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INTRODUCTION.

of an excess of veneration to lift them beyond the control of public opinion. In spite of their predominance in the proprietorship of the land, they are not relatively very numerous, and form There are about a twentieth part of the whole population. highest very numerous subdivisions. None of them belong to the stand they rank of Hindu aristocracy, and in point of dignity who west, the half-way between the great princely families of Mainpuri or at have their headquarters at Jaipur or Udaipur, and BenBehar Bhadawar, and the less pure Chhattris of gal.

The Muhammadans, the Brahmans, and the Chhattris

ac-

population in Avhich they

count for about a quarter of the whole The remainder consists of the are the predominant classes. lower Hindu castes, and'those whose religious pretensions raise them above, or whose misfortune of birth abases them below, The first of these supplies more than a half, the whole system. and the last a little more than a fifth, of the people. The strictly religious orders, though of the highest political importance, are

inconsiderable in point of numbers. The lower classes of Hindus are distributed into two classes recognized by the sacred books, the Vaisyas and Sudras, and to these must be added a third, of more recent origin and doubtful position, the Kayaths. The Kayaths and Vaisyas, or the writing and trading classes, properly number hardly a million, of which nearly 700,000 belong to the former. The Sudras admitted Hindus, but not allowed to wear the sacred thread are distinguished from the lowest classes of all by the fact that their brass vessels are considered pure, and a Brahman or Chhattri will take water drawn in their lotas, while he would reject it with loathing if it had come into contact with the cup of a Chamar or a Kori. The most numerous among these castes are the Ahlrs, whose proper duty is to tend the cattle of the community, but who are found as cultivators in every disWith a total of 1,160,000 souls, they slightly exceed the trict. Chamars, and are a little below the Muhammadans, while they leave the numerical supremacy of the Brahmans unchalleng-

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ed.

best tenantry, the most industrious and successful and the most peaceful and estimable members of society are furnished by the two classes of Kurmis and Murdos whose virtues are known all over Northern India, and who number in Oudh rather more than a million souls. They are the backbone of the wealth of the province ; and, though they will pay

The

cultivators,

very high rents, the value in whi<^ they are held will deter a