Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/569

LIFE THE RURAL OF CHOTANAGPUR P?tolmsso?t P. C. BOSE., M.?. ST. COLUMBA'8 COLLEGE, HAZARXBAGH? BIHAB It is hardly an exaggeration to say that India is a continent of villages. Only one-tenth of the total population of India is urban, while the bulk o! the people live in villages. The study of some rural part of India is of l?mmense importance to a student of Indian Economics, because it is the material con- dition of villages that can give him a true account of the exact material condition of Indians. Chotanagpur or more strictly Chutianagpur, is a division of the newly created province of Bihar and Orissa. It occupies an area of ?7,077 square miles. In this area there are only 14 small .towns, wh?le the villages number 24,789. The villages constitute nearly 96 per cent of the total population. The average number of houses contained in each village, is about 40; while the average population of each village is about 200. In a Bombay, contains comparison with the statistics of we find. that an average Bombay village at least 200 houses, with an average popula- ' t ion exceeding 600. , In Chotanagpur, there are many groups of houses, which are rather hamlets than villages proper. Big