the matters discussed by the author would necessitate the extension of this article almost to the size of the book itself. For an account of the state of village matters before 1870, and a general view of the agricultural races of India, the peculiarities of the latter affording in most cases a clue to the constitution of the communities themselves, we must accordingly refer our readers to Mr. Baden-Powell's volume, and will in this place confine our attention to Chapter V., which describes the Indian village as it is, and points out the distinction between what the author entitles the severalty and the joint villages.

The severalty village, with the sub-heading of raiyatvári, is defined to be one in which the ownership is in the form of independent holdings, and there is no acceptance of a joint responsibility for the revenue and expenses, and no joint ownership of the village site or any adjacent waste area. It is also said to be managed by a hereditary headman, but to this, although such is the general rule, it should be noted that there are occasional exceptions, as in the Southern Talukas of the Surat (Súrat) Collectorate, where in the early days of our rule it was a settled policy, with a view to lessen the mischievous influence of certain Desais, originally mere farmers of the revenue who had practically usurped the ownership of the villages, to appoint stipendiary Patels or headmen, the custom being continued to the present day. The original villages were, as Mr. BadenPowell says, constituted at a time when the people lived in tribes and clans, so that the first organized villages were settled by little sections of clans, when, it may be remarked, this was not accomplished by a single influential leader, whose descendants subsequently apportioned the lands. amongst themselves according to their customs. As time went on, fresh villages would be started by smaller offshoots from the parent villages, sometimes as mere hamlets (purá or pará, whence the frequent termination of names of towns in pur, etc.), from the latter, and in the first instance under their jurisdiction, subsequently to split off under defined boundaries, and become separate units. These boundaries, as noted at the foot of page 61, are matters of the greatest importance in village life, and disputes with regard to them in former days frequently led to feuds and bloodshed. In Kolarian, and probably in Dravidian and other tribes, village lands were cultivated in common, and the proceeds shared as long as the degrees of consanguinity of the villagers remained sufficiently close to admit of a family understanding in the community, but as the number increased and intermarriage with outsiders tended to widen and loosen those ties, the principle of joint ownership was gradually lost sight of and fell into disuse, leaving only a trace in some instances in the right of individuals descended from the original founders' families to hold lands on more favourable terms than their fellow-cultivators, as in the case of Japti kherus (permanent tillers) in Gujarát, and of Dhárákaris and others in the Khoti villages in the Konkan.

The description thus given of severalty villages naturally applies also to many that have become joint owing to the force of circumstances, as, for instance, in the case of the Khoti villages in the Southern Konkan. The

original Khotis were merely farmers or grantees of the right to levy revenue on the part of the State; these, being men of influence and wealth, probably, became, more Indico, quasi proprietors, and divided the village lands into shares for revenue purposes, leaving only the more substantial original tenants with rights of permanent occupancy adverse to their own, and liable to no heavier payments in kind or cash than the farmers themselves paid.

The constitution of joint villages is said, no doubt correctly in the majority of instances, to be due to difference of peculiarities among the races to which their original foundation can be traced. The joint owners may share the estate in various ways. The first great distinction is that in one large class the present holders are a body descended from one man, or a number of near connections going back to one original ancestor, who at some time or other obtained the lordship or superiority, having obtained their present position through the principle of the Hindu joint family, according to which on the death of the single lord or joint lords. all the male agnates succeeded together according to their place in the table of descent. In these cases, in reality, a much expanded family dominates the village, and (in some cases with the adventitious admission of strangers, as in the Bhágdári villages in the Bharuch Collectorate which are held by men of different castes) now constitutes the community. In a second class the villages represent the fission of a whole clan or tribe, and in a third they may have come together by voluntary association; the latter of these cases, however, must be rare, and can only have arisen under the circumstance of the utter disruption of village ties brought about by such a proceeding as that of the Mahráthas in farming out the revenues of villages or Talúkahs to Court favourites, or the highest bidders in the market.

The method under which an ancestrally shared village is continued in the form of a continued joint inheritance is well exemplified by a diagram at the foot of page 77, where the subdivision of an imaginary one of an area of 2,400 acres is traced down to an infinitesimal share in a third subdivision of a division. Subdivisions beyond a point such as this would descend to such a level as to render necessary the substitution for almost a nominal share of some privilege to be enjoyed by the holder in the shape of a favourable rent like those of the "permanent tillers" and Dhárákaris mentioned above. As long as the holding of an individual constitutes a share, however minute, the fractional payment of revenue and village expenses corresponds with the fraction of the land owned. But it often happens that in the course of time, owing to some cause or other, as, for instance, the revaluation of assessments by a Revenue Survey and Settlement, the shares cease to be exactly correct. The only alternatives for the sharers in apportioning the State demands they must severally meet are, then, a redistribution of lands in accordance with the revised valuation, or the acceptance by individual sharers as the proportionate payment on their shares of the total revised assessment on their portions of land. The latter alternative has, fortunately in the way of saving trouble to the Revenue administration, been adopted by the greater

number, if not all, of the shareholders in the joint Narvádár villages in the Kaira (Khera) Collectorate in the Bombay Presidency.*

It is possible, as Mr. Baden-Powell remarks, that in joint villages the estate may be actually undivided, though such a case must be rare, and possibly exists in some of the Talukdári or Mevási villages in Ahmadabad. In such cases, as he points out, every co-sharer has possession of a portion of land that he cultivates or holds as a landlord for his own benefit, and the rent of the rest of the cultivated and the profits from the uncultivated land are held in common for the payment of revenue charges and expenses, anything beyond this being divided according to their nominal shares among the whole coparceny.

In speaking of the Talukdári and Mevási villages in Ahmadabad, Mr. Baden-Powell has hardly sufficiently noticed the gradual deterioration in status of these once well-to-do landholders in consequence of the heads of the families having to provide maintenance (under the denomination of Jirái) for the constantly increasing number of their relatives and the latters' families. The members of these families, being aware that something must according to custom be found for them out of the ancestral property, avoid even cultivating their own lands until they are driven to it from sheer necessity, and for the most part live a life of idleness, preferring to feed on next to nothing so as to retain the nominal dignity of being considered shareholders. Legislation under the Tálúkdári Acts referred to has for the time being saved them from irretrievable ruin, but if something is not done to supply the blank in the incomes of the holders in chief caused by this perpetual drain, a blank that can never be filled by occasional lapses to the main estates, the estates must gradually diminish in value until the whole are held by men in the position of ordinary cultivating rayats.

Enough has been said of the intensely interesting subjects dealt with in the book under review to show that it will well repay close study by those who desire to acquire a knowledge of the conditions of land-holding in India. A. R.

They retain at the same time their joint responsibility for the payment of the whole rental.

OUR LIBRARY TABLE.

The Problem of South African Unity, by W. BASIL WORSFOLD (George Allen, 156, Charing Cross Road, London). This is a concise and excellent statement of the principles which ought to guide our statesmen in consolidating British rule and supremacy in South Africa, with the ultimate object of confederating the several British colonies. It also contains very important notes on such subjects as the rapid increase of the Batu population, the native franchise in the Cape and Natal colonies, the Glen Grey Act of 1894, the control of the natives and their education, the agricultural and other capacities of the Transvaal, the policy of Sir Bartle Frere, and the respective elements of population, native, Dutch, British, and European. It is an important contribution towards solving the problem of South African unity.

The Order of St. John of Jerusalem: its History and Work in Peace and War, A.D. 1023-1900. A lecture by MAJOR A. C. YATE, I.S.C. (printed by the Bath Chronicle office). A very graphic and interesting lecture by a very competent authority. Its object is to promote more widely the operations of the St. John Ambulance Association and Brigade Institutions. Major Yate, when in India, succeeded in forming classesone for ladies and the other for officers-—at Dalhousie. The work is so beneficial that similar classes are being established in other centres. "First aid" and "nursing" instruction, in order to save life, is important, not only among the natives of India, but also among Europeans. The aim of the St. John Ambulance Association by popularizing "first aid" knowledge, and by the services of its own trained Ambulance Brigade, helps to reduce the mischief of accidents to a minimum. We trust the work of the institutions will be widely taken in hand throughout the whole of India. Bombay would form an excellent head centre of the associations.

Mahbub-ul-Albab————, by KHAN BAHADUR MOULVI KHŪDĀ BAKHSH KHAN-SAHIB (printed in Haidarābād, Deccan, and dedicated to His Highness the Nizam). This is a volume of 858 pages in the Persian language, giving the titles, authors, and description of all the Persian and Arabic books in the Haidarābād Library. It is arranged in alphabetical order. Presented by Mr. S. Khūdā Bakhsh, M.A. Oxon.

Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, vol. ix., Part II. Gujarát population-Musalmáns and Pársis. Under Government orders (Government Central Press, Bombay). This volume consists of two parts-the one relating to the Musalmáns, contributed by Khán Bahádur Fazálullah Lutfullah Faridi, Assistant Collector of Customs, Bombay; and the other, or second part, relating to the Pársis, the joint contribution of the late Mr. Kharsedji Nasarvanji Seervai, J.P., a former Collector of Income Tax, and Khán Bahadur Bamanji Behramji Patel, Bombay. It contains also illustrations and a copious and useful index.

The Upanishads: Chhandogya, vol. iv., Part II., by V. C. SESHACHARRI, B.A., B.L. (G. A. Natesan and Co., Esplanade, Madras). The encouragement which the writer has received by publishing the first three volumes has prompted him to produce the present, which will be found as interesting as the previous volumes. It is well printed, and affords much valuable information.

Ramayana-The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English Verse, by ROMESH DUTT, C.I.E. "The Temple Classics," edited by Israel. Gollancy (J. A. Dent and Co., Aldine House, London, W.C.). A conveniently small volume, which will make this celebrated epic better known to the English reader. There is also a valuable epilogue by the well-known author.

Who's Who, 1900. An Annual Biographical Dictionary. Fifty-second year of issue (Adam and Charles Black, Soho Square, London). A volume of upwards of 1,000 pages, containing correct information up to date, including many biographies of persons who came into prominence during last year. It forms a valuable acquisition to every library, and a necessary compendium to public men.

The Englishwoman's Year-Book and Directory, 1900. Second year of new issue, edited by EMILY JANES, Secretary to the National Union of Women Workers of Great Britain and Ireland. Twentieth year (Adam and Charles Black, London). A most useful compilation by many helpers, carefully verified, extending over a large area, such as education, employments of women, and professions; industrial, medicine, science, literature, art, music, sports, pastimes, and social life; public work, philanthropy, temperance, homes and charitable institutions, and religious work. The volume also contains, in alphabetical order, a list of the various homes and charitable institutions relating to women, girls, and children.

The Derbyshire Campaign Series, Nos. 2 and 5-"The 95th (the Derbyshire) Regiment in Central India"; "The 2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment in Tirah." The former by GENERAL SIR JULIUS RAINES, with an interesting introduction by COLONEL H. D. HUTCHINSON, I.S.C., Director of Military Education in India; the latter by CAPTAIN A. K. SLESSOR, with an introduction by BRIGADIER-GENERAL SIR R. C. HART, V.C., K.C.B., late commanding 1st Brigade Tirah Field Force. These interesting volumes. relate the doings and experiences of the Derbyshires. The introduction to the latter, but for his decease, would have been written by Colonel Sir Robert Warburton, whose "lifelong experience of the frontier tribes, and the unbounded personal influence which his relationship with some of their chiefs no doubt assisted him to exert among them, would have added an immense interest and authority to his explanation and discussion of the cause which led up to their revolt against the British rule." Nevertheless, the two works are full of valuable information of the heroic deeds of our army which have brought about peace and order in India. They contain maps and other illustrations, with valuable appendices.