TROPICAL TRIBES AND RACES 197 



food and steady drill will work a wonderful change in their 

 appearance. 



2. The Rana and Thakur classes of Dogra Rajputs, with whom 

 Mians intermarry, consist chiefly of the descendants of Rajput 

 families which from time immemorial have been agriculturists. 

 These classes are par excellence the most soldierly of all Dogras, 

 and are of fine physique. 



3. Rajputs of the Plains. The Rajputs of the plains have lost 

 the high-bred looks of their hill brethren. This is due to the 

 fact that they have for centuries followed the plough. But 

 agriculture, though unfavourable to their good looks, has proved 

 decidedly beneficial to their physique, and these Rajputs of the 

 plains are generally more muscular than the true Dogras of the 

 hills. They are not quite so smart on their feet as the latter, 

 but they nevertheless make good soldiers, and are generally 

 very expert wrestlers. 



4. Lower Classes of Dogras. These are Rajput, by origin, but 

 have lost their social position. They are excellent agriculturists, 

 steady, industrious, and plodding. Hence they are far better 

 off than the Mians. They are of better physique, and have 

 more robust constitutions than the higher Rajputs, but are not 

 so refined. In military qualities they differ but little from 

 Rajputs, with whom they are mixed up indiscriminately in all 

 Dogra companies. 



A good deal of valuable information on the influence of food 

 is afforded by the above extracts from handbooks written by 

 officers who have had long and close relationship with the classes 

 discussed. The most important findings from our standpoint are 

 the changes that have taken place in the physique and stamina 

 of the Mian Dogras during the last century, despite their pure 

 extraction from Rajput Princes, and despite the benefits of a 

 hilly climate ; the Rajput Dogras of the plains, and even the 

 lower classes of Dogras of mixed extraction, on the other hand, 

 exhibit in a marked manner the beneficial effects of good food 

 on the virility and general efficiency of the individuals of the 

 race. This influence is all the more in evidence when it is 

 remembered that the great majority of these agriculturists and 

 peasant farmers inhabit the plains and lower valleys of the 

 submontane regions, where climatic conditions are not so favour- 

 able as in the hills, and where malaria is exceedingly prevalent. 

 Despite these disadvantages, the well-fed agriculturist, both of 



