VERNACULAR NAMES. 



could be ascertained from a slight acquaintance, the lan- 

 guage of the Birhors is ordinary Mundari. 



Mailbhllin. — The largest caste is the Hindnized Kurmis, 

 and if these are really of Aryan blood, the proportion of abo- 

 riginal tribes in Manbhum is under 50 per cent, of the total 

 population. In the north of Manbhum the Santal s are very 

 numerous, so that they form over 14 per cent, of the popula- 

 tion of the * whole district. Santal names are similar or dis- 

 tinct from the Munda and Ho, but in some cases they are 

 now the same as the Hindi, and on this account it has some- 

 times been contended that the alleged Hindi names may be 

 borrowed from the Santal. This, however, does not seem very 

 probable when the other Kols still retain a distinct name for 

 the plant, in question, and seeing that so many Hindi worda 

 havo been borrowed by the Santals. Most of the Santaii 

 names in the Flora have been obtained from the Rev. A. 

 Campbell, who is most perfectly acquainted with the Santal 

 language in addition to being a botanist. 



RailChi . — The Ranchi district is the great centre of the 

 Kolarian Mundas and the Dravidian Oraons. Munda names 

 of plants are very largely used and have already been referred 

 to. The list is probably not quite complete as the writer has 

 been unable to recognize a number of Mundari totems which 

 are said to be names of trees. 1 Some of these, however, are 

 certainly not trees native of the country now inhabited by the 

 Mundas, and the names are usually considered Hindi ; such 

 for instance as Gua (Areca Nut), while others though native 

 are under Sindi names, such as aura which is miral in 

 Mundari, 'and amba which is translated as mango, though the 

 wild mango is always known as TJU. 



Oraon names are still a great desideratum 5 and of the few 

 mentioned most have been gleaned from Mr. Gamble's works. 



i See Eisley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal. 



3 The writer, unfortunately, lost the notes of Oraon names collected 

 for the trees of the Horhap forest. 



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