Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/33

 NIG 25 are naturally attributable to the backwardness and remoteness of the country. There is no great highway of commerce through it or near it, and large forests and enormous rivers are formidable barriers to the pro- gress of civilization. The usual characteristics of a rustic population are found in an exaggerated form. This is the principal point of difference between the Gánjar and the upper country. The simplicity and ignorance of the people is certainly greater than in any other part of Oudh. I have been in villages where a European had never before been seen, where on several occasions the thekádárs came for- ward to offer me their bazars (presents) of three or four rupees, and showed great surprise when they were refused. In fact, once a lengthy explanation and apology on my part became necessary to remove from an old gentleman's mind the impression, that the refusal of the nazar was a direct insult, or at least a signal mark of the Hákim's displeasure. There is no difference in the language, but the pronunciation is pecu- liar; the vowels are broadened and softened, and some of the inflections in the conjugation of the verb are different from anything I have heard before. These differences are sufficient to cause some difficulty in under- standing the people. But there is great ignorance of the most ordinary Urdu or Persian words, which sometimes lead to puzzling and amusing erro's. I recollect two villages, Girda Kalán and Girda Khurd. None of the inhabitants know the meaning of the distinguishing epithets. They had always called their villages Bará Girda and Chhota Girda, and now consi- dered that two new names-Kalán and Khurd-had been bestowed on them by the Government. They were loth to give up the old names, yet hesi- tated to disobey a supposed order, so they had compromised the matter by naming their villages Bard Girda kalan and Chhota Girda Khurd. An old instance of a new application of a familiar term, and also of the rapidity with which historical facts are forgotten, is the name given to pargana Palia by the inhabitants of the Oudh pargana bordering it. It is always known as the Angrezi Maurúsi, the hereditary dominion of the English. In dress I have found no difference except in the case of one caste, the Banjáras, whose women wear petticoats and jackets made of different coloured patches of cloth, and having no sleeves for the arms, which are bare of clothes, but generally almost covered with silver ornaments. But Banjára women dress thus wherever they may be settled. Customs and manners differ only so far as they are agricultural, and are modified by the peculiar circumstances under which husbandry is in this country carried on. In the matter of food there is some difference, -for instance rice, jundhri, and barley are almost the only grains eaten by the people, specially the first of the three ; wheaten bread is an unheard of luxury, only the cheaper kinds of rice are eaten, and the better kinds are exported. The differences in social customs, if they exist, are certainly not appa- rent to a European. But the remoteness and backwardness of the country is a constant theme of merriment to native visitors from the upper country and the contempt with which an inhabitant of Kheri pargans, or of any place south of the Ul, regards the people of the Gánjar, and their country 4