Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-11
IS A GREAT TRIANGLE.
India 1900 Miles in Length
and the Same in Width.
IMMENSE POPULATION
IT COMPRISES ABOUT oNE-FIFTH
OF THE HUMAN RACE.
Contains 2,14S Cities Having Each
More Than 5000 People and 81
With More Than 1OO,OOO
IMMENSE POPULATION
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

profitable for you to know a little some
| thing about the country we call India, the
| character of it's population and the plan
of government, because it is necessary to
have that knowledge in order to UNDER
stand certain matters about which l intend
to write. What surprises most for a
few days after arrival is his own ignorance
and misrepresentation, and he is compelled
to discard and abandon most of the ideas
he brought with him and begin again upon
new basis to study the situation.
The first impression of India is its vast
ness and it's variety. Few travellers have
even slight conception of either fact until
they are brought face to face with it, and
to a newspaper writer both are so bewilder-
ing that he is perplexed where to begin and
what to talk about first
India is a great triangle, 1900 miles across
its greatest length and equal distance
across it's greatest breadth. 1t extends
from region of perpetual snow in the
Himalayas, almost to the equator. The SUI
perficial area is 1,766,642 square miles and
you can understand better what that means
when l tell you that the United States has
an area of 2.97O.23O square miles, without
counting Alaska or Hawaii. India is about
as large as that portion of the United
States lying east of a line drawn southwark.
along the western boundary of the DakotaS,
Kansas and Texas.
SOp1c cAu
The population of India is 294, 361 ,O56, or
about one-fifth of the human race and it
comprises more than 100 distinct nations
and peoples in every grade of civilization
from absolute savages to the most complete
and complex commercial and social organ
iZations 1t has every variety of climate
from the tropical humidity of the jungles
along-th southern coast to the frigid cold
of the mountains; peaks of ice reefs of
coral. impenetrable forests and bleak, tree
less plains One portion of its territory re-
cords the greatest rainfall of any spot on
earth, another of several hundred thousand
square miles is seldom watered with a drop
OF rain and is entirely dependent for mos-
ture upon the melting SHOWS of the noun
tains. Twelve thousand different kinds of
animals are enumerated in it's fauna $4,000
plants in its flora, and the statistical sur
vey prepared by the government fills 12S
volumes of the size of our census reports
One hundred and eighteen distinct Ian
guages are spoken in various parts of India
and ifty-nine of these languages are spoken
by more than 100000 people each. There
are large number of other languages and
dialects spoken by different tribes and clans
of less than 100000 population, and to reach
them the British Bible Society has publish
ed the whole or parts of the Holy Scrip
lures in forty-two languages, which reach
220,UO,GOO people. but leave 100000 with
out the Holy Word. In order to give the
Bible to the remainder of the population of
| India It would be necessary to prepare 10S
additional -translationS which the society
has not money and no men to perform.
From that little statement some conception
of the variety OF the people may be OBTAIN
ed, because each of the tribes and clans has
its own distinct organization and indvid-
uality, and each is practically separate
nation.
The province of Bengal for example, is
nearly as large as the north Atlantic states
combined. and contains 122.54S square miles.
The province of Rajputana is even larger,
~ lilac
Bengal has population of 74,744,Ss6, al
most great as that of the entire United
States. . Madras has population of 5000
coo, and the central provinces 47,C0OCO0
while several of the 100 different states into
which India is divided have more than
100000
The population is divided according to re-
HgionS as follows:
Hindus 49,. POI 146 422l Mohammedns 60, ASS. 061
Buddhists :. 9,476, $50 Animistic 1860
Skhs ...... 2195,26s Christians. 2S23 "a
jams ..... 1884. 14S Parsis ALSO
Jews ....... 1928
1t will be interesting to know that OF the
Christians enumerated at the last census
2O2 0:59 were Roman Catholics, 4o3,6l2 De
longed to the established Church or Eng
land, 322, $50 were orthodox Greeks, 22o'S so
were Baptists, 155.455 Lutherans, 53,S29
Presbyterians and 157,S4I put themselves
down Professionals without giving the
sect to which they adhere.
The foreign population of India is very
small The British born number only 90
G..,3; .1o4 5S3 were born in Europe, and only
Gal S54 out of nearly 3JO,O00,G3 were born
outside the boundaries of India.
Four WeIl-Defned Regions.
India consists of four separate and we'll
defined regions; the jungles of the coast
and the vast tract of country known as the
Deccan. which make up the southern half
OF the territory; the great plain which
stretches southwark from the Himalayas
forraprlV known
as Hindustan, and a three-sided table land
which lies between in the center of the en-
pire and is drained by thousand rivers,
which carry the water off as fast as it falls
and leave but little to refresh the earth.
This is usually the country of famine, but
the government is pushing the lrrlgatloh
system so rapidly that before many years
the danger from that source will be much
diminished.
The whole of southern India, according
to the biologists, was once covered by a
great forest, and indeed there are still
G6, 305 5G6 acres in trees which are care
fully protected. The black soil of that
region is proverbial for its fertility and
produces cotton, sugar cane, rice ana other
tropical and semi-tropical plants with an
abundance surpassed by no other region
The fruit-bearing palms require a chapter
to themselves, and are source OF surprls-
ing wealth
nous area of SAG, ,964 acres is under
cultivation, which is an average of nearly
two acres per capita of population, and
probably two-thfrds of 1t was actually
cropped. About one-fourth of this area is
under irrigation, and more than 22,oUo,eoo
acres produce two crops year.
AS many as III, T35, coo people are wholly
engaged in agriculture; %, 46S, 600 are more
or less employed upon farms; 3,646,000 are
engaged in raising cattle; 14,516000 in pro-
ducing food and drink; IL 900 are serv-
ants in households; 1891 coo are engaged
in the manufacture of textiles; 1851 900 in
the manufacture of glass, pottery and
stoneware; 32S5,0c0 in manufacturing
leather; 42030OO in the manufacture of
wood cane and mating 5.612, 900 belong to
the learned professions; G64,O00 are in the
military service, either soldiers or In
| other capacities; 100000 employed by
the imperial state and local admnistra-
tons; and the enormous number of 1861
GOO, which is equal to the population of half
our states are in what the census terms
.disreputable' occupations.
Another startling fact is that out of a
total of 40, 400, 1876 women in India only
SAB 495 are able to read and write; and
1877 &C., are under instruction, the great ma
jorty of them in missionary schools. The
total number of illiterates recorded is 246-
&c 4 a n n,