THE BHIL AGENT AND HIS DUTIES 



much-coveted and, from my point of view, most interesting 

 appointment in the Service. 



The District of Khandesh, at the time of which I write, 

 was a wild tract of country some 15,000 square miles in 

 area, bordered on the north by the Satpuda range, a 

 mountain tract from thirty to forty miles wide, teeming 

 with wild animals, especially tigers and panthers, and 

 peopled by a once savage race of men, the Bhils, whom 

 Government gradually weaned from savagery by the wise 

 policy of free grants of land, seed and cattle, which induced 

 them to settle down as cultivators. Since the beginning 

 of British rule these people had always given trouble, and 

 an attempt to bring them to order by force having failed, 

 the above measures were adopted, in addition to enlisting 

 them in special corps. The inherent lawless spirit of these 

 wild men, however, necessitated the constant presence of 

 a British officer amongst them, hence the appointment of a 

 Bhil Agent, whose duties were heavy and varied, e.g., such 

 gangs as were still in revolt had to be reduced and kept in 

 order, offenders punished or committed for trial, disputes 

 to be settled and complaints redressed, saving them from 

 the clever and unscrupulous money-lenders, the Gujars, 

 of whom mention has already been made, etc., etc., 



I was very fortunate in being selected for the appoint- 

 ment of Agent, as the wandering life amongst the hill men 

 suited me to perfection, and gave me many opportunities 

 of acquiring a knowledge of their feelings and customs 

 which often proved of immense value in my official duties, 

 while as to jungle-lore and wood-craft, the information 

 I derived from them was both in quantity and quality 

 such as it would be impossible to obtain from any other 

 source, for living as these men do in close companionship, 

 so to speak, with the animal denizens of the jungle, the 

 knowledge they possess of wild beasts and their ways, is 

 naturally much greater than that of any other natives 

 I have met. 



But if the information and experience I had thus ac- 

 quired were of such value to me in the discharge of my Bhil 

 Agency duties, they were of infinitely greater value in my 

 capacity of Tiger Slayer, as was only natural since the know- 

 ledge I had gained enabled me in time to supervise efficiently 



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