Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/768

744 744 INDIA [POPULATION. I opula tion. The heat and the rains give incredible activity to noxious or troublesome insects, and to others of a more showy class, whose large wings surpass in brilliancy the most splendid colours of art. Stinging musquitoes are innumerable, and moths and ants of the most destructive kind, as well as others equally noxious and disagreeable. Amongst those which are useful are the bee, the silk-worm, and the insect that produces lac. - Clouds of locusts occasionally appear, which leave no trace of green behind them, and give the country over which they pass the appearance of a desert. Dr Buchanan saw a mass of these insects in his journey from Madras to the Mysore territory, about 3 miles in length, like a long narrow red cloud near the horizon, and making a noise somewhat resembling that of a cataract. Their size was about that of a man s finger, and their colour reddish. They are swept north by the wind till they strike upon the outer ranges of the Himalayas. THE PEOPLE. The population of India, with. British Burmah, amounts to 240 millions, or, as already mentioned, exactly double the number which Gibbon estimated for the Roman empire in the height of its power. But the English Government, like the Roman, has respected the rights of native chiefs who are willing to govern peaceably and well, and one-third of the country still remains in the hands of hereditary rulers. Their subjects (including Mysore) make up 54 millions, or over one-fifth of the whole Indian people. The British territories (including Mysore, temporarily under British administration), therefore comprise only two-thirds of the area of India, and less than four-fifths, or 191 millions, of its inhabitants. Census. For the first time in the history of India an attempt was made in the^ years 1871-72 to ascertain the population of the country by actual counting. The results obtained on that occasion, though in certain points they leave much to be desired, may be accepted generally as a tolerable approximation to the truth. Prior to this census, occasional enumerations had been made, with varying degrees of accuracy, in some of the provinces ; while in others mere conjectural estimates had been allowed to pass uncriticized. In Bengal, for example, where statistical inquiry was in a backward state, the Government had year by year accepted a loose estimate of 42 millions for the population under its control, and based upon this all its calculations for legislation and finance. The census of 1872 disclosed a total of nearly 67 millions for Bengal and Assam, being an increase upon the estimate of more than one-half. In Berar, or the Assigned Districts of Hyderabad, a census had been taken in 1867, in the Punjab in 1868, and in Oudh in 1869. In these provinces, therefore, it was con sidered impolitic to trouble the people by a fresh enume ration. Throughout all the rest of India under British administration, including the native state of Mysore, a general census was effected on uniform principles, which may be said to have begun in November 1871 and ended in August 1872. So far as possible, the work was done in a single night ; but in certain remote and uncivilized tracts it was of necessity prolonged over several months. Considering the absolute novelty of the undertaking, at least in some provinces, and the scanty means at the dis posal of the authorities, the general accuracy of the results may be regarded with not a little satisfaction. Subsequent local investigations tend to show that the numbers were under rather than overstated. In a few cases paid enume rators were engaged ; but generally the Work was left to the ordinary staff of each district, assisted by the police, the landlords, and their agents. The total expenditure through out all British India was only 82,203, being at the rate of less than half a farthing per head. The suspicions of the ignorant villagers were naturally aroused by the counting, which they imagined to be preliminary to some fresh exac tion by the Sarkar or Government. Only in two or three cases was any real opposition offered ; and there is little reason to believe thatany material evasion was accomplished. The total population of British India was ascertained to Gen amount to 191,096,603 persons, on an area of 898,381 resu square miles, being an average of 212 persons per square mile. Deducting the frontier province of Assam and British Burmah beyond the sea, the average is 243 persons per square mile. The population of the several native states is returned, partly from actual enumeration and partly from mere guessing, at 49,155,746 persons, on an area of 575,265 square miles, being an average of 85 persons to the square mile. The French possessions have an area of 178 square miles and a population of 271,460 persons ; the Portuguese possessions, 1086 square miles and 407,712 persons. The aggregate figures for all India, therefore, are 1,474,910 square miles and 240,931,521 persons, or an average of lb 3 persons per square mile. The following tables exhibit the results of the census of 1872 in a tabular form, arranged according to provinces and aggregates of native states, as presented to Parliament in 1879 in the Statistical Abstract for British India, No. XIII. for 1877-78. For certain details the Memo randum on the Census of 1872 presented to Parliament in 1875 has been used. No really important changes in the returns will be made till the next census, but slight alter ations or adjustments are from time to time effected. Area and Population of India under British Administration. Area in Sq. Miles. Population. Persons per Sq. Mile. Under Governor-General Ajmir 2,711 396 889 146 Berar ... 17,711 2 2 9 7 654 16 Mysore 1 29 325 fi 055 412 172 Coorg 2,000 168,312 84 Under Governors Madras 138,856 31,672,613 228 Bombay (including Sind) Under Lieutenant-Governors Bengal 123,142 156,200 16,349,206 60,502.897 132 383&quot; North- Western Provinces Punjab 81,403 104,975 30,781,204 17,611,498 378 168 Under Chief-Commissioners Oudh 2 23,992 11,220,232 468 Central Provinces 84,208 8,201,519 97 British Burmah 88,556 2,747,148 31 Assam 45,302 4,162,019 99 3 Total 898,381 191,096,603 212 Area and Population of Native States in India. Area in Sq. Miles. Population. Persons per Sq. Mile. Under Governor-General Central India and Bundel- ) khand 89,098 8,360,571 93 Eajputana 130,989 10,192,871 77 Hyderabad (Haidanibad, ) Nizam s Dominions) 80,000 9,000,000 112 Bavoda 4,399 2,000,225 454 Manipur. 7,584 126,000 16 Under Bengal 37,988 2,328,440 61 ,, North- Western Provinces ,, Punjab 5,125 114,742 657,013 5,367,042 128 46 ,, Central Provinces 29,112 1,049,710 36 ,, Madras 9,818 3,289,392 335 ,, Bombay .... 66,410 6,784,482 102 Total 575,265 49,155,746 85 Mysore will be handed back in 1881 to the administration of its native i iij:f. 2 Oudh is incorporated for most puiposss with the N.W. Provinces. 3 The area of the wild country in which the population is not reckoned lias been excluded in calculating these averages