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 INDIA 201 the western portion. 4. The highlands of cen- tral India. In the most extensive sense these comprehend the whole of the interior plateau not included in the Deccan. On the northern slope is the table land of Malwa, with an ele- vation of from 1,300 to 2,000 ft. above the sea. It is occupied by a number of principalities ruled by native chiefs, under the supervision of the British government. On the W. side are Guzerat and Cutch. A part of Rajpootana falls within this geographical division. The territory, which owes its name to the former rule of Rajpoot princes over most of it, con- sists of 18 separate subject-allied states of various dimensions, with a collective area es- timated at 80,000 sq. m., and about 8,500,000 inhabitants. Strictly speaking, the Nerbudda valley is the northern limit of the Deccan ; but the region comprising the Satpoora hills, S. of the river, and lying between Ion. 76 and 82 E. along the 22d parallel, is generally regarded as belonging to the highlands of central India. Here culminates the elevated ridge which has been referred to as crossing the peninsula, in peaks nearly 5,000 ft. high, rising above numer- ous lower plateaus and flat-topped hills, below which lies the general surface of the plain, which has an elevation of about 1,000 ft. above the sea. In this section are the head waters of the Sone, which flows into the Ganges, of the Mahanuddy, running directly into the bay of Bengal, and of the parallel westward-flow- ing Nerbudda and Taptee. There is also a southern drainage into the Godavery. The country was anciently called Gondwana, from the Gonds, its aboriginal inhabitants. It is now incorporated politically within 11 of the 19 ad- ministrative districts of the Central Provinces. 5. The Deccan, a term originally applied to the whole peninsula of India S. of the Nerbudda river, but now restricted to the country ex- tending from the Nerbudda on the north to the Kistnah on the south, or from near lat. 23 to 16 N. It consists chiefly of an elevated table land, enclosed by low plains extending to the seashore, the E. and W. Ghauts forming its buttresses. This table land extends beyond the Kistnah to the Neilgherries, and gradually in- creases in height, as it trends southward, from 1,500 to 2,000 ft. in Hyderabad to 4,000 ft. in Mysore. Its principal rivers are the Godavery, draining an area of 92,800 sq. m., the Kistnah, with a drainage basin of 81,000 sq. m., and the Mahanuddy. These, as well as the Cavery, which waters Mysore, flow to the S. E. coast. The centre of the N. portion of the Deccan is occupied by the territories of the nizam or rajah of Hyderabad, a Mohammedan prince whose dominions were formerly called the kingdom of Golconda, from the city of that name, famous for its traffic in diamonds. The rest of the Deccan, with inconsiderable excep- tions, is subject directly to British rule, under the governments of Madras and Bombay; while Mysore is now administered as a Brit- ish province. The narrow strip of land which lies between the Western Ghauts and the In- dian ocean is called the Malabar coast, but the name properly belongs only to the portion S. of Canara. The opposite coast of the penin- sula, on the bay of Bengal, is called Coroman- del. All the eastern part of the peninsula between the Kistnah and the southern boun- dary of Mysore is called the Carnatie. 6. The triangular block in which India termi- nates at the south. Here the Palnai hills con- front the Neilgherries, and like them over- look the gap of Ooimbatore, which separates the two ranges. Extensions of the Eastern and Western Ghauts stretch southward nearly to Cape Comorin. Cochin and Travancore are subject-allied territories in the west ; the rest of the region is a part of the Madras presiden- cy. The entire tract is fertile, well wooded, and abundantly supplied with water. 1. Brit- ish Bnrmah, described under its own title, is a province geographically distinct from the rest of India. For purposes of political ad- ministration under British rule, India was long divided into the three presidencies of Fort Wil- liam in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay ; but this mode of division has been abandoned. The following table shows the existing arrangement of provinces, and the area and population of each, according to the official statement fur- nished to parliament by the secretary of state for India in 1873. In the case of Bengal, the area is exclusive of waste and forest lands and great rivers ; and the Bannu district is not in- cluded in the area of the Punjaub : DIVISIONS. Dale of Area in iq. milci. Population. Bengal 1672 2311 S82 66856859 N'thwest Provinces. . Oude 1872 1869 80,601 23978 80,769,056 11 220 747 1872 101 752 17 611 498 Central Provinces. . . 1872 1867 64,162 16960 9,066,088 2 281 565 British Burmah 1671-'2 1872 93,664 141 746 2.562,328 81 811 142 1872 27077 5 055 412 1872 2000 168812 1872 127532 14 042 596 Total British India. 930599 190 895 548 646,147 46,245,888 Total 1,676,746 287,141,486 The statistics as to British Burmnh are merely estimates from the administration report of that province for 1871-'2. A census was ta- ken there in 1872, but its results have not yet been published. Bengal proper, Behar, Orissa, Assam, and Chota Nagpore make up the pres- ent province of Bengal, and together with the Northwest Provinces formerly constituted the presidency of Fort William in Bengal. Mysore and Coorg are under one provincial administra- tion. The chief executive authority of the In- dian government is the governor general, or viceroy, who is appointed by the crown, and re- ceives a salary of 25,000 per annum, besides allowances. He acts under the direction of the secretary of state for India, a member of the