INDIAN PUBLICATIONS, 1878–91. 1 571 The table on the preceding page shows the number of newspapers in the vernacular 1 published in 1890-91. It is exclusive of Native newspapers in English. The most curious remark made with regard to the vernacular press in 1890-91 refers to the only paper published in Assamese, a monthly, which was started in 1888, but has ceased to appear since September 1890, owing, it is reported, to the proprietor having gone on a pilgrimage.' 2 As regards books, or rather registered publications, in the Books. vernacular languages, Bombay takes the lead; Lower Bengal, the Punjab, the North-Western Provinces, and Madras follow in order. In a previous chapter, the exact number of works published in the Native languages of India, in the various departments of literature, has been stated.3 The following figures refer to the years 1878, 1882-83, and 1890–91, and comprise the whole registered publications, both in the Native languages and in English. There is probably a considerable number of minor works which escape registration. Total of registered publications in 1878, 4913. Of these, Book 576 were in English or European languages, 3148 in vernacular statistics, 1878. dialects of India, 516 in the classical languages of India, and 673 were bi-lingual, or in more than one language. No fewer than 2495 of them were original works, 2078 were republications, and 340 were translations. Religion engrossed 1502 of the total; poetry and the drama, 779; fiction, 182; natural science, 249; besides 43 works on philosophy or moral science. Language or grammar was the subject of 612; and law of no fewer than 249 separate works. History had only 96 books devoted to it; biography, 22; politics, 7; and travels or voyages, 2. 1883. In 1882-83, the registered publications numbered 6198, of Book which 655 were in English or European languages, 4208 in statistics, vernacular dialects of India, 626 in the classical languages of India, and 709 bi-lingual, or in more than one language. Of the total number of published works in 1882-83, 1160 were returned as educational, and 5038 as non-educational works. Original works numbered 3146; republications, 2547; and translations, 505. Publications relating to religion numbered 1641; poetry and the drama, 1089; fiction, 238; natural and 1 This table has been compiled from the Administration Reports of the different Provinces for 1890-91, as I have not been able to obtain any special Report on the Indian Vernacular Press for that year. 2 Assam Administration Report for 1890-91, p. 1166. Book statistics, 1890. mathematical science, 281; philosophy and moral science, 160; history, 143; language, 784; law, 338; and medicine, 235. Politics were represented in 1882-83 by only 11 publications, travels and voyages by only 4, while works classed as miscellaneous numbered 1231. The following tables give the statistics of all registered publications in British India and the Native State of Mysore in 1890. Registered publications include books, pamphlets, and periodicals : [TABLE I. TABLE II.-SUBJECTS OF PUBLICATIONS IN 1890. 1 Philosophy includes Mental and Moral Science, and, in the case of Madras, probably many works classed in other Provinces under the head of Religion. [ 575 ] CHAPTER XVII. AGRICULTURE AND PRODUCTS. ture. of almost the whole THE cultivation of the soil forms the occupation of the AgriculIndian people to a degree which it is difficult to realize in England. As the land-tax is the mainstay of the Imperial revenue, so the ráyat or cultivator constitutes the unit of the social system. The village community contains many members besides the cultivator, but they all exist for his benefit, and all are maintained from the produce of the village fields. Even in considerable towns, the traders and handicraftsmen frequently possess plots of land of their own, on which they raise sufficient grain to supply their families with food. According to the returns of the General Census of 1872, the The work adult males directly engaged in agriculture amounted to nearly 35 millions, or 56°2 per cent. of the total. To these must be people; added almost all the day-labourers, who numbered 7 million in 1872; males, or 12.3 per cent.; thus raising the total of persons directly supported by cultivation to 68.5 per cent.; more than two-thirds of the whole adult males in 1872. The Census of 1881 returned a total of 51,274,586 males as engaged in in 1881; agriculture throughout British and Feudatory India. Adding to these 7 million of adult day-labourers, there is a total of upwards of 58 million persons directly supported by cultivation, or 72 per cent. of the whole male population engaged in 1881 in some specified occupation. The number of persons indirectly connected with agriculture is also very great. The Famine Commissioners estimated in 1879 that 90 per cent. of the rural population live more or less by the tillage of the soil. India is, therefore, almost exclusively a country of peasant farmers. The Census of 1891 adopted a different system of enumera- 1891. tion. It gives the whole population, including women and children, dependent on agriculture, instead of the number of adult males actually engaged in agricultural pursuits. It returns 175,381,239 men, women, and children as dependent on agriculture or the care of cattle for their livelihood in 1891, |