Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/569

 LIFE THE RURAL OF CHOTANAGPUR Ptolmssot P. C. BOSE., M.. ST. COLUMBA'8 COLLEGE, HAZARXBAGH BIHAB It is hardly an exaggeration to say that India is a continent of villages. Only one-tenth of the total population of India is urban, while the bulk o! the people live in villages. The study of some rural part of India is of lmmense importance to a student of Indian Economics, because it is the material con- dition of villages that can give him a true account of the exact material condition of Indians. Chotanagpur or more strictly Chutianagpur, is a division of the newly created province of Bihar and Orissa. It occupies an area of 7,077 square miles. In this area there are only 14 small .towns, whle the villages number 24,789. The villages constitute nearly 96 per cent of the total population. The average number of houses contained in each village, is about 40; while the average population of each village is about 200. In a Bombay, contains comparison with the statistics of we find. that an average Bombay village at least 200 houses, with an average popula- ' t ion exceeding 600. , In Chotanagpur, there are many groups of houses, which are rather hamlets than villages proper. Big