HINDOOSTAN

From Agepedia

HINDOOSTAN, or HINDOSTAN, or INDIA THIS SIDE THE GANGES ; an extensive region in the south of Asia, between lat. 7° 56r and 35° N., and Ion. 67° and 92° 5C E. It is bounded on the north by the Himalaya mountains, on the east by the Birman empire and the bay of Bengal, on the south and southwest by the Indian ocean, and on the west by Beloochistan and Afghanistan. Its greatest length, from north to south, is about 1800 miles; its greatest breadth, 1500 miles. Its superficial area is estimated by Mr. Hamilton at 1,280,000 square miles. Some writers divide it into four great divisions, Northern Hindoostan, HINDOOstan Proper, the Deccan, and the country south of the Krishna; others comprise the two last under the Deccan. and call the two first Hindoostan. The mountains are the Himalaya (q. v.) in the north, and the Ghauts in the Deccan. The latter are divided into two ridges, the Eastern and Western. The Western Ghauts, the longest ridge, extend from cape Comorin to the Taptee or Surat river, including about 13 degrees of latitude, with a single opening of 16 miles, which admits the Paniany. Their distance from the coast is usually about 40 milesseldom more than 70; their height computed from 3000 to 4000 feet. The Eastern Ghauts extend from the north of the Cauvery, lat. 11° 20' N., to the banks of the Krishna, lat. 16° N.The word ghaut signifies a pass through the mountains, and the high land is called balaghaut (that is, above the passes), and the low land payeenghaut (that is, below the passes). The country between the ridges is generally table land, and some of it very fertile. These mountains are generally composed of granite, and on the western side are extensive forests of teak timber. The principal rivers are the Indus (q. v.), the Ganges (q. v.), and the Burrampooter. (q. v.) Beside these are the Nerbudda, the Godavery, the Krishna, and other considerable streams. In a country of such extent and diversity of surface, the climate must of course be very various. In the north it is mild ; in Sind and the neighboring provinces, and on the coasts, the heat is excessive. The prevailing winds are the monsoons, (q. v.) The soil of the country is, in general, remarkably fertile, and the vegetation is extremely rapid. There are two crops a year, one in September and October, and the other in March and april. Among the vegetable productions may be mentioned corn, rice, maize, sugarcane, betel, ginger, cocoa, coffee, mulberries, cotton, indigo, saffron, the different fruit trees of Europe, palms, bananas, teak, benzoin, camphor, bamboo, &c. The mineral kingdom is also extremely rich. Gold, silver, copper, iron, and other metals, porcelain earth, porphyry, saltpetre, borax, diamonds, &c, are among its productions. Among the animals are found the gibbon, the ourangoutang, and a great variety of monkeys, bears, tigers, buffaloes, gazelles, wild boars, elephants, rhinoceroses, jackals, &c. The immense serpents sometimes reach the size of 20 feet. Among the birds are pelicans, cassowaries, parrots, swTans, &c. The mass of the Hindoo and Mohammedan population is at about the same degree of civilization, but there are some tribes which are in a state of barbarism. Besides the Hindoos (q. v.), the inhabitants are Afghans (q. v.), dispersed about the country under a feudal government; Parsees or Guebres (q. v.), (infidels), who are found principally on the western coast, and speak a Persian dialect; Arabians, also on the western coast, descendants of merchants formerly established in Hindoostan, who differ from the other inhabitants in language, complexion, features and manners; Moguls or Monguls (q. v.), who established themselves in the 8th century, and founded the Mogul empire in the 16th century; Belootches in the northwest. Among so many nations, there is a great variety of religious systems, but the principal religion is Bramanism (see Indian Mythology), much modified in some parts of the country (see Seiks); that of the Nepalese is Buddhism (see Buddha); that of the Afghans, Belootches, Arabs, and some Hindoo natives, is Islamism. The number of the inhabitants is very uncertain. Hamilton estimated that of the continental part at 132,000,000; others have carried, the estimate to 180,000,000, and some have reckoned it at 110,000,Q00. The Sanscrit (q. v.), the original language of the country, is so ancient that neither history nor tradition makes mention of it as a spoken language. The oldest languages derived from it are the Pracrit, the Bali, and the Zend, which are the sacred languages of different sects. The modern dialects have * nine tenths of the words in common, but, except the Hindoostanee, which is spoken every where, and the Gujerattee, which is the general language of the markets, they are all local. {See Indian Languages.) The privileged castes (q. v.) alone are permitted to cultivate the sciences. The lower castes, however, are allowed to study rhetoric, moral philosophy and poetry, but literature and science are no longer encouraged as formerly. The English language is becoming more general, and the dialects of Hindoostan seem destined to become dead languages. (See Indian Literature.) The English government has, indeed, acquired such a preponderance, that 123,000,000 of the inhabitants of Hindoostan are dependent on it, either as subjects, tributaries or allies. The nizam of Hyderabad, the rajahs of Mysore and Travancore, the Mahratta prince Holcar, the Mahratta rajah of Nagpour, the rajah Guicowar, the nabob of Oude, and some others, are bound to pay a tribute, furnish aid in war, and are forbidden to admit European officers into their armies, or to receive foreign ambassadors. The Mahratta prince Sindia, the rajah of Nepaul, and the Seiks, are allies of the English East India company, but, excepting the Seiks, have only a precarious independence. In all parts of the country; the form of government is a pure despotism. Hindoostan was divided by Aurengzebe into numerous provinces, which continue to form political divisions in the English possessions, but they have been discon* tinued in the Indian states. The following table contains a view of these provinces, with the corresponding presidencies or states of the present day: Provinces. Agimere, Agra, Allahabad, Oude, Aurungabad, Bahar, Balagat, Bengal, Berar, Bider, Bejapoor, < Cashmere, Coimbetore, Cochin, Delhi, Gondwana, Gorval, Guzerat, < Hyderabad, Canara, Carnatic, Candeish, ditch, Lahore or ) Punjah, $ Mysore, Malabar, Malwa, ) Nepaul, Orissa, Salem and Baramal, Northern Circars, Sindy, Travancore, Presidencies or Indian States. Bombay presidency, Raja poots. Bengal, state of Sindia, states of the Rajapoots. Bengal, states of the Bun delcund, nabob of Oude, Bengal, nabob of Oude. Bombay, state of the Nizam Bengal. Madras. Bengal. State of the Nizam. State of the Nizam. Bombay, rajah of Setara, state of the Nizam. State of the Seiks. Madras. Madras,rajah of Travancore. Bengal, Seiks. Bengal, rajah of Nagpour. Bengal. Bombay, state of Guicowar, state of Holcar. State of the Nizam. Madras. Madras. Bombay, state of Holkar. Bombay, state of Guicowar Seiks. Rajah of Mysore. Madras. Bengal, states of Sindia, Holcar. Nepaul. Bengal. Madras. Madras. State of Sindy. Rajah of TravancoreWe have already mentioned the statesof Hindostan which preserve an appearance of independence. The rest of the country belongs to the English, except the territories in the possession of European powers. These are Goa, Damaun and Diu, belonging to Portugal (see India, Portuguese); Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe, Chandernagore, and the factories of Calicut, Surat and Masulipatam, belonging to France (see India, French), and Tranquebar and Serampore, belonging to Denmark. (See India, Danish; see also the articles East India Companies, Bengal, Bombay, Madras, &c.) The name of Hindoostan, as before stated, is of foreign origin, the Bramins having no general name for the country over which their doctrines have been disseminated. When they spoke of it as a wdiole, they designated it by the epithets Medhyama, or central ; Ponyabhoumi, or land of righteousness ; cr BharatKhande, country of Bharat, one of nine brothers, whose father governed the whole world. The early annals of the Hindoos are so fabulous, that it is difficult to separate the truth from fiction. Their own opinion of their antiquity is wholly chimerical; yet the astronomical knowledge of the Bramins, and the monuments of Hindoo architecture and sculpture, prove the great antiquity of this people, whose country was little known to the Greeks previous to the conquests of Alexander. That conqueror carried his arms beyond the Indus, and Seleucus Nicator, one of his successors, advanced as far as the Ganges. Arsaces, king of the Parthians, and some of the Bactrian kings, also made extensive conquests. About two centuries before the Christian era, the Parthians and Scythians overran all Northern India, or IndoScyihia, as Ptolemy calls it. In the middle of the 7th century, the Chinese penetrated to the countries on the Ganges. At the beginning of the next century, the followers of Mohammed invaded Hindoostan, subjected nearly the whole of the Moultan, and established themselves in Northern India. One of the governors of the conquered provinces, Mahmoud 'q. v.), becoming independent master of Ghiznih (Gazna), was the first modern conqueror of Hindoostan, and founded the Mussulman dynasty of the Ghaznevides, which lasted from 797 to the middle of the 12th century; he is said to have pushed his conquests as far as Goa. The last prince of this dynasty was deposed in 1152, by Kassim Ghauri, founder of the Ghauride dynasty, which derived its name from the country of Ghaur. and resided in Lahore; the Ghaurides subdued Kanara and the kingdom of Bisnagor, the Moultan, Delhi, and the country as far as Benares. In the beginning of the 13th century, the empire of the Ghaurides was divided, and Kutub, who received, for his share, th". conquests in India, founded the Patan dynasty (or, as some call it, the Iletmishi dynasty), and made Delhi the seat of his empire. The reigns of the Patau emperors were disturbed by the invasions of Gengis Khan (q.v.)and Tamerlane, (q.v.) In 1525, the Mogul dynasty was placed on the throne of Hindoostan by the successes of Babur. (See< Moguls.) Akbar (q. v.), his grandson, confirmed and extended his powder in the northern part of Hindoostan, and reduced Bengal. The history of this part of the country is very confused and uncertain, till the 13th century. Towards the end of the 14th century, Tamerlane had taken possession of it, and it had subsequently been subject to native princes or to the Mohammedan emperors of Delhi. Akbar (died 1604) also reduced Cabul and Cashmere. He divided his empire into 16 subahs (governments), which were subdivided into provinces; the latter were administered by governors, called nabobs. One of his descendants, AurengZebe (q. v.), ascended the throne, after having poisoned his father and put to deatli his two brothers. He carried the Mogul empire to its highest pitch of power and glory. The Mahrattas (q. v.), a warlike people from the Ghauts, were joined by several of the Hindoo princes, and, under the command of Sevajee, conquered an extensive territory. AurengZebe was obliged to treat with them, and to yield them one quarter of the revenue of the provinces in the Deccan, which they had overrun. After the death of AurengZebe, his empire continually declined, and became the prey to revolt and anarchy. The power of the Mahrattas, in the mean time, was rapidly extending, and, in the middle of the 18th century, the possessions of the Mogul emperors, although their persons continued to be respected, were reduced to the city of Delhi and its territory. The last Mogul emneror received a pension from the English, who (1803) took possession of Delhi and Agra.