INTROD.

Hindostan is composed of the basin of the Indus, that of the Ganges, the desert towards the divisions of Indus, and the high tract recently called Central

Natural

Hindostan.

India.

The upper part of the basin of the Indus (now called the Panjáb) is open and fertile to the east of the Hydaspes, but rugged to the west of that river, and sandy towards the junction of the five rivers. After the Indus forms one stream, it flows through a plain between mountains and the desert, of which only the part within reach of its waters is productive. As it approaches the sea, it divides into several branches, and forms a fertile though ill-cultivated delta.

The basin of the Ganges (though many of the streams which water it have their rise in hilly countries, and though the central part is not free from diversity of surface) may be said on the whole to be one vast and fertile plain. This tract was the residence of the people who first figure in the history of India; and it is still the most advanced in civilisation of all the divisions of that country.

A chain of hills, known in the neighbourhood by the name of Aravalli, is connected by lower ranges with the western extremity of the Vindya

The rule applies to Europe, and is as true of the Rhine or the Po as of the Ganges and the Nile. Rivers are precise and convenient limits for artificial divisions, but they are no great obstacles to communication; and, to form a natural separation between nations, requires the real obstructions of a mountain chain.

mountains on the borders of Guzerát, and stretches INTROD. up to a considerable distance beyond Ajmír, in the direction of Delhi; forming the division between the desert on the west and the central table land. It would be more correct to say the level of the desert; for the south-eastern portion, including Jódpúr, is a fertile country. Except this tract, all between the Aravalli mountains and the Indus, from the Satlaj or Hysudrus on the north to near the sea on the south, is a waste of sand, in which are oases of different size and fertility, the greatest of which is round Jéssalmír. The narrow tract of Cach intervenes between the desert and the sea, and makes a sort of bridge from Guzerát to Sind. Central India is the smallest of these four natural divisions. It is a table land of uneven surface, from 1500 to 2500 feet above the sea, bounded by the Aravalli mountains on the west, and those of Vindya on the south; supported on the east by a lower range in Bundelcand, and sloping gradually on the north-east into the basin of the Ganges. It is a diversified but fertile tract.

divisions

Deckan.

The Vindya mountains form the southern limit Natural of Hindostan; but beyond them, separated by the of the deep valley of the Nerbadda, is a parallel chain called Injádri or Sátpúra, which must be crossed before we reach the next natural division in the valley of the Tapti. This small tract is low; but the rest of the Deckan is almost entirely occupied by a table land of triangular form, about the level of that of Central India, supported on all sides by

INTROD. ranges of hills. The two longest ranges, which run towards the south, follow the form of the pen. insula, and between them and the sea lies a low narrow tract, forming a sort of belt round the whole coast. The hills which support the table land are called the Gháts. The range to the west is the highest and most marked; and the low tract beneath it narrowest and most rugged.

Superficial

measure

ment and

The table land itself is greatly diversified in surface and fertility. Two parts, however, are strongly distinguished, and the limit between them may be marked by the Warda, from its source in the Injádri range, north-west of Nágpúr, to its junction with the Godáveri, and then by the joint rivers to the sea. All to the north and east of these rivers is a vast forest, spotted with villages, and sometimes interrupted by cultivated tracts of considerable extent. To the south-west of the rivers, the country, though varied, is generally open and cultivated.

Guzerát and Bengal are regarded by the natives as neither included in Hindostan nor the Deckan; they differ greatly from each other, but each has a resemblance to the part of Hindostan which adjoins to it.

Though the Deckan, properly speaking, includes all to the south of the Vindya mountains, yet, in modern practice, it is often limited to the part between that chain and the river Kishna.

The superficial extent of India is estimated at 1,287,483 square miles. The population may be

taken at 140,000,000; but this is the present po- INTROD. pulation; in very early Hindú times it was cer- population

tainly much less, and in later days probably much of India. greater.*ls to two

These estimates cannot pretend to accuracy. Hamilton (Description of Hindostan, vol. i. page 37.) conjectured the number of square miles to be 1,280,000, and the population 134,000,000,

An official Report laid before the Committee of the House of Commons on Indian affairs, October 11. 1831, will (if certain blanks be filled up) make the extent in square miles 1,287,483,and the population, 140,722,700. The following are the particulars: :

The superficial extent of the British territories and those of the allies is given in the above Report; the former from actual survey, and the latter partly from survey and partly from computation...

The population of the British territories is also from the Report, and is founded on official estimates, except in the following instances, where I computed the numbers.

(1.) The cessions from Berár amount to near 86,000 square miles; of these, 30,000 on the Nerbadda are comparatively well

INTROD.

The population is very unequally distributed. In one very extensive district of Bengal Proper (Bardwán), it was ascertained to be 600 souls to the square mile. In some forest tracts, ten to the square mile might be an exaggeration.

Though the number of large towns and cities

peopled; and I have allowed them sixty souls to the square mile. The remaining 56,000 are so full of forests, that I have only allowed twenty-five souls to the square mile.

(2.) For one district, under Bombay (the Northern Concan), the extent is given from survey, but without a guess at the population. I have allowed the same rate as that of the adjoining district (the Southern Concan), which is 100 to the square mile. It is probably too much, but the amount is so small as to make the error immaterial.

(3.) No estimate is given of the population of the allied states, some parts of which have 300 or 400 the square mile, while others are nearly deserts. On consideration, I allow seventy souls to the square mile, which makes the population 43,022,700.

(4.) The area and population of Sind, and the population of the Panjab, are taken from Burnes's Travels, vol. ii. p. 286. and vol. iii. p. 227. The extent of the Panjáb is little more than a guess, which I have hazarded, rather than leave the statement incomplete.

The extent of Europe is about 2,793,000 square miles, and the population 227,700,000. ("Companion to the Almanack for 1829," from Walkenaer and Balbi.) If we deduct the 1,758,700 square miles in Russia, Sweden, and Norway, as proposed by Major Rennell, for the sake of comparison, we find the rest of Europe containing 1,035,300 square miles, and India 1,294,602, being nearly a third greater than Europe. But Europe, when freed from the northern wastes, has the advantage in population; for, after deducting Russia, Sweden, and Norway, about 60,518,000 souls, Europe has still 167,182,000 souls, and India only 140,000,000.

Mr. Bayley, Asiatic Researches, xii. 549.