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LEFT INDIA 136 INDIA — the cool, the hot, and the rainy. The climate of south India is greatly regu- lated by the monsoons. The central ta- ble-land is cool, dry, and healthy. Social System and Government. — Two of the most striking peculiarities of the social condition of the Hindus are the iron institution of caste and the village system. The latter is very simple. A village in Hindustan is a district embrac- ing an area of some hundreds or thou- sands of acres of land, and is under the administration of native functionaries, the principal of whom is the potail ("head inhabitant"), a kind of chief magistrate. Under this simple form of municipal government the inhabitants of the country have lived from time im- memorial. Agriculture and Industries. — The chief industry of India is agriculture. Out of a total population of about 313,000,000 nearly 225,000,000 are engaged in this form of industry. Rice is the largest product. There were, in 1918-19, 23,- 672,000 tons produced; of wheat there were 7,502,000 tons; of cotton, 3,671,000 bales; of jute, 6,955,600 bales; and of sugar cane, 2,337,000 tons. The pro- duction of tea in the same year was 380,- 459,000 pounds. The total area under cultivation was about 275,000,000 acres. After agriculture, the most important industry is the weaving of cotton cloth. Other industries are silk rearing and weaving, shawl and carpet weaving, wood carving, and metal working. The tea industry employs nearly 800,000 per- sons. The area planted with tea in 1918-19 was about 625,800 acres. There are over 235 cotton mills, and over 1,500 cotton ginning, cleaning, and press- ing mills and factories. The cloth pro- duction in 1919 was 349,580,450 pounds. Mineral Production. — The mineral production in 1917, the latest year for which figures are available, amounted to £13,266,566. The most important pro- duct is coal, which was valued at £4,- 511,645. Gold was produced with a value of £2,221,889. Other minerals of value are petroleum, manganese ore, salt, and saltpetre. Commerce. — The total exports for the year ending March, 1919, amounted to $823,574,016, and the imports to $548,- 389,663. The exports considerably ex- ceed those of March, 1914, while the im- ports are about $50,000,000 less. The chief articles of import are cotton man- ufactures, cotton yarn, iron and steel, machinery, copper, woolens, and chem- icals. The principal articles of export are tea, wheat, rice, rice meal and flour, and barley. The bulk of the trade is with the United Kingdom. Transportatio7i. — There were in 1919 36,616 miles of railway. Of these, 7,- 308 miles were owned by the State and 19,107 were worked by companies. The other lines were conducted under various conditions. There were in 1919 69,283 post offices and 10,373 telegraph offices. Education. — The educational institu- tions are of two classes, those in which the courses of study conform to the stan- dards prescribed by the Department of Public Instruction and are known as public, and those which do not fulfill these conditions, and are called private. The total number of institutions for in- struction in 1919 was 196,919. These were attended by 7,948,058 scholars. There were 128,480 primary schools for males and 19,385 for females. The col- leges numbered 185 for males and 16 for females, attended by 61,827 males and 11,109 females. The colleges are affil- iated with the five universities, at Cal- cutta, Madras, Bombay, the Punjab, and Allahabad. A Hindu university has re- cently been established at Benares, and another university at Poena. A univer- sity has also been created for the Mysore state. Finance. — The revenue retained by the government in India for its own pur- poses and for meeting the expenditure incurred by the Secretary of State in England, is assigned as imperial, while that used by the local government is called provincial. The imperial revenue is derived chiefly from land revenue, opium, and other taxes. It amounted in 1918 to £82,060,000. The provincial revenue amounted to £35,888,000. The total revenue was £121,186,000. The total expenditure was £125,754,000. The chief expenditures are for civil salaries, military services, interest on railway debts, etc. The total debt of British India in 1919 amounted to £456,294,269. Defense. — The military forces in India consist of the British Regular Forces, the Native Army, the Volunteers, and the Imperial Service Troops, all under the control of a commander-in-chief who is a member of the viceroy's council. At the outbreak of the World War Che army in India was composed of about 75,000 British troops and about 240,000 native troops. The total number of native troops recruited during the war, up to Nov. 11, 1918, was 1,161,789. The de- fense force act was put in force in 1917 and by its terms compulsory service waj applied to European and British sub* jects, between the ages of 16 and 50. The total number of British and native troops sent from India to France, Mes- opotamia, East Africa, Egypt, Galipoli and other fronts numbered 1,215,338.