CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



consequence of the Indian mutiny was a determin- 

 ation on the part of the English people that India 

 should be ruled for the benefit of the Indian 

 population. The government was transferred from 

 the East India Company to the crown, Queen 

 Victoria assuming the title of Empress of India. 

 The new administration already referred to was 

 then called into existence. Since then, great 

 irrigation works, canals for traffic, railways, and 

 telegraphs, have been constructed in all parts of 

 India ; every effort has been made to promote 

 agriculture, and, by the foundation of schools 

 and colleges, to spread education. We shall now 

 glance hurriedly at the various divisions of the 

 country, which may be conveniently arranged 

 under the three heads of Western Hindustan, 

 Eastern Hindustan, and the Deccan. 



x. Western Hindustan. 



Its principal divisions are : 



1. Cashmere, a mountainous country of the 

 Western Himalaya, ruled over by Ranbir Singh, 

 who is bound by treaty to furnish troops to the 

 British government if required. The chief portion 

 is a valley 50 miles long, 10 or 12 miles wide, and 

 5300 feet above the sea. The soil is fertile and 

 productive, and the country is one of the most 

 beautiful in the world. The capital, Cashmere, 

 has a population of 200,000. 



2. The Punjab, consisting chiefly of a plain 

 traversed by tributaries of the Indus, which divide 

 it into great natural sections called Doabs. Where 

 there is water for irrigation, the country is fer- 

 tile. The population by census of 1881 is i8| 

 millions. The inhabitants are chiefly Sikhs, and 

 speak Punjabi. West of the Indus, the Patans, or 

 Afghans, are more numerous ; two-thirds of them 

 are Mohammedans, one-sixth profess the Sikh 

 religion, the rest are Hindus. The Sikhs have 

 no distinction of caste. Lahore (pop. 150,000) 

 is the chief commercial town of North-western 

 India. Mooltan (pop. 68,000) is one of the oldest 

 Indian towns. 



3. Rajpootana lies south of the Punjab. It is 

 a fertile hill-country on the east, but on the west 

 extends over the Thur, or Indian Desert. It is 

 divided into 18 independent states, with 9 millions 

 of inhabitants. They are all under the political 

 superintendence of an agent of the governor- 

 general. The inhabitants are Hindus, and speak 

 dialects resembling the Hindi. In consequence 

 of the rule of so many native princes, and their 

 independent interests, no great public works are 

 carried out, but in many places English schools 

 have been founded. Bhurtpore (pop. 66,000) is 

 the chief town. 



4. Sinde (pop. above 2 millions), at the mouth 

 of the Indus, has a hot and dry climate. The 

 country is rich, and produces two crops a year 

 near the river; but to the east, it becomes an 

 absolute desert The trade of the country is 

 rapidly increasing. The capital is Hyderabad 

 (pop. 48,000) ; the chief port, Kurrachee, is familiar 

 to Englishmen as a chief packet-station. 



5. Gujerat, a flat and fertile country (pop. 3 

 millions). The ruling race is the Mahrattas. It 

 includes many petty states, the chief of which 

 is that of the Guicowar. Baroda (pop. 101,000) 

 has a great trade. 



6. Malwah is a name given to the elevated 



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country lying north of the Vindhyan Mountains. 

 It is divided into a number of principalities, the 

 chief of which are : Indore, or Holkar's dominion ; 

 Gwalior, or Scindia's dominion ; Bhopal ; Bundel- 

 cund, &c. 



7. The North-west Provinces (of Bengal) are 

 so called because they were included in the 

 presidency of Bengal. They, however, form no 

 part of Bengal in a geographical sense, and 

 might be better described as Hindustan Proper. 

 They form a great plain, divided by the Jumna 

 and the Ganges, bounded on the north by 

 the Terai, a narrow tract of forests and pesti- 

 lential swamps, infested with wild beasts ; on the 

 south, by the elevated tract of Bundelcund. The 

 plain is arid in the west near the desert, but 

 better watered in the east Costly canals have 

 recently been constructed, which have marvellously 

 increased the productiveness of the country. The 

 people speak Hindi ; but both that language and 

 Hindustani, or Urdu, are taught in the schools. 

 The common people live on chupatties, or un- 

 leavened wheaten cakes. Their dress is rather 

 fuller than that of the Bengalees ; and their houses, 

 which resemble those of the latter, are covered 

 with tiles instead of thatch. They are Hindus 

 and Mussulmans. Among the chief towns of the 

 country may be included Delhi, which, for admin- 

 istrative purposes, is now annexed to the Punjab. 

 Delhi, however, belongs to the Upper Ganges. 

 It had in the time of Aurungzebe a population of 

 2 millions. The number of its present inhabit- 

 ants is only 173,000. It still contains splendid 

 mosques, and the imperial palace is half a mile 

 in circuit. In the width and cleanliness of its 

 streets, Delhi appears like a European town. It 

 anciently occupied 20 square miles, and that space 

 is now covered with ruins. Near Agra (pop. 

 160,000) is the famous Taj Mahal. Benares (pop. 

 199,000) is the holy city of the Hindus. It is 

 filled with numberless temples and palaces, and 

 is visited by pilgrims from all parts of India. 

 Oude, which previously formed a separate pro- 

 vince, was joined to the North-west Provinces in 

 1877. It resembles them in soil and climate. 

 Lucknow (pop. 261,000) is the chief town. 



2. Eastern Hindustan. 



i. In this division are included the lower prov- 

 inces of Bengal. They form an alluvial plain, 

 unsurpassed in the world for luxuriance of vege- 

 tation from one end to the other is, indeed, one 

 enormous garden. Rice is the chief object of 

 cultivation, but all the other grains are grown. 

 The opium poppy, indigo, cotton, the sugar-cane, 

 the mulberry, tobacco, hemp, and flax form the 

 other chief objects of cultivation. On the north, 

 the plain is bounded by the great forest which 

 runs along the base of the Himalaya, and which 

 is infested with wild beasts. Its inhabitants are 

 chiefly Bengalees, the great majority of whom are 

 agriculturists. They are very poor, a great part 

 of the wealth of the country passing into the 

 hands of the zemindars, or aristocracy. The 

 peasants are said to be 'as innocent, temperate, 

 and moral as the people of any country in the 

 world.' They are also said to be destitute of 

 manly spirit and independence of character. 

 Calcutta (pop. 800,000) is the capital of Bengal, 

 and the seat of the supreme government. The 



