In classifying the India Museum arms Mr. Egerton has divided them in a thoroughly practical manner into twelve groups, which are partly ethnical, partly geographical, and partly economical.
Group 1 is of the arms of the aboriginal and non-Aryan tribes of Central India, and the Andaman Islands.
Groups 2 and 3, of the aboriginal and Dravidian races of Southern India.
Group 4, of the hill tribes of Assam and the North East frontier.
Group 5, of British and native Burma and Assam,
Group 6, of the Malayan Peninsula, and Indian Archipelago.
Group 7, of Nipai.
Group 8, of the Rajputs.
Group 9, of the Marathas ; and of the Mahommedans of Mysore and the Da khan.
Group 10, of Sindh and the Panjab.
Group 11, of the Afghans and Persians; and also of the Abyssinians, &c.
Group 12, of arms used for athletic and sacrificial purposes.
It is in this order that the arms have been arranged in the India Museum, and nothing could be simpler or more effective for the purpose of instruction, or more suitable for their artistic display. In his preface Mr. Egerton expresses a regret, in which every one will concur, that the collection of Indian arms at the Tower has not been united to the India Museum collection 1 and that the Government of Madras should have recently allowed the old historical weapons from the armouries of Tanjore and Madras to be broken up and sold for old metal. This act of vandalism is all the more to be deplored, as neither the Tower nor the India Museum collections are, as Mr. Egerton points out, rich in Southern Indian arms,
I have illustrated a spear-head [Plate 43] of Vizi anagram work, as an example of decoration derived from the temple architecture of the Madras Presidency.
