Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/110

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98 MYSORE. castes and tribes, 5718, namely, Iraligars, 1229 ; Soligars, 1596; and Betta Kurumbas, 2893. Muhammadans were classified as follows: — Sunnís, 179,296 ; Shiás, 4248; Wáhábís, 516; Pindárís, 5055; Labbays, 4656; Mappilas, 385; Dairas or Mahadaris, 3777; and others,' 2551. The Census divided the male population as regards occupations into six main groups :-(1) Professional class, including State officials and members of the learned professions, 90,452 ; (2) domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, 15,223 ; (3) commercial class, including bankers, merchants, carriers, etc., 45,366; (4) agricultural class, including shepherds, 1,008,826; (5) industrial class, including all manufacturers and artisans, 128,926; and (6) indefinite and nonproductive class, comprising all male children, general labourers, and persons of unspecified occupation, 797,049. Of the 21 towns and 17,634 villages in Mysore State, 11,496 contained in 1881 less than two hundred inhabitants ; 4592 from two to five hundred; 1189 from five hundred to a thousand; 277 from one to two thousand ; 50 from two to three thousand; 30 from three to five thousand; 15 from five to ten thousand ; 3 from ten to fifteen thousand; and 3 more than fifty thousand. There are altogether 21 towns with niore than 5000 inhabitants, showing a total urban population of 346,317 persons, or 8.3 per cent of the population of the State. The five largest towns are-BANGALORE, population of city and cantonments (1881) 155,857 ; MYSORE TOWN, 60,292 ; SHIMOGA, 12,040 ; SERINGAPATAM, 11,734 ; and KOLAR, 11,172. IVild Tribes.--Of the wild tribes, the Betta (Hill) Kurubas are the most numerous. They live in the woods in small communities called hádis, their dwellings being merely sheds made of branches of trees. Of late years they have lost much of their former shyness, and besides felling wood for the Forest Department, seck employment on coffee plantations. They still retain their love of sport, being excellent foresters, and well acquainted with the habits of wild beasts. They have no principle of caste, but each community is governed by a head. inan, who is generally the patriarch of the village. They are averse from cultivating the soil in the careful manner practised by most Mysore peasants, contenting themselves with sowing a little millet. Like some other wild tribes in India, they are credited with possessing magical powers, which, added to the inaccessibility of the retreats in which they have taken refuge, may have tended to preserve theni from litter extermination. They are dark in colour, and short in stature, but have not so savage an appearance as some of the wilder tribes in Central India. Their long coarse hair grow's to a length of 15 inches, and is drawn off the head to the back, and fastened by a