VEBNACVLAR NAMES. 



It might have been expected that the moat isolated dis- 

 tricts (e.g., Itanchi), and those containing the largest propor- 

 tion of forest (nearly 20 per cent, in Singbhnm), would have 

 been precisely those in which the aboriginal languages wonld 

 die hardest but it is difficult to explain the progress of Aryan 

 tongues among the Tributary States. 



SingbllUHi. — The dominant tribe is the Ho, who form over 

 87 per cent, of the population, and next to them come the 

 Santals. Among other Kolarian races the Bhumij are very 

 numerous in the east along the Subarnarekha, and in Dal- 

 bhum, whence they extend into Manbhum, and in the north, 

 in Porahat, the Mundas are predominant. The Dravidian 

 element is not strong but there are over 6,00C Gonds and 

 over 5,000 Oraons ; the latter, however, chiefly confined to the 

 towns. The Imperial Gazetteer (1887) states that the whole of 

 Saranda {vide p. 7) contains but a few poor hamlets nest- 

 ling in deep valleys, and belonging to one of the least reclaimed 

 tribes of Kols. The reference is to the Hos, and may the 

 process of so-called reclamation be a long one ! The writer 

 heartily endorses Col. Dalton's description of them ; they 

 have " a manner free from servility, but never rude ; a love or 

 at least the practice of truth ; a feeling of self-respect, render- 

 ing them keenly sensitive under rebuke." They used to 

 have, and indeed still maintain, a great reputation for bravery, 

 and in 1820 a British force which entered the country with a 

 view to bringing them under the subjection of the Rajah 

 " had to light every inch of its way out of the country again, 

 leaving them unsubdued." 1 The Hos of the Singbbum 

 jangles still carry their bows and battle-axes, and can use 

 them with good effect. Although so essentially a forest 

 tribe, it is to be noted that a considerable number of Saranda 

 plants have really no Ho names. Unlike the Lepchas of the 

 Eastern Himalayas, the Hos and other Chota Nagpur tribes 

 only name the common plants and those of striking beauty or 

 scent, and those of economic importance to them. Some 



v Quoted from Hunter in the Imperial Gazetteer of 1887. 

 36 



