3
PRICES.—Bice of the second sort is the staple food in Salsette Táluka.
The following are the rates per rupee from 1901 to 1912 :—
Year,
1901
1992
1903
1904
1905
1996
Seers
(80 tolás
— 1 seer).
10
10
11
10
10
9
Chattaks.
3
3
2
3
2½
14½
Year.
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
Seers
(80 tolás
= 1 seer).
9
7
9
9
8
7
Chattcaks.
4
6
4
2
2
5
POPULATION, CASTES AND EMPLOYMENT.—The three munici-
pal towns of Salsette are Thána, Bándra and Kurla. Their census population,
with that of the rest of the táluka, is given in the following table : —
Name of town or rural circle.
Thána
...
...
...
..
Bándra
...
...
...
...
Kurla
...
...
...
...
Kural Salsette
...
...
...
Total population of táluka ...
Census of 1891.
17,455
18,317
11,469
78,878
126,119
Census of 1901.
15,410
22,075
14,831
94,016
146,332
Census of 1911.
15,591
22,885
15,081
98,895
152,452
The chief occupation of the rural population is the cultivation of rice,
on which not only members of regular agricultural castes but a great many
other people are mainly dependent for their livelihood.. Though there is only
the one crop, and the rice-fields lie fallow for the rest of the year, the various
processes incidental to the cultivation and storage of rice saem to provide the
average cultivator or field labourer with work for the year round. A certain
amount of market-gardening is done, especially in the coast villages, and in
different places timber-felling and carting,, grass-cutting, mango-growing,
toddy-drawing, sea-fishing and salt and lime working provide the different castes
with employment. Though there are a few large mills at Kurla town in the
South of the island there is not the migration for work in the mills of Bombay
that is so marked in the sea-coast tálukas of the neighbouring Kolába District.
In rural Salsette there is little of a Musalman population. Of the
better class Hindus there are a certain number of Brahmins and Parbhus.
Besides those who more or less definitely follow some one occupation, such as
Dhobis, Lohárs, Shimpis (tailors), Mális and Sonars, and those whose occupation
has always been mainly agricultural, such as Maráthas, Pánohkalshis and
Dhodyas, there are castes who have more or less deserted their tribal or
caste occupations to become occupiers of agricultural land or field-labourers,
such as Agris (originally salt-workers), Bhandáris (originally only toddy-drawers)
and Dublis and Varlis (originally forest tribes). The population of some
villages mainly consists of Kolis, the term Koli being applied to several groups
of fishermen and cultivators of mixed descent now classed as Hindus. Mahárs
are met with, mostly in their capacity as out-castes and village servants, but
also sometimes as well-to-do labourers, and even mechanics.
All along the coast, both in the town of Bándra, and in the villages, a
proportion of the population, most unusual for the Bombay Presidency, consists
of Indian Christians. These are the descendants of the early converts of the
Portuguese. In the villages they are nearly always cultivators, but Bándra
town supplies Bombay with a considerable number of its clerks and mechanics.
They are rapidly learning English, and becoming more and more Europe-
anized in their dress. Although their higher standard of living makes them
more resistant to Malaria than many of the classes among which they live,