Belur Land, the western boundary' moimtains of Little Bucharia, or Little Thibet, and even the desert of Gobi, so far as it was known. (See Heeren"s Historical Re- searches, i, c. i, § 3, on Persian India ; and Kennell's Ge- ography of Herodotus. For other conjectures respecting the location of the Scriptiual India, see Winer's Real- wijrterhuch, s. v. Indien. I'or the history of ancient In- dia, see Anthon's Class. Diet. s. v.) — Smith ; Kitto.
INDIA, IMoDERN. The name is sometimes used of the two peninsulas west and east of the Ganges com- bined, to which even occasionally the Indian Archipel- ago is added ; but, more commonly, it is applied either to the peninsula west of the Ganges {East Indies), or to the aggregate possessions of the British crowni (the Vice^ roycdty of India, or the Indian Emjnre). The present form of government of the Indian Empire is established by the Act 21 and 22 Victoria, cap. 106, called an Act for the better Government of India, sanctioned Aug. 2, 1858. By the terms of this act, all the territories here- tofore under the government of the East India Company are vested in the queen, and all its powers are exercised in her name ; aU territorial and other revenues, and all tributes and other paj-ments, are likewise received in her name, and disposed of for the purposes of the gov- ernment of India alone, subject to the provisions of this act. One of the queen's principal secretaries of state, called the Secretary of State for India, is invested with all the powers hitherto exercised by the company or by the Board of Control. The executive authority m India is vested in a governor general or viceroy, appointed by the crown, and acting under the orders of the Secretary of State for India. The governor general has power to make laws and regulations for all persons, whether Brit- ish or native, foreigners or others, within the Indian territories under the dominion of the queen, and for all servants of the government of India within the domin- ions of princes and states in alliance with the queen. The Secretary of State for India is aided in the adminis- tration by a council of fifteen members, of whom seven are elected by the Court of Directors from their own body, and eight are nominated by the crown. Tlio du- ties of the council of state are, under the direction of the secretary of state, to conduct the business transacted in the united kingdom in relation to the government of and the correspondence with India.
The total area and popidation of British India were, according to ofiicial returns of the year 1869, 'as follows :
Under the governor general of ludia)
in Couucil (
Under the lieutenant governor of\
Bengal (
Under the lieutenant governor of itieX
North-west Provinces T
Under the lieutenant governor ot\
Pnnjaub )
Under tlie chief commissioner of Oude " " " '• of the)
Central Provinces |
Under the chief commissioner of\
Britisii Burmah /
Under ihe governor of Madras
" '• " of Bombay
Engl. sq. Population.
48,314 24G,TS5
84,982 100,441
22,456
79,000
90,070 141,746
142,042
6,277,107 37,505,599 30,010,137 17,593,946 6,502,884 9,104,511
26,089,052 13,039,106
Not belonging to British India, but more or less under the control of the Indian government, are a number of native states, covering an extent of 596,790 sq. miles, with nearly 48 millions of inhabitants. They ai-e.
Native States.
Area in Engl, sq. miles.
Population.
117,151 8,458 103,442 185,610 116,125 66,004
4,152.923 2,294,400 7,154,538 14,622,587 12,880,228 G,804,.523
" North-west Provinces
" Pnnjaub
" Madras
" Bombay
51!6,790
47,909,199
There has never been a regidar census of the whole of India under British administration, but enumerations, more or less trustworthy, were made in the north-west-
INDIA
553
INDIA
ern axiA in the central provinces in the years 18G5 and 1866. The census of the north-west provinces, taken Jan. 10, 1865, showed that this division of Inilia had in- creased in prosperity within the decennial period 1856- 1865, as reckoned by the number of houses and exten- sion of cultivation. There were found to be 4.71 per- sons to a liouse or hut, and 7.06 to an inclosine, or fam- ily dwelling. The census further showed that there were 41 millions of Mussulmans in the north-west prov- inces, or about one seventh of the total popidation, the other six sevenths being Hindus of the four chief castes ; namely, Brahmins, 70 subdivisions ; Kshatryas, 175 sub- divisions ; Vaisyas, 65 subdivisions ; Siidras, 230 sub- divisions. The Sftdras were found to form the great bulk of the Hindus, being 18,304,309 in number; the Vaisyas numbered 1,091, 250 ; the Kshatryas, 2,827,768 ; and the Brahmins, 3,451,692. The census of the cen- tral provinces, taken in 1866, showed that their popula- tion consisted of 6,864,770 Hindus, 1,995,663 Gonds and aboriginal tribes, 237,962 MussiUmans, 6026 Europeans and Eurasians, and 90 Parsees. The number of Mussul- mans was much lower than had been expected. All the enumerations showed a high proportion of children to adults. Thus, while the iiercentage of children under 12 years of age was 29 in England, it was in many parts of India as high as 55. Among the reasons to account for such a result are mentioned the custom of polygamy, and, in particular, the desire of the Hindus to have male issue, which induces them to marrj' as many wives as they can afford to keep until a son is born. The re- ligious statistics of the three largest cities were, accord- ing to the latest enumeration, as follows : Calcutta, to- tal population in 1866,377,924; among whom were Hin- dus, 239,190; Mussidmans, 113,059; Europeans, 11,224, Indo-Europeans, 11,036; Parsees, 98. Madras, total pop- vdation in 1863,427,771; among whom were 325,678 Hindus; Mussulmans, 63,886 ; Europeans, 16,368; Indo- Europeans, 21,839. Bombay, total population in 1864, 816,562; among whom were Hindus, 523,974; Mussul- mans, 145,880 ; Parsees, 49,000 ; native Christians, 19,903 ; Europeans, 8415. Leaving out of account the native states, the following is given as the relative proportion of creeds and races in India : Hindus, 110,000,000 ; Mussul- mans, 25,000,000 ; aborigines or non- Aryans, 12,000,000 ; Buddhists, 3,000,000 ; Asiatic Christians', 1,100,000. The English iKiindation amounted, according to the census of 18()1, to 125,945 persons.