CHAPTER V
THE WOMEN OF INDIA
Among the people of our Indian Empire exist all forms of the sex-relationship from polyandry to polygamy. For the student of marriage customs this is a great field for inquiry. India fascinates and bewilders.
In this vast peninsula, we rule over a population of over two-hundred-and-ninety-four millions; a people speaking more than one-hundred-and-forty languages, and adhering to differing traditions and practices. Seventy per cent. of the natives are followers of the Hindu religion. There are over sixty-two millions of Mohammedans; over nine millions Buddhists, mostly in Burma; and more than two millions professing the Christian creed. Besides these believers, there are thousands of Sikhs, Parsees, Jains, and small sects holding various tenets.
The popular faith of India is Hinduism, a creed of pantheism mingled with the worship of many deities. Dominating all other gods is the universal Brahman.
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