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HISTORY OK INDIA.
IiiliabitaiiU.
Political geograpliy.
Kuropean rulei's in India.
inaitki'icl ;unl the, iimn^o fish, the one rnwusuring 3 fi;et, Jirid tlic otlier oc<:ii«ional)y 4 feet in length. Both frequently finfl a place on the tallies of Euroy)ean residentH.
Tlu! inhabitants of India would next claim attention ; but a« a full accrjunt of them will necessarily be interwoven in the course of the work, it may liere suffice to mention that they consist mainly of two great classes — Mahometans and Hindoos. The former, amounting only to about a tenth of the whole population, are far more influential than their numbers imply, because, having been the dominant race before European ascendency was established, they have never entirely lost the wealth and power which this position gave them, and in most native states are under the government of princes of their own faith. The Hindoos, though classed under a common name, by no meaas represent a single race, but exhibit numerous varieties, even in physical form ; and, instead of all speaking the same language, have dialects, founded indeed, for the most part, on the Sanscrit, which is no longer spoken, but differing as much from each other as those languages of Europe which have the Latin for their common basis.
In the preceding sketch, attention has been drawn only to the physical geo- graphy of India, or to the features which natiu-e herself has indeliVjly impressed upon it, and the most remarkable objects presented by its mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. As yet nothing has been said of another department of geography — that which treats of the artificial divisions introduced for adminis- trative purposes, or in consequence of political changes. These, though they necessarily partake of the instability which attaches to all human arrangements, serve many important piu-poses, and, in fact, furnish the vocabulary which mu.st be used when particular localities are referred to, or the events of which they have been the theatre are described. A thorough knowledge of this vocabulary is only to be obtained by a diligent study of the map ; but for ordinary purposes , a more ciu^sory knowledge may suffice, at least so far as to prevent the per- plexity which might be caused by the frequent use of names of which no previ- ous information had been given. With the aew of fm-nishing such a knowledge, and guarding against thLs perplexity, a summary of the political geography of India, in accordance with actually subsisting arrangements, and compressed within the narrowest possible compass, is here subjoined.
At present, not much more than the half of India is in the undi^'ided posses- sion of Great Britain. Two European nations still linger at a few insignificant spots — the Portuguese at Goa on the west coast and at Diu on the north-west between the Gulfs of Cutch and Cambay; and the French at Pondicherry and Carricall, on the east coast, at Mahe, on the south-west coast, and at Chander- M nagore on the Hooghl3^ above Calcutta. Two native states — Bhotan and Nepal, situated on the southern slopes of the Himalaya — are nominally inde- M pendent. All the other native states are under a British protectorate oi greater or less stringency. Of these states in the upper and inland portion of India, the most extensive are Scindia's dominions, capital Gwalior, stretching fi'om the J
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