Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/203

MADRAS 185 1,324,435, bullocks 3,228,907, cows 2,873,979, goats 2,803,407, sheep 4,082,411, horses 8986, and elephants 532. The cattle are small, but in Nellore and along the Mysore frontier a superior breed is carefully kept up by the wealthier farmers. The best buffaloes are imported from the Bombay district of Dharwar. Experiments in sheep breeding have been made at the Saidapet model farm, with fair success. Population. The first census, in 1822, returned the population ns 13,476,923, and an enumeration in 1866-67 gave 26,539,052. The census of November 1871, however, was the first conducted in regular form. The following table gives the results for the British districts of the presidency. According to the preliminary return the total population at the census in 1871 was 30,839,181 (15,242,122 males and 15,597,059 females). This would seem to show that the loss caused by the famine of 1876-78 has been nearly made up. Area, Population, dr., of Madras Presidency in 1871. Name of District. Sq. M.les. Villages. Houses. Popula tion. Inhab. per Sq. Mile. 8,313 4 562 341,404 1.520,088 182-9 Vizagapatam GodaVari 18.341 6,224 8030 8,581 2,202 2,140 489.419 389712 282,358 2,159,199 1,592,939 1,452,374 117-7 253-9 180-7 Nellore 8.4(52 2,174 263,820 1,376,811 162-7 8367 1 337 339,063 1,351,194 161-5 11.007 2,5G8 351,943 1,668,006 151-5 7.358 787 205,884 959,640 1304 2,753 2,362 141 434 938,184 340-7 North Arcot South Aivot 7,139 4,873 3,654 5,292 3,198 3,935 329,844 228,761 369,984 2,015,278 1.755.817 1,973,731 282-3 360-3 540-1 Trichinopoli 3,515 9 502 1.644 5,459 210,690 443,513 1.200,408 2 266,615 3U-5 238-5 5 176 1.824 403 803 1 693 959 327-3 Coimbatore Nflgiris 7,432 749 1,575 17 361,109 13,922 1,763,274 49.501 237-3 66-0 Salem South K;iuara 7,483 8,902 6002 4,021 1,288 432 391,519 184.569 435 462 1.966,995 918,362 2 61 250 262-9 235-4 376-7 27 23 51 741 397,552 14724-1 Total 138 318 55421 6 229 954 31,281 177 226-2 Hindus numbered 28,863, 978 ; Mohammedans, 1,857,857; Chris tians, 533,760 ; Jains, 21,254 ; and "others," 4328. The Hindus (92 3 per cent, of the whole) are subdivided into 16,159,610 Sivaites, 11.657,311 Vishnuvites, 154,989 Lingayats, and 892,068 " others," including hill tribes. The Sivaites are most numerous in the extreme south and on the west coast, while the Vishnuvites are chiefly found in the northern districts. The Lingayats may be described as a sect of Sivaite puritans, who derive their name from their practice of carrying about on their persons the lingd or emblem of Siva. Of Hindu castes, Brahmans number 1,094,455. They follow various pursuits, and many of them are said to be recent immigrants, who came south in the train of the Mahratta armies. A peculiar caste of Brahmans, called Namburi, is found in Malabar, who are said to be descended from fishermen. The Kshattriyas, or warrior caste of the ancient Hindu organization, number only 190,415. The three trading castes of Chettis, Beri Chettis, and Komath number 714,712, and except in Kanara district still retain in their hands nearly all the commerce of the country. Agricul tural castes number 7,826,127 ; the highest classes among them do not cultivate with their own hands, and many of them formerly held their lands on a military tenure. The pastoral castes number 1,730,681, buta large proportion of them have now abandoned their hereditary occupation. Artisans number 785,085, of whom nearly one-half are workers in metal. Weavers number 1,017,781, but their industry is now decayed owing to Manchester competition. The labouring castes are returned at 3,944,463. Fishing and hunting castes number 971,837, but many have now betaken them selves to agriculture. The palm cultivators and toddy makers amount to 1,664,862. Out-castes (Pariahs) number 4,761,503 ; in the country round Madras they form about one-quarter of the total population. Up to the close of the last century they lived in a state of slavery to the superior castes ; and they are still compelled by custom to live in separate hovels outside the boundary of the village, and to perform all menial services. They are described as a laborious, frugal, pleasure-loving people, omnivorous in diet, and capable of performing much hard work. Unclassified Hindus (2, (566,890) consist of aboriginal hill races and wandering tribes. Numerically the most important are the Kandhs and Sauras, two cognate races who inhabit the mountainous tracts of the Eastern Ghats attached to several of the large zaminddrLs of Ganjam and Vizagapatam. On the Nilgiris, the aboriginal tribe best known to Europeans is the Todas, a stalwart, haughty race, who domineer over the more timid jungle folk, and confine themselves to the pasturing of buffaloes. It is believed that the Todas are now dying out, for in 1871 they numbered only 693. The principal wandering tribes are the Brinjaris and Lambadis, who are to be found in all parts of the country as carriers of grain and salt. The Mohammedans are thus subdivided: Sunnis, 1,654,529 ; Shias, 69,302 ; AVahhabis, 3954 ; unspecified, 130,072. A more familiar division is a race one : Labbay, Mopla, Arab, Shaikh, Sayyid, Pathan, and Mughal. The Labbays (312,088) are the de scendants of Hindu converts, and are traders by hereditary occu pation, although many now employ themselves as sailors and fishermen. The Moplas (612,789) are the descendants of Malayalam converts to Islam, the head of the tribe, the raja of Kananur, being descended from a fisher family in Malabar. They are a hard working, frugal people, but quite uneducated and very fanatical, and under the influence of religious excitement have often disturbed the public peace. The Shaikhs number 511,112, the Sayyids 89,219, the Pathans 70,943, and the Mughals 12,407. Christians are more numerous in Madras than in any other part of India. They number in the, British districts 533,760, of whom 40,879 are Europeans or Eurasians, and the remainder native con verts ; Roman Catholics number 397,071, and Protestants 93,228. In Travancore and Cochin states the native Christians are still more numerous, constituting as much as one-fourth of the population. The Roman Catholics, whose number throughout southern India is estimated at upwards of 650,000, owe their origin to St Fran cis Xavier, and the famous Jesuit mission of Madura ; they are partly under the authority of the archbishop of Goa, and parti.; under twelve Jesuit vicariates. Protestant missions date from the beginning of the last century. The Danes were the pioneers ; .but their work was tnken up by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, under whom laboured the great Lutherans of the last century Schultz, Sartorius, Fabricius, and Schwartz. The Church Missionary Society entered* the field in 1814 ; and subsequently an American mission joined in the work. The total number of Protestant native Christians in southern India (British and native) in 1878 was 296,408. Urban life may be said to be more highly developed in Madras than in Bengal or Bombay. Populous cities, indeed, are not numerous, but there is an unusual proportion of towns with from 2000 to 20,000 inhabitants. The six cities with a population of more than 50,000 are Madras city (1871), 397,552; Trichinopoli, 76,530; Tanjore, 52,175; Madura, 51,987; Bellary, 51,763; Salem, 50,012. Agriculture. Over the greater part of the area of Madras arti ficial irrigation is impossible, and cultivation is dependent upon the local rainfall, which rarely exceeds 40 inches a year, and is liable to fall irregularly. The Malabar coast is the only part where the rainfall brought by the south-west monsoon may be trusted both for its amount and regularity. Other districts, such as Bellary, are also dependent upon this monsoon, but in their case the rain clouds have spent themselves in passing over the Western Ghats, and cultivation becomes a matter of hazard. Over the greater part of the presidency the rainy season is caused by the south-east monsoon, which breaks about the end of September. The deltas of the Godavari, Kistna, and Kaveri rivers are the only spots on the east coast which artificial irrigation is able to save from risk of occasional scarcity. Of the total cultivated area about 80 per cent, is returned as "dry " land, or that which is solely dependent upon local rainfall; 15 per cent, as "wet" land, irrigated from river channels ; 2 per cent, as garden land irrigated from wells ; and about 3 per cent, fallow and pasture. The principal food staples are rice, clwlam, kambu, ragi, and varagu. The most common oil seed is gingelly. Garden crops comprise tobacco, sugar-cane, chillies, betel-leaf, and plantains. The fruit trees are cocoa-nut, areca-nut, date and palmyra palm, jack, tamarind, and mango. Special crops include cotton, indigo, coffee, tea, cinchona. The principal coffee tract stretches along the slopes of the Western Ghats from the north of Mysore almost down to Cape Comorin. The larger portion oi this area lies within Mysore, Coorg, and Travancore states, but Wainad and the Nilgiri hills are within Madras. The first coffee plantation was opened in the AVaiuad in 1840. Many of the early clearings proved unprofitable, and the enterprise made little pro gress till about 1855, in which year the total exports were 32,000 cwts. Coffee, which is much cultivated on the Nilgiris, now covers in the whole presidency 131,348 acres. The tea plant was also in troduced into the Nilgiri hills about 1840, but was not taken up as a commercial speculation till 1865. The area under tea is over 4000 acres, and the exports in 1880-81 were 263,940 lb. The cinchona plant was successfully introduced into the Nilgiri hills by Government in 1860. In 1880-81 847 acres were under cultiva tion ; 1,087,637 plants were raised; and the receipts of sales were 39,618, the amount in 1875-76 being only 4989. Tobacco is extensively grown in Godavari and Kistna districts. The greater part of the soil in Madras is held by the cultivators direct from Government under the tenure known as rdyatwari. The average rate of Government assessment is about 2s. 3d. per acre on unirri- gated and 9s. 6d. on irrigated land. In 1880-81 the total revenue

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