INDIA. 



IIS 



In the eighth class, the most indigent and lowest or- 

 ders of society, beggars, &c. 



One Rupee = to 2s. 6d. 



16 Anas = to 1 Rupee. 



12 Pice = to 1 Ana. 



Such Hindoos as can afford it, travel either in a 

 hackery or a palanquin. The first resembles a turret, 

 fixed on a small cart with two wheel*, with curtains 

 round it : it is drawn by oren. The palanquin is a 

 couch covered with a canopy, suspended on (Miles form- 

 ed of bamt>oos ; two bearers take bold of the poles at 

 each end, and will carry the palanquin at the rate of 

 nearly six miles an hour. Caravansaries are common 

 on most of the roads in India : they consist of three 

 apartments ; in one the palanquins are deposited ; the 

 others are intended for the travellers to sleep in ; on 

 these mats are spread : boiled rice and water is given 

 free of expence ; and other articles of Hindoo diet may 

 generally be obtained from the Brahmins who reside in 

 the neighbourhood. 



The ships ami boats of the Hindoos are of a very 

 simple conduction ; they make little use of nails or 

 iron work ; the plunks are sewed together; the seams 

 filled up with the fine fibres of the cocoa nut tree, and 

 daubed over either with cocoa nut oil and lime, or 

 with fith oil. In some cases, however, their ships are 

 constructed more after the European manner. 



An Indian army consists not merely of those who are 

 to tight, they indeed compose a small portion of it, but 

 of the wives and families of the sohtiem, merchan- s and 

 their servants, and adventurers of all descriptions : 

 Every horse has two persons attached to it, be>ide* the 

 rider, one of whom cleans it, and the other provides the 



however, 



I. n : 



I by Indian allies, this emigra- 

 That the Hindoo* are capable 

 of being made good soldiers, is abundantly proved by 

 the sttte of d-cipline. nrmneas, and courage, to which 

 the Seuoys in Britith pay have been raised. 



In Hindostan all titles are connected with military 

 power ; if this is lost, the title is soon lost also. Ut- 

 terly, however, great wealth and influence also confers 

 a title, in the same manner as a learned person is sa- 

 luted by the appeDatioo of pandit 



The laws of Mcnou are the most ancient and most 

 hi^ly venerated among the Hindoos. They consist of 

 eighteen principal articles; the ten first relate to 

 debts, deposits, partnerships, boundaries, sales, &c. 

 and masters and servants ; the eleventh and twelfth, 

 to assault and slander ; the thirteenth to larceny ; the 

 rnth to robbery ; the fifteenth to adultery ; the 

 sixteenth to matrimonial disputes ; the seventeenth to 

 inheritance ; and the eighteenth to gaming. These laws 

 contain, lie ides, a variety of very frivolous rules for the 

 most ordinary transaction* of life. According to the 

 law of inheritance, the property is divided into equal 

 hares, two to the eldest son, one and a half to the 

 neit, and one to each of the others ; to tbe unmarried 

 daughters, tbe brothers give each a fourth of his share. 

 In Hindostan Proper, the Mabomedan law is the rule 

 for the administration of criminal justice ; and to this, 

 with a few exceptions, tbe British government has ad- 

 h.-r, .1. 



Tbe supreme authority in British India, which, as we 

 have seen, comprise*, either in its direct or indirect SB. 



VOL. lit ran i. 



5 



thurity, the greatest part of India, is vested in a Cover- suti.-tic;. 

 nor- General in council, who is appointed by the Crown > "Y~~"' 

 and the Court of Directors : the seat of this supreme 

 government is at Calcutta, the capital of the Bengal 

 presidency : in each of the two subordinate presiden- 

 cies of Madras and Bombay, there is also a governor 

 and council. In the BengaJ presidency, there is one 

 supreme court at Calcutta ; six courts of appeal and 

 circuit attached to six different divisions ; and forty 

 magistrate* stationed in as many different districts and 

 cities. The territories subject to the Madras presiden- 

 cy are divided into twenty-one districts : those under 

 the Bombay presidency are less numerous and less 

 clearly defined. Besides magistrates for the admini- 

 stration of justice, the Blast India Company have col- 

 lectors of revenue in all the districts. This revenue is 

 almost entirely derived from land, salt, and opium ; 

 it amounts to about seventeen millions annually. In 

 time of war, the troops in the pay of the Company 

 generally amount to about 150,000, of which there are 

 seldom more than V5.0OO Europeans; the rest are 

 native troops. The number of British born subjects 

 in India (exclusive of those in the army) is about tiOOO 

 or 7000. 



The ancient languages of India are supposed to have Lmgtugcs. 

 been the Sanscrit . the 1'racrit ; the Paisaichi, and the 

 Magadhi ; the Sanscrit is still cultivated as the lan- 

 guage of literature, science, laws, and religion ; of the 

 Fracrit, or spoken language, there appear to have been 

 10 dialects ; that still called Pracrit is spoken on the 

 banks of the Seraswattee ; in it great part of most of 

 the Hindoo dramas, and many poems, are written ; the 

 next dialect of the Pracrit, named from the Canujacub- 

 ja, who anciently spoke it, is supposed to be the ground- 

 work of the modrrn 1 ImdosUnee ; the Gaura, or Ben- 

 galee, is spoken in Calcutta, and in Bengal on the 

 bank- of the Ganges: the Maihhala is used in the Cir- 

 car of Tirkut ; the I'riga, in Orissa ; the Guzeratic, 

 which is not unlike the Hindostanre. is spoken not only 

 /rrat hut at Surat, Tatta. 6cc. The Tamelor 

 Malabar extends from Cape Cnmorin to Canara ; the 

 Mahratta prevails through the whole of the Mahratta 

 territories ; the Canara is spoken in the mountainous 

 district which lies between the eastern and western di- 

 visions of the ancient Camataca ; and extends as far as 

 Go* ; the Talenga is spoken un the coast of Orissa, in 

 (iplconda. on the Krishna, and as far as the ceded dis- 

 tricts. 



The roost venerated books among the Hindoos are Books. , 

 the Vedaa and the two great poems ; only the three 

 highest castes are permitted to read these. The Vedas 

 treat ol all the different branches of knowledge; the 

 two great poems are the Rumayuna of Valmiki, and 

 the Mahabharut, which contains the adventures of 

 Krishna ; there are also other ancient epic poems, be- 

 sides dramas and lyric poems, in high esteem among 

 the Hindoos ; of their dramas, Sacontala, or the fatal 

 ring, has been translated by Sir William Jones and Mr. 

 Wilkins. 



The ancient music of Hindostan is supposed to have Mutin 

 been superior to the modern, and to have been more 

 cultivated ; the modern scale comprehends seven sounds, 

 and in the octave they reckon 22 quarters and thirds ; 

 they also divide the seven natural sounds into 84 modes. 

 Their instruments are very loud and disagreeable ; and 

 consist principally of drums, trumpets, and pipes ; in 

 their stringed instrument*, the strings are made of iron 

 or brass wire, and the fingers of those who pl.v 



p. 



