employed in Sanskṛit literature and recognized by the whole Sanskṛitic race, more particularly in Bengal and the Dekhan, is Bhārata or Bhārata-varsha—that is to say—'the country of king Bharata[1],' who must have ruled over a large extent of territory in ancient times (see pp. 371, 419 of this volume).
It will not be supposed that in our vast Eastern Empire we have to deal with a single race or even with many merely ordinary races. We are not there brought in contact with savage tribes who melt away before the superior force and intelligence of Europeans. Rather are we placed in the midst of great and ancient peoples, who, some of them tracing back their origin to the same stock as ourselves, attained a high degree of civilization when our forefathers were barbarians, and had a polished language, a cultivated literature, and abstruse systems of philosophy, centuries before English existed even in name.
The population of India, according to the census of 1872, amounts to at least 240 millions[2]. An assemblage of beings so immense does
- ↑ Manu's name (II. 22) for the whole central region between the Himālaya and Vindhya mountains is Āryāvarta, 'abode of the Āryans,' and this is still a classical appellation for that part of India. Another name for India, occurring in Sanskṛit poetry, is Jambu-dvīpa (see p. 419). This is restricted to India in Buddhist writings. Strictly, however, Jambu-dvīpa is a poetical name for the whole earth (see p. 419), of which India was thought to be the most important part. Bharata in Ṛig-veda I. xcvi. 3 may mean 'a supporter,' 'sustainer,' and Bhārata-varsha may possibly convey the idea of 'a supporting land.'
- ↑ Of these, about 27 millions belong to the native states. In the Bengal provinces alone the number, according to the census of 1871-72, amounts to 66,856,859, far in excess of any previous estimate. Of these, only 19,857 are Europeans, and 20,279 Eurasians. A most exhaustive and interesting account of its details is given by Sir George Campbell in his Bengal Administration Report. This is the first real census of the country yet attempted. Sir William Jones in 1787 thought the population of Bengal, Behar, Orissa (with Benares also) amounted to 24,000,000; Colebrooke in 1802 computed it at 30,000,000; in 1844 it was estimated at 31,000,000; and of late years it was assumed to be about 40 or 41 millions. Now it is found that the food-producing area of Bengal numbers 650 souls to the square mile, as compared with 422 in England, and 262 in the United Kingdom. The three Presidency towns number 644,405 inhabitants for Bombay (called by the natives Mumbaī); 447,600 for Calcutta (Kalikātā); and 397,522 for Madras (Ćenna-pattanam); but
