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CENTRAL INDIA
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CENTRAL See also:INDIA , a collection of native states in India forming a See also:separate agency, which must not be confounded with the Centr 1 Provinces. The Central India agency was formed in, 1854, when See also:Sir R. See also: It is apparently the northern limit of what was once a vast basaltic See also:plain stretching from Goona to See also:Belgaum, " one of the most gigantic outpourings of volcanic See also:matter in the See also:world." The sandstone bed on which it rests is visible at a point just north of Goona, and in a small area See also:round Bhilsa and See also:Bhopal, as it is in those places freed from the layer of trap. The low-lying See also:land includes roughly that part of the agency which lies to the east of the plateau and comprises the greater part of the See also:political divisions of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand and the country round See also:Gwalior. The formation See also:save in north Bundelkhand is sandstone of the Vindhyan series, See also:free as a See also:rule from " trap." In the north of Bundelkhand the prevailing rock is See also:gneiss and See also:quartz. The quartz takes the shape of long serrated ridges, which are in many places a characteristic feature of the landscape. Trap appears here and there in intrusive dykes. The hilly tracts lie chiefly to the south of the agency, where the Vindhya, Satpura and Kaimur ranges are met with. The country is rough See also:forest and See also:jungle land little used for cultivation. The greater part of Central India is covered with the well-known " See also:black See also:cotton See also:soil," produced by the disintegration of the trap rock. It is a very See also:rich loamy See also:earth, possessing great fertility and an unusual See also:power of retaining moisture, which makes artificial See also:irrigation little needed. See also:Opium and See also:millet are the See also:principal crops grown upon it. The See also:ordinary " red soil " covers a large part of northern Bundelkhand, and as it requires much irrigation, tanks are a See also:special feature in this country. Ethnologically as well as climatically the See also:differences between the plateau and the eastern part of the agency are distinct and the See also:languages markedly so. The plateau is inhabited by pure-blooded See also:Rajput races, whose ancestry can be traced back for centuries, with all their numerous offshoots. The inhabitants of the low-lying country are also Rajputs, but their descent is mixed and as a rule the families of the plateau will have no See also:marriage connexion with them. The races of the hilly tracts are semi-civilized tribes, who often flee at the See also:mere sight of a See also: In this See also:state of affairs all parties agreed to accept the interposition of the British government for the restoration of See also:order, and under See also:Lord See also:Hastings the See also:work of pacification was effected. The policy pursued was to declare the permanency of the rights existing at the See also:time of the British interposition, conditionally upon the See also:maintenance of order; to adjust and See also:guarantee the relations of subordinate and tributary chiefs to their superiors so as to prevent all further disputes or encroachments; and to See also:settle the claims of the ousted landholders, who had resorted to pillage or blackmail, by fixing grants of land to be made to them, or settling the money allowances to be paid to them. The general result was to See also:place all the privileges, rights and possessions of these inferior chiefs under the guarantee or See also:protection of the British government, to whom all disputes between the See also:superior and inferior states must be referred, and whose decision is final upon all questions of succession to hereditary rights or rulership. The states have no general ethnological See also:affinity, such as exists in Rajputana. Their territories are in many cases neither compact nor continuous, consisting of a number of villages here and there, with a See also:nucleus of more or less importance round the See also:chief See also:town. Their relations to the government of India and to each other See also:present many See also:variations. Ten of them are under See also:direct treaty with the government of India; others are held under sanads and deeds of fealty and obedience; while a third class, known as the mediatized states, are held under agreements mediated by the British government between them and their superior chiefs. See also:Population.—The total population of the Central India agency in 1901 was 8,628,781, showing a decrease during the See also:decade of 16.4%. Considerable losses were caused by the famines of 1897–1898 and 1899–1900, which were severely See also:felt, especially in Bhopal and Malwa. The greater part of the population of Central India is of the Hindu religion, but a few See also:Mahommedan See also:groups still exist, either traces of the days when the See also:Mogul emperors extended their sway from the See also:Punjab to the Deccan, or else the descendants of those northern adventurers who hired out their services to the great Mahratta generals. Of the first Bhopal is the only example, while Jaora is the only notable instance of the other. Roughly there are four great sections of the population: the Mahratta section, who belong to the ruling circles; the Rajputs, who are also hereditary noblemen; the trading classes, consisting chiefly of Marwaris and Gujaratis; and lastly,.the jungle tribes of See also:Dravidian stock. The Mahrattas are foreigners, and, though rulers of the greater part of Central India, have no true connexion with the soil and are little met with outside cities, the vicinity of courts, and administrative centres. The Rajputs with all their endless ramifications See also:form a large portion of the population. Originally invaders, they have sq long held a stake in the soil that they have become almost part of the indigenous population. The Marwaris hold practically all the See also:trade of Central India, with the exception of the See also:Bora class of Mahommedans. They are either Vaishnavite See also:Hindus or else See also:Jains. Their See also:advent into Central India See also:dates, except in the See also:case of one or two families, from the time of the Mahratta invasion only. The Jain portion of this community is very wealthy. The last section, that of the jungle tribes, is mostly of Dravidian or mixed Aryo-Dravidian origin, these tribes being the See also:modern representatives of the former rulers and inhabitants of this country. The British agent to the governor-general resides at Indore, and, there are British cantonments at See also:Mhow, Neemuch and See also:Nowgong. The whole country is fairly provided with See also:railways, largely at the expense of Sindhia. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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