C A R N A T I C. 



Inhabi- 

 tant*. 



Carnatic. This tract of country extends from Madras to the 

 -,- I'ullicati- lake northward; and to Alamparuc, south- 

 wards; and westward, beyond Conjeveram ; that is 

 about 10S miles along shore, and 47 inland, in the 

 widest part. 



The inhabitants of the Carnatic, particularly upon 

 the sea coast, consist of an immense variety of different 

 tribes of men. This has arisen, no doubt, from the 

 marketable nature of the commodities which it has 

 produced in every age, and the consequent oppor- 

 tunity that was afforded to adventurers to acquire 

 wealth, one of the leading pursuits of the generality 

 of mankind. The population of the whole district 

 has never been accurately ascertained. The city of 

 Madras itself is extremely populous, and the strange 

 medley of which it consists, is well calculated to con- 

 vey a just idea, though upon a large scale, of the 

 variety of inhabitants in the rest. None are permit- 

 ted to reside in Fort St George but the English, 

 and it is called the White town ; but the outer dis- 

 trict is inhabited by Europeans, Armenians, Benga- 

 lese, Chinese, Peguans, Arabians, Jews, and black 

 and white Indians, of all classes and religious sects, 

 3cc. ; it is called the Black town. 



It would be improper to enter here into a long 

 detail respecting the different races of men, their dress, 

 customs, manners, peculiar institutions, or religion, 

 as a full exposition of those different particulars will 

 be given under the article INDIA. It may be neces- 

 sary to observe, however, that throughout the whole 

 of India, a very great similarity exists in all these re- 

 spects. They have very generally been arranged 

 nnder Hindoos, Mahometans, and Christians. Their 

 religion conveying a pretty accurate idea of the tribes 

 which compose those different orders. The com- 

 plexions of the people on the coast of Coromandel 

 are considerably darker than those to the northward ; 

 and the native Hindoos are generally darker than the 

 Mussulman, who originally came from Tartary and 

 Persia. They all wear white cotton dresses, and 

 made almost in the same manner. To distinguish 

 the Hindoos, therefore, you must look very closely 

 at their forehead or breast, because they have certain 

 marks which they consider as sacred, and by which 

 it may be discovered to what sect they belong, and 

 what Deity they worship. 



It is well known, that the Hindoos are divided in- 

 to casts. Four of these are esteemed pure : that of 

 the Brahmans, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the 

 Sudra. Every other member of the community, 

 who is not connected with one or other of these, is 

 reckoned impure. The divisions of the first class, 

 however, in the Carnatic, are different from what 

 they are in Bengal. They are divided into three 

 sects, and though they admit the divine authority of 

 the same purans or religious books, they interpret 

 them differently, and have each their followers. They 

 consider the second class as having been quite extinct 

 for many centuries. Another very singular difference 

 also exists in this country, no Brahman officiates in 

 any of the temples of the inferior gods, whose altars 

 are stained with blood. 



The food of the natives of India is well known to 

 be very similar throughout the whole continent. A 

 vegetable diet and milk constitute the whole of it. 



1 



Food. 



In no extensive a tract of country, it must naturmlly Canuiic. 

 be expected that a difference of tate will exist. The * ~ C** 

 tart, or fermented juic<*, and tbejageru, or inspumcd 

 juice of the palmini live, (Hurassut Flai>clliformit t ) 

 are more esteemed in the Caruauc than ih-.,*- of the 

 wild date, to which the Bcngalese give the decided 

 preference. They pretend to be very moderate in 

 the use of the tart, but consume great quantities of 

 the Jagory. It cells in the country for about nine 

 shillings and five pence prr hundred weight. The 

 people who make jag f >ry from palm trees, follow no 

 other profession. The cast is called Slianar, but the 

 individual in the Tamul language is Slianan. He a- 

 cends the palmira tree morning and evening, in order 

 to collect the exuded juice, and through the day he 

 and his family boil it down into jagory. The tree 

 produces at all seasons, and one man can take care of 

 200 trees, from which he can extract about 482 

 pounds ofjagoru. 



A great variety of languages are spoken in the Language*. 

 Carnatic. The Tamul, the Hindostannee, the Per- 

 sic, and the Arabic, &c. Many of the names of re- 

 markable places and objects (e. g. the word Ghaut,) 

 are of Arabic extraction, or at least are to be found 

 in that language. Whether these words were bor- 

 rowed in the same manner, as we in modern times 

 borrow the names of arts, sciences, &c. from the 

 Greek, or from what other cause it proceeded, it 

 would be presumptuous to affirm positively. Simi- 

 larity of sound, even when accompanied with identity 

 of meaning, is an exceedingly uncertain foundation 

 upon which to assert a priority of claim upon the 

 one side or the other. The early literature of the na- 

 tives of India, as well as their knowledge of the more 

 abstruse sciences, have been frequently the subject of 

 panegyric. The inhabitants of the Carnatic have 

 laid claim to a considerable share of the fame which 

 they conceive their ancestry to have acquired in the 

 cultivation of learning, and in the opinion of compe- 

 tent judges have made good their title. It would be 

 idle to launch into the regions of uncertainty, upon 

 a subject which the hand of time has now consigned 

 tb impenetrable darkness. One thing, however, 

 seems to be placed beyond the shadow of doubt, 

 that, at a period how remote soever, the sovereigns 

 of the Carnatic must have been possessed of great 

 wealth and power, and the country in general must 

 have made extraordinary advances in population, in- 

 dustry, and in the arts, before they could have left so 

 magnificent monuments of their architectural profu- 

 sion and skill. The number, variety, extent, and ele- 

 gance of their pagodas and other public buildingt, 

 cannot be exceeded, and scarcely equalled in nations 

 that have attained to a very high degree of civiliza- 

 tion. The duration of those remains of ancient gran- 

 deur has been accounted for, or at least attempted to 

 be accounted for, from the nature of the cement em- 

 ployed in building in India, (it is composed of a mix- 

 ture of oil and viscous substances,) and from the na- 

 ture of the climate. 



It is perhaps impossible for an European to judge 

 of the true genius of Indian poetry, or to enter, with 

 the spirit of an Asiatic, into the productions of their 

 bards. The superiority of the knowledge of the 

 language, aided by many fabulous traditions which 



