THE 



HIGHLANDS OF CENTEAL INDIA. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Physical description of the Central Highlands The Satpura Range Early 

 history of Gondwana The Rajputs and their bards Mixed races Immi- 

 gration of Hindus The conquest by Akber Fate of the aborigines 

 Overthrow of the Gond Kings Arrival of the Marathas The hill-tribes 

 plunder the low country The Pindaris British conquest of the country 

 Improved administration Recent ignorance of the interior of the hills 

 Constitution of the Central Provinces Energy of .the new administration 

 Establishment of the Forest Department Exploration of the hill tracts 

 Their area and character Settlement operations Interesting nature of the 

 country Its aboriginal population The Gonds Kolarian races The 

 Kols The Korkus The By gas The Bheels Singular facts in distribution 

 of organic products Timber trees Relation to geological formations 

 The fauna Wild buffalo Twelve-tined deer Jungle-fowl Hog- deer 

 Partridges Intrusion of Eastern forms Early destruction of the forests 

 The Sal The Teak Its usefulness Ruin of the Teak forests. 



People commonly talk of the " hills" and the " plains" of 

 India, meaning by the former the great Himalayan range, and 

 by the latter all the rest of the country. The mightiest 

 mountains of the earth are called nothing more than " hills ;" 

 and popular geography has no name for the numerous excres- 

 cences of mother earth which intersect the so-called region of 

 " plains. " A range called the Nilgherries, in the south of the 

 peninsula, approaching 9,000 feet in altitude, is known to a 

 few beyond the limits of India as a resort of invalids, and a 

 nursery for cinchonas ; but of lesser ranges than this, which 



