India

more especially in the epic poems, that we find the inferior gods as mortal in the beginning, and as becoming immortal through exterior agency. In the SatapathaBrahmana, the juice of the soma plant, offered by the worshiper, or at another time clarified butter, or even animal sacrifices, impart to them this immortality. At the epic period, Vishnu teaches them how to obtain the amrita, or beverage of immortality, without which they would go to destruction; and this epic amrita itself is merely a compound, increased by imagination, of the various substances which in the Vedic writings are called or likened to amrita, i.e., a "substance that frees from death." It is obvious, therefore, that gods like these could not strike root in the religious mind of the nation. We must look upon them more as the gods of poetry than of real life; nor do we find that they enjoyed any of the worship which was allotted to the two principal gods, Vishnu and Siva.

The philosophical creed of this period adds little to the fundamental notions con. tained in the Upanishads; but it frees itself from the legendary dross which still imparts to those works a deep tinge of mysticism. On the other hand, it conceives and develops the notion that the union of the individual soul with the supreme spirit may be aided by penances, such as peculiar modes of breathing, particular postures, protracted fasting, and the like; in short, by those practices which are systematized by the Yoga doctrine. The most remarkable epic work which inculcates this doctrine is the celebrated poem Bhagavadgitá, which has been wrongly considered by European writers as a pure Sânkhya work, whereas Sankara, the great Hindu theologian, who commented on it, and other native commentators after him, have proved that it is founded on the Yoga belief. The doctrine of the reunion of the individual soul with the supreme soul, was necessarily founded on the assumption that the former must have become free from all guilt affecting its purity before it can be remerged into the source whence it proceeded; and since one human life is apparently too short for enabling the soul to attain its accomplishment, the Hindu mind concluded that the soul, after the death of its temporary owner, had to be born again, in order to complete the work it had left undone in its previous existence, and that it must submit to the same fate until its task is fulfilled. This is the doctrine of metempsychosis, which, in the absence of a belief in grace, is a logical consequence of a system which holds the human soul to be of the same nature as that of an absolute God. The beginning of this doctrine may be discovered in some of the oldest Upanishads, but its fantastical development belongs to the epic time, where it pervades the legends, and affects the social life of the nation. See TRANSMIGRATION.

The PURANIC period of Hinduism is the period of its decline, so far as the popular creed is concerned. Its pantheon is nominally the same as that of the epic period. Brahmâ, Vishnu, and Siva remain still at the head of its imaginary gods; but whereas the epic time is generally characterized by a friendly harmony between the higher occupants of the divine spheres, the Purânic period shows discord and destruction of the original ideas whence the epic gods arose. Brahmâ withdraws, in general, from the popular adoration, and leaves Vishnu and Siva to fight their battles in the minds of their worshipers for the highest rank. The elementary principle which originally inhered in these deities is thus completely lost sight of by the followers of the Purânas. The legends of the epic poems relating to these gods become amplified and distorted, according to the sectarian tendencies of the masses; and the divine element which still distinguishes these gods in the Râmâyana and Mahâbhârata, is now more and more mixed up with worldly concerns and intersected with historical events, disfigured in their turn to suit individual interests. Of the ideas implied by the Vedic rites, scarcely a trace is visible in the Purânas and Tantras, which are the text-books of this creed. In short, the unbridled imagination which pervades these works is neither pleasing from a poetical, nor elevating from a philosophical point of view. Some Purânas, it is true -for instance, the Bhagavata-make in some sense an exception to this aberration of original Hinduism; but they are a compromise between the popular and the Vedanta creed, which henceforward remains the creed of the educated and intelligent. They do not affect the worship of the masses as practiced by the various sects; and this worship itself, whether harmless, as with the worshipers of Vishnu, or offensive, as with the adorers of Siva and his wife Durgâ, is but an empty ceremonial, which, here and there, may remind one of the symbolical worship of the Vedic Hindu, but, as a whole, has no connection whatever with the Vedic scriptures, on which it affects to rest. It is this creed which, with further deteriorations, caused by the lapse of centuries, is still the main religion of the masses in India. The opinion these entertain, that it is countenanced by the ritual, as well as by the theological portion of the Vedas, is the redeeming feature of their belief; for, as nothing is easier than to disabuse their mind on this score, by reviving the study of their ancient and sacred language, and by enabling them to read again their oldest and most sacred books, it may be hoped that a proper education of the people in this respect, by learned and enlightened natives, will remove many of the existing errors, which, if they continued, must inevitably lead to a further, and, ultimately, total degeneration of the Hindu race.

The philosophical creed of this period, and the creed which is still preserved by the educated classes, is that derived from the tenets of the Vedânta philosophy. It is based on the belief of one supreme being, which imagination and speculation endeavor to invest with all the perfections conceivable by the human mind, but the true nature of

which is, nevertheless, declared to be beyond the reach of thought, and which, on this ground, is defined as not possessing any of the qualities by which the human mind is able to comprehend intellectual or material entity. See VEDANTA.

Hindu Sects.-This designation applies to the sects which arose during the third period of Hinduism. They suppose that their worship is countenanced by the Vedas; but its real origin is derived from the Puranas and Tantras. See these articles. There are three chief divisions of these sects-the adorers of Vishnu, of Siva, and of the wives or female energies of these gods. See VAISHNAVAS, SAIVAS, and SAKTAS. Besides these great sects, there are some of limited extent and total insignificance, such as the worshipers of Agni, the god of fire; of Surya, the sun-god; of Ganesa, the god of wisdom, and the obviator of impediments. For a detailed account of these and similar sects, see the first volume of the Works of the late H. H. Wilson, containing a sketch of the religious sects of the Hindus.

For an account of the various divisions of India, see articles on the various provinces referred to in the preceding article. See also INDIA, BRITISH; INDIA, NATIVE STATES OF; INDIA, FRENCH; INDIA, PORTUGUESE.

For an account of the philosophy, literature, architecture, etc., of India, see SANSKRIT LITERATURE, MÎmânsâ, NYÂYA, SânKHYA, VEDÂNTA. For the history of India, see following article.

INDIA, BRITISH, is the name given to those parts of Hither and Further India placed under the administration of the viceroy or governor-general of India. It does not include Ceylon, which, although a British possession, has its government entirely separate from that of Hindustan; but it extends along the eastern coast of the bay of Bengal to 10 s. lat., and thus includes part of Further India or Indo-China.

The following table, taken from the Statesman's Year Book for 1897, shows the population of the different British possessions in 1891 and the population per square mile:

Government. By an act of parliament, which received the royal assent Aug. 2, 1858, Queen Victoria was declared sovereign of India, and various regulations were enacted for the better government of the country. In 1877 by act of parliament, the queen formally assumed the title empress of India. The home government of India is vested in a secretary of state, who is a member of the English cabinet. He is assisted by an under-secretary and a council of fifteen members. The Indian executive government is administered by the viceroy or governor-general appointed by the crown, and acting under the control of the secretary of state for India. The viceroy is appointed by the crown for a term of six years, and is assisted by a council of five ordinary members, three appointed by the secretary of state, two by her majesty's warrant. Each of them has charge of a depart

ment of the executive. The commander-in-chief may be constituted an extraordinary member of the council. The legislative council is composed of the members of the executive, together with from ten to sixteen members. These additional members are nominated by the viceroy. The proceedings of the legislative council are public. British India is now divided into the provinces mentioned in the preceding table. It was formerly divided into the three presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay; and in ordinary language, and even in official documents, the name of presidency is still given to the provinces of Madras and Bombay. As regards military matters, the old threefold division may be said to subsist, but it must be kept in mind that British India is now divided into the four territories under the governor-general, and the nine provinces enumerated in the preceding table, and that each has its own civil government and is independent of the others. The two governments of Madras and Bombay are under the rule of governors appointed by the crown, and assisted by executive and legislative councils. They communicate only with regard to important matters with the home government through the governor-general. As regards affairs of minor importance, they correspond directly with the secretary of state for India. The Lower Provinces of Bengal, the Northwest Provinces, and Oude, and the Punjab are administered by lieutenant-governors appointed by the governor-general, subject to the approbation of the secretary of state for India. În Bengal, and the Northwest Provinces (with Oude) the lieutenant-governor is assisted by a legislative council. Assam, the Central Provinces, and Lower and Upper Burmah are governed by chief commissioners appointed by the Indian government. Ajmere was separated from the government of the Northwest Provinces in 1871, and placed under the direct control of the governor-general. Berar, also known under the name of the Hyderabad assigned districts, is administered by a chief commissioner appointed by the governor-general. All the governments of India are split into provinces, over each of which a commissioner is placed, and these are in turn divided into districts under a judge and collector. The provinces are distinguished into regulation and non-regulation provinces. In the former, the revenue is collected and justice is administered according to fixed methods. In the latter, power is reserved by legislative enactment to modify these as occasion requires. Resident political agents are appointed by the British government at the courts of the native princes.

Army and Navy.-The Indian military service, like the civil service, underwent a thorough reorganization after the Sepoy mutiny. An act of parliament passed in 1893 did away with the old divisions of the country for military purposes, into three commands named after the three old presidencies of Bombay, Madras, and Bengal, and in place of the former system, established four commands, namely, that of Bengal, with (1896) 63,628 officers and men; that of Madras with (1896) 46,761 officers and men; that of Bombay with (1896) 44,047 officers and men; and that of the Punjab, with (1896) 65,143 officers and men. The total strength of the Indian army, both native and British, in 1896, was 219,601. There is also a considerable force of native reserves. The imperial service troops in the spring of 1896 numbered 19,013 men, and the European volunteers numbered 30,000 men. For many years after the mutiny mixed battalions and regiments were formed, but in recent years the men have, in many instances, been redistributed into class regiments of Brahmins, Rajputs, Jats, Mohammedans, Goorkhas, Sikhs, and Punjabis. The navy consisted, in 1896, of 2 coast-defence turret ironclads, 2 despatch vessels, 2 torpedo gun-boats of the first class, and 7 torpedo-boats of the first class, as well as a number of troop-vessels, surveying-ships, etc., and a submarine mining flotilla of 8 vessels.

Justice and Crime.-In 1861, by an act of parliament, high courts of judicature were established at each presidency and in the Northwest Provinces, under the control of a chief justice, and as many other judges, not exceeding fifteen, as her majesty may appoint. These courts were supreme both in civil and criminal cases, but there is an ultimate appeal to the judicial committee of the Privy Council, in England. The Punjab has a chief court, with five judges, and the Central Provinces, Oude and Sind, have each a judicial commissioner. Burmah also has a judicial commissioner as well as a recorder. The high court at Calcutta is the highest judicial tribunal for Assam, except in the three hill districts, where the chief commissioner of Assam is judge without appeal. The great majority of magistrates in the courts of original jurisdiction, and of the civil judges, are natives of India. The civil procedure code of India offers facilities which have been abused. Sir George Campbell, in illustration of the views entertained of legal proceedings by some classes of Indian litigants, gives the following account of a litigation between the members of a family originally belonging to one of the hill tribes. One of the parties, after litigating through all the courts of India, got a decree in the highest court. But there was an appeal to the privy council, and the suitor's funds were exhausted. So they caught an old man, carried him to the top of a hill, and sacrificed him to propitiate the gods who rule the decisions of the privy council. The civil procedure code worked such mischief among the Sontals that the people were exasperated, and had to be removed from the operation of laws applicable generally in Bengal. In 1894 the police numbered 144,442; the number of persons convicted in criminal cases in 1894 was 823, and the number of prisoners in jail in 1895 was 102,182. Revenue, Expenditure, etc.-In 1895 the gross amount of revenue of British India was 951,874,290 rupees, and of expenditure 944,943,190 rupees. The most important item of expenditure is the maintenance of the army. Before the Sepoy mutiny it cost 130,000,000 rupees a year to maintain the requisite military force, and in the budget estimate for 1896-97, 251,749,000 rupees were given under that head of expenditure. The most important items of revenue are land, railways. salt, opium, the excise, customs stamos.

and provincial rates. Out of a total revenue of 976,207,000 rupees, in 1896-97, 260,933,000 rupees were derived from the land. In the permanently settled parts of the country the land tax represents, on an average, about one-fifth of the rental; in the temporarily settled tracts the land revenue amounts to somewhat less than one-half of the rental. In certain parts of the country the cultivation of the poppy is permitted. The cultivator is bound to sell the product at a fixed price to the government, which advances money to him in order to enable him to prepare the land for the crop. Between 1886 and 1895, the gross annual revenue derived from opium averaged 81,382,400 rupees.

Currency. - In British India accounts are kept in rupees, annas, and pie,-16 annas making up a rupee, and 12 pie an anna. The value of the rupee, which has commonly been regarded as 2s. in British money, has fluctuated from 1s. 1d. to 2s. 2d. Since the early seventies the burden of taxation has been greatly increased in consequence of the great fall in the value of silver, the Indian revenues being raised in silver, while the amount spent in Great Britain, on account of India (£16,000,000) has to be paid in gold. This sum is disbursed in the payment of fixed charges, such as salaries and pensions of civil and military officers. The difference between the exchange value and the market value of the rupee became so great that where the government was formerly obliged to raise only Rx. 16,000,000, it had to raise Rx. 24,000,000. The financial embarrassment caused by this fact, led the government, in 1892, when the exchange value of the rupee sank to 1s. 1d., to consider a plan for the closing of the Indian mints to the coining of silver. In June, 1893, a law to this effect was passed, and the rate of 1s. 4d. for the rupee was established as the gold price of silver. Silver has been the standard of value since 1835, and though gold is coined in small quantities by the mints, it is not legal tender, and is not current as money. Before the closing of the Indian mints in 1893, and the repeal of the Sherman act in the United States, the latter country and India were the only large consumers of silver in the world, but India still remains an important wholesale market for silver, which is used extensively in the arts, about one-sixth of the world's annual production being purchased in the Indian markets. There is a comparatively small amount of paper money in circulation in India, which is legal tender within certain limited districts. The amount outstanding on March 31st, 1895, was Rx. 30,700,010, which was diminished by about Rx. 5,000,000 in the following year. The value of the rupee in United States money, as proclaimed by the secretary of the treasury on October 31, 1896, was 23.3 cents. The amount of the permanent debt in India on March 31st, 1895, was Rx. 104,373,740; the permanent Indian debt in Great Britain was Rx. 114,005,826; and the unfunded debt in India was Rx. 13,906,720. The total debt was Rx. 232,286,886.

Roads and Railways.-Since 1836 great trunk roads have been constructed in various parts of India; but their importance afterwards diminished with the construction of the great railway system. The railway lines are divided into those which are owned and worked by the state; those which are owned by the state and worked by companies; lines worked by guaranteed companies; lines worked by assisted companies; and lines owned by the native states. The total mileage of railways on March 31, 1896, was 19,678, of which 8,979 were state lines worked by companies.

Manufactures.-Although agriculture is the principal industry, manufactures occupy a prominent place. India has for centuries been noted for its beautiful fabrics and metal work, which have been made largely in the houses of the natives; but European competition, and the introduction of European methods of production, have seriously injured the native home industries, the influx of inferior goods from Manchester and other manufacturing centres of England having completely destroyed home manufactures in some localities, and almost supplanted Indian products in some outside markets. Among the most important Indian products are cotton, silk, and jute articles, various articles of luxury, such as highly wrought work in ivory, gold, silver, copper, and brass, figured silks, cashmere shawls, etc. In weaving and in carving and inlaying wood and ivory, the native artisans are unsurpassed. In 1894-95, there were 144 cotton mills in operation in India. Most of these are to be found in the presidency of Bombay, especially on the island of Bombay. Coal mining is also important. În 1895 there were 233 collieries.

Commerce. Since 1834 the commerce of India has greatly expanded. In 1834-35 the total sea-borne foreign trade of I. amounted to Rx. 14,342,290. In 1895-96 it was Rx. 204,899,288, the average annual rate of increase being 21.44 per cent. The leading exports in 1896 were rice, raw and manufactured cotton, opium, seeds, hides, and skins, raw and manufactured jute, tea, indigo, coffee, wool, lac, metal wares, oils, etc. Of the imports, cotton manufactures make up about one-half. Among the other leading articles of import may be mentioned metals, railway materials, woolen goods, kerosene, machinery and mill work. In 1896 the principal countries to which Indian produce was exported, were, in the order of their importance, the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, the United States, the Straits Settlements, Egypt, Belgium, Ceylon, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and in the same year the leading countries in respect to imports into I. were, in the order of their importance, the United Kingdom (which exported by far the greatest part), China, Belgium, Germany, the Straits Settlements, Russia, Mauritius, Austria-Hungary, and the United States.

Irrigation Works and Canals.-We have already referred to the importance of irrigation in India, and the great attention given to the subject. The great element of difficulty is the uncertainty of the rainfall, and irrigation is required, not only in parts where the rainfall is altogether too scanty, but in districts where it is ample at one time

and wholly deficient at another. There are several ways of providing for irrigation. In a large part of the country the water is stored in tanks or reservoirs. Thousands of these are to be found in the presidency of Bombay, Madras, and along the Ganges valley. These sometimes prove inadequate, as they contain for the most part hardly more than one year's supply. Larger tanks have been built in some places, chiefly near the head streams of rivers; and artificial lakes, by means of dams across streams, are also employed. Canals are very important instruments of irrigation in India. Some of them are employed to carry off the overflow of rivers in times of heavy rains. Others are perennial, and so large as nearly to drain an entire river. The latter have been constructed under the British rule, among them are the Ganges, Jumna, Bari Doab, Saram, Son, and Sirhind in the northern part of the country, and the Orissa, Godavari, Kistna, and Cauvery in the eastern plains.

Land Tenure.-In India the government has always been considered the owner of the soil, and the actual cultivators pay a rent or tax, in collecting which different systems have hitherto been followed in different parts of the country, known as the Zemindari Settlement, Ryotwari, and Mouzawar or Village Settlement. The latter is the oldest and the simplest system. Each village under this arrangement was regarded as a separate municipality, and each was assessed by the government at a particular sum, for the due payment of which the head man of the village was considered responsible. The individual distribution of the burden of taxation rested with the village authorities, and government, provided it received its regular dues through the potail, interfered no further. The origin of the Zemindari and Ryotwarı settlements requires some explanation. When the English first entered upon the administration of the country, they found that the practice of native sovereigns, their predecessors, had been to farm out the land revenues of the country to the nobles of the court, or to wealthy bankers, who annually paid a fixed amount into the royal treasury, and collected the government dues on their own behalf, from the actual cultivators of the soil. These farmers of the revenue were termed Zemindars. The question for the English rulers arose, whether or not they were to consider these men as proprietors. In Bengal and Behar they were so recognized, and confirmed in their position, the government holding them responsible for the payment of the dues on their estates, and regarding the cultivators on the farms as their tenants. This was lord Cornwallis's Zemindari settlement. In Madras and Bombay, the opposite course was pursued. Claims of the middlemen, or farmers of the revenue, to enjoy any proprietary rights were totally ignored; and under sir Thomas Monro, the ryotwari system was introduced, by which government makes a separate settlement with each individual cultivator or ryot, who is recognized as the virtual proprietor of the land, or tenant direct under government, so long as he pays the land-tax annually charged on his estate or farm. In 1871, under the administration of lord Mayo, there was created a new department of revenue, agriculture, and commerce. It has charge of all questions relating to land revenue and settlements, works of agricultural improvement, silk and fibers, forests, commerce, trade, and the industrial arts. It has also under its charge the collection of statistics, placed under another new department, the statistical survey of India, of which the director-general is Dr. Hunter. His book on Orissa (see below) was the first installment of the work done. A series of leading questions was issued by the director-general, showing exactly what information was required from residents in the different districts. A connected account of each district was then prepared from the returns, and these were in turn condensed by the director-general into an imperial statistical account of India, called The Imperial Gazetteer of India (2d ed., 14 vols., 1886-87). This survey formed an epoch in statistical enterprises.

Disease in India. The climate and sanitary condition of India give rise to pestilences which at intervals carry desolation over the country, whilst disease in its worst form is never absent. Hospitals, richly endowed and admirably regulated, supported as well by government as by private munificence, exist in all the large towns; and great efforts are constantly made to bring the benefits of medical skill and knowledge within reach of the poorer classes. In all parts of the country, dispensaries have been opened, where medicines are given out, and patients advised. Much of the disease of India is due to bad water and bad drainage; and where a new water-supply has been introduced, and drains have been made, as in Calcutta, the improvement in the health of the inhabitants has been marked. Several millions of persons are vaccinated in India annually. Mortality is fearfully aggravated by the passion of the people for pilgrimages. All ages and sexes traverse vast areas, and die by hundreds on the route. The Mohammedan pilgrims go in numbers to Mecca, Kerbela, and Jerusalem, and a large proportion never return.

India has many times been ravaged by famines due to the density of the population and the uncertainty of the rainfall, resulting in the failure of crops. In the winter of 1895-6 the failure of winter rains caused great scarcity in the Northwest Provinces, in Oude, the Punjab, the Central Provinces, and Rajputana. In the summer, northern and central India suffered severely from drought. The crops failed, the price of food doubled, and though the government employed thousands of the natives on relief works, the distress was very great, and in some parts of the country grain riots occurred. The fall crops were also defective and throughout the same area which was visited by famine in 1877, the population were half starved, hundreds of thousands having to subsist on a single scanty meal a day. It was estimated that the scarcity extended over an area containing 26,500,000 people. In a region containing 13,000,000 inhabitants, and comprising the Allahabad, Lucknow, Faizabad and Agra divisions of the Northwest Provinces, there was a total failure of crops. In some parts of the famine-stricken districts attempts to relieve the districts were made by the sinking of wells. In other districts, especially in