but wanting somewhat in
individuality. Examples of the same order, however, are to be found also
far to the south in the Chalukyan area. The characteristic that first
appeals to our notice is the curvilinear spires of the temples, and the
absence of that exuberance of sculpture seen in the great Chalukyan
temples of the South; whilst in many cases, as in the Jain temples, a
greater central area has been obtained in the halls by arranging twelve
columns so as to support a dome on an octagonal disposition of lintels.
The shrines are square in plan and only slightly modified by additions
to the walls of parallel projections; the walls were raised on a moulded
plinth of some height, over which was a deep base, the two together
rising, roughly, to about half the height of the walls. Over this is the
panelled face devoted to figure sculptures in compartments, but the
tall, thin pilasters of the southern style have disappeared. Above is
the many-membered architrave and cornice supporting the roof and spire.
The latter follow the vertical lines of the walls, presenting no trace
of divisions into storeys or steps, but they vary in other details with
the age.
In Rajputana and Western India a variety of this northern style has been
known as the Jain order. Though used by the Hindus and Jains alike, it
was employed in its most ornate form by the Jains in their famous
temples on Mount Abu and elsewhere. A striking feature of this style is
the elaborately carved roofs over their corridors and the domes of their
porches and halls (see Plate II. fig. 12). Nothing can exceed the
delicacy and elaboration of details in these sculptured roofs and
vaults. Combined with the diversified arrangement of the variously
spaced and highly sculptured pillars supporting them, these convey an
impression of symmetry and beauty that is highly pleasing.
Gujarat must have been rich in splendid temples before the 12th century,
but it was devastated so often by the Moslems that the more notable have
all perished, though the once magnificent Sun Temple at Mudhera still
witnesses, in its ruins, to the architectural style and grandeur of the
period--the early part of the 11th century--when it was erected. A
notable group of between thirty and forty temples in this style exists
at Khajuraho in Bundelkhand. They belong to both the Hindu and the Jain
cults, and mostly date from the 10th and 11th centuries. Many of them
are covered, inside and out, with the richest sculpture, and may be
regarded architecturally as "the most beautiful in form as well as the
most elegant in detail" of the temples of Northern India. With these,
the temples at Bhuvaneswar in Orissa exhibit this style at its best. The
latter have the earlier form of spire, nearly perpendicular below, but
curving inwards near the summit.
The temple of Kanarak, known as the "Black Pagoda" (see Plate III. fig.
13), which for its size is, externally at least, the most richly
ornamented building in the world. It has lately been filled up with
stones and sand, as the only method the Archaeological Survey could
devise to prevent its threatened collapse.
In the later examples of the style the spire is still a square
curvilinear pyramid, to the faces of which are added smaller copies of
the same form, carrying up the offsets of the walls; and in some
examples these are multiplied to an extraordinary extent.
The Mahommedan architecture, also known as Indian Saracenic, begins in
India with the 13th century and varied much at different periods and
under the various dynasties, imperial and local. The imperial rulers at
Delhi, for the first three centuries, were Pathans, and were succeeded
in 1526 by Baber, who founded the Mogul dynasty. Under the earlier
Pathan emperors the style of building was massive but profusely
ornamented and of extreme beauty in its details. Among the examples of
this style may be instanced the Qutb Minar at Delhi (see Plate I. fig.
9), one of the finest pillars in the world, built in the first quarter
of the 13th century. It is still 240 ft. high and ornamented by
projecting balconies and richly carved belts between; the three lower
storeys are cut up by projecting vertical ribs that add to its beauty.
Beside it the tomb of Altamsh is also profusely sculptured and of
extreme beauty of detail, and other examples are seen in the eastern
portion of the adjoining mosque, the tomb of Ala-ud-din Khilji, and the
Alai Darwaza. After about 1320 the Pathan architecture is marked by a
stern simplicity of design and a solemn gloom and nakedness, in marked
contrast to the elaborate richness of ornamentation of the preceding
period. The tomb of Ghiyas-ud din Tughlak at New Delhi, with its sloping
walls and massive solidity, is a typical example of this period, as is
also the Kalan mosque at Delhi completed in 1386.
Early in the 15th century, however, a reaction had set in, and the later
style was hardly less rich and much more appropriate for its purposes
than the earlier in the end of the 12th and early 13th century. The
façades of the mosques became more ornamental, were often encrusted with
marble, and usually adorned with rich and beautiful sculpture. This was
clearly a return to the elaborateness of the past, but with every detail
fitted to its place and purpose and presenting one of the completest
architectural styles of the world.
About the beginning of the 15th century several local dynasties arose,
each of which developed a style more or less their own. Of the Sharki
dynasty of Jaunpur only three great mosques in that city have come down
to us, with several tombs. The cloisters surrounding the open courts of
the mosques and the galleries within are closely allied to the Hindu
style, being constructed with short square pillars having bracket
capitals supporting lintels and roof of flat slabs. But the gateways and
main features of the mosques are arched. The mosque itself consists of a
central square hall covered by a lofty dome of the whole width of it, in
front of which stands the great propylon or gate, of massive outline and
rising to the full height of the central dome. This propylon had a large
recessed arch between the two piers, in the lower portion of which was
the entrance to the mosque, whilst the upper formed a pierced screen. On
each side of the dome is a compartment divided into two storeys by a
stone floor supported on pillars, and beyond this, on each side, is a
larger apartment covered by a pointed ribbed vault. The ornamental work
is bold and striking rather than delicate, and the _mihrabs_ or _qiblas_
are marked by severe simplicity, and form a link in the evolution of the
later form under Mogul rule. These buildings afford a marked expression
of strength combined with a degree of refinement that is rare in other
styles. Other examples of this style are met with at Benares, Kanauj and
places within the Jaunpur kingdom.
In 1401 Dilawar Khan assumed independence in Malwa, of which Mandu
became the capital, and his son Hoshang adorned it with important
buildings. They are of a modified form of the Pathan style of the 14th
century. Among them the finest is the great Jama Masjid, which was
finished by Mahmud Shah I. in 1454. It covers a nearly square area, 290
ft. from east to west by 275 ft. from north to south, exclusive of the
porch on the east, which projects about 56 ft. Inside, the court is an
almost exact square, surrounded by arches on each side, standing on
plain square piers 10 ft. high, each of a single block of red sandstone;
behind these are triple arcades on the north and south, a double one on
the east, and on the west the mosque, having three great domes on its
west side. This court, in its simple grandeur and expression of power,
may be regarded as one of the very best specimens of this style to be
found in India. The tombs and palaces of Mandu, mostly much ruined, it
would occupy too much space to describe. But here, as elsewhere, the
available materials have exercised a marked influence upon the
architecture; the prevalence of a red sandstone is emphasized in the
piers of the Jama Masjid, more than 300 of them being each of a single
block of this material; and for more decorative purposes marble, both
white and coloured, was freely used to revet the walls and piers. The
style is strictly arcuate, without admixture of the general trabeate
structural methods followed by the native Hindus; and while at Jaunpur
and Ahmedabad, at the same period, we find the strong influence of
native methods copied in the Mahommedan architecture, at Mandu the
builders clung steadily to the pointed arch style, without any attempt,
however, at groining.
The capital of the Bengal kingdom was at Gaur, which had been the
metropolis of a native kingdom probably since the 9th century. As the
country is practically without stone, the Hindu buildings would be
chiefly of brick, but pillars, images and details were of hard potstone
or hornblende; and these would afford materials for the Moslem
conquerors. The construction of large buildings of brick required heavy
piers for the arches and thicker walls than those constructed of stone.
Then such piers and walls, when enriched by a facing of moulded or
glazed tiles, would appear still heavier; and sometimes for tiles a
casing of carved stone was substituted. Hence this style is a purely
local one with short, heavy pillars faced with stone and supporting
pointed brick arches and vaults. The use of brick further forced the
builders to employ an arched style of their own and a mode of roofing in
which a curvilinear form was given to the eaves descending at the
corners of the structures. This form spread later up through Hindustan
as far as the Punjab.
The capital at one time was moved to Pandua, north of Gaur, and there
was built (1358-1368) the great Adina mosque, 500 ft. in length by 285
in depth containing a large court surrounded by a thick wall of brick.
The roof was supported by 266 stone pillars and covered by 378 domes,
all of one form. Such a design has little architectural merit, but its
size and the richness of its details make it an interesting study, and
the same character belongs to most of the works of the Bengal Moslem
rulers.
The Bahmani dynasty, founded in 1347, had its capital at Gulbarga till
1428, when it was moved to Bidar. During this period the city was
adorned with important buildings of which the most notable now remaining
is the great mosque, one of the most striking in India. It measures over
all 216 ft. from east to west by 176 from north to south. It differs
from all the great mosques in India in having the whole central area
covered over as in the great mosque at Cordova--what in others would be
an open court being roofed by sixty-three small domes. The light is
admitted through the side-walls, which are pierced by great arches on
all sides except the west. The study is plain and substantial, with but
little ornament. The tombs of the kings are massive square-domed
buildings, with handsome stone tracery on their outer walls, and are
elaborately finished inside. At Bidar, mosques, palaces and tombs were
also erected, but most of them have perished, the great mosque in the
fort being the only one fairly entire. The ten tombs of the later
Bahmani kings, 5 m. from the city, are of like pattern with those of
Gulbarga and of considerable splendour. They are not much ornamented,
but are structurally good and impressive by their massive proportions.
[Illustration: PLATE III.
FIG. 13.--KANARAK TEMPLE OF SURYA, OR BLACK PAGODA, FROM THE EAST.
FIG. 14.--TOMB OF MAHOMMED ADIL SHAH, BIJAPUR.]
FIG. 15.--JAMA MASJID AT AHMEDABAD.
_From Photographs kindly lent by the India Office._
[Illustration: PLATE IV.
_Photo, F. Frith & Co._
FIG. 16.--TOMB OF PRINCE ITIMAD-UD-DAULA, AGRA.
_Photo, Johnston & Hoffmann._
FIG. 17.--THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA.]
Of the various forms which the Moslem architecture assumed, "that of
Ahmedabad," Fergusson has justly remarked, "may probably be considered
as the most elegant, as it certainly is the most characteristic of all.
No other form is so essentially Indian, and no one tells its tale with
the same unmistakable distinctness." Under the Mahommedan rule the Hindu
architects employed introduced forms and ornaments into the works they
constructed for their rulers, superior in elegance to any the latter
knew or could have invented. Hence there arose a style combining all the
beauty and finish of the previous native art with a certain magnificence
of conception which is deficient in their own works. The elevations of
the mosques have usually been studiously arranged with a view to express
at once the structural arrangements, and to avoid monotony of outline by
the varied elevation of each division. The central portion of the façade
was raised by a storey over the roof of the wings, and to the front of
this was attached the minarets, in the earliest mosques forming only
small turrets over the façade, but soon after they became richly carved
towers of considerable height. The upper storey formed a gallery under
the central dome which was supported on pillars connected by open stone
trellis work, admitting a subdued light, and providing perfect
ventilation (see Plate III. fig. 15). At first the façades were pierced
by arched entrances, but at a later date a screen of columns formed an
open front and the minarets were removed to the corners, no longer for
the _mu'azzin_, but simply as architectural ornaments.
The tombs were pillared pavilions of varying dimensions, the central
area over the grave covered by a dome standing on twelve pillars. These
pillars connected by screens of stone trellis work carved in
ever-varying patterns, and round this there might be a verandah with
twenty pillars in the periphery, or a double aisle with thirty-two in
the outer square. And as these were irregularly spaced in order to allow
the inner twelve to support the lintels of a regular octagon for the
dome, the monotony of equal spacing was avoided. For further details and
examples of this style, however, we must refer the reader to the
published volumes of the archaeological survey of Western India relating
to Ahmedabad and Gujarat.
The Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur (1492-1686) was of foreign extraction
and held the Shiah form of Islam, prevalent in Persia, whilst they
largely employed Persian officers. This probably influenced their
architecture and led to that largeness of scale and grandeur which
characterized the style, differing markedly from that of the buildings
of Agra and Delhi, but scarcely, if at all, inferior in originality of
design and boldness of execution. There is no trace of Hindu forms or
details; the style was their own, and was worked out with striking
boldness and marked success. The mode in which the thrusts are provided
for in the giant dome (see Plate III. fig. 14) of Mahommed Adil Shah's
tomb (A.D. 1650), by the use of massive pendentives, hanging the weight
inside, has drawn the admiration of European architects. And this dome,
rising to about 175 ft. from the floor, roofs over an area 130 ft.
square, or 2500 sq. ft. larger than the Pantheon at Rome, where
stability is secured only by throwing a great mass of masonry on the
haunches. The Jami masjid, begun by Ali Adil Shah, 1567, but never quite
completed, is one of the finest mosques in India. The central area of
the mosque proper is covered by a large dome, supported in the same way
as that on Mahommed Shah's tomb. This dome, like all the earlier ones in
India, perhaps wants in outside elevation; but in the splendid Ibrahim
Rauza and mosque we find the domes elevated above mere segments. In this
latter group, erected about 1626, the domes are more elevated, and we
have every detail of the structure covered with the most delicate and
exquisitely elaborate carving, the windows filled with tracery, and the
cornices supported by wonderfully rich brackets. In the tomb too--as if
in defiance of constructional demands--the room, 40 ft. sq., is covered
by a perfectly level stone roof, supported only by a cove projecting on
each side from the walls.
The Indian Saracenic style of the Mogul dynasty began under the emperor
Baber, 1526; but one of the first and most characteristic examples that
remain is the mosque of Sher Shah (1541) near Delhi (see Plate I. fig.
10), and others exist at Rohtas. These earlier structures are
interesting as the initial forms of the style, but are little known to
Europeans. The emperor Akbar (1556-1605) built largely, and the style
developed so vigorously during his reign that it would be difficult to
enumerate the peculiarities of his numerous buildings. As in the Gujarat
and other styles, there is a combination of Hindu and Mahommedan
features in his works which were never perfectly blended. Like their
predecessors, the Pathans, the Moguls were a tomb-building race, and
those of the latter are even more splendid than those of the former,
more artistic in design, and more elaborately decorated. The fine tomb
of Akbar's father, Humayun, and the numerous structures at Fatehpur
Sikri best illustrate the style of his works, and the great mosque there
is scarcely matched in elegance and architectural effect; the south
gateway is well known, and from its size and structure excels any
similar entrance in India. And his tomb at Sikandra, near Agra, is a
unique structure of the kind and of great merit.
Under Jahangir the Hindu features vanished from the style; his great
mosque at Lahore is in the Persian style, covered with enamelled tiles;
his tomb near by (1630-1640) was made a quarry of by the Sikhs from
which to build their temple at Amritsar. At Agra, the tomb of
Itimad-ud-daula (see Plate IV. fig. 16), completed in 1628, built
entirely of white marble and covered wholly by _pietra dura_ mosaic, is
one of the most splendid examples of that class of ornamentation
anywhere to be found.
The force and originality of the style gave way under Shah Jahan
(1627-1658) to a delicate elegance and refinement of detail, illustrated
in the magnificent palaces erected in his reign at Agra and Delhi, the
latter once the most exquisitely beautiful in India. The most splendid
of the Mogul tombs, and the most renowned building in India, is the
far-famed mausoleum, the Taj Mahal at Agra (see Plate IV. fig. 17), the
tomb of Mumtäz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan. It is surrounded by a
garden, as were almost all Moslem tombs. The extreme delicacy of the Taj
Mahal, the richness of its material, and the complexity of its
magnificent design have been dwelt on by writers of all countries. So
also of the surpassingly pure and elegant Moti Masjid in the Agra fort,
all of white marble: these are among the gems of the style. The Jama
Masjid at Delhi is an imposing building, and its position and
architecture have been carefully considered so as to produce a pleasing
effect and feeling of spacious elegance and well-balanced proportion of
parts. In his works Shah Jahan presents himself as the most magnificent
builder of Indian sovereigns.
In Aurangzeb's reign squared stone and marble gave way to brick or
rubble with stucco ornament, and the decline of taste rapidly set in.
The buildings at Seringapatam and Lucknow are of still later date, and
though in certain respects they are imposing, they are too often tawdry
in detail.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--J. Fergusson, _History of Indian and Eastern
Architecture_ (new ed., in press); Fergusson and Burgess, _Cave
Temples of India_, 8vo (London, 1880); J. Burgess, _Reports of the
Archaeological Survey of Western India_ (9 vols. 4to, London,
1874-1905); _Rock-cut Temples of Elephanta_ (Bombay, 1871); _Buddhist
Stupas of Amaravati, &c._ (4to, 1887); _Ancient Monuments, Temples,
Sculptures, &c., in India_, 170 plates (fol. Griggs, London, 1897);
Gen. Sir A. Cunningham, _Archaeological Survey of India Reports
1862-1885_ (23 vols. 8vo; Calcutta, 1871-1886); H. Cole, _Preservation
of Ancient Monuments in India_, 100 plates (fol. Griggs, London,
1896); G. le Bon, _Les Monuments de l'Inde_ (fol. Paris, 1893); E. W.
Smith, _Mughal Architecture of Fathpur-Sikri_ (4 vols. 4to, Allahabad,
1894-1898); Sir Lepel Griffin, _Famous Monuments of Central India_
(fol. 1886); A. Rea, _Chalukyan Architecture of Southern India_ (4to,
Madras, 1896); A. Führer, _Monumental Antiquities, &c., in the N.W.
Provinces and Oudh_ (4to, Allahabad, 1891); A. Foucher, _L'Art
gréco-bouddhique du Gandhára_, 2 tomes (8vo, Paris, 1905-1908);
Grünwedel, _Buddhist Art in India_ (Eng. trans., 8vo, 1901); R. Phené
Spiers, _Architecture East and West_ (8vo, 1905); H. C. Fanshawe,
_Delhi, Past and Present_ (8vo, 1902); J. H. Ravenshaw, _Gaur: its
Ruins and Inscriptions_ (4to, 1878); Sayyid Muhammad Latif, _Lahore:
its History, Architectural Remains, &c._ (8vo, Lahore, 1892); H.
Cousens, _Bijapur, the Old Capital of the Adil Shahi Kings_ (8vo,
Poona, 1908); G. W. Forrest, _Cities of India_ (8vo, 1903); Dr W. H.
and Mrs Workman, _Through Town and Jungle, among the Temples and
People of the Indian Plains_ (8vo, 1904). (J. Bs.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The restoration of the shrine at Buddh-Gaya was begun in 1908
under the auspices of the Buddhist Shrine Restoration Society, of
which the Tashi Lama was first president and the eldest son of the
maharaja of Sikkim vice-president.
INDIAN LAW.--The law in force in British India may be conveniently
divided into five heads: (1) The law expressly made for India by the
British parliament, or by the sovereign. (2) English law in force in
India though not expressly made for India. (3) The law made by persons
or bodies having legislative authority in India. (4) Hindu law. (5)
Mahommedan law. The first three of these are frequently described as
Anglo-Indian law. They are with rare exceptions territorial, i.e. they
apply generally, either to the whole of India, or to a given area, and
to all persons within those limits. The last two are personal, i.e. they
apply only to persons who answer a given description.
1. _The Law expressly made for India by the British Parliament or the
Sovereign._--There are in existence about 120 acts of parliament
containing provisions relating to India. The greater portion of these
provisions relate to what may be called constitutional law, such as, the
power of the East India company, the transfer of these powers to the
crown, the powers of the secretary of state, of the Indian council, of
the council of the governor-general, and of the other councils in India,
and so forth. The law made by the sovereign consists mainly of charters
granted to the four high courts of Bengal, Madras, Bombay and the
North-West Provinces. A great many charters were granted to the East
India Company, and some of the earlier ones contained very important
provisions as to the legislative and judicial authority to be exercised
in India, but these provisions are now obsolete.
2. _The English Law in force in India though not made expressly for
India._--A considerable portion of the law of England, both statute law
and common law, was introduced into India by the assumption that when
courts of justice were established in India, to be presided over by
English judges, it followed that they were to administer English law as
it stood at the time of the granting of the charter so far as it was
applicable. There has been considerable doubt as to when this assumption
ceased, but the date generally assigned for this purpose is 1726. It
only applied, however, to courts established before this date under the
direct authority of the crown, that is to the charter courts of
Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, and at a very early date (21 Geo. III. c.
70) the jurisdiction of these courts was limited, practically, to the
inhabitants of the presidency towns and to suitors of European origin
residing elsewhere. Moreover, even in the presidency towns, these courts
were directed to apply to Hindus and Mahommedans their own laws in
regard to all matters of inheritance and succession, family law and
matters relating to religion or caste. In the territories outside the
presidency towns where courts of justice were established by the East
India company, acting under the authority of the emperor of Delhi, the
only assumption that could be made as to the law to be administered was
that it was the law already in existence. Acting on this assumption the
company's courts administered the Mahommedan criminal law which was the
general law of the subjects of the Mogul emperor: the revenue system
remained, as did also the existing relations of zemindar and ryot, i.e.
of the cultivator and of the persons intermediate between the state and
the cultivator. In regard to matters of family law, inheritance and
succession, religion and caste the company's courts were expressly
enjoined to apply the Hindu law to the Hindus, and the Mahommedan law to
the Mahommedans. Of course it was also the duty of these courts to
recognize well-established local usages. Thus practically all the topics
of litigation at that time likely to arise were provided for. It was as
time went on, when by intercourse with Europeans new ideas, and with
them new wants, sprang up in the native populations, that gaps came to
be discovered in the law. To such cases the judges had been vaguely told
that they were to apply "the rules of equity and good conscience," which
they naturally sought in the English law. The matters in which the
notions of English law have most affected India are the power of
completely separating the ownership of property from the enjoyment of
it by means of trusts, the testamentary power, the creation of life
estates, the substitution of one owner of property for another on the
happening of some future event, the rules of evidence, criminal law,
civil and criminal procedure and the subordination of the executive to
the ordinary law. Upon all of these topics the law of India is mainly
English. Not that the whole of it rests upon the slender authority above
described. Much of it, as will appear presently, was introduced by the
Indian legislatures; much of it also, although originally introduced by
the courts, has since received legislative sanction.
3. _The Law made by Persons or Bodies in India having Legislative
Authority._--As a general proposition it would be true to say that
wherever a British authority has legislated in India it has been largely
influenced by the English law. The legislative authorities in India are
very numerous. Those now existing are (1) the governor-general of India
in council; (2) the governor of Madras in council; (3) the governor of
Bombay in council; (4) the lieutenant-governor of Bengal in council; (5)
the lieutenant-governor of the North-Western Provinces in council; (6)
the lieutenant-governor of the Punjab in council; (7) the
lieutenant-governor of Burma in council; (8) the lieutenant-governor of
Eastern Bengal and Assam in council. No legislative enactments of any
kind passed in India before 1793 are now in force. In Bengal in the year
1793 forty-eight regulations (as they were then called) were passed in a
single day, and it was assumed that all previous legislation in Bengal
was thereby superseded. Similar regulations were passed about the same
time, and the same assumption was made, in Madras and Bombay. As new
territories were acquired by the government of India, the existing
regulations were in some cases extended to them, but in other cases this
was thought not to be convenient, and for these territories the
governor-general in council issued general orders, not in the regular
way of legislation but in exercise of his executive power. Hence the
distinction between "regulation" and "non-regulation" provinces. Any
doubt as to the validity of the orders so made was removed by the Indian
Councils Act 1861. The term "regulations" was dropped after the passing
of the 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 85 (1833), and since that time the word "Acts"
has been in use. Acts are referred to by the year of their enactment.
Several attempts at extensive legislation in India, intended apparently
as a step towards a general codification of the law, have been made. The
act of 1833 above mentioned directed the issue of a commission in India
which was intended to survey the whole field of law and to suggest such
alterations as appeared desirable. Of this commission Lord Macaulay was
a member. It never attempted to perform the large task indicated in its
appointment, but it produced a draft of the Penal Code (Act XIV. of
1860). It was not, however, until 22 years after Lord Macaulay left
India that the Penal Code became law, and in the meantime the draft had
been a good deal altered. The Penal Code is, undoubtedly, the most
important, as it is also the most successful, effort of Indian
legislation. It is to a large extent a reproduction of the English law
of crimes. But there are some important differences; for whereas there
are in English law no authoritative definitions of such important crimes
as murder, manslaughter, assault and theft, and many kindred offences,
the Penal Code seeks to define every crime with precision. Moreover, the
Penal Code imports into the definition of nearly every crime, and,
therefore, into the charge on which the accused is tried, words the
purport of which is to describe the state of mind of the accused at the
time the alleged act was committed, thereby making it necessary to
ascertain at the trial what that state of mind was. This in England is
not necessary to anything like the same extent. For example in England,
in order to charge a man with manslaughter all that is necessary to
allege is that A killed B. But in order to charge a man with culpable
homicide it is necessary to state with much particularity what the
accused intended, or what he knew to be likely to happen when he did the
act; and this condition of mind must be proved at the trial. It is true
that this proof is facilitated by certain presumptions, but
nevertheless it sometimes presents considerable difficulty. On the other
hand, in dealing with offences against property the authors of the Penal
Code have cleared away entirely the difficulties which have long beset
the English law as to how to deal with a man who, having become
possessed of property, dishonestly misappropriates it. English lawyers
have tried to squeeze as many of these cases as they can into the crime
of larceny. The Penal Code simply makes dishonest misappropriation a
crime in itself. (See further CRIMINAL LAW.)
In 1853 and again in 1861 commissions were appointed in England to draw
up a body of laws for India "in preparing which the English law should
be used as a basis," but the only direct result of these two commissions
was the Indian Succession Act (Act X. of 1865). But as Hindus and
Mahommedans are excluded from the operation of this act its application
is limited. The wills of Hindus are provided for by Act XXI. of 1870.
Two important acts, however, were passed in India shortly after the
attempt to legislate for India through commissions sitting in England
came to an end, namely the Evidence Act (Act I. of 1872) and the
Contract Act (Act IX. of 1872). Both these acts have been a good deal
criticized. Two other important acts passed somewhat later are the
Transfer of Property Act (Act IV. of 1882) and the Trusts Act (Act IV.
of 1882). These acts are all substantially reproductions of the English
law.
The law relating to land revenue has been the subject of innumerable
regulations and acts of the Indian legislature. A description of the
revenue systems prevailing in India will be found in the article on
India. The law which governs the relation of ryots (i.e. cultivators) to
those who for want of a better term we must call landlords has grown to
a considerable extent out of the revenue system. The view which was at
first taken of this relation was unfortunately affected by English
notions of the relation of landlord and tenant, but this view has been
considerably modified in favour of the tenant by recent legislation.
BOOKS OF REFERENCE ON ANGLO-INDIAN LAW.--Morley, _Analytical Digest_
(1849); Stokes, _Anglo-Indian Codes_ (1887); Ilbert, _Government of
India_ (1906), which contains a very useful Table of Acts of
Parliament and Digest of their contents; Strachey, _India, its
Administration and Progress_ (1903); Baden-Powell, _Land Systems of
British India_ (1892); Wigley, _Chronological Tables of Indian
Statutes_ (Calcutta, 1897).
Sources of Hindu Law.
4. _Hindu Law._--The Hindu law is in theory of divine origin, and
therefore unchangeable by human authority. Ask a Hindu where his law is
to be found, and he will reply "In the Shasters." The Shasters are
certain books supposed to be divinely inspired, and all of great
antiquity. They contemplate a state of society very unlike that of the
present day, or that of many centuries back. It follows that these
sacred writings, whilst they leave many of the legal requirements of the
present day wholly unprovided for, contain many provisions which no
Hindu even would now think of enforcing. Consequently, in spite of the
theory, the law had to be changed. Legislation, which with us is the
most potent as well as the most direct instrument of change, has had
scarcely any effect on the Hindu law. Probably it never entered into the
head of any Hindu before British rule was set up in India that any human
agency could be entrusted with the power of making or changing the law;
and although both the Indian legislatures and the British parliament
have full power to legislate for Hindus upon all matters without any
exception, they have, in fact, hardly ever exercised this power as
regards the Hindu law. Custom is a less direct instrument of change than
legislation, and operates more slowly and secretly, but its influence is
very great. The custom which supplants the sacred law may indeed be as
old or older than the sacred law, and its existence may be due to the
divinely inspired law having failed to displace it; or the habits and
necessities of the people may have engrafted the custom upon the sacred
law itself. In either view there has been no difficulty in accepting
custom where it varied from the sacred law. Indeed, the sacred books
themselves recognize to some extent the operation of custom. Thus we
find it said in the Laws of Manu (viii. 4, 1), "the king who knows the
sacred law must inquire into the laws of castes, of districts, of gilds
and of families, and thus settle the peculiar law of each." It is to the
influence of custom that the divergence between the Hindu law of to-day
and that of the Shasters is largely due. Another method by which law is
developed, and one more subtle still, is interpretation; and it is one
which in skilful hands may be used with considerable effect. Without any
dishonesty, people very often find in the language of the law words
sufficiently vague and comprehensive to cover the sense which they are
looking for. The action of interpretation upon Hindu law differs
accordingly as it took place before or after the British occupation.
Formerly the only persons whose interpretation was accepted as
authoritative were the writers of commentaries. But the Indian courts
are very sparing in accepting modern commentaries as authoritative,
though nevertheless they carefully record their own interpretations of
the law, and these are always treated as authoritative. It follows, from
the very nature of the influences thus brought to bear upon law, that
not only have the sacred books been departed from, but that different
results have been arrived at in different parts of India. The
differences have led recent writers to speak of five schools of Hindu
law, called respectively the Benares school, the Bengal or Gauriya
school, the Bombay school or school of western India, the Dravida school
or school of southern India and the Mithila school--the district last
named being a very small one to the south of and adjoining Nepal. But it
would be a great mistake to suppose that the differences between these
so-called schools are comparable to each other in importance. As will
appear presently, it would be much more correct to speak of two schools,
that of Benares and that of Bengal--the other three being subdivisions
of the first.
Sacred Books.
It will be convenient to give a short description of those of the sacred
books which are actually in use in the Indian courts when they desire to
ascertain the Hindu law. Of these by far the first in importance, as
well as the first in date, is the one which we call the Laws of Manu. It
has been translated by Professor Buhler, and forms vol. xxv. of the
"Sacred Books of the East," edited by Professor Max Müller. If we
examine it, we find that only about one-fourth of the book deals with
matters which we should call legal, the rest being concerned with topics
either purely religious or ceremonial. And of these topics only one,
that relating to partition of family property, belongs to that portion
of the Hindu law which is administered in the courts, and, as one would
expect, what is said on this topic has been largely departed from under
the influences above described. Very little is known as to the date of
the Laws of Manu. They are probably much older than their present form,
which Buhler places somewhere between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200. Of more
interest than the exact date is the state of society which they
disclose. The tribal and nomadic stage had passed away. Society had so
far settled down as to possess a regular form of government under a
king. The people were divided into four great castes, representing
religion, war, commerce and agriculture and servitude. Justice is spoken
of as administered by the king. Provision is made for the recovery of
debts and the punishment of offences. There are rules relating to the
pasture of cattle, trespass by cattle and the enclosure of cultivated
fields. There was evidently considerable wealth in the shape of horses,
carriages, clothes, jewelry and money. There is no mention of land in
general as the subject of permanent private property, though no doubt
the homestead and the pasture land immediately adjoining were
permanently owned.
The (so-called) Smriti of Yajnavalkya was, no doubt, a work of
considerable importance in its day, and is still sometimes referred to.
It shows a somewhat more advanced state of society than the Laws of
Manu. The occupier of land has a firmer hold upon it, and there seems to
be even a possibility of transferring land by sale. The date of it has
not been fixed, but it is thought to be later than the Laws of Manu.
The Smriti of Narada belongs to a still later period, perhaps to the
5th or 6th century of our era. It goes more into detail than the other
two books just mentioned.
But far more important for practical purposes than these sacred books
are the commentaries. These are not sacred. The most important of them
all is that known as the Mitacshara. The author of it was named
Vijnaneswara. His work is a commentary on the Smriti of Yajnavalkya, and
it is supposed to have been written in the latter half of the 11th
century. Only a portion of it is used by the law courts--that portion
which relates to the partition of family property. The Mitacshara is an
important authority for Hindus all over India, and in the greater part
its authority is supreme. But there is one very important exception. In
the district which is sometimes called Bengal Proper (from its
correspondence with the ancient kingdom of Bengal, of which Gaur was the
capital), and may be roughly described as the valley of the Ganges below
Bhagalpur, the prevailing authority is a treatise called the Dayabhaga.
It is, like the Mitacshara, as its name imports, a treatise on
partition. The author of it was Jimutavahana. There does not appear to
be any more distinct clue to its date than that this author wrote after
the 12th century and before the 16th. The very important points of
difference between the two commentaries will be stated hereafter. In
western India there is a commentary of authority called the Vyavahara
Mayukha. It belongs to the 16th century. Generally its authority is
secondary to that of the Mitacshara, but in Gujrat its authority is to
some extent preferred. In the south of India the Smriti Chandrika is a
work of importance. It belongs to the 13th century. It generally follows
the Mitacshara, but is fuller on some points. The Vivada Chintamani is
used in the small district of Mithila. It is said to belong to the 15th
century.
The joint family.
The joint family is by far the most important institution of Hindu
society, and it is only through the joint family that we can form a
proper conception of the Hindu law. It is the form in which the
patriarchal system has survived in India. There is nowhere in Hindu
literature, ancient or modern, a description of it as it has existed at
any time. In its general features it has always been too universal and
too well known to be described. In the Laws of Manu we find very little
about it, but what we do find is of great interest. The subject is taken
up with reference to a question which in every patriarchal system
imperatively requires an answer. What is to be done when a break-up of
the family is threatened by the death of the common ancestor? Upon this
subject the author of the Laws of Manu says in chap. ix. v. 104: "After
the death of the father and the mother, the brothers being assembled,
may divide among themselves in equal shares the paternal estate, for
they have no power over it while the parents live." Then in v. 105, "or
the eldest son alone may take the whole paternal estate; the others
shall live under him just as they lived under the father." And in v.
III, "Either let them thus live together, or apart if each desires to
gain spiritual merit, for by their living separate merit increases,
hence separation is meritorious."
We may put aside what is said about the mother which is probably a
survival of polyandry, and is now obsolete, and fix our attention upon
three important points: (1) Authority is attributed to the father during
his life; (2) the same absolute authority is attributed to the eldest
son upon the father's death, if the family remains undivided; (3) the
sons are at liberty, are indeed recommended, to divide the property.
Now, though there may be doubts as to how far this type of family was at
any time the universal one, there cannot be any doubt that in those
early times it largely prevailed, and that the modern Hindu joint family
is directly derived from it. Moreover, it must be remembered that what
is here discussed is not ownership, but managership. If the family
remained undivided, the eldest son did not take the family property as
owner; he only became the uncontrolled manager of it. So far as there
was any notion of ownership of the family property, and it was in those
early times quite rudimentary, it was in the nature of what we call
corporate ownership. The property belonged not to the individual
members of the family collectively, but to the family as a whole; to use
a modern illustration, not to the members of a family as partnership
property belongs to partners, but as collegiate property belongs to
fellows of a college. Probably, however, in early times it never
occurred to any one to look very closely into the nature of ownership,
for until the question of alienation arises the difference between
managership and ownership is not of very great importance; and this
question did not arise until much later. When and under what
circumstances Hindus first began to consider more carefully the nature
of ownership we have no means of ascertaining. But we have very clear
evidence that there was at one time a very warm controversy on the
subject. Each of the two leading commentaries on Hindu law, the
Mitacshara and the Dayabhaga, opens with a very long discussion as to
when and how a son becomes entitled to be called an owner of the family
property. Two conflicting theories are propounded. One is that the sons
are joined with the father in the ownership in his lifetime; the other
is that they only become owners when he dies, or relinquishes worldly
affairs, which, according to Hindu ideas, like taking monastic vows,
produces civil death. The author of the Mitacshara adopts the first of
these views; the author of the Dayabhaga adopts the second; and this
radical difference led to the great schism in the Hindu law. It follows
that, according to the Dayabhaga view, the sons not being owners, the
father is sole owner. He is both sole owner and uncontrolled manager.
According to the Mitacshara view the father and the sons together are
the owners, not as individuals, but as a corporation. But even this is
not inconsistent with the father retaining his absolute control as
manager. How far he has done so will be considered presently.
Hitherto, for the sake of simplicity, the position of father and son has
alone been considered; but now take the case of several brothers living
together with sons and grandsons. What is the nature of the ownership in
this case, and in whom is it vested? Neither in the Dayabhaga nor in the
Mitacshara is this question discussed directly, but each of these
commentaries discloses the answer which its author would give to this
question. According to the Mitacshara, of however many different
branches, and of however many different members, a family may consist,
they all form a single unity or corporation to which the family property
belongs. Not that this is asserted in so many words; there is probably
no Sanskrit word corresponding at all nearly to our word corporation.
But this is the only language in which a modern lawyer can describe the
situation. The members of the family are not partners; no one can
separately dispose of anything, not even an undivided share. It is quite
otherwise under the Dayabhaga. The property belongs to the members of
the family, not as a corporation, but as joint owners or partners. Each
is the owner of his undivided share; but not all the members of the
Dayabhaga family have a share in the ownership; the sons whose fathers
are alive are entirely excluded: the owners are those members of the
family of any age who have no direct living ancestor.
This was the nature of family ownership in its two principal forms, but
the possibility that an individual member of the family could have
something exclusively his own is clearly recognized in the Laws of Manu.
Thus in chap. ix. v. 206, it is said, "Property acquired by learning
belongs solely to him to whom it was given, likewise the gift of a
friend, a present received in marriage, or with the honey mixture." And
again in v. 208, "What the brother may acquire by his labour without
using the patrimony, that acquisition made solely by his own effort he
shall not share, unless by his own will, with his brothers"; and these
texts, as we shall see presently, are still of practical application.
Nowhere has a strict family system prevailed without some analogous
measure of relief (see Sir H. Maine, _Early History of Institutions_, p.
110).
The modern Hindu joint family is a community the members of which are
all descended from a common ancestor, and the wives and unmarried
daughters of those who are married. Perhaps the wives and daughters
might more correctly be said to belong to the family than to be members
of it. In its complete form the family is said to be joint in food,
worship and estate; and notwithstanding the divergence between the
Mitacshara and Dayabhaga systems, the main external features of such a
family are the same all over India. Every Hindu family has a common
home. This does not mean that there is a single house in which all the
members of the family continuously reside, but there is one house where
the family gods remain, where the wants of all the members of the family
are provided for, where the family worship is conducted, and to which
every member of the family is at any time at liberty to resort. This is
the real home of a Hindu. Any other residence, however long it may last,
is looked upon as temporary. Here also the wives and children remain
whilst the men are employed at a distance. With regard to the enjoyment
of the family property there is no distinction, except such as the
members of the family themselves choose to make. Everything is enjoyable
in common. This is the same all over India. It is very necessary to
distinguish between ownership and enjoyment. Although the ownership of
the family property under the Mitacshara differs very materially (as
explained above) from that under the Dayabhaga, the enjoyment in both
cases is the same. There is one common fund out of which the wants of
the family are supplied. No one is dependent upon his own contribution
to the family fund. No one member can say to another, "You have consumed
more than your share, and you must make it good." On the other hand,
whatever is earned goes into the common stock. Though separate
acquisition is possible, it is exceptional, and there is always a
presumption that the earnings of all the members belong to the common
fund, so that if any member claims property as self-acquired he must
establish his assertion by evidence as to how he acquired it, and that
he did so "without using the patrimony." The accounts of the family are
kept by the manager, who is usually the eldest male, and he also
generally manages the property. But he is assisted and controlled by the
other members of the family. No separate account is kept of what each
member contributes or receives. The expenditure on behalf of the various
members of the family is scarcely ever equal, but this inequality
creates no debt between the members of the family. If any one Is
dissatisfied he can protest, and if his protest is not listened to,
there is only one remedy--he can demand a partition. The powers of the
manager are those of an agent: it is very rare to find them formally
expressed, and they must be gathered from the usual course of dealing,
either amongst Hindus generally, or in the particular family to which
the manager belongs; and it is the custom for all the adult male members
of the family to be consulted in matters of serious importance. The
alienation of land is always looked upon as a matter of special
importance, and, except in cases of urgent necessity, requires the
express assent of all the members of the family.
Partition.
If any member of a Hindu family who is one of the co-owners wishes for a
partition, he can demand one, there never having been any compulsion on
the members of a Hindu family to live in common. Of course in a
Dayabhaga family there can only be a partition as between brothers, or
the descendants of brothers; between a father and his sons there can be
no partition, the sons not being owners. The father may, if he chooses
to do so, distribute the property amongst his sons, and he sometimes
does so; but this is a distribution of his own property, and not a
partition. The father can distribute the property as he pleases. But the
absolute power of the father in this respect has only been recently
established. It used to be thought that, if the father made a
distribution, he must give to each of his sons an equal share. It is now
settled that the father is absolute. Under the Mitacshara, the ownership
being vested in the father and sons, there can be a partition between
father and sons, and the sons can always insist that, if a partition is
made, their rights shall be respected. Whether, under the Mitacshara
law, the sons have the right to demand a partition in opposition to
their father has been much disputed. It is now generally considered
that the sons have such a right.
In modern times if a partition takes place everything belonging to the
family in common must be divided, even the idols. If there is only one
idol, then each member of the family will be entitled to a "turn of
worship," as it is called. It is, however, open to the members of the
family to make any special arrangements either for retaining any portion
of the property as joint, or as to the mode of carrying out of the
partition, provided they can all agree to it. It is remarkable that in
the Laws of Manu no such complete partition as can now be required is
prescribed. A list of articles is given of considerable importance of
which no partition could be claimed. In chap. ix. v. 219, it is said, "A
dress, a vehicle, ornaments, cooked food, water and female slaves,
property destined for pious uses and sacrifices, and a pasture ground"
are all declared to be indivisible. Land and the right of way to the
family house were also at one time indivisible. These things, therefore,
must have been used in common after partition had taken place, which
looks as if the family were not entirely broken up; and it is possible
that they inhabited several houses within the same enclosure, as is
sometimes seen at the present day. It is not always easy to subdivide
property amongst the sharers, especially where they are numerous; and
cases occur where a better division could be made by selling the whole
or a portion of the property, and dividing the proceeds. This could
always be done with the consent of all the sharers; and now by Act IV.
of 1893 of the governor-general in council it can be done with the
consent of a moiety in value of the sharers.
Rulers in India are apt to look upon their territories as private
property, but there is no instance on record of the succession to the
throne being considered as partible. On the contrary, in the families
which now represent the small mediatized princes, the family property is
frequently, by a special custom, considered to be impartible. The
property descends to the eldest male, the younger members of the family
getting allowances, generally in the form of temporary assignments of
portions of the family property.
Of course only the family property can be divided, and if any of the
members make a claim on the ground of self-acquisition to exclude
anything from partition, this claim must be considered; and if it is
upheld, that portion of the property must be excluded from partition.
These claims sometimes give rise to a good deal of litigation, and are
not always easy to determine. It must be borne in mind, however, that
self-acquired property becomes family property as soon as it has once
descended. Thus if a man by a separate trade earns Rs.10,000, and dies
leaving two sons and the son of a third son, these persons form a joint
family, and the Rs.10,000 is family property. So also family property
which has been partitioned remains family property still. Thus if A, a
bachelor, gets on partition a piece of land and afterwards marries and
has sons, under the Mitacshara law the father and sons form a joint
family as soon as the sons are born, and to this family the land
belongs.
Inheritance.
When we come to deal with the question of what shares are taken on
partition, it is convenient to follow the example of the Hindu
commentators, and to treat the subject of inheritance in conjunction
with it. The relative importance of these two subjects has not always
been perceived, particularly by the early English writers on Hindu law.
H. T. Colebrooke, the learned and accomplished translator of the
Mitacshara and the Dayabhaga, published the two treatises together in
one volume which he called _The Law of Inheritance_. But these
treatises, although they deal incidentally with inheritance, are both
described by their authors as treatises on partition only; and this, no
doubt, is because the subject of inheritance, apart from partition, is
of comparatively small importance. Inheritance is the transfer of
ownership which occurs at and in consequence of a death. It follows from
this that in a Mitacshara joint family there is no inheritance. The
death of a member of the family makes no change in the ownership; not
any more than the death, of a fellow in the ownership of a college, or
of a shareholder in the ownership of a railway company. In a Dayabhaga
family there is a case of inheritance whenever a member dies. The share
of that member descends to his heir. But here, again, no perceptible
change in the affairs of the family is occasioned thereby. The enjoyment
of the family property is no more affected thereby than by a death in a
Mitacshara family. It is only when a partition takes place that the
devolution of the shares by inheritance has to be traced. Inheritance,
therefore, apart from partition, has not to be considered when we are
dealing with family property under either system.
Let us now consider partition in a Mitacshara family. Of course the only
persons who can claim a share are the members of the family. These, as
has been said, are the male descendants of a common ancestor through
males, their wives and daughters. But the females are entirely excluded
from any share on a partition, and we have to consider the males only.
The rule for ascertaining the share to which each member of the family
is entitled can be best explained by the following diagram, which
represents the male members of a Mitacshara family of whom A is the
common ancestor:--
A
+--------------------+----------+---------+
| | | |
B C D E
| | | |
+------+----+ +-----+ | |
F G H I K L M
| | | | | |
+-----+ +--+ | | | +-----+
N O P Q R S T U W
| |
+---+ |
X Y Z
The whole family may be considered as forming one group, which may
conveniently be called the group A; and it is evident on inspection that
the family may be subdivided into a number of smaller groups each
similarly organized, each group consisting of a man and his own male
descendants. Thus besides the group A we have the group B, consisting of
B and his descendants; the group C, consisting of C and his descendants;
and so on. A group may die out altogether, as if U and W were to die
childless, E and M being already dead. The rule of partition proceeds
upon the supposition--not an unnatural one--that a family, when it
breaks up, separates always into groups, and that the shares are moulded
accordingly. For example, suppose that when the partition is made the
surviving members of the family are N, O, S, T, X, Y, Z; then to find
the shares we must go back to the common ancestor and reconstruct the
pedigree. There were at first four groups, but at some time, it is
immaterial when, by the death of E and all his descendants the groups
have been reduced to three; hence the first step is to divide the
property into three equal parts, assigning one to each group. The group
B was originally represented by three smaller groups, but now by only
two, the groups F and G, and to each of these we assign ½ of 1/3, or
1/6. And, of the 1/6 assigned to the group F, N will get 1/12 and O will
get 1/12. The other 1/6 is divided between the groups P and Q, each
group getting 1/12. Then in the group P, X and Y will each get 1/24,
while Z, as the sole representative of the group Q, will get 1/12. It
may be noted in passing that this principle of division survives in the
succession _per stirpes_, of which we find so many examples in other
systems of law which had their origin in the patriarchal system. By a
similar process we should find that S and T each got 1/3 of the
property, they being the sole representatives of the groups C and D
respectively. For the sake of simplicity we have taken a case where no
example occurs of a father and son being both alive at the time of
partition. But suppose P to be alive in addition to the persons
mentioned above; then the group P gets 1/12, and that group consists of
three persons, P, X and Y. There is no precise rule as to how the
partition was to be made in such a case in the older Hindu law, and it
is rarely that a partition takes place between father and sons, but if
there should be one it is always assumed that the shares are equal, i.e.
in the case under consideration each would take 1/36.
Turning now to a Dayabhaga family, we find that the property is vested,
not in the family as a whole, but in certain individual members of
it--that is to say, in those male members of the family who have no
ancestor alive. And inasmuch as the undivided share of each member is
his own, it follows that at his death inheritance will operate and it
goes to his heirs. In order, therefore, to find what share each member
takes on partition under the Dayabhaga, we must inquire into the history
of the family and ascertain what share has become vested in each member
of the family by the ordinary rules of inheritance. The rules of
inheritance, as laid down in the Dayabhaga, are not very dissimilar to
those which we find in other parts of the world. Everywhere we find that
a man's property is taken by his nearest relatives, but there are
differences in the way in which proximity is reckoned. Everywhere also
there is a preference given to males and the relatives through males
over females and the relatives through females, but there are
differences in the extent to which this preference is carried. The
relatives of a man through males are called his agnates; the relatives
of a man through females are called his cognates. In the Hindu law as at
present administered there is no primogeniture, and a decided preference
of males over females and of agnates over cognates. With regard to the
question of proximity, the Dayabhaga lawyers deal with the matter in a
very curious way. All Hindus, as is well known, offer some sort of
sacrifice to their deceased relatives, and the person by whom the
sacrifice is to be offered as well as the nature of the offering are
very carefully prescribed. These sacrifices are said to confer a
"spiritual benefit" upon the deceased, and this spiritual benefit is
greater or less according to the nature of the offering and the person
who offers it. Now the Dayabhaga lawyers say that the person whose
offering confers the greatest spiritual benefit is entitled to succeed
as heir. This being the theory, we must see what rules govern in India
the offering of sacrifices to the dead.
The most important offering is that of the pinda, or rice cake, and the
persons who are entitled to make this offering to the deceased are
called his sapindas. The offering next in importance is that of the
lepa, or fragments of the cake, the crumbs as we might call them, and
the persons who make this offering are called sakulyas. The offering of
least importance is the simple libation of water, and persons connected
by this offering are called samonadacas. But who are sapindas, sakulyas
and samonadacas respectively, and of each class whose offering is most
efficacious? Practically we shall find that this question is solved by
rules of consanguinity not unlike those which we meet with elsewhere.
First of all come the sons; their offering is most efficacious, so that
they are the nearest heirs and all take equally. Then come the sons'
sons; then the sons' sons' sons. Here we break off. The line of
inheritance is not continued beyond the great-grandsons. There are other
cases in which, as we shall see, there is a similar break when we get
three degrees away from the propositus: nor is this peculiarity confined
to the Hindu law. We find traces of a similar break in the Roman and in
the Teutonic law. After the great-grandson comes the widow. It is
difficult to establish her claim on the ground of spiritual benefit, and
it rests upon authority rather than principle. The opinions of ancient
writers on the subject are very conflicting. They are set forth at great
length in the Dayabhaga, with a conclusion in favour of the widow.
Probably the intrusion of the widow is connected with the fact that she
could in early times by cohabitation with a brother, and in later times
by adoption, procure an heir to her sonless husband. Next to the widow
come the daughters and then the daughters' sons. Their position, again,
may be referred to the notion which prevailed in early times, that a
Hindu who had no son of his own might take one of his daughters' sons
and make him his own. Then comes the father, then the mother, then the
brothers, then the brothers' sons, and then the brothers' sons' sons.
The sisters are excluded, but their sons succeed after the brothers'
sons' sons; then come the brothers' daughters' sons. Then, leaving this
generation, we go a step backward, and proceed to exhaust the previous
generation in precisely the same way. It is only necessary to enumerate
these in their order: father's father, father's mother, father's
brothers, father's brothers' sons, father's brothers' sons' sons,
father's sisters' sons, father's brothers' daughters' sons. Then going
another step backwards we get father's father's father, father's
father's mother, father's father's brothers, father's father's brothers'
sons, father's father's sisters' sons, father's father's brothers'
daughters' sons.
So far the line of succession is confined either strictly to male
agnates, or to persons who may restore the broken line of male agnate
relationship. But at this point, under the Dayabhaga, instead of
exhausting the male agnates still further, as we might expect, we turn
now to the cognates, i.e. the relatives of the deceased through the
mother. It is said that these are also in some way sapindas. They are
generally called bandhus. There is some difficulty in finding out the
order in which they succeed, and since it is rare that an heir has to be
sought outside the father's family, the question has not been much
discussed. The question would have to be decided by the religious
doctrine of spiritual benefit, and it is not improbable that Hindus who
are accustomed to keep up sacrifices which confer the benefit would be
able to say whose sacrifice was most efficacious. When all the sapindas
both on the father's and mother's side are exhausted, we then go to the
sakulyas, and practically these are found by continuing the enumeration
of agnates upon the same principle as that already indicated through
three generations lower and three generations higher. On failure of the
sakulyas we should have to fall back upon the samonadacas, but probably
all that can be said with certainty is that the sakulyas and samonadacas
between them exhaust entirely the male agnates of the deceased. Where
there are several persons whose offerings are equally efficacious, i.e.
who stand in the same relationship to the deceased, they all take: the
male descendants _per stirpes_, and the other relatives of the deceased
_per capita_.
These, then, are the rules which govern the ascertainment of the shares
of the members of a family on a partition. Neither in a Mitacshara
family nor in a Dayabhaga family have they any effect so long as the
family remains joint: it is partition, and partition only, which brings
them into play, and it is to this event rather than death that Hindu
lawyers attach the greatest importance. Nevertheless all property in
India is not joint property. Under the Mitacshara as well as under the
Dayabhaga separate property may be acquired, and then, of course, we
have true inheritance, for which the law must provide. So far as regards
the Dayabhaga, the rules which govern the inheritance of separate
property are (as we should expect) precisely the same as those which
govern the inheritance of a share, and it is therefore unnecessary to
restate them. But it remains to lay down the rules of inheritance for
separate property under the Mitacshara law. They are not based by
Mitacshara writers upon any religious principle, as under the Dayabhaga,
yet the result is not widely different. First come the sons, then the
sons' sons, and then the sons' sons' sons. Then the widow, whose right
has been disputed, but was long ago established; then the daughters, and
then the daughters' sons. After these come the parents, and it is
peculiar that of these the mother comes before the father, then the
father's sons and then the father's sons' sons. Then we go back to the
preceding generation, and follow the same order--the father's mother,
the father's father, the father's father's sons, the father's father's
sons' sons. After this we go back another generation, and again follow
the same order--father's father's mother, father's father's father,
father's father's brother, father's father's brother's son. From this
point the statements of Hindu lawyers as to the order of succession are
very scanty and vague. One thing is certain, that under the Mitacshara
law no cognates (relations through females) are admitted until all the
agnates (relations through males) are exhausted.
Wills.
So far we have considered intestate succession only, and the power of
testamentary disposition is unknown to the true Hindu law. It was
introduced by the decisions of the British courts of justice. By a will
is meant a declaration by a man of his wishes as to the disposition of
his property after his death, taking no effect during his life. A will
is therefore by its very nature revocable. The general question whether
a Hindu could dispose of his property by will arose in Bengal when
Hindus began to attempt to dispose of their property after their death
according to the English method. At that time there was a doubt whether
the father was so completely absolute that he could dispose of his
property to the exclusion of his sons, even in his lifetime. As soon as
it was settled that he could do so, it was assumed that he could also
make a will. It seems never to have been asked why it was that up to
this time no Hindu had ever made a will, or to question the radically
false assumption that the power of alienation _inter vivos_ and the
power of testamentary alienation necessarily go together. A long series
of decisions confirmed by the legislature has, however, established that
a Hindu in modern times can dispose of any property of which he is the
sole owner. In other words, a Hindu can dispose by will of his
self-acquired property, and under the Dayabhaga a Hindu can dispose by
will of his share in family property. But the courts which created the
testamentary power have also limited it to disposition in favour of
persons living at the time of the testator's decease, thus avoiding many
of the fanciful dispositions of property to which testators in all
countries are so prone. But, curiously enough, this restriction,
salutary as it is, has also been based on the notion that a testamentary
disposition is a gift from the testator to the object of his bounty.
Debts.
In almost all countries at an early stage of civilization some legal
provision exists by which debtors can be compelled by their creditors to
pay their debts, and by which, if they fail to do so, their property can
be seized and applied to this purpose. But the extent to which this can
be done varies very considerably. So long as the family system exists in
its primitive vigour it acts as a protection to the family property
against the extravagance of a single member, and we often find that even
when the family system has almost, or completely disappeared, there is
an unwillingness to deprive the future representatives of the family of
their land and houses. Doubts, too, have arisen as to whether the same
right which a creditor has against his living debtor can be exercised
after the debtor's death against those who have succeeded to his
property. In India these two considerations have been deeply affected by
a principle enunciated by Hindu lawyers (traces of which we find in many
Eastern countries), that a man who dies in debt suffers cruel tortures
in a future state, and that it is the imperative duty of his own
immediate dependants to deliver him from these tortures by discharging
his liabilities. Whether this should be looked upon as a legal, or only
as a purely religious duty, might be questionable: the courts have
seized upon it as a basis for laying down in the broadest manner the
just rule that those who take the benefit of succession must take the
burdens also. The subject is one which has caused a great deal of
litigation in India, and whilst some points have been clearly settled,
others are still being slowly worked out. As the matter stands at
present, it may be safely said that all separate property is liable for
the debts of the owner, both in his lifetime and after his death in the
hands of his heirs. The same may be said of the share in the family
property of the member of a Dayabhaga family, of which share he is the
owner. So also the family property under both the Dayabhaga and
Mitacshara is liable as a whole for the debts incurred on behalf of the
family as a whole. As regards the question of the liability of the
family property for the separate debts of the members of a Mitacshara
family, the courts have held that the sons must pay their father's
debts. Of course illegality would be an answer to the claims of the
creditors against the heirs, just as it would be an answer to the claim
against the original debtor; but there is some authority for saying that
a debt contracted for an immoral though not an illegal purpose would not
be enforced against the heir. According to modern decisions also, if
judgment and execution on a separate debt are obtained against the
member of a Mitacshara family, the share which would fall to him upon a
partition may by process of law be set apart and sold for the benefit of
the creditor.
Maintenance.
The doctrine of what is called maintenance plays an important part in
the Hindu law, and, as we shall see, it modifies considerably the rigour
of the Hindu law in excluding from the succession females or persons
suffering from mental or bodily infirmity. The right of maintenance
under the Hindu law is the right which certain persons have to be
maintained out of property which is not their own. The persons who in
certain circumstances have this right are sons, widows, parents and
unmarried daughters and sisters. The claim of the widow arises at the
death of her husband; of a child at the death of its parent, and so
forth. The claim is not for a bare subsistence only, but to such a
provision as is suitable to the claimant having regard to his or her
position in life. Of course the sons are generally heirs, and an heir
can have no claim to maintenance; but a son excluded by any mental or
bodily defect would have a right to maintenance. The girls are generally
married in infancy, and after marriage they have no claim to maintenance
from their own family. The most frequent claim is by the widow; and it
is a very important one, because she can sometimes, through the
assertion of this claim, put herself almost in the position of an heir.
If a Hindu under the Dayabhaga dies leaving sons and a widow, the widow
is entitled to maintenance, and whilst the family remains joint she can
claim to be suitably maintained, in the family if she remains in her
husband's house, or out of it if she goes elsewhere. But if a partition
takes place she is entitled to have a share equal to that of the sons
set aside for her use. She can even, if she thinks that the sons do not
treat her properly, apply to the court to compel the sons to give her a
separate share. This, of course, gives her a very strong position.
Whether in a Mitacshara joint family the widow enjoying maintenance can
in any case claim a share on partition is doubtful.
Women's property.
In some respects, and as regards some kinds of property, the ownership
of women under the Hindu law differs from that of men. These differences
depend on the source from which the property is derived. If a woman has
inherited property from a male, or as a gift by her husband, or has
obtained it as a share on partition, she does not own it in the same way
as a man would do; she obtains only a kind of restricted ownership. She
has the full enjoyment and management of it, but she cannot sell it, or
give it away, or dispose of it by will; and at her death it goes not to
her heirs but to the heirs of the person from whom she obtained it; her
ownership simply comes to an end. If she obtained it by inheritance from
a male, it will go on her death to the heirs of that male; if as a share
on partition it will be divided amongst the other sharers; if as a gift
from her husband, to the heirs of the husband. As regards property
otherwise obtained she is in the same position as any other owner, but
the rules of inheritance applicable to it are somewhat peculiar. It
would be a mistake to look upon the restricted ownership of a woman as
what the English lawyers call a life estate. There is no such thing as a
remainder or reversion. The whole estate is vested in her. If we
endeavoured to describe the position of affairs at her death in the
technical language of the English law of real property, it would be more
correct to say that there was a shifting use. The restriction of
alienation is sometimes removed where there is a danger that the
property might otherwise be lost, as for example when the property is
likely to be sold for non-payment of government revenue, in which case a
portion may, if necessary, be sold by the woman so as to save the
remainder. So also a woman who has no other means of maintaining
herself, or of providing for the performance of religious duties which
are incumbent upon her, may sell so much of the property as will produce
the necessary funds. It would be difficult for a purchaser to know
whether he would be safe in purchasing from a widow selling under
necessity, and more difficult still to preserve evidence of the
necessity in case the necessity were disputed. Of course the woman
herself could not dispute the validity of the sales, but those who take
after her might do so. Consequently it is not unusual to obtain the
concurrence of the person who at the time of the purchase is entitled to
succeed if the widow were dead, and it has been held that if this
person concurs in the sale, no one else can dispute it on the ground
that it was unnecessary.
Husband and wife.
The subject of marriage is dealt with at considerable length in the Laws
of Manu, and it is clear that, as originally conceived, marriage under
the Hindu law consisted in nothing more than the mere possession of the
woman, however obtained, by the man with the intention of making her his
wife. Eight kinds of marriage are enumerated, and to each kind is
assigned a separate name. The first four kinds are merely different
forms of gift of the girl by her father to the husband. The other four
kinds are--obtaining possession of a girl by purchase, fraud, ravishment
or consent of the girl herself. But the simple gift of the girl by her
father without any bargain or recompense was even then considered the
most reputable form of marriage, and it is now the only one in common
use amongst orthodox Hindus. The sale of the daughter was even in those
early times stigmatized as disgraceful, but it was valid; and even now,
if there were an actual transfer of the girl by the father, it is
scarcely probable that the courts would inquire whether any inducement
was given for the transfer. The transaction takes place entirely between
the father of the girl and the future husband; the girl has nothing to
do but to obey. If the girl has no father, then it will be the duty of
her nearest male relatives to dispose of her in marriage. If, however,
the girl is not married when she attains puberty (which is very rare),
then she may choose a husband for herself. The father cannot dispose of
his son in marriage as he can of his daughter, nor is anything said
about his consent in the matter; though in the case of a very young boy
there can be no doubt that the consent of one or both parents is
obtained. The marriage of very young boys is very common, and is
certainly valid.
The ceremonies which precede and accompany a marriage are very numerous.
By far the most important is that which consists in the bridegroom
taking the bride's hand and walking seven steps. Amongst Hindus
generally the performance of this ceremony following upon a betrothal
would be treated as conclusive evidence of a marriage, whilst the
omission of it would, amongst orthodox Hindus, be almost conclusive that
no marriage had yet taken place. But still any particular customs of the
tribe or caste to which the parties belonged would always be considered,
and it cannot be said that the completion or non-completion of this
ceremony is universally conclusive as to the existence of a marriage.
There may be communities of Hindus which require something more than
this; there are certainly some which require something less, and others
which require something altogether different. There are lower castes in
some parts of India calling themselves Hindus in which the only ceremony
accompanying a marriage is giving a feast to which the members of the
two families are invited.
The marriage of Hindus is complete without consummation; and as girls
are almost invariably married before the age of puberty, and sometimes
long before, consummation is generally deferred, it may be, for several
years. But all this time the parties are husband and wife, and if the
husband dies the child becomes a widow. The condition of these child
widows in India is certainly not an enviable one, for practically they
can never hope to marry again. Whether the second marriage would be
lawful was a disputed point in Hindu law until an act of the Indian
Legislature (Act XV. of 1860) declared in favour of the opinion that the
widow might remarry. But the social prejudice against remarriage is
still very strong, and such a marriage rarely takes place. If the widow
has inherited any property from her husband, she loses it by contracting
a second marriage. There is no legal restraint upon the number of wives
that a Hindu may marry, but polygamy is not practised so largely as is
sometimes supposed.
Members of the three higher castes are forbidden to marry a woman of the
same _gotra_ as themselves. Literally a gotra means a cattle-yard, and
the prohibition is considered to exclude marriage between all those who
are descended from the same male ancestor through an uninterrupted line
of males. This rule is said not to apply to Sudras. But there is another
rule which applies to all Hindus, and prohibits the marriage of a man
with a girl descended from his paternal or maternal ancestors within the
sixth degree. The working out of the rule is a little peculiar, but the
result is to give a rather wide rule of exclusion of both agnates and
cognates. There is, however, this important exception to these rules of
exclusion--that if a fit match cannot otherwise be procured, a man may
marry a girl within the fifth degree on the father's side and the third
on the mother's. Practically this reduces the limit of exclusion to that
last stated, because no one but the parties themselves with whom the
choice rested could say whether or no any other suitable wife was
available to the husband.
A Hindu must also marry within his caste: a Brahmin must marry a
Brahmin, a Rajput must marry a Rajput, and a Sudra must marry a Sudra.
Whether there are any other representatives of the four original castes
is very doubtful, and even the claim of the Rajputs to represent the
military caste is disputed. Still the rule of prohibition is so far
clear. But there are innumerable subdivisions of Hindus which are also
called castes, and as a matter of fact these minor castes do not
intermarry. How far such marriages would be lawful it is difficult to
say. The matter is entirely one of custom. The ancient Hindu law
furnishes no guide on the subject, because under the ancient law the
intermarriages of persons of different castes, even the highest, though
they were considered undesirable, were recognized as legal. Modern
Hindus seem disposed to deny the validity of marriages between persons
of different castes in either sense of the term.
Divorce, in the sense of a rupture of the marriage tie, is not known to
the true Hindu law. But unchastity deprives a wife of all her rights
except to a bare maintenance, and this without any legal proof. She
cannot succeed her husband as his heir, and of course she cannot
remarry. A little confusion has been caused by the fact that a Hindu
husband sometimes goes through a private ceremony which is erroneously
called a divorce. But this is only done in order more effectually to bar
an unchaste wife from succeeding to his property. Some very low castes
are, however, said to allow a husband to divorce his wife, and even to
allow the divorced wife to marry again. The single case in which a Hindu
marriage can be dissolved by a court of law is by a proceeding under Act
XXI. of 1860, which was passed to meet the difficulties which arise when
one of the parties to a Hindu marriage becomes a Christian. In this
case, if the convert after deliberation during a prescribed time refuses
to cohabit any longer with the other party, the court may declare the
marriage tie to be dissolved, and a woman whose marriage has been thus
dissolved is declared capable of marrying again.
Suttee.
An interesting chapter in the history of the modern development of Hindu
law is that of the practice of what we call Suttee, though, properly
speaking, the native term (_Sati_) denotes, not a practice, but a
person, i.e. a faithful wife. The practice in question is that of the
widow burning herself with her husband when his body is burned after his
death. This, according to Hindu ideas, is a laudable act of devotion on
the part of the widow, and when Great Britain first began to administer
the law in India it was not uncommon. The newcomers had not as yet taken
upon themselves the responsibility of altering the law, but of course
British officers did what they could to discourage the practice, and
especially to prevent any pressure being put upon the widow to perform
the sacrifice. They could also take advantage of any circumstance which
would render the case an improper one for the performance of the
sacrifice, as, for example, that compulsion had been put upon the widow,
or that the burning did not take place with the body of the husband. But
if the proceedings were according to Hindu notions regular, it was
contrary to the principles on which the governor-general then acted to
interfere, and British officers had frequently to stand by, and, by not
interfering, to give a sort of sanction to the sacrifice. When later the
servants of the East India company began to assume a more direct
responsibility for the government of the country, many suggestions were
made for legislative interference. But, acting on the salutary
principle that it was unwise to interfere in any way with the religion
of the people, the government abstained from doing so. In the meantime a
considerable body of opinion against the practice had grown up amongst
Hindus themselves, and at length the government thought it safe to
interfere. By Regulation XVII. of 1829 widow-burning was declared to be
a criminal offence. The measure produced no serious opposition. There
was hardly a single prosecution under this Regulation; and from this
time the practice of widow-burning has entirely disappeared from that
part of India which is under British rule.
Father and son.
There are certain peculiarities in the relation of father and son in
India which have given rise to the suggestion that there is no
relationship between sonship and marriage, and that the notion of
sonship in India is founded entirely on that of ownership--ownership of
the mother and a consequent ownership of the child. But the arguments by
which this view is supported do not appear to be sufficient. The rights
of a father over his son, and of a husband over his wife are, it is
true, so far like the rights of ownership that both are in the nature of
rights _in rem_--that is, they are available against any person who
infringes them; but it is contrary to established usage to speak of
rights over a free person as rights of ownership, and no one is prepared
to say that the wife or child are slaves of the father. There is no
reason for abandoning in India the ordinary view, that sonship depends
on marital cohabitation between the father and mother. There are
undoubtedly in certain special and exceptional cases methods of
acquiring sons otherwise than by marital cohabitation. But these
contrivances can only be resorted to when there is no son by marriage,
and the fiction which, as we shall see, is resorted to to conceal the
true nature of these contrivances, would be entirely meaningless, as
would most of the rules which regulate them, if sonship in general was
based entirely on ownership. There were at one time more contrivances
than there are now for supplying the want of male issue by marriage. At
one time a son could be begotten for a man who was dead by cohabitation
of his widow with a member of his family or perhaps even with a
stranger. This is generally looked upon as a survival of polyandry. But
this practice, though alluded to in the Laws of Manu as still
subsisting, is now entirely obsolete. So there was a custom at one time
by which a father could appoint a daughter to raise up male issue for
him. The head of the family could also, if he had no son born in
wedlock, accept as his own any child born in his house whose mother was
not known or not married. So he could accept as his own the son of his
wife born before marriage, or the son of his concubine. In the last
three cases he may have been, and probably was, himself the father. But
none of these contrivances for procuring a son is now in use. The only
contrivance now employed for procuring a son, in the absence of one born
in wedlock, is by taking into the family the son of another man who is
willing to part with him. This is called adoption. There are two kinds
of adopted sons: one called dattaka and the other kritrima. The former
is in use all over India; the latter only in Mithila. The following
rules apply to the dattaka born of adoption: A man can only adopt who is
without issue capable of inheriting his property, of performing the
funeral ceremonies for himself, and of making the necessary offerings to
his ancestors. A woman cannot adopt. But by the authority of her
husband, and acting on his behalf, she may select a son and receive him
into the family. A man can adopt a son without his wife's assent;
nevertheless, the son when adopted becomes the son of both parents.
Hindus consider it a grievous misfortune that the line of male descent
should be broken. The due performance of the sacrificial offerings to
the dead is thereby interrupted. Probably this explains the great
latitude given in some parts of India to the widow to adopt a son on
behalf of her husband in case he has died sonless. There is a text which
says, "Nor let a woman give or accept a son unless with the assent of
her lord." But the lawyers of western India do not consider that any
express permission to adopt is necessary, and take it for granted that
she always has that permission. In Southern India, also, the widow may
adopt without express permission, but the sapindas must give their
sanction to make the adoption valid. Elsewhere the words have received
their natural interpretation, namely, that the husband must in some way
indicate his intention that his widow should have authority to adopt.
The only person to whom an authority to adopt can be given is the wife
or widow; and no widow can be compelled to exercise her power to adopt
if she does not wish to do so. The father has absolute power to give
away his son in adoption even without the consent of his wife. But her
consent is generally asked and obtained before the son is given. After
the father's death the widow may give a son in adoption. The rule which
in former times rendered it necessary that the nearest male sapinda
should be adopted is obsolete, and the adoption of a stranger is valid,
although nearer relatives otherwise suitable are in existence. A man may
adopt any child whose mother he could have married if she had been
single; if he could not have done so, then he cannot adopt her child.
The reason given in the text is that the adopted son must bear the
resemblance of a son. This recalls the _dictum_ of the Roman
law--_adoptio naturam imitatur_. The adopted son and the adopting father
must be of the same caste. The period fixed for adoption by the three
higher castes is before the ceremony of upandyana, or investiture of the
child with the thread which these castes always wear over the left
shoulder. For Sudras, who have no thread, the period is prior to the
marriage of the child. There has been much difference of opinion as to
whether an only son can be given and received in adoption. It is now
settled that the texts which discountenance this adoption do not
constitute a prohibition which the law will enforce.
There is sometimes a difficulty in ascertaining whether or no an
adoption has actually taken place. There must be a final giving and
receiving of the child in adoption, and for Sudras nothing more is
required. For the twice-born classes it is not finally settled whether
any religious ceremony is actually necessary in order to render the
adoption valid. But some religious ceremony in almost all cases
accompanies the adoption, so that the absence of any such ceremony will
always raise a suspicion that the adoption, though it may have been
contemplated and some steps taken towards it, had not been finally
completed. If an adoption were in itself invalid, no acquiescence and no
lapse of time could make it valid--just as an invalid marriage could not
be similarly validated. But acquiescence by the family would be strong
evidence of the validity of an adoption, and the rules of limitation by
barring any suit in which the question could be raised might render the
adoption practically unassailable.
The kritrima adoption is altogether different; although the adopted son
performs the ceremonies for his adopting father's family, and has a
right to succeed, he is nevertheless not cut off from his own family. A
person of any age may be adopted, and he must be old enough to be able
to consent to the adoption, as without this consent it cannot take
place. In this form a female can adopt, and no ceremonies are required.
AUTHORITIES.--HINDU LAW: J. D. Mayne, _Hindu Law_ (London, 1892);
Colebrooke's _Treatises on the Hindu Law of Inheritance_ (Calcutta,
1810); Stokes's _Hindu Law Books_ (Madras, 1865); West and Buhler, _A
Digest of the Hindu Law of Inheritance_ (Bombay, 1878); Jogendra Nath
Bhattacharya, _A Commentary on Hindu Law_ (Calcutta, 1894); Rajkumar
Sarvadhikari, _Principles of the Hindu Law of Inheritance_ (Calcutta,
1882); Gooroodass Banerjee, _The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhana_
(Calcutta, 1896); Jogendra Chundar, _Principles of Hindu Law_
(Calcutta, 1906).
5. _Mahommedan Law._--The Mahommedan law is always spoken of by
Mahommedans as a sacred law, and as contained in the Koran. But the
Koran itself could not have supplied the wants even of the comparatively
rude tribes to whom it was first addressed. Still less has it proved
sufficient to satisfy the requirements of successive generations. No
doubt the great veneration which Mahommedans have for the Koran has
caused them to be less progressive than members of other religious
creeds. But in human affairs some change is inevitable, and the law of
the Koran, like other sacred laws, has had to undergo the supplementary
and transforming influence of custom and interpretation, though not of
legislation. This direct method of changing the law by human agency,
natural and simple as it appears to us, is scarcely acknowledged by
Orientals even in the present day, except in the rare instances in which
it has been forced upon them by Western authority. But besides custom
and interpretation, another influence of a special kind has been brought
to bear upon Mahommedan law. Besides those utterances which the Prophet
himself announced as the inspired message of God, whatever he was
supposed to have said and whatever he was supposed to have done have
been relied upon as furnishing a rule for guidance. This tradition
(_sunna_) is only to be accepted if it can be traced up to a narrator at
first hand, though it would be rash to say that the chain of evidence is
always very strong. Mahommedans also, in support of a legal rule for
which there is no direct authority, resort to the argument from analogy
(_kiyas_). The principle involved in a rule for which authority can be
quoted is extended so as to cover other analogous cases. There have also
been accepted amongst Mahommedans, as authoritative, certain opinions on
points of law delivered by those who were actual companions of the
Prophet; these opinions are spoken of collectively under the name of
_ijma_. Some of these methods of extending and modifying the law have
produced changes which it would be very difficult to reconcile with a
strict adherence to the language of the Koran (see the Introduction to
the _Corps de Droit Ottoman_, by George Young; Oxford, 1905). The
Mahommedans of India generally are Sunnites of the Hanafite school. The
two principal authorities on Mahommedan law to which recourse is had by
the courts in India are the Hedaya and the Futwa Alumgiri. The Hedaya
was translated into English by Mr Hamilton. The Futwa Alumgiri was
compiled under the orders of the emperor Aurungzib Alumgir. It is a
collection of the opinions of learned Mahommedans on points of law. It
has not been translated, but it forms the basis of the _Digest of
Mahommedan Law_ compiled by Neil Baillie. The Mahommedan law, like the
Hindu law, is a personal law. It is essentially so in its nature.
Persons of any other religion are to a large extent outside its pale.
And in India, in civil matters, its application has been expressly
limited to Mahommedans. At one time endeavour was made to administer the
Mahommedan criminal law as the general territorial law of India, but it
had constantly to be amended, and it was at length abolished and the
penal code substituted. To be a Mahommedan, and so to claim to be
governed by the Mahommedan law, it is necessary to profess the
Mahommedan faith.
Intestate succession.
All that we find on the subject of intestate succession in the Koran are
certain directions as to the shares which certain members of the family
are to take in the estate of their deceased relative. So far as they go,
these are rules of distribution--that is to say, they depend, not on
consanguinity only, but on certain equitable considerations, by which
rules founded on consanguinity are modified. But these latter rules,
though nowhere laid down in the Koran, still play a large part in
Mahommedan law. There can be no doubt that they represent the
pre-existing Arabian custom, which it was not the intention of the
Prophet to displace, but only to modify. The claimants under these rules
take whatever is left after the specific shares assigned by the Koran to
individual members of the family have been satisfied; if in any case
there are no such shares, they take the whole. The Arabic term for this
class of heirs is _asabah_, which literally means persons connected by a
ligament. The term used by English writers is "residuaries," but this
description of them has the disadvantage that it entirely loses sight of
the connexion on which the claim to succeed is based. They would be more
correctly described as the "agnates" of the deceased, but the term
"residuaries" is too firmly established to be displaced. Those persons
who take a share of the property, under the specific rules laid down in
the Koran, we call "sharers," and this word has acquired a technical
meaning; it is not used to describe those who can claim a portion of the
estate in any other way. It is hardly likely that females, or relatives
through females, had any claim to the succession under any Arabian
custom, nor, except so far as they are made sharers, are they recognized
by the Koran as having a title to succeed. The proper description of
this class of persons is zavi-ul-arham, i.e. "uterine kindred," and they
have, in default of other heirs, established a claim to succeed. English
writers have erroneously called them "distant kindred," but distance has
nothing to do with the matter.
There is no right of primogeniture under Mahommedan law; there is a
general preference of males over females, and if males and females take
together as residuaries by an express provision of the Koran, each male
takes as much as two females. Females are also expressly forbidden by
the Koran to take more than two-thirds of the property; but in the
application of these two rules the shares of the mother and the wife are
not included. No person can claim to take any portion of the property
who traces his relationship to the deceased through a living person, but
this rule does not apply to brothers and sisters whose mother is alive.
If several persons all stand in the same degree of relationship to the
deceased, they take equally, _per caput_ and not _per stirpem_.
It will now be convenient to state the rules for finding which of the
agnates take as residuaries of the deceased. These are, in ordinary
circumstances, the male agnates only, and the rule in question depends
upon a classification of the male agnates which is common in other parts
of the world. Every family consisting of several generations of male
agnates may be broken up into groups, each of which has a separate
common ancestor of its own. Thus, suppose A to be the person from whom
the descent is to be traced. A belongs to a large group of persons, all
of whom are males descended from a common ancestor D. But A and his or
her own male descendants form a smaller group, which we may call the
group A. This is the first class of male agnates of A. Then suppose A to
be the son or daughter of B, excluding those who are descendants of A,
and as such included in the first class, the remaining male descendants
of B will form the second class of male agnates of A. In like manner we
get a third class of male agnates of A who are descendants of C,
excluding those who are descendants of A or B; and a fourth class of
male agnates of A who are descendants of D, excluding those who are
descendants of A, B, or C. This classification can obviously be carried
through as many generations as we please. Mahommedan lawyers adopt this
classification with only one difference. Between the first and second
classes they interpose a class consisting entirely of the direct male
ancestors, which they call the "root," so that the male descendants of A
(the person whose heirs are in question) would be the first class of
residuaries. B, C, D, &c., would be the second class of residuaries; the
male descendants of B, other than the descendants of A, would be the
third class of residuaries; the male descendants of C, other than the
descendants of B and A, would be the fourth class of residuaries, and so
on. In order to find the residuaries who are to succeed, we have only to
take the classes in their order, and of the highest class which is
represented to select the nearest to the deceased. If there are several
who are equidistant, they will take equally _per caput_.
The sharers are, of course, those to whom a share is assigned by the
Koran. They are (1) the father, (2) lineal male ancestors, whom
Mahommedans call the "true grandfathers," (3) uterine half-brothers,
i.e. the half-brothers by the mother, (4) daughters, (5) daughters of a
son, or other direct male descendant, whom we call daughters of a son
how low and soever, (6) the mother, (7) true grandmothers, i.e. female
ancestors into whose line no male except a lineal male ancestor enters,
(8) full sisters, (9) consanguine half-sisters, i.e. half-sisters by the
father, (10) uterine half-sisters, (11) the husband, (12) the wives. The
right to a share and the amount of it depends upon the state of the
family. Under Mahommedan law not only, as elsewhere, the nearer relative
excludes the more remote, but there are special rules of total or
partial exclusion arising out of the equitable considerations upon which
all rules of distribution are based.
These rules are best shown by taking the case of each member of the
family in turn, and at the same time it will be useful to explain the
general position of each member. First, the sons. They take no share,
but they are first in the first class of residuaries, and their position
is a very strong one; they exclude entirely sisters and daughters from a
share, and they reduce considerably the shares of the husband, the
widows, and the mother. The position of the other male descendants is
very similar to that of the sons. They are not sharers; they are
residuaries of the first class, and will take as such if the
intermediate persons are dead. They reduce the shares of some of the
sharers, but not to the same extent as the sons. The father is a
residuary of the second class, and the first in that class. But he is
also a sharer, and as such is entitled to a share of one-sixth. He can
take in both capacities. The father's father is also a residuary of the
second class, and he is a sharer, entitled to a share of one-sixth, but
of course he cannot take either as sharer or residuary if the father is
alive. The position of any true grandfather is analogous. An only
daughter takes as sharer one-half of the property, two or more daughters
take one-third between them. But sons exclude daughters from a share,
and they would get nothing. Naturally this was considered unjust, and a
remedy has been found by making the daughters what are called
"residuaries in right of their brothers," each daughter taking half of
what a son takes. The mother gets a share of one-sixth when there is a
child of the deceased, or a child of any son how low and soever; also
when there are two or more brothers or sisters. In any other case her
share is one-third. If, however, the wife, or the husband (as the case
may be), and the father are alive, the share of the mother is only
one-third of what remains after deducting the share of the husband or
the wife. The brother is never a sharer. He is a residuary of the third
class, and he excludes some sharers. The daughters of a son how low and
soever get a share of two-thirds between them if there are several; if
there is only one she gets one-half. But the daughters of a son are
excluded by any direct male descendant who is nearer to the deceased
than themselves, or at the same distance from him. If, however, they are
excluded by a person who is at the same distance from the deceased as
themselves, Mahommedan lawyers again say that they come in as
residuaries in right of that person, each female as usual taking half as
much as each male. Of course the daughters of a son may also be excluded
by the daughters having exhausted the two-thirds allotted to females. A
single sister takes a share of one-half; several sisters take two-thirds
between them. Sisters are excluded from a share by any residuary of the
first class, and their own brothers also exclude them, but in the latter
case they take as residuaries in right of their brothers, each sister
taking half what a brother takes. So, again, the sisters may be excluded
from a share by the daughters or daughters of sons having exhausted the
two-thirds allotted to females, and the residue would go to the nearest
male agnate--that is, the uncle or the nephew of the deceased, or some
more distant relative. To prevent this Mahommedan lawyers say that in
this case the sisters are residuaries, basing their assertion upon a
somewhat vague tradition. The share of the husband in the property of
the wife is one-fourth if there are surviving children, one-half if
there are none. The share of the widow in the property of her deceased
husband is one-eighth if there are surviving children, one-fourth if
there are not. The nearest true grandmother takes a share of one-sixth.
If there are several equidistant, they take one-sixth between them. The
uterine half-brothers take a share of one-third when there is only one,
but they are excluded by any direct descendant and by any direct male
ascendant. Uterine half-sisters are in the same position as uterine
half-brothers. Consanguine half-brothers are residuaries of the same
class as brothers, but only take in default of full brothers.
Consanguine half-sisters take a share of two-thirds, or if there is only
one she takes a share of one-half. But if there is a full sister also,
the full sister takes one-half, and the consanguine sisters one-sixth
between them. The consanguine half-sisters, like the full sisters, are
excluded from a share by the children and the father of the deceased,
and also by full brothers and consanguine brothers; but in the last case
they come in again as residuaries, taking half what a brother takes.
The sharers must of course, unless excluded, be all satisfied before
anything is taken by the residuaries. But the sharers may not only
exhaust the property; there may not be enough to satisfy all the
claimants. Thus, if a man died leaving a wife, a mother and two
daughters, the shares are one-fourth, one-sixth and two-thirds, and the
sum of the shares being greater than unity, they cannot all be
satisfied. The difficulty is met by decreasing the shares rateably, in
other words, by increasing the common denominator of the fractions so as
to produce unity; hence the process is called the "increase." The
converse case arises when the shares of the sharers do not exhaust the
property, but there are no residuaries to take what remains. It has been
doubted whether the residue does not fall to the government as _bona
vacantia_. But it is now settled that the surplus is to be divided
rateably amongst the sharers in proportion to their shares. The process
is called the "return." The husband and the wife are excluded from the
benefit of the return. If there are no sharers, the whole estate will go
to the residuaries. If there are neither sharers nor residuaries, it
will go to the (so-called) distant kindred. Their claim is strong on
equitable grounds, as some of them are very near relations; such, for
example, as a daughter's children or a sister's children. Nevertheless
their claim has been doubted, and it must be admitted that there is no
very clear ground upon which It can be based. They are not mentioned as
sharers in the Koran, and it is not very clear how, as cognates, they
could have been recognized by any ancient Arabian custom. However, their
claim is now well established, and, in default of both sharers and
residuaries, they succeed on a plan somewhat resembling that on which
male agnates are classified as residuaries. If all the claimants fail
the property goes to the government, but there is one peculiar case.
Supposing a man dies leaving a widow, or a woman dies leaving a husband,
and no other relative. There is then a residue and no one whatever to
take it, as the husband and wife are excluded from the return. Strictly
speaking, it would fall to the government as _bona vacantia_, but the
claim is never made, and would now be considered as obsolete, the
husband or wife being allowed to take the property.
Under Mahommedan law there are certain grounds upon which a person who
would otherwise succeed as heir to a deceased person would be
disqualified. These grounds are--(1) that the claimant slew the deceased
by an act which, under Mahommedan law, would entail expiation or
retaliation, and this would include homicide by misadventure; (2) that
the claimant is a slave; (3) that he is an infidel, i.e. not of the
Mahommedan faith. The second impediment cannot now have any application
in India; the third has been removed by Act 21 of 1850. There is a rule
of Mahommedan law that if two persons die in circumstances which render
it impossible to determine which died first, as, for example, if both
went down in the same ship, for the purposes of succession it is to be
assumed that both died simultaneously.
Testamentary succession.
Mahommedan lawyers appear always to have recognized the validity of
wills, and they are said to be recognized by a passage in the Koran. But
the power of testamentary disposition is restricted within very narrow
limits. It only extends to one-third of the property after the payment
of debts and funeral expenses. There is no hint of this restriction in
the Koran, and it rests upon tradition. If the one-third has been
exceeded the legacies must be reduced rateably. The heirs, however, by
assenting to the legacies, may render them valid even though they exceed
the prescribed amount. There is no restriction as to the form of making
a will; it may be either oral or written. A legacy cannot be given to an
heir. Mahommedan law contains some very simple and wise provisions for
preventing the reckless and often unjust dispositions of property which
persons are apt to make upon the approach of death. A man who is "sick,"
that is, who is suffering from illness which ends in death, can only
give away one-third of his property; and if he has also made a will
containing legacies, the gifts and the legacies must be added together
in the computation of the disposable one-third. So long as slaves had a
money value, the value of the slaves liberated by a man on his deathbed
was also included, which reminds us of the _Lex Furia Caninia_ of the
Roman law. Another transaction by which the restriction on the
testamentary power might be eluded is that called _mohabat_. By this is
meant a transaction in the form of a sale, but which, from the
inadequacy of the price named, is obviously intended as a gift. If such
a transaction is entered into during "sickness," the loss to the estate
would have to be reckoned in computing the disposable one-third. But the
_mohabat_ transaction takes precedence of legacies. Another obvious mode
of eluding the restriction on the testamentary power is the
acknowledgment by a man on his deathbed of a fictitious debt; and it
would seem that such acknowledgments ought to have been put under
restriction. But Mahommedans, like other Orientals, have a useful,
though possibly a superstitious, dread of leaving the debts of a
deceased person unpaid, and it is this, no doubt, which has prevented
their questioning the deathbed acknowledgment of a debt, even though
there is every reason to believe it to be fictitious. All that has been
done is to prescribe that debts of health should be paid before debts of
sickness, and that debts cannot be acknowledged by a sick man in favour
of an heir.
Administration.
When a Mahommedan dies, the funeral expenses and the creditors must
first be paid; then the legatees, then the claims of the sharers, and,
lastly, those of the residuaries; or, if there are neither sharers nor
residuaries, those of the (so-called) distant kindred. The
administration of the estate need present no difficulties if there are
no disputes, and if there is some one empowered to take possession of
the property, to get in the debts, to satisfy the creditors, and
distribute the assets amongst the various claimants; and such a person
may be appointed by a Mahommedan in his will, who will perform these
duties. He is called a _wasi_, and he is in a position very similar to
an executor under English law. But if there is no _wasi_, even if there
are no disputes, there may be a good deal of trouble. It would have been
in accordance with the spirit of Mahommedan law, and with general
principles of equity, if an officer of the courts established under
British rule had been regularly empowered to take possession of the
property, and to take such measures as were necessary to ensure all the
claimants being satisfied in their proper order. But this view of their
powers has not been taken by the courts in India; recently, however,
they have been enabled by legislation to grant the power of
administering the estate to a single person.
Fictitious relationships.
There is scarcely any part of Europe or Asia where the creation of
fictitious relationships is altogether unknown. In many cases the object
of the creation is simply to obtain an heir. This is the object of
adoption amongst modern Hindus, and it is this, no doubt, which has led
some persons to speak of Hindu adoption as a rudimentary will. But
adoption, as such, has never obtained a footing in Mahommedan law. The
fictitious relationships which that law recognizes are based upon a
different idea. There was in early times a widespread notion that every
man must belong to some family either as a freeman or a slave. The
family to which a slave belongs is always that of his owner, and that of
a freeman is generally indicated by his birth. But a liberated slave has
no family, at least no recognized family; and as he cannot stand alone,
it was necessary to attach him to some family. Now, just as in Roman law
the freedman became a member of his master's family under the
relationship of _patronus_ and _cliens_, so in Mahommedan law a
liberated slave becomes a member of the master's family under the
relationship called _mawalat_. The object, of course, was to make the
master's family liable for the consequences of the wrongful acts of the
freed slave. As a compensation for the liability undertaken by the
master's family, in default of residuaries of the slave's own blood (who
can only be his own direct descendants), the master's family are
entitled to succeed as what are called "residuaries for special cause."
Of course the relationship of master and slave cannot now be created,
and it is scarcely probable that any case of inheritance could arise in
which it came into question. The relationship of _mawalat_ may, under
Mahommedan law, also be created in a case where a freeman is converted
to Islam. From a Mahommedan point of view he then stands alone, and
would be required to attach himself to some Mahommedan family. The form
of the transaction exactly indicates the nature of it. The party wishing
to attach himself says to the person ready to receive him, "Thou art my
kinsman, and shalt be my successor after my death, paying for me any
fine or ransom to which I may be liable." In this case also the family
of the person who receives the convert is entitled, in default of other
residuaries, to succeed to him as "residuaries for special cause." But
this transaction can have no meaning under English law, which does not
recognize the joint responsibility of the family, and it is therefore
also obsolete. In the case of _mawalat_ the rights of the persons
concerned are not reciprocal. The person received gains no right of
inheritance in the family into which he enters, and incurs no
responsibility for their acts. An important part may still be played in
Mahommedan law by the creation of relationships by acknowledgment. Any
such relationship may be created, provided that the parentage of the
person acknowledged is unknown; a person of known parentage cannot be
acknowledged. The age, sex and condition of the person acknowledged must
also be such that the relationship is not an impossible one; for, as was
said in the Roman law, _fictio naturam imitatur_. The relationship thus
constituted is, in the ease of a father, mother, child, or wife,
complete, and must be treated for all purposes as having a real
existence. But in any other case the acknowledgment, although good as
between the parties thereto, has no effect upon the rights of other
parties. The acknowledgment which we have just been considering
contemplates the possibility at any rate, and in most cases the
certainty, that the relationship is entirely fictitious, and has no
connexion with any rule of evidence in whatever sense the term is
understood. But there is a rule of Mahommedan law that, in cases where
the paternity of a child is in dispute, the acknowledgment of the child
by the father is conclusive. Whether this would now be maintained in
face of the Evidence Act 1870, which deals with cases of conclusive
evidence, and expressly repeals all previously existing rules of
evidence, may be doubtful.
Marriage.
Marriage is a transaction based upon consent between a man and a woman,
or between persons entitled to represent them. The result of the
transaction is that certain family relationships involving legal rights
and duties are created by the law, and these are not wholly under the
control of the parties. But as to some of them, to some extent they may
be regulated by agreement, and it is customary amongst Mahommedans at
the time of a marriage to come to such an agreement. The only condition
necessary to the constituting of a valid marriage between persons of
full age is the consent of the parties. It is, however, the practice to
conclude the transaction in the presence of two males, or one male and
two female witnesses; and the omission of this formality would always
throw a doubt upon the intention of the parties finally to conclude a
marriage. It is even said that the absence of such witnesses would
justify a judge in annulling the marriage. Minors of either sex may be
given in marriage by their guardian, and the transaction will be
irrevocable if the guardian be the father or any direct male ascendant.
In any other case the marriage may be repudiated when the minor arrives
at the age of puberty, but the repudiation is not effectual until
confirmed by a judge of the civil court. A marriage may be conducted
through agents. A woman can have only one husband; a man can have four
wives; if he married a fifth the marriage would be annulled by a judge
on the application of the woman. Mahommedans have a table of prohibited
degrees within which parties cannot marry not very dissimilar to that in
force in Great Britain. Nor can a man be married at the same time to two
women nearly related to each other, as to two sisters. It is also
considered that if a woman take a child to nurse she contracts a sort
of maternity towards it, and that if a boy and girl are nursed by the
same woman they become brother and sister, and, in a general way, it is
said "that whatever is prohibited in consanguinity is prohibited in
fosterage"; but it is doubtful whether the law goes so far. The widow,
or a divorced woman, is not allowed to marry again during her _iddut_.
This is a period of chastity which a woman is bound to observe in order
to avoid confusion of issue. If she is pregnant it lasts until the child
is born; if not, then in case of divorce it lasts through three periods
of menstruation; if she is a widow it lasts for four months and ten
days. A Mahommedan man cannot marry an idolatress, but Jews and
Christians are not thereby excluded, because, although infidels, they
are not idolatresses. A woman is forbidden by Mahommedan law to marry
any one who is not a Mahommedan; but if the marriage took place in
conformity with the Act of 1872 it might be valid, if it amounted to a
repudiation by the woman of her Mahommedanism. It is important to
remember, when considering the validity of a Mahommedan marriage, that a
distinction is drawn between marriages which are simply void (_batil_)
and those which can only be annulled by judicial decision (_farid_), for
such a decision has no retrospective effect, so that the children
already born are legitimate; and if no step is taken to obtain such a
decision during the existence of the marriage, it cannot be questioned
afterwards. What marriages are absolutely void, and what are only
capable of being declared void, is not very clearly settled, but the
evident leaning of Mahommedan law is against absolute invalidity, and
there is strong authority for the opinion that no marriages are
absolutely void except a marriage by a woman who has a husband living
and such as are declared to be incestuous.
Divorce.
A Mahommedan has the absolute right to divorce his wife whenever he
pleases without assigning any reason whatever for doing so. There are,
however, very strong social reasons which have considerable influence in
restraining the arbitrary exercise of the power. The power to divorce
remains notwithstanding any formal promise by the husband not to
exercise it, and it is even said that a divorce pronounced in a state of
intoxication, or by a slip of the tongue, or under coercion, is valid.
The divorce can, however, be revoked by the husband, but not after it
has been three times pronounced, or after the _iddut_ has been passed by
the woman. Nor can the husband remarry his divorced wife unless she has
been again married, and has been again divorced or become a widow, and
the intermediate marriage must have been consummated. The power to
divorce a wife may be entrusted by the husband to an agent acting on his
behalf, and this contrivance is sometimes made use of to enable a
woman's friends to rid her of her husband if he ill-treats her. The
husband may even empower the wife to divorce herself. If the husband or
the wife should happen to die whilst the divorce is still revocable, he
or she will inherit; and even a triple repudiation pronounced during
"sickness," that is death-sickness, will not deprive the woman of her
inheritance if the _iddut_ has not been passed. Of course there is
nothing to prevent the husband and the wife from agreeing to a divorce,
and to the terms on which it is to take place, and such an arrangement
is very common. The treatment of the wife by the husband is not a ground
upon which the marriage can be dissolved, but the impotence of the
husband is a ground of dissolution. The courts in India consider that
they have the power under Mahommedan law to grant a decree for the
restitution of conjugal rights.
Dower.
Dower in Mahommedan law is in the nature of a gift from the husband to
the wife on the marriage, like the _donatio propter nuptias_ of the
Roman law, or the _morgengabe_ of Teutonic nations. It may be either
"prompt," that is, payable at once, or the payment of it may be
deferred, or it may be partly the one and partly the other. The amount
of the dower and the time of payment ought to be settled by agreement
before the marriage takes place; if this is not done there is some
trouble in ascertaining the rights of the parties. It seems clear that a
woman is entitled as a matter of right to what is called a "proper
dower" if the dower is payable at once the woman may, before
consummation, refuse herself to her husband unless it is paid; whether
she can do so after consummation is doubtful. If the husband
capriciously repudiates the wife before consummation, or the wife before
consummation repudiates the husband for his misconduct, then half the
dower agreed on must be paid. If it is her misconduct which has caused
the repudiation, she is not entitled to anything. Deferred dower becomes
payable on the dissolution of the marriage either by death or by
divorce. Probably a judge, when called upon to dissolve or annul a
marriage, could make reasonable stipulations as to the dower. The dower
is the wife's own property, and, as the wife is entirely independent of
the husband in regard to her property, she can sue him or his
representatives for the dower like any other creditor. Mahommedans
generally before marriage enter into a formal contract which regulates
not only the dower, but various other matters under the control of the
parties, such as the visits the wife is to pay or receive, the amount of
liberty which she is to have and so forth.
Pre-emption.
The right of pre-emption under Mahommedan law is the right of a third
person, in certain circumstances, to step in and take the place of a
buyer, at the same price and on the same conditions as the buyer has
purchased. It applies only to the purchase of real property, and it can
only be exercised upon one of the three following grounds: (1) That the
claimant is owner of property contiguous to that sold; (2) that he is a
co-sharer in the property of which a share is being sold; (3) that he is
a participator in some right over the property, such, for example, as a
right of way over it. The claimant must announce his claim as soon as he
hears of the sale, and he must follow up this announcement by a further
claim in the presence of witnesses and of the seller, or, if possession
has been transferred, of the buyer.
Shiah System.
Mahommedan law, so far as it is administered by the courts of British
India for Sunnites of the Hanafite school--that is, for the great bulk
of Mahommedans--has attained a fair degree of precision, owing to the
care bestowed on their decisions by the judges of those courts, and the
assistance derived from Mahommedan lawyers. But much difficulty is
experienced as soon as we come to deal with Mahommedans of any other
description. No doubt in India any clearly-established custom prevalent
amongst a well-defined body of persons would be recognized, or any rule
of law founded upon texts which they accepted as authoritative. But it
is not always easy to determine when these conditions have been
satisfied. And to allow Mahommedans to set up a standard of rights and
duties different from that of the bulk of their correligionists without
this proof would lead not only to confusion but injustice. There is the
further difficulty that Mahommedan law, as applied to any Mahommedans
except those of the Hanafite school, has as yet been comparatively
little studied by modern lawyers, so that very little that is certain
can be said about it. There is, however, a considerable body of Shiites
in India whose legal system undoubtedly differs in some material
particulars from that of the Sunnites. The Mahommedans of Oudh are
generally Shiites, and Shiah families, mostly of Persian descent, are to
be found in other parts of India. The following points seem clear. A
marriage which the parties agree shall last for a fixed time, even for a
few hours only, is a valid marriage, and at the expiration of the time
agreed on the marriage ceases to exist. The relatives of the deceased,
whether male or female, and whether tracing their connexion through
males or females, may be sharers or residuaries. Both as sharers and
residuaries the children can claim to take the place of their parents in
the succession upon the principle of what we call representation. If
there are parents or descendants of the deceased, and the sharers do not
exhaust the property, the surplus is distributed amongst the sharers of
that class in proportion to their shares. If the property is not
sufficient to pay in full the shares of all the sharers, the shares do
not abate rateably; e.g. as between daughters and the parents, or the
husband, or the wife of the deceased the whole deduction is made from
the daughters' share.
AUTHORITIES.--(Mahommedan Law), Neil Baillie, _Digest of Mahommedan
Law_ (London, 1865); Sir R. K. Wilson, _Introduction to the Study of
Mahommedan Law_ (London, 1894); _Digest of Anglo-Mahommedan Law_
(London, 1895); Charles Hamilton, _The Hedaya translated_ (London,
1791); Syed Ameer Ali, _Lectures on Mahommedan Law_ (2 vols.,
Calcutta, 1891, 1894); Mahomed Yusoof, _Tagore Law Lectures_ (Calcutta
1895); Alfred v. Kremer, _Culturgeschichte des Orients_ (2 vols.,
Vienna, 1875). (W. Ma.)
INDIAN MUTINY, THE, the great revolt of the Bengal native army in 1857,
which led to the transference of Indian government from the East India
company to the crown in 1858. The mediate cause of the Mutiny was the
great disproportion between the numbers of British and native troops in
India, which gave the sepoys an exaggerated notion of their power; its
immediate causes were a series of circumstances which promoted active
discontent with British rule.
Disaffection in the Native Army.
During the century which elapsed between the victory of Plassey and the
outbreak at Meerut, the East India company relied mainly on native
troops with a stiffening of British soldiers--especially artillery--for
the successful conduct of its wars. The warlike Hindu and Mahommedan
races supplied excellent fighting material, when led by British
officers, and the sepoy army took a distinguished part in every Indian
battle, from Assaye to Gujarat. At the close of Lord Dalhousie's
administration (1856) British India was held by some 233,000 native and
some 45,000 British troops--roughly a proportion of 5 to 1. It was
already clear to some of the men who knew India best that this was a
dangerous state of things, though when the Mutiny broke out the relative
numbers were 257,000 native to 36,000 British soldiers. It had long been
a fundamental principle of Indian government that the sepoy would always
be true to his salt--knowing, as Macaulay wrote in 1840, that there was
not another state in India which would not, in spite of the most solemn
promises, leave him to die of hunger in a ditch as soon as he had ceased
to be useful. But the history of the sepoy army might have shown that
this was an over-estimate of its loyalty. As early as 1764 it was
necessary to stamp out mutiny by blowing thirty sepoys away from guns.
In 1806 the family of Tippoo Sultan produced a dangerous mutiny at
Vellore, which was nipped in the bud by the prompt action of Gillespie
and his dragoons. In 1824 the 47th Bengal infantry refused to march when
it was ordered for service in Burma, and after being decimated by
British artillery was struck out of the army list. In 1844, after the
disasters of the Afghan war had shaken the prestige of British arms in
India, no less than seven native regiments broke into open mutiny over
grievances both real and fancied; and this time the old stern measures
were not adopted to stamp out military disobedience. Lord Ellenborough
often said that a general mutiny of the native army was the only real
danger with which the British empire in India was threatened, and his
warning was solemnly repeated by Sir Charles Napier. A still more
explicit warning was uttered by General Jacob, who declared in 1853 that
the normal state of the Bengal army was a state of mutiny, and wrote to
_The Times_ as follows: "There is more danger to our Indian empire from
the state of the Bengal army, from the feeling which there exists
between the native and the European, and thence spreads throughout the
length and breadth of the land, than from all other causes combined. Let
government look to this; it is a serious and most important truth."
Its causes in 1857.
The causes which, in the middle of the 19th century, were thus tending
to sap the long-tried fidelity of the sepoy army were partly military
and partly racial. The professional conditions of the sepoy's career,
especially in Bengal, were no longer so tempting as they had been in the
first generations of the company's rule. The pay and privileges of the
sepoy were steadily being diminished, and the increased demands made on
the army by the great extension of the company's territory were by no
means grateful to the average Bengal sepoy. Owing to the silladar
system, under which the Indian sowar provided his own horse and
provender in return for a monthly wage, the Indian cavalry were almost
to a man in debt, and therefore favoured any attempt to upset the
existing régime, and with it to wipe out the money-lender and his books;
and the general enlistment order passed in July 1856, for the purposes
of the war in Persia, made the Hindu sepoys afraid of losing caste by
crossing the sea.
The Indian government failed to take sufficient account of the social
and religious feelings of their native soldiers, whilst a rigid
insistence on the principle of seniority had greatly diminished the
efficiency of the British regimental officers. Out of 73 mutinous
regiments, only four colonels were found worthy of other commands. At
the same time, there were deeper reasons for discontent with British
rule, which specially affected, the classes from which the Bengal sepoys
were drawn. Chief among these was Dalhousie's policy of annexation,
which brought under British dominion such small states as Satara, Nagpur
and Jhansi, and finally the kingdom of Oudh. The insistence on the right
of lapse, i.e. the refusal to allow an adopted, son to inherit a native
throne, and the threat of annexation on purely humanitarian grounds
seriously alarmed the native princes of India, besides creating a class
of malcontents, among whom the Nana Sahib, the adopted heir of the
peshwa, made himself most infamous. The annexation of Oudh, which was
the chief recruiting ground of the Bengal army, probably caused wider
disaffection in the ranks of that army than any other act or omission of
the government. There can also be little doubt that the social reforms
of Lord Dalhousie and his predecessors had disturbed men's minds in
Bengal. Thus the Brahmans were offended at the prohibition of suttee and
female infanticide, the execution of Brahmans for capital offences, the
re-marriage of widows, the spread of missionary effort and the extension
of Western education. The Mahommedan zemindars were injured by the
reassessment of the land revenue, which was carried through in the
interests of the ryots, and the power of the zemindars was formidable,
while that of the ryots was negligible; though it must be remembered
that the peasantry as a whole gave no assistance to the mutineers. To
all these causes must be added--not least important in dealing with
orientals--the widespread feeling since the Afghan disaster that the
star of the company was in the descendant, and that there was truth in
the old prophecy that the British would rule in India for a bare century
from Plassey (1757). Bazaar rumours of British reverses in the Crimea
and in Persia increased the temptations for a general rising against the
dominant race.
The greased cartridges.
To this accumulation of inflammatory materials a spark was put in 1857
by an act of almost incredible folly on the part of the military
authorities in India. The introduction of the Minié rifle, with its
greased cartridges, was accompanied by no consideration of the religious
prejudices of the Bengal sepoys, to whom, whether Hindus or Mahommedans,
the fat of cows and pigs was anathema. It was easy for agitators to
persuade the sepoys that the new cartridges were greased with the fat of
animals sacred to one creed or forbidden to another, and that the
British government was thus engaged in a deep-laid plot for forcing them
to become Christians by first making them outcasts from their own
religions. The growth of missionary enterprise in India lent colour to
this theory, which was supported by the fact that no precautions had
been taken to grease the Indian cartridges with a neutral fat, such as
that of sheep and goats. The researches of Mr G. W. Forrest in the
Indian government records have shown that the sepoys' fears of
defilement by biting the new cartridges had a considerable foundation in
fact. At a court-martial in 1857 Colonel Abbott, inspector general of
ordnance, gave evidence that "the tallow might or might not have
contained the fat of cows." No attempt, in fact, had been made to
exclude the fat of cows and pigs, and apparently no one had realized
that a gross outrage was thus being perpetrated on the religious
feelings of both Hindu and Mahommedan sepoys. The low-caste natives
employed in the arsenals knew what grease was actually being employed,
and taunted the Brahman sepoys with the loss of caste that would follow
their use of the new cartridges. Refusals to accept the suspected
cartridges were soon heard in the Bengal army. The numerous agitators
who had their own reasons for fomenting mutiny rose to the occasion, and
In the first months of 1857 the greater part of the Bengal presidency
was seething with sedition. At this time took place the mysterious
distribution of chapatis, small cakes of unleavened bread, which had
previously been known in connexion with the mutiny at Vellore (1806).
"From village to village, from district to district, through hill-land
and lowland, the signal--unexplained at the time, inexplicable
still--sped; and in village after village, in district after district,
the spreading of the signal was followed by the Increased excitement of
the people."
The first signs of the approaching trouble were displayed at the great
military station of Barrackpur, 16 m. from Calcutta, in January 1857.
The minds of the native regiments quartered there were maddened by
rumours of the defilement which the new Minié cartridges would entail
upon them, and incendiary fires broke out in the lines. The trouble was
allayed by the tact of General Hearsey, who reported the incident to the
Indian government on the 24th of January. A fortnight later he wrote, as
the result of his inquiries, "We have at Barrackpur been dwelling upon a
mine ready for explosion." At Berhampur, 100 m. to the north, on the
27th of February, the 19th Bengal infantry refused on parade to take
their percussion caps, on the ground that to bite the new cartridges
would defile them. The absence of any European troops made it impossible
to deal with this act of mutiny on the spot. The defaulting regiment was
marched down to Barrackpur for punishment. On the 29th of March, two
days before its arrival, a sepoy named Manghal Pandi, from whom the
mutineers afterwards came to be spoken of as "Pandies," drunk with bhang
and enthusiasm, attempted to provoke a mutiny in the 34th Bengal
infantry, and shot the adjutant, but Hearsey's personal courage
suppressed the danger. Two days later the 19th were publicly disbanded,
but no further punishment was attempted. This was partly due to Lord
Canning's personal inclination to temper justice with mercy, but partly
also to the fact that there was no adequate European force at hand to
execute a severer sentence. Bengal had been recklessly depleted of white
troops, and there was only one European regiment between Calcutta and
Dinapur, a distance of 400 m. Canning sent at once for more British
troops from Burma. Meantime new accounts of refusals to use even the old
cartridges came from distant parts of Hindostan, from Umballa under the
very eyes of Anson, the commander-in-chief, and from Lucknow, the
capital of the newly annexed kingdom of Oudh. Lord Canning, the
governor-general, who had at first hoped that he had only to deal with
isolated cases of disaffection, at last recognized that the plague was
epidemic, and that only stern measures could stay it. But before he
could take the necessary steps, there reached Calcutta the news of the
outbreak at Meerut and the capture of Delhi.
The outbreak at Meerut.
Meerut, 25 m. from Delhi, was an important military station, under the
command of Colonel Archdale Wilson: the district was commanded by
General Hewitt, one of the old and inefficient officers whom the rigid
system of seniority had placed in so many high commands. At Meerut were
quartered, besides one regiment of native cavalry and two of native
infantry, a strong force of British troops, horse, foot and guns.
Nevertheless, 85 men of the native cavalry regiment, driven to despair
by the persistent rumours of the danger to their caste, refused on the
24th of April to accept their cartridges. For this offence they were
condemned to ten years' imprisonment with hard labour on the roads, and
on the 9th of May they were publicly stripped of their uniforms and
marched off to gaol. The next day was a Sunday; and in the evening,
whilst the British troops were parading for church, the native cavalry
armed themselves, galloped to the gaol and released their comrades.
Almost simultaneously the two infantry regiments shot down their
officers and broke into open revolt. The badmashes, or criminal class,
broke forth from their quarter and began to burn and plunder the
dwellings of the British. A few of the mutineers took part in this work;
but the great majority of them, fearing the vengeance of the British
troops, hastened to move off, rather a mob than an army, upon the Delhi
road. There is a general agreement that if a man like Gillespie or
Nicholson had been in command of the station, the strong force at his
disposal would have enabled him to strike such a deadly blow at the
fleeing mutineers as might have stamped out the Mutiny. But Hewitt was
too old and Wilson was lacking in initiative; the opportunity was lost,
and no attempt was made to do more than clear the cantonments.
The Revolt of Delhi.
So many of the chief actors in the Mutiny on the native side carried
their secrets into dishonoured graves that it is impossible to know
exactly what schemes the household of the king of Delhi had concerted
with the disaffected sepoys. But when the mutineers reached Delhi they
were at once joined by the city mob and the king's guards in proclaiming
a revival of the Mogul empire. For a few hours the native troops of the
British garrison awaited the turn of events; but when it became apparent
that the British troops from Meerut were afraid to move, there was a
general flame of revolt, and Delhi at once became the headquarters of
the Mutiny. Most of the British officers and residents were massacred
then or afterwards. The great magazine was gallantly defended for a time
by nine Britons under Lieutenant Willoughby, and was blown up by them
when all hope of relief had vanished. A young telegraph clerk sent the
news to Umballa, continuing to signal until he was cut down at his post.
Before the authorities in Calcutta and Lahore could take any steps to
deal with the long-prophesied danger, the whole of the North-West
Provinces were in revolt. Fortunately the two men on whom the chief
responsibility fell in this great crisis were equal to their task.
Canning in Calcutta, John Lawrence in the Punjab, were men indeed equal
to any burden; and the stress of the Mutiny, ending once and forever the
bad old system of seniority, brought to the front so many subordinates
of dauntless gallantry and soldierly insight that a ring of steel was
rapidly drawn round the vast territory affected. Lawrence saw that the
surest way to prevent the Mutiny from spreading from the sepoy army of
Bengal to the recently conquered fighting races of the Punjab was to
hurl the Sikh at the Hindu; instead of taking measures for the defence
of the Punjab, he acted on the old principle that the best defence is
attack, and promptly organized a force for the reduction of Delhi, with
the ardent co-operation of born leaders like John Nicholson, Neville
Chamberlain and Herbert Edwardes. Anson, the commander-in-chief, died of
cholera before he had had a chance to act on Lawrence's telegram,
"Clubs, not spades, are trumps." He was succeeded by Sir Henry Barnard
in command of the Delhi field force, then amounting to about 3000
British troops with 22 field guns, in addition to a few Gurkhas and
Punjab native troops. The loyalty of the independent Sikh chiefs, headed
by Patiala, and the stern measures which had been taken with the sepoy
regiments enabled Lawrence to reinforce this little army with every
available man and gun from the Punjab, in addition to Sikh and Pathan
levies. It was to the insight of Lawrence and the splendid organization
of the Punjab province--the spoilt child of the Indian government, as it
had been called in allusion to the custom of sending thither the best of
the Indian officials and soldiers--that the reduction of Delhi and the
limitation of the outbreak were due. Meantime Canning was manfully
playing his part at Calcutta. In the hour of danger he was undismayed,
as in the hour of victory he was just and merciful. He telegraphed for
reliefs from every available quarter, fortunately being able to divert
the troops then on their way to China. The native armies of Bombay and
Madras remained loyal, and the former in particular--thanks to Lord
Elphinstone--furnished valuable reinforcements. Sir Colin Campbell, a
veteran soldier whose laurels had been won in many battles from the
Peninsula to the Crimea, was despatched from England to take command of
the army in India. But even before he could arrive, the outspread of the
Mutiny had already been checked by the gallantry and skill of a mere
handful of Britons and their faithful native allies.
The Siege of Delhi.
Canning and Lawrence, at opposite ends of the disaffected districts,
alike perceived that Delhi was the centre of peril, and that all other
considerations must be subordinated to striking a decisive blow at that
historic city. Both flung to the winds the European rules of warfare,
which highly trained officers like Wilson had allowed to hamper their
movements. "Make as short work as possible of the rebels," wrote
Canning. "Where have we failed when we acted vigorously?" asked
Lawrence. Though the nominal commanders of the army which captured Delhi
were in turn Barnard, Reed and Wilson, the policy thus stated by Canning
and Lawrence was really carried out by their subordinates--Baird Smith,
Nicholson and Chamberlain. The Meerut troops, at last roused from their
inaction, joined Barnard on the 7th of June, after a successful affair
with the mutineers, and the next day the action of Badli-ki-Serai
enabled the British force to occupy the famous Ridge, which they never
abandoned till the final assault. At first the British troops,
outnumbered by more than three to one by the mutinous regiments alone,
were rather besieged than besiegers. Baird Smith indeed urged an
immediate assault upon Delhi, on the ground that audacity is the best
policy in Indian warfare; but it was not until the arrival of Nicholson
on the 7th of August with the last Punjab reinforcements that the force
was strong enough, in the opinion of its commander, to take offensive
action. On the 14th of September, after three days of artillery
preparation, the assault was delivered, under Nicholson's leadership.
Two practicable breaches had been made by the siege guns, and a party of
engineers under Home and Salkeld blew in the Kashmir gate. The assault
was successful, in so far as a firm lodgment was made in the city,
though the loss of Nicholson was a heavy price to pay for this success.
Wilson actually thought of retreating; but Baird Smith and Chamberlain
insisted on perseverance, and the city was captured after six days' hard
fighting. The mutineers were completely cowed; the king of Delhi was
taken and reserved for trial; and his sons were shot by Captain Hodson,
after unconditional surrender, an act which has since been the theme of
much reprobation, but which commended itself at the time to Hodson's
comrades as wise and justifiable. The siege of Delhi, which was the
turning-point of the Mutiny, had lasted for more than three months,
during which thirty minor actions had been fought in the almost
intolerable heat of the Indian midsummer.
The Massacre at Cawnpore.
The stern determination of the British troops, which alone made possible
the reduction of Delhi with so inadequate a force, was intensified, if
possible, by the ghastly story of Cawnpore. That important military
station, lying on the Ganges on the confines of Oudh, was under the
command of Sir Hugh Wheeler, an old but still efficient and experienced
officer. It was garrisoned by about 3000 native troops, with a mere
handful of white soldiers. When the news of the Meerut outbreak reached
Wheeler, who had already noted many symptoms of disaffection in his own
station, he was placed in a very difficult position. Under his care was
a large body of non-combatants--women and children in great numbers
among them. To occupy the one defensible position in the station, the
magazine by the river with its vast military stores and its substantial
masonry walls, would have involved steps which Wheeler regarded as
certain to precipitate an outbreak. It was then thought that, if the
sepoys mutinied, they would march off to Delhi, and Wheeler contented
himself by throwing up a rude entrenchment round the hospital barracks,
where he thought that the Europeans would be safe during the first
tumult of a rising. All might have fallen out as he anticipated, had it
not been that the Nana Sahib, the adopted heir of the late peshwa, was
rajah of Bithur in the neighbourhood. This young Mahratta, since known
to universal execration as the arch-villain of the Mutiny, was secretly
burning with a sense of injury received from the Indian government. He
was also ambitious; and when, on the 4th of June, the Cawnpore garrison
broke into open mutiny, he prevailed on them to stay and help him to
carve a new kingdom out of the company's territory, instead of throwing
in their lot with the Delhi empire. From the 6th to the 27th of June the
handful of British soldiers, who composed the garrison of a
fortification that could not have resisted a serious assault for a
single hour, held out with the greatest gallantry in hope of relief.
When this hope had died away, they surrendered to the Nana on his solemn
promise that all their lives should be spared and that they should have
a safe conduct to Allahabad. The Nana, partly urged by his native
cruelty, partly, no doubt, by the wish to commit his followers beyond
all possibility of composition, massacred the entire garrison in the
boats which should have taken it down the river, reserving only some two
hundred women and children for a later death. These poor victims were
confined in a house known as the Bibigarh. On the 15th of July, when
Havelock's avenging army was within a march of Cawnpore, they were all
hacked to death and their bodies--some still faintly breathing--were
thrown down the adjacent well which is to-day one of the most famous
monuments of British rule in India. No single act of the Mutiny elicited
such a storm of fierce anger among the British, both those who were
fighting in India and those who supported them at home; for none was a
more terrible vengeance taken, though the Nana himself escaped from his
pursuers.
The Defence of Lucknow.
Meanwhile Lucknow, the capital of Oudh, was the scene of a historic
defence. It was the headquarters of Sir Henry Lawrence, one of the most
far-seeing of Indian statesmen, who was well aware of the mutinous state
of the native army. On the 18th of April he warned Lord Canning of some
manifestations of discontent, and asked permission to transfer certain
mutinous corps to another province. On the 1st of May the 7th Oudh
infantry refused to bite the cartridge, but on the 3rd they were
disarmed by other regiments. When the news of the outbreak at Meerut
reached Lucknow, Sir Henry Lawrence recognized the gravity of the crisis
and summoned from their homes two bodies of pensioners, one of sepoys
and one of artillerymen, to whose loyalty, and to that of the Sikh
sepoys, the successful defence of the residency was largely due. This
position was immediately fortified. On the 30th of May the native troops
broke into mutiny. On the 4th of June there was a mutiny at Sitapur, a
large and important station 51 m. from Lucknow. This was followed by
another at Fyzabad, one of the most important cities in the province,
and outbreaks at Daryabad, Sultanpur and Salon. Thus in the course of
ten days English authority in Oudh practically vanished. On the 30th of
June Sir Henry Lawrence ordered a reconnaissance in force from Lucknow,
which met the enemy at Chinhat; but the native sepoys and artillerymen
turned traitors, and Sir Henry was forced to retreat to the residency,
where the siege now began. The first attack was repulsed on the 1st of
July, when the separate position of the Machchhi Bhawan was evacuated,
and all the troops concentrated in the residency. The entrenchments
surrounding this building covered some 60 acres of ground, and included
a number of detached houses and buildings, knit together by ditches and
stockades. In a military sense the position was indefensible. The
garrison consisted of 1720 fighting men, of whom 712 were native troops,
153 civilian volunteers, and the remainder were British officers and
men. This small force had to defend 1280 non-combatants. At the very
beginning of the siege Sir Henry Lawrence was fatally wounded by a
shell, and died on the 4th of July, thus depriving the defence of its
guiding spirit. The command then developed upon General Inglis, who met
the incessant attacks of the enemy with counter-sorties. On the 21st of
July news was received that General Havelock was advancing, had defeated
the Nana, and was master of Cawnpore; but it was still more than two
months before even the first relief of Lucknow was achieved. During
those two months every device was employed, by direct assault and by
mining operations, to reduce the garrison, who held out nobly, meeting
assault with sortie and mine with countermine. But the loyalty of the
native troops began to waver as the weeks dragged by and no sign of
relief appeared. On the 23rd of September, however, the sound of distant
guns in the direction of Cawnpore was heard, and on the 25th General
Havelock's relieving force entered Lucknow. During the 87 days of the
siege the strength of the garrison had diminished to 982, and many of
these were sick and wounded. Against these were arrayed six thousand
trained soldiers and a vast host of undisciplined rabble. For nearly
three months their heavy guns and musketry had poured an unceasing fire
into the residency entrenchment from a distance of only 50 yds. During
the whole time the British flag flew defiantly on the roof of the
residency. The history of the world's sieges contains no more brilliant
episode.
First Relief of Lucknow.
On the 5th of June the troops at Benares mutinied, but were disarmed by
Neill; and on the 6th of June the 6th native infantry at Allahabad
mutinied and shot down their officers, but the fort was held until the
arrival of Neill, who promptly restored order. On the 30th of June Sir
Henry Havelock, who had been appointed to the command of the relieving
column, arrived at Allahabad from Calcutta, and on the 7th of July he
set out for the relief of Lucknow. His force consisted of some two
thousand men all told, of whom three-quarters were British. On the 12th
of July he fought the action of Fatehpur, and gained his first victory,
though the irregular cavalry misbehaved and were subsequently disarmed.
On the 15th the village of Aong was captured, and on the 16th the Nana's
force was utterly shattered in the battle of Cawnpore. In nine days
Havelock had marched 126 m. and fought three general actions under a
broiling sun in the hottest season of the year; but the women and
children whom it had been his object to save had already been massacred.
Leaving Neill in command at Cawnpore, Havelock started out again on the
29th of July with ten light guns and 1500 men in the desperate attempt
to relieve Lucknow, which was 53 m. away. On the 29th he gained two
victories at Unao and Busherutgunge, but considering himself too weak to
advance, he fell back two marches upon Mangalwar. This decision was
badly received by his troops, who were burning to avenge their
countrywomen, and by General Neill, whom Havelock was obliged to
reprimand for insubordination. Being slightly reinforced, he advanced on
the 5th of August, and again turned the enemy out of Busherutgunge, but
was again obliged by cholera to retreat to Mangalwar; and on receipt of
news from Neill that the enemy were assembling at Bithur, he returned to
Cawnpore, and abandoned for the time the attempt to relieve Lucknow. On
the 16th of August he defeated the mutineers at Bithur. At this point
General Havelock was joined by Sir James Outram, who would have
superseded him in the command had not Outram himself, with unequalled
generosity, proposed to accompany Havelock only in his civil capacity as
chief commissioner of Oudh and to serve under him as a volunteer. On the
21st of September Havelock started on his second attempt to relieve
Lucknow, and won the victory of Mangalwar. On the 23rd another victory
was gained at Alam Bagh, and news reached the force of the fall of
Delhi. From Alam Bagh there were four possible routes of advance to the
residency, and Outram considered that the route chosen by Havelock,
lying through the streets of Lucknow, involved unnecessary losses to the
troops. Neill was killed in the streets, and the little force lost in
all 535 officers and men; but on the 26th of September it entered the
residency, and the first relief of Lucknow was accomplished.
Second Relief of Lucknow.
But the two thousand men who had thus entered the residency entrenchment
under Havelock and Outram, though sufficient to reinforce the garrison
and save it from destruction, were not strong enough to cut their way
back to safety, hampered with the women and children and wounded,
amounting to 1500 souls, and the siege now recommenced upon a larger
scale. Havelock's task, however, was accomplished, and Outram now took
command of the residency. A detachment had been left in the Alam Bagh,
which was short of provisions; some attempts were made to open up
communication with it, but without success. Subsequently it was
reinforced from Cawnpore. Upon the fall of Delhi the troops before that
city were freed for the operations in Oudh, and on the 24th of September
a column of 2790 men under Colonel Greathed left Delhi. On the 29th a
successful action was fought at Bulandshahr, and on the 10th of October
the column reached Agra. Here they were surprised by the enemy, but
drove them off with considerable loss. On the 14th of October the column
left Agra under Colonel Hope Grant, and on the 26th reached Cawnpore,
where news was received that the commander-in-chief was coming to take
command of the operations. Sir Colin Campbell had been sent out from
England to suppress the Mutiny, and had assumed command of the Indian
army on the 17th of August, but could not immediately proceed to the
front. It was his first task to reorganize the administrative and
transport departments; only on the 27th of October did he leave
Calcutta. On the 3rd of November he reached Cawnpore, and on the 12th
marched upon Lucknow under the guidance of Thomas Henry Kavanagh, who
had made his way from the residency disguised as a native for that
purpose. Campbell had with him 4500 men with whom to raise a siege
maintained by 60,000 trained soldiers occupying strong positions. On the
12th of November the force reached the Alam Bagh, and on the 14th
advanced upon Lucknow, proceeding on this occasion across the open plain
by the Dilkusha and Martinière instead of through the narrow and
tortuous streets of Lucknow. On the 16th the Sikandra Bagh was stormed;
on the following day Campbell joined hands with Outram and Havelock, and
the relief of Lucknow was finally accomplished.
Capture of Lucknow.
Sir Colin Campbell now decided to withdraw the garrison and women and
children from the residency, and to hold Lucknow by a strong division
operating outside the city. The residency was evacuated on the night of
the 22nd of November; but the success of the operations was marred by
the death of Havelock. On his return to Cawnpore Campbell found that
General Windham was being attacked at that place by the Gwalior
contingent. On the 6th of December he defeated the Gwalior contingent in
the battle of Cawnpore, though he had only 5000 men against the enemy's
25,000. His next task was to clear his line of communications with Delhi
and the Punjab, and this he accordingly undertook. Lord Canning now
decided that the next step should be the reduction of Lucknow, on the
ground that it, like Delhi, was a rallying point of the Mutiny, and that
its continuance in the hands of the enemy would mean a loss of prestige.
General Franks' column advanced to Lucknow from the eastern frontier of
Oudh, defeating the enemy in four actions. Meanwhile Outram had held his
own at the Alam Bagh for over three months with only 4000 men against
120,000 rebels. An offer of help from Nepal had been accepted in July,
and now Jung Bahadur, the prime minister of Nepal, was advancing with
10,000 Gurkhas to aid in the operations against Lucknow; but the
lateness of his arrival delayed the opening of the siege until the 2nd
of March 1858. The Martinière was captured on the 9th of March and the
Begum Kothi on the 11th. On the 14th the Imambara was stormed, and the
Kaisar Bagh, and on the 16th the residency was once more in British
possession. The enemy were thoroughly routed, but Campbell lost the
opportunity of pushing the victory home by forbidding Outram to cross
the bridge in pursuit if he thought he would lose a "single man," and by
sending the cavalry away from the environs of the city at the critical
moment. Upon the fall of Lucknow Lord Canning's Oudh proclamation was
issued, confiscating almost the entire lands of the province, and
ensuring only their lives to those rebels who should submit at once.
Outram considered the terms of this proclamation dangerously severe, and
Lord Ellenborough, president of the board of control, thus criticized it
in a hasty despatch, the publication of which necessitated his own
resignation. It was afterwards acknowledged that the Oudh proclamation,
interpreted as Canning meant it should be, was a wise piece of
statesmanship. After the fall of Lucknow Canning insisted that Sir Colin
Campbell should take immediate action against the rebels in Oudh and
Rohilkhand, and a number of petty and harassing operations were carried
out by detached columns; but Campbell moved too slowly to bring his
guerrilla opponents to book, and the rebellion was really brought to a
conclusion by Sir Hugh Rose's brilliant campaign in Central India.
The Central India Campaign.
Though the two great princes of Central India, Sindhia and Holkar,
wisely and fortunately remained true to the British, troops belonging to
both of them joined the mutineers. The Gwalior contingent of Sindhia's
army mutinied in the middle of June, and on the 1st of July Holkar's
troops revolted at Indore, and the resident, Henry Durand, was forced to
leave the residency. The rani of Jhansi also rose in rebellion, to
become known as "the best man upon the side of the enemy." The rising in
this quarter received little attention until January 1858, when Sir Hugh
Rose was given the command of two brigades, to act in concert with Sir
Colin Campbell, and he immediately began a campaign which for celerity
and effectiveness has rarely been equalled in India. His principle was
to go straight for the enemy wherever he found him, and pursue him until
he had exterminated him. He was hampered by none of that exaggerated
respect for the rebels which earned Sir Colin Campbell the nickname of
Old Khabardhar (Old Take-Care); but carried to an extreme the policy of
audacity. Advancing from Bombay Sir Hugh Rose relieved Saugor on the 3rd
of February, after it had been invested by the rebels for upwards of
seven months. On the 3rd of March he forced the pass of Madanpur, and
took the whole of the enemy's defences in rear, throwing them into
panic. On the 21st he began the siege of Jhansi, the stronghold of the
mutineers in Central India, with a garrison of 11,000 men. During the
course of the siege Tantia Topi, the most capable native leader of the
Mutiny, arrived with a fresh force of 20,000 men, and threatened the
British camp; but Sir Hugh Rose, with a boldness which only success
could justify, divided his force, and while still maintaining the siege
of the fort, attacked Tantia Topi with only 1500 men and completely
routed him. This victory was won on the 1st of April, and two days later
Sir Hugh carried Jhansi by assault. On the 1st of May the battle of
Kunch was fought and won in a temperature of 110° in the shade, many of
the combatants on both sides being struck down by heat apoplexy. On the
22nd of May the battle of Kalpi was won, though the European troops were
hampered by defective ammunition and Sir Hugh himself here received his
fifth sunstroke. In five months he had beaten the enemy in thirteen
general actions and sieges, and had captured some of the strongest forts
in India. News now arrived that the rebel army under Tantia Topi and the
rani of Jhansi had attacked Sindhia, whose troops had gone over to the
rebels and delivered Gwalior into their hands. Sir Hugh marched against
Gwalior at once, captured the Morar cantonments on the 16th of June, and
carried the whole of the Gwalior positions by assault on the 19th, thus
restoring his state to Sindhia within ten days of taking the field. This
was the crowning stroke of the Central India campaign, and practically
put an end to the Mutiny, though the work of stamping out its embers
went on for many months, and was only completed with the capture and
execution of Tantia Topi in April 1859.
Not a national rising.
The Indian Mutiny was in no sense a national rising. The great mass of
the people in the affected districts either stood neutral, waiting with
the immemorial patience of the East to accept the yoke of the conqueror,
or helped the British troops with food and service, in many cases also
sheltering British fugitives to the best of their ability. The attempt
to throw off the British yoke was confined to a few disaffected
ex-rulers and their heirs, with their numerous clansmen and hangers-on,
besides the badmashes and highwaymen who saw their way to profit by the
removal of the British administration under which their peculiar talents
found no safe outlet. The Bengal native army was their tool, which
circumstances put into their hands at the psychological moment when
British power seemed to be at its lowest point. But the fighting races
of the Punjab saw no reason for casting in their lot with the mutineers,
and the great majority of the independent princes who had nothing of
which to complain, like Patiala in the Punjab, Holkar and Sindhia in
central India, preserved a loyal or at least an interested friendship.
The Sikhs showed their appreciation of Lawrence's admirable
administration by keeping faith with their recent conquerors, and the
Gurkhas of Nepal did yeoman service for their fathers' enemies. The lack
of any central principle or common interest was shown in the divided
counsels and sporadic action of the mutineers and their allies, which
made them an easy prey to the solid and audacious British forces.
The result of the Mutiny.
The chief result of the Indian Mutiny was to end the government of India
by the East India company. It was felt that a system of administration
which could permit such a catastrophe was no longer desirable. On the
2nd of August 1858 the queen signed the act which transferred the
government of India to the crown. On the 1st of November Lord Canning,
now viceroy of India, published the noble proclamation in which the
change was announced, and a full amnesty was offered to all the rebels
who had not been leaders in the revolt or were not guilty of the murder
of British subjects. Even before the fall of Delhi, Canning had been
adversely criticized--"Clemency Canning" he was scornfully called--for
announcing his intention to discriminate between the guilt of various
classes of mutineers. But a wiser view soon prevailed, and the natives
of India at large gratefully accepted the queen's proclamation as the
charter of their lives and liberties.
See G. W. Forrest, _History of the Indian Mutiny_ (1904), and
_Selections from State Papers_ (1897); T. R. E. Holmes, _History of
the Indian Mutiny_ (1898); _Kaye and Malleson's History of the Indian
Mutiny_ (1864-1888); R. S. Rait, _Life of Lord Gough_ (1903); Sir W.
Lee-Warner, _Life of Lord Dalhousie_ (1904); Sir H. Cunningham, _Lord
Canning_ ("Rulers of India" series), (1890); Sir Owen Tudor Burne,
_Clyde and Strathnairn_ (1895); Lord Roberts, _Forty-One Years in
India_ (1898); and Sir Evelyn Wood's articles in _The Times_ in the
autumn of 1907.
INDIAN OCEAN, the ocean bounded N. by India and Persia; W. by Arabia and
Africa, and the meridian passing southwards from Cape Agulhas; and E. by
Farther India, the Sunda Islands, West and South Australia, and the
meridian passing through South Cape in Tasmania. As in the case of the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the southern boundary is taken at either
40° S., the line of separation from the great Southern Ocean, or, if the
belt of this ocean between the two meridians named be included, at the
Antarctic Circle. It attains its greatest breadth, more than 6000 m.
between the south points of Africa and Australia, and becomes steadily
narrower towards the north, until it is divided by the Indian peninsula
into two arms, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the
east. Both branches meet the coast of Asia almost exactly on the Tropic
of Cancer, but the Arabian Sea communicates with the Red Sea and the
Persian Gulf by the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb and Ormuz respectively.
Both of these, again, extend in a north-westerly direction to 30° N.
Murray gives the total area, reckoning to 40° S. and including the Red
Sea and Persian Gulf, as 17,320,550 English square miles, equivalent to
13,042,000 geographical square miles. Karstens gives the area as
48,182,413 square kilometres, or 14,001,000 geographical square miles;
of these 10,842,000 square kilometres, or 3,150,000 geographical square
miles, about 22% of the whole, lie north of the equator. For the area
from 40° S. to the Antarctic Circle, Murray gives 9,372,600 English
square miles, equivalent to 7,057,568 geographical square miles, and
Karstens 24,718,000 square kilometres, equivalent to 7,182,474
geographical square miles. The Indian Ocean receives few large rivers,
the chief being the Zambezi, the Shat-el-Arab, the Indus, the Ganges,
the Brahmaputra and the Irawadi. Murray estimates the total land area
draining to the Indian Ocean at 5,050,000 geographical square miles,
almost the same as that draining to the Pacific. The annual rainfall
draining from this area is estimated at 4380 cubic miles.
_Relief._--Large portions of the bed still remain unexplored, but a
fair knowledge of its general form has been gained from the soundings
of H.M.S. "Challenger," the German "Gazelle" Expedition, and various
cable ships, and in 1898 information was greatly added to by the
German "Valdivia" Expedition. A ridge, less than 2000 fathoms from the
surface, extends south-eastwards from the Cape. This ridge, on which
the Crozet Islands and Kerguelen are situated, is directly connected
with the submarine plateau of the Antarctic. From it the depth
increases north-eastwards, and the greatest depression is found in the
angle between Australia and the Sunda Islands, where "Wharton deep,"
below the 3000-fathom line, covers an area of nearly 50,000 sq. m.
Immediately to the north of Wharton deep is the smaller "Maclear
deep," and the long narrow "Jeffreys deep" off the south of Australia
completes the list of depressions below 3000 fathoms in the Indian
Ocean. The 2000-fathom line approaches close to the coast except (1)
in the Bay of Bengal, which it does not enter; (2) to the south-west
of India along a ridge on which are the Laccadive and Maldive Islands;
and (3) in the Mozambique Channel, and on a bank north and east of
Madagascar, on which are the Seychelles, Mascarene Islands and other
groups.
_Islands._--Like the Pacific, the Indian Ocean contains more islands
in the western than in the eastern half. Towards the centre, the
Maldive, Chagos and Cocos groups are of characteristic coral
formation, and coral reefs occur on most parts of the tropical coasts.
There are many volcanic islands, as Mauritius, the Crozet Islands, and
St Paul's. The chief continental islands are Madagascar, Sokotra and
Ceylon. Kerguelen, a desolate and uninhabited island near the centre
of the Indian Ocean at its southern border, is noteworthy as providing
a base station for Antarctic exploration.
_Deposits._--The bottom of the Bay of Bengal, of the northern part of
the Arabian Sea, of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and of the
narrow coastal strips on the east and west sides of the ocean, are
chiefly covered by blue and green muds. Off the African coasts there
are large deposits of Glauconitic sands and muds at depths down to
1000 fathoms, and on banks where coral formation occurs there are
large deposits of coral muds and sands. In the deeper parts the bed of
the ocean is covered on the west and south by Globigerina ooze except
for an elongated patch of red clay extending most of the distance from
Sokotra to the Maldives. The red clay covers a nearly square area in
the eastern part of the basin bounded on two sides by the Sunda
Islands and the west coast of Australia, as well as two strips
extending east and west from the southern margin of the square along
the south of Australia and nearly to Madagascar. In the northern
portion of the square, north and east of Wharton deep, the red clay is
replaced over a large tract by Radiolarian ooze.
_Temperature._--The mean temperature of the surface water is over 80°
F. in all parts north of 13° S., except in the north-west of the
Arabian Sea, where it is somewhat lower. South of 13° S. temperature
falls uniformly and quickly to the Southern Ocean. Between the depths
of 100 and 1000 fathoms temperature is high in the north-west, and in
the south centre and south-west, and low in the north-east, the type
of distribution remaining substantially the same. At 1500 fathoms
temperature has become very uniform, ranging between 35° and 37° F.,
but still exhibiting the same type of distribution, though in a very
degenerate form.
_Salinity._--The saltest surface water is found in (a) the Arabian Sea
and (b) along a belt extending from West Australia to South Africa,
the highest salinity in this belt occurring at the Australian end.
South of the belt salinity falls quickly as latitude increases, while
to the north of it, in the monsoon region, the surface water is very
fresh off the African coast and to the north-east. Little is known
with certainty about the distribution of salinity in the depths, the
number of trustworthy observations available being still very small.
Probably the northern and north-eastern region, within the monsoon
area, contains relatively fresh water down to very considerable
depths.
_Circulation._--North of the equator the surface circulation is under
the control of the monsoons, and changes with them, the currents
consisting chiefly of north-east and south-west drifts in the open
sea, and induced streams following the coasts. During the northern
summer the south-west monsoon, which is sufficiently strong to bring
navigation practically to a standstill except for powerful steamers,
sets up a strong north-easterly drift in the Arabian Sea, and the
water removed from the east African coast is replaced by the upwelling
of cold water from below; this is one of the best illustrations of
this action extant. Along the line of the equator the _Indian
counter-current_ flows eastwards all the year round, acting as
compensation to the great _Equatorial current_ flowing westwards
between the parallels of 7° and 20° S. The equatorial current, on
meeting the northern extremity of Madagascar, sends a branch
southwards along the east coast of that island, sometimes called the
_Mascarene current_. When the main equatorial current reaches the
African coast a minor stream is sent northwards to the source of the
Indian counter-current, but the discharge is chiefly by the
_Mozambique current_, which south of Cape Corrientes becomes the
_Agulhas current_, one of the most powerful stream currents of the
globe. On the west coast of Madagascar and on the banks of the African
coast south of 30° S., reaction currents or "back-drifts" move in the
opposite direction along the flanks of the Agulhas current; these
back-drifts are of great importance to navigation. On clearing the
land south of the Cape the waters of the Agulhas current meet those of
the _west wind drift_ of the Southern Ocean, and mingle with them in
such a manner as to produce, by interdigitation, alternate strips of
warm and cold water, which are met with at great distances south-west
and south of the Cape. Between South Africa and Australia the waters
form a part of the great west wind drift. The waters of this drift
are, in general, of very low temperature, but it is remarkable that
the interdigitation just mentioned continues far to the eastward, at
least as far as Kerguelen. This fact is probably due partly to the
actual intrusion of warm water from the Mascarene current east of
Madagascar, and partly to the circumstance that the different
temperatures of the waters are so compensated by their differences of
salinity that they have almost precisely the same specific gravity _in
situ_. The west wind drift sends a stream northwards along the west
coast of Australia, the _West Australia current_, the homologue of the
Benguela current in the South Atlantic. The principal feature in the
circulation in the depths of the Indian Ocean is a slow movement of
Antarctic water northwards along the bottom to take the place of that
removed from the surface by evaporation, and by currents in the lower
latitudes. Little is known beyond the bare fact that such movement
does take place. (H. N. D.)
INDIANOLA, a city and the county-seat of Warren county, Iowa, U.S.A.,
about 18 m. S. by E. of Des Moines. Pop. (1890) 2254; (1900) 3261;
(1905) 3396; (1910) 3283. It is served by the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railways. Indianola is the
seat of Simpson College (coeducational, Methodist Episcopal, 1867), with
a college of liberal arts, an academy, a school of education, a school
of business, a school of shorthand and typewriting, a conservatory of
music, a school of oratory, a school of art and a military academy. In
1908 the college had 32 instructors and 905 students. The city lies in a
rich farming region, and has a considerable trade in butter and eggs,
vegetables and fruits, and in coal, lumber and live stock from the
surrounding country. Indianola was laid out and was selected as the
county-seat in 1849, and building began in the following year; it was
incorporated as a town in 1864, and was chartered as a city of the
second class in 1884.
INDIANS, NORTH AMERICAN.
The name "American Indians."
The name of "American Indians" for the aborigines of America had its
origin in the use by Columbus, in a letter (February 1493) written soon
after the discovery of the New World, of the term _Indios_ (i.e. natives
of India) for the hitherto unknown human beings, some of whom he brought
back to Europe with him. He believed, as did the people of his age in
general, that the islands which he had discovered by sailing westward
across the Atlantic were actually a part of India, a mistaken idea which
later served, to suggest many absurd theories of the origin of the
aborigines, their customs, languages, culture, &c. From Spanish the
word, with its incorrect connotation, passed into French (_Indien_),
Italian and Portuguese (_Indio_), German (_Indianer_), Dutch
(_Indiane_), &c. When the New World came to be known as _America_, the
natives received, in English especially, the name "American Indians," to
distinguish them from the "Indians" of south-eastern Asia and the East
Indies. The appellation "Americans" was for a long time used in English
to designate, not the European colonists, but the aborigines, and when,
in 1891, Dr D. G. Brinton published his notable monograph on the Indians
he entitled it _The American Race_, recalling the early employment of
the term. The awkwardness of such a term as "American Indian," both
historically and linguistically, led Major J. W. Powell, the founder of
the Bureau of American Ethnology, to put forward as a substitute
"Amerind," an arbitrary curtailment which had the advantage of lending
itself easily to form words necessary and useful in ethnological
writings, e.g. pre-Amerind, post-Amerind, pseudo-Amerind, Amerindish,
Amerindize, &c. Purists have objected strenuously to "Amerind," but the
word already has a certain vogue in both English and French. Indeed,
Professor A. H. Keane does not hesitate, in _The World's Peoples_
(London, 1908), to use "Amerinds" in lieu of "American Indians." Other
popular terms for the American Indians, which have more or less
currency, are "Red race," "Red men," "Redskins," the last not in such
good repute as the corresponding German _Rothäute_, or French
_Peaux-rouges_, which have scientific standing. The term "American
Indians" covers all the aborigines of the New World past and present, so
far as is known, although some European writers, especially in France,
still seek to separate from the "Redskins" the Aztecs, Mayas,
Peruvians, &c., and some American authorities would (anatomically at
least) rank the Eskimo as distinct from the Indian proper. When the name
"Indian" came to be used by the European colonists and their
descendants, they did not confine it to "wild men," but applied it to
many things that were wild, strange, non-European in the new environment
(see _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1902, pp. 107-116; _Handbook of Amer.
Inds._, 1907, pt. i. pp. 605-607). Thus more than one hundred popular
names of plants in use in American English (e.g. "Indian corn," "Indian
pink," &c.) contain references to the Indian in this way; also many
other things, such as "Indian file," "Indian ladder," "Indian gift,"
"Indian pudding," "Indian summer." The Canadian-French, who termed the
Indian _sauvage_ (i.e. "savage"), remembered him linguistically in
_botte sauvage_ (moccasin), _traîne sauvage_ (toboggan). The term
"Siwash," in use in the Chinook jargon of the North Pacific coast, and
also in the English of that region, for "Indian" is merely a corruption
of this Canadian-French appellation. In the literature relating to the
Pacific coast there is mention even of "Siwash Indians." Throughout
Canada and the United States the term "Indian" occurs in hundreds of
place-names of all sorts ("Indian River," "Indian Head," "Indian Bay,"
"Indian Hill," and the like). There are besides these _Indiana_ and its
capital _Indianapolis_. In Newfoundland "Red Indian," as the special
term for the Beothuks, forms part of a number of place-names. Pope's
characterization of the American aborigine,
"Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutor'd mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears Him in the wind,"
is responsible for the creation in the mind of the people of a "Mr Lo,"
who figures in newspaper lore, cartoons, &c. The reputations, deserved
and undeserved, of certain Indian tribes north of Mexico have been such
that their names have passed into English or into the languages of other
civilized nations of Europe as synonyms for "ruffian," "thug," "rowdy,"
&c. Recently "les Apaches" have been the terror of certain districts of
Paris, as were the "Mohocks" (Mohawks) for certain parts of London
toward the close of the 18th century.
Popular fallacies.
The North American Indians have been the subject of numerous popular
fallacies, some of which have gained world-wide currency. Here belongs
a mass of pseudo-scientific and thoroughly unscientific literature
embodying absurd and extravagant theories and speculations as to the
origin of the aborigines and their "civilizations" which derive them
(in most extraordinary ways sometimes), in recent or in remote
antiquity, from all regions of the Old World--Egypt and Carthage,
Phoenicia and Canaan, Asia Minor and the Caucasus, Assyria and
Babylonia, Persia and India, Central Asia and Siberia, China and
Tibet, Korea, Japan, the East Indies, Polynesia, Greece and ancient
Celtic Europe and even medieval Ireland and Wales. Favourite theories
of this sort have made the North American aborigines the descendants
of refugees from sunken Atlantis, Tatar warriors, Malayo-Polynesian
sea-farers, Hittite immigrants from Syria, the "Lost Ten Tribes of
Israel," &c., or attributed their social, religious and political
ideas and institutions to the advent of stray junks from Japan,
Buddhist votaries from south-eastern Asia, missionaries from early
Christian Europe, Norse vikings, Basque fishermen and the like.
Particularly interesting are the theories of "Welsh (or white)
Indians" and the "Lost Ten Tribes." The myth of the "Welsh Indians,"
reputed to be the descendants of a colony founded about A.D. 1170 by
Prince Madoc (well known from Southey's poem), has been studied by
James Mooney (_Amer. Anthrop._ iv., 1891, 393-394), who traces its
development from statements in an article in _The Turkish Spy_,
published in London about 1730. At first these "Welsh Indians," who
are subsequently described as speaking Welsh, possessing Welsh Bibles,
beads, crucifixes, &c., are placed near the Atlantic coast and
identified with the Tuscaroras, an Iroquoian tribe, but by 1776 they
had retreated inland to the banks of the Missouri above St Louis. A
few years later they were far up the Red river, continuing, as time
went on, to recede farther and farther westward, being identified
successively with the Mandans, in whose language Catlin thought he
detected a Welsh element, the Moqui, a Pueblos tribe of north-eastern
Arizona, and the Modocs (here the name was believed to re-echo Madoc)
of south-western Oregon, until at last they vanished over the waters
of the Pacific Ocean. The theory that the American Indians were the
"Lost Ten Tribes of Israel" has not yet entirely disappeared from
ethnological literature. Many of the identities and resemblances in
ideas, customs and institutions between the American Indians and the
ancient Hebrews, half-knowledge or distorted views of which formed
the basis of the theory, are discussed, and their real significance
pointed out by Colonel Garrick Mallery in his valuable address on
"Israelite and Indian: A Parallel in Planes of Culture" (_Proc. Amer.
Assoc. Adv. Sci._ vol. xxxviii., 1889, pp. 287-331). The whole subject
has been discussed by Professor H. W. Henshaw in his "Popular
Fallacies respecting the Indians" (_Amer. Anthrop._ vol. vii. n.s.,
1905, pp. 104-113).
Linguistic stocks.
Of ways of classifying the races of mankind and their subdivisions the
number is great, but that which measures them by their speech is both
ancient and convenient. The multiplicity of languages among the American
Indians was one of the first things that struck the earliest
investigators of a scientific turn of mind, no less than the
missionaries who preceded them. The Abbé Hervas, the first serious
student of the primitive tongues of the New World, from the
classificatory point of view, noted this multiplicity of languages in
his _Catalogo delle lingue conosciute e notizia della loro affinità e
diversità_ (Cesena, 1784); and after him Balbi, Adelung and others.
About the same time in America Thomas Jefferson, who besides being a
statesman was also a considerable naturalist (see _Amer. Anthrop._ ix.
n.s., 1907, 499-509), was impressed by the same fact, and in his _Notes
on the State of Virginia_ observed that for one "radical language" in
Asia there would be found probably twenty in America. Jefferson himself
collected and arranged (the MSS. were afterwards lost) the vocabularies
of about fifty Indian languages and dialects, and so deserves rank among
the forerunners of the modern American school of comparative
philologists. After Jefferson came Albert Gallatin, who had been his
secretary of the treasury, as a student of American Indian languages in
the larger sense. He had also himself collected a number of Indian
vocabularies. Gallatin's work is embodied in the well-known "Synopsis of
the Indian Tribes within the United States East of the Rocky Mountains,
and in the British and Russian Possessions in North America," published
in the _Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian
Society_ (ii. 1-422) for 1836. In this, really the first attempt in
America to classify on a linguistic basis the chief Indian tribes of the
better-known regions of North America, Gallatin enumerated the following
twenty-nine separate divisions: Adaize, Algonkin-Lenape, Athapascas,
Atnas, Attacapas, Blackfeet, Caddoes, Catawbas, Chahtas, Cherokees,
Chetimachas, Chinooks, Eskimaux, Fall Indians, Iroquois, Kinai,
Koulischen, Muskhogee, Natches, Pawnees, Queen Charlotte's Island,
Salish, Salmon River (Friendly Village), Shoshonees, Sioux, Straits of
Fuca, Utchees, Wakash, Woccons. These do not all represent distinct
linguistic stocks, as may be seen by comparison with the list given
below; such peoples as the Caddo and Pawnee are now known to belong
together, the Blackfeet are Algonkian, the Catawba Siouan, the Adaize
Caddoan, the Natchez Muskogian, &c. But the monograph is a very good
first attempt at classifying North American Indian languages.
Gallatin's coloured map of the distribution of the Indian tribes in
question is also a pioneer piece of work. In 1840 George Bancroft, in
the third volume of his _History of the Colonization of the United
States_, discussed the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, listing
the following eight families: Algonquin, Catawba, Cherokee,
Huron-Iroquois, Mobilian (Choctaw and Muskhogee), Natchez, Sioux or
Dahcota, Uchee. He gives also a linguistic map, modified somewhat from
that of Gallatin. The next work of great importance in American
comparative philology is Horatio Hale's monograph forming the sixth
volume (Phila., 1846), _Ethnography and Philology_, of the publications
of the "United States Exploring Expedition, during the years 1838, 1839,
1840, 1842, under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S. Navy," which added
much to our knowledge of the languages of the Indians of the Pacific
coast regions. Two years later Gallatin published in the second volume
of the _Transactions of the American Ethnological Society_ (New York) a
monograph entitled "Hale's Indians of North-west America, and
Vocabularies of North America," in which he recognized the following
additional groups: Arrapahoes, Jakon, Kalapuya, Kitunaha, Lutuami,
Palainih, Sahaptin, Saste, Waiilatpu. In 1853 he contributed a brief
paper to the third volume of Schoolcraft's _Information Respecting the
History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United
States_, adding to the "families" already recognized by him the
following: Cumanches, Gros Ventres, Kaskaias, Kiaways, Natchitoches,
Towiacks, Ugaljachmutzi. Some modifications in the original list were
also made. During the period 1853-1877 many contributions to the
classification of the Indian languages of North America, those of the
west and the north-west in particular, were made by Gibbs, Latham,
Turner, Buschmann, Hayden, Dall, Powers, Powell and Gatschet. The next
important step, and the most scientific, was taken by Major J. W.
Powell, who contributed to the _Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, 1885-1886_ (Washington, 1891) his classic monograph (pp.
1-142) on "Indian Linguistic Families of America North of Mexico." In
1891 also appeared Dr D. G. Brinton's _The American Race: A Linguistic
Classification and Ethnographic Description of the Native Tribes of
North and South America_ (New York, p. 392). With these two works the
adoption of language as the means of distinction and classification of
the American aborigines north of Mexico for scientific purposes became
fixed. Powell, using the vocabulary as the test of relationship or
difference, enumerated, in the area considered, 58 separate linguistic
stocks, or families of speech, each "as distinct from one another in
their vocabularies and apparently in their origin as from the Aryan or
the Scythian families" (p. 26).
The 58 distinct linguistic stocks of American Indians north of Mexico,
recognized by Powell, were as follows: (1) Adaizan; (2) Algonquian; (3)
Athapascan; (4) Attacapan; (5) Beothukan; (6) Caddoan; (7) Chimakuan;
(8) Chimarikan; (9) Chimmesyan; (10) Chinookan; (11) Chitimachan; (12)
Chumashan; (13) Coahuiltecan; (14) Copehan; (15) Costanoan; (16)
Eskimauan; (17) Esselenian; (18) Iroquoian; (19) Kalapooian; (20)
Karankawan; (21) Keresan; (22) Kiowan; (23) Kitunahan; (24) Koluschan;
(25) Kulanapan; (26) Kusan; (27) Lutuamian; (28) Mariposan; (29)
Moquelumnan; (30) Muskhogean; (31) Natchesan; (32) Palaihnihan; (33)
Piman; (34) Pujunan; (35) Quoratean; (36) Salinan; (37) Salishan; (38)
Sastean; (39) Shahaptian; (40) Shoshonean; (41) Siouan; (42)
Skittagetan; (43) Takilman; (44) Tañoan; (45) Timuquanan; (46) Tonikan;
(47) Tonkawan; (48) Uchean; (49) Waiilatpuan; (50) Wakashan; (51)
Washoan; (52) Weitspekan; (53) Wishoskan; (54) Yakonan; (55) Yanan; (56)
Yukian; (57) Yuman; (58) Zuñian.
This has been the working-list of students of American Indian languages,
but since its appearance the scientific investigations of Boas,
Gatschet, Dorsey, Fletcher, Mooney, Hewitt, Hale, Morice, Henshaw,
Hodge, Matthews, Kroeber, Dixon, Goddard, Swanton and others have added
much to our knowledge, and not a few serious modifications of Powell's
classification have resulted. With Powell's monograph was published a
coloured map showing the distribution of all the linguistic stocks of
Indians north of Mexico. Of this a revised edition accompanies the
_Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico_, published by the Bureau
of American Ethnology in 1907-1910, now the standard book of reference
on the subject. The chief modifications made in Powell's list are as
follows: The temporary presence in a portion of south-west Florida of a
new stock, the Arawakan, is now proved. The Adaizan language has been
shown to belong to the Caddoan family; the Natchez to the Muskogian; the
Palaihnian to the Shastan; the Piman to the Shoshonian. The nomenclature
of Powell's classification has never been completely satisfactory to
American philologists, and a movement is now well under way (see _Amer.
Anthrop._ vii. n.s., 1905, 579-593) to improve it. In the present
article the writer has adopted some of the suggestions made by a
committee of the American Anthropological Society in 1907, covering
several of the points in question.
In the light of the most recent and authoritative researches and
investigations the linguistic stocks of American aborigines north of
Mexico, past and present, the areas occupied, earliest homes (or
original habitats), number of tribes, subdivisions, &c., and
population, may be given as follows:--
+----------------+------------------+----------------+-----------+------------+
| Stock. | Area. | Earliest Home. |Tribes, &c.| Population.|
+----------------+------------------+----------------+-----------+------------+
| 1. ALGONKIAN. |Most of N. and E. |N. of the St |Some 50-60,|About |
| | North America, | Lawrence and E.| with many | 90,000, |
| | between lat. 35° | of Lake Ontario| minor | of which |
| | and 55°; centred | (Brinton); N.W.| groups. | some 50,000|
| | in the region of | of the Great | | in Canada. |
| | the Great Lakes | Lakes (Thomas).| | |
| | and Hudson's Bay.| | | |
| | | | | |
| 2. ARAWAKAN. |Within the |Central South |Small |Extinct |
| | territory of the | America. | colony | about end |
| | Calusas in S.W. | | from Cuba.| of 16th |
| | Florida. | | | century. |
| | | | | |
| 3. ATAKAPAN. |In part of S.W. |Somewhere in E. | 2. |Practically |
| | Louisiana and | or N.E. Texas. | | extinct; in|
| | N.E. Texas. | | | 1885 4 |
| | | | | individuals|
| | | | | living in |
| | | | | Louisiana, |
| | | | | and 5 in |
| | | | | Texas. |
| | | | | |
| 4. ATHABASKAN. |Interior of Alaska|Interior of |Some 50, |About |
| | and Canada; W. of| Alaska or | with | 54,000, of |
| | Hudson's Bay and | N.W. Canada. | numerous | which some |
| | N. of the | | minor | 20,000 in |
| | Algonkian; also | | groups. | Canada. |
| | represented in | | | |
| | Oregon, | | | |
| | California, | | | |
| | Arizona, New | | | |
| | Mexico, Texas, | | | |
| | and northern | | | |
| | Mexico. | | | |
| | | | | |
| 5. BEOTHUKAN. |Newfoundland. |Some part of |Local |Extinct; |
| | | Newfoundland | settle- | last |
| | | or Labrador. | ments | represent- |
| | | | only. | atives |
| | | | | died in |
| | | | | 1829. |
| | | | | |
| 6. CADDOAN. |Country between |On the lower Red|Some 12-15.|About 2000. |
| | the Arkansas and | River, or, | | |
| | Colorado rivers | perhaps, | | |
| | in Louisiana, | somewhere to | | |
| | Texas, &c., | the S.W. | | |
| | particularly on | | | |
| | the Red River and| | | |
| | its affluents; | | | |
| | later also in | | | |
| | Kansas, Nebraska,| | | |
| | Dakota, and | | | |
| | Oklahoma. | | | |
| | | | | |
| 7. CHEMAKUAN. |On the N.W. shore |Some part of | 2. | About 200. |
| | of Puget Sound, | N.W. | | |
| | Washington; also | Washington. | | |
| | on Pacific coast | | | |
| | near Cape | | | |
| | Flattery. | | | |
| | | | | |
| 8. CHIMARIKAN. |In N. California, |Somewhere in N. | 1. |Practically |
| | on Trinity river,| California. | | extinct; |
| | N.W. of the | | | in 1903 |
| | Copehan. | | | only nine |
| | | | | individuals|
| | | | | reported |
| | | | | living. |
| | | | | |
| 9. CHINOOKAN. |On the lower |N. of the |Some 10 or |About 300. |
| | Columbia river, | Columbia, in | 12 with | |
| | from the Cascades| W. Washington. | numerous | |
| | to the Pacific | | villages. | |
| | Ocean; on the | | | |
| | coast, N. to | | | |
| | Shoalwater Bay | | | |
| | and S. to | | | |
| | Tillamook Head, | | | |
| | in Washington | | | |
| | and Oregon. | | | |
| | | | | |
|10. CHITIMACHAN.|Part of S.E. |Region of Grand | 1. |Nearly |
| | Louisiana. | Lake and river,| | extinct; |
| | | Louisiana. | | in 1881 |
| | | | | only 50 |
| | | | | individuals|
| | | | | surviving. |
| | | | | |
|11. CHUMASHAN. |In S.W. |Somewhere in |7 or more |Nearly |
| | California, S. of| S.W. | dialects, | extinct; |
| | the Salinan and | California. | with many | only 15-20 |
| | Mariposan; in the| | small | individuals|
| | basins of the Sta| | settle- | still |
| | Maria, Sta Inez, | | ments. | living. |
| | lower Sta Clara, | | | |
| | &c., on the | | | |
| | coast, and the | | | |
| | northern Sta. | | | |
| | Barbara Islands. | | | |
| | | | | |
|12. COPEHAN |In central N. |Somewhere in N. |2 chief |About 130 at|
| (Wintun). | California, W. of| California. | divisions,| various |
| | the Pujunan; W. | | with many | villages, |
| | of the Coast | | small | and as many|
| | range, from San | | settle- | on Round |
| | Pablo and Suisun | | ments. | Valley |
| | Bays N. to Mount| | | Reser- |
| | Shasta. | | | vation. |
| | | | | |
|13. COSTANOAN. |In the coast |Somewhere in |No true |Nearly |
| | region of central| central | tribes, | extinct; |
| | California, N. of| California. | but 15-20 | only 25-30 |
| | the Salinan; from| | settle- | individuals|
| | about San | | ments. | still |
| | Fransisco S. to | | | living. |
| | Point Sur and | | | |
| | Big Panoche | | | |
| | Creek, and from | | | |
| | the Pacific Ocean| | | |
| | to the San | | | |
| | Joaquin river. | | | |
| | river. | | | |
| | | | | |
|14. ESKIMOAN. |Greenland and some|Interior of |9 well- |About |
| | of the Arctic | Alaska (Rink); | marked | 28,000, |
| | islands, the | in the region | groups, | of which |
| | whole northern | W. of Hudson's | with 60-70| there are |
| | coast N. of the | Bay (Boas); | "settle- | in |
| | Algonkian and | preferably | ments," | Greenland |
| | Athabaskan, from | the latter. | &c. | 11,000 |
| | the straits of | | | Alaska |
| | Belle Isle to the| | | 13,000, |
| | end of the | | | Canada |
| | Aleutian Islands;| | | 4500, |
| | also in extreme | | | and Asia |
| | N.E. Asia W. to | | | 1200. |
| | the Anadyr river;| | | |
| | in E. North | | | |
| | America in | | | |
| | earlier times | | | |
| | possibly | | | |
| | considerably | | | |
| | farther south. | | | |
| | | | | |
|15. ESSELENIAN. |On the coast of W.|Somewhere in W. |Many small |Extinct; |
| | California, S. of| or central | settle- | last |
| | Monterey, N. of | California. | ments. | speaker of |
| | the Salinan. | | | language |
| | | | | died about |
| | | | | 1890. |
| | | | | |
|16. HAIDAN |The Queen |Interior of |2 dialects;|About 900, |
| (Skittagetan). | Charlotte | Alaska or | about 25 | of which |
| | Islands, off the | N.W. Canada. | chief | 300 are in |
| | N.W. coast of | | "towns," | Alaska. |
| | British Columbia,| | and many | |
| | and part of the | | minor | |
| | Prince of Wales | | settle- | |
| | Archipelago, | | ments. | |
| | Alaska. | | | |
| | | | | |
|17. IROQUOIAN. |The region about |Somewhere |Some 15 |About |
| | Lakes Erie and | between the | chief | 40,000, |
| | Ontario (Ontario,| lower St | tribes | of which |
| | New York, | Lawrence and | with many | 10,000 are |
| | Pennsylvania, | Hudson's Bay | minor | in Canada; |
| | Ohio, &c.), and | (Brinton, | sub- | of those in|
| | on both banks of | Hale); in S. | divisions.| the United |
| | the St Lawrence, | Ohio and | | States |
| | on the N. to | Kentucky | | 28,000 are |
| | beyond the | (Boyle, | | Cherokee. |
| | Saguenay, on the | Thomas). | | |
| | S. to Gaspé; also| | | |
| | represented in | | | |
| | the S.E. United | | | |
| | States by the | | | |
| | Toscarora, | | | |
| | Cherokee, &c. | | | |
| | (now chiefly in | | | |
| | Oklahoma). | | | |
| | | | | |
|18. KALAPUYAN. |In N.W. Oregon in |Somewhere in |About |Only some |
| | the valley of the| N.W. Oregon. | 15-18, | 140 |
| | Willamette, above| | with minor| individuals|
| | the Falls. | | divisions.| still |
| | | | | living. |
| | | | | |
|19. KARANKAWAN. |On the Texas |Somewhere in |5-6, with |Extinct |
| | coast, from | S. Texas. | minor | probably in|
| | Galveston to | | divisions.| 1858; a few|
| | Padre Island. | | | survived |
| | | | | later, |
| | | | | possibly, |
| | | | | in Mexico. |
| | | | | |
|20. KERESAN. |In N. central New |Somewhere in |17 |3990, in 6 |
| | Mexico, on the | the New Mexico-| "villages"| pueblos |
| | Rio Grande and | Arizona region.| (pueblos);| (some 150 |
| | its tributaries, | | earlier | at Isleta).|
| | the Jemez, San | | more. | |
| | José, &c. | | | |
| | | | | |
|21. KIOWAN. |On the upper |At the foot of | 1. |1219 in |
| | Arkansas and | the Rocky | | Oklahoma. |
| | Canadian rivers, | Mountains in | | |
| | in Colorado, | S.W. Montana. | | |
| | Kansas, Oklahoma,| | | |
| | &c.; formerly on | | | |
| | the headwaters | | | |
| | of the Platte, | | | |
| | and still earlier| | | |
| | on the upper | | | |
| | Yellowstone and | | | |
| | Missouri, in S.W.| | | |
| | Montana. | | | |
| | | | | |
|22. KITUNAHAN. |In S.E. British |Somewhere E. of |2 chief |About 1100; |
| | Columbia, N. | the Rocky | divisions | half in |
| | Idaho, and part | Mountains in | and 3 | Canada and |
| | of N.W. Montana. | Montana or | others. | half in |
| | | Alberta. | | the United |
| | | | | States. |
| | | | | |
|23. KOLUSCHAN |On the coast and |Somewhere in the|Some 12-15.|About 2000. |
| (Tlingit). | adjacent islands | interior of | | |
| | of S. Alaska, | Alaska or N.W. | | |
| | from 55° to 60° | Canada. | | |
| | N. lat.; also | | | |
| | some in Canada. | | | |
| | | | | |
|24. KULANAPAN |On the coast in |Somewhere in |About 30 |About 1000. |
| (Pomo). | N.W. California | N.W. | local | |
| | (Sonoma, Lake and| California. | divisions,| |
| | Mendocino | | &c.; no | |
| | counties), W. of | | true | |
| | the Yukian. | | tribes. | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|25. KUSAN. |On the coast of |Somewhere |4, |About 50. |
| | central Oregon, | inland from | earlier | |
| | on Coos Bay and | Coos Bay, | more. | |
| | Coos and Coquille| Oregon. | | |
| | rivers, S. of the| | | |
| | Yakonan; now | | | |
| | mostly on Siletz | | | |
| | Reservation. | | | |
| | | | | |
|26. LUTUAMIAN |In the region of |In S. Oregon, N.|2, with |1034; of |
| (Klamath). | the Klamath and | of the Klamath | local sub-| these 755 |
| | Tule lakes, Lost | lakes. | divisions.| Klamath, |
| | and Sprague | | | and 279 |
| | rivers, &c., in | | | Modoc (56 |
| | Oregon (chiefly) | | | in |
| | and N.E. | | | Oklahoma). |
| | California; now | | | |
| | on Klamath | | | |
| | Reservation, | | | |
| | Oregon, with a | | | |
| | few also in | | | |
| | Oklahoma. | | | |
| | | | | |
|27. MARIPOSAN |In S. central |Somewhere in |30-40 |About 150, |
| (Yokuts). | California, in | central | groups | at Tule |
| | the valley of the| California. | with | river |
| | San Joaquin, on | | special | reservati- |
| | the Tule, Kaweah,| | dialects. | on, &c. |
| | King's rivers, | | | |
| | &c.; E. of the | | | |
| | Salinan, S. of | | | |
| | the Moquelumnan. | | | |
| | | | | |
|28. MOQUELUMNAN |In central |Somewhere in |7 dialects,|Several |
| (Miwok). | California, in | central | no true | hundred; |
| | three sections: | California. | tribes; | much |
| | the main area on | | about 20 | scattered. |
| | the W. slope of | | local | |
| | the Sierras, from| | groups | |
| | the Cosumnes | | with | |
| | river on the N. | | numerous | |
| | to the Fresno on | | minor | |
| | the S.; a second | | ones. | |
| | on the N. shore | | | |
| | of San Francisco | | | |
| | Bay, and a third | | | |
| | (small) S. of | | | |
| | Clear Lake on the| | | |
| | headwaters of | | | |
| | Putah Creek. | | | |
| | | | | |
|29. MUSKOGIAN |In the Gulf |Somewhere W. of |About 12, |About |
| (Muskhogean).| States, E. of the| the lower | with many | 40,000; of |
| | Mississippi, most| Mississippi. | minor | these |
| | of Mississippi, | | divisions.| 38,000 in |
| | Alabama and | | | Oklahoma, |
| | Georgia, part of | | | 1000 in |
| | Tennessee, S. | | | Mississi- |
| | Carolina, Florida| | | ppi, 350 in|
| | and Louisiana; | | | Florida, |
| | now mostly | | | and a few |
| | in Oklahoma. | | | in |
| | | | | Louisiana. |
| | | | | |
|30. PAKAWAN |On both banks of |Some part of |20-25, some|Practically |
| (Coahuiltecan).| the Rio Grande in| N.E. Mexico. | very | extinct; in|
| | Texas and Mexico,| | small. | 1886 about |
| | from its mouth to| | | 30 individ-|
| | beyond Laredo; at| | | uals still |
| | one time possibly| | | living, |
| | E. to Antonio, | | | mostly on |
| | and W. to the | | | the Mexican|
| | Sierra Madre. | | | side of the|
| | | | | Rio Grande.|
| | | | | |
|31. PUJUNAN |In N.E. |N.E. California.|No true |About 250 |
| (Maidu). | California, E. of| | tribes; | full- |
| | the Sacramento | | several | bloods. |
| | river, between | | larger and| |
| | the Shastan and | | very many | |
| | Moquelumnan. | | smaller | |
| | | | local | |
| | | | divisions,| |
| | | | "village- | |
| | | | s," &c. | |
| | | | | |
|32. QUORATEAN |In extreme N.W. |Somewhere in N. |Many |In 1889 some|
| (Karok). | California, on | California. |"villages,"| 600; much |
| | the Klamath | | &c. | reduced |
| | river, &c.; W. of| | | since; |
| | the Shastan. | | | possibly |
| | | | | 300. |
| | | | | |
|33. SAHAPTIAN. |In the region of |Somewhere in the| 5-7. |About 4200. |
| | the Columbia and | region of the | | |
| | its tributaries, | Columbia, or | | |
| | in parts of | farther N. | | |
| | Washington, Idaho| | | |
| | and Oregon; | | | |
| | between lat. 44° | | | |
| | and 47°, and from| | | |
| | the Cascades to | | | |
| | the Bitter Root | | | |
| | Mountains. | | | |
| | | | | |
|34. SALINAN. |On the Pacific |Somewhere in |2 or 3 |Practically |
| | coast of S.W. | S.W. | larger | extinct; in|
| | California, from | California. | divisions;| 1884 only |
| | above S. Antonio,| | no true | 10-12 |
| | to below S. Louis| | tribes. | individuals|
| | Obispo; W. of the| | | living. |
| | Mariposan. | | | |
| | | | | |
|35. SALISHAN. |A large part of S.|Central or N. |Some 60-65,|About 15,000|
| | British Columbia | British | of which a| in Canada, |
| | and Washington, | Columbia. | number are| and some |
| | with parts of | | merely | 6300 in the|
| | Idaho and | | local | United |
| | Montana; also | | divisions.| States. |
| | part of Vancouver| | | |
| | Island, and | | | |
| | outliers in N. | | | |
| | British Columbia | | | |
| | (Bilqula), and | | | |
| | S.W. Oregon. | | | |
| | | | | |
|36. SHASTAN. |In N. California |In N. California|6 or more |Less than 40|
| | and S. Oregon, in| or Oregon. | linguistic| Shasta |
| | the basins of the| | divisions.| full- |
| | Pit and Klamath | | | bloods; |
| | rivers, on Rogue | | | some 1200 |
| | river and to | | | Achomawi. |
| | beyond the | | | |
| | Siskiyou | | | |
| | Mountains; S. of | | | |
| | the Lutuamian. | | | |
| | | | | |
|37. SHOSHONIAN. |In the W. part of |Foot-hills and |Some 12-15 |In the |
| | the United | plains E. of | in the | United |
| | States; most of | the Rocky | United | States, |
| | the country | Mountains in | States; | some |
| | between lat. 35° | N.W. United | many more | 24,000. |
| | and 45° and long.| States or | in Mexico,| |
| | 105° and 120°, | Canada, but | ancient | |
| | with | residence in | and | |
| | extensions N., | Plateau region | modern. | |
| | S., and S.E. | long-continued.| | |
| | outside this | | | |
| | area; represented| | | |
| | also in | | | |
| | California, and | | | |
| | in Mexico by the | | | |
| | Piman, Sonoran | | | |
| | and Nahuatlan | | | |
| | tribes. | | | |
| | | | | |
|38. SIOUAN. |In the basin of |In the |Some 20 |About |
| | the Missouri and | Carolina- | large and | 38,000 |
| | the upper | Virginia | many minor| of which |
| | Mississippi; | region. | ones. | some 1400 |
| | from about N. | | | in Canada. |
| | lat. 33° to 53° | | | |
| | and, at the | | | |
| | broadest, from | | | |
| | 89° to 110° W. | | | |
| | long.; also | | | |
| | represented in | | | |
| | Wisconsin | | | |
| | (Winnebago), | | | |
| | Louisiana, the | | | |
| | Carolinas, and | | | |
| | Virginia | | | |
| | (formerly). | | | |
| | | | | |
|39. TAKELMAN. |In S.W. Oregon, in|In some part | 2. |Practically |
| | the middle valley| of S. Oregon. | | extinct; |
| | of Rogue river, | | | perhaps 6 |
| | on the upper | | | speakers of|
| | Rogue, and to | | | the |
| | about the | | | language |
| | California line | | | alive. |
| | or beyond. | | | |
| | | | | |
|40. TANOAN. |In New Mexico, on |Some part of |Some 14-15 |About 4200 |
| | the Rio Grande, | New Mexico. | pueblos. | in 12 |
| | &c., from lat. | | | pueblos. |
| | 33° to 36°; also | | | |
| | a settlement with| | | |
| | the Moqui in N.E.| | | |
| | Arizona, and | | | |
| | another on the | | | |
| | Rio Grande at the| | | |
| | boundary line, | | | |
| | partly in Mexico.| | | |
| | | | | |
|41. TIMUQUAN. |In Florida, from |Some part |Some 60 or |Extinct in |
| | the N. border and| of Florida. | more | 18th |
| | the Ocilla river | | settle- | century. |
| | to Lake | | ments. | |
| | Okeechobee, | | | |
| | perhaps farther | | | |
| | N. and S. | | | |
| | | | | |
|42. TONIKAN. |In part of E. |Somewhere in | 3. |Practically |
| | Louisiana and | the Louisiana- | | extinct; in|
| | part of | Mississippi | | 1886 some |
| | Mississippi; in | region. | | 25 |
| | Avoyelles parish,| | | individuals|
| | La., &c. | | | living at |
| | | | | Marksville,|
| | | | | La. |
| | | | | |
|43. TONKAWAN. |In S. E. Texas, |Somewhere in S. | 1. |Nearly |
| | N.W. of the | or W. Texas. | | extinct; in|
| | Karankawan; | | | 1884 only |
| | remnants now in | | | 78 |
| | Oklahoma. | | | individuals|
| | | | | living; in |
| | | | | 1905 but |
| | | | | 47, with |
| | | | | Ponkas, in |
| | | | | Oklahoma. |
| | | | | |
|44. TSIMSHIAN |In N.W. British |On the |3 main |About 3200 |
| (Chimmesyan).| Columbia, on the | headwaters | and | in Canada, |
| | Nass and Skeena | of the Skeena | several | and 950 in |
| | rivers, and the | river. | minor | Alaska. |
| | adjacent islands | | divisions.| |
| | and coast S. to | | | |
| | Millbank Sound; | | | |
| | also (since 1887)| | | |
| | on Annette | | | |
| | Island, Alaska. | | | |
| | | | | |
|45. WAILATPUAN. |A western section |In Oregon, S. | 2. |Language |
| | (Molala) in the | of the Columbia| | practically|
| | Cascade region | river. | | extinct; |
| | between Mounts | | | 405 Cayuse |
| | Hood and Scott, | | | (in 1888 |
| | in Washington and| | | only 6 |
| | Oregon; an | | | spoke their|
| | eastern (Cayuse) | | | mother |
| | on the headwaters| | | tongue) |
| | of the | | | are still |
| | Wallawalla, | | | living; |
| | Umatilla and | | | in 1881 |
| | Grande Ronde | | | about 20 |
| | rivers. | | | Molalas. |
| | | | | |
|46. WAKASHAN |Most of Vancouver |Somewhere in the|3 main |4765, of |
| (Kwakiutl- | Island (except | interior of | divisions,| which 435 |
| Nootka). | some 2/3 of the | British | with more | are in the |
| | E. coast) and | Columbia. | than 50 | United |
| | most of the coast| | "tribes." | States. |
| | of British | | | |
| | Columbia from | | | |
| | Gardner channel | | | |
| | to Cape Mudge; | | | |
| | also part of | | | |
| | Washington. | | | |
| | | | | |
|47. WASHOAN. |In E. central |In N.W. | 1. |About 200, |
| | California and | Nevada. | | in the |
| | the adjoining | | | region of |
| | part of Nevada, | | | Carson, |
| | in the region of | | | Reno, &c. |
| | Lake Tahoe and | | | |
| | the lower Carson | | | |
| | valley. | | | |
| | | | | |
|48. WEITSPEKAN |In N.W. |In N. California|6 |A few |
| (Yurok) | California, W. of| or S. Oregon. | divisions;| hundreds; |
| | the Quoratean. | | no true | in 1870 |
| | | | tribes. | estimated |
| | | | | at |
| | | | | 2000 or |
| | | | | more. |
| | | | | |
|49. WISHOSKAN |In N.W. |In N. |3-5 |Nearly |
| (Wiyot). | California, in | California. | divisions;| extinct. |
| | the coast region,| | no true | |
| | S. of the | | tribes. | |
| | Weitspekan. | | | |
| | | | | |
|50. YAKONAN. |In W. Oregon, in |W. central |4 chief |About 300, |
| | the coast region | Oregon. | divisions,| on the |
| | and on the rivers| | with | Siletz |
| | from the Yaquina | | numerous | Reservation|
| | to the Umpqua. | | villages. |
| | | | | |
|51. YANAN. |In central N. |Somewhere | 1. |Practically |
| | California in the| farther E. | | extinct; in|
| | region of Round | | | 1884 but 35|
| | Mountain. &c., S.| | | individuals|
| | of the Shastan. | | | living. |
| | | | | |
|52. YUCHIAN. |In E. Georgia, on |Somewhere E. | 1. |About 500, |
| | the Savannah | of the | | with Creeks|
| | river from above | Chatahoochee. | | in |
| | Augusta down to | | | Oklahoma. |
| | the Ogeechee, and| | | |
| | also on | | | |
| | Chatahoochee | | | |
| | river; remnants | | | |
| | now in Oklahoma. | | | |
| | | | | |
|53. YUKIAN. |In N.W. |N. or central |5 |About 250. |
| | California, E. of| California. | divisions;| |
| | the Copehan, with| | no true | |
| | a N. and a S. | | tribes. | |
| | section; in the | | | |
| | Round Valley | | | |
| | region. | | | |
| | | | | |
|54. YUMAN. |In the extreme |N. W. Arizona. | 9-10. |In the |
| | S.W. of the | | | United |
| | United States | | | States |
| | (lower Colorado | | | about |
| | and Gila valley),| | | 4800. |
| | part of | | | |
| | California, most | | | |
| | of Lower | | | |
| | California, and a| | | |
| | small part of | | | |
| | Mexico. | | | |
| | | | | |
|55. ZUÑIAN. | In N.W. New |Some part of | 1. |1500. |
| | Mexico, on the | the New Mexico-| | |
| | Zuñi river. | Arizona region.| | |
+----------------+------------------+----------------+-----------+------------+
Of these 55 different linguistic stocks 5 (Arawakan, Beothukan,
Esselenian, Karankawan and Timuquan) are completely extinct, the
Arawakan, of course, in North America only; 13 (Atakapan, Chimarikan,
Chitimachan, Chumashan, Costanoan, Kusan, Pakawan, Salinan, Takelman,
Tonikan, Tonkawan, Wishoskan, Yakonan) practically extinct; while the
speakers of a few other languages or the survivors of the people once
speaking them (e.g. Chemakuan, Chinookan, Copehan, Kalapuyan, Mariposan,
Washoan, Yukian), number about 200 or 300, in some cases fewer. Of the
Wailatpuans, although some individuals belonging to the stock are still
living, the language itself is practically extinct. The distribution of
the various stocks reveals some interesting facts. Among these are the
stretch of the Eskimoan along the whole Arctic coast and its extension
into Asia; the immense areas occupied by the Athabaskan and the
Algonkian, and (less notably) the Shoshonian and the Siouan; the
existence of few stocks on the Atlantic slope (from Labrador to Florida,
east of the Mississippi, only 8 are represented); the great multiplicity
of stocks in the Pacific coast region, particularly in Oregon and
California; the extension of the Shoshonian, Yuman and Athabaskan
southward into Mexico, the Shoshonian in ancient, the Athabaskan in
modern times; the existence of an Arawakan colony in south-western
Florida, a 16th-century representative in North America of a South
American linguistic stock. Some stocks, e.g. Atakapan, Beothukan,
Chemakuan, Chimarikan, Chitimachan, Kiowan, Kitunahan, Lutuamian,
Takelman, Tonkawan, Wailatpuan, Yanan, Yuchian, Zuñi, &c., were not
split up into innumerable dialects, possessing at most but two, three or
four, usually fewer. Of the larger stocks, the Athabaskan, Algonkian,
Shoshonian, Siouan, Iroquoian, Salishan, &c., possess many dialects
often mutually unintelligible. In marked contrast with this is the case
of the Eskimoan stock, where, in spite of the great distance over which
it has extended, dialect variations are at a minimum, and the people
"have retained their language in all its minor features for centuries"
(Boas). As to the reason for the abundance of linguistic stocks in the
region of the Pacific (from Alaska to Lower California, west of long.
115°, there are 37: Eskimoan, Koluschan, Athabaskan, Haidan, Tsimshian,
Wakashan, Salishan, Kitunahan, Chimakuan, Chinookan, Sahaptian,
Wailatpuan, Shoshonian, Kalapuyan, Yakonan, Kusan, Takelman, Lutuamian,
Quoratean, Weitspekan, Wishoskan, Shastan, Yanan, Chimarikan, Yukian,
Copehan, Pujunan, Washoan, Kulanapan, Moquelumnan, Mariposan, Costanoan,
Esselenian, Salinan, Chumashan, Yuman) there has been much discussion.
Of these no fewer than 18 are confined practically to the limits of the
present state of California. Dialects of Athabaskan, Shoshonian and
Yuman also occur within the Californian areas, thus making, in all,
representatives of 21 linguistic stocks in a portion of the continent
measuring less than 156,000 sq. m. In explanation of this great
diversity of speech several theories have been put forward. One is to
the effect that here, as in the region of the Caucasus in the Old World,
the multiplicity of languages is due to the fact that tribe after tribe
has been driven into the mountain valleys, &c., by the pressure of
stronger and more aggressive peoples, who were setting forth on careers
of migration and conquest. Another view, advocated by Horatio Hale in
1886 (_Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci._; also _Proc. Canad. Inst._,
Toronto, 1888), is that this great diversity of human speech is due to
the language-making instinct of children, being the result of "its
exercise by young children accidentally isolated from the teachings and
influence of grown companions." A pair of young human beings, separating
thus from the parent tribe and starting social life in a new environment
by themselves, would, according to Mr Hale, soon produce a new dialect
or a new language. This theory was looked upon with favour by Romanes,
Brinton, and other psychologists and ethnologists. Dr R. B. Dixon
(_Congr. intern. des. Amér._, Quebec, 1906, pp. 255-263), discussing
some aspects of this question, concludes "that the great linguistic and
considerable cultural complexity of this whole California-Oregon region
is due to progressive differentiation rather than to the crowding into
this restricted area of remnants of originally discrete stocks." How far
two dialects of one stock can go in the way of such differentiation
without becoming absolutely distinct is illustrated by the Achomawi
branches of the Shastan family of speech, which Dr Dixon has very
carefully investigated.
The test of vocabulary is not the only means by which the languages of
the North American aborigines might be classified. There are
peculiarities of phonetics, morphology, grammar, sentence-structure,
&c., which suggest groupings of the linguistic stocks independent of
their lexical content. Some languages are harsh and consonantal (e.g.
the Kootenay and others of the North Pacific region), some melodious
and vocalic, as are certain of the tongues of California and the
south-eastern United States. Some employ reduplication with great
frequency, like certain Shoshonian dialects; others, like Kootenay,
but rarely. A few, like the Chinook, are exceedingly onomatopoeic.
Some, like the northern languages of California, have no proper plural
forms. Of the Californian languages the Pomo alone distinguishes
gender in the pronoun, a feature common to other languages no farther
off than Oregon. The high development and syntactical use of
demonstratives which characterize the Kwakiutl are not found among the
Californian tongues. A few languages, like the Chinook and the Tonika,
possess real grammatical gender. Some languages are essentially
prefix, others essentially suffix tongues; while yet others possess
both prefixes and suffixes, or even infixes as well. In some languages
vocalic changes, in others consonantal, have grammatical or semantic
meaning. In certain languages tense, mood and voice are rather weakly
developed. In some languages syntactical cases occur (e.g. in certain
Californian tongues), while in many others they are quite unknown.
Altogether the most recent investigations have revealed a much greater
variety in morphological and in grammatical processes than was
commonly believed to exist, so that the general statement that the
American Indian tongues are all clearly and distinctly of the
"incorporating" and "polysynthetic" types needs considerable
modification. Using criteria of phonetics, morphology, grammar, &c.,
some of the best authorities have been able to suggest certain groups
of North American Indian languages exhibiting peculiarities justifying
the assumption of relationship together. Thus Dr Franz Boas (_Mem.
Intern. Congr. Anthrop._, 1893, pp. 339-346, and _Ann. Archaeol. Rep.
Ontario_, 1905, pp. 88-106) has grouped the linguistic stocks of the
North Pacific coast region as follows: (1) Tlingit (Koluschan) and
Haida; (2) Tsimshian; (3) Wakashan (Kwakiutl-Nootka), Salish,
Chemakum; (4) Chinook. In the same region the present writer has
suggested a possible relationship of the Kootenay with Shoshonian. In
the Californian area Dr R. B. Dixon and Dr A. L. Kroeber have made out
these probable groups among the numerous language stocks of that part
of the United States: (1) Chumashan and Salinan; (2) Yurok
(Weitspekan), Wishoskan, Athabaskan, Karok (Quoratean), Chimarikan;
(3) Maidu (Pujunan), Lutuamian, Wintun (Copehan), Yukian, Pomo
(Kulanapan), Costanoan, Esselenian, Yokuts (Mariposan), Shoshonian,
Shastan, Moquelumnan and possibly Washoan; (4) Yanan; (5) Yuman.
Suggestions of even larger groups than any of these have also been
made. It may be that, judged by certain criteria, the Kootenay,
Shoshonian, Iroquoian and Siouan may belong together, but this is
merely tentative. It is also possible, from the consideration of
morphological peculiarities, that some if not all of the languages of
the so-called "Palaeo-Asiatic" peoples of Siberia, as Boas has
suggested (_Science_, vol. xxiii., n.s., 1906, p. 644), may be
included within the American group of linguistic stocks. Indeed
Sternberg (_Intern. Amer.-Kongr._ xiv., Stuttgart, 1904, pp. 137-140)
has undertaken to show the relationship morphologically of one of
these languages, the Giliak (of the island of Saghalin and the region
about the mouth of the Amur), to the American tongues, and its
divergence from the "Ural-Altaic" family of speech. Here, however,
more detailed investigations are needed to settle the question.
General character of Indian languages.
At one time the opinion was widely prevalent that primitive languages
changed very rapidly, sometimes even within a generation, and the
American Indian tongues were rather freely used as typical examples of
such extreme variation. The error of this view is now admitted
everywhere, and for the speech of the New World aborigines Dr Franz Boas
states (_Hndb. Amer. Ind._ pt. i., 1907, p. 759): "There is, however, no
historical proof of the change of any Indian language since the time of
the discovery comparable with that of the language of England between
the 10th and 13th centuries." Another statement that has obtained
currency, appearing even in otherwise reputable quarters sometimes, is
to the effect that some of the vocabularies of American Indian languages
consist of but a few hundred words, one being indeed so scanty that its
speakers could not converse by night, since darkness prevented resort to
the use of gesture. This is absolutely contrary to fact, for the
vocabularies of the languages of the American Indians are rich, and,
according to the best authority on the subject, "it is certain that in
every one there are a couple of thousand of stem words and many thousand
words, as that term is defined in English dictionaries" (Boas). The
number of words in the vocabulary of the individual Indian is also much
greater than is generally thought to be the case. It was long customary,
even in "scientific" circles, to deny to American Indian tongues the
possession of abstract terms, but here again the authority of the best
recent investigators is conclusive, for "the power to form abstract
ideas is, nevertheless, not lacking, and the development of abstract
thought would find in every one of the languages a ready means of
expression" (Boas). In this connexion, however, it should be remembered
that, in general, the languages of the American aborigines "are not so
well adapted to generalized statements as to lively descriptions." The
holophrastic terms characteristic of so many American Indian languages
"are not due to a lack of power to classify, but are rather expressions
of form of culture, single terms being intended for those ideas of prime
importance to the people" (Boas). This consideration of American
primitive tongues in their relation to culture-types opens up a
comparatively new field of research, and one of much evolutional
significance.
As a result of the most recent and authoritative philological
investigations, the following may be cited as some of the chief
characteristics of many, and in some cases, of most of the languages
of the aborigines north of Mexico.
1. Tendency to express ideas with great graphic detail as to place,
form, &c.
2. "Polysynthesis," a device making possible, by the use of
modifications of stems and radicals and the employment of prefixes,
suffixes, and sometimes infixes, &c., the expression of a large number
of special ideas. By such methods of composition (to cite two examples
from Boas) the Eskimo can say at one breath, so to speak, "He only
orders him to go and see," and the Tsimshian, "He went with him upward
in the dark and came against an obstacle." The Eskimo
_Takusariartorumagaluarnerpâ?_ ("Do you think he really intends to go
to look after it?") is made up from the following elements:
_Takusar_(_pâ_), "he looks after it"; _iartor_ (_poq_), "he goes to";
_uma_ (_voq_), "he intends to"; (_g_) _aluar_ (_poq_), "he does so,
but"; _nerpoq_, "do you think he." The Cree "word"
"_kekawewechetushekamikowanowow_" ("may it," i.e. the grace of Jesus
Christ, "remain with you") is resolvable into: _Kelawow_ (here split
into _ke_ at the beginning and _-owow_ as terminal), "you" (pl.); _ka_
= sign of futurity (first and second persons); _we_ = an optative
particle; _weche_ = "with"; _tusheka_ = verbal radical, "remain";
_mik_ = pronominal particle showing that the subject of the verb is in
the third person and the object in the second, "it-you"; _owan_ =
verbal possessive particle, indicating that the subject of the verb is
something inanimate belonging to the animate third person, "his-it."
The Carrier (Athabaskan) _lekoenahweshoendoethoenoezkrok_, "I usually
recommence to walk to and fro on all fours while singing," which
Morice calls "a simple word," is built up from the following elements:
_le_ = "prefix expressing reciprocity, which, when in connexion with a
verb of locomotion, indicates that the movement is executed between
two certain points without giving prominence to either"; _koe_ =
particle denoting direction toward these points; _na_ = "iterative
particle, suggesting that the action is repeated"; _hwe_ = particle
referring to the action as being in its incipient stage; _shoen_ =
"song" (when incorporated in a verb it "indicates that singing
accompanies the action expressed by the verbal root"); _doe_ = "a
particle called for by _shoen_, said particle always entering into the
composition of verbs denoting reference to vocal sounds"; _thoe_ = the
secondary radical of the uncomposite verb _thîzkret_ inflected from
_thi_ for the sake of euphony with _noez_; _noez_ = "the pronominal
element of the whole compound" (the _n_ is demanded by the previous
_hwe_, _oe_ marks the present tense, and _z_ marks the first person
singular of the third conjugation); _krok_ = "the main radical,
altered here by the usitative from the normal form _kret_, and is
expressive of locomotion habitually executed on four feet or on all
fours."
3. Incorporation of noun and adjectives in verb, or of pronouns in
verb. From the Kootenay language of south-eastern British Columbia the
following examples may be given: Natl_tlam_kine = "He carries (the)
_head_ in (his) hand"; Howanko_tlam_kine = "I shake (the) head in (my)
hand"; Witl_wum_ine = "(His) _belly_ is large"; Tlit_kat_ine = "He has
no tail"; Matlna_ktletl_ine = "He opens his eyes." In these
expressions are incorporated, with certain abbreviations of form, the
words _aqktlam_, "head"; _aqkowum_, "belly"; _aqkat_, "tail";
_aqkaktletl_, "eyes." In some languages the form for the noun
incorporated in the verb is entirely different from that in
independent use. Of pronominal incorporation these examples are from
the Kootenay: Nupqan_ap_ine = "_He_ sees _me_"; _Ho_nupqan_is_ine =
"_I_ see _you_"; Tshatlipitl_is_ine = "_He_ will kill _you_";
Tshatlitqan_awas_ine = "_He_ will bite _us_"; Tshatltsukwat_is_ine =
"_He_ is going to seize _you_"; _Hin_tshatltlpatl_nap_ine = "_You_
will honour _me_." For incorporation of adjectives these examples will
serve: Honite_nus_tik = "I paint (my face)," literally, "1 make it
_red_" (_kanohos_, "red"; the radical is _nos_ or _nus_ for _nohos_);
Ho_witl_keine = "I shout," literally, "I talk _big_"; Ho_witlk_aine =
"I am _tall_ (_big_)." In some languages the pronouns denoting
subject, direct object and indirect object are all incorporated in the
verb.
4. The formation of nouns of very composite character by the use of
stems or radicals and prefixes, suffixes, &c., of various sorts, the
intricacy of such formations exceeding often anything known in the
Indo-European and Semitic languages. Often the component parts are
"clipped," or changed by decapitation, decaudation, syncopation, &c.,
before being used in the compound. The following examples from various
Indian languages will illustrate the process:--Kootenay:
_Aqkinkanuktlamnam_ = "crown of head," from _aq_ (prefix of uncertain
meaning), _kinkan_ = "top," _tlam_ = "head," _-nam_ (suffix =
"somebody's"). Tlingit: _Kanyiqkuwate_ = "aurora," literally, "fire
(_kan_)-like (_yiq_)-out-of-doors (_ku_)-colour (_wate_)."
5. The development of a great variety of forms for personal and
demonstrative pronouns. In the latter, sometimes, the language
distinguishes "visibility and invisibility, present and past, location
to the right, left, front and back of, and above and below the
speaker" (Boas). According to Morice (_Trans. Canad. Inst._,
1889-1890, p. 187), the Carrier language of the Athabaskan stock has
no fewer than seventeen possessive pronouns of the third person.
6. Indistinctness of demarcation between noun and verb; in some
languages the transitive and in others the intransitive only is really
verbal in form.
7. The use of the intransitive verb as a means of expressing ideas
which in European tongues, e.g., would be carried by adjectives. In
the Carrier language almost all adjectives are "genuine verbs"
(Morice).
8. The expression of abstract nouns in a verbalized form. Thus Cree
(Algonkian) generally says, in preference to using the abstract noun
_pimatisewin_, "life," the periphrastic verb _apimatisenanewuk_,
literally "that they (indefinite as to person) live." So far is this
carried sometimes that Horden (_Cree Grammar_, London, 1881, p. 5)
says: "I have known an Indian speak a long sentence, on the duties of
married persons to each other, without using a single noun."
As an interesting example of a long word in American-Indian languages
may be mentioned the Iroquois
_taontasakonatiatawitserakninonseronniontonhatieseke_. This "word,"
which, as Forbes (_Congr. intern. d. Amer._, Quebec, 1906, p. 103)
suggests, would serve well on the signboard of a dealer in novelties,
is translated by him, "Que plusieurs personnes viennent acheter des
habits pour d'autres personnes avec de quoi payer." Not so formidable
is _deyeknonhsedehrihadasterasterahetakwa_, a term for "stove polish,"
in use on the Mohawk Reservation near Brantford, Ontario.
The literature in the native languages of North America due to
missionary efforts has now reached large proportions. Naturally Bible
translations have been most important. According to Wilberforce Eames
(_Handbook of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. pp. 143-145), "the Bible has
been printed in part or in whole in 32 Indian languages north of Mexico.
In 18 one or more portions have been printed; in 9 others the New
Testament or more has appeared; and in 5 languages, namely, the
Massachuset, Cree, Labrador Eskimo, Santee Dakota and Tukkuthkutchin,
the whole Bible is in print." Of the 32 languages possessing Bible
translations of some sort 3 are Eskimoan dialects, 4 Athabaskan, 13
Algonkian, 3 Iroquoian, 2 Muskogian, 2 Siouan, 1 Caddoan, 1 Sahaptian, 1
Wakashan, 1 Tsimshian, 1 Haidan. Translations of the Lord's Prayer,
hymns, articles of faith and brief devotional compositions exist now in
many more languages and dialects. A goodly number of other books have
also been made accessible in Indian versions, e.g. Bunyan's _Pilgrim's
Progress_ (Dakota, 1857), Baxter's _Call to the Unconverted_
(Massachuset, 1655), Goodrich's _Child's Book of the Creation_ (Choctaw,
1839), Thomas à Kempis's _Imitation of Christ_ (Greenland Eskimo, 1787),
Newton's _The King's Highway_ (Dakota, 1879), &c. The "Five Civilized
Tribes," who are now full-fledged citizens of the state of Oklahoma,
possess a mass of literature (legal, religious, political, educational,
&c.) published in the alphabet adapted from the "Cherokee Alphabet"
invented by Sequoyah about 1821, "which at once raised them to the rank
of a literary people."
Of periodicals in Indian languages there have been many published from
time to time among the "Five Civilized Tribes." Of the _Cherokee
Advocate_, Mooney said in 1897-1898, "It is still continued under the
auspices of the Nation, printed in both languages (i.e. Cherokee and
English), and distributed free at the expense of the Nation to those
unable to read English--an example without parallel in any other
government." More or less ephemeral periodicals (weekly, monthly, &c.)
are on record in various Algonkian, Iroquoian, Siouan and other
languages, and the Greenland Eskimo have one, published irregularly
since 1861. Wilberforce Eames (_Handbook of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i.
p. 389) chronicles 122 dictionaries (of which more than half are still
in MSS.) of 63 North American-Indian languages, belonging to 19
different stocks.
The following linguistic stocks are represented by printed
dictionaries (in one or more dialects): Algonkian, Athabaskan,
Chinookan, Eskimoan, Iroquoian, Lutuamian, Muskogian, Salishan,
Shoshonian, Siouan. There exists a considerable number of texts
(myths, legends, historical data, songs, grammatical material, &c.) in
quite a number of Indian languages that have been published by
scientific investigators. The Algonkian (e.g. Jones's _Fox Texts_,
1908), Athabaskan (e.g. Goddard's _Hupa Texts_, 1904, Matthews's
_Navaho Legends_, 1897, &c.), Caddoan (e.g. Miss A. C. Fletcher's
_Hako Ceremony_, 1900), Chinookan (Boas's _Chinook Texts_, 1904, and
_Kathlamet Texts_, 1901), Eskimoan (texts in Boas's _Eskimo of Baffin
Land_, &c., 1901, 1908: and Thalbitzer's _Eskimo Language_, 1904,
Barnum's _Innuit Grammar_, 1901), Haidan (Swanton's _Haida Texts_,
1905, &c.), Iroquoian (texts in Hale's _Iroquois Book of Rites_, 1883,
and Hewitt's _Iroquoian Cosmology_, 1899), Lutuamian (texts in
Gatschet's _Klamath Indians_, 1890), Muskogian (texts in Gatschet's
_Migration Legend of the Creeks_, 1884-1888), Salishan (texts in
various publications of Boas and Hill-Tout), Siouan (Riggs and Dorsey
in various publications), Tsimshian (Boas's _Tsimshian Texts_, 1902),
Wakashan (Boas's _Kwakiutl Texts_, 1902-1905), &c.
Migrations of Indian stocks.
The question of the direction of migration of the principal aboriginal
stocks north of Mexico has been reopened of late years. Not long ago
there seemed to be practical agreement as to the following views. The
Eskimo stock had reached its present habitats from a primitive home
somewhere in the interior of north-western Canada or Alaska; the general
trend of the Athabaskan migrations, and those of the Shoshonian tribes
had been south and south-east, the first from somewhere in the interior
of north-western Canada, the second from about the latitude of southern
British Columbia; the Algonkian tribes had moved south, east and west
from a point somewhere between the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay; the
Iroquoian stock had passed southward and westward from some spot to the
north-east of the Great Lakes; the Siouan tribes, from their primitive
home in the Carolinas, had migrated westward beyond the Mississippi;
some stocks, like the Kitunahan, now found west of the Rocky Mountains,
had dwelt formerly in the plains region to the east. Professor Cyrus
Thomas, however, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, discussing primary
Indian migrations in North America (_Congr. intern. d. Amér._, Quebec,
1906, i. 189-204), rejects the theory that the Siouan stock originated
in the Carolinas, and adopts for them an origin in the region north of
Lake Superior, whence he also derives the Iroquoian stock, whose
primitive home Dr David Boyle (_Ann. Archaeol. Rep. Ontario_, 1905, p.
154), the Canadian ethnologist, would place in Kentucky and southern
Ohio. Another interesting contribution to this subject is made by Mr P.
E. Goddard (_Congr. intern. des. Amér._, Quebec, 1906, i. 337-358).
Contemplating the distribution of the tribes belonging to the Athabaskan
stock in three divisions, viz. a northern (continuous and very
extensive), a Pacific coast division (scattered through Washington,
Oregon, California), and a southern division which occupies a large area
in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Texas and Mexico, Mr Goddard
suggests that the intrusion of non-Athabaskan peoples into a region once
completely in the possession of the Athabaskan stock is the best
explanation for the facts as now existing not explicable from
assimilation to environment, which has here played a great rôle. It is
possible also that a like explanation may hold for the conditions
apparent in some other linguistic stocks. Many Indian tribes have been
forcibly removed from their own habitats to reservations, or induced to
move by missionary efforts, &c. Thus, in the state of Oklahoma are to be
found representatives of the following tribes: Apache, Arapaho, Caddo,
Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Creek, Iowa, Kansa,
Kickapoo, Kiowa, Miami, Missouri, Modoc, Osage, Oto, Ottawa, Pawnee,
Peoria, Ponca, Potawatomi, Quapaw, Sac and Fox, Seminole, Seneca,
Shawnee, Tonkawa, Wichita, Wyandot, &c.; these belong to 10 different
linguistic stocks, whose original habitats were widely distant from one
another in many cases.
Some of the American-Indian linguistic stocks (those of California
especially) hardly know real tribal divisions, but local groups or
settlements only; others have many large and important tribes.
The tabular alphabetical list given in the following pages contains the
names of the more important and more interesting tribes of American
aborigines north of Mexico, and of the stocks to which they belong,
their situation and population in 1909, the degree of intermixture with
whites or negroes, their social, moral and religious condition, state of
progress, &c., and also references to the best or the most recent
literature concerning them.
Up to the date of their publication references to the literature
concerning the tribes of the stocks treated will be found in Pilling's
bibliographies: Algonquian (1891), Athabascan (1892), Chinookan
(1893), Eskimoan (1887), Iroquoian (1888), Muskhogean (1889), Salishan
(1893), Siouan (1887) and Wakashan (1894). See also the _Handbook of
American Indians North of Mexico_ (Washington, 1907-1910); and the
sumptuous monograph of E. S. Curtis, _The North American Indian_
(N.Y., vols. i.-xx., 1908), with its remarkable reproduction of Indian
types.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribe.
Stock.
(1) Situation, Population, &c.
(2) Degree of Intermixture.
(3) Condition, Progress, &c.
(4) Authorities.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABNAKI.
Algonkian.
(1) At Becancour, Quebec, 27; at St François du Lac and Pierreville,
330. Decreasing.
(2) Probably no pure blood left.
(3) As civilized as the neighbouring whites. All Catholics.
(4) Maurault, _Hist. des Abénaquis_ (Quebec, 1866); Jack, _Trans.
Canad. Inst._, 1892-1893.
ACNOMAWI (Pit river Indians).
Shastan.
(1) N.E. California. About 1100 in the Pit river region; also 50 or
60 on the Klamath Reservation, Oregon.
(2) Little.
(3) Progress very slow; influence of schools felt. Klamath Achomawi
under Methodist influence.
(4) Powers, _Contrib. N. Amer. Ethnol._, vol. iii., 1877; various
writings of Dr R. B. Dixon, _American Anthropologist_, 1905-1908,
&c.
ALEUTS.
Eskimoan.
(1) Aleutian Islands and part of Alaska. About 1600. Decreasing.
(2) About 50% are mixed bloods.
(3) "Decaying." Once converted to Greek Orthodox church. Methodist
mission at Unalaska.
(4) Works (in Russian) of Veniaminov, 1840-1848; Golder, _Journ.
Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1905-1907; Chamberlain, _Dict. Relig. and
Ethics_ (Hastings, vol. i., 1908).
AMALECITES (Maliseets).
Algonkian.
(1) 106 at Viger (Cacouna, Quebec); 702 in various parts of W. New
Brunswick. Apparently increasing.
(2) Probably few pure bloods.
(3) Fairly good. At Viger industrially unsettled. Catholics.
(4) Writings of S. T. Rand; Chamberlain (M.), _Maliseet Vocabulary_
(Cambridge, 1899).
APACHE.
Athabaskan.
(1) In Arizona, 4879; New Mexico, 1244; Oklahoma, 453. Not rapidly
decreasing as formerly thought.
(2) Considerable Spanish blood due to captives, &c.
(3) Marked improvement here and there. Catholic and Lutheran
missions.
(4) Cremony, _Life among the Apaches_ (1868); Bourke, _9th Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1887-1888, and _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1890;
Hrdlicka, _American Anthropologist_, 1905.
ARAPAHO.
Algonkian.
(1) 358 at Ft. Belknap Reservation, Montana; 873 at Wind river
Reservation, Wyoming; 885 in Oklahoma. Holding their own.
(2) Some Spanish (Mexican) blood in places.
(3) Oklahoma Arapaho American citizens; progress elsewhere.
Mennonite missions chiefly; also Dutch Reformed.
(4) Writings of Kroeber and Dorsey, _Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._,
1900-1907, and _Publ. Field Columb. Mus._, 1903; Scott, _Amer.
Anthrop._, 1907.
ASSINIBOIN.
Siouan.
(1) In Montana, 1248; Alberta, 971; Saskatchewan, 420.
(2) Some little.
(3) In Canada "steady advance," elsewhere good. Alberta Assiniboins
are Methodists; in Montana Catholic and Presbyterian missions on
reservations.
(4) Maclean, Canadian _Savage Folk_ (Toronto, 1890); McGee, _15th
Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1893-1894.
BABINES.
Athabaskan.
(1) 530 on Babine Lake, Bulkley river, &c., in central British
Columbia.
(2) Little, if any.
(3) Conservative. Little progress. Reached by Catholic mission of
Stuart Lake, B.C.
(4) Morice, _Anthropos_, 1906-1907, and _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_,
1905, and other writings.
BANNOCK.
Shoshonian.
(1) About 500 at Ft. Hall, and 78 at Lemhi Agency, Idaho.
(2) Little.
(3) Considerable improvement morally and industrially.
(4) Hoffman, _Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc._, 1886; Mooney, _14th Ann.
Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893; Lowie, _Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist._, 1909.
BEAVER.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 700 on Peace river, a western affluent of Lake Athabaska.
(2) Very little.
(3) Rather stationary.
(4) See Babines.
BILQULA (Bellacoola).
Salishan.
(1) 287 on Dean Inlet, Bentinck Arm, Bellacoola river, &c., coast of
central British Columbia. Decreasing.
(2) Little.
(3) Not very encouraging. Mission influence not yet strongly felt.
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._ 1891, and _Mem. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist._, 1898.
BLACKFEET (Siksika).
Algonkian.
(1) About 824 in Alberta, Canada. Decreasing.
(2) Little.
(3) Steadily improving morally and financially. Anglicans, 237;
Catholics, 260; pagans, 327.
(4) Maclean, _Canadian Savage Folk_ (Toronto, 1890), and other
writings; Grinnell, _Blackfoot Lodge - Tales_ (N.Y., 1903), and
other writings; Wissler, _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_, 1905;
Schultz, _My Life as an Indian_ (N.Y., 1907); Wissler, _Anthrop.
Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1908.
BLOODS.
Algonkian.
(1) 1168 near Ft. Macleod, Alberta. Probably decreasing somewhat.
(2) Little.
(3) All able-bodied Indians will soon be self-supporting.
Presbyterians, 150; Catholics, 150; the rest pagan.
(4) See Blackfeet.
CADDO.
Caddoan.
(1) 550 in Oklahoma. Increasing slightly.
(2) Considerable French blood.
(3) Citizens of United States. Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian
missions.
(4) Mooney, _14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893; writings of
Fletcher, Dorsey, &c.
CARIBOO-EATERS.
Athabaskan.
(1) 1700 in the region E. of Lake Athabaska, N.W. Canada.
(2) Little, if any.
(3) Little progress.
(4) See Babines.
CARRIERS.
Athabaskan.
(1) 970 between Tatla Lake and Ft. Alexandria, central British
Columbia.
(2) Little.
(3) Semi-sedentary and naturally progressive as Indians;
improvements beginning to be marked. Under influence of Catholic
mission at Stuart Lake, B.C.
(4) Morice, _Proc. Canad. Inst._, 1889, _Trans. Canad. Inst._, 1894,
_Hist. of Northern Inter. of British Columbia_ (Toronto, 1904),
and other writings. See Babines.
CATAWBA.
Siouan.
(1) About 100 on the Catawba river, York county, South Carolina.
Decreasing.
(2) Much mixed with white blood.
(3) Slowly adopting white man's ways. Chiefly farmers.
(4) Mooney, _Siouan Tribes of the East_ (Washington, 1894);
Gatschet, _American Anthropologist_, 1900; Harrington, _ibid._,
1908.
CAYUGA.
Iroquoian.
(1) 179 on the Iroquois Reservations in New York State; 1044 with
the Six Nations in Ontario; also some with the Seneca in
Oklahoma and with Oneida in Wisconsin.
(2) Some English admixture.
(3) Canadian Cayuga steadily improving; they are "pagan."
(4) See Six Nations.
CAYUSE.
Wailatpuan.
(1) 405 on Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
(2) About ¼ are of mixed blood, chiefly French.
(3) Conditions improving, Good work of Catholic and Presbyterian
missions.
(4) Mowry, _Marcus Whitman_ (1991): Lewis, _Mem. Amer. Anthrop.
Assoc._ 1906.
CHEHALIS.
Salishan.
(1) 182 on Puyallup Reservation, Washington. Perhaps increasing
slightly
(2) No data.
(3) Gradually improving and generally prosperous. Congregational
mission.
(4) Gibbs, _Contrib. N. Amer. Ethnol._, vol. iii., 1877; Eells,
_Hist. of Ind. Missions on the Pacific Coast_ (N.Y., 1882), and
other writings.
CHEMEHUEVI.
Shoshonian.
(1) About 300 on the Colorado Reservation; a few elsewhere in
Arizona and California.
(2) No data.
(3) Some improvement. Missions of the Presbyterians and of the
Church of the Nazarene.
(4) See Ute.
CHEROKEE.
Iroquoian.
(1) About 28,000, of which 1489 are in North Carolina and the rest
in Oklahoma.
(2) Not more than ¼ are of approximately pure blood.
(3) Oklahoma Cherokee citizens of the United States, and making
excellent progress. Various religious faiths.
(4) Royce, _5th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1883-1884; Mooney, 7th
Rep., 1885-1886, and especially _19th Rep._, 1897-1898.
CHEYENNE.
Algonkian.
(1) 1440 northern Cheyenne in Montana, 1894 southern Cheyenne in
Oklahoma. Former increasing, latter decreasing.
(2) Some white blood, from captives, &c.
(3) Southern Cheyenne citizens of United States; Mennonite mission
doing good work. Northern Cheyenne making progress as labourers,
&c.; Mennonite and Catholic missions.
(4) Mooney, _14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893; Dorsey, _Publ.
Field Columb. Mus._, 1905; Grinnell, _Intern. Congr.
Americanists_, 1902-1906; _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1907-1908;
_Amer. Anthrop._, 1902-1906; Mooney and Petter, _Mem. Amer.
Anthrop. Assoc._, 1907.
CHICKAHOMINY.
Algonkian.
(1) Some 220 on Chickahominy river, Virginia.
(2) No pure bloods left. Considerable negro admixture.
(3) Fishers and Farmers.
(4) Tooker, _Algonquian Series_ (N.Y., 1900); Mooney, _Amer.
Anthrop._, 1907.
CHICKASAW.
Muskogian.
(1) 5558 in Oklahoma.
(2) Large admixture of white blood.
(3) American citizens and progressing well. Various religious
faiths.
(4) Speck, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1907, and _Amer. Anthrop._,
1907.
CHILCOTIN.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 450 on Chilcotin river, in S. central British Columbia.
(2) Little.
(3) Fairly laborious, but clinging to native customs, though making
progress. Catholic mission influence.
(4) Writings of Morice (see Carriers); Farrand, _Mem. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist._, 1900.
CHILKAT.
Koluschan.
(1) About 700 at head of Lynn Canal, Alaska. Decreasing.
(2) No data.
(3) Little progress.
(4) Emmons and Boas, _Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1908.
CHINOOK.
Chinookan.
(1) About 300 in Oregon. Decreasing.
(2) Some little.
(3) Stationary or "worse."
(4) Boas, _Chinook Texts_ (Washington, 1894), and other writings;
Sapir, _Amer. Anthrop._, 1907.
CHIPEWYAN.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 3000 in the region S. of Lake Athabaska, N.W. Canada.
(2) Some Canadian-French admixture.
(3) Coming to be more influenced by the whites. Reached by Catholic
missions.
(4) Writings of Petitot, Legoff, Morice (see Babines), &c.; Morice,
_Anthropos_, 1900-1907, and _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_, 1905.
CHIPPEWA (Ojibwa)
Algonkian.
(1) About 18,000 in Ontario, Manitoba, &c.; nearly the same number
in the United States (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, N.
Dakota).
(2) Much French and English admixture in various regions.
(3) Good progress. Many Indians quite equal to average whites of
neighbourhood. Among the Canadian Chippewa the Methodists,
Catholics and Anglicans are well represented; among those in the
United States the Catholics and Episcopalians chiefly, also
Methodists, Lutherans, &c. A number of native ministers.
(4) Warren, _Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll._, 1885; Blackbird, _Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians_ (1887); W. Jones, _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_,
1905; Hugolin, _Congr. int. d. Amér._ (Quebec, 1906); P. Jones,
_Hist. Ojebway Inds._ (1861).
CHOCTAW.
Muskogian.
(1) 17,529 in Oklahoma; 1356 in Mississippi and Louisiana.
(2) Large element of white and some negro blood.
(3) Citizens of United States, making good progress. Various
religious faiths.
(4) Gatschet, _Migration Legend of Creeks_ (1884-1888); Speck,
_Amer. Anthrop._, 1907.
CLAYOQUOT.
Wakashan.
(1) 224 in the region of Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island.
Decreasing.
(2) No data.
(3) Rather stationary, but beginning to improve. Influence of
Catholic mission and industrial school.
(4) See Nootka.
CLALLAM.
Salishan.
(1) 354 on Puyallup Reservation, Washington.
(2) Little.
(3) Improving, but suffering from white contact. Congregationalist
mission.
(4) Eells in _Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst._, 1887, and other writings.
COLVILLE.
Salishan.
(1) 316 at Colville Agency, Washington. Decreasing slightly.
(2) Some Canadian-French, &c.
(3) Improving.
(4) See Chehalis.
COMANCHE.
Shoshonian.
(1) 1408 in Oklahoma. Now holding their own.
(2) Some due to Spanish (Mexican) captives, &c.
(3) Good progress, in spite of white impositions.
(4) Mooney, _14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893.
COWICHAN.
Salishan.
(1) About 1000 on E. coast of Vancouver Island, and on islands in
Gulf of Georgia.
(2) Little.
(3) Industrious; steady progress. Catholic and Methodist missions,
chiefly former.
(4) Hill-Tout, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1902, and _Trans. R.
Anthrop. Inst._, 1907; Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._,
1889.
CREE.
Algonkian.
(1) About 12,000 in Manitoba, and some 5000 in Saskatchewan,
Alberta, Keewatin, &c.
(2) Large element of French, Scottish and English blood.
(3) Slow but steady progress (except with a few bands). Catholics,
Methodists and Anglicans strongly represented by missions and
church members; many Presbyterians also.
(4) Writings of Petitot, Lacombe, Horden, Bell, Watkins, Evans,
Young, &c.; Lacombe. _Dict. de la langue des Cris_ (1876);
Russell. _Explor. in the Far North_ (1898); Stewart, _Ann. Arch.
Rep. Ontario_, 1905; Maclean, _Canad. Sav. Folk_ (1890).
CREEK.
Muskogian.
(1) 11,000 in Oklahoma.
(2) Large element of white blood; some negro.
(3) American citizens, making good progress. Various religious
faiths.
(4) Gatschet, _Migration Legend of the Creeks_ (1884-1888); Speck,
_Mem. Amer. Anthrop. Assoc._, 1907.
CROWS (Absaroka).
Siouan.
(1) 1804 at Crow Agency, Montana.
(2) Little.
(3) Improving industrially and financially. Morals still bad.
(4) Simms, Publ. Field Columb. Mus., 1903; Schultz, _My Life as an
Indian_ (N.Y., 1907).
DAKOTA (Santee, Yankton, Teton--Sioux).
Siouan.
(1) About 18,000 in South and 4400 in North Dakota; 3200 in
Montana; 900 in Minnesota. Seemingly decreasing.
(2) Considerable white blood, varying with different sections.
(3) Capable of and making good progress. Episcopal, Catholic,
Congregational missions with good results.
(4) Writings of Dorsey, Riggs, Eastman, &c. Riggs, Contrib. _N.
Amer. Ethnol._, vol. vii., 1890, and vol. ix., 1893; Wissler,
_Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1907; Eastman, _Indian Boyhood_
(1902).
DELAWARE.
Algonkian.
(1) In Oklahoma, 800 with Cherokee and 90 with Wichita; 164 with
Six Nations in Ontario.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Oklahoma, Delaware, U.S. citizens, and progressing; Canadians
making also good progress.
(4) Brinton, _Lenápé and their Legends_ (Phila., 1885), and _Essays
of an Americanist_ (1890); Nelson, _Indians of New Jersey_
(1894).
DOG-RIBS.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 1000 in the region E. of the Hares, to Back river, N. W.
Canada.
(2) Little.
(3) "Wild and indolent," not yet much under white influence.
(4) See Chipewyans, Carriers.
ESKIMO (Greenland).
Eskimoan.
(1) West coast, 10,500; East coast, 500. Slowly increasing.
(2) Large element of white blood, estimated already in 1855 at 30%.
(3) More or less "civilized" and "Christian" as result of Moravian
missions.
(4) Writings of Rink, Holm, Nansen, Peary. Rink, _Tales and Trad.
of the Eskimo_ (Lond., 1875) and _Eskimo Tribes_ (1887);
Nansen, _Eskimo Life_ (1893); Thalbitzer, _Eskimo Language_
(1904).
ESKIMO (Labrador).
Eskimoan.
(1) About 1300.
(2) Considerable on S.E. coast.
(3) Much improvement due to Moravian and (later)
other Protestant missions.
(4) Packard, Amer. Naturalist, 1885; Turner, 11th _Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1889-1890.
ESKIMO (central regions).
Eskimoan.
(1) About 2500.
(2) Little.
(3) Not much improvement except here and there. Some reached by
Episcopalian mission.
(4) Boas, _6th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnct_., 1884-1885, and _Bull. Amer.
Nat. Hist._, 1901 and 1908.
ESKIMO (Mackenzie, &c.).
Eskimoan.
(1) About 1500.
(2) Little.
(3) Not much improvement. Reached by Catholic missions.
(4) Petitot, _Les Grands Esquimaux_ (1887), _Monographie des
Esquimaux Tchiglit_ (Paris, 1876) and other writings;
Stefánsson, _Harper's Magazine_, 1908-1909.
ESKIMO (Alaska).
Eskimoan.
(1) About 12,000, exclusive of Aleuts.
(2) Considerable on certain parts of coast.
(3) Much improvement in parts since introduction of reindeer in
1892. Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Moravian, Baptist,
Swedish Evangelical, Quaker, Congregational, Lutheran missions
now at work.
(4) Dall, _Contrib. N. Amer. Ethnol._, vol. i., 1877; Murdoch, _9th
Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1887-1888; and Nelson, _18th Rep._,
1896-1897; Barnum, _Innuit Gramm, and Dict._ (1901).
ESKIMO (N.E. Asia).
Eskimoan.
(1) About 1200.
(2) Little.
(3) Little improvement.
(4) Hooper, _Tents of the Tuski_ (1853); Dali, _Amer. Naturalist_
(1881). See Eskimo (Alaska).
FLATHEADS.
Salishan.
(1) 615 at Flathead Agency, Montana.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Continued Improvement. Catholic missions.
(4) McDermott, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1901; Ronan, _Flathead
Indians_ (1890).
GOSIUTE.
Shoshonian.
(1) About 200 in Utah.
(2) Little.
(3) Some improvement in last few years.
(4) Chamberlin, _Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila._, 1908. See Paiute,
Ute.
GROSVENTRES (Atsina).
Algonkian.
(1) 558 at Ft. Belknap Agency, Montana.
(2) Little.
(3) Law-abiding, industrious and fast becoming more moral.
Catholic, chief mission influence, also Presbyterian.
(4) Kroeber, _Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1907-1908.
HAIDA.
Haidan.
(1) About 600 on Queen Charlotte Is., and 300 in Alaska. Decreasing.
(2) Some little.
(3) Now "gradually advancing along the lines of civilization."
Mission influences Methodists and Anglican, with much success,
especially former.
(4) Swanton, _Contrib. to Ethnol. of the Haida_ (1905) and other
writings; Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1889; Newcombe,
_Congr. intern. des Amér._ (Quebec, 1906).
HANKUT'QIN.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 400 on the Yukon, above the Kotlo, in Alaska.
(2) Little, if any.
(3) Not yet much under white or missionary influence.
(4) See Babines.
HARES.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 600 W. of Gt. Bear Lake to Eskimo country, in N.W. Canada.
(2) Little.
(3) "Wild and indolent," with little improvement. Reached by
Catholic missions.
(4) See Babines, Carriers, Chipewyan.
HAVASUPAI.
Yuman.
(1) 166 N. of Prescott in N.W. Arizona. Decreasing.
(2) Little.
(3) "Good workers"; not yet distinctly under mission influence.
(4) James, _Indians of the Painted Desert Region_ (Boston, 1903);
Dorsey, _Indians of the South-west_ (1903).
HIDATSA.
Siouan.
(1) 467 near Ft. Berthold, N. Dakota.
(2) Little.
(3) Making good progress. Congregational and Catholic missions.
(4) Matthews, _Ethnogr. and Philol. of the Hidatsa_ (1877); McGee,
_15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1893-1894; Pepper and Wilson,
_Mem. Amer. Anthrop. Assoc._, 1908.
HUPA.
Athabaskan.
(1) 420 in Hoopa Valley, N.E. California.
(2) Little.
(3) Self-supporting by agriculture and stock-raising, Presbyterian
and Episcopal missions with good results.
(4) Goddard, _Life and Culture of the Hupa_ (1903), _Hupa Texts_
(1904), and other writings.
HURONS OF LORETTE.
Iroquoian.
(1) 466 at Lorette, near the city of Quebec. Increasing, but losing
somewhat by emigration.
(2) No pure-bloods left.
(3) Practically civilized. All Catholics, except one Anglican and
six Presbyterians.
(4) Gérin, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1900.
IOWA.
Siouan.
(1) 246 in Kansas; 88 in Oklahoma. Holding their own.
(2) Considerable.
(3) In 1906 "accomplished more on their allotments than at any time
heretofore." One regular missionary.
(4) Dorsey, _Trans. Anthrop. Soc. Wash._, 1883, and _15th Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1893-1894; also _11th Rep._
IROQUOIS (of Caughnawaga).
Iroquoian.
(1) 2075 at Caughnawaga, in S.W. Quebec (largely Mohawk).
Increasing.
(2) Few, if any, pure-bloods left.
(3) Practically civilized and making fair progress. Chiefly
Catholics, but there is a Methodist school.
(4) _Ann. Rep. Dept. Ind. Aff. Canada_, 1907.
IROQUOIS (of Lake of Two Mountains).
Iroquoian.
(1) 395 at Lake of Two Mountains, Quebec.
(2) Few, if any, pure-bloods left.
(3) Practically civilized and making fair progress. Catholics and
Methodists represented.
(4) Cuoq, _Lexique de la langue iroquoise_ (1882), and other
writings.
IROQUOIS (of St Régis).
Iroquoian.
(1) 1449 at St Régis, Quebec; 1208 at St Regis, New York.
(2) Few pure-bloods left.
(3) Practically all civilized and making fair progress.
(4) _Ann. Rep. Dept. Ind. Aff. Canada_, 1907.
IROQUOIS (of Watha).
Iroquoian.
(1) About 65 at Watha (formerly Gibson), near the southern end of
Lake Muskoka, Ontario.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Industrious and progressive. Influence of Methodist mission.
(4) _Ann. Rep. Dept. Ind. Aff. Canada_, 1907.
IROQUOIS (of St Albert).
Iroquoian.
(1) 94 near St Albert, Alberta ("Michel's band").
(2) "Indians only in name," no pure-bloods left.
(3) Practically civilized; outlook promising. Catholics.
(4) Chamberlain, _Amer. Anthrop._, 1904.
JICARILLA (Apache).
Athabaskan.
(1) 784 in New Mexico. Decreasing.
(2) Little.
(3) Improvement during past few years.
(4) Mooney, _Amer. Anthrop._ 1898. See Apache.
KAIBAB.
Shoshonian.
(1) About 100 in S.W. Utah. Decreasing.
(2) Little.
(3) "Destitute," but gaining somewhat.
(4) See Paiute, Ute.
KAIGANI.
Haidan.
(1) About 300 in S. Alaska.
(2) See Haida.
(3) See Haida.
(4) See Haida.
KAIYUHKHO'TENNE
Athabaskan.
(1) About 1500 on the Yukon (between the Anvik and Koyukuk) in W.
Alaska.
(2) Little.
(3) Up to the present influenced more by the Eskimo than by the
whites.
(4) See Babines, Carriers. Also Chapman, _Congr. inter, d. Amér._
(Quebec, 1906).
KALAPOOIA.
Kalapuyan.
(1) About 125 at Grande Ronde, Oregon, and a few also on the Siletz
Reservation.
(2) Not much.
(3) Continued improvement.
(4) Powell, _7th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1885-1886; Gatschet,
_Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1899; Lewis, _Mem. Amer. Anthrop.
Assoc._, 1906.
KALISPEL (Pend d'Oreille).
Salishan
(1) 826 on the Flathead Reservation, Montana; 98 at Colville Agency,
Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Continued improvement. Catholic missions.
(4) Giorda, _Kalispel Dictionary_ (1877-1879). See Chehalis.
KANSA (Kaw).
Siouan.
(1) 207 in Oklahoma.
(2) About half are mixed blood.
(3) American citizens, making fair progress.
(4) Dorsey, _11th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1889-1890, and 15th Rep.,
1893-1894; Hay, _Trans. Kans. State Hist. Soc._, 1906.
KICKAPOO.
Algonkian.
(1) 188 in Kansas; 204 in Oklahoma; about 400 in Mexico.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Progress hampered by liquor, &c.
(4) Mooney, _14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893; Lutz, _Trans.
Kansas Hist. Soc._ 1906.
KAWIA (Cahuilla).
Shoshonian.
(1) About 150 in southern California.
(2) Little.
(3) Progress good. Nominally Catholics, result of Californian
missions.
(4) Barrows, _Ethnobotany of the Coahuilla Indians_ (1900); Kroeber,
_Ethnography of the Cahuilla_ (1908).
KIOWA.
Kiowan.
(1) 1219 in Oklahoma.
(2) Some white blood from captives, &c.
(3) Citizens of the U.S., making fair progress. Catholic, Methodist,
Presbyterian. &c. mission influences.
(4) Mooney. _14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893, and _17th
Rep._, 1895-1896.
KITKSAN.
Tsimshian.
(1) About 1100 on upper Skeena river in central British Columbia.
(2) Little.
(3) Making good progress.
(4) See Tsimshian.
KLAMATH.
Lutuamian.
(1) 761 at Klamath Agency, Oregon.
(2) Little.
(3) Mostly self-supporting. Methodist mission, but poor work done.
(4) Gatschet, _The Klamath Indians_ (Washington, 1890); Dorsey,
_Amer. Anthrop._, 1901.
KLEKATAT.
Sahaptian.
(1) About 300 merged with Yakima and other tribes on Yakima
Reservation, Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Late reports indicate much bad influence of whites.
(4) Lyman, _Proc Amer. Antiq. Soc._, 1904; Lewis, _Mem. Amer.
Anthrop. Soc._, 1906.
KONKAU (Concow).
Pujunan.
(1) 171 at Round Valley, California.
(2) Little.
(3) Gradually improving.
(4) See Maidu.
KOOTENAY.
Kitunahan.
(1) In S.E. British Columbia; 220 at St Mary's; 59 al Tobacco
Plains; 82 at Columbia Lakes; 170, lower Kootenay. At Flathead
Agency, Montana, 565. Holding their own, or increasing.
(2) A little French and English.
(3) Good, especially upper Kootenay; continued progress. Kootenay in
U.S. not so progressive. Catholic missions with good results.
(4) Boas. _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1889; Chamberlain, _ibid._,
1892 (and other writings), _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_, 1905;
Schultz, _My Life as an Indian_ (N.Y., 1907).
KOYUKUKHO'TENNE.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 500 on the Koyukuk and Yukon, above the 'Kaiyuhkho'tenne
in Alaska.
(2) Little, if any.
(3) Little progress noted.
(4) See Babines, Carriers, Chipewyan.
KWAKIUTE.
Wakashan.
(1) About 2000 in Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Decreasing.
(2) Considerable in places.
(3) Improvement recently. Anglican and Methodist missions--former
counting 469; latter, 19 members; rest, "pagans."
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1889, 1890, 1896. Rep.
_U.S. Nat. Mus._, 1895, and other writings; Boas and Hunt, _Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1902.
LILLOOET (Statliumh).
Salishan.
(1) About 900 in S.W. British Columbia, on Fraser river, Douglas and
Lillooet Lakes, &c.
(2) Considerable in places.
(3) Getting along well generally. Catholic and Anglican missions.
(4) Boas, _Ethnogr. Album_ (N.Y., 1890); Hill-Tout, _Journ. Anthr.
Inst._, 1905; Teit, _Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1906.
LUMMI.
Salishan.
(1) 418 at Tulalip Agency, Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Suffering from white contact.
(4) See Chehalis.
MAIDU.
Pujunan.
(1) In N.E. California. About 250 full-bloods.
(2) Not much.
(3) Few and scattered.
(4) Dixon, _Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1902-1905; _Journ. Amer.
Folk-Lore_, 1900-1907.
MAKAH.
Wakashan.
(1) 400 on Makah, 25 on Ozette Reservation, Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Progress good.
(4) Swan. _The Indians of Cape Flattery_ (Washington, 1870); Dorsey,
_Amer. Antiquarian_, 1901.
MANDAN.
Siouan.
(1) 264 at Ft. Berthold. N. Dakota. Beginning to increase again.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Making some progress. Catholic and Protestant mission
influences.
(4) Will and Spindle. _The Mandans_ (1906); Dorsey in _11th_ and
_15th Reps. Bur. Ethnol._
MARICOPA.
Yuman.
(1) 344 at Pima Agency Arizona. Decreasing slightly.
(2) No data.
(3) Progress in 1906 excellent. Catholic mission school.
(4) See Yuma.
MASKEGON (Swampy Cree).
Algonkian.
(1) About 2500 in Manitoba, Keewatin, Saskatchewan.
(2) Considerable in certain regions.
(3) Generally law-abiding, but improvident; some making good
progress.
(4) Simms in _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1906; Stewart in _Ann. Arch.
Rep. Ontario_, 1905.
MASSET.
Haidan.
(1) 360 at Masset, Q. Charlotte Is.
(2) See Haida.
(3) See Haida.
(4) See Haida.
MENOMINEE.
Algonkian.
(1) About 1600, of which 1364 under superintendency of Green Bay,
Wisconsin.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Making gradual progress, with noticeable improvement in many
respects. Catholic church has many members.
(4) Hoffman in _14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893.
MIAMI.
Algonkian.
(1) 129 in Oklahoma. 240 in Indiana, a few elsewhere; total about
400.
(2) Considerable French blood, about 50%.
(3) American citizens; intelligent, thrifty and progressive.
(4) Pilling, _Bibl. of Algon. Lang._ (1891).
MICMAC.
Algonkian.
(1) 2114 in Nova Scotia, 288 in Prince Edward Island, 1000 in New
Brunswick, 591 in Quebec.
(2) Large element of French; some Scottish and English blood.
(3) Progress good; not degenerating nor decreasing. All Catholics.
(4) Writings of Dr S. T. Rand, especially _Micmac Legends_ (1894);
Pacifique and Prince, _Congr. intern. des Amér. Quebec_, 1906;
Leland _Algonquin Legends_ (1885); Leland and Prince, _Kuloskap_
(1902).
MISSION INDIANS.
Yuman; Shoshonian.
(1) About 3000 in S. California.
(2) Considerable in some sections.
(3) Self-supporting; some individuals remarkably able and
industrious. Catholics nominally.
(4) Writings of Miss C. G. du Bois, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_ and
_Amer. Anthrop._, 1900-1908, &c. See Kawia.
MISSISSAGUA.
Algonkian.
(1) At Alnwick, 249; at the river Credit, 267; Rice Lake, 90; Mud
Lake, 190; Scugog, 35. Increasing slightly.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Fairly good generally; some at the Credit very successful
farmers, competing with whites. Methodists chiefly.
(4) Chamberlain, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1888, and _Language of
the Mississagas of Skugog_ (Phila., 1892); Burnham, _Ont. Hist.
Soc. Pap. and Rec._, 1905.
MODOC.
Lutuamian.
(1) 52 in Oklahoma, 229 on Klamath Reservation, Oregon. Apparently
decreasing slowly, or holding their own.
(2) Little.
(3) Generally industrious and moral. Methodist mission.
(4) Miller, _My Life Among the Modocs_ (1873); Gatschet, _Amer.
Anthrop._, 1894. See Klamath.
MOHAVE.
Yuman.
(1) About 1600 in Arizona.
(2) Little.
(3) Good; industrious but restless. Presbyterian and Church of the
Nazarene missions.
(4) Bourke, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_. 1889; Kroeber, _Amer.
Anthrop._, 1902. See Yuman.
MOHAWK.
Iroquoian.
(1) 1762 with Six Nations, Grand river, Ont., 1320, Bay of Quinte,
Ont., slight increase. The "Iroquois" at Caughnawaga, &c., are
largely Mohawks.
(2) Considerable English and French.
(3) See Six Nations.
(4) Forbes, _Congr. intern. d. Amér._, Quebec, 1906; Brant-Sero,
_Man_ (London, 1901). See Six Nations.
MONTAGNAIS.
Algonkian.
(1) About 2000 in N.E. Quebec, N. shore of St Lawrence and St John,
&c.
(2) Large element of French blood.
(3) At St John, "energetic, hard working and provident"; others
suffering from liquor, &c. Catholic missions.
(4) Chambers, _The Ouananiche_ (1896); Chamberlain, _Ann. Arch. Rep.
Ontario_, 1905; David, _Congr. int. d. Amér._, Quebec, 1906.
MOQUI (Hopi).
Shoshonian.
(1) About 2000 in N.E. Arizona.
(2) Little.
(3) Still "pagan," but "dry-farming" experts. At Oraibi two
factions, progressives and conservatives. Mennonite mission.
(4) Bourke, _Snake Dance Among the Moquis_ (1884); Hough, _Amer.
Anthrop._, 1898; Dersey and Voth, _Field Columb. Mus. Publ._,
1901-1902. Also the numerous monographs of Dr. J. W. Fewkes in
_Rep. Bur. Ethnol. Amer. Anthrop., Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_,
1894-1908.
"MORAVIANS."
Algonkian.
(1) 329 on river Thames, Ontario, Canada.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Generally industrious and very law-abiding. All Methodists.
(4) _Ann. Rep. Dept. Ind. Aff. Canada_, 1907.
MUNSEE.
Algonkian.
(1) 118 on river Thames, Ontario, Canada; also a few with the
Stockbridges in Wisconsin and the Chippewa in Kansas.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Fairly industrious; progress slow.
(4) _Ann. Rep. Dept. Ind. Aff. Canada_, 1907.
NAHANÉ.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 1000 in N.W. British Columbia, N. and S. of Stikeen river,
and E. to beyond the Rockies.
(2) Not much.
(3) Have suffered much from white contact. Reached by Catholic
missions from Stuart Lake.
(4) Writings of Petitot, Morice, &c., especially the latter in
_Trans. Canad. Inst._, 1894, _Proc. Canad. Inst._, 1889. See
Carriers.
NASCAPEE.
Algonkian.
(1) Some 2500 in N.E. Quebec, Labrador, &c.
(2) Not very much.
(3) Improvement not marked. Catholic mission influence.
(4) Turner, _11th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1889-1890; Chamberlain,
_Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_, 1905.
NAVAHO.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 29,000 in Arizona and New Mexico, about 8000 in the latter
state. Increasing in number.
(2) Much Spanish (Mexican) blood.
(3) Have made remarkable progress racially and individually.
Catholic, Presbyterian, &c., missions.
(4) Writings of Dr. W. Matthews, especially _Navaho Legends_
(Boston, 1897), _The Night Chant_ (N.Y., 1902).
NESPELIM.
Salishan.
(1) 191 at Colville Agency, Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Suffering from liquor and white contact.
(4) See Chehalis.
NEZ PERCÉS.
Sahaptian.
(1) 83 at Colville Agency, Washington, 1534 under Ft. Lapwai
superintendency, Idaho. Decreasing.
(2) Amount uncertain.
(3) Of a high intellectual type (seen in children); suffering much
from disease and white contact. About 60% Catholics and 15%
Presbyterians.
(4) Packard, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1891; McBeth, _The Nez Percés
since Lewis and Clark_ (New York, 1908); Spinden, _Mem. Amer.
Anthrop. Assoc._, 1908.
NIPISSING.
Algonkian.
(1) 239 on Lake Nipissing, Ontario. Increasing.
(2) Little.
(3) Improving.
(4) _Ann. Rep. Dept. Ind. Aff. Canada_, 1907.
NISKA (Nasqa).
Tsimshian.
(1) About 800 in Nass river region in W. British Columbia.
Decreasing.
(2) Little.
(3) Making good progress.
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1895, 1896, and
_Indianische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1895). See Tsimshian.
NISQUALLI.
Salishan.
(1) 146 in W. Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Suffering from white contact, liquor, &c.
(4) Gibbs, _Contrib. N. Amer. Ethnol._, vol. i., 1877, and
_Niskwalli Dictionary_, ibid.
NOOTKA.
Wakashan.
(1) 2133 (including Clayoquot) on Vancouver Island, B.C. Decreasing
slowly.
(2) Considerable in places.
(3) Industrious and law-abiding; evil from white contact increasing.
Catholic and Presbyterian missions.
(4) Sproat, _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_ (1868); Boas, _Rep.
Brit. Assoc._, 1890, and _Indianische Sagen_ (1895).
OKANAGAN.
Salishan.
(1) 824 in the Kamloops-Okanagan Agency, British Columbia; 527 on
Colville Reservation, Washington.
(2) Considerable in places.
(3) Industrious and law-abiding. Catholic, and in Canada Catholic
and Anglican churches largely represented.
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc._, 1889; Teit, _Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist._, 1900.
OMAHA.
Siouan.
(1) 1128 in Nebraska.
(2) Much white blood.
(3) Good progress in many respects; improvidence, &c., still causing
trouble. Presbyterian mission.
(4) Dorsey, _3rd Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1881-1882, and _13th
Rep._, 1891-1892, and other writings. Also writings of Miss A.
C. Fletcher. See Ponca.
ONEIDA.
Iroquoian.
(1) 777 on river Thames, Ontario, and 350 with Six Nations in
Ontario; 2151 in Wisconsin; 286 in New York. Increasing.
(2) Large element of white blood.
(3) Canadian Oneidas at Delaware full citizens. All progressing
excellently and self-supporting. U.S. Oneidas citizens.
(4) Bloomfield, _The Oneidas_ (N.Y., 1907). See Six Nations.
ONONDAGA.
Iroquoian.
(1) 350 with the Six Nations, Ontario; 553 in New York.
(2) Large element of white blood.
(3) Not so advanced in U.S. as Tuscarora.
(4) Clark, _Onondaga_ (Syracuse, 1849); writings of Beauchamp, de
Cost Smith, M. R. Harrington, &c. See Six Nations.
OSAGE.
Siouan.
(1) 1994 in Oklahoma.
(2) Very much white blood; half are mixed-bloods.
(3) U.S. citizens and making good progress. Baptists and Catholics
represented.
(4) Dorsey (J. O.), _6th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1884-1885;
Brewster, _Trans. Kans. State Hist. Soc._, 1906; Dorsey (G. A.),
_Publ. Field Columb. Mus._, 1904; Speck, _Trans. Arch. Dept.
Univ. of Penn._ (Phila., 1907).
OTO.
Siouan.
(1) About 390 with the Missouri in Oklahoma.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Making good progress.
(4) See Osage.
OTTAWA.
Algonkian.
(1) About 750 on Manitoulin and Coburn Islands, Ontario; 2750 in
Michigan; 197 in Oklahoma.
(2) Considerable French and English blood.
(3) Canadian Ottawa industrious and law-abiding, and many in the
U.S. as civilized as average whites about them. Catholic and
Protestant missions.
(4) Blackbird, _Ottawa and Chippewa Indians_ (1887). See Pilling's
_Bibliography of the Algonkian Languages_, 1891.
PAIUTE.
Shoshonian.
(1) 6500 to 7000 chiefly in Nevada (about 600 in Utah; 350 in
Arizona).
(2) No data.
(3) Peaceable, moral and industrious; "have steadily resisted the
vices of civilization." Catholic and Protestant missions.
(4) Mooney in _14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893. See Ute.
PAMUNKEY.
Algonkian.
(1) About 140 in King William county, Virginia.
(2) All mixed-bloods; some negro mixture.
(3) Fishermen and small farmers.
(4) Pollard, _The Pamunkey Indians of Virginia_ (Washington, 1894).
PANAMINT.
Shoshonian.
(1) About 100 in the Panamint Valley, S.E. California.
(2) No data.
(3) Stationary.
(4) Coville, _Amer. Anthrop._, 1892.
PAPAGO.
Piman.
(1) 4991 in Arizona; about 1000 in Mexico.
(2) Little.
(3) Making very good progress recently. Catholic mission.
(4) McGee in Coville and Macdougal, _Des. bot. lab._, 1903;
Bandelier, _Arch. Inst. Papers_, 1890. See Pima.
PASSAMAQUODDY.
Algonkian.
(1) About 350 in Maine.
(2) Considerable French and English.
(3) With Penobscots have representative in Maine legislature.
(4) Leland, Algonq. _Leg. of New England_ (Boston, 1885); Brown,
_Trans. R. Soc. Canada_, 1889; Prince, _Proc. Amer. Philos.
Soc._, 1897; Leland and Prince, _Kuloskap_ (Boston, 1902).
PAWNEE.
Caddoan.
(1) 649 in Oklahoma. Decreasing.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Citizens of U.S. Special progress recently in agriculture.
Methodist mission.
(4) Writings of Dunbar, Grinnell, Dorsey, Fletcher, &c.; Grinnell,
_Pawnee Hero-Stories_ (1889); Dorsey, _Traditions of the Skidi
Pawnee_ (Boston, 1904), and _Pawnee Mythology_ (1906); Fletcher,
_22nd Ann. Rep. Bur. Etnnol._, 1900-1901.
PENOBSCOT.
Algonkian.
(1) About 410 in Maine.
(2) Considerable.
(3) See Passamaquoddy.
(4) See Passamaquoddy.
PEORIA.
Algonkian.
(1) 192 with Kaskaskia, Wea and Piankaskaw in Oklahoma.
(2) No pure-bloods left.
(3) American citizens and progressing well.
(4) See Pilling, _Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages_ (1891).
PIEGAN.
Algonkian.
(1) 482 near Macleod, Alberta; 2072 at Blackfoot Agency, Montana.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Improvement slow in Montana; in Alberta, "noticeable advance
along all lines." Methodist and Anglican missions in Alberta.
(4) See Blackfeet.
PIMA.
Shoshonian.
(1) 3936 in Arizona; more in Mexico. Increasing slightly.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Making good progress recently. Catholic and Protestant missions.
(4) Russel, _Amer. Anthrop._, 1903, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1901,
and _26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol._, 1904-1905; Dorsey,
_Indians of the South-west_ (1903); _Hrdlicka, Amer. Anthrop._,
1904; Kroeber, _Univ. Calif. Publ._, 1907.
POMO.
Kulanapan.
(1) About 1000 in N.E. California.
(2) Little.
(3) Progress good.
(4) Barrett, _Ethnography of the Pomo_ (1908).
PONCA.
Siouan.
(1) 570 in Oklahoma.
(2) Considerable.
(3) U.S. citizens, making good progress.
(4) Dorsey (J. O.), _Cegiha Language_ (1890), O_maha and Ponka
Letters_ (1891), &c.; Dorsey (G. A.), _Field Columb. Mus.
Publ._, 1905; Boas, _Congr. int. d. Amér._, Quebec, 1906.
POTAWATOMI.
Algonkian.
(1) 179 on Walpole Island, Ontario; 1740 in Oklahoma.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Canadian Potawatomi are law-abiding and industrious. American
Potawatomi citizens making progress.
(4) See Pilling, _Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages_ (1891).
PUEBLOS.
Keresan.
(1) 3990 in 6 pueblos in N. central New Mexico.
(2) Larger element of white blood than other Pueblos Indians, but
not great.
(3) Majority nominally Catholics.
(4) Writings of Bandelier, Hodge, Lummis, Stevenson, &c. Stevenson,
_11th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1889-1890; Dorsey, _Indians of
the South-west_ (1903); Bandelier, _Archaeol. Inst. Papers_,
1881, 1883, 1892.
PUEBLOS.
Shoshonian.
(1) See Moqui.
(2) See Moqui.
(3) See Moqui.
(4) See Moqui.
PUEBLOS.
Tanoan.
(1) About 4200 in 12 pueblos in New Mexico.
(2) Have not favoured intermixture. Amount little.
(3) Nominally Catholics for most part. At San Juan notable evidences
of thrift, less elsewhere.
(4) Writings of Bandelier, Lummis, Fewkes, &c. See Pueblos (Keresan)
and Moqui.
PUEBLOS.
Zuñian.
(1) 1500 in Western New Mexico.
(2) Have not favoured white intermixture.
(3) Practically all are "pagans." Substantial progress lately in
several ways.
(4) Bandelier, _Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Archaeol._, 1892; Fewkes,
_ibid._, 1891; Stevenson, _5th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1883-1884, and _23rd Rep._, 1901-1902; Cushing, _2nd Rep._,
1880-1881, _4th Rep._, 1882-1883, _13th Rep._, 1891-1892, and
_Zuñi Folk-Tales_ (N.Y., 1901), and other writings.
PUYALLUP.
Salishan.
(1) 486 at the Puyallup Agency, Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Suffering from white contact; future not bright.
(4) See Chehalis.
QUAPAW.
Siouan.
(1) 292 in Oklahoma.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Majority are intelligent, thrifty and progressive. Catholic
missions.
(4) Dorsey (J. O.), _11th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1889-1890, _13th
Rep._ 1891-1892, and other writings.
QUILEUTE.
Chemakuan.
(1) 232 at Neah Bay Agency, N.W. Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Progress good.
(4) See Clallam.
QUINAIELT.
Salishan.
(1) 142 at Puyallup Agency in N.W. Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) See Nisqualli.
(4) Farrand, _Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1902; Conard, _Open
Court_, 1905.
SACS AND FOXES (Sauk, &c.).
Algonkian.
(1) 343 in Iowa; 630 in Oklahoma; 90 in Kansas.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Continued improvement; conservative opposition less. Catholic
missions.
(4) Lasley, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1902; Jones, ibid., 1901, and
_Fox Texts_ (1907); Owen, _Folk-Lore of the Musquaki_ (1904).
SANSPOIL.
Salishan.
(1) 126 at Colville Agency, Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Improving.
(4) See Chehalis.
SARCEE.
Athabaskan.
(1) 205 S.W. of Calgary, Alberta.
(2) More than many other tribes of this stock.
(3) Making good material progress lately. Anglican mission.
(4) Maclean, _Canad. Savage Folk_ (1890); Goddard, _Congr. int. d.
Amér._, 1906; Morice, _ibid._ and _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_,
1905; Simms, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1904.
SEKANÉ (Sikani).
Athabaskan.
(1) About 450 on Finlay and Parsnip rivers and W. to forks of Tatla
Lake in N. central British Columbia.
(2) Little.
(3) Not so progressive as Carriers &c. Reached by Catholic mission
from Stuart Lake.
(4) Morice, Anthropos, 1906, 1907, and Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario,
1905, and other writings. See Babines, Carriers.
SEMINOLE.
Muskogian.
(1) 2132 in Oklahoma; 350 in Florida.
(2) Much white and some negro blood.
(3) Oklahoma Seminoles American citizens.
(4) MacCauley, _5th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1887; Coe, _Red
Patriots_ (1898). See Creek.
SENECA.
Iroquoian.
(1) 383 in Oklahoma; 2742 in New York; 215 with Six Nations, on
Grand river, Ontario.
(2) Considerable.
(3) See Six Nations.
(4) Sanborn, _Seneca Indians_ (1862); Hubbard, _An Account of
Sa-go-ye-wat-ha_, or _Red Jacket and his People_ (Albany, 1886).
See Six Nations.
SHAWNEE.
Algonkian.
(1) 574 in Oklahoma.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Progress good. Catholic and Protestant missions.
(4) See Pilling, _Bibl. of Algon. Lang._ (1891). Also Harvey,
_Shawnee Indians_ (1855).
SHOSHONEE.
Shoshonian.
(1) About 1000 in Idaho; 242 in Nevada; 793 in Wyoming.
(2) Amount of admixture not large.
(3) Progress good in the last few years. Catholic and Protestant
Episcopal missions.
(4) Culin, _Bull. Free Mus. Sci. and Art_ (Phila., 1901); Dorsey,
_Indians of the South-west_ (1903). See Ute.
SHUSWAP (Sequapamuq).
Salishan.
(1) About 1000 in the S. interior of British Columbia; also 52
within the Kootenay area at the Columbia Lakes.
(2) Considerable in places.
(3) Industrious and law-abiding. Catholic and Protestant missions.
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1890, and _Ethnogr. Album_
(N.Y., 1900); Dawson, _Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada_, 1891; Boas,
_Indianische Sagen_ (1895).
SILETZ.
Indians of several stocks.
(1) 483 on Siletz Reservation, Oregon.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Progress good.
(4) Dorsey, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1890, and _Amer. Anthrop._,
1889.
SIX NATIONS (Canada).
Iroquoian.
(1) On Grand River Reservation, Ontario; Cayuga, 1044; Mohawk, 1762;
Oneida, 350; Onondaga, 350; Seneca, 215; Tuscarora, 397. Total,
4118.
(2) Large admixture of white blood.
(3) Generally capable and industrious, and steadily improving; many,
both in U.S. and Canada, equal to whites. The Canadian Cayuga
and Onondaga are "pagans." Many Christian faiths represented.
(4) Boyle, _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_, 1898 and 1905, and _Journ.
Anthr. Inst._, 1900; Hale, _Iroquois Book of Rites_ (Phila.,
1883); Wilson, _Trans. Roy. Soc. Can._, 1885. See also under
tribal names.
SIX NATIONS (New York).
Iroquoian.
(1) In New York State; Cayuga, 179; Oneida, 286; Onondaga, 553;
Seneca, 2742; Tuscarora, 356. Total, 4116.
(2) Large admixture of white blood.
(3) Improvement varying with tribes; Tuscarora said to be best.
Various religious faiths.
(4) Beauchamp, _Bull. N.Y. State Mus._, 1897-1907, _The Iroquois
Trail_ (1892), and other writings; Smith, _2nd Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1880-1881; Hewitt, _21st Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1899-1900, and other writings. See also under tribal names.
SKIQOMIC.
Salishan.
(1) About 150 in the Howe Sd. and Burrard Inlet region of British
Columbia.
(2) Some Canadian-French admixture.
(3) "Probably the most industrious and orderly band of Indians in
the province." Catholic mission.
(4) Hill-Tout, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1900; Boas, _ibid._,
1894.
SLAVÉ.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 1100 in the region W. of Gt. Bear Lake, from Ft. Simpson
to Ft. Norman in N.W. Canada.
(2) No certain data; but some admixture now going on.
(3) No marked progress, but white influence being felt. Catholics
and Episcopal missions.
(4) Various writings of Petitot and Morice; the latter in
_Anthropos_, 1906-1907; Bompas, _Mackenzie River_ (London,
1888); Bell, _Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1901.
SNAIMUQ (Nanaimo).
Salishan.
(1) About 160 on reserve near Nanaimo Harbour, B.C.
(2) No data.
(3) Making good progress recently. Catholic mission.
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1889, and _Amer. Anthrop._,
1889.
SONGISH (Lkungen).
Salishan.
(1) About 200 in S.E. Vancouver Island, B.C.
(2) No data.
(3) Industrious and mostly well-off. Catholic mission.
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc._, 1890; Hill-Tout, _Journ. Roy.
Anthrop. Inst._, 1907.
SPOKAN.
Salishan.
(1) 91 in Idaho; 133 in Montana; 434 in Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Improving.
(4) Writings of Rev. M. Eells. See Chehalis.
TAHLTAN.
Athabaskan.
(1) 220 in the N. Interior of British Columbia, at mouth of Tahltan
river.
(2) Little.
(3) Making good progress.
(4) Teit, _Boas Anniv. Vol._ (N.Y., 1906).
TEN'A.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 2000 on the Yukon, between Tanara and Koserefsky in
Alaska.
(2) Little.
(3) Not yet much influenced by whites. Catholic mission.
(4) Jetté, _Congr. int. des Amér._ 1906; _Man_, 1907; _Journ.
Anthr. Inst._, 1907.
THOMPSON INDIAN (Ntlakapamuk).
Salishan.
(1) About 1770 in the Thompson river region, S. central British
Columbia.
(2) Not very much.
(3) Making good progress. Catholic and Protestant missions.
(4) Teit and Boas, _Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1900; Teit, _Trad.
of Thompson Inds._ (Boston, 1898); Hill-Tout, _Salish and Déné_
(London, 1907).
TLINGIT.
Koluschan.
(1) About 2000 in S. Alaska.
(2) Considerable in places.
(3) Not marked generally. Greek Orthodox and other missions.
(4) Krause, _Die Tlinkit Indianer_ (Berlin, 1885); Boas,
_Indianische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1905); Bogoras, _Amer. Anthrop._,
1902; Swanton, _26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol._, 1904-1905;
Emmons, _Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1903.
TONKAWA.
Tonkawan.
(1) 47 in Oklahoma.
(2) No data.
(3) "Contented and enjoying life."
(4) Mooney, _Globus_, 1902.
TSIMSHIAN (Proper).
Tsimshian.
(1) About 2000 in northern British Columbia.
(2) Not large.
(3) Making good progress. Anglican and other missions.
(4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1889, and _Indianische
Sagen_ (Berlin, 1895); von der Schulenburg, _Die Sprache der
Zimshian-Indianer_ (1894); Wellcome, Metlakatla (1887).
TUSCARORA.
Iroquoian.
(1) 397 on Six Nation Reservation, Ontario; 356 with Six Nations,
New York.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Making good progress in both Canada and New York.
(4) See Six Nations.
TUTCHONEKUT'QIN.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 1000 on the Yukon from Deer river to Ft. Selkirk, in
Alaska.
(2) Little.
(3) Little progress.
(4) See Babines, Carriers, Chipewyan.
UINTA UTE.
Shoshonian.
(1) 435 in Utah.
(2) Little.
(3) See Ute.
(4) See Ute.
UMATILLA.
Sahaptian.
(1) 207 in Oregon.
(2) Some.
(3) Making progress. Catholic and Presbyterian missions.
(4) See Nez Percés.
UNCOMPAGHRE UTE.
Shoshonian.
(1) 493 in Utah.
(2) Little.
(3) See Ute.
(4) See Ute.
UTE.
Shoshonian.
(1) 845 in Colorado; 1245 in Utah.
(2) Not much.
(3) Some progress recently. Catholic and Protestant missions.
(4) Culin, _Bull. Free Mus. Sci. and Art_ (Phila., 1901); Kroeber,
_Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1901, and _Amer. Anthrop._, 1906.
WALAPAI.
Yuman.
(1) 513 in Arizona. Decreasing.
(2) Little.
(3) Self-supporting, but poor morally.
(4) James, _Indians of the Painted Desert Region_ (Boston, 1903).
WALLAWALLA.
Sahaptian.
(1) 579 in Oregon.
(2) Some.
(3) Not so satisfactory recently, but progressing.
(4) See Nez Percés.
WICHITA.
Caddoan.
(1) 441 in Oklahoma.
(2) Probably considerable.
(3) Citizens of U.S., making good progress. Catholic and Protestant
missions.
(4) Dorsey, _Mythology of the Wichita_ (Washington, 1904) and other
writings.
WINNEBAGO.
Siouan.
(1) 1070 in Nebraska; 1285 in Wisconsin.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Many good citizens of U.S. and progressing. Suffering from
liquor and the mescal bean to some extent.
(4) Thwaites, _Coll. State Hist. Soc. Wisconsin_, 1892; Fletcher,
_Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1890; McGee. _15th Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1893-1894.
WYANDOT.
Iroquoian.
(1) 385 in Oklahoma; 1 at Anderdon, Ontario, Canada.
(2) No pure-bloods left, hardly a half-blood.
(3) More white than Indian.
(4) Powell, _1st Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1879-1880; Connelley,
_Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_, 1905, and _Wyandott Folk-Lore_
(Topeka, 1899); Merwin, _Trans. Kansas State Hist. Soc._, 1906.
YAKIMA.
Sahaptian.
(1) About 1500 in Washington.
(2) Considerable.
(3) Late reports indicate bad influence of whites.
(4) Pandosy, _Gramm. and Dict. of Yakima_ (1862); Lewis, _Mem. Amer.
Anthrop. Assoc._, 1906.
YELLOWKNIVES.
Athabaskan.
(1) About 500 N.E. of Great Slave Lake in N.W. Canada.
(2) Not much.
(3) No practical advance as yet.
(4) Writings of Petitot, Morice, &c. Petitot, _Autour du Grand Lac
des Esclaves_ (1891), and _Monographie des Déné-Dindjié_ (1876).
See Carriers, Chipewyan.
YUMA.
Yuman.
(1) 807 at Fort Yuma Agency, California, and a few at San Carlos,
Arizona.
(2) Some Spanish (Mexican) blood.
(3) Progress good. Catholic and Protestant missions.
(4) Gatschet, _Ztschr. v. Ethnologie_ (1893); Trippell, _Overland
Monthly_, 1889; Dorsey, _Indians of the South-west_ (1903). See
Mission Indians.
ZUÑI.
Zuñian.
(1) See Pueblos.
(2) Zuñian.
(3) See Pueblos.
(4) See Pueblos (Zuñian).
Population, &c.
From the tables it will be seen that the American Indians in some parts
of North America are not decreasing, but either holding their own or
even increasing; also that thousands of them are now to all intents and
purposes the equals in wealth, thrift, industry and intelligence of the
average white man and citizens with him in the same society. In certain
regions of the continent small tribes have been annihilated in the
course of wars with other Indians or with the whites, and others have
been decimated by disease, famine, &c.; and over large areas the
aboriginal population, according to some authorities, has vastly
diminished. Thus Morice estimates that the Athabaskan population at
present in Canada (about 20,000) is less than one-seventh of what it was
a century or more ago; Hill-Tout thinks the Salishan tribes (c. 15,000)
number not one-fifth of their population a hundred years ago, and
equally great reductions are claimed for some other peoples of the North
Pacific region; Kroeber thinks probable an Indian population in
California of 150,000 before the arrival of the whites, as compared with
but 15,000 now; by some the arid regions of the south-west are supposed
to have sustained a very large population in earlier times; certain of
the Plains tribes are known to have lost much in population since
contact with the whites. But under better care and more favourable
conditions generally some tribes seem to be taking on a new lease of
life and are apparently beginning to thrive again. A considerable
portion of the "disappearance" of the Indian is through amalgamation
with the whites. Undoubtedly, in some parts of the country, exaggerated
ideas prevalent in the early colonial period as to the numbers of the
native population have interfered with a correct estimate of the
aborigines past and present. Mooney thinks that the Cherokee "are
probably about as numerous now as at any period in their history"
(_Hndb. Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 247), and this is perhaps true
also of some other tribes east of the Mississippi. Major J. W. Powell
was of opinion that the Indian population north of Mexico is as large
to-day as it was at the time of the discovery. This, however, is not the
view of the majority of authorities. The total number of Indians in
Canada (_Ann. Rep. Dept. Ind. Aff._, 1907) for 1907 is given as 110,345,
as compared with 109,394 for the previous year, not including the Micmac
in Newfoundland and the Indians and Eskimo in that part of Labrador
belonging to Newfoundland. In 1903 the figures were 108,233. The gain
may be largely due to more careful enumeration of Indians in the less
well-known parts of the country, but there is evidently no marked
decrease going on, but rather a slight increase in Ontario, Quebec, New
Brunswick, &c. In the United States (exclusive of Alaska, which counts
about 30,000) the Indian population (_Ann. Rep. Ind. Aff._, 1906) is
estimated at 197,289, no including the "Five Civilized Tribes," of whose
numbers (94,292) some 65,000 can be reckoned as Indians--a total of
382,000. The figures of 197,289, according to the report, show an
increase in population "due mainly to increase in number of Indians
reported from California."
The financial condition of the Indians of the Dominion of Canada for
the year ending March 31, 1907, is indicated in the following table:--
+--------------+---------------+--------------+
| | Total Amount | |
| | of Real and | Total Income |
| | Personal | for the |
| | Property. | Year. |
+--------------+---------------+--------------+
| Ontario | $7,566,125 | $1,426,690 |
| Quebec | 1,781,330 | 915,783 |
| N. Brunswick | 189,701 | 109,892 |
| N. Scotia | 151,949 | 76,603 |
| P. E. I. | 6,370 | 15,374 |
| Manitoba | 2,102,044 | 348,966 |
| B. Columbia | 7,475,719 | 1,501,456 |
| Sask | 7,721,532 | 548,533 |
| Alberta | 5,154,789 | 211,839 |
+--------------+---------------+--------------+
| Total | $30,129,659 | $5,155,052 |
+--------------+---------------+--------------+
The total amounts earned during the year were: from agriculture,
$1,337,948; wages and miscellaneous industries, $714,125; fishing,
$544,487; hunting and trapping, $630,633. Of these hunting and
trapping show a decided decrease over 1906. The Indian Trust Fund
amounts to $5,157,566.59. The total appropriation in connexion with
the Indians of the Dominion for all purposes for the year 1906-1907
was $1,055,010 and the actual expenditure some $114,000 less. The
total amount of sales of lands for the benefit of Indian tribes was
$422,086.13. The balance to the credit of the Indian savings account
for the funding of the annuities and earnings of pupils at industrial
schools, together with collections from Indians for purchase of cattle
and for ranching expenses, was $51,708.92.
According to the _Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs_ the
total amount of trust funds held by the United States government for
the Indians, in lieu of investment, amounted to $36,352,950.97,
yielding for 1906 interest at 4 and 5% of $1,788,237.23. The total
incomes of the various tribes from all sources for the year ending
June 30, 1906, was $6,557,554.39, including interest on trust funds,
treaty agreement and obligations, gratuities, Indian money, proceeds
of labour, &c.
Physical characteristics.
While the general constitution of the American aborigines north of
Mexico is such as to justify their designation as one "American race,"
whose nearest congener is to be found in the "Mongolian race" of
eastern Asia, &c., there is a wide range in variation within the
American tribes with respect to particular physical characteristics.
Some authorities, like Dr Hrdlicka (_Handb. Amer. Inds. N. of Mex._,
1907, pt. i. p. 53), separate the Eskimo from the "Indians," regarding
them as "a distinct sub-race of the Mongolo-Malay," but this is hardly
necessary if, with Boas (_Ann. Archaeol. Rep. Ontario_, 1905, p. 85), we
"consider the inhabitants of north-eastern Asia and of America as a unit
divided into a great many distinct types but belonging to one and the
same of the large divisions of mankind." Upon the basis of differences
in stature and general bodily conformation, colour of skin, texture and
form of hair, shape of nose, face and head, &c., some twenty-one
different physical "types" north of Mexico have been recognized.
Although the variation in stature, from the short people of Harrison
Lake (average 1611 mm.) to the tall Sioux (average 1726 mm.), Eastern
Chippewa (average 1723 mm.), Iroquois (average 1727 mm.), Omaha and
Winnebago (average 1733 mm.) and other tribes of the Plains and the
regions farther east, is considerable, the North American Indian, on the
whole, may be termed a tall race. The stature of women averages among
the tall tribes about 92%, and among the short tribes about 94% of that
of the men.
The proportion of statures (adult males) above 1730 mm. in certain
Indian tribes (Boas) is as follows: Apache and Navaho, 25.3; Arapaho,
45.9; Arikara, 15.2; British Columbia (coast), 28.8; British Columbia
(interior), 16.4; California (south), 32.7; Cherokee (eastern), 21.0;
Cherokee (western), 40.7; Cheyenne, 72.2; Chickasaw, 23.8; Chinook,
36.2; Choctaw, 32.6; Coahuila, 14.2; Comanche, 27.1; Cree, 33.4;
Creek, 53.6; Crow, 51.3; Delaware, 41.1; Eskimo (Alaska), 5.9; Eskimo
(Labrador), 0.0; Flathead, 18.9; Harrison Lake, B.C., 1.0; Hupa, 18.7;
Iroquois, 52.1; Kiowa, 41.3; Klamath, 20.0; Kootenay, 26.0; Micmac and
Abnaki, 45.7; Ojibwa (eastern), 42.7; Ojibwa (western), 427; Omaha and
Winnebago, 54.9; Oregon (south), 5.1; Ottawa and Menominee, 30.6;
Paiute, 22.1; Pawnee, 39.0; Puget Sound and Makah, 6.5; Round Valley,
Cal., 3.3; Sahaptin, 28.2; Shuswap, 15.9; Sioux, 50.8; Taos, 18.5:
Ute, 124; Zuñi and Moqui, 1.9.
Very notable is the percentage of tall statures among the Cheyenne,
Creek, Crow, Iroquois, &c. The form of the head (skull) varies
considerably among the Indian tribes north of Mexico, running from the
dolichocephalic eastern Eskimo with a cephalic index of 71.3 on the
skull to the brachycephalic Aleuts with 84.8. Several tribes
practising deformation of the skull (mound-builders, Klamath, &c.)
show much higher brachycephaly.
The percentage of cephalic indices above 84 (on the heads of living
individuals) among certain Indian tribes (Boas) is as follows: Apache,
87.6; Arapaho, 5.0; Arikara, 24.6; Blackfeet, 6.2; Caddo, 47.2;
Cherokee, 20.0; Cheyenne, 10.4; Chickasaw, 14.4; Comanche, 65.3; Cree,
4.9; Creek, 25.0; Crow, 12.0; Delaware 12.0; Eskimo, (Alaska), 10.6;
Harrison Lake, B.C., 88.8; Iroquois, 15.4; Kiowa, 25.0; Kootenay,
19.1; Mandan, 4.5; Micmac and Abnaki, 7.0; Mohave, 86.5: Montagnais,
21.7; Moqui, 54.3; Navaho, 49.4; Ojibwa (eastern), 26.6; Ojibwa
(western), 10.2; Omaha, 23.0; Oregon (south), 50.9; Osage, 79.1;
Ottawa and Menominee, 24.7; Pawnee, 4.8; Pima, 9.6; Round Valley,
Cal., 4.8; Sahaptin, 57.4; Shuswap, 59.9; Sioux, 9.6; Taos, 6.0; Ute,
8.9; Wichita, 96.0; Winnebago, 66.8; Zuñi, 41.4.
The Apache, Mohave, Navaho, Osage, Sahaptin, Wichita and Winnebago
practised skull-deformation, which accounts in part for their high
figures. The brachycephalic tendency of the Caddo, Moqui, Shuswap and
Zuñi is marked; the Comanche, with an average cephalic index of 84.6
and the Harrison Lake people with one of 88.8, are noteworthy in this
respect. As in the case of stature, so in the case of head-form, there
seems to have been much mingling of types, especially in the
Huron-Algonkian region, the Great Plains and the North Pacific coast.
The North American Indian may be described in general as brown-skinned
(of various shades, with reddish tinge, sometimes dark and chocolate or
almost black in colour) with black hair and eyes varying from hazel
brown to dark brown. Under good conditions of food, &c., the Indian
tends to be tall and mesocephalic as to head-form, and well-proportioned
and symmetrical in body. The ideal Indian type can be met with among the
youth of several different tribes (Plains Indians, Algonkians,
Iroquoians, Muskogians and some of the tribes of the south-western
United States). Beauty among the aborigines of America north of Mexico
has been the subject of brief studies by Dr R. W. Shufeldt and Dr A.
Hrdlicka (_Boas Anniv. Vol._, New York, 1906, pp. 38-42).
Race mixture.
The extent to which the red and white races have mixed their blood in
various parts of North America is greater than is generally thought. The
Eskimo of Greenland have intermarried with the Danes, and their kinsmen
of Labrador with the English settlers and "summerers." The eastern
Algonkian Indians in New England and Acadia have now considerable
French, English and Scottish blood. Many of the Canadian Iroquois are
more than half French, many of the Iroquois of New York half English.
The Cherokee, an Iroquoian people of the Carolinas, have some admixture
of Scottish and German blood, to which Mooney would attribute some, at
least, of their remarkable progress. In the state of Oklahoma, which has
absorbed the old "Indian Territory," the results of race-amalgamation
are apparent in the large number of mixed bloods of all shades. In spite
of the romance of Pocahontas, the intermarriages of the two races in the
Virginian region seem not to have been very common or very important.
Nor does there appear to have been much intermarriage between Spaniards
and Indians in the south Atlantic region, though in Texas, &c., there
was a good deal. In New France, in spite of the efforts of some recent
Canadian-French writers to minimize the fact, intermixture between
whites, and Indians began early and continued to be extensive. In parts
of New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, some of the northern American states
and regions of the Canadian north-west, there are Indian villages and
white settlements where hardly a single individual of absolutely pure
blood can now be found. In the veins of some of the "Iroquois" of
Caughnawaga and New York state to-day flows blood of the best colonial
stock (Rice, Hill, Williams, Stacey, &c., captives adopted and married
within the tribe). In the great Canadian north-west, and to a large
extent also in the tier of American states to the south, the blood of
the Indian, through the mingling of French, Scottish and English
traders, trappers, employees of the great fur companies, pioneer
settlers, &c., has entered largely and significantly into the life of
the nation, the half-breed element playing a most important rôle in
social, commercial and industrial development.
In 1879, besides those whose mixed blood had not been remembered and
those who wished to forget it, there were, according to Dr Havard (_Rep.
Smiths. Inst._, 1879), at least 22,000 _métis_ in the United States and
18,000 in Canada (i.e. in the north-west in each case). When the
province of Manitoba entered the Canadian Confederation it numbered
within the borders some 10,000 mixed-bloods, one of whom, John Norquay,
afterwards became its premier. In the Columbia river region and British
Columbia some intermixture has taken place, originating in the
conditions due to the establishment of trading-posts, the circumstances
of the early settlement of the country, &c.--this has been both French
and English and Scottish. Farther north in Alaska the Russian occupation
led to not a little intermixture, both with the Aleuts, &c., and the
coast Indians. In some parts of the far north intermixture of the whites
with the Athabaskans is just beginning. In Canada no prohibition of
marriage between whites and Indians exists, but such unions are
forbidden by law in the states of Arizona, Oregon, North Carolina and
South Carolina.
A considerable number of the chiefs and able men of the various Indian
tribes of certain regions in recent times have had more or less white
blood--Iroquois, Algonkian, Siouan, &c.--who have sometimes worked
with and sometimes against the whites. In the case of some tribes
there have been "pure blood" and "mixed blood" factions. Some tribes
have frowned upon miscegenation; even the Pueblos (except Laguna,
which is Keresan) have never intermarried with the whites. Both in
Canada and the United States strains of Indian blood run in the veins
of prominent families. Some of the "first families of Virginia" are
proud to descend from Pocahontas, the Algonkian "Princess," who
married the Englishman Rolfe. In Maine may still be discovered perhaps
those whose line of life goes back to the Baron de St Casteins and his
Abnaki bride, while in Ontario and New York are to be met those who
trace their ancestry back to the famous Iroquois Joseph Brant and his
half-English wife. In the early history of Pennsylvania and Ohio were
noted the Montours, descendants of a French nobleman who about 1665
had a son and two daughters by a Huron woman in Canada. In 1817
Captain John S. Pierce, U.S.A., brother of President Franklin Pierce,
married the fair Josette la Framboise, who had at least a quarter
Indian (Ottawa) blood. In the latter part of the 18th century a young
Irish gentleman married Neengai, daughter of the Michigan Ojibwa chief
Waubojeeg, and of the daughters born to them one married a Canadian
Frenchman of reputation in the early development of the province of
Ontario, another the Rev. Mr McMurray, afterwards Episcopal archdeacon
of Niagara, and a third Henry R. Schoolcraft, the ethnologist.
Several Indians, some full-blood, others with more or less white blood
in their veins, have rendered signal service to ethnological science.
These deserve special mention: Francis la Flesche, an Omaha, a
graduate of the National University Law School. D.C., holding a
position in the Office of Indian Affairs; Dr William Jones, a Sac and
Fox, in the service of the Field Museum, Chicago, a graduate of
Harvard and of Columbia (Ph.D.); and J. N. B. Hewitt, a Tuscarora,
ethnologist in the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D.C. In
some regions considerable intermixture between negroes and Indians
(_Science_, New York, vol. xvii., 1891, pp. 85-90) has occurred, e.g.
among the Mashpee and Gay Head Indians of Massachusetts, the remnants
of the Pequots in Connecticut, the Shinnecocks and the Montauks, &c.,
of Long Island; the Pamunkeys, Mattaponies and some other small
Virginian and Carolinian tribes. In earlier times some admixture of
negro blood took place among the Seminoles, although now the remnants
of that people still in Florida are much averse to miscegenation. Of
the tribes of the Muskogian stock who kept large numbers of negro
slaves the Creeks are said to have about one-third of their number of
mixed Indian-negro blood. Sporadic intermixture of this sort is
reported from the Shawnee, the Minnesota Chippewa, the Canadian
Tuscarora, the Caddo, &c., in the case of the last the admixture may
be considerable. It is also thought probable that many of the negroes
of the whole lower Atlantic coast and Gulf region may have strains of
Indian blood. The mythology and folk-lore of the negroes of this
region may have borrowed not a little from the Indian, for as Mooney
notes (_19th Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol._, 1900, pp. 232-234), "in all the
southern colonies Indian slaves were bought and sold and kept in
servitude and worked in the fields side by side with negroes up to the
time of the Revolution." When Dr John R. Swanton visited the Haida
recently the richest man among the Skidegate tribe was a negro. Some
of the Plains tribes and some Indians of the far west, however, have
taken a dislike to the negro.
The leader in the "Boston Massacre" of March 5, 1770, was Crispus
Attucks, of Framingham, Mass., the son of a negro father and a Natick
Indian mother. The physical anthropology of the white-Indian
half-blood has been studied by Dr Franz Boas (_Pop. Sci. Monthly_, New
York, 1894).
Culture, arts, industries, &c.
The culture, arts and industries of the American aborigines exhibit
marked correspondence to and dependence upon environment, varying with
the natural conditions of land and water, wealth or poverty of the soil,
abundance or scarcity of plant and animal life subsidiary to human
existence, &c. Professor O. T. Mason (_Handb. of Amer. Inds. N. of
Mexico_, 1907, pt. i. pp. 427-430; also _Rep. Smiths. Inst._, 1895, and
_Pop. Sci. Monthly_, 1902) recognizes north of Mexico twelve "ethnic
environments," in each of which there is "an _ensemble_ of qualities
that impressed themselves on their inhabitants and differentiated them."
These twelve "ethnic environments" are:--
(1) _Arctic_ (_Eskimo_); (2) _Yukon-Mackenzie_ (practically _Athabaskan_);
(3) _Great Lakes and St Lawrence_ (_Algonkian-Iroquoian_); (4) _Atlantic
Slope_ (_Algonkian_, _Iroquoian_, _Siouan_, &c.); (5) _Gulf Coast_,
embracing region from Georgia to Texas (_Muskogian_ and a number of
smaller stocks); (6) _Mississippi Valley_ (largely _Algonkian_ and
"_mound-builders_"); (7) _Plains_, including the country from the
neighbourhood of the Rio Grande to beyond the Saskatchewan on the north,
and from the Rocky Mountains to the fertile lands west of the Mississippi
(_Algonkian_, _Siouan_, _Shoshonian_, _Kiowan_, _Caddoan_); (8) _North
Pacific Coast_, from Mount St Elias to the mouth of the Columbia river
(_Koluschan_, _Haidan_, _Tsimshian_, _Wakashan_, _Salishan_); (9)
_Columbia-Fraser region_ (_Salishan_, _Sahaptian_, _Chinookan_, &c.); (10)
_Interior Basin_ between Rocky Mountains and Sierras (_Shoshonian_); (11)
_California-Oregon_ ("the Caucasus of North America," occupied by more
than twenty-five linguistic stocks); (12) _Pueblos region_, basin of Rio
Grande, Pecos, San Juan and Colorado (_Pueblos-Keresan_, _Tanoan_,
_Zuñian_, &c.; on the outskirts predatory _Shoshonian_, _Athabaskan_
tribes; to the south-west, _Yuman_, &c.).
In the Arctic environment the Eskimo have conquered a severe and
thankless climate by the invention and perfection of the snow-house,
the dog-sled, the oil-lamp (creating and sustaining social life and
making extensive migrations possible), the harpoon and the kayak or
skin-boat (the acme of adaptation of individual skill to environmental
demands). In the region of the Mackenzie especially the older and
simpler culture of the Athabaskan stock has been much influenced by
the European "civilization" of the Hudson's Bay Company, &c., and
elsewhere also by contact with Indian tribes of other stocks, for the
Athabaskans everywhere have shown themselves very receptive and ready
to adopt foreign elements of culture. The culture-type of the North
Pacific coast, besides being unique in some respects, stands in
certain relations to the culture of the Palaeo-Asiatic tribes of
north-eastern Asia who belong properly with the American race. The
culture of the Great Plains, which has been studied by Drs Wissler
(_Congr. intern. d. Amér._, Quebec, 1906, vol. ii. pp. 39-52) and
Kroeber (_ibid._ pp. 53-63), is marked by the presence of a decided
uniformity in spite of the existence within this area of several
physical types and a number of distinct linguistic stocks. Here the
_tipi_ and the camp-circle figure largely in material culture;
innumerable ceremonies and religious practices (e.g. the "sun-dance")
occur and many societies and ceremonial organizations exist. The
buffalo and later the horse have profoundly influenced the culture of
this area, in which Athabaskan (Sarcee), Kitunahan, Algonkian, Siouan,
Shoshonian, Kiowan tribes have shared. In some respects the Plains
culture is quite recent and the result of "giving and taking" among
the various peoples concerned. Some of them merely abandoned an
earlier more sedentary life to hunt the buffalo on the great prairies.
The culture of the Mississippi valley region (including the Ohio, &c.)
is noteworthy in pre-Columbian and immediately post-Columbian times
for the development of "mound-building," with apparently sedentary
life to a large extent. In this Algonkian, Iroquoian and Siouan tribes
have participated. In the region of the Great Lakes and on the
Atlantic slope occurred the greatest development of the Algonkian and
Iroquoian stocks, particularly in social and political activities,
expressed both generally, as in the leagues and alliances (especially
the famous "Iroquois League"), and individually in the appearance of
great men like Hiawatha, Tecumseh, &c. The Gulf region is remarkable
for the development in the southern United States of the Muskogian
stock (Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, &c.), to which belonged the
"civilized tribes" now part of the state of Oklahoma. In this area
also, toward the west, are to be met religious ideas and institutions
(e.g. among the Natchez) suggestive of an early participation in or
connexion with the beginnings of a culture common to the Pueblos
tribes and perhaps also to the ancestors of the civilized peoples of
ancient Mexico. In some other respects the culture of this area is
noteworthy. In the east also there are evidences of the influence of
Arawakan culture from the West Indies. The Pueblos region has been the
scene of the development of sedentary "village" life on the largest
scale known in North America north of Mexico, and of arts, industries
and religious ideas (rain-cult especially) corresponding, as Professor
J. W. Fewkes (_Rep. Smiths. Inst._, 1895, pp. 683-700) has shown, most
remarkably to their environment. The arid interior basin is the
characteristic area of the great Shoshonian stock, here seen at its
lowest level, but advancing with the Piman and other Sonoran and
Nahuatlan tribes till in ancient Mexico it attained the civilization
of the Aztecs. The California-Oregon area is remarkable for the
multiplicity of its linguistic stocks and also for the development of
many local culture-types. Within the limits of California alone Dr
Kroeber (_Univ. of Calif. Publ. Amer. Arch. and Ethnol._ vol. ii.,
1904, pp. 81-103) distinguishes at least four types of native culture.
On account of climatic conditions, in part at least, the development
of agriculture in North America has not reached with many Indian
tribes a high state of development, although its diffusion is much
greater than is generally believed. In the south-eastern part of the
United States beans, squashes, pumpkins and some other gourds and
melons, potatoes, Indian corn, tobacco, a variety of the sunflower,
&c., were cultivated, the growing of beans, squashes and pumpkins
extending as far north as Massachusetts and the Iroquois country, in
which latter also tobacco was cultivated, as the tribal name ("Tobacco
Nation") of the Tionontati indicates. The cultivation of Indian corn
extended from Florida to beyond 50° N. and from the Atlantic to far
beyond the Mississippi, and, to judge from the varieties found in
existence, must have been known to the Indians for a very long period.
In the arid region of Arizona and New Mexico a special development of
agriculture occurred, made possible by the extensive use of irrigation
in pre-Columbian and in more recent times. Here Indian corn, melons,
beans, cotton, &c., were cultivated before the arrival of the
Spaniards. For religious purposes the Zuñi appear to have selectively
produced a great variety of colours in the ears of corn. Where women
had much to do with agricultural operations they greatly influenced
society and religious and mythological ideas. Hunting and fishing, as
might be expected in an extensive and varied environment like the
North American continent, exhibit a great range from simple individual
hand-capture to combined efforts with traps and nets, such as the
communal nets of the Eskimo, the buffalo and deer "drives" of the
Plains and other Indians, with which were often associated
brush-fences, corrals, "pounds," pitfalls, &c., advantage taken of a
natural _cul-de-sac_, &c. A great variety of traps, snares, &c., was
used (see Mason in _Amer. Anthrop._, 1899) and the dog was also of
great service with certain tribes, although no special variety of
hunting-dogs (except in a few cases) appears to have been developed.
The accessory implements for the chase (spear, bow and arrow, harpoon,
club, &c.) underwent great variation and specialization. The
throwing-stick appears in the north among the Eskimo and in the
south-west among the Pueblos. In the Muskogian area the blow-gun is
found, and its use extended also to some of the Iroquoian tribes
(Cherokee, &c.). In part of this area vegetable poisons were used to
capture fish. In the New England region torch-fishing at night was in
vogue. With the tribes of the Great Plains in particular the hunt
developed into a great social event, and often into a more or less
marked ceremonial or religious institution, with its own appropriate
preliminary and subsequential rites, songs, formulae, taboos and
fetishes, &c., as seen e.g. among certain tribes of the Caddoan stock
in very interesting fashion.
The art of transportation and navigation among the American aborigines
north of Mexico has received special treatment from Mason (_Rep. U.S.
Nat. Mus._, 1894) and Friederici, in his recent monograph _Die
Schiffahrt der Indianer_ (Stuttgart, 1907). On land some of the Indian
tribes made use of the dog-sled and the toboggan in winter, while the
dog-_travois_ was early met with in the region of the Great Plains.
The Eskimo made special use of the dog-sled, but never developed
snow-shoes to the same extent as did the Athabaskan and Algonkian
tribes; with the last and with the Iroquoian tribes came the
perfection of the skin-shoe or moccasin. In the south and south-west
appear sandals. In North America the cradle, as pointed out by
Professor Mason (_Rep. U.S. Nat. Mus._, 1894), has undergone great
variation in response to environmental suggestion. No wheeled vehicle
and no use of an animal other than the dog for means of transportation
is known among the aborigines north of Mexico, men, women and
children, women especially, having been the chief burden-bearers.
Among the types of boats in use are the seal-skin _kayak_ and _umiak_
(woman's boat) of the Eskimo; the bull-boat or coracle (raw-hide over
willow frame) of the Missouri and the buffalo-region; the dug-out of
various forms and degrees of ornamentation in divers regions from
Florida to the North Pacific coast; bark-canoes (birch, elm, pine,
&c.) in the Algonkian, Iroquoian and Athabaskan areas, reaching a high
development in the region of the Great Lakes; the peculiar bark-canoe
of the Beothuks in the form of two half ellipses; the bark-canoe of
the Kootenay (a similar type occurs on the Amur in north-eastern
Asia), noteworthy as having both ends pointed under water; the
plank-canoes of the Santa Barbara region; the basketry-boats
(_coritas_) of the lower Colorado and in south central California; the
_balsas_ of tule rushes, &c., in use on the lakes and streams of
California and Nevada. In various parts of the country log-rafts of a
more or less crude sort were in use. No regular sail is reported from
North America, although from time to time skins, blankets, &c., were
used by several tribes for such purposes.
Since the appearance of Morgan's monograph on the _Houses and
House-life of the American Aborigines_ (Washington, 1881) our
knowledge of the subject has been materially increased by the studies
and researches of Boas, Fewkes, Mindeleff, Dorsey, Matthews, Murdoch,
Willoughby and others. The dwellings in use among the aborigines north
of Mexico varied from the rude brush huts of the primitive Shoshonian
tribes, and the still earlier caves, to the communal dwellings of the
Iroquois and the Pueblos stocks of New Mexico and Arizona. The
principal types are as follows:
Crude brush shelters and huts of the lowest Shoshonian tribes, the
Apache (more elaborate), &c.; the _hogan_ or earth-lodge of the
Navaho, and the earth-lodges of certain Caddoan and Siouan tribes
farther north, with similar structures even among the Aleuts of
Alaska; the grass-lodge of the Caddoan tribes, still in use among the
Wichita; the semi-subterranean earth-covered lodges of parts of
California, &c.; the roofed pits of various styles in use in the
colder north, &c.; the Eskimo snow-house and wooden _karmak_; the
elaborately carved and painted wooden houses of Pacific coast region
(Tlingit, Haida, Nootka, &c.), some of which were originally built on
platforms and entered by log-ladders; the simple wooden house of
northern California; the dome-shaped bark wigwams of the Winnebago and
the conical ones of many of the Algonkian tribes; the skin tents or
tipis of many of the Plains peoples; the mat tents of the Nez Percé,
Kootenay, &c., and the mat houses of the South Atlantic region; the
circular wigwam of bark or mats banked up at the base, of the
Ohio-Mississippi valley; the palmetto-house of certain Louisiana
Indians; the pile-dwellings of the ancient Floridians. Communal houses
of divers types were found among the Mohegans, Iroquois, &c., but are
especially illustrated by the so-called _pueblos_ of the south-western
United States, out of which grew probably the elaborate structures of
ancient Mexico. Some tribes appear to have had simple and ruder summer
dwellings and more elaborate or better constructed winter houses. The
Eskimo have sometimes temporary hunting-lodges; the Comanches
brush-shelters for summer and lodges of buffalo-skin for winter; with
some tribes temporary dwellings were erected for the use of those
cultivating the land. Many tribes had their "village-houses" for
social purposes, like the _kashim_ of the Eskimo. Special tipis or
houses for shamans, "medicine-men," &c., were common in many parts of
North America. Secret societies had their own lodges and the so-called
"men's-house." The houses of the North American Indians are the
subject of a monograph by E. Sarfert (_Arch. f. Anthr._, 1908, pp.
119-215).
The art of fire-making was known to all the aborigines north of
Mexico, two methods being widespread, that with flint and pyrites and
that by reciprocating motion of wood on wood. For the latter several
varieties of apparatus were in use, the simple two-stick apparatus was
very common; the Eskimo have a four-part fire-drill and the Iroquois a
weighted drill with spindle whorl. The skill displayed in fire-making
by some Indians is very great, and the individual parts of the
apparatus have in certain regions been highly specialized. The subject
of fire-making apparatus and the kindred topic of illumination have
been specially treated by Dr Walter Hough (_Rep. U.S. Nat. Mus._,
1890, pp. 531-587; _Rep. Smiths. Inst._, 1901-1902). The camp-fire,
the torch and the Eskimo lamp represent the employment of fire for
artificial light among the aborigines. Fire and smoke were used for
signalling by the Plains tribes, &c., and fire-ceremonies form an
important part ("new-fire," "fire-dance") of the ritual observances of
not a few peoples, especially in the region from Florida to the Rio
Grande. In metal-working there is up to the present no convincing
evidence of the use of fire (heat only being employed to facilitate
the cold-hammering processes by which the metals, copper, silver, gold
and iron were manufactured into weapons, implements and ornaments) in
metallurgy north of Mexico. The tools used were few and the processes
simple, as Cushing (_Amer. Anthrop._, vol. vii., 1894) has proved by
actual experiment. The only metal actually mined in large quantities
was copper in the region of Lake Superior, whence came most of that
employed in the east and south. In Alaska was a source of copper for
the North Pacific coast. No special process of hardening copper other
than by hammering was known to the Indians. The gold objects of most
interest come from mounds in Florida and a few also from those in the
Ohio valley. Galena was used to make simple ceremonial objects by the
Indians of the Mississippi valley and the "mound-builders."
The art of sculpture in wood, stone, bone and ivory is best
represented by the wooden masks, utensils, house-carvings and
totem-poles of the Indians of the North Pacific coast, the stone
pipes, ornaments and images of various sorts of the "mound-builders"
and other Indians of the Mississippi valley, the carvings of the
people of the Floridian pile-dwellings, and the remarkable ivory
carvings, sometimes minute, of the Eskimo. Noteworthy also are the
slate-sculpture of the Haida, and the work in bone, ivory and deer and
mountain goat horn of the British Columbian Indians. The Indians of
the region south of the Great Lakes were expert in the manufacture of
tobacco-pipes of great variety, among the most interesting being the
Catlinite pipes of the Sioux of Minnesota, &c. Soapstone served some
of the Eskimo to make lamps and some Indian tribes for other purposes.
Pottery appears to have been unknown in certain regions, but
flourished remarkably in the Mississippi valley and the Pueblos region
of the south-west, where specialization in form and decoration
occurred, and ceramic objects of all sorts were manufactured in
abundance. The pottery of the Iroquoian and Algonkian tribes of the
north-east was, as a rule, rather crude and undeveloped. In many
places the relation of ceramic art to basketry is in evidence.
Basketry, of which Professor O. T. Mason has recently made a detailed
study in his _Aboriginal American Basketry_ (Washington and New York,
1902, 1904), and related arts were carried on (especially by women)
with great variety of form, decoration, material, &c., over a large
portion of the continent. In North America basketry is "_the_
primitive art," and here "the Indian women have left the best witness
of what they could do in handiwork and expression." The most exquisite
and artistic basketry in the world comes from an utterly uncivilized
tribe in California. The relation of basketry to symbolism and
religion is best observable among the Hopi or Moqui of Arizona. The
appreciation of white men for the products of Indian skill and genius
in basketry finds full expression in G. W. James's _Indian Basketry_
(1900). Weaving is exemplified in the goat's hair blanket of the
Chilkat Indians (Koluschan) of Alaska, and similar products; also in
the manufactures of buffalo-hair, &c., of the Indians of the Great
Plains and Mississippi valley and the textile art of a higher type
known to the Pueblos tribes and by some of them taught to the Navaho.
Famous are the "Navaho blankets," less so the "Chilkat."
Feather-work and the utilization of bird-skins and feathers for
dresses, hats, ornaments, &c., are known from many parts of the
continent. In the Arctic regions bird-skins with the feathers on were
used to make dresses; the Algonkian tribes of Virginia, &c., had their
bird-skin "blankets" and "turkey robes"; the tribes of the North
Pacific coast used feathers for decorative purposes of many kinds, as
did Indians in other regions also; feather head-dresses and ornaments
were much in use among the Plains tribes, &c.; with the Pueblos
Indians eagle and turkey feathers were important in ritual and
ceremony; some of the tribes of the south-east made fans of turkey
feathers. Beads made from various sorts of shell, rolled copper
("mound-builders," &c.), seeds, ivory (Eskimo) and the teeth of
various animals are pre-Columbian, like the turquoise-beads of the
Pueblos, and they were put to a great variety of uses. Wampum was
manufactured by many Algonkian and Iroquoian tribes, who also later
produced fine specimens of work with the glass beads introduced by the
whites. These glass beads made their way over most of the continent,
soon driving out in many sections the older art in shell, &c.
European-made wampum-beads affected native art in the 17th century. In
the regions where the porcupine abounded its quills were used for
purposes of ornamentation on articles of dress, objects of bark, &c.,
some of the Algonkian and Iroquoian tribes producing beautiful work of
this sort.
Besides face and body painting, employed for various purposes and
widespread over the continent, particularly in ceremonial observances,
during war-time, in courting, mourning, &c., painting found expression
among the North American aborigines most fully in the products of the
wood art of the Indians of the North Pacific coast (masks, utensils,
houses, totem-poles, furniture, &c.), in the more or less ceremonial
and symbolic paintings on skins, tipi-covers and the like of some of
the Plains tribes (e.g. Kiowa, Sioux) and in ceramic art, notably in
the remarkable polychrome pottery of the Pueblos tribes. Among several
Pueblos tribes of Arizona and New Mexico (also the Navaho and Apache
and of a ruder sort among some of the Plains tribes, e.g. Cheyenne,
Arapaho, Blackfeet) "dry-painting," most highly developed in the
sacred ceremonies of the Navaho, is practised and is evidently of
great antiquity. The pictures of deities, natural phenomena, animals
and plants are made of powdered sandstone of various colours, &c.
Pictography among the aborigines north of Mexico varied from the rude
petroglyphs of some of the Shoshonian tribes to the incised work on
ivory, &c., of the Eskimo and the paintings on buffalo and other
animal skins by some of the Plains tribes, the work of the Pueblos
Indians, &c., the nearest approach to hieroglyphics in North America
outside of Mexico. Some Indian tribes (e.g. the Kootenay) seem not at
all given to pictography, while many others have practised it to an
almost limitless extent. The pictography and picture-writing of the
North American Indians have been the subject of two detailed
monographs by Mallery (_4th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1882-1883, pp.
3-256; _10th Rep._, 1888-1889, pp. 1-1290), and the graphic art of the
Eskimo has received special treatment by Hoffman (_Rep. U.S. Nat.
Mus._, 1895). Some have argued that this ivory pictography of the
Eskimo is of recent origin and due practically to the introduction of
iron by the whites, but Boas thinks such a theory refuted by the
resemblance of the Eskimo graphic art in question to the birch-bark
art of the neighbouring Indian tribes. No real "hieroglyphs," much
less any system of writing of an alphabetic nature, have been
discovered north of Mexico; the alleged specimens of such, turning up
from time to time, are frauds of one sort or another.
The music and song of the American Indians north of Mexico have been
studied since the time of Baker (_Über die Musik der
Nordamerikanischen Wilden_, Leipzig, 1882) by Boas, Fillmore, Curtis,
Fletcher, Stumpf, Cringan (_Ann. Arch. Rep. Ont._, 1902, 1905), &c.
According to Miss Fletcher (_Indian Story and Song_, 1900; also _Publ.
Peab. Mus._, 1893), "among the Indians music envelops like an
atmosphere every religious tribal and social ceremony, as well as
every personal experience," and "there is not a phase of life that
does not find expression in song"; music, too, is "the medium through
which man holds communion with his soul and with the unseen powers
which control his destiny." Music, in fact, "is coextensive with
tribal life," and "every public ceremony as well as each important act
in the career of an individual has its accompaniment of song."
Moreover, "The music of each ceremony has its peculiar rhythm, so also
have the classes of songs which pertain to individual acts: fasting
and prayer, setting of traps, hunting, courtship, playing of games,
facing and defying death." In structure the Indian song "follows the
outline of the form which obtains in our own music," and "the compass
of songs varies from 1 to 3 octaves." Among some of the tribes with
highly developed ceremonial observances "men and women, having clear
resonant voices and good musical intonation, compose the choirs which
lead the singing in ceremonies and are paid for the services." A
peculiar development of music among the Eskimo is seen in the
"nith-songs," by which controversies are settled, the parties to the
dispute "singing at" each other till the public laughter, &c.,
proclaim one the victor. Among the American Indians songs belonging to
individuals, societies, clans, &c., are met with, which have to be
purchased by others from the owners, and even slight mistakes in the
rendition of singing, dancing, &c., are heavily penalized. Musical
contests were also known (e.g. among the Indians of the Pacific
coast). The development of the "tribal song" among the Iroquoian
peoples is seen in Hale's _Iroquois Book of Rites_ (1881). Songs
having no words, but merely changeless vocables, are common. As Dr
Boas has pointed out, the genius of the American Indian has been
devoted more to the production of songs than to the invention of
musical instruments. The musical instruments known to the aborigines
north of Mexico, before contact with the whites, according to Miss
Fletcher (_Handb. of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 960), were drums of
great variety in size and form, from the plank or box of some of the
tribes of the North Pacific coast to the shaman's drums of the
Algonkian and Iroquoian peoples; whistles of bone, wood, pottery, &c.
(often employed in ceremonies to imitate the voices of birds, animals
and spirits); flageolet or flute (widely distributed and used by young
men in courtship among the Siouan tribes); the musical bow (found
among the Maidu of California and important in religion and sorcery).
Rattles of gourd, skin, shell, wood, &., are universal, and among some
of the tribes of the south-west "notched sticks are rasped together or
on gourds, bones or baskets to accentuate rhythm." From the rattle in
the Pueblos region developed a sort of ball of clay or metal.
Culture of Indians essentially indigenous.
So far as is known, the primitive culture of the aborigines of North
America is fundamentally indigenous, being the reactions of the Indian
to his environment, added to whatever rude equipment of body and of mind
was possessed by the human beings who at some remote epoch reached the
new world from the old, if, indeed, America was not, as Ameghino, on the
basis of the discoveries of fossil anthropoids and fossil man in
southern South America, maintains, the scene of origin of man himself.
Professor A.H. Keane (_Internat. Monthly_, vol. v., 1902, pp. 338-357),
Stewart Culin (_Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci._ vol. lii., 1903, pp.
495-500) and Dr Richard Andree (_Stzgsb. d. anthrop. Ges. in Wien_,
1906, pp. 87-98) all agree as to the general autochthony of aboriginal
American culture. The day of the argument for borrowing on the ground of
mere resemblances in beliefs, institutions, implements, inventions, &c.,
is past. An admirable instance of the results of exact scientific
research in this respect is to be found in Dr Franz Boas's discussion
(_Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus._, 1908, pp. 321-344) of the needle-cases of the
Alaskan Eskimo, which were at first supposed to be of foreign
(Polynesian) origin. Other examples occur in Mr Culin's study of
American Indian games, where, for the first time, the relation of
certain of them in their origin and development, and sometimes also in
their degeneration and decay, is made clear. The independent origin in
America of many things which other races have again and again invented
and re-invented in other parts of the world must now be conceded.
The extreme north-western region of North America has recently been
shown to be of great importance to the ethnologists. The
investigations in this part of America and among the more or less
primitive peoples of north-eastern Asia, carried on by the Jesup North
Pacific expedition in 1897-1902, have resulted in showing that within
what may be called the "Bering Sea culture-area" transmissions of
culture have taken place from north-eastern Siberia to north-western
America and vice versa. The only known example, however, of the
migration of any people one way or the other is the case of the
Asiatic Eskimo, who are undoubtedly of American origin, and it seems
probable, in the language of Dr Boas, the organizer of the Jesup
expedition and the editor of its publications, that "the Chukchee,
Koryak, Kamchadal and Yukaghir must be classed with the American race
rather than with the Asiatic race," and possibly also some of the
other isolated Siberian tribes; also that, "in a broad classification
of languages, the languages of north-eastern Siberia should be classed
with the languages of America" (_Proc. Intern. Congr. Amer._, New
York, 1902, pp. 91-102). It appears, further, that the arrival of the
Eskimo on the Pacific coast (this, although not recent, is
comparatively late) from their home in the interior, near or east of
the Mackenzie, "interrupted at an early period the communication
between the Siberian and Indian tribes, which left its trace in many
cultural traits common to the peoples on both sides of the Bering
Sea."
This establishment of the essential unity of the culture-type
(language, mythology, certain arts, customs, beliefs, &c.) of the
"Palaeo-Asiatic" peoples of north-eastern Siberia and that of the
American Indians of the North Pacific coast, as demonstrated
especially by the investigations of Jochelson, Bogoras, &c., is one of
the most notable results of recent organized ethnological research. No
such clear proof has been afforded of the theory of Polynesian
influence farther south on the Pacific coast of America, believed in,
more or less, by certain ethnologists (Ratzel, Mason, &c.). This
theory rests largely upon resemblances in arts (clubs, masks and the
like in particular), tattooing, mythic _motifs_, &c. But several
things here involved, if not really American in origin, are so recent
that they may perhaps be accounted for by such Hawaiian and other
Polynesian contact as resulted from the establishment of the whale and
seal-fisheries in the 18th century.
Between the Indians of North America and those of South America few
instances of contact and intercommunication, or even of transference
of material products and ideas, have been substantiated. It is by way
of the Antilles and the Bahamas that such contact as actually occurred
took place. In 1894 (_Amer. Anthrop._ vol. vii. p. 71-79) Professor W.
H. Holmes pointed out traces of Caribbean influences in the ceramic
art of the Florida-Georgia region belonging to the period just before
the Columbian discovery. The decorative designs in question,
paddle-stamp patterns, &c., akin to the motives on the wooden and
stone stools from the Caribbean areas in the West Indies, have been
found as far north as 36° in North Carolina and as far west as 84° in
Tennessee and 89° in south-eastern Alabama. But the evidence does not
prove the existence of Carib colonies at any time in any part of this
region, but simply the migration from the West Indies to the North
American coast of certain art features adopted by the Indians of the
Timuquan and Muskogian Indians and (later) in part by the Cherokee.
More recently (1907) Dr F. G. Speck, in a discussion of the aboriginal
culture of the south-eastern states (_Amer. Anthrop._ vol. ix., n.s.,
pp. 287-295), cites as proof of Antillean or Caribbean influence in
addition to that indicated by Holmes, the following: employment of the
blow-gun in hunting, use of hammock as baby-cradle, peculiar
storage-scaffold in one corner of house, plastering houses with clay,
poisoning fish with vegetable juices. It is possible also that the
North American coast may have been visited from time to time by small
bodies of natives from the West Indies in search of the mythic
fountain of youth (_Bimini_), the position of which had shifted from
the Bahamas to Florida in its movement westward. Indeed, just about
the time of the advent of the Europeans in this part of the world a
number of Indians from Cuba, on such a quest, landed on the
south-western shore of Florida, where they were captured by the
Calusas, among whom they seem to have maintained a separate existence
down to 1570 or later. This Arawakan colony, indicated on the map of
linguistic stocks of American Indians north of Mexico, published by
the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1907, is the only one demonstrated
to have existed, but there may have been others of a more temporary
character. In the languages of this region there are to be detected
perhaps a few loan-words from Arawakan or Cariban dialects. The
exaggerated ideas entertained by some authorities concerning the
"mound-builders" of the valley of the Ohio and Mississippi and their
alleged "civilization" have led them to assume, without adequate
proof, long-continued relations of the tribes inhabiting this part of
the country in the past with the ancient peoples of Yucatan and
Mexico, or even an origin of their culture from beyond the Gulf. But
since these mounds were in all probability wholly the work of the
modern Indians of this area or their immediate ancestors, and the
greater part, if not all, of the art and industry represented therein
lies easily within the capacity of the aborigines of North America,
the "Mexican" theory in this form appears unnecessary to explain the
facts. In its support stress has been laid upon the nature of some of
the copper implements and ornaments, particularly the types of
elaborate repoussé work from Etowah, Georgia, &c. That the repoussé
work was not beyond the skill of the Indian was shown by Cushing in
his study of "Primitive Copper Working" (_Amer. Anthrop._ vol. vii.
pp. 93-117), who did not consider the resemblance of these
mound-specimens to the art of Mexico proof of extra-North American
origin. Holmes (_Handb. of Inds. N. of Mex._, 1907, pt. i. p. 343)
points out that the great mass of the copper of mounds came from the
region of Lake Superior, and that had extensive intercourse between
Mexico or Central America and the mound-country existed, or colonies
from those southern parts been present in the area in question,
artifacts of undoubtedly Mexican origin would have been found in the
mounds in considerable abundance, and methods of manipulation peculiar
to the south would have been much in evidence. The facts indicate at
most some exotic influence from Mexico, &c., but nothing far-reaching
in its effects.
In the lower Mississippi valley the culture of certain peoples has
been thought to contain elements (e.g. the temples and other religious
institutions of the Natchez) suggestive of Mexican or Central American
origin, either by inheritance from a common ancient source or by later
borrowings. When one reaches the Pueblos region, with its present and
its extinct "village culture," there is considerable evidence of
contact and inter-influence, if not perhaps of common origin, of
culture-factors. Dr J. Walter Fewkes, a chief authority on the ethnic
history of Arizona, New Mexico and the outlying areas of "Pueblos
culture," especially in its ceremonial aspects, has expressed the
opinion (_Amer. Anthrop._ vol. vii. p. 51) that "it is not improbable
that both Mexican and Pueblos cultures originated in a region in
northern Mexico, developing as environment permitted in its northern
and southern homes." Unfavourable milieu in the north prevented the
culture of the Pueblos Indians and the Cliff-dwellers, their
ancestors, reaching the height attained in Mexico and Central America,
represented by temple-architecture, ornamentation of buildings,
hieroglyphs, &c. Strong evidence of Pueblos-Mexican relationship Dr
Fewkes sees (_Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci._, 1900) in the great serpent cult
of Tusayan, the "New Fire" and other Pueblos ceremonials of
importance; also in the mosaic objects (gorgets, ear-pendants,
breast-ornaments, &c.) from Pueblos ruins in Arizona, some of the
workmanship of which equals that of similar character in old Mexico.
The arid region of the south-western United States and part of
northern Mexico may well have been a centre for the dispersion of such
primitive, institutions and ideas as reached their acme in the country
of the Aztecs. But of the Pueblos languages, the Moqui or Hopi of
north-eastern Arizona is the only one showing undoubted, though not
intimate, relationship with the Nahuatl of ancient Mexico. The
Shoshonian family, represented in the United States by the Shoshonees,
Utes, Comanches and other tribes, besides the Moqui, includes also
the numerous Sonoran tribes of north-western Mexico, as well as the
Nahuatl-speaking peoples farther south, some of the outliers having
wandered even to Costa Rica (and perhaps to Panama). This linguistic
unity of the civilized Aztecs with the rude Utes and Shoshones of the
north is one of the most interesting ethnological facts in primitive
America. Change of environment may have had much to do with this
higher development in the south. Besides the Shoshonian, the
Coahuiltecan and the Athabaskan are or have been represented in
northern Mexico, the last by the Apaches and Tobosos. From the period
of the Spanish colonization of New Mexico down to about the last
quarter of the 19th century (and sporadically later, e.g. the attack
in 1900 on the Mormon settlement in Chihuahua), these Indians have
hovered around the Mexican border, &c., their predatory expeditions
extending at one time as far south as Jalisco. In the far west the
Yuman family of languages belongs on both sides of the border.
Religion, Mythology, &c.
In the popular mind the religion of the North American Indian consists
practically of belief in the "Great Spirit" and the "Happy Hunting
Grounds." But while some tribes, e.g. of the Iroquoian and Caddoan
stocks appear to have come reasonably near a pantheistic conception
tending toward monism and monotheism, not a little of present Indian
beliefs as to the "Great Spirit," "God" and "Devil," "Good Spirit" and
"Evil Spirit," &c., as well as concerning moral distinctions in the
hereafter, can reasonably be considered the result of missionary and
other influences coming directly or indirectly from the whites. The
central idea in the religion and mythology of the aborigines north of
Mexico is what Hewitt (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1902) has proposed to term
_orenda_, from "the Iroquois name of the fictive force, principle or
magic power which was assumed by the inchoate reasoning of primitive man
to be inherent in every body and being of nature and in every
personified attribute, property or activity belonging to each of these
and conceived to be the active cause or force or dynamic energy involved
in every operation or phenomenon of nature, in any manner affecting or
controlling the welfare of man." The _orendas_ of the innumerable beings
and objects, real and imagined, in the universe differed immensely in
action, function, power, &c., and in like manner varied were the efforts
of man by prayers, offerings and sacrifices, ceremonies and rites of a
propitiatory or sympathetic nature to influence for his own welfare the
possessor of this or that _orenda_, from the "high gods" to the least of
all beings. Corresponding to the Iroquoian _orenda_ is the _wakanda_ of
the Siouan tribes, some aspects of which have been admirably treated by
Miss Fletcher in her "Notes on Certain Beliefs concerning Will Power
among the Siouan Tribes" (_Science_, vol. v., n.s., 1897). Other
parallels of _orenda_ are Algonkian _manito_, Shoshonian _pokunt_,
Athabaskan _cæn_. As Hewitt points out, these Indian terms are not to be
simply translated into English by such expressions as "mystery,"
"magic," "immortal," "sorcery," "wonderful," &c. Man, indeed, "may
sometimes possess weapons whose _orenda_ is superior to that possessed
by some of the primal beings of his cosmology."
The main topics of the mythology of the American Indians north of Mexico
have been treated by Powell in his "Sketch of the Mythology of the North
American Indians" (_First Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1879-1880), and
Brinton in his _American Hero Myths_ (1876), _Myths of the New World_
(1896) and _Religions of Primitive Peoples_ (1900). Widespread is the
idea of a culture-hero or demi-god (sometimes one of twins or even
quadruplets) who is born of a human virgin, often by divine secret
fecundation, and, growing up, frees the earth from monsters and evil
beings, or re-fashions it in various ways, improves the breed and
perfects the institutions of mankind, then retires to watch over the
world from some remote resting-place, or, angered at the wickedness of
men and women, leaves them, promising to return at some future time. He
often figures in the great deluge legend as the friend, helper and
regenerator of the human race. A typical example of these culture-heroes
is the Algonkian character who appears as Nanabozho among the Ojibwa,
Wisaketchak among the Cree, Napiw among the Blackfeet, Wisaka among the
Sacs and Foxes, Glooscap (Kuloskap) among the Micmac, &c. (see _Journ.
Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1891, and _Handbook of Amer. Inds._, 1907), whose
brother is sometimes represented as being after death the ruler of the
spirit world. The Iroquoian correspondent of Nanabozho is
Tehoronhiawakhon; the Siouan, in many respects, Ictinike. Among many
tribes of the North Pacific coast region the culture-hero appears as the
"transformer," demi-god, human or animal in form (coyote, blue-jay,
raven, &c.), the last often being tricksters and dupers of mankind and
the rest of creation as well. This trickster and buffoon (also liar)
element appears also in the Iroquoian and Algonkian culture-heroes and
has received special treatment by Brinton (_Essays of an Americanist_,
1890). On the whole, the Algonkian and Iroquoian culture-hero is mainly
actuated by altruistic motives, while the "transformer" of the Indians
of the North Pacific coast region is often credited with producing or
shaping the world, mankind and their activities as they now exist for
purely egotistic purposes. Other noteworthy heroes, "reformers," &c.,
among the North American Indians are the subject of legends, like the
Iroquoian "Good Mind and Bad Mind," the Algonkian (Musquaki) "Hot Hand
and Cold Hand," the Zuñian "Right Hand and Left Hand"; and numerous
others, including such conceptions as the antagonism and opposition of
land and water (dry and wet), summer and winter, day and night, food and
famine, giants and pigmies, &c. In the matter of the personification of
natural phenomena, &c., there is considerable variation, even among
tribes of approximately the same state of culture. Thus, e.g. as Hewitt
notes (_Handbook of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 970), while with the
Iroquoian and eastern Algonkian tribes "the Thunder people, human in
form and mind and usually four in number, are most important and staunch
friends of man"; in the region of the Great Lakes and westward "this
conception is replaced by that of the Thunder bird."
The Pawnee Indians of the Caddoan stock seem both individually and
tribally to possess a deep religious sense expressing itself alike in
moods of the person and in ceremonies of a general popular character.
This is evident, alike from Miss Fletcher's description (_Amer.
Anthrop._, 1899, pp. 83-85) of a venerable priest of that tribe,
Tahiroossawichi, and from her detailed account of "The Hako: A Pawnee
Ceremony" (_Twenty-second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1900-1901, pp.
5-372). This Hako ceremony, the original stimulus for which was
probably desire for offspring, and then to ensure friendship and peace
between groups of persons belonging to different clans, gentes or
tribes, had no fixed or stated time and "was not connected with
planting or harvesting, hunting or war or any tribal festival,"
although the Indians take up the Hako, with its long series of
observances and its hundred songs, "in the spring when the birds are
mating, or in the summer when the birds are nesting and caring for
their young, or in the fall when the birds are flocking, but not in
the winter when all things are asleep; with the Hako we are praying
for the gift of life, of strength, of plenty and of peace, so we must
pray when life is stirring everywhere,"--these are the words of the
Indian hieragogue.
In the arid region of the south-western United States there has grown
up, especially among the Moqui, as may be read in the numerous
monographs of Dr J. Walter Fewkes (and briefly in the _Report of the
Smithsonian Institution for 1905_), a system of religious ceremonials
and sympathetic magic, the object of which is to ensure the necessary
rainfall and through this the continued life and prosperity of the
people. Here everything is conceived as really or symbolically related
to sun, water, rain. The Moqui are essentially a religious people, and
their mythology, in which the central figures are the "earth mother"
and the "sky father," has been described as "a polytheism largely
tinged with ancestor-worship and permeated with fetishism." Part of
their exceedingly intricate, complex and elaborate ritual is the
so-called "snake dance," which has been written of by Bourke (_The
Snake Dance of the Moquis_, 1884), Fewkes and others.
In the Gulf region east of the Mississippi, "sun worship," with
primitive "temples," appears among some of the tribes with certain
curious myths, beliefs, ceremonies, &c. The Natchez, e.g. according to
Dr Swanton (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1907), were noteworthy on account of
"their highly developed monarchical government and their possession of
a national religion centring about a temple, which reminds one in many
ways of the temples of Mexico and Central America." They seem to have
had "an extreme form of sun-worship and a highly developed ritual." A
simpler form of sun-worship is found among the Kootenay of British
Columbia (_Rep. Brit. Assoc._, 1889, 1892). With the Yuchi occur some
Algonkian-like myths of the deluge, &c.
The best data as to the religion and mythology of the Iroquoian
tribes are to be found in the writings of Hewitt, especially in his
monograph on "Iroquoian Cosmology" (_Twenty-first Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1899-1900, pp. 127-339), In the creation-myths several
instances of European influence are pointed out. Mother-earth and her
life are the source, by transformation and evolution, of all things.
The first beings of Iroquoian mythology (daylight, earthquake, winter,
medicine, wind, life, flower, &c.) "were not beasts, but belonged to a
rather vague class of which man was the characteristic type,"--later
come beast-gods. According to Hewitt the Iroquoian term rendered in
English "god" signifies really "disposer, controller," for to these
Indians "god" and "controller" are synonymous; and so "the reputed
controller of the operations of nature received worship and prayers."
Creation-legends in great variety exist among the North American
aborigines, from simple fiat actions of single characters to
complicated transformations accomplished with the aid of other beings.
The specific creation legend often follows that of the deluge.
Perhaps the most remarkable of all North American creation stories is
that of the Zuñi as recorded by Cushing (_Thirteenth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1891-1892) in his "Outlines of Zuñi Creation Myths." Here
the principal figure is "Awonawilona, the maker and container of all,"
and the growth-substance the "fogs of increase," which he evolved by
his thinking in the pristine night. The long tale of the origin of the
sun, the earth and the sky, and the taking form of "the seed of men
and all creatures" in the lowest of the four caves or wombs of the
world and their long journey to light and real life on the present
earth is a wonderful story of evolution as conceived by the primitive
mind, an aboriginal epic, in fact.
In the mythology and religion of the Algonkian tribes (particularly
the Chippewa, &c.) is expressed "a firm belief in a cosmic mystery
present throughout all nature, called _manitou_." This _manitou_ "was
identified with both animate and inanimate objects, and the impulse
was strong to enter into personal relation with the mystic power; it
was easy for an Ojibwa to associate the _manitou_ with all forms of
transcendent agencies, some of which assumed definite characters and
played the rôle of deities" (Jones). There were innumerable _manitous_
of high or low degree. The highest development of this conception was
in _Kitchi Manitou_ (Great Manitou), but whether this personification
has not been considerably influenced by teachings of the whites is a
question. The chief figure in the mythology of the Chippewa and
related tribes is Nanabozho, who "while yet a youth became the creator
of the world and everything it contained; the author of all the great
institutions in Ojibwa society and the founder of the leading
ceremonies" (Jones, _Ann. Arch. Rep. Ontario_, 1905; _Journ. Amer.
Folk-Lore_, 1902, &c.). It is to this character that some of the most
human of all Indian myths are attached, e.g. the Micmac legend of the
origin of the crowing of babies and the story of Nanabozho's attempt
to stick his toe into his mouth after the manner of a little child.
Nanabozho is also the central figure in the typical deluge legend of
the Algonkian peoples of the Great Lakes (_Journ. of American
Folk-Lore_, 1891), which, in some versions, is the most remarkable
myth of its kind north of Mexico.
The best and most authoritative discussion of the religions and
mythological ideas of the Eskimo is to be found in the article of Dr
Franz Boas on "The Folk-Lore of the Eskimo" (_Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_,
1904, pp. 1-13). The characteristic feature of Eskimo folk-lore is the
hero-tales, treating of visits to fabulous tribes, encounters with
monsters, quarrels and "wars," shamanism, witchcraft, &c., and
generally of "the events occurring in human society as it exists now,"
the supernatural playing a more or less important rôle, but the mass
of folk-lore being "thoroughly human in character." In Eskimo myths
there appears to be "a complete absence of the idea that
transformations or creations were made for the benefit of man during a
mythological period, and that these events changed the general aspect
of the world," quite in contrast with the conceptions of many Indian
tribes, particularly in the region of the North Pacific, where the
"transformer" (sometimes trickster also), demi-god, human or animal
(coyote, raven, blue-jay, &c.), plays so important a part, as may be
seen from the legends recorded in Dr Boas's _Indianische Sagen der
nord-pacifischen Küste Amerikas_ (Berlin, 1895) and other more recent
monographs. In Eskimo folk-lore the field of animal tales is quite
limited, and Dr Boas is of opinion that the genuine animal myth "was
originally foreign to Eskimo folk-lore," and has been borrowed from
the Indians. Perhaps the most prominent character in Eskimo mythology
is Sedna, the old woman, who is mistress of the lower world beneath
the ocean (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1900). The highest being conceived of by
the Athabaskans of Canada was, according to Morice (_Ann. Arch. Rep.
Ontario_, 1905, p. 204), "a real entity, which they feared rather than
loved or worshipped." The way of communicating with the unseen was
through "personal totems," revealed usually in dreams. The Hupa, an
Athabaskan people of California, are reported by Goddard as possessing
a deep religious sense. But the most remarkable mythology of any
Athabaskan tribe is that of the Navaho, which has been studied in
detail under some of its chief aspects by Dr Washington Matthews in
his valuable monographs, _Navaho Legends_ (1897) and _The Night Chant_
(1902). According to Dr Matthews, the Navaho "are a highly religious
people having many well-defined divinities (nature gods, animal gods
and local gods), a vast mythic and legendary lore and thousands of
significant formulated songs and prayers, which must be learned and
repeated in the most exact manner; they have also hundreds of musical
compositions; the so-called dances are ceremonies which last for nine
nights and parts of ten days, and the medicine-men spend many years of
study in learning to conduct a single one properly." The most
prominent and revered of the deities of the Navaho is _Estsanatlehi_,
the "woman who rejuvenates herself," of whom it is believed that she
grows old, and then, at will, becomes young again.
The numerous Indian tribes subjected to the environment of the Great
Plains have developed in great detail some special religious
observances, ceremonial institutions, secret societies, ritual
observances, &c. The mental life of these Indians was profoundly
influenced by the buffalo and later not a little by the horse. Various
aspects of Plains culture have recently been discussed by Goddard,
Kroeber, Wissler, Dorsey, Fletcher, Boas, &c., from whose
investigations it would appear that much intertribal borrowing has
taken place. Among some of the Algonkian (Arapaho, Blackfeet,
Cheyenne, &c.), Siouan (Ponka, e.g.) Caddoan, Shoshonian, Kiowan and
perhaps Kitunahan stocks the "sun-dance" in some form or other
prevailed at one time or another. According to Wissler (_Amer.
Anthrop._, 1908, p. 205), this ceremony, as now practised by many
tribes, "is the result of a gradual accumulation both of ceremonies
and ideas,"--the torture feature, e.g., "seems to have been a separate
institution among the Missouri river tribes, later incorporated in
their sun-dance and eventually passed on to other tribes." Some other
complicated ceremonials have apparently grown up in like manner. As
ceremonies that are quite modern, having been introduced during the
historical period, Dr Wissler instances "the Ghost dance, Omaha dance,
Woman's dance, Tea dance and Mescal eating," of which all, except the
Ghost dance, "flourish in almost all parts of the area under various
names, but with the same essential features and songs." Other
interesting ceremonies of varying degrees of importance and extent of
distribution are those of "the medicine-pipe, buffalo-medicine,
sweat-lodge, puberty-rites, medicine-tipis, war-charms, &c."
Interesting also are the "medicine bundles," or "arks" as they were
once mistakenly called.
The "Ghost dance," the ceremonial religious dance of most notoriety
to-day, "originated among the Paviotso (its prophet was a young Paiute
medicine man, Wovoka or 'Jack Wilson') in Nevada about 1888, and
spread rapidly among other tribes until it numbered among its
adherents nearly all the Indians of the interior basin, from Missouri
river to or beyond the Rockies" (Mooney). Wovoka's doctrine was that a
new dispensation was at hand, and that "the Indians would be restored
to their inheritance and united with their departed friends, and they
must prepare for the event by practising the songs and dance
ceremonies which the prophet gave them." East of the Rocky Mountains
this dance soon came to be known as the "Ghost dance" and a common
feature was hypnotic trances. The Sioux outbreak of 1890-1891 was in
part due to the excitement of the "Ghost dance." According to Mooney,
"in the Crow dance of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, a later development
from the Ghost dance proper, the drum is used, and many of the
ordinary tribal dances have incorporated Ghost dance features,
including even the hypnotic trances." The doctrine generally "has now
faded out and the dance exists only as a social function." A full
account of this "dance," its chief propagators, the _modi operandi_ of
its ceremonies and their transference, and the results of its
prevalence among so many Indian tribes, is given in Mooney's detailed
monograph on "The Ghost Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890"
(_Fourteenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893).
In reference to "Messiah doctrines" among the aborigines of North
America, Mooney calls attention to the fact that "within the United
States every great tribal movement (e.g. the conspiracy of Pontiac,
the combination of Tecumseh, &c.) originated in the teaching of some
messianic prophet." In primitive America the dance has figured largely
in social, religious and artistic activities of all kinds, and one of
its most interesting developments has occurred among the Plains
Indians, where "the Mandan and other Siouan tribes dance in an
elaborate ceremony, called the Buffalo dance, to bring game when food
is scarce, in accordance with a well-defined ritual" (Hewitt). Among
other noteworthy dances of the North American aborigines may be
mentioned the calumet dance of several tribes, the scalp dance, the
"Green-corn dance" of the Iroquois, the _busk_ (or _puskitau_) of the
Creeks (in connexion with "new fire" and regeneration of all things),
the "fire dance" of the Mississaguas, &c.
The Californian area, remarkable in respect to language and culture in
general presents also some curious religious and mythological
phenomena. According to Kroeber, "the mythology of the Californians
was characterized by unusually well-developed and consistent
creation-myths, and by the complete lack not only of migration but of
ancestor traditions." The ceremonies of the Californian Indians "were
numerous and elaborate as compared with the prevailing simplicity of
life, but they lacked almost totally the rigid ritualism and extensive
symbolism that pervade the ceremonies of most America." The most
authoritative discussions of the religion and mythology of the
Californian Indians are those of Dr Dixon and Dr Kroeber, the latter
especially in the _University of California Publications in American
Archaeology and Ethnology_ for 1904-1907.
The shamans, "medicine-men," &c., of the American Indians are of all
degrees from the self-constituted _angekok_ of the Eskimo to those
among tribes of higher culture who are chosen from a special family or
after undergoing elaborate preliminaries of selection and initiation.
The "medicine-men" of several tribes have been described with
considerable detail. This has been done for the "Midewiwin, or Grand
Medicine Society of the Ojibwa" by Hoffman (_Seventh Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._ pp. 143-300); for the "Medicine-men of the Apache" by Bourke
(_Ninth Ann. Rep._ pp. 443-603) and for those of the Cherokee by
Mooney (_Seventh Ann. Rep._ pp. 301-397), while a number of the chief
facts concerning American Indian shamans in general have been gathered
in a recent article by Dr R. B. Dixon (_Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, 1908,
pp. 1-12). In various parts of the continent and among diverse tribes
the shaman exercises functions as "healer, sorcerer, seer, priest and
educator." These functions among the tribes of lower culture are
generally exercised by one and the same individual, but, with rise in
civilization, the healer-sorcerer and shaman-sorcerer disappear or
wane in power and influence as the true priest develops. The priestly
character of the shaman appears among the Plains tribes in connexion
with the custody of the "sacred bundles" and the keeping of the
ceremonial myths, &c., but is more marked among the Pueblos, Navaho,
&c., of the south-west, while "a considerable development of the
priestly function may also be seen among the Muskogi, particularly in
the case of the Natchez, with their remarkable cult and so-called
temple." The reverent character of the best "priests" or shamans among
the Pawnee and Omaha has been emphasized by Miss A. C. Fletcher and
Francis la Flesche. The class-organization of the shamans reaches its
acme in the _midé_ societies of the Chippewa and the priest-societies
of the Pueblos Indians (Moqui, Zuñi, &c.).
Games.
The games of the American aborigines north of Mexico have been made the
subject of a detailed monograph by Culin, "Games of the North American
Indians" (_Twenty-fourth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1902-1903, pp. 1-846),
in which are treated the games of chance, games of dexterity and minor
amusements of more than 200 tribes belonging to 34 different linguistic
stocks. According to Culin, "games of pure skill and calculation, such
as chess, are entirely absent." There are more variations in the
materials employed than in the object or methods of play and in general
the variations do not follow differences in language. The type known as
"dice game" is reported here from among 130 tribes belonging to 30
stocks; the "hand-game" from 81 tribes belonging to 28 stocks. The
centre of distribution of North American Indian games, which, with the
exception of a few post-Columbian additions, are all autochthonous,
Culin finds in the south-west--"there appears to be a progressive change
from what appears to be the oldest forms of existing games from a centre
in the south-western United States, along lines north, north-east and
east." Similar changes radiating southward from the same centre are
likewise suggested. He is of opinion that, outside of children's games
as such and the kinds of minor amusements common in all civilizations,
the games of the North American Indians, as they now exist, "are either
instruments of rites or have descended from ceremonial observances of a
religious character," and that "while their common and secular object
appears to be purely a manifestation of the desire for amusement or
gain, they are performed also as religious ceremonies, as rites pleasing
to the gods to secure their favour, or as processes of sympathetic
magic, to drive away sickness, avert other evil, or produce rain and the
fertilization and reproduction of plants and animals or other beneficial
results." He also believes that these games, "in what appears to be
their oldest and most primitive manifestations are almost exclusively
divinatory." This theory of the origin of games in divination, which
receives considerable support from certain facts in primitive America,
needs, however, further proof. So, too, with Mr Culin's further
conclusion that "behind both ceremonies and games there existed some
widespread myth from which both derived their impulse," that myth being
the one which discloses the primal gamblers as those curious children,
the divine Twins, the miraculous offspring of the sun, who are the
principal personages in many Indian mythologies. These eternal
contenders "are the original patrons of play, and their games are the
games now played by men."
Social organization, customs, &c.
It was formerly thought that "totemism" and real "gentile organization"
prevailed over all of North America. But it now appears that in several
sections of the country such beliefs and institutions were unknown, and
that even within the limits of one and the same stock one tribe did,
while another did not, possess them. Matriarchal ideas and the
corresponding tribal institutions were also once regarded as the primal
social condition of all Indian tribes, having been afterwards in many
cases replaced by patriarchal ideas and institutions. Since the
appearance of Morgan's famous monograph on _Ancient Society_ (New York,
1878) and his _Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity in the Human
Family_ (Washington, 1871), the labours of American ethnologists have
added much to our knowledge of the sociology of the American Indians.
Forms of society among these Indians vary from the absolute democracy of
the Athabaskan Ten'a of Alaska, among whom, according to Jetté (_Congr.
int. d. Amér._, Quebec, 1886), there exist "no chiefs, guides or
masters," and public opinion dominates ("every one commands and all
obey, if they see fit"), to the complicated systems of some of the
tribes of the North Pacific coast regions, with threefold divisions of
chiefs, "nobles," and "common people" (sometimes also, in addition,
slaves), secret and "totemic" organizations, religious societies, sexual
institutions ("men's houses," &c.), and other like divisions; and beyond
this to the development along political and larger social lines of
alliances and confederations of tribes (often speaking entirely
different languages) which have played an important rôle in the
diffusion of primitive culture, such as the Powhatan confederacy of
Virginia and the Abnaki confederacy of the North Atlantic region; the
confederacy of the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi of the Great Lakes;
the Huron confederacy of Ontario; the Dakota alliance of the north-west;
the Blackfoot confederacy of the Canadian north-west; the Caddoan
confederacy of the Arkansas region; the Creek confederacy of the South
Atlantic country. The acme of federation was reached in the great
"League of the Iroquois," whose further development and expansion were
prevented by the coming of the Europeans and their conquest of primitive
North America. According to Morgan (_League of the Iroquois_, New York,
1851) and Hale (_Iroquois Book of Rites_, 1881), who have written about
this remarkable attempt, by federation of all tribes, to put an end to
war and usher in the reign of universal peace, its formation under the
inspiring genius of Hiawatha took place about 1459. But J. N. B. Hewitt,
himself an Iroquois, offers reasons (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1892) for
believing that the correct date of its founding lies between 1559 and
1570.
Tribes like the Kootenay (_Rep. Brit. Assoc._, 1892) have no totems
and secret societies, nor do they seem to have ever possessed them.
This may also be said of some of the Salishan tribes, though others of
the same stock have complicated systems. The Klamath Indians
(Lutuamian stock) "are absolutely ignorant of the gentile or clan
system as prevalent among the Haida, Tlingit and Eastern Indians of
North America; matriarchate is also unknown among them; every one is
free to marry within or without the tribe, and the children inherit
from the father" (Gatschet). In all parts of California indeed,
according to Kroeber (_Handbook of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 191),
"both totemism and a true gentile organization were totally lacking."
Nor does it appear that either personal or communal totemism is a
necessary attribute of clan and gentile organizations where such do
exist. The Heiltsuk of British Columbia have animal totems, while the
Kwakiutl do not, although both these tribes belong to the same
Wakashan stock. Among the Iroquoian tribes, according to Hewitt
(_Handbook_, p. 303), the primary unit of social and political
organization, termed in Mohawk _ohwachira_, is "the family, comprising
all the male and female progeny of a woman and of all her female
descendants in the female line and of such other persons as may be
adopted into the _ohwachira_." The head of the _ohwachira_ is "usually
the oldest woman in it," and it "never bears the name of a tutelary or
other deity." The clan was composed of one or more of such
_ohwachiras_, being "developed apparently through the coalescence of
two or more _ohwachiras_ having a common abode." From the clan or gens
developed the government of the tribe, and out of that the Iroquois
confederation.
The power of the chief varied greatly among the North American
aborigines, as well as the manner of his selection. Among the Eskimo,
chiefs properly understood hardly have existed; nearly everywhere the
power of all sorts of chiefs (both war and peace) was limited and
modified by the restraints of councils and other advisers. Age,
wealth, ability, generosity, the favour of the shaman, &c., were
qualifications for the chieftainship in various parts of the
continent. Women generally seem to have had little or no direct voice
in government, except that they could (even among some of the
Athabaskan tribes) sometimes become chiefs, and, among the Iroquois,
were represented in councils, had certain powers and prerogatives
(including a sort of veto on war), &c. Many tribes had permanent
peace-chiefs and temporary war-chiefs. According to Hewitt (_Handb. of
Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 264), "In the Creek confederation and
that of the Iroquois, the most complex aboriginal government north of
Mexico, there was, in fact, no head chief. The first chief of the
Onondaga federal roll acted as the chairman of the federal council,
and by virtue of his office he called the federal council together.
With this all pre-eminence over the other chiefs ended, for the
governing power of the confederation was lodged in the federal
council. The federal council was composed of the federal chiefs of the
several component tribes; the tribal council consisted of the federal
chiefs and sub-chiefs of the tribe." The greatest development of the
power of the chief and his tenure of office by heredity seems to have
occurred among the Natchez and certain other tribes of the lower
Mississippi and Gulf region. Among the Plains tribes, in general,
non-inheritance prevailed, and "any ambitious and courageous warrior
could apparently, in strict accordance with custom, make himself a
chief by the acquisition of suitable property and through his own
force of character" (Hewitt).
Among the North American aborigines the position of woman and her
privileges and duties varied greatly from the usually narrow limits
prescribed by the Athabaskans, according to Morice (_Congr. int. d.
Amér._, Quebec, 1906), to the socially high status reached among some
of the Iroquoian tribes in particular. In the North Pacific coast
region the possession of slaves is said to have been a cause of a
relatively higher position of woman there than obtained among
neighbouring tribes. The custom of adoption both of children and
captives also resulted advantageously to woman. The rôle and
accomplishments of woman in primitive North America are treated with
some detail in Mason's _Woman's Share in Primitive Culture_ (1894).
The form of the family and the nature of marriage varied considerably
among the North American aborigines, as also did the ceremonies of
courtship and the proceedings in divorce, &c. With some tribes
apparently real purchase of brides occurred, but in many cases the
seeming purchase turns out to be merely "a ratification of the
marriage by means of gifts." Great differences in these matters are
found within the limits of one and the same stock (e.g. Siouan).
Female descent, e.g., prevailed among the Algonkian tribes of the
south-east but not among those of the north and west; and the case of
the Creeks (Muskogian) shows that female descent is not necessarily
the concomitant of a high social status of woman. Among the Zuñi,
where the man is adopted as a son by the father of his wife, "she is
thus mistress of the situation; the children are hers, and she can
order the husband from the house should occasion arise" (Lowie and
Farrand). With many tribes, however, the husband could divorce his
wife at will, but Farrand and Lowie in their discussion of Indian
marriage (_Handb. of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 809) report on the
other hand the curious fact that among the Wintun of California "men
seldom expel their wives, but slink away from home, leaving their
families behind." In the case of divorce, the children generally go
with the mother. From a survey of the available data Lowie and Farrand
conclude that "monogamy is thus found to be the prevalent form of
marriage throughout the continent," varied from to polygamy, where
wealth and other circumstances dictated it. In California, e.g.,
polygamy is rare, while with some of the Plains tribes it was quite
common. Here again differences of note occurred within the same stock,
e.g. the Iroquois proper could not have more than one wife, but the
Huron Indian could. The family itself varied from the group of parents
and children to the larger ones dictated by social regulations among
the eastern tribes with clan organizations, and the large "families"
found by Swanton (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1905) among certain tribes of the
North Pacific coast, where relations and "poor relations," servants
and slaves entered to swell the aggregate. Exogamy was widely
prevalent and incest rare. Cousin-marriages were frequently tabooed.
With many of the North American aborigines the giving of the name, its
transference from one individual to another, its change by the
individual in recognition of great events, achievements, &c., and
other aspects of nominology are of significance in connexion with
social life and religious ceremonies, rites and superstitions. The
high level attained by some tribes in these matters can be seen from
Miss Fletcher's description of "A Pawnee Ritual used when changing a
Man's Name" (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1899). Names marked epochs in life and
changed with new achievements, and they had often "so personal and
sacred a meaning," that they were naturally enough rendered "unfit for
the familiar purposes of ordinary address, to a people so reverently
inclined as the Indians seem to have been." The period of puberty in
boys and girls was often the occasion of elaborate "initiation"
ceremonies and rites of various kinds, some of which were of a very
trying and even cruel character. Ceremonial or symbolic "killings,"
"new-births," &c., were also in vogue; likewise ordeals of whipping,
isolation and solitary confinement, "medicine"-taking, physical
torture, ritual bathings, painting of face or body, scarification and
the like. The initiations, ordeals, &c., gone through by the youth as
a prelude to manhood and womanhood resembled in many respects those
imposed upon individuals aspiring to be chiefs, shamans and
"medicine-men." Many facts concerning these rites and ceremonies will
be found in G. Stanley Hall's _Adolescence_ (1904) and in the articles
on "Ordeals" and "Puberty Customs" in the _Handbook of American
Indians North of Mexico_ (1907-1910). In the method of approach to the
supernatural and the superhuman among the North American aborigines
there is great diversity, and the powers and capacities of the
individual have often received greater recognition than is commonly
believed. Thus, as Kroeber (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1902, p. 285) has
pointed out, the Mohave Indians of the Yuman stock have as a
distinctive feature of their culture "the high degree to which they
have developed their system of dreaming and of individual instead of
traditional connexion with the supernatural." For the Omaha of the
Siouan stock Miss A. C. Fletcher (_Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci._,
1895, 1896; _Journ. Anthr. Inst._, 1898) has shown the appreciation of
the individual in the lonely "totem" vigil and the acquisition of the
personal _genius_.
Contact of races.
From the Indians of North America the white man has borrowed not only
hosts of geographical names and many common terms of speech, but
countless ideas and methods as to food, medicines, clothes and other
items in the conduct of life. Even to-day, as G. W. James points out in
his interesting little volume, _What the White Race may learn from the
Indian_ (Chicago, 1908), the end of the instruction of the "lower" race
by the "higher" is not yet. The presence of the Indians and the
existence of a "frontier" receding ever westward as the tide of
immigration increased and the line of settlements advanced, have, as
Prof. Turner has shown (_Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc._, 1893),
conditioned to a certain extent the development of civilization in North
America. Had there been no aborigines here, the white race might have
swarmed quickly over the whole continent, and the "typical" American
would now be much different from what he is. The fact that the Indians
were here in sufficient numbers to resist a too rapid advance on the
part of the European settlers made necessary the numerous frontiers
(really "successive Americas"), which began with Quebec, Virginia and
Massachusetts and ended with California, Oregon, British Columbia, Yukon
and Alaska. The Indians again are no exception to the rule that one of
the fundamentally important contributions of a primitive people to the
culture-factors in the life of the race dispossessing them consists of
the trails and camping-places, water-ways and trade-routes which they
have known and used from time immemorial. The great importance of these
trails and sites of Indian camps and villages for subsequent European
development in North America has been emphasized by Prof. F. J. Turner
(_Proc. Wisconsin State Histor. Soc._, 1889 and 1894) and A. B. Hulbert
(_Historic Highways of America_, New York, 1902-1905). It was over these
old trails and through these water-ways that missionary, soldier,
adventurer, trader, trapper, hunter, explorer and settler followed the
Indian, with guides or without. The road followed the trail, and the
railway the road.
The fur trade and traffic with the Indians in general were not without
influence upon the social and political conditions of the European
colonies. In the region beyond the Alleghanies the free hunter and the
single trapper flourished; in the great north-west the fur companies. In
the Mackenzie region and the Yukon country the "free hunter" is still to
be met with, and he is, in some cases, practically the only
representative of his race with whom some of the Indian tribes come into
contact. J. M. Bell (_Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore_, xvi., 1903, 74), from
personal observation, notes "the advance of the barbarous border
civilization,--the civilization of the whaler on Hudson's Bay, of the
free trader on the Athabasca Lake and river, of the ranchers and placer
miners on the Peace and other mountain rivers," and observes further (p.
84) that "the influx of fur-traders into the Mackenzie River region, and
even to Great Bear Lake within the last two years, since my return, has,
I believe, very much altered the character of the Northern Indians." In
many parts of North America the free trapper and solitary hunter were
often factors in the extermination of the Indian, while the great fur
companies were not infrequently powerful agents in preserving him,
since their aims of exploiting vast areas in a material way were best
aided by alliance or even amalgamation. The early French fur companies,
the Hudson's Bay Company, the North-West Company, the American Fur
Company, the Missouri Fur Company, the Russian-American Company, the
Alaska Commercial Company, &c., long stood with the Indians for the
culture of the white man. For two centuries, indeed, the Hudson's Bay
Company was ruler of a large portion of what is now the Dominion of
Canada, and its trading-posts still dot the Indian country in the far
north-west. The mingling of races in the region beyond the Great Lakes
is largely due to the fact that the trading and fur companies brought
thither employés and dependants, of French, Scottish and English stock,
who intermarried more or less readily with the native population, thus
producing the mixed-blood element which has played an important rôle in
the development of the American north-west. The fur trade was a valuable
source of revenue for the early colonists. During the colonial period
furs were sometimes even legal tender, like the wampum or shell-money of
the eastern Indians, which, according to Mr Weeden (_Econ. Hist. of New
England_), the necessities of commerce made the European colonists of
the 17th century adopt as a substitute for currency of the Old World
sort.
In their contact with the Indians the Europeans of the New World had
many lessons in diplomacy and statecraft. Alliances entered upon chiefly
for commercial reasons led sometimes to important national events. The
adhesion of the Algonkian tribes so largely to the French, and of the
Iroquoian peoples as extensively to the English, practically settled
which was ultimately to win in the struggle for supremacy in North
America. If we believe Lewis H. Morgan, "the Iroquois alliance with the
English forms the chief fact in American history down to 1763."
The whites in their turn have influenced greatly the culture,
institutions and ideas of the American aborigines. The early influence
of the Scandinavians in Greenland has had its importance exaggerated by
Dr Tylor (_Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, 1879). French influence in Canada and
Acadia began early and was very marked, affecting the languages (several
Algonkian dialects have numerous loan-words, as have the Iroquois
tongues still spoken in Quebec) and the customs of the Indians. French
authorities, missionaries and traders seemed to get into more
sympathetic relations with the Indians, and the intermarriage of the
races met with practically no opposition. Hence the French influence
upon many tribes can be traced from the Atlantic past the Great Lakes
and over the Plains to the Rocky Mountains and even beyond, where the
trappers, _voyageurs, coureurs des bois_ and missionaries of French
extraction have made their contribution to the modern tales and legends
of the Canadian north-west and British Columbia. In one of the tales of
the North Pacific coast appears _Shishé Tlé_ (i.e. Jesus Christ), and in
another from the eastern slope of the Rockies _Mani_ (i.e. Mary).
Another area of French influence occurs in Louisiana, &c. The English,
as a rule, paid much less attention than did the French to the
languages, manners and customs and institutions of the aborigines and
were in general less given to intermarriage with them (the classical
example of Rolfe and Pocahontas notwithstanding), and less
sympathetically minded towards them, although willing enough, as the
numerous early educational foundations indicate, to improve them in both
mind and body. The supremacy of the English-speaking people in North
America made theirs the controlling influence upon the aborigines in all
parts of the country, in the Pacific coast region to-day as formerly in
the eastern United States, where house-building, clothing and ornament,
furniture, weapons and implements have been modified or replaced. Beside
the Atlantic, the Micmac of Nova Scotia now has its English loan-words,
while among the Salishan tribes of British Columbia English is "very
seriously affecting the purity of the native spech" (Hill-Tout), and
even the Athabaskan Nahané are adding English words to their vocabulary
(Morice).
The English influence on tribal government and land-tenure, culminating
in the incorporation of so many of the aborigines as citizens of Canada
and the United States, began in 1641. The first royal grants both in New
England and farther south made no mention of the native population of
the country, and the early proprietors and settlers were largely left to
their own devices in dealing with them, the policy of extinguishing
their titles to land being adopted as needed. Later on, of course, due
recognition was had of the fact that certain parts of America were
inhabited by "heathen," "savages," &c., and the chiefs of many of the
tribes were looked upon as rulers with prerogatives of princes and royal
personages (e.g. the "Emperor" Powhatan and the "Princess" Pocahontas,
"King" Philip, the "Emperor" of the Creeks, &c.). The method of dealing
with the Indian "tribes" by the Federal government as autonomous groups
through treaties, &c., lasted till 1871, when, by act of Congress,
"simple agreements" were favoured in lieu of "solemn treaties."
Meanwhile no consistent purpose was shown in dealing with the Indian
problem. At one time the American policy was to concentrate all the
Indians on three great reservations, an expansion of the plan adopted
early in the 19th century which set aside the former "Indian country"
(afterwards restricted to the Indian Territory). The sentiment in regard
to great reservations, however, gradually weakened, till in 1878 it was
proposed to concentrate the Indians on smaller reservations; but the
entire reservation system became increasingly unpopular, and finally in
1887 Congress enacted the Land Severalty Law, paving the way for
abolition of the reservation and agency system; at the same time it
emphasized the government policy of gradually (the reservation system
was a preliminary step in the way of bringing the Indians more under
government control) bringing about the cessation of all "tribes" as
independent communities and securing their ultimate entrance upon
citizenship with the white population. This certainly was far removed
from the declaration of the Virginia Assembly in 1702 that "no Indian
could hold office, be a capable witness, or hunt over patented land";
and at this time also, "an Indian child was classed as a mulatto, and
Indians, like slaves, were liable to be taken on execution for the
payment of debt." As Miss Fletcher (_Handb. of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt.
i. p. 501) notes, the ordinance of Congress passed in 1787 respecting
the duty of the United States to the Indian tribes, which was confirmed
by the act of 1789, was reaffirmed in the organizing acts of Alabama,
Colorado, Dakota, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The Land Severalty Law of 1887 (amended 1890) provided for the survey of
reservations and the allotment to each person of a tract ranging from 40
to 160 acres, the remainder being sold to white settlers. The process of
dividing the Indian lands into individual allotments and disposing of
the remainder for the benefit of the tribe or the nation has been very
successful in many cases. This policy has culminated in a recent
decision of the United States Supreme Court, by virtue of which all
Indians living upon their own allotments were declared to be citizens,
on the same terms and subject to the same laws as the whites.
During the period 1609-1664, from the visit of Hudson to the surrender
of New Amsterdam to the English, the Dutch exercised not a little
influence upon the aborigines of the present state of New York and
some of the regions adjoining. Hudson's harsh treatment of the natives
caused the Dutch trouble later on. Through their trading-post of Fort
Orange (now Albany) they came into contact with both Iroquoian and
Algonkian tribes, carrying on an extensive trade in furs with some of
them, including the New England Pequots. They sided with the Iroquois
against the northern Algonkian tribes, but also aided the Mohegans
against the Mohawks. Farther south they helped the Senecas against the
Munsees. Their quarrels with the English involved many of the Indian
tribes on one side or the other. They have been generally condemned
for their readiness to furnish the Indians with fire-arms and
intoxicating liquors, though some of these actions were doubtless
performed by individual traders and settlers only and cannot be
charged to a deliberate policy of the government. The modern title of
_Kora_, given by the Canadian Iroquois to the governor-general (also
to the king of England), is a corruption of _Corlaer_, the name of a
trusted Dutch manager of Rensselaerwyck (cf. the Iroquois name for the
French governor, _Onontio_ = Montmagny).
German influence among the American Indians north of Mexico has made
itself felt among the Eskimo (particularly in Labrador), the Delawares
and Mohegans, the Iroquois and the Cherokee, where the Moravian
missionaries did much good work. They influenced the Indians for peace
and good conduct during the great wars. In Labrador the dress,
habitations and beliefs of the Eskimo have been considerably modified.
It is said by some that Sequoyah, the inventor of the "Cherokee
alphabet," had for father a German settler.
The great influence of the Spaniards upon the American Indians has
been treated by Blackmar in his _Spanish Institutions in the
South-west_, and by Lummis, Bourke, Hodge and other authorities. The
results of Spanish contact and control are seen in the loan-words in
the various languages of the region, the consequences of the
introduction of domestic animals (horse, mule, sheep, goat, fowls),
the perfection of the arts involved in the utilization of wool, the
planting of wheat, the cultivation of peaches and other exotic fruits.
The difference between the Navaho and their close kinsmen the Apache
may be largely attributed to changes wrought by the coming of the
Spaniards. The "Mission Indians" of California represent another great
point of contact. In California thousands and thousands of Indians
were converted and brought under the control of the able and devoted
missionaries of the Catholic Church, only to become more or less
utterly helpless when Spanish domination ceased and the missions fell
into decay. Traces of Spanish influence may be found as far north as
the Saskatchewan, where personal names implying origin from a Mexican
captive occur; and there is not a little Spanish blood in some of the
tribes of the Great Plains, who often took with them from their border
raids, or acquired from other tribes, many white prisoners from
Mexico, &c.
In Alaska the influence of Russian sailors, traders and settlers
during the period of occupancy was considerable, as was also that of
the priests and missionaries of the Greek Church, but much of what was
thus imposed upon the aborigines has now been modified or is being
submerged by the more recent influences of the English-speaking
settlers, miners, &c., and the efforts of the American government to
educate and improve them. The influence of the Russians extended even
to California, as the name "Russian River" would indicate, and
Friederici (_Schiffahrt der Indianer_, 1907, p. 46) even thinks that
to them is due the sporadic occurrence in that region of skin-boats.
It was through the Russians that the Alaskan Eskimo received tobacco.
Some Russian words have crept into certain of the Indian languages. It
has been said that the Russian authorities from time to time
transported a few Indians over-sea to Kamchatka, &c.
The general question of the relations of the Europeans in North
America with the Indians has been treated by various authors, one of
the most recent being Friederici, whose _Indianer und Amerikaner_
(Brunswick, 1900) is perhaps a little too prejudiced.
Indian wars.
The contact between the races in North America has had its darker side,
seen in the numerous conflicts and "wars" that have marked the conquest
of the continent by the whites and the resistance of the weaker people
to the inevitable triumph of the stronger. The following sketch of the
warlike relations of various Indian stocks with the European colonists
and their descendants brings out the principal facts of historic
interest.
_Eskimoan._--The history of warfare between the European colonists
(and their descendants) and the North American aborigines begins with
the conflict of Eskimo and Northmen in Greenland, the last phase of
which, in the first half of the 15th century, ended in the destruction
of the European settlements and the loss of knowledge of the Eskimo to
the Old World till they were rediscovered by Frobisher in 1576 and
Davis in 1585. Then came a new series of small conflicts in which the
whites have been the chief aggressors--whalers, sealers and other
adventurers. In the extreme north-west the Aleuts were very harshly
treated by the Russians, and one of the most recent deeds of brutality
has been the reported extermination, by irresponsible whalers, of the
Eskimo of Southampton Island in Hudson's Bay.
_Algonkian and Iroquoian._--Southward, along the Atlantic coast, the
period of actual settlement by the whites in large numbers was
preceded by numerous conflicts with the Algonkian Indians in which all
too often the whites (adventurers, fishermen, &c.) were principally at
fault, the natives being sometimes carried off as slaves to Spain and
elsewhere in Europe. When Champlain, very shortly after the founding
of Quebec, decided to help his Algonkian neighbours against their
Iroquoian enemies, an alliance was entered upon which had much to do
with the final defeat of France in North America. The battle fought
and won by Champlain near Ticonderoga in 1609 made the Iroquois the
lasting antagonists of the French, and, since the former held a large
portion of what is now the state of New York, the latter were
effectually prevented from annihilating or destroying the English
colonies to the south. The Iroquois alliance with the English in New
York was preceded by one with the Dutch. Another result of the feud
between the Iroquois and the French was the destruction of the
confederacy of the Hurons, themselves a people of Iroquoian stock,
established in the region between Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, over
a large portion of what is now the province of Ontario, although the
antagonism between Hurons and Iroquois had existed even before the
coming of Cartier and the inevitable conflict had already begun. As an
outcome of Champlain's visit to the country of the Hurons in 1615 the
Jesuit missionaries had established themselves among these Indians and
for thirty-five years laboured with a devotion and sacrifice almost
unparalleled in the history of the continent. The struggle ended in
the campaign of 1648-1649, in which the Iroquois destroyed the Huron
settlements and practically exterminated the people, the French
priests in many cases having suffered martyrdom in the most cruel
fashion at the hands of the savage conquerors. Such of the Hurons as
succeeded in escaping took refuge in some of the safer French
settlements or found shelter among friendly Indian tribes farther
west. Some of these refugees have their descendants among the Hurons
of Lorette to-day and among the Wyandots of Oklahoma. The _Tionontati_
(Tobacco Nation) Hurons continued the struggle for some time longer, a
battle being fought in 1659 on the Ottawa above Montreal, in which the
Iroquois were victorious and the Huron chief slain. As late as
1747-1748 some of the Hurons, who had taken refuge in the west, under
Orontony, a wily and unscrupulous chief, who was offended at certain
actions of the French, entered into a conspiracy with many Algonkian
tribes of the region to destroy the French posts at Detroit, &c.,
which, however, proved unsuccessful, the plot being revealed through
the treachery of a Huron woman. A notable event in the French-Iroquois
wars was the attack on Montreal in 1689. After the coming of Frontenac
as governor of Canada the wars between the French and English involved
some of the Indian tribes more and more, on one side or the other, the
_Mohawks_ especially, who took part against the French, being famous
for their raids from the region of Ohio to far into New Brunswick.
During the French war and the American War of Independence the
Algonkian and Iroquoian Indians serving on both sides were in part or
wholly responsible for numerous massacres and other acts of barbarity,
though the whites sometimes showed themselves fully the equals of the
savages they condemned.
In New England the most notable conflicts were "the _Pequot_ war" of
1637-1638 and "King Philip's war" of 1675-1676, the latter resulting
in the overthrow of a powerful confederacy, which at one time
threatened the very existence of the colony, and the practical
extermination of the Indians concerned, after great havoc had been
wrought by them in the white settlements. New England also suffered
much from Indian "wars" instigated by the French, and at Caughnawaga
and other Iroquois settlements in French Canada there is much white
blood resulting from the adoption of captives taken away (e.g. at
Marlboro and Deerfield, Mass., in 1703-1704) in raids on New England
villages. Celebrated in the annals of war are the Algonkian chiefs
Tecumseh (Shawnee), who aided the British in the war of 1812, and
Pontiac (Ottawa), whose remarkable conspiracy of 1763 has been studied
by Parkman; of noted Iroquoian chiefs and warriors may be mentioned
Joseph Brant, who fought for the British in the War of Independence,
and Logan, ill-famed for his barbarities perpetrated against the
border settlements on the Ohio, 1775-1780, &c.
In Virginia the future of the English colony was not absolutely
assured much before 1620. From the founding of Jamestown in 1607 until
about 1616 the colony was in more or less danger of extinction by
starvation or destruction at the hands of the Indians. The most famous
and romantic of the Indian wars of Virginia was that in which Captain
John Smith was concerned in the days of Powhatan and Opechancanough,
when his rescue by Pocahontas is said to have taken place. Under
Opechancanough massacres of the English settlers took place in 1622
and 1644 in particular, while intermittent hostilities continued
between these dates, many hundreds of whites being slain by the
Powhatan Indians and their confederates of Algonkian stock. As a
result of wars with the English and also with other Indian tribes,
many of the Algonkian peoples of Virginia, like some of the Iroquoian
peoples farther south, were by the end of the 17th century greatly
reduced in numbers. In the Carolinian region the Iroquoian _Cherokee_
warred against the English colonists from 1759 until the War of
Independence, and continued their struggle then against the Americans
until 1794. After their forcible removal west of the Mississippi in
1838-1839 no serious hostilities occurred, with the exception of a
conflict between the whites and a portion of the Cherokee, who had
earlier moved into eastern Texas while that state was under the
Mexican régime. The _Tuscarora_ were in frequent conflict with the
English, particularly in the "Tuscarora war" of 1713-14.
Of Algonkian tribes farther west the _Cheyenne_ began conflicts with
the whites about 1840, made their first incursion into Mexico in 1853,
and between 1860 and 1878-1879, according to Mooney, "they were
prominent in border warfare ... and have probably lost more in
conflict with the whites than any other tribe of the plains in
proportion to their number." They participated in the "Sitting Bull
war" of 1876.
The _Chippewa_ of the north-western United States in the latter half
of the 18th century and till the close of the war of 1812 kept up
warfare with the border settlements, but have been generally peaceful
since 1815, when a treaty was made. The only serious outbreak among
the _Cree_, who have been generally friendly to the whites from the
period of first contact, occurred during the Riel "rebellion" of 1885,
but was soon settled. In the latter part of the 18th century (up to
the treaty of Greenville, 1795) the _Delawares_ took a prominent part
in opposing the advance of the whites. The _Kickapoos_ were concerned
in the Indian plot to destroy the fort at Detroit in 1712, and a
hundred years later they aided the English against the Americans; in
1832 numbers of them helped Black Hawk in his war against the whites.
The _Micmac_ were long hostile to the English, being prominent as aids
to the French in the New England wars, and it was not until about 1779
or long after the French cession that conflicts between these Indians
and the whites came to an end. The _Mississaguas_ fought with the
Iroquois against the French about 1750, having soon become friendly
with the English and remaining so. The _Ottawa_ were prominent in the
wars of the region about Detroit from 1750 till 1815. Pontiac, whose
"conspiracy" of 1763 is noted in American history, was an Ottawa
chief. The _Penobscot_, as friends of the French, continued their
attacks on the English settlements till about 1750. The _Sacs_ and
_Foxes_ appear early in the 18th century as antagonists of the French
(a rare thing among Algonkian peoples) and they were the instigators
of the nearly successful attack on Detroit in 1712. In the war of 1812
most of these Indians sided with the British. Black Hawk, the chief
figure in the "war" of 1831-1832, was a Sac and Fox chief, who
endeavoured to engage all the Indian tribes of the region in a general
alliance against the whites. The _Shawnees_ were prominent in the
border warfare of the Ohio region, and their famous chief Tecumseh
fought for the British in the war of 1812.
_Athabaskan._--The Athabaskan tribes of the far north, with the
exception of occasional disputes with the traders and settlers, have
generally been of a peaceful disposition, and "wars" with the whites
have not been recorded to any extent. The warlike members of this
stock have been the Apache and the Navaho. The Apache from the middle
of the 16th century have given evidence of their instinct for raids
and depredations on the frontiers of civilization. In recent times the
most noteworthy outbreaks were those under Cochise, Victorio,
Geronimo, Nana, Nakaidoklini, &c., between 1870 and 1886, in which
several hundred whites in Mexico and New Mexico were killed and much
property destroyed. As late as 1900 some of the hostile Apaches, who
had escaped to the mountains, made a raid on the Mormon settlers in
Chihuahua, Mexico. The Navaho, when New Mexico passed into the
possession of the United States in 1849, had long been in the habit of
committing depredations upon the white settlements and the Pueblos.
These "wars" continued till 1863, when "Kit" Carson completely
defeated them and the greater part of the tribe were made prisoners.
Since their release in 1867 they have thriven in peace, although
occasionally serious trouble has threatened, as, e.g., in November
1905.
_Caddoan._--The _Caddo_ proper were friendly to the French and helped
them against the Spaniards in the wars of the 18th century. After the
annexation of Texas the Indians were badly treated and some of them
made answer in kind; in 1855 a massacre of the Indians was proposed by
the whites. Since their forced march to Oklahoma in 1859 they have
been at peace. The _Arikara_ had a brief conflict with the United
States authorities in 1823, as a result of the killing of some
traders. In the wars of the 18th century the _Kichai_ adhered to the
cause of the French. The _Pawnee_ seem never to have warred against
the United States, in spite of much provocation at times.
_Californian Stocks._--Such "wars" as are recorded, for the most part
between the minor Californian stocks and the whites, have been largely
directly or indirectly instigated by the latter for various purposes
of gain. The Lutuamian stock is remarkable as furnishing both the
_Klamath_, who have always kept peace with the whites, and the
_Modoc_, who are well known through the "Modoc war" of 1872-73 under
the leadership of their chief, Kintpuash or "Captain Jack."
_Kiowan._--The Indians of the Kiowan stock joined with the Comanche,
Apache, &c., in the border wars in Texas and Mexico, and, according to
Mooney, "among all the prairie tribes they were noted as the most
predatory and bloodthirsty, and have probably killed more white men in
proportion to their numbers than any other." They have been on their
present reservation since 1868, and the only outbreak of importance
latterly occurred in 1874-75, when they joined with the Comanche,
Cheyenne, &c.
_Muskogian._--This stock has furnished some of the most warlike
Indians of the continent. The _Chickasaw_ were friendly to the
English, or rather hostile to the French, in the 18th century (war of
1736-40), and their action practically settled the question of the
extension of French power in this region. The _Choctaw_ aided the
French in the wars of the 18th century, and a few Indians of this
tribe participated in the "Creek War" of 1813-14. The _Creeks_ or
_Muskogees_ are famous on account of the terrible war of 1813-14 in
which they sustained overwhelming defeat. Earlier they were hostile to
the Spaniards in Florida, and during the 18th century were generally
friendly to the English, particularly in the "Apalachee war" of
1703-08, when they served under Governor Moore of Carolina. Another
Muskogian people, the _Seminole_, are remembered for the long and
bloody "Seminole War" in Florida, 1835-45, in which many atrocities
were committed.
_Sahaptian._--The Indians of this stock have been generally very
friendly to the whites, and the only notable "war" occurred in 1877,
when the _Nez Percés_, under their famous chief, Joseph, resisted
being confined to their reservation in Idaho. Joseph displayed
wonderful generalship; he defeated the American troops several times,
and finally executed a most remarkable retreat, over 1000 m., in an
attempt to reach Canadian territory. This was foiled within a short
distance of the boundary, and the entire force surrendered to Colonel
Miles on October 5, 1877.
_Shoshonian._--North of Mexico this great stock has developed several
warlike peoples. Trouble with the _Bannock_ occurred in 1877-78,
resulting from the encroachment of the whites at the time of the Nez
Percés war, the killing of several settlers, scarcity of food, &c. The
outbreak was ended by a campaign under General Howard in which many
Indians, men, women and children, were killed and some one thousand
taken prisoners. The _Comanche_, through a long period of more than
150 years after the Spanish occupation, kept up a continual series of
raids and depredations upon the settlements of the whites in Mexico,
&c. Their general friendly attitude towards Americans in later years
did not extend to the Texans, with whom for more than thirty years
they indulged in savage warfare. They often entered into warlike
alliance with the Apache, the Kiowa, &c. After the outbreak of 1874-75
they settled down for good. The leader in this "war" was Quana Parker,
a half-blood Comanche, who, after the matter was settled, accepted
broadly the new order of things and became "the most prominent and
influential figure among the three confederated tribes" (Mooney). The
_Paiute_, _Shoshonees_ (_Snakes_) and _Utes_ have figured in several
more or less temporary outbreaks since 1865.
_Siouan._--This great stock has had its celebrated antagonists of the
whites as well as its famous combatants of other Indian tribes. The
_Dakota_ (or _Sioux_) were unfriendly to the French for aiding their
enemies, the Chippewa, and after the fall of French power in America
in 1763, they allied themselves with the English and assisted them in
the War of Independence and the war of 1812, with few exceptions.
After the treaty of peace in 1815 various minor troubles occurred, but
in 1862 the Indians in Minnesota rose under Chief Little Crow and
committed terrible barbarities against the settlers, some 800 whites
being killed before the revolt was put down. The gold-fever of the
whites in Dakota, where the Indians had settled down, precipitated a
formidable outbreak in 1876 under the leadership of Sitting Bull,
Crazy Horse, Spotted Tail and other chiefs. The most notable event of
this "war" was the so-called "massacre" (properly cutting-off) of
General Custer and his cavalry at the battle of Little Bighorn on June
25, 1876. When the "Ghost Dance" was prevalent among so many Indian
tribes of the Plains in 1890-1891 another serious rising of the Sioux
took place, which was put down by General Miles. Sitting Bull was
killed (December 15, 1890); and resistance to an attempt to disarm a
large party of Indians at Wounded Knee Creek, near the Pine Ridge
Agency, resulted (December 29) in a deplorable massacre, in which many
women and children were killed. The story of these Sioux outbreaks and
the guiltiness of the whites with respect to them has been told
authoritatively by Mooney (_14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1892-1893).
At one time these troubles threatened to involve the Canadian Indians
of the region adjacent. The _Catawba_ of South Carolina, in the wars
of the 18th century, aided the English against the French, the
Tuscaroras (war of 1713-14) and the Lake tribes. They sided with the
Americans during the War of Independence. The _Osage_ were friendly
with the French early in the 18th century and fought with them against
the Sacs and Foxes at Detroit in 1714.
_Pueblos._--After the Spanish conquest of the Pueblos Indians of
Arizona and New Mexico the most remarkable effort of the natives to
throw off the foreign yoke was in the general revolt of 1680 under the
leadership of Popé of San Juan. At that time among the Moqui
(Shoshonian) the missionaries were killed, the churches laid in ruins,
&c., and similar events occurred elsewhere in the Pueblos region. For
this the Spaniards subsequently took ample vengeance. The Pueblos
Indians in general have never taken too kindly to the whites; and
to-day at the Moqui pueblo of Oraibi there exist a "Hostile" and a
"Friendly" faction, the first bitterly opposed to the Caucasian and
all his ways, the latter more liberal-minded, but Indian none the
less. An open rupture nearly took place in 1906.
In Canada, since the organization of the Dominion in 1867, Indian wars
have been unknown, and Indian outbreaks of any sort rare. In 1890 an
outbreak of the Kootenays was threatened, but it amounted to
nothing--the present writer traversed all parts of the Kootenay
country in 1891 in perfect safety. Occasional "risings" have been
reported from the Canadian North-West and British Columbia, but have
amounted to little or nothing. In the matter of war it should be noted
that some Indian stocks nave been essentially peaceful, and have
resorted to force only when driven beyond endurance or treated with
outrageous injustice. Again, within the same stock one tribe has shown
itself peaceable, another quite warlike (e.g. Klamath and Modoc, both
Lutuamian; the Hares and the Apache, both Athabaskan). Probably the
amount and extent of wars existing north of Mexico in Pre-Columbian
times were not as large as is generally stated. The introduction of
fire-arms, European-made weapons, the horse, &c., and the development
of ideas of property made possible through these, doubtless stimulated
intertribal disputes and increased the actual number of warlike
enterprises. Over a large portion of the continent "wars" were nearly
always initiated and carried out by a portion only of the tribe, which
often had its permanent "peace party."
Missions and Education.
The missionary labours of the various Christian churches among the North
American aborigines have been ably summarized by Mooney in the _Handbook
of American Indians North of Mexico_ (pt. i. 1907, pp. 874-909). Besides
the famous _Relation des Jésuites_ (ed. Thwaites, 1896-1901) there are
now special mission histories for the Baptists, Congregationalists,
Episcopalians, Lutherans, Mennonites, Methodists, Moravians, Mormons,
Presbyterians, Quakers, Roman Catholics (also the various orders, &c.),
who have all paid much attention to Christianizing and civilizing the
Indians. To-day "practically every tribe officially recognized within
the United States is under the missionary influence of some religious
denomination, workers of several denominations frequently labouring in
the same tribe." Something of the same sort might be said of the Indians
of Canada, whose religion (that of 76,319 out of 110,345 altogether
reported, is known) is given as follows in the _Report of the Department
of Indian Affairs_ for 1907: Roman Catholics 35,682; Anglicans 15,380;
Methodists 11,620; Presbyterians 1527; Baptists 1103; Congregationalists
18; and other denominations 597; besides 10,347 pagans. All the Indians
of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, are Catholics;
in Quebec there are but 678 Protestants (mostly Methodist); in Ontario
there are 6173 Catholics to 1030 Baptists, 4626 Methodists, 5306
Anglicans, 18 Congregationalists and 34 Presbyterians. The Indians of
British Columbia number 11,529 Catholics, 4304 Anglicans, 3277
Methodists and 431 Presbyterians; those of Manitoba, 1780 Catholics,
1685 Methodists, 382 Presbyterians and 3103 Anglicans; those of
Saskatchewan and Alberta 4249 Catholics, 1527 Methodists, 719
Presbyterians, 2549 Anglicans. In some of the tribes and settlements
both in Canada and in the United States missionary activities, the
influence of individual white men, &c., have led to a great diversity of
religious faith, sometimes within comparatively limited areas. Thus in
the Mistawasis band of Cree, belonging to the Carlton Agency, province
of Saskatchewan, numbering but 129, there are 6 Anglicans, 86
Presbyterians and 37 Catholics; in the Oak River band of Sioux in
Manitoba there are 60 Anglicans, 1 Presbyterian, 13 Methodists, 4
Catholics and 195 pagans out of a total of 273. Among the "Six Nations"
and the larger Indian peoples of Oklahoma all the leading Christian
sects, besides the Salvation Army, the Christian Scientists, the Mormons
and the "New Thought" movement are represented. There are also the
"Navaho New Faith," the "Shaker Church" of Washington, &c. The history
of missionary labours in North America among the aborigines contains
stories of disappointment and disaster as well as chronicles of success.
Some peoples, like the Timuquans, the Apalachee, the Pakawan tribes,
&c., have been converted only to disappear altogether; other great
attempts at colonization or "reduction," like the missions of Huronia
and California, succeeded for the time on a grand scale, but have fallen
victims sooner or later to the fortunes of war, the changes of politics,
or their own mechanism and its inherent weaknesses and defects. But the
thousands of good church-members, including many ministers of the
Gospel, in Canada and the United States, coming from scores of different
tribes and many distinct stocks, no less than the general good conduct
of so many Indian nations, are a remarkable tribute to the work done by
Catholic and Protestant missionaries alike all over the broad continent
from the Mexican border to the snows of Greenland and the islands of the
Arctic. The martyrdom of the Jesuits among the fierce Iroquois, the zeal
of Duncan at Metlakahtla, the fate of the Spanish friars in the Pueblos
rebellion of 1680 under Popé, the destruction of the Huron missions in
1641-1649 and of those of the Apalachee in 1703, the death of Whitman at
the hands of the Cayuse in 1847, are but a few of the notable events of
mission history. The following brief accounts of missionary labours
among one or two of the chief Indian stocks and in a few of the chief
areas of the continent will serve to indicate their general character.
_Californian Indians._--Beginning with the foundation by Father
Junipero Serra in 1769 of San Diego de Alcalá, and ending with that of
San Francisco Solano in 1823, there were established, from beyond San
Francisco Bay to the River Colorado, twenty-three missions of the
Catholic faith among the Indians of California, whose direct influence
lasted until the "secularization" of the missions and the expulsion of
the friars by the Mexican government in 1834. In that year the
missions counted 30,650 Indians and produced 122,500 bushels of wheat
and corn. They possessed also 424,000 cattle, 62,500 horses and mules,
321,900 sheep, goats, hogs, &c. The mission-buildings of brick and
stone contained besides religious houses and chapels, school-rooms and
workshops for instruction in arts and industries, and were surrounded
by orchards, vineyards and farms. Here Indians of diverse linguistic
stocks were "reduced" and "civilized," and their labour fully utilized
by the mission-fathers. But, in the words of Mooney (_Handb. of Amer.
Inds._ pt. i., 1907, p. 895), "Despite regular life, abundance of food
and proper clothing according to the season, the Indian withered away
under the restrictions of civilization supplemented by epidemic
diseases introduced by the military garrisons or the seal-hunters
along the coast. The death-rate was so enormous, in spite of apparent
material advancement, that it is probable that the former factor alone
would have brought about the extinction of the missions within a few
generations." Some of the missions had but a few hundred Indians,
some, however, as high as three thousand. Kroeber thinks that their
influence was "probably greater temporally than spiritually." After
the "secularization" of the missions decay soon set in, which the
American occupation of California later on did nothing to remedy, and
the native population rapidly decreased. When the supervision of the
missionaries no longer sustained them the Indians fell to pieces and
the practical results of seventy years of labour and devotion were
lost. In 1908 there remained of the "Mission Indians" less than 3000
individuals (belonging to the Shoshonian and Yuman stocks), whose
condition was none too satisfactory, the only human relics of the huge
attempt at the "reduction" of the Indian that was planned and carried
out in California.
_Iroquoian._--The French missions among the Hurons began in 1615-1616
with Father le Caron of the Recollect order; those of the Jesuits with
Father Breboeuf in 1626. These missions flourished, in spite of wars
and other adverse circumstances, till the invasion of the Huron
country in Ontario by the Iroquois in 1641 and again in 1649 brought
about their destruction and the dispersal of the Hurons who were not
slain or carried off as prisoners by the victors. Some took refuge
among neighbouring friendly tribes; others settled finally at Lorette
near Quebec, &c. The Wyandots, now in Oklahoma, are another fragment
of the scattered Hurons. The Hurons of Lorette numbered in 1908, 1
Anglican, 6 Presbyterians and 459 Catholics. The Wyandots of Oklahoma
are largely Protestants. The mission among the Mohawks of New York was
established in 1642 by Father Jogues (afterwards martyred by the
Indians), and in 1653 the church at Onondaga was built, while during
the next few years missions were organized among the Oneida, Cayuga
and Seneca, to cease during the warlike times of 1658-66, after which
they were again established among these tribes. The mission of St
François Xavier des Pré (La Prairie), out of which came the modern
Caughnawaga, was founded in 1669, and here gathered many Christian
Iroquois of various tribes--Mohawk especially. About this time the
Iroquois settlement on the Bay of Quinté, Ontario, was formed by
Christian Mohawks, Cayugas, &c. The Lake of the Two Mountains mission
dates from 1720, that of St Regis from 1756. Another mission at
Oswegatchie, founded in 1748, was abandoned in 1807. The Episcopal
missions among the Iroquois began early in the 18th century, the
Mohawks being the first tribe influenced, about 1700. The extension of
the work among the other Iroquoian tribes was aided by Sir William
Johnson in the last half of the century and by Chief Joseph Brant,
especially after the removal of those of the Iroquois who favoured the
British to Canada at the close of the War of Independence. In 1776 the
Congregationalists established a mission among the New York Oneida,
and later continued their labours also among the Oneida of Wisconsin.
The Congregational mission among the New York Seneca began in 1831. In
1791-1798, at the request of Chief Cornplanter, the Pennsylvania
Quakers established missions among the Oneida, Tuscarora and Seneca.
The Moravian missions among the New York Onondaga were established
under the Rev. David Zeisberger about 1745. The Methodist missions
among the Ontario Iroquois date from 1820. Of the "Six Nations"
Indians of the Grand river, Ontario, the Cayuga and Onondaga are still
"pagan," the others being Anglican, Methodist and other denominations,
including Seventh Day Adventists, Salvation Army, &c. Among the New
York Iroquois great variety of religious faith also exists, the
Presbyterians (largest), Methodists, Episcopalians and Baptists being
all represented. The Iroquois of Caughnawaga and St Regis are mainly
Catholic; at Caughnawaga there is, however, a Methodist school.
_Muskogian._--Several tribes of this stock came under the influence of
the missions established by the Spanish friars along the Atlantic
coast after the founding of St Augustine in 1565. The missionaries in
this region were chiefly Franciscans, who succeeded the Jesuits. They
were very successful among the Apalachee, but these Indians were
constantly subject to attack by the Yamasi, Creek, Catawba and other
savage peoples, and in 1703-1704 they were destroyed or taken captive,
and the missions came to an end. A few of the survivors were gathered
later at Pensacola for a time. In the early part of the 18th century
French missions were established among the Choctaw, Natchez, &c., and
the Jesuits laboured among the Alibamu from 1725 till their expulsion
in 1764. From 1735 to 1739 the Moravians (beginning under Spangenberg)
had a mission school among the Yamacraw, a Creek tribe near Savannah.
In 1831 a Presbyterian mission was established among the Choctaw on
the Yalabusha river in northern Mississippi, to which went in 1834 the
Rev. Cyrus Byington, the Eliot mission over which he presided there
and in the Indian Territory till 1868 being one of great importance.
After the removal of the Indians to the Indian Territory more missions
were established among the Choctaw, the Creek and the Seminole, &c.
The work was much interfered with by the Civil War of 1861-65, but the
mission work was afterwards reorganized. The Baptist missions among
the Choctaw began in 1832 and among the Creek in 1839. The "Choctaw
Academy," a high school, at Great Crossings, Kentucky, chiefly for
young men of the Choctaw and Creek nations, was founded in 1819 and
continued for twenty-four years. In 1835 a Methodist mission was
established among the Creek, but soon abandoned, to be reorganized
later on. Among the Indians of Oklahoma, the Catholic and Mormon
churches and practically all the Protestant denominations, including
the Salvation Army and the Christian Scientists, are now represented
by churches, schools, missions, &c. The missionaries among the
Muskogian tribes during the last half of the 18th century, as may be
seen from Pilling's _Bibliography of the Muskhogean Languages_ (1889),
furnished many able students of Indian tongues, whose researches have
been of great value in philology. This is true likewise of labourers
in the mission-field among the Algonkian, Iroquoian, Athabaskan,
Siouan and Salishan tribes and among the Eskimo. The celebrated "Eliot
Bible," the translation (1663) of the scriptures into the language of
the Algonkian Indians of Massachusetts, made by the Rev. John Eliot
(q.v.), is a monument of missionary endeavour and prescientific study
of the aboriginal tongues. In his work Eliot, like many other
missionaries, had the assistance of several Indians. The names of such
mission-workers as Egede, Kleinschmidt, Fabricius, Erdmann,
Kohlmeister, Bruyas, Zeisberger, Dencke, Rasles, Gravier, Mengarini,
Giorda, Worcester, Byington, Wright, Riggs, Dorsey, Williamson, Voth,
Eells, Pandosy, Veniaminov, Barnum, André, Mathevet, Thavenet, Cuoq,
Sagard, O'Meara, Jones, Wilson, Rand, Lacombe, Petitot, Maclean,
Hunter, Horden, Kirkby, Watkins, Tims, Evans, Morice, Hall, Harrison,
Legoff, Bompas, Peck, &c., are familiar to students of the aboriginal
tongues of America.
When in 1900 the withdrawal by the United States of government aid to
denominational schools occurred, it compelled some of the weaker
churches to give up such work altogether, and interfered much with the
activities of some of the stronger ones. According to the statistics
given by Mooney (_Handb. of Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 897) the
Catholic Church had in 1904 altogether, under the care of the Jesuits,
Franciscans and Benedictines, &c., and the sisters of the orders of St
Francis, St Anne, St Benedict, St Joseph, Mercy and Blessed Sacrament,
"178 Indian churches and chapels served by 152 priests; 71 boarding and
26 day schools with 109 teaching priests, 384 sisters and 138 other
religious or secular teachers and school assistants." The Catholic
mission work is helped by "the Preservation Society, the Marquette
League and by the liberality of Mother Katharine Drexel, founder of the
order of the Blessed Sacrament for negro and Indian mission work." The
corresponding statistics for the chief Protestant churches were as
follows:--
+------------------+--------------+---------------+----------+
| Denomination. | Missions and | Missionaries. | Schools. |
| | Churches. | | |
+------------------+--------------+---------------+----------+
| Baptist | 14 | 15 | 4 |
| Congregationalist| 10 | 12 | 5 |
| Episcopalian | 14 | 28 | 17 |
| Friends | 10 | 15 | 1 |
| Mennonite | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| Methodist | | 40 | 1 |
| Moravian | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Presbyterian | 101 | 69 | 32 |
+------------------+--------------+---------------+----------+
| Total | 157 | 188 | 60 |
+------------------+--------------+---------------+----------+
This is exclusive of Alaska, where Greek Orthodox (18 ministers in
1902), Roman Catholics (12 Jesuits and lay brothers and 11 sisters of
St Anne in 1903), Moravians (5 mission stations with 13 workers and 21
native assistants among the Eskimo in 1903), Episcopalians (31
workers, white and native, 13 churches, 1 boarding and 7 day schools
in 1903), Presbyterians (a dozen stations and several schools),
Baptists, Methodists (several stations), Swedish Evangelical (several
stations), Friends (several missions), Congregationalists (mission
school) and Lutherans (orphanage), all are labouring.
Before the advent of the whites the children of the North American
aborigines "had their own systems of education, through which the young
were instructed in their coming labours and obligations, embracing not
only the whole round of economic pursuits--hunting, fishing, handicraft,
agriculture and household work--but speech, fine art, customs,
etiquette, social obligations and tribal lore" (Mason). Parents,
grandparents, the elders of the tribe, "priests," &c., were teachers,
boys coming early under the instruction of their male relatives and
girls under that of their female relatives. Among some tribes special
"teachers" of some of the arts existed and with certain of the more
developed peoples, such as some of the Iroquoian and Siouan tribes, both
childhood and the period of puberty received special attention.
Playthings, toys and children's games were widespread. Imitation of the
arts and industries of their elders began early, and with not a few
tribes there were "secret societies," &c., for children and fraternities
of various sorts, which they were allowed to join, thus receiving early
initiation into social and religious ideas and responsibility in the
tribal unit. Corporal punishment was little in vogue, the Iroquois e.g.
condemning it as bad for the soul as well as the body. Appeals to the
feelings of pride, shame, self-esteem, &c., were commonly made. As the
treatment of the youth at puberty by the Omaha e.g. indicates, there was
among some tribes distinct recognition of individuality, and the young
Indian acquired his so-called "totem" or "guardian spirit" individually
and not tribally. In some tribes, however, the tribal consciousness
overpowered altogether children and youth. With the Indian, as with all
other young human beings, "unconscious absorption" played its important
rôle. Parental affection among some of the peoples north of Mexico
reached as high a degree as with the whites, and devices for aiding,
improving and amusing infants and children were innumerable. Some of the
"beauty makers," however, amounted to rather serious deformations,
though often no worse than those due to the corset, the use of uncouth
foot-wear, premature factory labour, &c., in civilized countries.
Interesting details of Indian child-life and education are to be found
in books like Eastman's _Indian Boyhood_ (1902), Jenks' _Childhood of
Jishib the Ojibwa_ (1900), Spencer's _Education of the Pueblo Child_
(1889), La Flesche's _The Middle Five_ (1901), Stevenson's _Religious
Education of the Zuñi Child_ (1887), and in the writings of Miss A. C.
Fletcher, J. O. Dorsey, J. Mooney, W. M. Beauchamp, &c., besides the
accounts of missionaries and travellers of the better sort.
Outside of missions proper there were many efforts made by the colonists
to educate the Indians. It is an interesting fact, emphasized by James
in his _English Institutions and the American Indian_ (1894), that
several institutions still existing, and now of large influence in the
educational world of the United States and Canada, had their origin in
whole or in part in the desire to Christianize and to educate the
aborigines, which object was mentioned in charters (e.g. Virginia in
1606 and again in 1621), &c. Sums of money were also left for the
purposes of educating Indian children and youth, many of whom were sent
over to England for that purpose, by colonists who adopted them (one
such was Sampson Occum, minister and author of the hymn, "Awaked by
Sinai's Awful Sound"). In 1618 Henrico College in Virginia was founded,
where Indian youth were taught religion, "civility" and a trade. It was
succeeded by the College of William and Mary (founded in 1691 with the
aid of a benefaction of Robert Boyle), where Indian youth were boarded
and received their education for many years. The great university of
Harvard has long outgrown "the Indian college at Cambridge," whose
single graduate Cheeshateaumuck, took his degree in 1665, but died
afterwards of consumption. But its original charter provided for all
things "that may conduce to the education of the English and Indian
youth of this country in knowledge and godliness." Since
Cheeshateaumuck's time, doubtless, there have been graduates of Harvard
who could boast of Indian blood in their veins (e.g. recently William
Jones, the ethnologist), but they have been few and far between.
Dartmouth College, at Hanover, New Hampshire, founded in 1754, really
grew out of Wheelock's Indian school at Lebanon, Connecticut--at this
period there were several such schools in New England, &c. In the royal
charter, granted to Dartmouth in 1769, is the provision "that there be a
College erected in our said Province of New Hampshire, by the name of
Dartmouth College, for the education and instruction of Youth of the
Indian Tribes in this Land, in reading, writing and all parts of
Learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and
christianizing children of pagans, as well as in all liberal Arts and
Sciences, and also of English Youth and any other." The college of New
Jersey long served as one of the institutions for the education of
Indian youth. A glimpse of Indians at Princeton is given by Collins
(_Princeton Univ. Bull._, 1902) in his account of the attempt to confer
an academic education, at the end of the 18th century, upon Thomas
Killbuck and his cousin, George Bright-eyes, son of a Delaware chief,
and a descendant of Taimenend, eponym of the political "Tammany." It
would seem that at this period the states and Congress were in the habit
of granting moneys for the education of individual Indians at various
institutions.
At the present time the most noteworthy institutions for the education
of the Indian in the United States are the Chilocco Indian Industrial
school, under government auspices, in Kay county, Oklahoma, near
Arkansas city, Kansas; the Carlisle school (government) at Carlisle,
Pa.; and the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (private, but
subsidized by the government), at Hampton, Va.
The Chilocco school is, in many respects, a model institution for
Indian youth of both sexes, devoted to "agriculture and attendant
industries." It was opened in 1884 with 186 pupils, and in 1906 the
attendance was 685 out of an enrolment of 700. There are 35 buildings,
and the corps of instruction, &c., consists of "a superintendent, 51
principal employés and 20 minor Indian assistants." The Carlisle
school, "the first non-reservation school established by the
government," whose origin is due to "the efforts of General R. H.
Pratt, when a lieutenant in charge of Indian prisoners of war at St
Augustine, Florida, from May 11, 1875, to April 14, 1878," was opened
in November 1879 with 147 Indians, including 11 Florida prisoners; it
had in 1906 an enrolment of over 1000 pupils of both sexes, under both
white and Indian teachers, and an average attendance of 981. In 1906
there were in attendance members of 67 tribes, representing at least
22 distinct linguistic stocks. According to J. H. Dortch (_Handb. of
Amer. Inds._, 1907, pt. i. p. 207), "since the foundation of the
school nearly every tribe in the United States has had representatives
on its rolls." The following statistics, cited by Mr Dortch, indicate
both the success of the school in general and of the "outing system"
(pupils are allowed to work in temporary homes, but keeping in close
touch with the school), which "has come to be a distinctive feature
not only of the Carlisle school but of the Indian school service
generally":
Admitted during 25 years 5,170
Discharged during 25 years 4,210
On rolls during fiscal year 1904 1,087
Outings, fiscal year 1904 (girls 426, boys 498) 924
Outings during 21 years (girls 3214, boys 5118) 8,332
Students' earnings 1904 $34,970
Students' earnings during 15 years $352,951
The staff of the school consists of a superintendent, 75 instructors,
clerks, &c. It has graduated "a large number of pupils, many of whom
are filling responsible positions in the business world, and
especially in the Indian service, in which, during the fiscal year
1903, 101 were employed in various capacities from teachers to
labourers, drawing a total of $46,300 in salaries." The Carlisle
football team competes with the chief white colleges and universities.
The Hampton Institute was established in 1868 by General S. C.
Armstrong and trains both Negroes and Indians, having admitted the
latter since 1878. It is partly supported by the government of
Virginia and by the United States government, the latter paying $167 a
year for 120 Indian pupils, boys and girls (in 1906 there were in
attendance 112, of whom 57 were girls and 55 boys), belonging to 33
different tribes, representing 13 distinct linguistic stocks. The
following extract from the report of the principal for 1905-1906 is of
interest: "Fifteen catechists among the Sioux still hold their own.
There are two field-matrons and seven camp-school teachers, all coming
into close touch with the more ignorant of the people. Four are
physicians getting their living from their white patients and doing
more or less missionary work among their own people. William Jones has
his degrees of A.M. and Ph.D., and is doing valuable ethnological work
for the Carnegie Institution, Columbia University and the American
Museum of Natural History in New York. James Murie is assisting in
similar work for the Field Museum in Chicago. Hampton has but one
Indian lawyer. There are about 50 students holding positions pretty
steadily in government schools. About 40 boys have employment at
government agencies, 20 being employed as clerks and interpreters,
either at the agencies or at the schools. Ten boys are working in
machine shops at the north and three are in the navy. A fair
proportion are working on their farms; some have accumulated quite a
little stock, and five are prosperous cattlemen, seven boys have
stores of their own and make a good living from them." The Indian
Department has now adopted the policy of giving industrial training
and household economy the chief place in education, varying the
instruction to suit the environment in which the boy or girl is to
grow up and live and not mixing the needs of Alaska with those of
California, or those of Dakota with those of Florida.
In Canada the most notable institutions for the education of the Indians
are the Mohawk Institute at Brantford, Ontario; the Mount Elgin
Institute at Muncey, Ontario; the Brandon Industrial school at Brandon,
Manitoba; the Qu'Appelle Industrial school at Lebret, Saskatchewan.
The Mohawk Institute is the oldest, having been founded in 1831 by the
"New England Company," which began its work among the Canadian
Iroquois in 1822. It is undenominational, aided by a government grant,
and had in 1907 an average attendance of 106 out of an enrolment of
111 of both sexes. The Mount Elgin Industrial Institute was founded by
the Methodist Missionary Society in 1847, and had an attendance for
1907 of 104 of both sexes. The Brandon Industrial school, under
Methodist auspices, had in 1907 an attendance of 104 of both sexes.
The Qu'Appelle Industrial school, under Roman Catholic auspices, had
an average attendance of 210 of both sexes. All these schools receive
government aid. As in the United States, Indian teachers and
assistants are often employed when fitted for such labours.
The first appropriation by the Congress of the United States for the
general education of the Indians was made in 1819, when the sum of
$10,000 was assigned for that and closely allied purposes, and by 1825
there were 38 schools among the Indians receiving government aid, but
government schools proper date from 1873 (contract schools are four
years older), the order of their institution being day schools,
reservation boarding schools, then non-reservation boarding schools. In
1900 the contract schools were practically abandoned and the Indian
appropriation devoted to government schools altogether. Latterly some
departure from this policy has occurred, following a decision of the
Supreme Court. In less than a century the expenditure for Indian
education increased from an annual outlay of $10,000 to one of about
$5,000,000, to which must be added the expenditures from private
sources, which are considerable.
Exclusive of Alaska, there were in the United States in 1906, according
to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 324 Indian schools
(government 261, mission 48, contract 15), with an enrolment of 30,929
and an average attendance of 25,492 pupils, costing the government
annually $3,115,953. Of the government schools 25 were non-reservation
and 90 reservation boarding schools, and 146 day schools; of the mission
schools 45 boarding and 3 day; of the contract schools 8 boarding and 6
public. The schools of a denominational character belonged as follows:
29 to the Catholic Church, 5 to the Presbyterian, 4 to the Protestant
Episcopal, 2 to the Congregational, 2 to the Lutheran, and 1 each to the
Evangelical Lutheran, Reformed Presbyterian, Methodist, Christian
Reformed and Baptist. Besides there were in all 446 public schools on or
near reservations which Indians could attend.
In Canada, according to the report of the Department of Indian Affairs
for 1907, there was a total of 303 Indian schools (day 226, boarding 55,
industrial 22), of which 45 were undenominational, 91 Church of England,
106 Roman Catholic, 44 Methodist and 1 Salvation Army. The total
enrolment of pupils was 9618, with an average attendance of 6138. In
several cases Indians attend white schools, not being counted in these
statistics. The total amount appropriated for Indian schools during the
year 1906-1907 was $356,277.
Indian talent and capacity.
The intelligence of the American Indians north of Mexico ranges from a
minimum with the lowest of the Athabaskan tribes of extreme
north-western Canada and the lowest of the Shoshonian tribes of the
south-western United States to a maximum with the highest developed
members of the Muskogian and Iroquoian stocks (both the Cherokee branch
and the Iroquois proper). It must be remembered, however, that the
possibilities of improvement by change of environment are very great, as
is shown by the fact that the Hupa of California and the Navaho of
Arizona and New Mexico (also the cruel and cunning Apaches) belong to
the Athabaskan family, while the Shoshonian includes many of the
"civilized nations" of ancient Mexico and, in particular, the famous
Aztecs. One way of judging of the intellectual character of the various
stocks of North American aborigines is from the "great men" they have
produced during the historical periods of contact with the whites. Many
of these stocks have, of course, not had occasion for the development of
great men, their small numbers, their isolation, their lack of
historical experience, their long residence in an unfavourable
environment, their perpetual and unrestricted democracy, &c., are some
of the sufficient explanations for this state of affairs, as they would
be in any other part of the world. The Eskimoan, Athabaskan, Koluschan,
Wakashan (and other tribes of the North Pacific coast), Salishan and
Shoshonian (except in Mexico) stocks, together with the numerous small
or unimportant stocks of the Oregon-California and Gulf-Atlantic
regions, have not produced any great men, although members of many
tribes have been individually of not a little service to the intruding
race in pioneer times and since then, or have been highly esteemed by
them on account of their abilities or character, &c. Here might be
mentioned perhaps Sacajawea (see _Out West_, xxiii. 223), the Indian
woman who acted as guide and helper of the Lewis and Clark expedition
and saved the journals at the risk of her life (she has now a statue
erected to her memory in Seattle); Louise Sighouin, the Sahaptian
convert of whom the missionary de Smet thought so much; Catherine
Tekatawitha, the "Iroquois saint," &c.
The following list will serve to indicate some of the "great men" of the
Indian race north of Mexico and the stocks to which they have belonged;
in it are included also some products of the contact of the two
cultures:--
1. _Algonkian._--In politics and in oratory, as well as in combat,
this stock has produced notable characters, the conflict with the
whites and the Iroquois doubtless serving to stimulate native genius.
Among Algonkian notables may be mentioned "King Philip" and Powhatan;
Pontiac and Tecumseh; Black Hawk; Sampson Occum; George Copway;
Francis Assickinack, &c.
2. _Athabaskan._--The possibilities of this stock have been recently
illustrated by the Apaches, who, on the one hand, have produced
Geronimo, the chief who from 1877 to 1886 gave the United States
authorities such trouble, and, on the other, Dr Carlos Montezuma, a
full-blood Indian, who, after receiving a good education, served the
government as physician at several Indian agencies, and in 1908 was
practising his profession in Chicago and teaching in the College of
Physicians and Surgeons and the Post-Graduate Medical School. From
these southern Athabaskans much is to be expected under favouring
conditions.
3. _Iroquoian._--Here, as among the Algonkian tribes, circumstances
favoured the development of men of great ability. Of these may be
mentioned: Hiawatha, statesman and reformer (fl. c. 1450), the chief
mover in the formation of the great "League of the Iroquois"; Captain
Joseph Brant; "Red Jacket"; Oronhyatekha (d. 1906), the head of the
Independent Order of Foresters, an important secret charitable
society, a physician, and a man of remarkable power as an organizer.
4. _Sahaptian._--A remarkable Indian character was Nez Percé Joseph,
the leader of his people in the troubles of 1877. In 1905, at the
general assembly of the Presbyterian Church, a delegate representing
both whites and Indians was Mark Arthur (b. 1873), a full-blood Nez
Percé and since 1900 the successful pastor (fully ordained) of the
church at Lapwai, Idaho, the oldest Presbyterian church west of the
Rocky Mountains.
5. _Siouan._--The most famous Indian of Siouan stock is "Sitting Bull"
(d. 1890), medicine-man and chief. Miss Angel de Cora, a Winnebago,
was in 1908 instructor in art at the Carlisle school.
Another, not always just or fair, method of gauging the intelligence of
the North American Indians is by their ability to assimilate the
culture of the whites and to profit by the contact of the two races.
Curiously enough, some of the tribes at one time considered lowest in
point of general intellectual equipment have shown not a little of this
ability, and there is a marked difference in this respect between tribes
belonging to one and the same stock. The Athabaskan stock e.g. shows
such variations, or rather perhaps this stock in general exhibits a
tendency to adopt the culture of other peoples, thus some of the
Athabaskan tribes in Alaska have acquired elements of culture from the
Eskimo; the Takulli have been influenced by the Tsimshian, and Nahané by
the Tlingit, the Chilcotin by the Salish, the Sarcee by the western
Algonkian tribes, and in the extreme south the Navaho by the Pueblos
Indians. The Salishan stock has largely this same characteristic. Of
these two peoples Mr C. Hill-Tout (_The Salish and Déné_, London, 1907,
p. 50) says: "It would be difficult indeed to find two peoples more
susceptible to foreign influences, more receptive of new ideas and more
ready and willing to adopt and carry them out." In the relations
established between them and the whites not enough advantage in the
proper way has been taken of this "philoneism," which ought to have been
the basis of their acquisition of our culture, or such aspects of it as
suited them best. And perhaps there are other stocks of which, if we
knew them well, similar things might be said. Of the Indians of the
Shoshonian stock the Paiutes of Nevada and Arizona have shown themselves
capable of making themselves necessary to the whites (farmers, &c.) of
that region, and not falling victims to the "vices of civilization."
Although they still retain their primitive _wickiups_ (or rush huts),
they seem actually to have improved in health, wealth and character from
association with the "superior" race, a rare thing in many respects
among the lower Indian tribes of North America. This improvement of the
Paiutes causes us not to be surprised when we find the more cultured
Moquis and the "civilized" Aztecs of ancient Mexico to belong to the
same Shoshonian stock. Acculturation by borrowing has played an
important rôle in the development of North American Indian ideas and
institutions. This is well illustrated by the history of the Plains
Indians, with their numerous intertribal societies, their temporary and
their permanent alliances, federations, &c. If ways and means for the
transfer of elements of culture indicate intelligence, some of these
tribes must rank rather high in the scale. The Algonkian, Iroquoian and
Muskogian stocks, both in the case of individuals and in the case of
whole tribes (or their remnants), have exhibited great ability in the
directions indicated. Of the Caddoan stock the Pawnees seem gifted with
considerable native ability expressing itself particularly in the matter
of religion (the Hupas, of the Athabaskan stock, seem also to have "a
religious sense"). Some tribes of the Siouan stock have, both in the
case of individuals and as peoples, given evidence of marked
intelligence, especially in relation to psychic phenomena and the
treatment of adolescent youth. In their culture, their ceremonies and
ritual proceedings, as well as in their material arts, the Pueblos
Indians of the south-western United States show, in many ways, their
mental kinship with the creators and sustainers of the civilization of
ancient Mexico and Central America. From the table of Indian tribes it
will be seen that aborigines of the most diverse stocks have shown
themselves capable of assimilating white culture and of adapting
themselves to the new set of circumstances. Progress and improvement are
not at all confined to any one stock.
Syllabaries.
A very interesting fact in the history of the education of the
aborigines north of Mexico is the success of the attempt to enable them
to read and write their own language by means of specially prepared
syllabaries, "alphabets," &c. The first of these, the still existing
"Micmac hieroglyphics," so-called, was the work of Father le Clercq in
1665, improved by Father Kauder in 1866; one of the most recent, the
adaptation of the "Cree syllabary" of Evans by Peck to the language of
the Eskimo of Cumberland Sound. The basis of many of the existing
syllabaries is "the Cree syllabary," or "Evans Syllabary," invented
about 1841 by the Rev. James Evans, a Methodist missionary in the
Hudson's Bay region from the study of the shorthand systems current at
that time. This syllabary and modifications of it are now in use (with
much printed literature) for both writing and printing among many tribes
of the Algonkian, Athabaskan (modified by Morice for the Carriers, by
Kirkby and others for Chipewyan, Slavé, &c.), Eskimo (modified by Peck),
Siouan (Cree syllabary used by Canadian Stonies) stocks. Among the
Salishan tribes of the Thompson river region, the Shushwap, Okanagan,
&c., a stenographic modification (reproduced by mimeograph) by Father le
Jeune of the Duployan system of shorthand has been used with great
success. But the most remarkable of all these syllabaries is one more of
Indian than missionary origin, in its application at least, the
well-known "Cherokee alphabet" of Sequoyah, an uneducated Cherokee
half-blood, who got part of his idea from an old spelling-book though
his characters did not at all correspond to English sounds--at first 82,
later 86 syllables were represented. Invented about 1821 the "Cherokee
alphabet" was first used for printing in 1827, and has been in constant
use since then for correspondence and for various literary purposes. The
effect of this invention is thus described by Mooney (_Myths of the
Cherokee_, 1902):--
"The invention of the alphabet had an immediate and wonderful effect
on Cherokee development. An account of the remarkable adaptation of
the syllabary to the language, it was only necessary to learn the
characters to be able to read at once. No school-houses were built and
no teachers hired, but the whole Nation became an academy for the
study of the system, until, in the course of a few months, without
school or expense of time or money, the Cherokee were able to read and
write in their own language. An active correspondence began to be
carried on between the Eastern and Western divisions, and plans were
made for a national press, with a national library and museum to be
established at the capital, New Echota. The missionaries, who had at
first opposed the new alphabet on the ground of its Indian origin, now
saw the advisability of using it to further their own work."
In spite of absurdities of form and position in the characters of this
syllabary, it serves its purpose so well that, as Pilling informs us
(_Amer. Anthrop._, 1893), "a few hours of instruction are sufficient for
a Cherokee to learn to read his own language intelligibly," and in two
and a half months the Cherokee child "acquires the art of reading and
writing fluently in these rude characters." The success of the "Cree
syllabary" was also astonishing, and in 1890, according to Maclean
(_Canad. Sav. Folk_, p. 283), "few Cree Indians can be found who are not
able to read the literature printed in the syllabic characters." Here
again, "an Indian with average intelligence can memorize the whole in a
day, and in less than one week read fluently any book written upon this
plan," and many Indians learn to read fluently "with no other teachers
but the Indians around the camp-fires." Morice reports equal success
with his syllabary: "Through it Indians of common intelligence have
learnt to read in one week's leisurely study before they had any primer
or printed matter of any kind to help them on. We even know of a young
man who performed the feat in the space of two evenings." Le Jeune's
experience with the Shuswap and Thompson Indians is the same. The
creation of a "literary" class among so many Indian tribes within a
comparatively brief period is certainly a very interesting result, and
one which gives evidence of native intelligence among children and
adults alike (_Amer. Journ. Psychol._, 1905).
For a general list of authorities on the American aborigines, see
bibliography under AMERICA, section 3, _Ethnology_. The literature on
the subject, already vast, is continually increasing, and it is
impossible to enumerate every contribution made by the large number of
expert anthropologists working in this field. The chief works of a
special nature have already been cited in the text. (A. F. C.)
INDICATOR (from Lat. _indicare_, to point out), that which points out or
records. In engineering, the word is specifically given to a mechanical
device for registering the pressure of the working fluid in an engine
cylinder during a stroke of the piston, the record so provided being
termed the "indicator diagram" (see STEAM-ENGINE). In chemistry, the
word is generically applied to re-agents or chemicals which detect
usually small quantities or traces of other substances; it is, however,
more customarily restricted to re-agents which show whether a substance
or solution is acid, alkaline or neutral, the character being revealed
in a definite colour change.
Here we shall only deal with indicators in this last restricted sense.
They were first systematically employed in analytical chemistry by
Robert Boyle, who used the aqueous extracts of the coloured principles
present in red-cabbage, violets and cornflowers. The indicator most in
use to-day is litmus (q.v.), whose solution is turned red by an acid,
and blue by an alkali. Several synthetic indicators are employed in
acidimetry and alkalimetry. The choice is not altogether arbitrary, for
experiments have shown that some are more suitable for acidimetry, while
others are only applicable in alkalimetry; moreover, the strength of the
acids and bases employed may exert a considerable influence on the
behaviour of the indicator.
The following are well-known synthetic indicators: hacmoid, obtained from
resorcin and sodium nitrite, resembles litmus. Phenolphthalein, obtained
by condensing phenol with phthalic anhydride, is colourless both in acid
and in neutral solution, but intensely red in the presence of alkali; the
colour change is very sharp with strong bases, but tardy with weak ones,
and consequently its use should be restricted to acidimetry when a strong
base can be chosen, or to alkalimetry when a strong base is present.
[alpha]-Naphtholphthalein has also been used (_Biochem. Zeit._, 1910, p.
381). Methyl orange, which is the sodium salt of the acid helianthin,
obtained by diazotizing sulphanilic acid and coupling with
dimethylaniline, is yellow in neutral and alkaline solutions, but red in
acid; the change is only sharp with strong acids. Para-nitrophenol,
obtained in the direct nitration of phenol, yields a colourless solution
in the presence of acids, and an intense yellow with alkalis. Of more
recent introduction are: alizarin red, I.W.S. (alizarin mono-sulphonic
acid), claimed by G. E. Knowles (_Abst. J.C.S._, 1907, ii. 389) to be
better than methyl orange in alkalimetry; 3-amino-2-methylquinoline, used
by O. Stark (ibid. 1907, i. 974) in ammonia estimations;
para-nitrobenzeneazo-a-naphthol, shown by J. T. Hewitt (_Analyst_, 1908,
33, p. 85) to change from purple to yellow when alkalis are titrated with
weak acids; para-dimethylaminoazobenzene-ortho-carboxylic acid, proposed
by E. Rupp and R. Loose (_Ber._, 1908, 41, p. 3905) as very serviceable in
the estimation of weak bases, such as the alkaloids or centinormal
ammonia; the "resorubin" of M. Barberio (_Gazzetta_, 1907, ii. 577),
obtained by acting with nitrous acid on resorcin, which forms a violet,
blue or yellow coloration according as the solution is neutral, alkaline
or acid. Mention may be made of E. Linder's (_J. Soc. Chem. Ind._, 1908,
27, p. 485) suggestion to employ metanil yellow, obtained by coupling
diazotized meta-aminobenzenesulphonic acid with diphenylamine for
distinguishing mineral from organic acids, a violet coloration being
produced in the presence of the former.
_Theory of Indicators._--The ionic theory of solutions permitted the
formulation of a logical conception of the action of indicators by W.
Ostwald which for many years held its ground practically unchallenged;
and even now the arguments originally advanced hold good, except for
certain qualifications rendered necessary by more recent research. In
the language of the ionic theory, an acid solution is one containing
free hydrions, and an alkaline solution is one containing free
hydroxidions. A neutral solution contains hydrions and hydroxidions in
equal concentration; this is a consequence of the fact that pure water
itself undergoes a certain dissociation, and several different methods
show that in the purest water obtainable the concentration of the free
hydrions and hydroxidions is 10^(-7) at 24°. Moreover, the law of
mass-action (see CHEMICAL ACTION) demands that the product of the
concentrations of the hydrions and hydroxidions in any solution is
constant at a given temperature, and we see from the above values that
this constant is 10^(-14). It follows, therefore, that the acidity or
alkalinity of any solution can be expressed both in terms of hydrion
or hydroxidion concentration. Many researches have been directed to
classify acid and alkaline solutions according to the concentration of
the hydrion. Conductivity determinations show that the maximum
concentration of hydrion occurs in 5.8 - N nitric acid, where it has a
value of about 2 - N, and the minimum occurs in 6.7 - N potassium
hydroxide, where its value is 5 × 10^(-15), that of the hydroxidion
being about 2 - N. These figures apply to a temperature of 24°.
Bearing in mind the concentration of the ions in a neutral solution,
it is seen that a scheme of seven grades of "neutrality," differing by
successive powers of ten, may be formulated. The concentration of
hydrion and hydroxidion in any solution may be determined by several
independent methods, and it is therefore a simple matter to prepare
solutions of definite ionic concentrations and to test these with the
object of obtaining a list of indicators according to their
sensitiveness. It is found that litmus responds to concentrations of
10^(-6)H· and 10^(-6)OH', a result which shows this dye to be the best
indicator of true neutrality. Methyl orange responds to between
10^(-4)H· and 10^(-5)H·; para-nitrophenol to between 10^(-5)H· and
10^(-6)H·; and phenolphthalein to between 10^(-5)OH' and 10^(-6)OH'.
Salm (_Zeit. Elektrochem._, 1904, 10, p. 341) gives a list of
twenty-seven indicators classified on this principle. Other papers
bearing on this subject are Friedenthal, ibid., p. 113; Salessky,
ibid., p. 204; Fels, ibid., p. 208; Scholtz, ibid., p. 549; M. Handa,
_Ber._, 1909, 42, p. 3179.
The actual mechanism by which the indicator changes colour with
varying concentrations of hydrion or hydroxidion is now to be
considered. Ostwald formulated his ionization theory which assumes the
change to be due to the transition of the non-dissociated indicator to
the ionized condition, which are necessarily of different colours. On
this theory, an indicator must be weakly basic or acid, for if it were
a strong acid or base high dissociation would occur when it was in the
free state, and there would be no change of colour when the solution
was neutralized. Take the case of a weakly acid indicator such as
phenolphthalein. The presence of an acid depresses the very slight
dissociation of the indicator, and the colour of the solution is that
of the non-dissociated molecule. The addition of an alkali, if it be
strong, brings about the formation of a salt of phenolphthalein, which
is readily ionized, and so reveals the intense red coloration of the
anion; a weak base, however, fails to give free ions. An acid
indicator of medium strength is methyl orange. When free this
substance is ionized and the solution shows an orange colour, due to a
mixing of the red of the non-dissociated molecule and the yellow of
the ionized molecule. Addition of hydrions lessens the dissociation
and the solution assumes the red colour, while a base increases the
dissociation and so brings about the yellow colour. If the alkaline
solution be titrated with a strong acid, the hydrions present in a
very small amount of the acid suffices to reverse the colour; a weak
acid, however, must be added in considerable excess of the quantity
properly required to neutralize the solution, owing to its weak
dissociation. This indicator is therefore only useful when strong
acids are being dealt with, while its strongly acid nature renders it
serviceable for both strong and weak bases.
It seems, however, that in addition to a change in the ionic condition
of an indicator, there are cases where the coloration is associated
with tautomeric change. For example, J. T. Hewitt (_Analyst_, 1908,
33, p. 85) regards phenolphthalein and similar indicators as obeying
the following equilibrium in solution,
O: X_u·H --> X_v·O·H --> X_v·O´+H·,
<-- <--
X_u and X_v, being isomeric. This indicates the presence of two
tautomeric forms, one being of a quinonoid structure, and an ionized
molecule. A similar view is advanced by A. Hantzsch and F. Hilscher
(_Ber._, 1908, 41, p. 1187) who find that helianthin is quinonoid when
solid, whilst in solution there is an equilibrium between an aminoazo-
and sulphonic acid-form; on the other hand, the sodium salt, methyl
orange, is a sulphonate under both conditions.
INDICTMENT (from Anglo-Fr. _enditement_, _enditer_, to charge; Lat.
_in_, against, _dictare_, declare), in English law, a formal accusation
in writing laid before a grand jury and by them presented on oath to a
court of competent jurisdiction. The accusation is drawn up in the form
of a "bill" of indictment, prepared by the officer of the court or the
legal adviser of the prosecution, engrossed on parchment, and sent
before the grand jury. The grand jury hear in private the witnesses in
support of the accusation (whose names are endorsed on the back of the
bill), and, if satisfied that a prima facie case has been made out, find
the bill to be a true bill and return it to the court as such. If
otherwise, the jury ignore the bill and return to the court that they
find "no true bill." Indictments differ from presentments, which are
made by the grand jury on their own motion and their own knowledge; and
from informations, which are instituted on the suggestion of a public
officer without the intervention of a grand jury.
An indictment lies for "all treasons and felonies, for misprision of
treasons and felonies and for all misdemeanours of a public nature at
common law." And if a statute prohibit a matter of public grievance or
command a matter of public convenience all acts or omissions in
disobedience to the command or prohibition of the statute are treated as
misdemeanours at common law, and unless the statute otherwise provides
are punishable on indictment. In other words, the ordinary common law
remedy in respect of criminal offences is by indictment of the accused
and trial before a petty jury; and except in the case of informations
for misdemeanour and summary proceedings by a court of record for
"contempt of court" it is the only remedy, except where a statute
creates another remedy, e.g. by trial before a court of summary
jurisdiction.
The form of an indictment is still in the main regulated by the old
common law rules of pleading, which as to civil pleadings were often
amended during the 19th century, and finally abolished under the
Judicature Acts.
An indictment may consist of one or more counts charging different
offences. Each count consists of three parts: (1) the commencement, (2)
the statement, (3) the conclusion. The formal commencement runs thus:
"Surrey to wit." The first count begins "The jurors for our Lord the
King (i.e. the grand jurors) upon their oath present that, &c."; and the
subsequent counts begin, the "jurors aforesaid on their oath aforesaid
do further present." The first words, which are placed in the margin of
the document, are the "venue," i.e. the county or district over which
extends the jurisdiction of the court before which the indictment is
found. Subject to certain statutory exceptions it is necessary to prove
that the acts or omissions alleged to constitute the offence occurred
within that area. The conclusion consists of the words following:
"against the form of the statute (or statutes) in that case made and
provided, and against the peace of our Lord the King, his crown and
dignity." Where the offence is statutory the whole phrase is used; where
it is at common law only the second part is used. A formal conclusion is
not now essential to the validity of the indictment, but from inveterate
habit is in continued use. The statement sets forth the circumstances
alleged to constitute the offence, i.e. the accusation made. There are
still in force a number of rules as to the proper elements in the
statement; but in substance it is only necessary to set forth the facts
alleged against the accused with accuracy and sufficient precision as to
the time and place and circumstances of the alleged offence, and to
indicate whether felony or misdemeanour are charged, and so to frame the
statement as to indicate a definite offence for which a lawful sentence
may be imposed.
The following example illustrates the form of the statement:--
"That A. B. on the first day of June in the year of our Lord 1906 one
oak tree of the value of five pounds the property of C. D. then
growing in a certain park of the said C. D. situate in the parish of
E. in the county of F. feloniously did steal take and carry away
contrary to the statute, &c."
Only one offence should be stated in one count; and separate and
distinct felonies should not be charged in the same indictment. If they
are, the court makes the prosecution choose one upon which to proceed.
This rule is altered by statute in certain cases: e.g. by allowing a
limited number of separate thefts, or receivings of stolen property to
be included in the same indictment. Misdemeanours and felonies may not
be included in the same indictment because of the difference of
procedure on the trial; but any number of misdemeanours may be included
in different counts of the same indictment, subject to the right of the
court to order separate trials or to quash the indictment if it is
rendered vexatious by the agglomeration of charges.
There is no general limitation of the time within which indictments may
lawfully be preferred; but various limitations have been fixed by
statute for certain offences, e.g. in the case of certain forms of
treason, of riot, of night poaching and of corrupt and illegal practices
at elections. In this respect English law differs from European law, in
which limitations of time for prosecution are the rule and not the
exception.
Until the mitigation of the draconic severity of the English law in the
early part of the 19th century, little or no power existed of amending
defective statements or indictments, and the courts _in favorem vitae_
insisted strictly on accurate pleading and on proof of the offences
exactly as charged. Since 1827 numerous enactments have been passed for
getting rid of these technicalities, which led to undeserved acquittals,
and since 1851 the courts have had power to disregard technical
objections to the form of indictment and to amend in matters not
essential in case of variance between the indictment and the evidence.
These changes apply to ordinary offences; but for the most part do not
touch charges of treason, as to which the old law in the main still
applies. At the present time the looseness of pleading in criminal cases
is carried almost too far; for while there is no danger in such
looseness when times are quiet and when law is administered by the
judges of the High Court in England, yet when crimes of a certain
character are committed in times of great political excitement and the
law is administered by an inferior judiciary, there may be some danger
of injustice if the strictness of pleading and procedure is too much
relaxed. In the Criminal Code drafted by Sir James Fitz James Stephen
and revised by a judicial commission (Lord Blackburn and Lords Justices
Lush and Barry), it was proposed to substitute for the old form of
indictment a statement of the particulars of the offence with a
reference to the section of the code defining the offence.
The law of Ireland as to indictments is in substance the same as that of
England; but is to a certain extent expressed in different statutes.
In Scotland the terms indictment or criminal letters are used to express
the _acte d'accusation_. But except in the case of high treason there is
no grand jury, and the indictment is filed like an English criminal
information by the lord advocate or one of his deputies: and it is only
by order of the court of justiciary that a prosecution can be instituted
without the general or particular assent of the lord advocate. By the
Criminal Procedure Scotland Act 1887 the form of Scots indictments is
much simplified. They are drawn in the second and not in the third
person.
In those of the British colonies in which by settlement or statute the
English criminal law runs, the form of indictment is substantially the
same, and is found by a grand jury as in England. But in certain
colonies, e.g. the Australian states, an indictment by a public officer
without the intervention of a grand jury has been adopted. In India and
British Asiatic possessions the procedure is regulated by the Indian
Procedure Code or its adaptations. In South Africa indictments are
framed under Roman Dutch law as modified by local legislation.
In the United States prosecution or indictment by a grand jury is the
rule: the form of indictment is the same, substituting the state or
commonwealth of the United States for references to the king, and the
conclusions "against the form of the statute" and "against the peace"
are still in use. (W. F. C.)
"INDIES, LAWS OF THE," in the colonial history of Spain, a general term
designative either (1) of certain codifications of legislation for the
colonies listed below, and especially the compilation of 1680; or (2) of
the whole body of colonial law, of which those compilations were but a
selection, and which was made up of a multitude of royal _cédulas_,
orders, letters, ordinances, provisions, instructions, _autos_,
dispatches, pragmatics and laws--all emanating from the crown (or crown
and cortes) and all of equal force--that were passed through various
departments of government to various officers and branches of the
colonial administration, or between the different departments of
government in Spain. The transfer of Spanish law to Ultramar began with
the first days of the Conquest; and especially the civil law was
translated with comparatively slight alteration. Many things, however,
peculiar to colonial conditions--the special relations of the crown and
the papacy in America, the _repartimientos_ and _encomiendas_
("divisions of lands" and "commendations," a system of patronage, or
modified slavery) of the Indians, the development of African slavery,
questions of natural and international law, the spread of discovery and
establishment of new settlements and administrative areas, the sales and
grants of public lands, the working of the mines--necessitated the
organization of a great mass of special law, made up of a body of
general doctrine and a vast quantity of administrative applications, _la
matéria de Indias_--to which references are already found in the time of
Ferdinand. The general doctrine was applicable everywhere in Ultramar,
and the difficult and inconstant communication between the provinces,
and other considerations, early counselled some work of codification.
The first efforts to this end were begun in Mexico in 1525; a volume was
published in 1563, and other inadequate compilations in 1596 and 1628,
and finally the great _Recopilación de Leyes de las Reinos de las
Indias_ of 1680. This code has enjoyed great fame, and in some ways even
extravagant praise. The greatest praise that has been given it is that
its dominant spirit through and through is not the mercantile aim but
the political aim--the principle of civilization; and this praise it
deserves. It had various defects, however, of an administrative nature;
and as time passed its basic doctrines--especially its minute
administrative strangulation of colonial political life, and its
monopolistic economic principles--became fatally opposed to conditions
and tendencies in the colonies. Two centuries in formation, the code of
1680--continually altered by supplementary interpretation and
application--was only one century in effect; for in the
seventeen-sixties Charles III. began, in a series of liberal decrees, to
break down the monopolistic principles of colonial commerce. This change
came too late to save the mainland colonies in America, but its
remarkable effects were quickly seen in the aggrandizement of Cuba. It
is in the history of this colony (as also in Porto Rico and the
Philippines) that one must follow the later history of the Laws of the
Indies (see CUBA).
Of the _Recopilación_ of 1680, five editions were issued by the
government, the last in 1841 (Madrid, 4 vols.); and there are later,
private editions approved by the government. See also J. M. Zomora y
Coronado, _Biblioteca de legislacion Ultramarina_ (Madrid, 1844-1849,
6 vols., with appendices often bound as vol. 7); J. Rodriguez San
Pedro, _Legislacion Ultramarina concordada_, covering 1837-1868 (12
vols., Madrid, 1865-1868, vols. 10-12 being a supplement); the
_Boletin oficial del Ministerio de Ultramar_, covering 1869-1879; and
M. Fernandez Martin, _Compilacion legislativa del gobierno y
administracion civil de Ultramar_ (Madrid, 1886-1894); the gap of
1879-1886 can be filled for Cuba by the series of _Reales Ordenes ...
publicadas en la Gaceta de la Habana_ (annual, Havana, 1857-1898,
covering 1854-1898).
INDIGO (earlier _indico_, from Lat. _indicum_, the Indian substance or
dye; the Sans. name was _niti_, from _nila_, dark blue, and this through
Arab. _al-nil_, _annil_, gives "aniline") one of the most important and
valuable of all dyestuffs. Until comparatively recently it was obtained
exclusively from the aqueous extract of certain plants, principally of
the genus _Indigofera_ which belongs to the natural order Leguminosae.
Small quantities are also obtained from _Lonchocarpus eyanescens_ (west
coast of Africa), _Polygonum tintorium_ (China) and the woad plant
_Isatis tinctoria_. The latter is of historical interest, since up to
the middle of the 17th century it was the only blue dyestuff used by
dyers in England and on the adjoining continent; at the present time
woad is still cultivated in Europe, but serves merely as a ferment in
the setting of the fermentation indigo vat or so-called "woad vat" used
in wool dyeing.
The bulk of the natural indigo which is brought into the market comes
from India, while smaller quantities are imported from Java, Guatemala
and other places. The plant from which indigo is made in Bengal is the
_Indigofera sumatrana_, which is reared from seed sown about the end of
April or the beginning of March. By the middle of June the plant has
attained a height of from 3 to 5 ft., and it is at this period that the
first manufacturing begins, a second crop being obtained in August. The
indigo is contained in the leaf of the plant in the form of a colourless
glucoside, known as indican, C14H17O6N·3H2O. This substance is soluble
in water and by the joint action of an enzyme, contained in the leaf,
and atmospheric oxygen it yields indigotine, the colouring matter of
indigo. It is on these facts that the manufacturing of indigo from the
plant is based.
The plant is cut early in the morning and transported to the factory in
bullock carts. Here it is steeped in water in steeping vats having a
capacity of about 1000 cub. ft. for periods varying, according to
circumstances, from nine to fourteen hours, when the liquid--the colour
of which varies from a bright orange to an olive green--is run into the
beating vats which lie at a lower level. The beating, the object of
which is to bring the liquor as freely as possible into contact with the
air, was formerly done by striking the surface with bamboo sticks, but
is now effected either by means of a paddle wheel or by forcing a
current of air from a steam blower or a compressor through the liquid.
When the beating is finished, the precipitated indigo is allowed to
settle, the supernatant liquid being drawn off and run to waste. The
indigo mud thus obtained, which is known as mal, is strained, boiled for
a short period for the purpose of sterilizing, formed into bars, cut
into blocks of about 3 in. cube and dried.[1] The actual amount of
colouring matter yielded by the leaf is but small, averaging, according
to Ch. Rawson, 0.5%, but the yield from the whole plant is considerably
less, since the stalks and twigs contain practically no colour.
Since the introduction on a large scale of synthetic indigo efforts have
been made in India and in Java to place the cultivation of the plant and
the manufacture of the natural product on a more scientific basis. But
although many important improvements have been achieved from the
agricultural as well as from the manufacturing point of view, resulting
no doubt in the retention of a portion of the industry, the synthetic
product has gained the upper hand and is likely to retain it.
Natural indigoes vary considerably in composition, containing in some
qualities as much as 90% and in others as little as 20% of colouring
matter. The blue colouring matter which indigo contains is known as
indigotine, but there are usually also present in small quantities other
colouring matters such as indigo red or indirubrine, a yellow colour
known as kaempferol, indigo green and indigo brown, as well as indigo
gluten and more or less mineral matter.
The bulk of the indigo which now comes into the European market is
prepared synthetically from coal tar. The following figures indicate the
values of the imports into England of natural and synthetic indigo, and
are taken from the official Board of Trade returns:--
+--------+-----------------+-------------------+
| | Natural Indigo. | Synthetic Indigo. |
+--------+-----------------+-------------------+
| 1899 | £986,090 | .. |
| 1900 | 542,089 | .. |
| 1901 | 788,820 | .. |
| 1902 | 498,043 | £143,613 |
| 1903 | 262,775 | 110,970 |
| 1904 | 316,070 | 83,397 |
| 1905 | 116,902 | 121,269 |
| 1906 | 111,455 | 147,325 |
| 1907 | 151,297 | 158,481 |
| 1908 | 136,882 | 134,052 |
+--------+-----------------+-------------------+
During the period 1899-1908, the average price of indigo had declined
from a fraction under 3s. to about 2s. 2½d. per lb. At first sight it
might appear that the use of indigo in England was rapidly declining,
but this does not necessarily follow when it is borne in mind that
London was formerly the distributing centre of natural indigo for the
continent and America.
_Chemistry._--Our knowledge of the chemistry of indigo is largely
derived from the classical researches of A. von Baeyer and his
collaborators. In 1841 Erdmann and Laurent observed that on oxidation
indigo yielded isatin; and in 1848 Fritzsche obtained aniline by
distilling the dyestuff with potash. In 1870 A. v. Baeyer and Knop
succeeded in preparing indigotine by heating isatin with phosphorus
trichloride, acetyl chloride and phosphorus. In the same year, C.
Engler and A. Emmerling obtained small quantities of the dyestuff by
heating nitroacetophenone with soda-lime and zinc dust, while in 1875
M. v. Nencki prepared it by the oxidation of indol by ozone. Indol had
been previously obtained from albuminoids by means of the pancreas
ferment. It was not, however, until 1880 that v. Baeyer, who had been
at work on the subject since 1865, was able to obtain indigotine from
more or less easily accessible coal tar derivatives of known
constitution. The most important of these synthetic processes due to
the researches of v. Baeyer was the production of the dyestuff from
ortho-nitrophenylpropiolic acid (see Propiolic Acid), which yields
indigotine on being treated with caustic soda and a reducing agent
such as grape sugar or xanthate of soda. Although used in small
quantities in calico printing, it never attained any commercial
importance as a means of producing indigo, the cost of production
being far too high.
Many synthetic processes of preparing indigotine have since been
devised, but the one which stands out pre-eminently from a technical
point of view and the one which ultimately led to the commercial
success of the synthetic product is that of Heumann who showed in 1890
that indigotine can be prepared by melting phenylglycocoll
(phenylglycine), C6H5·NH·CH2·COOH, with caustic alkalis. The yield
was at first very unsatisfactory. It was subsequently found, however,
that by starting with phenylglycocoll-ortho-carboxylic acid, the yield
was sufficiently good to render the process a practical success. The
starting-point for the manufacture of synthetic indigo is naphthalene,
C10H8, which is oxidized, by heating with concentrated sulphuric acid
in the presence of a little mercury, to phthalic anhydride,
C6H4(CO)2O, which is then converted into ortho-aminobenzoic acid,
C6H4(NH2)(CO2H), by treatment with an alkaline hypochlorite. This acid
is then condensed with monochloracetic acid to form
phenylglycocoll-ortho-carboxylic acid, C6H4(NH·CH2·CO2H)(CO2H), which
on being melted with caustic alkali yields indoxylic acid,
/C(OH)\\
C6H4 / \\ C·CO2H,
\ NH /
and this readily loses carbon dioxide and passes over into indoxyl,
/C(OH)\\
C6H4 / \\ CH.
\ NH /
By alkaline oxidation indoxyl is converted into indigotine.
The patent literature of processes for bringing about the conversion
of the phenylglycine or its carboxylic acid into indoxylic acid,
indoxyl and indigotine is enormous; a circumstance due to the fact
that the efficiency of this operation controls the price of the
synthetic dyestuff. Caustic soda has been practically given up, being
replaced partly or wholly by caustic potash; in addition, alkaline
earths, sodamide, nitrides, alkali carbides, &c., have been used. In
1906, Meister, Lucius and Brüning patented the addition of lead and
sodium to a mixture of caustic potash and soda; the Basler Chemische
Fabrik use a mixture of caustic potash and soda at 210°-260°; Léon
Lilienfeld added slaked lime or magnesia to the fused alkali, with a
subsequent heating in a current of ammonia at 150°-300°, and in 1908
patented a process wherein the melt is heated under greatly reduced
pressure; this gave a yield of 80-90%.
Synthetic indigo comes into the market chiefly in the form of a 20%
paste but is also sold in the solid state in the form of a powder.
Indigotine, C16H10N2O2, is a derivative of indol and its constitution
is
CO CO
/ \ / \ / \ / \
| | C:C | |
\ / \ / \ / \ /
NH NH
It can be prepared in an almost pure state by extracting good
qualities of Bengal or Java indigo or synthetic indigo with boiling
nitrobenzene, from which it crystallizes on cooling in dark blue
crystals having a metallic sheen. When heated in an open vessel it
readily volatilizes, yielding a violet vapour which condenses on
cooling in the form of crystals. Indigotine is also soluble in boiling
aniline oil, quinoline, glacial acetic acid and chloroform, but is
insoluble in water, dilute acids and alkalis and ordinary solvents
like alcohol, ether, &c. By nitric acid and many other oxidizing
agents it is readily converted into isatin, C8H5NO2. Heated with
concentrated sulphuric acid it yields a disulphonic acid,
C16H8N2O2(SO3H)2, the sodium salt of which finds application as an
acid colour in wool dyeing under the name of Indigo carmine.[2] By the
action of reducing agents, indigotine is converted into _indigo
white_, C16H12N2O2, which is readily soluble in alkalis or milk of
lime with a yellow colour. On exposing the alkaline solution to the
air the indigo white is rapidly oxidized back to indigotine, and on
these two reactions the application of indigo in dyeing and printing
is based. (See DYEING and TEXTILE PRINTING.)
Various halogen (chlorine and bromine) substitutive derivatives of
indigotine have been introduced which, while not differing essentially
from ordinary indigo in their properties, produce for the most part
redder shades in dyeing. They are claimed to be faster and brighter
colours. It has been shown by Friedländer (Ber., 1909, 42, p. 765)
that the reddish violet colouring matter obtained from the
colour-yielding glands of the mollusc _Murex brandaris_, by means of
which the famous Tyrian purple of the ancients was dyed, is a
dibromindigo, C16H8Br2N2O2. A new departure in the synthetic dyestuffs
belonging to the indigo group was inaugurated by the discovery in 1906
by P. Friedländer of thioindigo red, a derivative of thionaphthen,
which is formed from phenylthioglycol-ortho-carboxylic acid,
/CO2H
C6H4 /
\ S·CH2CO2H.
This substance, on boiling with alkali and then with dilute acid
yields thioindoxyl,
/CO\
C6H4 / \ CH2,
\ S /
which is converted by alkaline oxidation into thioindigotin, having
the constitution
/CO\ /CO\
C6H4 / \ C:C / \ C6H4.
\ S / \ S /
The new dyestuff is therefore analogous to indigotine, from which it
differs by having the imino groups replaced by sulphur atoms.
Thioindigo red can be readily crystallized from boiling benzene, and
forms reddish brown crystals possessing a metallic reflex. Thioindigo
scarlet,
/CO\ /CO \
C6H4 / \ C = C / \ NH,
\ S / \C6H4 /
is also obtained synthetically. Both products come into the market in
the form of pastes and are used in dyeing like indigo (see DYEING).
(E. K.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For a full account of the manufacture of indigo in northern Behar
see Ch. Rawson, _Journ. Soc. Dyers and Colourists_ (July 1899).
[2] Although bright shades of blue are produced with this derivative,
they are not fast.
INDIUM (symbol In, atomic weight 114.8), a metallic chemical element,
included in the sub-group of the periodic classification of the elements
containing aluminium, gallium and thallium. It was first discovered in
1863 by F. Reich and Th. Richter (_Journ. für prak. Chem._, 1863, 89, p.
444) by means of its spectrum. It occurs naturally in very small
quantities in zinc blende, and is best obtained from metallic zinc
(which contains a small quantity of indium) by treating it with such an
amount of hydrochloric acid that a little of the zinc remains
undissolved; when on standing for some time the indium is precipitated
on the undissolved zinc. The crude product is freed from basic zinc
salts, dissolved in nitric acid and the nitric acid removed by
evaporation with sulphuric acid, after which it is precipitated by
addition of ammonia. The precipitated indium hydroxide is converted into
a basic sulphite by boiling with excess of sodium bisulphite, and then
into the normal sulphite by dissolving in hot sulphurous acid. This salt
on strong ignition leaves a residue of the trioxide, which can be
converted into the metal by heating in a current of hydrogen, or by
fusion with sodium (C. Winkler, _Journ. für prak. Chem._, 1867, 102, p.
273). Indium is a soft malleable metal, melting at 155° C. Its specific
gravity is 7.421 and its specific heat 0.05695 (R. Bunsen).
_Indium oxide_, In2O3, is a yellow powder which is formed on ignition of
the hydroxide. It is readily reduced on heating with carbon or hydrogen,
and does not pass into an insoluble form when ignited. The _hydroxide_,
In(OH)3, is prepared, as a gelatinous precipitate, by adding ammonia to
any soluble indium salt. It is readily soluble in caustic potash, but
insoluble in ammonia.
Three chlorides of indium are known: the _trichloride_, InCl3, a
deliquescent salt, formed by heating a mixture of the oxide and carbon
in a current of chlorine; the _dichloride_, InCl2, obtained by heating
the metal in hydrochloric acid gas; and the _monochloride_, InCl, which
is prepared by distilling the vapour of the dichloride over metallic
indium. The mono- and dichlorides are decomposed by water with the
formation of the trichloride, and separation of metallic indium. _Indium
Sulphate_, In2(SO4)3, is obtained as a white powder very soluble in
water by evaporating the trioxide with sulphuric acid. Concentration of
the aqueous solution in a desiccator gives a deposit of crystals of a
very deliquescent salt, H2In2(SO4)4·8H2O. An _indium ammonium alum_,
In2(S04)3·(NH4)2S04·24H20 is known.
The atomic weight of indium has been determined by C. Winkler and by R.
Bunsen by converting the metal into its oxide. Thiel (_Ber._, 1904, 37,
p. 1135) obtained the values 115.08 and 114.81 from analyses of the
chloride and bromide, whilst F. C. Mathers (_Abst. J.C.S._, 1907, ii.
352) obtained 114.88 and 114.86. Indium salts can be recognized by the
dark blue colour they give in the flame of the Bunsen burner; and by the
white beads of metal and the yellow incrustation formed when heated on
charcoal with sodium carbonate.
INDIVIDUALISM (from Lat. _individualis_, that which is not divided, an
individual), in political philosophy, the theory of government according
to which the good of the state consists in the well-being and free
initiative of the component members. From this standpoint, as contrasted
with that of the various forms of socialism (q.v.) which subordinate the
individual to the community, the community as such is an artificial
unity. Individualism is, however, by no means identical with egoism,
though egoism is always individualistic. An individualist may also be a
conscientious altruist: he is by no means hostile to or aloof from
society (any more than the socialist is necessarily hostile to the
individual), but he is opposed to state interference with individual
freedom wherever, in his opinion, it can be avoided. The practical
distinction in modern society is necessarily one of degree, and both
"individualism" and "socialism" are very vaguely used, and generally as
terms of reproach by opponents. Every practical politician of whatever
party must necessarily combine in his programme individualistic and
socialist principles. Extreme individualism is pure anarchy: on the
other hand Thomas Hobbes, a characteristic individualist, vigorously
supported absolute government as necessary to the well-being of
individuals. Moreover it is conceivable under given circumstances that
an individualist might logically advocate measures (e.g. compulsory
military service) which conflict with individual freedom. In practice
individualism is chiefly concerned to oppose the concentration of
commercial and industrial enterprise in the hands of the state and the
municipality. The principles on which this opposition is based are
mainly two: that popularly elected representatives are not likely to
have the qualifications or the sense of responsibility required for
dealing with the multitudinous enterprises and the large sums of public
money involved, and that the health of the state depends on the
exertions of individuals for their personal benefit.
INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES. "Indo-Aryan" is the name generally adopted for
those Aryans who entered India and settled there in prehistoric times,
and for their descendants. It distinguishes them from the other Aryans
who settled in Persia and elsewhere, just as the name "Aryo-Indian"
signifies those inhabitants of India who are Aryans, as distinguished
from other Indian races, Dravidians, Mundas and so on. A synonym of
"Aryo-Indian" is "Gaudian" or "Gaurian," based on a Sanskrit word for
the non-Dravidian parts of India proper. These two words refer to the
people from the point of view of India, while "Indo-Aryan" looks at them
from the wider aspect of Indo-European ethnology and philology. The
general history of the Aryan languages is treated in the articles
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES and ARYAN. Here we propose to offer a brief
review of the special course of their development in India.
Most of the Indo-Aryans branched off from the common Aryan stock in the
highlands of Khokand and Badakshan, and marched south into what is now
eastern Afghanistan. Here some of them settled, while others entered the
Punjab by the valley of the river Kabul. This last migration was a
gradual process extending over several centuries, and at different
epochs different tribes came in, speaking different dialects of the
common language. The literary records of the latest times of this
invasion show us one Indo-Aryan tribe complaining of the unintelligible
speech of another, and even denying to it the right of common
Aryan-hood.
_The Pisaca Languages._--Before proceeding farther, it is advisable to
discuss the fate of another small group of languages spoken in the
extreme north-west of India. After the great fission which separated the
main body of the Indo-Aryans from the Iranians, but before all the
special phonetic characteristics of Iranian speech had developed,
another horde of invaders crossed the Hindu Kush from the Pamirs,
journeying directly south. They occupied the submontane tract, including
the country round Chitral and Gilgit, Kashmir and Kafiristan. Some even
followed the course of the Indus as far as Sind, and formed colonies
there and in the western Punjab. Here they mingled with the Indo-Aryans
who had come down the Kabul valley, and to a certain extent infected the
local dialect with their idioms. How far their influence extended over
the rest of India is undecided, and will probably never be known, but
traces of it have been detected by some inquirers even in the dialects
of modern Marathi. Those who remained behind in the hill country, the
whole of which is popularly known as Dardistan, were isolated by the
inhospitable nature of their home and by their own savage character.
They seem to have had customs allied to cannibalism, and in later Indian
literature legends grew around them as a race of demons called
_Pisacas_, [Greek: hômophagoi], who spoke a barbaric tongue called
_Paisaci_. This language appears now and then in the Sanskrit drama, and
Sanskrit philologists wrote still-extant grammatical notices of its
peculiarities. These show that it possessed an extremely archaic
character, and the same fact is prominent in the Pisaca languages of the
present day. Some words which were spoken in the oldest time are
preserved with hardly a change of letter, while in India proper the
corresponding forms have either disappeared altogether or have been so
changed as to be hardly recognizable at first sight. The principal
modern Pisaca languages are three or four spoken in Kafiristan, Khowar
of Chitral, Shina of Gilgit, Kashmiri, and Kohistani. The last two are
border tongues, much mixed with the neighbouring languages of India
proper. The only one which has any literature is Kashmiri (q.v.). The
rest are entirely uncultivated. Their general character may be described
as partly Indian and partly Iranian, although they have in their
isolated position developed some phonetic laws of their own.
_Indo-Aryan Classification._--The oldest specimens of Indo-Aryan speech
which we possess very closely resemble the oldest Iranian (see PERSIA:
_Language_). There are passages in the Iranian Avesta which can be
turned into good Vedic Sanskrit by the application of a few simple
phonetic laws. It is sufficient for our present purposes to note that
after the separation the development of the two old forms of speech went
on independently and followed somewhat different lines. This is most
marked in the treatment of a nexus of two consonants. While modern
Iranian often retains the nexus with little or no alteration, modern
Indo-Aryan prefers to simplify it. For instance, while the old Aryan
_sth_ becomes _s^it_ or _ist_ in modern Persian, it becomes _tth_ or
_th_ in modern Indo-Aryan. Similarly _bhr_ becomes _b^ir_ in the former,
but _bbh_ or _bh_ in the latter. Thus:--
+----------------+-------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Old Indo-Aryan.| Old Iranian.| Modern Persian. | Hindi. |
+----------------+-------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| sthana- | stana- | s^itan_ or istan| thana, a place. |
| bhratar- | bratar- | b^iradar | bhai, a brother.|
+----------------+-------------+-----------------+-----------------+
The earliest extant literary record of Indo-Aryan languages is the
collection of hymns known as the Rig-Veda. As we have it now, we may
take it as representing, on the whole, the particular vernacular dialect
spoken in the east of the Punjab and in the upper portion of the
Gangetic Doab where it was compiled. The tribe which spoke this dialect
spread east and south, and their habitat, as so extended, between the
Punjab and the modern Allahabad and reaching from the Himalaya to the
Vindhya Hills in the south, became known to Sanskrit geographers as the
_Madhyadesa_ or "_Midland_," also called _Aryavarta_, or the "home of
the Aryans." The language spoken here received constant literary
culture, and a refined form of its archaic dialect became fixed by the
labours of grammarians about the year 300 B.C., receiving the name of
_Samskrta_ (Sanskrit) or "purified," in contradistinction to the
folk-speech of the same tract and to the many Indo-Aryan dialects of
other parts of India, all of which were grouped together under the title
of _Prakrta_ (Prakrit) or "natural," "unpurified." Sanskrit (q.v.)
became the language of religion and polite literature, and thus the
Midland, the native land of its mother dialect, became accepted as the
true pure home of the Indo-Aryan people, the rest being, from the point
of view of educated India, more or less barbarous. In later times, the
great _lingua franca_ of India, Hindostani, also took its origin in this
tract.
Round the Midland, on three sides--west, south and east--lay a country
inhabited, even in Vedic times, by other Indo-Aryan tribes. This tract
included the modern Punjab, Sind, Gujarat, Rajputana with the country to
its east, Oudh and Behar. Rajputana belongs geographically to the
Midland, but it was a late conquest, and for our present purposes may be
considered as belonging to the Outer Band. The various Indo-Aryan
dialects spoken over this band were all more closely related to each
other than was any of them to the language of the Midland. In fact, at
an early period of the linguistic history of India there must have been
two sets of Indo-Aryan dialects,--one the language of the Midland and
the other that of the Outer Band.[1] Hoernle was the first to suggest
that the dialects of the Outer Band represent on the whole the language
of the earlier Indo-Aryan immigrants, while the language of the Midland
was that of the latest comers, who entered the Punjab like a wedge and
thrust the others outwards in three directions.
As time went on, the population of the Midland expanded and forced the
Outer Band into a still wider circuit. The Midland conquered the eastern
Punjab, Rajputana with Gujarat (where it reached the sea) and Oudh. With
its armies and its settlers it carried its language, and hence in all
these territories we now find mixed forms of speech. The basis of each
is that of the Outer Band, but the body is that of the Midland.
Moreover, as we leave the Midland and approach the external borders of
this tract, the influence of the Midland language grows weaker and
weaker, and traces of the original Outer language become more and more
prominent. In the same way the languages of the Outer Band were forced
farther and farther afield. There was no room for expansion to the west,
but to the south it flowed over the Maratha country, and to the east
into Orissa, into Bengal and, last of all, into Assam.
The state of affairs at the present day is therefore as follows: There
is a Midland Indo-Aryan language (Western Hindi) occupying the Gangetic
Doab and the country immediately to its north and south. Round it, on
three sides, is a band of mixed languages, Panjabi (of the central
Punjab), Gujarati, Rajasthani (of Rajputana and its neighbourhood), and
Eastern Hindi (of Oudh and the country to its south). Beyond these
again, there is the band of Outer Languages (Kashmiri, with its Pisaca
basis), Lahnda (of the western Punjab), Sindhi (here the band is broken
by Gujarati), Marathi, Oriya (of Orissa), Bihari, Bengali and Assamese.
There are also, at the present day, Indo-Aryan languages in the
Himalaya, north of the Midland. These belong to the Intermediate Band,
being recent importations from Rajputana. The Midland language is
therefore now enclosed within a ring fence of Intermediate forms of
speech.
We have seen that the word "Prakrit" means "natural" or "vernacular," as
opposed to the "purified" literary Sanskrit. From this point of view
every vernacular of India, from the earliest times, is a Prakrit. The
Rig-Veda itself, composed long before the birth of "purified" Sanskrit,
can only be considered as written in an old vernacular, and its
language, together with the other contemporary Indo-Aryan dialects which
never attained to the honour of "purification," may be called the
_Primary_ Prakrits of India. If we compare literary Sanskrit with
classical Latin (see Brandreth, "The Gaurian compared with the Romance
Languages," _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_ xi. (1879), 287; xii.
(1880), 335), then these Primary Prakrits correspond to the old Italic
dialects contemporary with and related to the literary language of Rome.
They were synthetic languages with fairly complicated grammars, no
objection to harsh combinations of consonants, and several grammatical
forms strange to the classical speech. In the course of centuries (while
literary Sanskrit remained stereotyped) they decayed into _Secondary_
Prakrits. These still remained synthetic, and still retained the
non-classical forms of grammar, but diphthongs and harsh combinations of
consonants were eschewed. They now corresponded to the post-classical
Italic dialects. Just as Sanskrit (and the Primary Prakrits) knew of a
city called Kausambi, which was known as Kosambi to the Secondary
Prakrits, so the real Umbrian name of the poet known to literature as
Plautus was Plot(u)s. Again, as the Latin _lactuca_ became _lattuca_, so
the Primary Prakrit _bhakta_- became the Secondary _bhatta_-. In India,
the dislike to harsh consonantal sounds, a sort of glottic laziness,
finally led to a condition of almost absolute fluidity, each word of the
Secondary Prakrits ultimately becoming an emasculated collection of
vowels hanging on to an occasional consonant. This weakness brought its
own Nemesis and from, say, A.D. 1000 we find in existence the series of
modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars, or, as they may be called, _Tertiary_
Prakrits, closely corresponding to the modern Romance languages. Here we
find the hiatus between contiguous vowels abolished by the creation of
new diphthongs, declensional and conjugational terminations consisting
merely of vowels becoming worn away, and new languages appearing, no
longer synthetic, but analytic, and again reverting to combinations of
consonants under new forms, which had existed three thousand years ago,
but which two thousand years of attrition had caused to vanish.
It is impossible to fix any approximate date for the change from the
Primary to the Secondary Prakrits. We see sporadic traces of the
secondary stage already occurring in the Rig-Veda itself, of which the
canon was closed about 1000 B.C. At any rate Secondary Prakrits were the
current vernacular at the time of the emperor Asoka (250 B.C.). Their
earliest stage was that of what is now called _Pali_, the sacred
language of the Buddhists, which forms the subject of a separate article
(see PALI). A still later and more abraded stage is also discussed under
the head of PRAKRIT. This stage is known as that of the Prakrit _par
excellence_. When we talk of Prakrit without any qualifying epithet, we
usually mean this later stage of the Secondary Prakrits, when they had
developed beyond the stage of Pali, but before they had reached the
analytic stage of the modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars. The next, and
final, stage of the Secondary Prakrits was that of the _Apabhramsas_.
The word _Apabhramsa_ means "corrupt" or "decayed," and was applied to
the vernaculars in contrast to the Prakrit _par excellence_, which had
in its turn (like Sanskrit and Pali) become stereotyped by being
employed for literature. It is these _Apabhramsas_ which are the direct
parents of the modern vernacular. The following is a list of the
Indo-Aryan vernaculars, showing, when known, the names of the
_Apabhramsas_ from which they are sprung, and the number of speakers of
each in the year 1901:--
+---------------+-------------------------------+------------+
| _Apabhramsa._ | Modern Language. | Number of |
| | | Speakers. |
+---------------+-------------------------------+------------+
| | _A. Language of the Midland._ | |
| Saurasena | Western Hindi | 40,714,925 |
| | | |
| | _B. Intermediate Languages._ | |
| Avanta | Rajasthani | 10,917,712 |
| " | Pahari Languages | 3,124,681 |
| Gaurjara | Gujarati | 9,439,925 |
| Saurasena | Pañjabi | 17,070,961 |
| Ardhamagadha | Eastern Hindi | 22,136,358 |
| | | |
| | _C. Outer Languages._ | |
| | (a) _North-Western Group._ | |
| Unknown | Kashmiri (with a Pisaca basis)| 1,007,957 |
| " | Kohistani (with a Pisaca | |
| | basis) | (unknown) |
| " | Lahnda or Western Pañjabi | 3,337,917 |
| Vracada | Sindhi | 3,494,971 |
| | | |
| | (b) _Southern Language._ | |
| Maharastra | Marathi | 18,237,899 |
| | | |
| | (c) _Eastern Group._ | |
| Magadha | Bihari | 34,579,844 |
| " | Oriya | 9,687,429 |
| " | Bengali | 44,624,048 |
| " | Assamese | 1,350,846 |
| | +------------+
| | Total More than |219,725,473 |
+---------------+-------------------------------+------------+
Of these, the Pahari languages are offshoots of Rajasthani imported into
the Himalaya. Kohistani includes the mixed dialects of the Swat and
Indus Kohistans. The census of 1901 did not extend to these tracts. A
full account of the _Apabhramsas_ will be found in the article PRAKRIT.
Although the modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars are not derived from
Sanskrit, and though all, or nearly all, are not derived from the
language of the Rig-Veda, nevertheless, as these are almost the only
sources of our information as to what the Primary Prakrits of India
were, and as all Primary Prakrits were related to these two and were in
approximately the same stage of phonetic development, they afford a
convenient means for carrying out historical investigation into the
origin of all the modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars to its legitimate
conclusion. At the same time they are not always trustworthy guides, and
sometimes fail to explain forms derived from other ancient contemporary
dialects, the originals of which were unknown to the Vedic and classical
literature. A striking example is the origin of the very common
locative suffix -_e_. This can be traced through the _Apabhramsa -hi_ to
the Pali -_dhi_. There all Indian clues cease, and it is not till we
recognize its relationship to the Greek -[Greek: ti] that we understand
that it is an ancient Indo-European termination kept alive in India by
some of the Primary Prakrits, but ignored both by the dialect of the
Rig-Veda and by literary Sanskrit. With this reservation, a short
comparison of Sanskrit with the Secondary and Tertiary Prakrit
developments will be of interest. As the Pali and Prakrit stages are
fully treated under their proper heads, very brief references to them
will be sufficient.
_A. Vocabulary._--The ground of all the vocabularies of the modern
Indo-Aryan vernaculars is, of course, the vocabulary of Aryan India in
the Vedic period. Thousands of words have descended from the earliest
times and are still in existence, after passing through certain
changes subject to well-known phonetic laws. As many of these laws are
the same for every language, it follows that a large stock of words,
which principally differ in inflection, is common to all these modern
forms of speech. These words, which natives believe to be derived from
Sanskrit itself, are called by them _tadbhava_, i.e. "having 'that'
(sc. Sanskrit, or, more correctly, the Primary Prakrit) for its
origin." As the language of the Midland is derived from the old
dialect of which Sanskrit is the "polished" form, it is approximately
true to say that it is derived from that form of speech, and its
native vocabulary (allowing for phonetic development) may be said to
be the same as that of Sanskrit. But the farther we go from the
Midland, the more examples we meet of a new class of words which
natives of India call _desya_ or "country-born." Most of these are
really also _tadbhavas_, descendants of the old Primary Prakrit
dialects spoken outside the Midland, of whose existence native
scholars took no account. Finally, owing to the ever-present influence
of literary Sanskrit, words are, and have been for many generations,
borrowed direct from that language. Some of these borrowed words are
due to the existence of Sanskrit as the language of religion. Their
use is paralleled by the employment of Greek and Latin words for
religious technical terms in all the languages of Europe. Others are
technical terms of arts and sciences, but most of those which we meet
are simply employed for the sake of fine language, much as if some
purist were to insist on employing _hlaford_ instead of "lord" in
writing English. These Sanskrit words are known as _tatsama_ or "the
same as 'that' (sc. Sanskrit)." The number of _tatsamas_ employed
varies much. In languages such as Panjabi which have little or no
literature, and in the speech of the peasantry all over India, they
are few in number. In the modern literary Bengali a false standard of
literary taste has led to their employment in overwhelming numbers,
and the homely vigorous home-speech, which is itself capable of
expressing every idea that the mind of man can conceive, flounders
about awkwardly enough under the weight of its borrowed plumes. The
native vocabulary of the modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars is thus made up
of _tadbhavas_, _desyas_ and _tatsamas_.
The Dravidian languages of southern India have also contributed a
small quota to the Indo-Aryan vocabulary. Most of the words have been
given a colour of contempt in the process of borrowing. Thus the word
_pilla_, a cub, is really the Dravidian _pillai_, a son. But the most
important accretion from outside comes from Persian, and (through
Persian) from Arabic. This is due to Mahommedan influence. In the
Mogul courts Persian was for long the language of politeness and
literature, and words belonging to it filtered into all stages of
society. The proportion of these Persian words varies greatly in the
different languages. In some forms of Western Hindi they have almost
monopolized the vocabulary, while in others, such as Bengali and
Marathi, the number is very few. Instances of borrowing from other
languages are of small importance.
_B. Phonetics._--The alphabet of the Indo-Aryan languages is, on the
whole, the same as that of Sanskrit (q.v.), and the system of
transliteration adopted for that language is also followed for
them.[2] Some new sounds have, however, developed in the Secondary and
Tertiary Prakrits. New signs will be used for them, and will be
explained in the proper places. Sanskrit knew only long _e_ and _o_,
but already in the Secondary Prakrits we find a corresponding short
pair, _e_ and _o_, of which the use is considerably extended in the
tertiary stage. The Sanskrit diphthongs _ai_ and _au_ disappeared in
the secondary stage, _e_ and _o_ being substituted for them
respectively. On the other hand, in the same stage, we frequently come
across pairs of vowels, such as _aï_, _aü_, with a hiatus between the
two members. In the tertiary stage, these pairs have been combined
into new diphthongs _ai_ and _au_, shorter in pronunciation than _ai_
and _au_. The pronunciation of _ai_ and _ai_ may be compared with that
of the English "aye" and "I" respectively. In the languages of the
Outer Band, there is again a tendency to weaken this new _ai_ to _e_,
and the new _au_ to _o_. All the tertiary languages weaken a short
final vowel. In most it is elided altogether in prose, but in some of
those of the Outer Band (Kashmiri, Sindhi and Bihari) it is half
pronounced. Some of the Outer languages have also developed a new
_a_-sound, corresponding to that of _a_ in the German _Mann_. The
stress-accent of classical Sanskrit has as a rule been preserved
throughout. In the tertiary stage it generally resolves itself into
falling on the ante-penultimate, if the penultimate is short. If the
latter is long it takes the accent. In the eastern-languages there is
a tendency to throw the accent even farther back. There is also
everywhere a tendency to lighten the pronunciation of a short vowel
after an accented syllable, so that it is barely audible. Thus,
_cál^ata_ for _cálata_. In some dialects, e.g. the Urdu form of
Western Hindi, this "imperfect" vowel has altogether disappeared, as
in _cálta_.
The tertiary languages have on the whole preserved the consonantal
system of the secondary stage, preferring, however, as a rule, to
simplify double consonants, with compensatory lengthening of the
preceding vowel. Thus, for Sanskrit _hasta_-, a hand, we have
Secondary Prakrit _hattha_-, Tertiary _hath_. Some tertiary languages
have both _hatth_ and _hath_: others (like Gujarati) have only _hath_:
while others (like Panjabi) have only _hatth_. In the extreme
north-west, Sindhi and Lahnda, under the influence of the Pisaca
languages, simplify the double consonant without compensatory
lengthening, so that we have _hath_. Again, many languages of the
Outer Band show a tendency to avoid aspiration, so that Kashmiri,
Marathi, Bengali and others have _hat_. It is well known that the
Iranian languages change _s_ to _h_. The Tertiary Prakrits of the
Outer Band find analogous difficulty in pronouncing a sibilant. The
north-western languages change it to _h_ as in Persian. Marathi
changes _s_ to _s_ before palatal sounds, and the same change occurs
in Bengali in the case of every uncompounded sibilant. Eastern Bengali
and Assamese go farther. Here _s_ is again sounded almost like _h_. On
the other hand, in the Midland, _s_ rarely becomes _h_ and then only
when medial. In the Outer languages the palatal consonants are also
liable to change; _j_ and _jh_ approach the sound of _z_, and _c_ and
_ch_ often become _ts_, or, in the East, a simple _s_. Thus, the
Midland cakar. a servant, is pronounced _tsakar_ in Marathi, and the
Midland _mach_, a fish, is sounded _mas_ in Marathi, Bengali and
Assamese.
_C. Declension._--In the latest stage of the Secondary Prakrits the
neuter gender begins to disappear, and in the tertiary stage, except
in Gujarati and Marathi, it is nearly altogether wanting. Elsewhere we
only come across occasional relics of its employment. In some of the
tertiary languages grammatical gender, as distinct from sexual gender,
has disappeared as entirely as it has in English. The dual number had
already fallen into disuse in the Secondary Prakrits. In the secondary
stage we see a gradual simplification of grammatical form and a
disappearance of case endings. The complicated Sanskrit system is more
and more superseded by the simple uniformity of the declension of
_a_-bases. One by one the case endings were discarded, and cases were
confounded with one another till at length in _Apabhramsa_ only one or
two forms remained for each number. In the tertiary stage there remain
in most languages only two cases, which we may call the nominative and
the oblique. The latter can be employed for any case except the
nominative, but the sense is usually defined by the aid of help-words
called postpositions.[3] It is a linguistic rule that languages in
which the genitive precedes the governing noun prefer suffixes to
prefixes and vice versa;[4] and, as the genius of the Indo-Aryan
languages does require the genitive to be prefixed, these help-words
take the form of suffixes. In the Midland they are still separate
words, but in the Outer Band each has in general become incorporated
with the main word to which it is attached. Thus, the Midland _ghora_,
a horse, has its oblique form _ghore_, genitive _ghore ker_, but
Bengali has oblique form _ghora_, genitive _gkorar_ contracted from
_ghora + (k)ar_. The ground principles of declension in all tertiary
languages are the same, but as each employs different postpositions
the systems of declension vary considerably. Marathi is the only true
Indo-Aryan language which has preserved anything more than sporadic
relics of the old system of case terminations.
_D. Conjugation._--Two tenses, the present and the imperative, of the
old synthetic system of conjugation have survived in all the Tertiary
Prakrits, and in some of them we also find the ancient future. All
other tenses are now made periphrastically, mostly with the aid of
participles to which auxiliary verbs may or may not be added. The
participles employed are all survivals of the old participles of the
present, of the past and (in some languages) of the future. The past
and future participles are passive in their origin, and hence tenses
formed with these participles must be construed passively. Thus,
instead of "I struck him" we must say, either "he was struck by me,"
or else (impersonally) "it was struck by me with reference to him."
So, for an intransitive verb we have, either "I am gone," or "it is
gone by me." In the language of the Midland this is quite simple and
clear, but in those of the Outer Band the subject (in the
instrumental, or as it is usually called "agent" case) is indicated by
means of pronominal suffixes attached to the participle or auxiliary
verb; thus (Bengali) _marila_ + _am_, struck + by-me, becomes
_marilam_, I struck. In such cases all memory of the passive meaning
of the participle is lost by the eastern languages, and it, together
with the appropriate pronominal suffixes, becomes in appearance and in
practical use an ordinary past tense conjugated as in Latin or in
Sanskrit. It is an instance of reversion to the original type; first
synthetic, then analytic, and then again a new synthetic conjugation.
In the other languages of the Outer Band, the memory of the passive
nature of the participle is retained, although the conjugation is as
synthetic as in the East, and the subject has to be put into the
"agent" case.
AUTHORITIES.--No work has yet been published dealing with Indo-Aryan
subjects as a whole, although several have been written which treat of
one or more stages of their development. For the general question of
the Pisaca languages, the reader may consult G. A. Grierson's _The
Pisaca Languages of North-Western India_ (London, 1906). For the
different languages of this group, see G. W. Leitner, _Dardistan_
(Lahore, 1877); J. Biddulph, _Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh_, (Calcutta,
1880); D. J. O'Brien, _Grammar and Vocabulary of the Khowar Dialect_
(Lahore, 1895); J. Davidson, _Notes on the Bashgali (Kafir) Language_
(Calcutta, 1901). For the linguistic conditions of Vedic times, the
Introduction to J. Wackernagel's _Altindische Grammatik_ (Göttingen,
1896) gives much useful information in a convenient form. For the
literature concerning Pali and Prakrit, see under those heads. The
following are the principal works dealing with the general question of
the Tertiary Prakrits: J. Beames, _Comparative Grammar of the Modern
Aryan Languages of India_ (1872-1879); A. F. R. Hoernle, _A Grammar of
the Eastern Hindi compared with the other Gaudian Languages_ (1880);
R. G. Bhandarkar, "The Phonology of the Prakrits of Northern India,"
in the _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_ (Bombay Branch), vol.
XVII., ii., 99-182 (see also the same author's series of papers on
cognate subjects in vol. XVI. of the same _Journal_); and G. A.
Grierson's essays "On the Phonology of the Modern Indo-Aryan
Vernaculars" in the _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen
Gesellschaft_, vols. xlix., 1. (1895-1896), 393, 1; "On the Radical
and Participial Tenses of the Modern Indo-Aryan Vernaculars" in the
_Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. lxiv. (1895), part
i., 352; and "On certain Suffixes in the Modern Indo-Aryan
Vernaculars" in the _Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung_
(1903), p. 473. The general subject of this article is discussed at
greater length in chapter vii. of the _Report on the Census of India,
1901_ (Calcutta, 1903). The volumes of the _Linguistic Survey of
India_ also contain much detailed information, summed up at length in
the introductory volume. (G. A. Gr.).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Attempts have been made to discover dialectic variations in the
Veda itself, and, as originally composed in various parts of the
Punjab widely distant from each other, the hymns probably did contain
many such. But they have been edited by compilers whose home was in
the Midland, and now their language is fairly uniform throughout. In
the time of Asoka (250 B.C.) there were at least two dialects, an
eastern and a western, as well as another in the extreme north-west.
The grammarian Patañjali (150 B.C.) mentions the existence of several
dialects.
[2] The Nagari (see SANSKRIT) and allied alphabets, when employed for
modern Indo-Aryan languages or for Prakrit, are transliterated in
this work according to the following system:--
a a i i u u r r e e ai ai o o au au m (_anusvara_) [infinity]
(anunasika) h (_visarga_).
k kh g gh rc
c (ts) ch (tsh) j (dz) jh (dzh) ñ
t th d (r) dh (rh) l lh n
t th d dh n
p ph b bh m
y r l v (w)
s s s h.
Special sounds employed by particular languages are described in the
articles in which reference is made to them. Here we may mention _å_,
sounded like the _aw_ in "law," and _ä_, _ö_, _ü_, pronounced as in
German.
[3] The origin of the postpositions is discussed in the article
HINDOSTANI.
[4] See P. W. Schmidt in _Mitteilungen der Wiener Anthropologischen
Gesellschaft_, xxxiii. 381.
INDO-CHINA, FRENCH.[1] The geographical denomination of French
Indo-China includes the protectorates of Annam, Tongking and Cambodia,
the colony of Cochin-China and part of the Laos country. In 1900 the
newly-acquired territory of Kwang-Chow Bay, on the coast of China, was
placed under the authority of the governor-general of Indo-China.
Cochin-China, a geographical definition which formerly included all the
countries in the Annamese empire--Tongking, Annam and Cochin-China--now
signifies only the French colony, consisting of the "southern provinces"
originally conquered from Annam, having Saigon as its capital. In its
entirety French Indo-China, the eastern portion of the Indo-Chinese
peninsula, lies between 8° 30´ and 230 25´ N. and 100° and 109° 20´ E.
It is bounded N. by China, on which side the frontiers have been
delimited; E. and S.E. by the Gulf of Tongking and the China Sea; W. by
the Gulf of Siam and Siam, and N.W. by Burma. The area is estimated at
about 290,000 sq. m., with a population of 17¼ millions, of whom 75 or
80% are Annamese. The French inhabitants number about 13,000.
The configuration of the country is determined by two rivers of unequal
importance--the Mekong and the Song-Koi--and a continuous chain of
mountains, an offshoot of the great Chinese group of Yun-nan, which,
making a double curve, forms an immense S. South and west of this
mountain chain the country forms part of the Mekong basin. To the north
and north-east of the chain the valley of the Song-Koi, or Red river,
constitutes almost the whole of Tongking, of which its delta represents
the most fertile and populous if not the largest portion. The small
mountainous provinces of Lang-Son, That-Ke and Kao-Bang, however, belong
geographically to the Si-Kiang basin. On the east the small province of
Mon-Kay, on the borders of Kwang-Tung, forms a little basin enclosed
between the mountains and the sea; on the south the province of
Thanh-Hoa, although crossed by the small river Song-Ma, forms the
extremity of the Red river delta and belongs to it, the two rivers being
united at some distance from the sea by a natural channel formed by the
junction of a northern branch of the Song-Ma with a southern branch of
the Song-Koi. The Red river descends from the mountains of Yun-nan,
rising near Tali-fu between deep and inaccessible gorges, and becomes
navigable only on its entry into Tongking. Means have been taken to
render it available to steam launches, and in consequence of an
agreement between the state and the Compagnie des Correspondances
Fluviales a service of steamers is provided from its mouth to Lao-Kay.
Near Hung-Hoa the Red river receives its two chief tributaries, the
Black river from the plateaus of the west--the land pf the Muongs--and
the Clear river, one of the largest of whose tributaries issues from the
Ba-Be lakes. The Black river is navigable for a considerable distance,
the Clear river only from Tuyen-Kwang. Between the basins of the
Song-Koi and the Mekong the chain of mountains, crowned by tolerably
extensive plateaus, covers, with its ramifications and transverse spurs,
a vast extent of country little known, although several trade-routes
traverse it, thus placing the Laos country in communication with
Tongking and Annam. In about 19° N. the mountain-ridge approaches the
sea and runs parallel to the coast, presenting on its eastern side a
steep declivity which encloses a narrow littoral, in places only a mile
or two broad, between the base of its cliffs and the shore. This
coast-belt constitutes the habitable and cultivable portion of Annam
proper, and consists of alluvial matter accumulated at the mouths of
mountain streams, and marshes and swamps enclosed between land and sea
by sand ridges heaped up by wind and tide. The high valleys and plateaus
originally belonged to the empire, the limits of which, although invaded
and occupied by Siamese, formerly extended to the banks of the Mekong.
The western slopes form part of the French Laos possessions. The Mekong
valley includes Laos, Cambodia and the greater part of Cochin-China. The
Mekong (q.v.) is one of the largest rivers of south-eastern Asia, having
a course 1900 m. in length. Its mouths, six in number, communicate by
means of a navigable canal with the Saigon river (fed by the Don-Nai and
the two Vaico rivers), which is navigable by the largest warships,
rendering Saigon the most important natural port of Indo-China.
_Geology._--The deltaic tracts of the Mekong and Red river are
composed of alluvium (generally silicious clay) deposited by the
rivers. The mountains from which this soil is derived are granitic in
formation, the framework being almost always schists of ancient date,
dislocated, folded and occasionally rounded into hills 1000 to 1300
ft. in height, belonging to the Devonian period. Above these schists
lie--more especially in the north and south of Tongking--marbles and
other highly crystalline limestones, upon which rest, unconformably in
places (Nong-Son, Ke-Bao, Hon-Gáy), Carboniferous formations. In the
upper part of the Red river valley rich deposits of coal have been
found between Yen-Bay and Hai-Duong, in a considerable tract of
Tertiary rock. Limestone occurs also in the valley of the Mekong,
forming an extensive _massif_ in the district of Lakhon and in the
basins of the Nam-Ka-Dinh and Nam-Hin-Bun. These limestones appear to
be Carboniferous. In the region south of Lakhon the rock is Triassic,
and gold has been found in several districts. The natives collect it
in very small quantities by a washing process. In the lateral valleys
of the Mekong copper and tin are found. On the course of the
Nam-Paton, a tributary of the Nam-Hin-Bun, the natives work a
moderately productive tin-mine. Layers of spiegeleisen, limonite and
other iron ores are numerous in the Laos states, in which also
antimony occurs.
_Climate._--The climate of Indo-China is that of an inter-tropical
country, damp and hot. But the difference between the southern and
northern regions is marked, as regards both temperature and
meteorology. Cochin-China and Cambodia have very regular seasons,
corresponding with the monsoons. The north-easterly monsoon blows from
about the 15th of October to the 15th of April, within a day or so.
The temperature remains almost steady during this time, varying but
slightly from 78.8° to 80.6° F. by day to 68° by night. This is the
dry season. From the 15th of April to the 15th of October the monsoon
reverses, and blows from the south-west. The season of daily rains and
tornadoes commences. The temperature rises from 80.6° to 84.2°, at
which it remains day and night. April and May are the hottest months
(from 86° to 93.2°). The damp unwholesome heat sometimes produces
dysentery and cholera. The climate of Annam is less regular. The
north-easterly monsoon, which is "the ocean-wind," brings the rains in
September. The north-easterly gales lower the temperature below 59°.
September is the month in which the typhoon blows. During the dry
season--June, July and August--the thermometer oscillates between 86°
and 95°. The nights, however, are comparatively cool. Tongking has a
winter season--October to May. The temperature, lowered by fog and the
rains, does not rise above 75.2° and descends to 50° over the delta,
and to 44.6° and even 42.8° in the highlands, where white frost is
occasionally seen. The summer, on the other hand, is scorching. The
wind veers to the south-east and remains there until October. The
temperature rises to over 83°; often it reaches and continues for
several days at 95° or even more. The nights are distressingly
airless. The Laos country in the interior and lying at a high altitude
is cooler and drier. Its deep valleys and high hills vary its climate.
_Fauna and Flora._--From the populous cultivated districts wild
animals, once plentiful, have retired towards the wooded and
mountainous districts. The wild life of Laos includes fairly numerous
herds of elephants, the rhinoceros (one- and two-horned rhinoceros
horn is employed as a "medicine"), tiger, panther, brown bear,
tree-bear, monkeys and rats, among which are the musk rat, the palm
rat and the _nu-khi_, or rat found in the rice-fields of the
highlands, in which its ravages are considerable. In mountain
districts the leopard, wild boar and deer are found, and in the
neighbourhood of habitations the tiger-cat and ichneumon. The buffalo
is commonly found wild in Laos as a domesticated animal it also holds
a prominent place. The zebu bull is used for transport purposes.
Attempts to acclimatize the Arab horse and to introduce sheep from
Aden and China have failed. There is, however, an indigenous race of
horses, excellent in spite of their small size--the horses of Phu-Yen.
Among birds the woodcock, peacock and numerous species of duck inhabit
the woods and marshes. The goose and guinea-fowl appear, as also the
turkey, to have become easily acclimatized. Reptiles (apart from the
caimans of the Mekong, which attain a length of over 30 ft., and are
much appreciated by the Annamese as food) are extremely numerous and
varied in species. The rivers are rich in fish. The sole is found in
the rivers of Tongking. The Mekong is fished for two species peculiar
to it--the _pa-beuk_ and the _pa-leun_, which attain a length of
nearly 6 ft. All varieties of mosquitoes, ants and leeches combine to
render the forests bordering the Mekong impracticable. Peculiar
species of grubs and caterpillars destroy the cotton and coffee
plantations of Cochin-China. The silkworm may be said to be indigenous
in Tongking, where there are several thousand acres of mulberry trees.
The flora is inter-tropical, and comprises nearly all the trees known
in China and Japan. The bamboo is utilized in building and a variety
of other ways. Formerly the teak was believed not to exist in the
forests of Indo-China, but it was found some years ago in considerable
abundance, and plantations of it have been made. Certain hard woods
are used for marqueterie and other ornamental work. Rubber is also
exploited. Cotton, previously cultivated in Cochin-China and Cambodia,
gives excellent results in Laos. Tea, of which there are a certain
number of plantations in the highlands of Tongking and Annam, grows
wild in Upper Laos, and in quality closely resembles the Pou-eurl or
Pueul variety noted in Yun-nan. Cocoa, coffee and cotton are
cultivated in Tongking and Cambodia. Cinnamon and cardamoms are
gathered in Laos and Annam. Ground nuts, sesame, sugar canes, pepper,
jute, tobacco and indigo are also grown. The area under rice, which is
incomparably the most important crop, is approximately 1,750,000
acres. All European fruits and vegetables have been introduced into
Tongking, and with certain exceptions--the grape, for example--succeed
perfectly. Measures taken to secure the monopoly of opium have notably
increased the cultivation of the poppy.
_People._--The population of French Indo-China falls into five chief
divisions--the Annamese, forming the bulk of the population in Annam,
Tongking and Cochin-China and four-fifths of that of the whole country;
the Khmers or Cambodians; the Chains of southern Annam; the Thais,
including the Laotians; and the autochthonous tribes classed by the
other inhabitants as Mois or Khas ("savages"). Driven into the interior
by the now dominant races, these older people have mixed and blended
with the peoples whom they found there, and new tribes have arisen,
intermingled with fugitives from China, Annam and even Siam. In the
north of Tongking people of Laos origin occur--the Thos round Kaobang,
the Muongs in the mountains bordering the Red river. When mixed, with
Chinese the Muongs and the Thos are known as the Hung-dans, Mans and
Miens. The Muongs are bigger and stronger than the Annamese, their eyes
often almost straight. They have square foreheads, large faces and
prominent cheek-bones. In the centre and south of the Indo-Chinese
mountain chain are found, under a multiplicity of names--Phon-tays,
Souis, Bah-nan, Bolovens, Stiengs, Mors, Kongs, &c.--people of Malayan
origin mixed with all the races of Indo-China. Laos is inhabited by an
essentially miscellaneous population--falling into three main
groups--the Thais; various aboriginal peoples classed as Khas; and the
Moos and Yaos, tribes of Chinese origin.
_Religions._--The Annamese religion is a somewhat vague and very
tolerant Buddhism, which in practice resolves itself chiefly into the
worship of ancestors. Certain ceremonies performed in Cambodia resemble
distantly the Brahminical cult. The Roman Catholic religion has been
introduced by missionaries. The course of its history has not been free
from catastrophes and accidents. There is an apostolical vicariate in
Cochin-China, one in Cambodia and several mission stations in Tongking.
Two of these missions are mainly conducted by Spanish priests.
_Administration._--Before taking its present form the governmental
organization of Indo-China underwent many changes. Originally
Cochin-China, the only French possession in the peninsula, was a colony
directly administered, like other colonies, by the ministry of marine,
and its earliest governors were admirals. Later, as further conquests
were effected, Tongking and Cambodia were subjected to the régime of a
protectorate somewhat ill-defined, and placed under the authority of
residents-general. The seat of the resident-general of Tongking was at
Hanoi; of Cambodia, at Pnom-Penh. The government of the colonies having
been transferred (1889) from the ministry of marine to the ministry of
commerce, and in 1894 to the newly created ministry of the colonies, the
control of the residencies passed gradually into the hands of civil
agents. Cochin-China, which already by the decree of the 8th of February
1880 had been endowed with a colonial council, had a municipality, a
chamber of commerce, and even a deputy in the French parliament. There
had thus been three distinct states, each with its own ruler and
government. But by the decrees of the 17th of October and the 3rd of
November 1887 the unity of Indo-China was determined. By decree of
October the post of director of the interior of Cochin-China was done
away with and replaced by that of lieutenant-governor under the
immediate authority of a governor-general. The functions and powers of
the latter official were, however, but vaguely defined before the decree
of the 21st of April 1891, which conferred on M J. M. A. de Lanessan,
appointed governor-general, the most extensive powers. The
residents-general of Tongking, Annam and Cambodia, and the
lieutenant-governor of Cochin-China, as well as the military
authorities, were placed under him. But this change of policy, which put
an end to the system of expeditions and minor military operations, and
restricted the power of the residents whilst restoring to the mandarins
a share of authority, was unwelcome to numerous interests, which,
combining, secured the abrupt recall of M de Lanessan on the 29th of
December 1894. The decree of the 21st of April 1891 was not, however,
revoked, but the powers it conferred were restricted. After the
appointment of M Doumer, successor to M Rousseau, who died on the 10th
of December 1896, this decree was again put in force on the former
scale, and in 1898 it was supplemented by the decrees of the 3rd and
31st of July, which definitely established the political and financial
unity of Indo-China. The governor-general is the sole intermediary
between the Indo-Chinese Union and the home government, the powers of
which, with few restrictions, are delegated to him. As supreme
administrative and military authority, he directly controls the civil
services, and, though prohibited from commanding in the field, disposes
of the land and sea forces in the country. His diplomatic negotiations
with foreign powers must be carried on under the authorization and
surveillance of the home authorities. The governor-general is assisted
by the Superior Council of Indo-China, which meets monthly, and as
reorganized by the decree of the 8th of August 1898 is composed as
follows: the governor-general (president); the general commanding as
head of the troops; the rear-admiral commanding the naval squadron of
the Far East; the lieutenant-governor of Cochin-China; the residents
superior of Tongking, Annam, Cambodia and Laos; the director-general of
finances; the director of the _contrôle financier_; the head of the
judicial service of Indo-China; the director-general of the customs and
excise of Indo-China; the directors-general of agriculture, forests and
commerce; of public works; of posts and telegraphs; of health; and of
public instruction; the treasurer-general of Indo-China; the director of
the school of medicine at Hanoi; the president of the colonial council
of Cochin-China; the presidents of the chambers of commerce of Saigon,
Hanoi and Hai-Phong; the presidents of the united chambers of commerce
and agriculture of Annam and Cambodia; the presidents of the chambers of
agriculture of Tongking and Cochin-China; four influential natives; the
chief of the cabinet and the governor-general's secretary. This list
sufficiently indicates the departmental services, by means of which the
general government is carried on. The Superior Council meets not only at
Hanoi, the seat of the government, but also at Saigon, Hué and
Pnom-Penh. It delegates its powers to a "permanent commission"
consisting of thirteen of its members, and dispensing with the
attendance of the local authorities of regions other than those in which
the place of meeting is situated. The Superior Council meets annually to
receive the general budget and the local budgets which "must be accepted
by the governor-general at a session of the Superior Council."[2] It
must also be consulted on the distribution of military credits, and on
the credits to be devoted to public works. The _contrôle financier_,
which scrutinizes and sanctions all measures of the public services
involving outlay of money, is dependent on the ministry of the colonies.
Its returns have to be communicated to the governor-general.
The governor-general is also assisted by a "council of defence,"
comprising the chief military and naval authorities.
_Justice._--The whole of Indo-China is, in principle, subject to
French justice, represented by a court of appeal and a certain number
of tribunals. Before 1898 the administration of justice was not
centralized. There was a court of appeal at Hanoi, and another at
Saigon. But the decree of the 8th of August 1898 established one court
of appeal for French Indo-China: two chambers sitting at Saigon and
the other two at Hanoi. Three tribunals of commerce are established at
Saigon, Hanoi and Hai-Phong. There are courts of first instance at
Saigon, My-Tho, Vinh-Long, Ben-Tre, Chau-Doc, Kantho, Soc-Trang,
Tra-vinh, Long-Xuyen for Cochin-China, at Pnom-Penh for Cambodia, and
at Hanoi and Hai-Phong for Tongking. These courts are supplemented by
_juges de paix_ in Cochin-China, and there are _juges de paix_ at
Nam-Dinh (Tongking) and Tourane; elsewhere in the protectorates the
residents perform judicial functions. There are criminal courts at
Saigon, My-Tho, Vinh-Long and Long-Xuyen in Cochin-China, at Hanoi in
Tongking and at Pnom-Penh in Cambodia. In Cochin-China Annamese law is
administered in the French courts in suits between natives, but native
tribunals have been superseded. In Annam-Tongking, outside the sphere
of the French tribunals, the natives are subject to Annamese justice,
represented in each province by a mandarin, called the _An Sat_, and
in Cambodia the natives are subject to the native tribunals. At the
same time, whenever a French subject or European or other foreigner is
a party in an affair, French justice only is competent.
_Public Works._--The order of the 9th of September 1898 placed the
public works of Indo-China under the "direct authority of the
governor-general as regards works entered to the general budget
account." There is a director of public works in Indo-China at Saigon,
a director of engineering in the other countries. In 1895 a "special
service" was created in Tongking to consider railway business.
_Posts and Telegraphs._--The country is divided into two sections for
the purposes of this service, the one comprising Annam, Tongking and
Upper Laos, the other Cochin-China, Cambodia and Lower Laos. The post
and telegraph offices in Indo-China number about three hundred.
Tourane communicates by submarine cable with Amoy in China, thence
with Vladivostok and Europe.
_The Army--Land Force._--The military services are under the authority
of a general of division commanding in chief. The European troops in
1907 comprised four regiments of colonial infantry with 22 batteries
of artillery (10 in Tongking and 12 in Cochin-China). The native
troops, numbering over 18,000, comprised four regiments of Tongkingese
_tirailleurs_ (sharp-shooters), two of Annamese, a battalion of
Cambodian and a battalion of Chinese _tirailleurs_, a squadron of
Annamese _chasseurs_ or light horse and two companies of engineers.
_Sea Force._--Indo-China is protected by the naval division of the Far
East. In addition five gunboats are stationed at Saigon and a
third-class cruiser and some minor vessels at Hai-Phong.
The _Policing_ of the country is performed by natives (the _garde
indigène_) under European officers and by the _gendarmerie coloniale_,
which is reinforced by native auxiliaries.
_Money, &c._--The monetary unit is the _piastre_, which is of variable
value, having fallen from 4.50 francs to 2.40 francs and fluctuating
round that figure. The chief native coin is the _sapek_ of zinc or
tin, six hundred of which strung together form a _ligature_, a tenth
of which is called a _tien_. The piastre is worth 2700 sapeks. The
unit of weight, the _picul_, equals 60.4 kilos. (about 133 lb.); the
_thuoc-moe_ equals .425 metre (about 17 in.).
_Education._--The Annamese are intelligent and have old intellectual
and artistic traditions. In consequence the promotion of education has
been assigned to a special council (_Conseil de perfectionnement de
l'enseignement_) selected from Frenchmen and Asiatics particularly
qualified for membership. Among its preoccupations are the
reconstitution of the schools of Chinese characters in Cochin-China,
the remodelling of the programmes of the triennial examinations in
Annam and Tongking (see ANNAM) with a view to completing them with a
summary knowledge of French and science, the improvement of the
teaching given in the pagodas in Cambodia and Laos, and the foundation
of a university comprising classes for natives. In 1906, in
Cochin-China, where the largest sum (£45,000 in 1906) is devoted to
instruction, 22,500 children received a French education.
_Finance._--The unification of the budget brought about by M Doumer
(decree of the 31st of July 1898) specially contributed to that of the
government. The financial scheme is based on the political. Just as a
single central government directs the various local governments, so in
addition to the general budget, comprising the revenue and expenditure
of the supreme government, there are several local budgets, including
the revenue and expenditure incidental to the individual provinces.
The general budget in 1899 and 1904 is summarized below:--
_Receipts._ _Expenditure._
1899 £1,968,770 £1,639,800
1904 2,809,851 2,797,031
While direct taxes, e.g. the poll-tax and land tax or (in Cambodia)
the tax on products, are the main sources of revenue for the local
budgets, those for the general budget are the indirect taxes: (1)
customs (£619,616 in 1904); (2) "régies" and other indirect taxes
(£1,733,836 in 1904), these including the excise on alcohol, the
monopoly of the purchase and sale of salt, and the monopoly of the
purchase, manufacture and sale of opium.
The chief items of expenditure in 1904 were the following:--
Public Works £385,680
Customs and "régies" 618,654
Naval and Military Services 527,663
Loans[3] 417,421
_Shipping._--The following table shows the total tonnage of shipping
entered and cleared at the ports of French Indo-China in 1905 and its
distribution over the countries of the Union:--
+--------------+-----------------------+
| | Tonnage. |
| Country. +-----------+-----------+
| | Entered. | Cleared. |
+--------------+-----------+-----------+
| Cochin-China | 1,117,054 | 1,007,510 |
| Tongking | 242,119 | 348,947 |
| Annam | 28,065 | 26,406 |
| Cambodia | 2,520 | 2,012 |
+--------------+-----------+-----------+
| Total | 1,389,758 | 1,384,875 |
+--------------+-----------+-----------+
Over half the tonnage was French (698,178 tons entered); the United
Kingdom came second (284,277 tons); Germany, third (205,615 tons).
_Commerce._--The value of the trade of French Indo-China increased
from £6,796,000 in 1896 to £16,933,000 in 1905, its average annual
value for the years 1896-1905 being £12,213,000.
The following table shows the movement of commerce in 1905:
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | Imports. | Exports. | Total. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | £ | £ | £ |
| France | 4,314,586 | 1,233,295 | 5,547,881 |
| French colonies | 163,568 | 76,855 | 240,423 |
| Foreign countries| 5,704,257 | 5,440,156 | 11,144,413 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Total | 10,182,411 | 6,750,306 | 16,932,717 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
In 1905 the principal foreign countries from which goods were imported
were:
Hong Kong for £2,473,882[4]
Singapore " 598,449
China and Japan " 1,473,704
Burma and Siam " 289,542
The British Isled " 141,381
The United States " 126,425
The principal countries to which goods were exported were:
Hong Kong for £1,706,597[4]
China and Japan " 497,288
Singapore " 360,510
Burma and Siam " 80,071
The British Isles " 55,539
The principal imports were:
Wheat for £214,156
Rice " 226,755
Raw opium " 271,582
Raw cotton " 167,020
Wine " 340,027
Pit coal " 206,221
Petroleum " 388,163
Gold " 203,369
Iron and steel " 353,214
Tin " 526,428
Cotton thread " 672,040
Jute tissues " 254,255
Cotton tissues " 922,250
Silk tissues " 241,113
Paper " 344,633
Metal-work " 1,170,576
Arms, powder and ammunition " 170,882
The principal exports were:
Dried fish, salt and smoked for £151,415
Rice " 2,848,389
Pepper " 214,297
Pit coal " 182,077
Tin " 553,914
Cotton thread " 421,162
The customs tariff is substantially the same as that of France, severe
import duties being levied on foreign goods. French goods pay no
import duty and goods exported thither are exempt from export duty,
with the exception of sugar, which is regulated by special
legislation, and of various other colonial products (e.g. coffee,
cocoa, tea, vanilla, pepper) which pay half the duty applicable to
similar foreign products according to the minimum tariff. Goods from
French colonies pay no import duty. About 53% of the imports,
comprising nearly all manufactured goods of European origin, come from
France. China, Japan and Singapore are the other chief sources of
imports. The Bank of Indo-China (capital £1,440,000) besides receiving
deposits and discounting bills, issues bank-notes and has, till 1920,
the privilege of lending money on security.
_Communications._--The railway communications of French Indo-China
comprise lines from Hai-Phong to Lao-Kay, continued thence via the
Nam-Te valley to Yun-nan; from Hanoi northward to Lang-Son and south
to Vinh; from Tourane to Kwang-Tri via Hué and from Kan-Tho
(Cochin-China) to Khanh-Hoa (Annam) via My-Tho, Saigon, Bien-Hoa and
Jiring with branches to Phan-Tiet and Phan-Rang. The three last are
the completed sections of a line which will unite Tongking with
Cochin-China. The towns in the deltas of the Mekong and Red river are
united by a network of canals. The mandarin road following the coast
line of Annam connects Tongking with Cochin-China, but the easiest
means of communication between these two territories is by sea, the
voyage from Saigon to Tourane lasting three days, that from Tourane to
Hai-Phong, thirty hours.
_History_--The beginning of French influence in Indo-China dates from
1787, when a treaty was concluded between Gia-long, king of Annam
(q.v.), and the king of France, whereby Tourane and the island of
Pulo-Condore were ceded to the latter. The successors of Gia-long were
averse from French influence and instituted persecutions of the
Christian missionaries and natives, which led, in the reign of Tu-duc in
1858, to the arrival at Tourane of a French and Spanish fleet. The
capture of that town was followed early in 1859 by the storming of
Saigon, which Rigault de Genouilly, the French admiral, chose as his
base of operations. The French and Spanish were, however, too few to
take the offensive, and were forced to submit to a blockade, conducted
by the Annamese general Nguyen Tri Phuong, at the head of 20,000 troops.
It was not till February 1861 that reinforcements under Admiral Charner
reached Saigon, and the Annamese were defeated and My-Tho taken. A
revolt against Tu-duc in Tongking, and the stoppage of the rice supplies
from Cochin-China, obliged the king to submit, in 1862, to a treaty by
which three provinces of Cochin-China were ceded and other concessions
accorded to France. However, it was only after further military
operations that Tu-duc consented to the ratification of the treaty. In
1863 Admiral de la Grandière was appointed governor of Cochin-China and
in the same year France established her protectorate over Cambodia. It
was under La Grandière that the exploration of Mekong was undertaken
(see GARNIER, M. J. F.) and that in 1867 the three provinces of
Cochin-China left to Annam were annexed. French intervention in
Tongking, which began with the expedition of François Garnier to Hanoi
in 1873, culminated after a costly and tedious war (see TONGKING) in the
treaties of 1883 and 1884, whereby Annam and Tongking passed under the
protectorate of France. The latter treaty, though its provisions were
subsequently much modified, remains theoretically the basis of the
present administration of Annam.
From 1884 onwards the history of Indo-China may be divided into two
distinct periods, characteristic of the political conception and
governmental system adopted by the French government. In the first
period, 1884-1891, the French agents in Tongking and Indo-China
generally proceeded under cover of the treaty of 1884 with the definite
conquest and annexation of Tongking and also Annam. Cochin-China itself
openly designed to seize the southern provinces of Annam, upon the
borders of which it lay. This policy, momentarily checked by the war
with China, was vigorously, even violently, resumed after the treaty of
Tientsin (June 1885). The citadel of Hué was occupied in July 1885 by
General de Courcy. The Annamese government forthwith decided upon
rebellion. An improvised attack upon the French troops was led by the
ministers Thu-yet and Thu-ong. The revolt was promptly suppressed. The
regent Thu-yet and the king Ham-N'ghi (crowned in August 1884) fled. At
this time the French government, following a very widespread error,
regarded Tongking and Annam as two distinct countries, inhabited by
populations hostile to each other, and considered the Tongkingese as the
oppressed vassals of the Annamese conqueror. To conquer Annam, it was
said, would liberate Tongking. This misconception produced the worst
consequences. With the flight of the king civil war commenced in Annam.
The people of Tongking, whose submission the court of Hué had not dared
to demand, began to rise. Taking advantage of this state of anarchy,
pirates of the Black Flag, Chinese deserters and Tongkingese rebels
devastated the country. The occupation of Tongking became a prolonged
warfare, in which 25,000 French, compelled to guard innumerable posts,
had to oppose an intangible enemy, appearing by night, vanishing by day,
and practising brigandage rather than war. The military expenditure, met
neither by commerce, which had become impossible, nor taxation, which
the Annamese could not pay nor the French receive, resulted in heavy
deficits. The resident-general, Paul Bert, who hoped to gain the
confidence of the mandarins by kindness and goodwill, did not succeed in
preventing, or even moderating, the action of the military régime.
Than-quan, Hon-Koi, Lao-Kay, Pak-Lun and Kao-Bang were occupied, but the
troops were driven back to the delta and almost invested in the towns.
Disappointed in his hopes and worn out rather by anxiety than work,
Paul Bert succumbed to his troubles in November 1886, seven months after
his arrival in the country. His successors possessed neither the
strength nor the insight necessary to grapple with the situation. M.
Constans, however, appointed "provisional" governor-general after the
death of M. Filippini, succeeded to a certain extent in reviving
commerce in the towns of the delta. MM. Richaud, Bihourd and Piquet,
successors of M. Constans, were all powerless to deal with the
uninterrupted "bush-fighting" and the augmentation of the deficit, for
no sooner was the latter covered by grants from the mother country than
it began to grow again. At the close of the financial year in 1890
France had paid 13,000,000 francs. In April 1891 the deficit again
approached the sum of 12,000,000 francs. The rebels held almost all the
delta provinces, their capitals excepted, and from Hanoi itself the
governor-general could see the smoke of burning villages at the very
gates of his capital.
At this point a complete change of policy took place. M. de Lanessan, a
Paris deputy sent on a mission in the course of 1887, made himself
acquainted, with the government and the court of Hué. He recognized the
absolute falsity of the story which represented the Tongkingese as the
oppressed subjects of the Annamese. He demonstrated the consanguinity of
the populations, and after intercourse with the regents, or ministers,
of Hué he realized that the pacification of the country depended upon
harmonious relations being established between the general government
and the court. Appointed governor-general with the fullest powers on the
21st of April 1891, he presented himself at Hué, concluded with the
_comat_ an agreement based on the principle of a "loyal protectorate,"
and reassured the court, up to this point uneasy under menace of
annexation. The _comat_ shortly issued a proclamation under the great
royal seal, never hitherto attached to any of the public acts imposed
upon the king by the governors, who had been unaware of its existence.
In this proclamation the king ordered all his subjects to obey the
governor-general and to respect him, and commanded rebels to lay down
arms. The effect was immediate--disorders in the delta ceased. The
pirates alone, in revolt against the king of Annam and all authority,
continued their brigandage. But the governor-general instituted four
"military districts," the commanders of which were commissioned to
destroy the pirates. At the same time he placed a force of native
police, the _linh co_, at the disposal of the mandarins, hitherto
regarded with suspicion and intentionally deprived of all means of
action. Order was restored within the delta. In the mountainous
districts infested by pirates roads were opened and posts established.
The chief haunts of the pirates were demolished, and during 1893 the
foremost pirate chiefs gave in their submission. The Indo-Chinese budget
regained its balance. On the Chinese frontier agreements were concluded
with Marshal Sou, in command of the Chinese forces, regarding the
simultaneous repression of piracy in both countries. But on the Mekong
difficulties arose with the Siamese. For centuries Siam had occupied the
right bank of the Mekong, and her troops had crossed the river and
occupied the left bank. Luang-Prabang was in the hands of the Siamese,
who had also established posts at Stung-treng and elsewhere. Friction
occurred between the French agents and Siamese soldiery. After the death
of Inspector Crosgurin on the 5th of June 1893 the French government
occupied Stung-treng and Khong. France demanded explanations and redress
at Bangkok, but the court refusing concessions, an ultimatum was
presented to the king by M. Pavie, French minister to Siam. The terms of
the ultimatum not having been complied with within the given time, the
French flotilla, consisting of the gunboats "L'Inconstant" and "La
Comète," crossed the bar of the Menam on 13th July 1893, forced the
entrance of the channel, and anchored at Bangkok, before the French
legation. A second ultimatum was then presented. It contained the
following conditions:--First the occupation of Chantabun by the French
until the Siamese should have entirely evacuated the left bank of the
Mekong; secondly, the Siamese to be interdicted from maintaining
military forces at Battambang, Siem-Reap, and generally from
establishing fortified positions within 15½ m. of the right bank of the
Mekong; thirdly, Siam to be interdicted from having armed boats on the
great lake Tonle-Sap. This agreement was executed immediately, the
Laotians being eager parties to it. On the 29th of September 1893 the
king of Luang-Prabang made his submission to the French government, and
besought it to use its influence with the court of Siam for the return
to their families of the sons of princes and mandarins then in schools
at Bangkok. The Siamese evacuated the left bank of the Mekong, and
France took possession of Laos, a treaty, on the basis of the ultimatum,
being signed on the 1st of October 1893. The disputes to which this
affair with Siam had given rise between France and Great Britain were
amicably settled by an agreement concluded on the 15th of January 1896.
This "declaration," virtually ratifying the treaty concluded in 1893
between France and Siam, settled the limits of the zones of influence of
the two contracting powers in the north of the Mekong regions and on the
frontiers of Siam and Burma. Great Britain resigned to France the
regions of the Muong-Sing which she had previously occupied. The great
part of Siam included in the Menam basin was declared neutral, so also
the Me-ping basin in the north, Meklong Pechaburi and Bang Pa Kong
rivers in the south. The neutral zone, 15½ m. wide on the right bank of
the Mekong, was formally recognized.
In 1904, by a new Franco-Siamese treaty setting aside that of 1893,
Chantabun was evacuated and the neutral zone renounced in return for the
cession of the provinces of Bassac and Melupré and the district of
Dansai (comprising the portion of Luang Prabang on the right bank of the
Mekong) and the maritime district of Krat. By a further convention in
1907 Siam ceded the provinces of Battambang, Siem-Reap and Sisophon, and
received in return the maritime province of Krat and the district of
Dansai ceded in 1904. At the same time France abandoned all designs on
territory of Siam by giving up certain areas obtained for the purposes
of railway building on the right bank of the Mekong.
[Illustration: Map of French Indo-China & Siam.]
After the recall of M. de Lanessan in 1894 (see above), and before his
successor, M. Rousseau, was able to acquaint himself fully with the
condition of the country, military expeditions began again and the
deficit soon reappeared. Tranquillity, however, being restored,
attention was given to public works. On the 12th of October 1895 M.
Rousseau left to ask parliament to vote a loan of 100,000,000 francs. On
the vols., of February 1896 a law was passed authorizing a loan of
80,000,000 francs, and on the 14th of March 1896 an office for the
financial control of the government-general of Indo-China was
established. In the interval a French company had obtained from China a
concession to prolong the railway from Langson to Lungchow on a
tributary of the Canton river. M. Rousseau, who died on the 10th of
December 1896, was replaced by M. Dourner, previously minister of
finance, under whose government was realized, as has been before stated,
the union of Indo-China. On the 20th of December 1898 M. Doumer obtained
from parliament authorization to contract a loan of 200,000,000 francs,
the proceeds of which were appropriated to the construction of railway
lines.
AUTHORITIES.--M. J. F. Gamier, _Voyage d'exploration en Indo-Chine_
(Paris, 1873); J. M. A. de Lanessan, _L'Indo-Chine française_ (Paris,
1889); P. Doumer, _L'Indo-Chine française_ (Souvenirs) (Paris, 1905);
F. Bernard, _Indo-Chine_ (Paris, 1901), L. Salaun, _L'Indo-Chine_
(Paris, 1903); A. Girault, _Principes de colonisation et de
législation coloniale_ (Paris, 1907); M. Petit, _Les Colonies
françaises_ (2 vols., Paris, 1902); J. C. Gervais Courtellemont,
_L'Indo-Chine_ (Paris, 1902); A. Neton, _L'Indo-Chine et son avenir
économique_ (Paris, 1904); A. Pavie, _Mission Pavie Indo-Chine_
(1879-1895); _Géographie et voyages_ (Paris, 1901-1906); H. Lorin, _La
France: puissance coloniale_ (Paris, 1906); M. Monnier, _La Tour
d'Asie: Cochinchine, Annam, Tonkin_ (Paris, 1899); E. Bonhoure,
_L'Indo-Chine_ (Paris, 1900); R. Castex, _Les Rivages indo-chinois_
(Paris, 1904); L. de Reinach, _Le Laos_ (Paris, 1902) (this work gives
a very complete bibliography); _Annuaire général administratif,
commercial et industriel de l'Indo-Chine_ (Hanoi); _Revue Indochinois_
(Hanoi); C. Madrolle, _Guide-Books_ (Paris, 1904-1907); _Bulletin
économique de l'Indo-Chine_ (Saigon). (J. M. A. de L.; R. Tr.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See also ANNAM, CAMBODIA, COCHIN-CHINA, KWANG-CHOW BAY, LAOS,
TONGKING.
[2] This does not apply to the budget of Cochin-China, which is voted
by the colonial council and approved by the governor-general alone.
[3] This does not include the expenditure on account of the 3% loan
of £8,000,000, which is inscribed in a special account. The debt of
the government-general of Indo-China is composed as follows:--
+---------------------------+--------------+-----------------+
| | Nominal | Nominal Capital |
| | Capital. |in circulation on|
| | | Jan. 1, 1907. |
+---------------------------+--------------+-----------------+
| 2½% Loan of 1896 (Annam- | | |
| Tongking) | £3,678,000 | £3,342,800 |
| 3½ % Loan of £8,000,000 | | |
| issued from 1899 to 1905| 8,748,260 | 8,640,060 |
+---------------------------+--------------+-----------------+
| Total | £12,426,260 | £11,982,860 |
+---------------------------+--------------+-----------------+
[4] The transit trade between Hong Kong and Yun-nan via Tongking is of
considerable importance (see TONGKING).
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. The Indo-European (I.E.) languages are a family
of kindred dialects spread over a large part of Europe, and of Asia as
far as India.
The main branches so far identified fall easily into two groups of four.
These groups are distinguished from one another by the treatment of
certain original guttural sounds, _k(c)_, _g_, _kh_, _gh_, which one
group shows as consonants, while the other converts them into sibilants.
The variation is well shown in the word for "hundred": Gr. [Greek:
he-katon], Lat. _centum_, Old Irish _cet_; Sanskrit _satam_, Zend
_satem_, Lithuanian _szimtas_, Old Bulgarian (Old ecclesiastical
Slavonic) _suto_. In the first three the consonant is a hard guttural
(the Romans said _kentum_, not _sentum_), in the others it is a sibilant
(the Lithuanian _sz_ is the English _sh_).
The first group (generally known as the _centum_-group) is the Western
and entirely European group, the second (generally known as the
_satem_-group) with one exception lies to the east of the _centum_-group
and much its largest part is situated in Asia. To the _centum_-group
belong (1) Greek; (2) the Italic languages, including Latin, Oscan,
Umbrian and various minor dialects of ancient Italy; (3) Celtic,
including (a) the Q-Celtic languages, Irish, Manx and Scotch Gaelic, (b)
the P-Celtic, including the language of ancient Gaul, Welsh, Cornish and
Breton: the differentiation, which exists also in the Italic languages,
turning upon the treatment of original _kw_ sounds, which all the Italic
languages save Latin and the little-known Faliscan and the (b) group of
the Celtic languages change to _p_. With these go (4) the Germanic or
Teutonic languages, including (a) Gothic, (b) the Scandinavian
languages, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic--differentiated in
historical times out of a single language, Old Norse,--(c) West
Germanic, Including English and Frisian, Low Frankish (from which spring
modern Dutch and Flemish), Low and High German.
To the _satem_-group belongs (1) Aryan or Indo-Iranian, including (a)
Sanskrit, with its descendants, (b) Zend, and (c) Old Persian, from
which is ultimately descended Modern Persian, largely modified, however,
by Arabic words. This group is often divided into two sub-groups,
_Indo-Aryan_, including the languages of India, and _Iranian_, used as a
general title for Zend and Old Persian as the languages of ancient Iran.
Although the sounds of Indo-Aryan and Iranian differ considerably,
phrases of the earliest form of the one can be transliterated into the
other without change in vocabulary or syntax. (2) To the west of these
lies Armenian, which is so full of borrowed Iranian words that only in
1875 was it successfully differentiated by Hübschmann as an independent
language. It is probably related to, or the descendant of, the ancient
Phrygian, which spread into Asia from Thrace by the migration of tribes
across the Hellespont. Of ancient Thracian unfortunately we know very
little. (3) North of the Black Sea, and widening its borders in all
directions, comes the great Balto-Slavonic group. In this there are two
branches somewhat resembling the division between Indo-Aryan and
Iranian. Here three small dialects on the south-east coast of the Baltic
form the first group, Lithuanian, Lettish and Old Prussian, the last
being extinct since the 17th century. The Slavonic languages proper
themselves fall into two groups: (a) an Eastern and Southern group,
including Old Bulgarian, the ecclesiastical language first known from
the latter part of the 9th century A.D.; Russian in its varieties of
Great Russian, White Russian and Little Russian or Ruthenian; and
Servian and Slovene, which extend to the Adriatic. (b) The western group
includes Polish with minor dialects, Czech or Bohemian, also with minor
languages in the group, and Sorb. In the _satem_ division is also
included (4) Albanian, which like Armenian is much mixed with foreign
elements--Latin, Greek, Turkish and Slavonic. The relation between it
and the ancient Illyrian is not clear.
Besides the languages mentioned there are many others now extinct or of
which little is known--e.g. Venetic, found in clearly written
inscriptions with a distinctive alphabet in north-eastern Italy;
Messapian, in the heel of Italy, which is supposed to have been
connected with the ancient Illyrian; and possibly also the unknown
tongue which has been found recently on several inscriptions in Crete
and seems to have been the language of the pre-Hellenic population, the
finds apparently confirming the statement of Herodotus (vii. 170) that
the earlier population survived in later times only at Praesos and
Polichne. Names of deities worshipped by the Aryan branch are reported
to have been discovered in the German excavations at Boghaz-Keui (anc.
_Pteria_, q.v.) in Cappadocia; names of kings appear in widely separated
areas elsewhere in Asia,[1] and a language not hitherto known has
recently been found in excavations in Turkestan and christened by its
first investigators Tocharish.[2] So far as yet ascertained, Tocharish
seems to be a mongrel dialect produced by an intermixture of peoples
speaking respectively an I.E. language and a language of an entirely
different origin. The stems of the words are clearly in many cases I.E.,
but the terminations are no less clearly alien to this family of
languages. It is remarkable that some of its words, like _ku_, "dog,"
have a hard _k_, while the other languages of this stock in Asia, so far
as at present known, belong to the _satem_-group, and have in such words
replaced the _k_ by a sibilant.
Till the latter part of the 18th century it was the universal practice
to refer all languages ultimately to a Hebrew origin, because Hebrew,
being the language of the Bible, was assumed, with reference to the
early chapters of Genesis, to be the original language. Even on these
premises the argument was unsound, for the same authority also recorded
a confusion of tongues at Babel, so that it was unreasonable to expect
that languages thus violently metamorphosed could be referred so easily
at a later period to the same original. The first person to indicate
very briefly the existence of the Indo-European family, though he gave
it no distinctive name, was Sir William Jones in his address to the
Bengal Oriental Society in 1786. Being a skilled linguist, he recognized
that Sanskrit must be of the same origin as Greek, Latin, Teutonic
(Germanic) and possibly Celtic (_Asiatic Researches_, i. p. 422; _Works_
of Sir W. Jones, i. p. 26, London, 1799). Unfortunately Sir William
Jones's views as to the relationship of the languages were not adopted
for many years by later investigators. He had said quite definitely, "No
philologer could examine them all three (Sanskrit, Greek and Latin)
without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which
perhaps no longer exists." Friedrich Schlegel, who learnt Sanskrit from
Alexander Hamilton in Paris nearly twenty years later, started the view
that Sanskrit, instead of being the sister, was the mother of the other
languages, a mistake which, though long since refuted in all
philological works, has been most persistent.
Curiously enough the history of the names given to the family is
obscure. The earliest known occurrence of the word "Indo-European" is in
an article in the _Quarterly Review_ for 1813[3] by Dr Thomas Young. The
term has been in use in English and in French almost continuously since
that date. But a glance at Dr Young's article will show that he included
under Indo-European many languages like Basque, Etruscan and Arabian
(his term for Semitic), which certainly do not belong to this family of
languages at all; and if the term is taken to mean, as it would seem to
imply, all the languages spoken in India and Europe, it is undoubtedly a
misnomer. There are many languages in India, as those of the Dravidians
in Southern India and those of Northern Assam, which do not belong to
this family. On the other hand there are many languages belonging to the
family which exist outside both India and Europe--Zend, Old Persian,
Armenian, Phrygian, to say nothing of languages recently discovered. The
term most commonly used in Germany is "Indo-Germanic." This was employed
by Klaproth as early as 1823. It is said not to have been invented by
him, but by whom and when it was invented is not quite ascertained.[4]
It is an attempt to name the family by its most easterly and most
westerly links. At the time when it was invented it had not yet been
settled whether Celtic was or was not a member of this family. But in
any case the term would not have been wrong, for members of the Germanic
stock have been settled for above a thousand years in Iceland, the most
westerly land of Europe, and for the last four centuries have
increasingly dominated the continent of America. As has been pointed out
by Professor Buck of Chicago (_Classical Review_, xviii. p. 400), owing
to the German method of pronouncing _eu_ as _oi_, the word
"Indo-Germanic" is easier for a German to pronounce than
"Indo-European." Attempts to discover a more accurate and less ponderous
term, such as "Indo-Celtic" or "Celtindic," have not met with popular
favour. Aryan (q.v.) is conveniently brief, but is wanted as the proper
term for the most easterly branch of the family. What is wanted is a
term which does not confuse ethnological and linguistic ideas. Not all
speakers of any given language are necessarily of the same stock. In
ancient Rome Latin must have been spoken by many slaves or sons of
slaves who had no Latin blood in their bodies, though a slave if
manumitted by his master might be the father or grandfather of a Roman
citizen with full rights. Plautus and Terence were both aliens, the one
an Umbrian, the other an African. The speakers of modern English are
even a more multifarious body. A possible name for the family, implying
only the speaking of a language of the stock without any reference to
racial or national characteristics, could be obtained from the name for
man, so widely though perhaps not altogether universally diffused
throughout the family--Sanskrit _viras_, Lithuanian _wyras_, Lat. _vir_,
Irish _fer_, Gothic _waír_, &c. If the speakers of these languages were
called collectively _Wiros_, no confusion with ethnological theories
need arise.
It is customary to talk of the roots, stems and suffixes of words in
the Indo-European languages. These languages are distinguished from
languages like Chinese by the fact that in the great majority of words
suffixes can be separated from roots. But the distinction between them
and the so-called agglutinative languages is one of degree rather than
of kind. In the agglutinative languages, or at any rate in some of
them, some of the post-fixed elements have still an independent value.
In the Indo-Germanic languages no one can say what the meaning of the
earliest suffixes was. Suffixes which have developed in individual
languages or individual sections of this family of languages can often
be traced, e.g. the often quoted -_hood_ in English words like
"manhood," or the English -_ly_ in "manly," which has gradually
extended till it is actually attached to its own parent _like_ in
"likely." But all recent investigation goes to show that before the
Indo-European languages separated they possessed words with all the
characteristics which we recognize in substantives like the Latin
_dominus_ or verbs like the Greek [Greek: deiknytai]. Or, to put the
same fact in another way, by the comparative method it is impossible
to reach a period when the speakers of Indo-European languages spoke
in roots. A "root" is only a convenient philological abstraction; it
is merely the remnant which is left when all the elements that can be
analysed are taken away; it is therefore only a kind of greatest
common measure for a greater or smaller body of words expressing
modifications of the same idea. Thus, though by no means the earliest
form of the word, the English _man_ might be taken as the "root" from
which are derived by various suffixes _manhood_, _manly_, _mannish_,
_manful_, _manned_ (past tense), _manned_ (participle), _unman_,
_mannikin_, &c. How far the suffixes which can be traced back to
Indo-European times (i.e. to a time before the separation of the
languages) had existence as separate entities it is impossible to say.
From what we see of the later history of the languages it is much more
probable that both forms and signification were very largely the
result of analogy. For in the making of new words analogy plays a much
larger part than any reference to general principles of formation or
composition. New words are to a large extent, even in modern times,
the invention of persons unskilled in the history of language.
The first to point out that the term Indo-European (or Indo-Germanic)
was not used uniformly in one sense was Professor Kretschmer in his
_Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache_ (Göttingen,
1896), pp. 9 ff. It is in fact used in three senses. (1) Indo-European
is treated as preceding and different from all its descendants, a
single uniform speech without dialects. But, strictly, no such
language can exist, for even individual members of the same family
differ from one another in pronunciation, vocabulary, sentence
formation, etc. Thus it appears impossible to ascertain what the
Indo-European term for the numeral 1 was, since different languages
show at least four words for this, three of them presenting the same
root with different suffixes: (a) Sanskrit _eka_ (= *[Greek:
oi]-quo-); (b) Zend _aeva_, Old Persian _aiva_, Greek [Greek:
oi-([digamma])o-s] (= *[Greek: oi]-uo-); (c) Greek [Greek: oinê],
"ace," Latin _unus_ (older _oenus_), Old Irish _oen_, Gothic _ains_,
Lithuanian _vénas_ (where the initial _v_ has no more etymological
signification than the _w_ which now begins the pronunciation of the
English _one_), Old Bulgarian _inu_; (d) Greek [Greek: eis, en] (=
*_sem-s_). But the Indo-European community must have had a word for
the numeral since the various languages agree in forms for the
numerals 2 to 10, and the original Indo-European people seem to have
been able to count at least as far as 100. On the other hand, if the
Indo-European language must have had dialects, the line of
differentiation between it and its descendants becomes obliterated.
(2) But even when a word is found very widely diffused over the area
of the Indo-European languages, it is not justifiable to conclude that
therefore the word must have belonged to the original language. The
dispersion of the Indo-European people over the areas they now
inhabit, or inhabited in the earliest times known to history, must
have been gradual, and commerce or communication between different
branches must have always existed to some extent; the word might thus
have been transmitted from one community to another. When a word is
found in two branches which are geographically remote from one another
and is not found in the intermediate area, the probability that the
word is original is somewhat stronger. But even in this case the
originality of the word is by no means certain, for (a) the
intervening branch or branches which do not possess the word may
merely have dropped it and replaced it by another; (b) the
geographical position which the branches occupy in historical times
may not be their original position; the branches which do not possess
the word may have forced themselves into the area they now occupy
after they had dropped the word; (c) if the linguistic communities
which possess the word have a seaboard and the intervening communities
have not, the possibility of its transmission in connexion with early
sea-borne commerce must be considered. At the dawn of European history
the Phoenicians and the Etruscans are great seafarers; at a later time
the Varangians of the North penetrated to the Mediterranean and as far
as Constantinople; in modern times sea-borne commerce brought to
Europe words from the Caribbean Indians like _potato_ and _tobacco_,
and gave English a new word for man-eating savages--_cannibal_. Thus
with Kretschmer we must distinguish between what is common
Indo-European and what is original Indo-European in language. (3) A
word may exist in several of the languages, and may have existed in
them for a very long time, and yet not be Indo-European. Hehn (_Das
Salz_, ed. 2, 1901) rejects _salt_ as an Indo-European word because it
is not found in the Aryan group, though in this case he is probably
wrong, (a) because, as has been shown by Professor Johannes Schmidt,
its irregular declension (_sal-d_, genitive _sal-nes_) possesses
characteristics of the oldest Indo-European words; (b) because the
great plains of Iran are characterized by their great saltness, so
that the Aryan branch did not pass through a country where salt was
unknown, although, according to Herodotus (i. 133), the Persian did
not use salt to season his food. Since Kretschmer wrote, this argument
has been used very extensively by Professor A. Meillet of Paris in his
_Dialectes indo-européens_ (Paris, 1908). In this treatise he brings
forward arguments from a great variety of facts to show that in the
original Indo-European language there were dialects, the Aryan,
Armenian, Balto-Slavonic and Albanian, as we have seen, forming an
oriental group with novel characteristics developed in common,
although in various other characteristics they do not agree. Similarly
Italic, Celtic and Germanic form a Western group, while Greek agrees
now with the one group now with the other, at some points being more
intimately connected with Italic than with any other branch, at others
inclining more towards the Aryan. This grouping, however, is by no
means exclusive, members of either group having characteristics in
common with individuals of the other group which they do not share
with the other languages of their own group (Meillet, p. 131 ff.).
From all this it is clear that in many cases it must be extremely
uncertain what is original Indo-European and what is not. Some general
characteristics can, however, be predicated from what is handed down
to us in the earliest forms of all or nearly all the existing
languages. (1) The noun had certainly a large number of distinct cases
in the singular: nominative, accusative, genitive, ablative, locative,
instrumental, dative.[5] In the plural, however, there was less
variety, the forms for dative and ablative being from the earliest
times identical. In the dual, the oblique cases cannot be restored
with certainty, so little agreement is there between the languages. In
the locative-singular the ending -_i_ seems to have been of the nature
of a post-position, because in various languages (notably in Sanskrit)
forms appear without any suffix. In the locative plural also the
difference between the -_su_ of Sanskrit and early Lithuanian
(Slavonic -_chu_) on the one hand, and of -[Greek: si] in Greek on the
other, seems to be best explained by supposing that the -_u_ and -_i_
are postpositions, a conclusion which is strengthened by the Greek
rule that -[sigma]- between vowels disappears. In the instrumental
singular and plural it is noticeable that there are two suffixes--one,
represented in Germanic and Balto-Slavonic only, beginning with the
sound -_m_, the other, surviving in most of the other languages for
the plural, going back to an Indo-European form beginning with -_bh_.
Professor Hirt of Leipzig has argued (_Idg. Forschungen_, v. pp. 251
ff.) that -_bh_- originally belonged to the instrumental plural (cf.
the Lat. _filiabus_, _omnibus_, &c.), and the forms with -_m_- to the
dative and ablative. But this is merely a conjecture, which has no
linguistic facts in its favour, for the -_bi_ of the Latin dative
_tibi_, which has parallel forms in many other languages, belongs to
the pronouns, which show in their declension many differences from the
declension of the noun (cf. also Brugmann, _Grundriss_ (ed. 2), ii. 2,
p. 120). (2) The adjective agrees with its noun in gender, number and
case, thus introducing a superfluous element of agreement which is not
found, e.g. in most of the agglutinative languages. Thus in phrases
like the Greek [Greek: hê kalê korê] or the Latin _illa pulchra
puella_ the feminine gender is expressed three times, with no
advantage, so far as can be detected, over the modern English, _that
fair maid_, where it is not obviously expressed at all. In this
respect and also in the employment of the same case endings for the
plural as well as the singular, in the plural after a syllable
expressing plurality, the agglutinative languages have a distinct
superiority over the Indo-European languages in their earliest forms.
Some languages, like English and Modern Persian, have practically got
rid of inflexion altogether and the present difficulty with it;
others, like modern German, as the result of phonetic and analogical
changes have even intensified the difficulty. (3) In the personal
pronouns, especially those of the first and second persons, there is
widely spread agreement, but more in the singular than in the plural.
Forms corresponding to the English _I_ and _thou_, the Latin _ego_ and
_tu_, are practically universal. On the other hand the demonstrative
pronouns vary very considerably. (4) The system of numerals (subject
to slight discrepancies, as that regarding 1 mentioned above) is the
same, at least up to 100. (5) In the verb there were at first two
voices, the active and the middle, and three moods, the indicative,
the subjunctive and the optative. It has been suggested by Professors
Oertel and Morris in _Harvard Studies_, xvi. (p. 101, n. 3) that the
similarity which exists between the earliest Greek and the earliest
Aryan in the moods is the result of a longer common life between those
two branches. But of this there is no proof, and the great difference
in the treatment of the sounds by these two branches (see below)
militates very strongly against the supposition. The tense forms
indicated originally not relations in time but different kinds of
action. The distinctive forms are the present, the perfect, and the
aorist. The present indicated that an action was in progress or
continuous, the aorist on the other hand regarded the action as a
whole and, as it were, summed it up. The aorist has sometimes been
said to express instantaneous action, and so it does. But this is not
the essence of the aorist; the aorist may be used also of a long
continued action when it is regarded as a whole. Greek shows this very
clearly. In Athenian official inscriptions it was usual to fix the
date of the record by stating at the commencement who was the chief
magistrate (archon) of the year. This was expressed by the imperfect
([Greek: êrche]). But when reference was made to a past archonship,
that was expressed by the aorist ([Greek: êpxe]). The same
characteristic is evident also in prohibitions; thus, in Plato's
_Apology of Socrates_, [Greek: mê thorybêsête] is "Do not begin to
make a disturbance," [Greek: mê thorybeite] is "Do not keep on making
a disturbance." These points are most easily illustrated from Greek,
because Greek, better than the other languages, has kept the
distinctive usages of both moods and tenses. The perfect as
distinguished from the other forms expresses either repetition of the
action, emphasis, or the state which results from the action expressed
by the verb. Different languages regard this last in different ways.
Sometimes the state resulting from the action is so characteristic
that the perfect is almost an independent verb. Thus in Greek [Greek:
ktaomai] is "I acquire," but [Greek: kektêmai] (the perfect) is "I
possess," the result of the action of acquiring. On the other hand the
perfect may mean that the action has come to an end. This is specially
common in Latin, as in Cicero's famous announcement of the execution
of the Catilinarian conspirators,--_Vixerunt_ ("They have lived" =
"They are no more"). But it is by no means confined to Latin. The
pluperfect, the past of the perfect, is a late development and can
hardly be reckoned Indo-European. In Greek the forms clearly arise
from adding aorist endings to a perfect stem. The forms of Latin are
not yet completely explained--but it is certain that the specially
Latin meaning expressing something that was past at a time already
past (relative time) is a late growth. When Homeric Greek wishes to
express this meaning it uses most frequently the aorist, but also the
imperfect as well as the pluperfect, the notion of relative time being
derived from the context. In the earliest Latin the pluperfect is not
uncommonly used with the value of the aorist perfect. As regards the
future it is difficult to say how far it was an original form. Some
languages, like Germanic, preserve no original form for the future.
When the present is found not to be distinctive enough, periphrastic
forms come in. In other languages, like Latin and Greek, there is
constant confusion between subjunctive and future forms. It is
impossible to distinguish by their form between [Greek: deixô]
(future) and [Greek: deixô] (subjunctive), between _regam_ (future)
and regam (subjunctive). A special future with a suffix -sio- (_syo_)
is found only with certainty in the Aryan group and the Baltic
languages. The future perfect is, strictly speaking, only a future
made from a perfect stem; in the Latin sense it is certainly a late
development, and even in early Latin, _videro_ has occasionally no
different meaning from _videbo_. The imperative, which was originally
an exclamatory form to the verb, of the same kind as the vocative was
to the noun, and which consisted simply of the verb stem without
further suffixes, developed, partly on the analogy of the present and
partly with the help of adverbs, a complete paradigm. The infinitives
of all the languages are noun cases, generally stereotyped in form and
no longer in touch with a noun system, though this, e.g. in early
Sanskrit, is not always true. The participles differ only from other
adjectives in governing the same case as their verb; and this is not
an early distinction, for in the earliest Sanskrit all verbal nouns
may govern the same case as their verb.
The system here sketched in the barest outline tended steadily to fall
into decay. The case system was not extensive enough to express even
the commonest relations. Thus there was no means of distinguishing by
the cases between starting from outside and starting from inside,
ideas which, e.g. Finnish regards as requiring separate cases; without
a preposition it was impossible to distinguish between _on_ and _in_,
though to the person concerned there is much difference, for example
between being on a river and in a river. There are other difficulties
of the same kind. These had to be got over by the use of adverbs. But
no sooner had the adverbs become well established for the purpose of
defining these local relations than the meaning was felt to exist more
in the adverb than in the case ending. For this syntactical reason, as
well as for mechanical reasons arising from accent (q.v.), the case
system in some languages fell more and more into desuetude. In
Sanskrit it has been kept entire, in Balto-Slavonic the only loss has
been the disappearance of the original genitive and its replacement by
the ablative. In Latin the locative has been confused with the
genitive and the ablative, and the instrumental with the ablative. The
loss of the locative as an independent case had not long preceded
historical times, because it survives in Oscan, the kindred dialect of
the neighbouring Campania. Greek has confused ablative with genitive,
except for one small relic recently discovered on an inscription at
Delphi; in the consonant stems it has replaced the dative by the
locative form and confused in it dative, locative and instrumental
meanings. In some other members of the family, e.g. Germanic, the
confusion has gone still farther.
The fate of the verb is similar, though the two paradigms do not
necessarily decay at the same rate. Thus Latin has modified its verb
system much more than its noun system, and Greek, while reducing
seriously its noun forms, shows a very elaborate verb system, which
has no parallel except in the Aryan group. From the syntactical point
of view, however, the Greek system is much superior to the Aryan,
which has converted its perfect into a past tense in classical
Sanskrit, and to a large extent lost grip of the moods. The decay in
Aryan may be largely attributed to the power, which this group
developed beyond any other, of making compounds which in practice took
the place of subordinate sentences to a large extent. The causes for
the modifications which the Latin verb system has undergone are more
obscure, but they are shared not only by its immediate neighbours the
other Italic dialects, but also to a great degree by the more remote
Celtic dialects.
The origin and spread of the Indo-European languages has long been, and
remains, a vexed question. No sooner had Bopp laid the foundation of
Comparative Philology in his great work, the first edition of which
appeared in 1833-1835, than this question began to be seriously
considered. The earlier writers agreed in regarding Asia as the original
home of the speakers of these languages. For this belief there were
various grounds,--statements in the Biblical record, the greater
originality (according to Schlegel) of Sanskrit, the absurd belief that
the migrations of mankind always proceeded towards the west. The view
propounded by an English philologist, Dr R. G. Latham, that the original
home was in Europe, was scouted by one of the most eminent writers on
the subject--Victor Hehn--as lunacy possible only to one who lived in a
country of cranks. Latham's view was first put forward in 1851, and in
half a century opinion had almost universally come over to his side. Max
Müller indeed to the last held to the view that the home was "somewhere
in Asia," and Professor Johannes Schmidt of Berlin, in a paper read
before the Oriental Congress at Stockholm in 1889, argued for a close
contact between early Indo-European and Assyrian civilization, from the
borrowing of one or two words and the existence of duodecimal elements
in the Indo-European numeral system side by side with the prevalent
decimal system--the dozen, the gross, the long hundred (120), &c. At 60
the systems crossed, and 60 was a very characteristic element in
Assyrian numeration, whence come our minutes and seconds and many other
units.[6]
Even before Latham a Belgian geologist, d'Omalius d'Halloy, in 1848
had raised objections to the theory of the Asiatic origin of the
Indo-Europeans, but his views remained unheeded. In 1864 he brought
three questions before the _Société d'anthropologie_ of Paris: (1)
What are the proofs of the Asiatic origin of Europeans? (2) Have not
inflectional languages passed from Europe to Asia rather than from
Asia to Europe? (3) Are not the speakers of Celtic languages the
descendants of the autochthonous peoples of Western Europe? (Reinach,
_op. cit_. p. 38). Broca in replying to d'Omalius emphasized the fact
which has been too often forgotten in this controversy, that race and
language are not necessarily identical. In 1868 Professor Benfey of
Göttingen argued for the south-east of Europe as the original home,
while Ludwig Geiger in 1871 placed it in Germany, a view which in
later times has had not a few supporters.
Truth to tell, however, we are not yet ready to fix the site of the
original home. Before this can be done, many factors as yet
imperfectly known must be more completely ascertained. The prehistoric
conditions of Northern, Western, Central and South-eastern Europe have
been carefully investigated, but important new discoveries are still
continually being made. Investigation of other parts of Europe is less
complete, and prehistoric conditions in Asia are at present very
imperfectly known. In Western Europe two prehistoric races are known,
the palaeolithic and the neolithic. The former, distinguished by their
great skill in drawing figures of animals, especially the horse, the
reindeer, and the mammoth, preceded the period of the Great Ice Age
which rendered Northern Europe to the latitude of London and Berlin
uninhabitable for a period, the length of which, as of all geological
ages, cannot definitely be ascertained. For the present purpose,
however, this is of less importance, because it is not claimed that
the Indo-European stock is of so great antiquity. But when the ice
again retreated it must have been long before Northern Europe could
have maintained a population of human beings. The disappearance of the
surface ice must have been followed by a long period when ice still
remained underground, and the surface was occupied by swamps and
barren tundras, as Northern Siberia is now. When a human population
once more occupied Northern Europe it is impossible to estimate in
years.
The problem may be attacked from the opposite direction. How long
would it have taken for the Indo-European stock to spread from its
original home to its modern areas of occupation? Some recent writers
say that it is unnecessary to carry the stock back farther than 2500
B.C.--a period when the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were
already ancient. Wherever the original home was situated, this date is
probably fixed too low. The discussion, moreover, is in danger not
only of moving in one vicious circle but in two. (a) The term
"Indo-European stock" necessarily implies race, but why might not the
language have been from the earliest times at which we can trace it
the language of a mixed race? (b) It is usual to assume that the
Indo-European stock was tall and blond, in fact much as the classical
writers describe the early Germans. But the truth of this hypothesis
is much more difficult to demonstrate. In most countries known to the
ancients where blond hair prevailed, at the present day dark or brown
hair is much more in evidence. Moreover the colour of fair hair often
varies from childhood to middle life, and the flaxen hair of youth is
very frequently replaced by a much darker shade in the adult. It has
been often pointed out that many of Homer's heroes are _xanthoi_, and
it is frequently argued that [Greek: xanthos] means blond. This,
however, is anything but certain, even when Vacher de Lapouge has
collected all the passages in ancient writers which bear upon the
subject. When Diodorus (v. 32) wishes to describe the children of the
Galatae, by whom apparently he means the Germans, he says that their
hair as children is generally _white_, but as they grow up it is
assimilated to the colour of their fathers. The ethnological argument
as to long-headed and short-headed races (dolichocephalic and
brachycephalic) seems untrustworthy, because in countries described as
dolichocephalic short skulls abound and vice versa. Moreover this
classification, to which much more attention has been devoted than its
inventor Retzius ever intended, is in itself unsatisfactory. The
relation between the length and breadth of the head without
consideration of the total size is clearly an unsatisfactory
criterion. It is true that to the mathematician ¾ or 6/8 or 9/12 are
of identical value, but, if it be also generally true that mental and
physical energy are dependent on the size and weight of the brain,
then the mere mathematical relation between length and breadth is of
less importance than the size of the quantities. Anthropologists
appear now to recognize this themselves.
The argument from physical geography seems more important. But here
also no certain answer can be obtained till more is known of the
conditions, in early times, of the eastern part of the area.
According to Ratzel[7] the Caspian was once very much larger than it
is now, and to the north of it there extended a great area of swamp,
which made it practically impossible for the Indo-European race to
have crossed north of the Caspian from either continent to the other.
At an early period the Caspian and Black Sea were connected, and the
Sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles were represented by a river which
entered the Aegean at a point near the island of Andros. While the
northern Aegean was still land divided only by a river, it is clear
that migration from south-eastern Europe to Asia Minor, or reversely,
might have taken place with ease. Even in much later times the
Dardanelles have formed no serious barrier to migration in either
direction. At the dawn of history, Thracian tribes crossed it and
founded, it seems, the Phrygian and Armenian stock in Asia Minor; the
Gauls at a later time followed the same road, as did Alexander the
Great a generation earlier. At the end of the middle ages, Asia sent
by way of the Dardanelles the invading Turks into Europe. The Greeks,
a nation of seafarers, on the other hand reached Asia directly across
the Aegean, using the islands, as it were, as stepping-stones.
Though much more attention has been devoted to the subject by recent
writers than was earlier the practice, it is doubtful whether
migration by sea has even now been assigned its full importance. The
most mysterious people of antiquity, the Pelasgians, do not seem to be
in all cases the same stock, as their name appears merely to mean "the
people of the sea," [Greek: Pelasgoi] representing an earlier [Greek:
pelags-koi], where [Greek: pelags] is the weak form of the stem of
[Greek: pelagos], "sea," and [Greek: -koi] the ending so frequent in
the names of peoples. A parallel to the sound changes may be seen in
[Greek: misgô], for *[Greek: mig-skô], by the side of [Greek:
mig-nymi]. As time goes on, evidence seems more and more to tend to
confirm the truth of the great migrations by sea, recorded by
Herodotus, of Lydians to Etruria, of Eteocretans both to east and
west. An argument in favour of the original Indo-Europeans being
seated in north-western Germany has been developed by G. Kossinna
(_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, 1902, pp. 161-222) from the forms and
ornamentation of ancient pottery. It has certainly not been generally
received with favour, and as Kossinna himself affirms that the
classification of prehistoric pottery is still an undeveloped science,
his theory is clearly at present unequal to the weight of such a
superstructure as he would build upon it. As the allied sciences are
not prepared with an answer, it is necessary to fall back upon the
Indo-European languages themselves. The attempt has often been made to
ascertain both the position of the original home and the stage of
civilization which the original community had reached from a
consideration of the vocabulary for plants and animals common to the
various languages of the Indo-European family. But the experience of
recent centuries warns us to be wary in the application of this
argument. If we cut off all past history and regard the language of
the present day as we have perforce to regard our earliest records,
two of the words most widely disseminated amongst the Indo-European
people of Europe are _tobacco_ and _potato_. Without historical
records it would be impossible for us to discover that these words in
their earliest European form had been borrowed from the Caribbean
Indians. Most languages tend to adopt with an imported product the
name given to it by its producers, though frequently misunderstanding
arises, as in the case of the two words mentioned, the _potato_ being
properly the yam, and _tobacco_ being properly the pipe, while _petum_
or _petun_ (cp. _petunia_) was the plant.[8]
The first treatise in which an attempt was made to work out the
primitive Indo-European civilisation in detail was Adolphe Pictet's
_Les Origines indo-européennes ou les Aryas primitifs_ (1859-1863).
The idyllic conditions in which, according to Pictet, early
Indo-European man subsisted were accepted and extended by many
enthusiastic successors. The father, the protector of the family
(_pater_ from _pa_, protect), and the mother (_mater_ from _ma_, to
produce) were surrounded by their children (Skt. _putra_), whose name
implied that they kept everything clean and neat. The daughter was the
milkmaid (Skt. _duhita_ from _duh_, milk), while the brother (Skt.
_bhratar_), derived from the root of _ferre_, "bear," was the natural
protector of his sister, whose name, with some hesitation, is decided
to mean "she who dwells with her brother," the notion of brother and
sister marriage being, however, summarily rejected (ii. p. 365). The
uncle and aunt are a second father and mother to the family, and for
this reason _nepos_, Skt. _napat_, is both nephew and grandson. The
life of such families was pastoral but not nomad; there was a
farmstead where the women were busied with housewifery and
butter-making, while the men drove their flocks afield. The ox, the
horse, the sheep, the goat and the pig were domesticated as well as
the dog and the farmyard fowls, but it was in oxen that their chief
wealth consisted. Hence a cow was offered to an honoured guest, cows
were the object of armed raids upon their neighbours, and when a
member of the family died, a cow was killed to accompany him in the
next world. Even the phenomena of nature to their naive imaginations
could be represented by cows: the clouds of heaven were cows whose
milk nourished the earth, the stars were a herd with the sun as the
bull amongst them, the earth was a cow yielding her increase. Before
the original community, which extended over a wide area with Bactria
for its centre, had broken up, agriculture had begun, and barley, if
not other cereals, and various leguminous plants were cultivated. Oxen
drew the plough and the wagon. Industry also had developed with the
introduction of agriculture; the carpenter with a variety of tools
appears to construct farm implements, buildings and furniture, and the
smith is no less busy. Implements had begun with stone, but by this
time were made of bronze if not of iron, for the metals gold, silver,
copper, tin were certainly known. Spinning and weaving had also begun;
pottery was well developed. The flocks and herds and agriculture
supplied food with plenty of variety; fermented liquors, mead,
probably wine and perhaps beer, were used, not always in moderation. A
great variety of military weapons had been invented, but geographical
reasons prevented navigation from developing in Bactria. Towns existed
and fortified places. The people were organized in clans, the clans in
tribes. At the head of all, though not in the most primitive epoch,
was the king, who reigned not by hereditary right, but by election.
Though money had not yet been invented, exchange and barter
flourished; there were borrowers and lenders, and property passed from
father to son. Though we have no definite information as to their
laws, justice was administered; murder, theft and fraud were punished
with death, imprisonment or fine (_Résumé général_ at end of vol.
ii.).
Further investigation, however, did not confirm this ideally happy
form of primitive civilization. Many of Pictet's etymologies were
erroneous, many of his deductions based on very uncertain evidence. No
recent writer adopts Pictet's views of the Indo-European family. But
his list of domesticated animals is approximately correct, if
domestication is used loosely simply of animals that might be kept by
the Indo-European man about his homestead. Even at the present day
domestication means different things in the case of different animals.
A pig is not domesticated as a dog is; in areas like the Hebrides or
western Ireland, where cattle and human beings share the two ends of
the same building, domestication means something very different from
the treatment of large herds on a farm extending to many hundreds of
acres. In other respects the height of the civilization was vastly
exaggerated. That the Indo-European people were agricultural as well
as pastoral seems highly probable. But as Heraclides says of the
Athamanes (_Fragmenta hist. Graec._ ii. 219), the women were the
agriculturists, while the men were shepherds. Agriculture begins on a
very small scale with the dibbling by means of a pointed stick of a
few seeds of some plant which the women recognize as useful either for
food or medicine, and is possible only when the people have ceased to
be absolutely nomad and have fixed settlements for continuous periods
of some length. The pastoral habit is broken down in men only by
starvation, if the pasture-lands become too cramped through an
excessive increase of population or are seized by a conqueror. As has
been well said, "of all the ordinary means of gaining a
livelihood--with the exception perhaps of mining--agriculture is the
most laborious, and is never voluntarily adopted by men who have not
been accustomed to it from their childhood" (Mackenzie Wallace,
Russia, new ed. i. p. 266, in relating the conversion of the Bashkir
Tatars to agriculture). Even the plough, in the primitive form of a
tree stump with two branches, one forming the handle, the other the
pole, was developed, and to this period may belong the representations
in rock carvings in Sweden and the Alps of a pair of oxen in the
plough (S. Müller, _Nordische Altertumskunde_, i. 205; Dechelette,
_Manuel d'archéologie_, ii. pp. 492 ff.). The Indo-European
civilization in its beginnings apparently belongs to the chalcolithic
period (sometimes described by the barbarous term of Italian origin
_eneolithic_) when copper, if not bronze had come in, but the use of
stone for many purposes had not yet gone out. While primitive
Indo-European man apparently knew, as has been said, the horse, ox,
sheep, goat, pig and dog, it is to be observed that in their wild
state at least these animals do not all affect the same kind of area.
The horse is an animal of the open plain; the foal always accompanies
the mother, for at first its neck is too short to allow it to graze,
and the mare, unlike the cow, has no large udder in which to carry a
great supply of milk. The cow, on the other hand, hides her calf in a
brake when she goes to graze, and is more a woodland animal. The pig's
natural habitat is the forest where beech mast, acorns, or chestnuts
are plentiful. The goat is a climber and affects the heights, while
the sheep also prefers short grass to the richer pastures suited to
kine. To collect and tame all those animals implies control of an
extensive and varied area.
What of the trees known to primitive Indo-European man? On this the
greater part of the arguments regarding the original home have turned.
The name for the _beech_ extends through a considerable number of
Indo-European languages, and it has generally been assumed that the
beech must have been known from the first and therefore must have been
a tree which flourished in the original home. Now the habitat of the
beech is to the west of a line drawn from Königsberg to the Crimea.
The argument assumes that its distribution was always the same. But
nothing is more certain than that in different ages different trees
succeed one another on the same soil. In the peat mosses of
north-east Scotland are found the trunks of vast oaks which have no
parallel among the trees which grow in the same district now, where
the oak has a hard struggle to live at all, and where experience
teaches the planter that coniferous trees will be more successful. On
the coast of Denmark in the same way the conifer has replaced the
beech since the days of the "kitchen middens," from which so much
information as to the primitive inhabitants of that area has been
obtained. But with regard to the names of trees there are two serious
pitfalls which it is difficult to avoid. (a) It is common to give a
tree the name of another which in habit it resembles. In England the
oriental plane does not grow freely north of the Trent; accordingly,
farther north the sycamore, which has a leaf that a casual observer
might think similar, has usurped the name of the plane. (b) In the
case of the beech (Lat. _fagus_), the corresponding Greek word [Greek:
phêgos] does not mean _beech_ but _oak_, or possibly, if one may judge
from the magnificent trees of north-west Greece, the chestnut. It has
been suggested that the word is connected with the verb [Greek:
phagein] to eat, so that it was originally the tree with edible fruit
and could thus be specialized in different senses in different areas.
If, however, Bartholomae's connexion of the Kurd _buz_, "elm" (_Idg.
Forschungen_, ix. 271) be correct, there can be no relation between
[Greek: phagein] and [Greek: phêgos], but the latter comes from a root
*_bhaug_, in which the _g_ would become _z_ among the _satem_
languages. The birch is a more widely spread tree than the beech,
growing as luxuriantly in the Himalayas as in western Europe, but
notwithstanding, the Latin _fraxinus_, which is almost certainly of
the same origin, means not _birch_ but _ash_, while the word akin to
ash (Gr. [Greek: oxuê]) appears in Latin without the _k_ suffix as
_os_- in Latin _ornus_, "mountain ash," for an earlier *_osinos_, cp.
Old Bulgarian _jasenu_ (the _j_ has no etymological value), Welsh and
Cornish _onnen_, from an original Celtic *_onna_ from *_os-na_. One of
the most widely spread tree names is the word _tree_ itself, which
appears in a variety of forms, Gr. [Greek: drys], Goth _triu_; Skt.
_daru_, [Greek: dory], &c., which is sometimes as in Greek specially
limited to the oak, while the Indian _deodar_ (_deva-daru_) is a
conifer. O. Schrader, who in his remarkable book, _Sprachvergleichung
und Urgeschichte_ (1883, 3rd ed., 1906-1907), locates the original
home in southern Russia, would allow the original community (ii. p.
178) to be partly within, partly without the beech line. The only
other tree the name of which is widely spread is the willow: the
English _with_, _withy_, Lat. _vitex_, Gr. [Greek: itea] for [Greek:
witea], Lithuanian _wytis_, Zend _vaeti_. Otherwise the words for
trees are limited to a small number of languages, and the meaning in
different languages is widely different, as Gr. [Greek: elatê],
"pine," Old High German _linta_, "linden," with which go the Latin
_linter_, "boat," and Lithuanian _lentà_, "board." The lime tree and
the birch do not exist in Greece, and the Latin _betula_ is a
borrowing from Gaulish (Irish _bethe_), the native word _fraxinus_, as
we have seen, being used for the _ash_. The equation of the Latin
_taxus_, "yew," with Gr. [Greek: toxon], "bow," is no doubt correct;
Schrader's equation of Skt. _dhanvan_, "bow," with the German _tanne_,
"fir," must, if correct, show at least a change of material, for no
wood is less well adapted for a bow than fir. The only conclusion that
can be drawn with apparent certainty from the names of trees is that
the original settlements were not in the southern peninsulas of
Europe.
Some of the names for cultivated plants are widely spread, but like
the names of trees do not always indicate the same thing. This is not
surprising if we consider that the word _corn_, within the Teutonic
languages alone, means wheat in England, oats in Scotland, rye in
Germany, barley in Sweden, maize in the United States of America. Thus
the Skt. _yáva_ means corn or barley, in Zend corn (modern Persian
_jav_, barley, but in the language of the Ossetes _yeu_, _yau_ is
millet), the Gk. [Greek: zea] is spelt, the Lithuanian _jawai_ corn,
the Irish _éorna_ barley (Schrader, _Sprachvergleichung_[3] ii. p.
188). The word bere or barley itself is widely spread in Europe--Latin
_far_, spelt, Goth, _barizeins_, "of barley," Old Norse _barr_, Old
Slav, _buru_, a kind of millet (ibid.). But the original habitat of
the cultivated grain plants has not yet been clearly established, and
circumstances of many kinds may occasion a change in the kind of grain
cultivated, provided another can be found suitable to the climate. In
early England it is clear that the prevalent crop was _barley_, for
_barn_ is the _bere-ern_ or barley-house.
The earliest tree-fruits found in Europe are apparently those
discovered by Edouard Piette as Mas d'Azil in a stratum which he
places between palaeolithic and neolithic. They included nuts, plums,
birdcherry, sloe, &c., and along with them was a little heap of grains
of wheat. If Piette's observations are correct, this find must go back
to a date long preceding the fruits found by Heer in the
pile-dwellings of Switzerland. Here also cherry-stones were found,
though the modern cherry is said to have been imported first by
Lucullus in the first century B.C. from Cerasus in Pontus, whence its
name. In the pile-dwellings a considerable number of apples were
found. They were generally cut up into two or three pieces, apparently
to be dried for winter use. In all probability they were wild apples
of the variety _Pirus silvatica_, which is found across the whole of
Central Europe from north to south (Buschan, _Vorgeschichtliche
Botanik_, p. 166). The original habitat of the apple is uncertain, but
it is supposed to be indigenous at any rate south of the Black Sea
(Schrader, _Reallexikon_, s. v. _Apfelbaum_). The history of the name
is obscure; it is often connected with the Campanian town Abella,
which Virgil (_Aeneid_, vii. 740) calls _malifera_, "apple-bearing."
Here also the material for fixing the site of the original habitat is
untrustworthy.
The attempt has been made to limit the possible area by a
consideration of three animals which are said not to occur in certain
parts of it--(a) the eel, which is said not to be found in the Black
Sea; (b) the honey bee, which is not found in that part of Central
Asia drained by the Oxus and Jaxartes; (c) the tortoise, which is not
found in northern areas. From evidence collected by Schrader from a
specialist at Bucharest (_Sprachvergleichung_,[3] ii. p. 147) eels are
found in the Black Sea. The argument, therefore, for excluding the
area which drains into the Black Sea from the possible habitat of the
primitive Indo-European community falls to the ground. Honey was
certainly familiar at an early age, as is shown by the occurrence of
the word *_medhu_, Skt. _mádhu_, Gr. [Greek: methy] (here the meaning
has shifted from mead to wine), Irish _mid_, English _mead_, Old Slav,
_medu_, Lithuanian _medùs_ honey, _midùs_ mead. Schrader, who is the
first to utilize the name of the tortoise in this argument, points out
(_op. cit._ p. 148) that forms from the same root occur in both a
_centum_ and a _satem_ language--Gr. [Greek: chelús, chelonê], Old
Slav. _zily_, _zeluvi_--but that while it reaches far north in eastern
Europe, it does not pass the 46th parallel of latitude in western
Europe. This argument would make not only the German site for the
original home which is supported by Kossinna and Hirt impossible, but
also that of Scandinavia contended for by Penka.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the arguments for any given
area are not conclusive. In the great plain which extends across
Europe north of the Alps and Carpathians and across Asia north of the
Hindu Kush there are few geographical obstacles to prevent the rapid
spread of peoples from any part of its area to any other, and, as we
have seen, the Celts and the Hungarians, &c., have, in the historical
period, demonstrated the rapidity with which such migrations could be
made. Such migration may possibly account for the appearance of a
people using a _centum_ language so far east as Turkestan. But our
information as to Tocharish is still too fragmentary to decide the
question. It is impossible here to discuss at any length the relations
between the separate Indo-European languages, a subject which has
formed, from somewhat different points of view, the subject of
Kretschmer's _Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache_
and Meillet's _Les Dialectes indo-européennes_.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Besides the articles on the separate languages in this
Encyclopaedia the following works are the most important for
consultation: K. Brugmann (phonology and morphology) and B. Delbrück
(syntax), _Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen
Sprachen_ (1886-1900), ed. 2, vol. i. (1897); of vol. ii. two large
parts, including the stem formation and inflexion of the noun, the
pronoun and the numerals, have been published in 1906 and 1909. A
shorter work by Brugmann, _Kurze vergleichende Grammatik der
indogermanischen Sprachen_, dealing mainly with Sanskrit, Greek,
Latin, Germanic and Slavonic, appeared in three parts in 1902-1903. A
good but less elaborate work is A. Meillet, _Introduction à l'étude
comparative des langues indo-européennes_ (1903, 2nd ed. 1908). For
the ethnological argument: W. Z. Ripley, _The Races of Europe_ (1900);
G. Sergi, _The Mediterranean Race_ (English edition, 1901). Other
works, now largely superseded, which deal with this argument are K.
Penka, _Origines Ariacae_ (1883), and _Die Herkunft der Arier_ (1886),
and I. Taylor, _The Origin of the Aryans_, N.D. (1890). The
ethnologists are no more in agreement than the philologists. For the
arguments mainly from the linguistic side see especially O. Schrader,
_Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte_ (3rd ed., 2 vols.,
1906-1907)--the second edition was translated into English by Dr F. B.
Jevons under the title _Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan Peoples_
(1890); _Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde_ (1901); M.
Much, _Die Heimat der Indogermanen_ (1902, 2nd ed. 1904); E. de
Michelis, _L'Origine degli Indo-europei_ (1903); H. Hirt, _Die
Indogermanen_ (2 vols., 1905-1907); S. Feist, _Europa im Lichte der
Vorgeschichte und die Ergebnisse der vergleichenden indogermanischen
Sprachwissenschaft_, 1910, in W. Sieglin's _Quellen und Forschungen
zur alten Geschichte und Geographie_. Important for special sections
of this question are S. Müller, _Nordische Altertumskunde_ (2 vols.,
1897-1898), and _Urgeschichte Europas_ (1905); V. Hehn,
_Kulturpflanzen und Haustiere_ (1870), 7th ed. edited by O. Schrader,
with contributions on botany by A. Engler (1902); J. Hoops, _Waldbäume
und Kulturpflanzen im germanischen Altertum_ (1905). Delbrück has
devoted a special monograph to the I.-E. names of relationships, from
which he shows that the I.-E. family was patriarchal, not matriarchal
(_Die idg. Verwandtschaftsnamen_, 1889). E. Meyer, from Tocharish
being a _centum_ language, has revived with reserve the hypothesis of
the Asiatic origin (_Geschichte des Altertums_,^2 I. 2, p. 801).
(P. Gi.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] E. Meyer, _Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie_ (1908, pp. 14
ff.), and more fully in _Kuhn's Zeitschrift_ (xlii. pp. 17 ff.); also
_Geschichte des Altertums_ (i. 2, 2nd ed. pp. 807 ff.).
[2] Sieg und Siegling, "Tocharisch, die Sprache der Indoskythen"
(_Sitzb. d. Berl. Ak._ 1908, pp. 915 ff.).
[3] No. xix. p. 255, "Another ancient and extensive class of
languages, united by a greater number of resemblances than can well
be altogether accidental, may be denominated the Indo-European,
comprehending the Indian, the West Asiatic, and almost all the
European languages."
[4] Leo Meyer, "Über den Ursprung der Namen Indogermanen, Semiten und
Ugrofinner," in the _Göttinger gelehrte Nachrichten,
philologisch-historische Klasse_, 1901, pp. 454 ff.
[5] The vocative is not strictly speaking a case at all, for it
stands outside the syntax of the sentence. It was originally an
exclamatory form consisting of the bare stem without case suffix. In
the plural the nominative is used to supply the lacking vocative
form.
[6] For the history of the controversy see the excellent summary in
Salomon Reinach's _L'Origine des Aryens: Historie d'une controverse_
(1892). Max Müller's latest views are contained in his _Biographies
of Words and the Home of the Aryas_ (1888). See Schmidt's _Die
Urheimat der Indogermanen und das europäische Zahlsystem_ (1890).
[7] "Geographische Prüfung der Tatsachen über den Ursprung der Völker
Europas" (_Berichte der k. sächsischen Ges. d. Wissenschaften_, 1900,
pp. 34 ff.).
[8] See the essay on "Evolution and the Science of Language," in
_Darwin and Modern Science_ (1909), p. 524 f.
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