A Statistical Account of Bengal, Volume 17Trübner & Company, 1877 - Bengal (India) |
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Common terms and phrases
aboriginal acres ánnás average number Bendkars Bengal Bhuiyás Bhúmij bighá Bonái Brahman called caste Census Census of 1872 Census Report cent Central Provinces Cháibásá Cháng Bhakár chief Chutiá Nágpur Chutiá Nágpur Division Chutiá Nágpur Proper Colonel Dalton Commissioner crop cultivators Deputy-Commissioner Dhalbhúm Dravidian feet females Fiscal Division Gángpur ghátwáls girls Goálás Gonds gorá Government Hazáribágh hill Hindí Hindu inhabitants jail Jashpur jungle Kayasth Kharriás Kharsáwán Kolarian Kolhán Kols Koreá Kurmís labourers land Larka Manbhum mánkis matchlocks maund metamorphic rocks Midnapur Muhammadans Mundas number of houses number of persons number of villages occupied Orissa Pánchet Paráhát parganá persons per house persons per square plateau plough police quit-rent race Raghunathpur Rájá Rájputs rent returned revenue rice river rocks rupee Sambalpur Santál Sáraikalá Sargújá Settlement Singbhúm District Sinh square mile Statistical Account temples tenures tion total number total population tribe Tributary twelve Udaipur Uriyá zamindár
Popular passages
Page 99 - Commissioner, or other chief officer charged with the executive administration of the district in criminal matters, with power to try as a Magistrate all offences not punishable with death, and to pass sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, including such solitary confinement as is authorized by law, or of fine, or of whipping, or any combination of these punishments authorized by law ; but any sentence of upwards of three years...
Page 40 - At this period an evil spirit is supposed to infest the locality, and to get rid of it, men, women, and children go in procession round and through every part of the village with sticks in their hands, as if beating for game, singing a wild chant and vociferating loudly, till they feel assured that the bad spirit must have fled, and they make noise enough to frighten a legion.
Page 34 - much variety, and I think in a great many families there is a considerable admixture of Aryan blood. Many have high noses and oval faces, and young girls are at times met with who have delicate and regular features, finely-chiselled straight noses, and perfectly formed mouths and chins.
Page 156 - ... and after the meal they dance and sing and flirt all night together, and the morning dawns on more than one pair of pledged lovers. Then the girls, if the young men have conducted themselves to their satisfaction, make ready the morning meal for themselves and their guests; after which the latter rise to depart, and still dancing and playing on the drums, move out of the village followed by the girls, who escort them to the boundary. This is generally a rock-broken stream with wooded banks ;...
Page 40 - Very instructive, from our present point of view, is the account given by Dalton, of the festivals of the various Bengal races. Thus the Hos (a Kolarian tribe), of Bengal, are a purely agricultural people, and the chief festival of the year with them is the mdgh parah. It is held in the month of January, "when the granaries are full of grain, and the people, to use their own expression, full of devilry.
Page 155 - Dhdngarin bdssa, or house for maidens ; which, strange to say, they are allowed to occupy without any one to look after them. They appear to have very great liberty ; and slips in morality, as long as they are confined to the tribe, are not much heeded.
Page 149 - ... respective draughts being 3 and 4 cwt., or 24 and 32 stone. The question then which remains is, whether two horses abreast can, on this land, be made to do the work not of four but of three horses in line. As it is a question of interest, I will beg to lay before the Society, as shortly as possible, such information as I have been able to obtain on the subject, after taking all the means in my power. The Scotch ploughman stated, as a general opinion in his own original district, that two horses...
Page 264 - Kharrids do not eat the flesh of sheep, and may not even use a woollen rug. It would be exceedingly interesting if this custom could be traced to its origin; I do not remember to have seen it stated of any other race.
Page 40 - They have a strange notion that at this period, men and women are so over-charged with vicious propensities, that it is absolutely necessary for the safety of the person to let off steam by allowing for a time full vent to the passions.
Page 155 - ... which they are allowed to occupy without any one to look after them. Whenever the young men of the village go to the Darbar and beat the drums, the young girls join them there, and they spend their evenings dancing and enjoying themselves, without any interference on the part of the elders. The Bhuiya dances have their peculiar features, but compared with the lively and graceful movements of the Kols, they are very tame performances.