128 



Some Account, Historical, Geographical 



to 879,894 Company's rupees, leaving a profit to the state of 4,637,806 

 Company's rupees. 



Population. — The population of the Ceded Districts amounted in 1805 

 to 1,917,376 : it now (1838) amounts to 2,211,168, or a little more than 

 93 to the square mile, of whom about 121,777 are Mussulmans and 

 2,089,391 Hindus. The population of Scotland, which has an area a 

 little more extensive than that of the Ceded Districts, amounted by the 

 latest statistical accounts to 2,355,930, or a little less than 80 to the 

 square mile. The population of the Bellary collectorate slightly exceeds 

 that of Cuddapah : the former being estimated at 1,129,907 and the 

 latter at 1,081,261. The number of males is greater than that of 

 females by an excess of 105,868. The fact of there being fewer females 

 than males in India, where a plurality of women is permitted, I have 

 also noticed in ultra gangetic countries particularly on the Malayan 

 peninsula. Whether the proportion of males actually born, exceeds that 

 of the females born, or not, is a point of interesting, though difficult en- 

 quiry ; at least during the present state of our social relations with 

 natives. The expense of rearing female children is doubtless in some 

 instances productive of infanticide, and might possibly induce many 

 parents to neglect them from their earliest infancy, when most in need 

 of support and protection, and thus passively permit the feeble spark of 

 dawning life to wane, and be extinguished long ere fully lit. From 

 many enquiries, I am led to believe, that the fecundity of the females of 

 India does not on the whole average less than that of European females, 

 although it has been so stated by political economists. 



The artizans, tradesmen, agriculturists, and shepherds, are generally 

 Hindus. The Mussulmans dislike agriculture, preferring the chance 

 of employment as peons, &c. under the civil authorities, rearing silk 

 worms, weaving and cleansing cotton, &c. A few enter trade as cloth 

 merchants, perfumers, druggists or farriers. They, as well as the Beders 

 (the military class of Hindus in the Ceded Districts), can with difficul- 

 ty be persuaded to enlist as sepoys,preferring idleness and almost starva- 

 tion. Mahomedans are to be found both of the Sunni and Shiah sects ; 

 the former is the most numerous. The prevailing castes of Hindus are the 

 Kunbi, Lingayet, Beder and Dhungar. Brahmins are numerous of the 

 Vaishnava and Smarta sects. The Sri Vashnavam is comparatively 

 rare. A few of that persecuted tribe, the Jains, still exist, maintaining 

 themselves commonly by trading in brassware and cloths. A wild 

 race, termed Chensuar, roam the forests of the Nulla Mulla hills, sub- 

 sisting on wild fruits, honey, insects, routs and the spoils of the chace, 

 also by barter with the inhabitants of the plains. 



