470 



C A R N A T I C. 



Camatic. the natives consider as canonical, render them much 

 'T' 1 "'' more inclined to peruse, with enthusiasm, the works 

 of thrir favourite authors. Their painting, it must 

 be confessed, bears little or no resemblance to nature ; 

 and of their music perhaps no high encomium can be 

 pronounced. Dr Buchanan remarks, " that the mu- 

 sic of the Nabut, or state band of the nabob of Arcot, 

 is much superior to any thing he had ever heard 

 among the natives, and is not much harsher than our 

 clarionet." 



Agricul- The first and the most important of all arts is that 

 cure. e f agriculture, and civilization can have made but 



very inconsiderable progress where it is not cultiva- 

 ted. Mankind have a powerful stimulus to employ 

 'every exertion, in order to increase the means of sub- 

 sistence. The degree of exertion, however, which is 

 actually made, depends upon many adventitious cir- 

 cumstances, such as the climate, the soil, the sponta- 

 neous productions of the earth, &c. The progress 

 of agriculture in the Carnatic has been very small, 

 like that of every other country in India. It may 

 be said to have been stationary for ages. The soil 

 in many places is fine, and, when the proper quanti- 

 ty of rain falls, requires very little labour to produce 

 a most abundant crop. In others the soil is very in- 

 different. Rocks, or large detached masses of gra- 

 nite, are very common in many fields, even in those 

 districts that are considered as the most fertile. In 

 other places, again, there are immense beds of granite, 

 or of that rock decomposed into harsh coarse sand. 

 Many of the hills are composed of the same sub- 

 stance, which alone renders cultivation totally im- 

 practicable. From the intenseness of the heat of the 

 climate, even the best and most favourable soils re- 

 quire a very great quantity of water, in order to pro- 

 mote vegetation. Nature most commonly supplies 

 abundance of this necessary manure in the rainy sea- 

 sons, and in that case two crops are produced. If 

 this be withheld, scarcity, and even famine, is the 

 certain consequence. The natives, however, have at- 

 tempted to provide what is, in a small degree, a sub- 

 stitute for this invaluable blessing. Throughout tire 

 whole of India, what is called tanks, or reservoirs of 

 water, have been formed. In Bengal, this is gene- 

 rally effected by digging ; but in the Carnatic, where 

 the situation is more favourable, they shut up, with 

 an artificial bank, an opening between two natural 

 ridges of ground. Some of these tanks extend from 

 aeveri to eight miles in length, and three in breadth ; 

 and are said to be sufficient to supply with water the 

 lands of thirty-two villages for eighteen months, 

 should the rains fail. In the villages thus watered 

 by Saymbrumbacum tank, there are 5000 persons 

 employed in agriculture. But the bounty of Nature 

 renders this seldom necessary. The water which is 

 collected is generally employed in the dry season, 

 and let out in small streams, without the aid of ma- 

 chinery, as wanted for cultivation. The genial na- 

 ture of the soil and climate, assisted by moisture, is 

 all that is requisite to produce the most luxuriant 

 crop. When the water of a tank is exhausted before 

 the rice of the fields watered by it is ripe, the crop 

 agust either perish, or they must use the yatam, or, 

 as the English call it, the pacota. One acre and 

 nearly one-fifth, require the constant labour of four 



men to supply it with water for the cultivation of CarnatJc. 

 rice. The same number of men are able to water "*-~~Y'^ 

 three times the same quantity of garden ground, be- 

 cause a smaller supply is required. When there is a 

 necessity for watering by machinery, a deduction 

 from the rent is generally allowed. The machines are 

 exceedingly rude, and discover very little enterprise 

 or knowledge of the mechanical powers in those who 

 have for ages employed them. 



The instruments of husbandry are of the same 

 rude construction ; and were it not for the excellence 

 of the soil and climate, they never could dress the 

 ground so as to render it capable of producing what 

 could indemnify the labour bestowed upon it, or 

 even support the labourer himself. It is not the 

 want of an inventive genius, to which we ought to 

 ascribe the small progress that they have made in 

 "improving the instruments employed by them. There 

 are few inventions in the arts that have not been dic- 

 tated by necessity, and have, either in imagination or 

 in reality, been considered as contributing to that 

 love of ease which is so natural to man. Every im- 

 plement of husbandry they make use of would be 

 totally useless in a different region of the eartlr. 

 The spade, hoe, harrow, and plough, are equally 

 bad, and scarcely deserve the names. The great ad- 

 ditional labour which thus devolves upon the hus-- 

 bandman is inconceivable ; but custom and ancient 

 usage reconcile them to any thing. 



In the Carnatic, the greater part of the Brahmans 

 engage in secular professions. Besides being officers 

 of the revenue, and employed in administering jus-- 

 tice, &c. they rent a great deal of land, but they 

 never put their hand to the plough. Two unfortu- 

 nate and miserable races of men are doomed to dis- 

 charge this laborious duty. These are the Sudra 

 and Panchum Bundum. The latter are by far the 

 most hardy and laborious people of the country ; and 

 Hyder discovered his sagacity when he shewed them 

 such particular marks of his preference, as to settle 

 them in many parts of his dominions as farmers, and 

 interdicted his subjects from calling them by any 

 other name than that of cultivators. There are a 

 few Mussulman who cultivate their farms by means 

 of slaves, but they are not numerous in this part of 

 Hindostan. Some of the Sudra cast, who have ac- 

 quired a little property by their industry, have also 

 purchased slaves, whom they employ in agriculture ; 

 but in general their lands are cultivated with their 

 own hands. 



The staple grain of the country is rice. It forms 

 the favourite beverage of the Hindoos, whose religion 

 forbids them the use of animal food ; and their agri- 

 culture is chiefly directed to its production. The)' 

 bestow also considerable care on the cultivation of 

 maize, the sugar-cane, and cocoa-nut tree. The 

 wheat that is raised, whether from the climate or in- 

 judicious treatment, or from both, scarcely deserves 

 to be mentioned. The cotton-tree, however, is wide- 

 ly diffused, and in no part of India does it thrive 

 better than on the dry coast of Coromandel. 



The narrow policy of the proprietors of the ground 

 has produced very injurious effects in many parts of 

 India. Thus, when the tenant is unable to pay his 

 rent, it is usual in Bengal to prevent the crops from 



