CARNATIC, a large province of Hindustan, so denominated by the Europeans. It extends along the eastern coast of Hindustan about 500 miles in length, and is from 50 to 100 miles in breadth. It is bounded on the north by the Guntoor circar, the limit being the small river Gundezama, which falls into the sea at Montapilly, and thence it stretches southward to Cape Comorin. In this country is comprehended what lately formed the dominions of the nabob of Arcot. It is divided into the Southern, Central, and Northern Carnatic. The region south of the river Coleroon, which passes the town of Trichinopoly, is called the Southern Carnatic. The principal towns of this division are Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura, Tranquebar, Negapatam, and Tineyelly. The Central Carnatic extends from the Coleroon river on the south to the river Pennar on the north; its chief towns are Madras, Pondicherry, Arcot, Vellore, Cuddalore, Pullicat, Nelloor, &c. The Northern Carnatic extends from the river Pennar to the northern limit of the country, and the chief towns are Ongole, Carwaree, and Samgaum. The soil is various; in a great part of the country it is deep and rich, whilst in other tracts it is sandy, and, water being scarce, unproductive. This defect is, however, supplied by artificial means; and in such parts as are at too great a distance to have water conveyed to them, tanks are formed, some of them of great extent, and formed by inclosing the waters deposited in low situations with a strong mound of earth; while others are of a smaller size, and of a quadrangular form, lined with stone, and with a flight of steps descending to the bottom. In these reservoirs are collected the periodical rains, which are afterwards distributed over the rice fields, and are also used for the supply of the cattle in the dry season. The climate, except on the sea-coast, where there arc sea and land breezes, is liable to excessive heats, the thermometer standing in the coolest and shadiest parts at 115 degrees. Occasional showers fall in May, June, and July, and sometimes heavy rains which last for three or four days, but refresh the air, and prepare the ground for cultivation. The principal rivers are the Pennar, the Patar, and the Vaggaroo, which all rise in the high lands among the Ghauts, and take an easterly course to the Bay of Bengal. The vegetable productions are numerous, and similar to those found in most other parts of Hindustan. Famines and scarcities, owing to drought, are much more frequent in the Carnatic than in the Bengal provinces. This country has been from the earliest times the scene of violence and strife between the numerous polygars or chieftains and petty potentates, among whom it was formerly divided; and forts and fortresses accordingly crown almost all the elevated points. They are built of a square form, and, from the long period of internal tranquillity which the country has enjoyed, they are rapidly falling into decay. Large temples and other public monuments of civilization abound in [7:6:148]the Carnatic. The temples are commonly built in the middle of a square area, and inclosed by a wall fifteen or twenty feet high, which conceals them from the public view, as they are never raised above it. Throughout this province the lower classes use an ass of a small breed as a beast of burden. The higher classes would disdain the use of so impure an animal. Every man has also a cow, by which, being trained to act as a stalking horse, he approaches game, and attacks it with arrows.

The population may be estimated at about 5,000,000, and consists chiefly of Hindus of the Brahminical persuasion, the Mahommedans being but thinly scattered over the country. There are about 20,000 native Christians of the Roman Catholic sect; and there are other Christians of all descriptions, who are estimated at about double that number. The Brahmins rent a great proportion of the land in the country; they also fill different offices in the collection of the revenue and the administration of justice. Their farms are chiefly cultivated by slaves. Throughout the country they appropriate to themselves a particular quarter in every town, generally the strongest part of it. The Southern Carnatic, when it came into the possession of the British, was occupied by military chieftains called polygars, who ruled over the country, and held lands by doubtful tenures, as they were interpreted by the Company’s servants. They were unquestionably a disorderly race; and the country, by their incessant feuds and plunderings, was one continued scene of strife and violence. They were transferred to the dominions of the British in the year 1732, in virtue of a treaty concluded by Lord Cornwallis with the nabob of Arcot. But the conditions of that treaty were variously understood; and it was found necessary, for the peace of the country, to reduce these refractory polygars to obedience. In 1801 an insurrection took place, which was crushed by a military force; after which their forts and military establishments were abolished, the country was searched for arms, and all that were found were seized. Severe examples were also made of some of the polygars, who were deprived oftheir estates, and in some instances put to death. The country has thus been reduced to tranquillity and obedience.

Trade and manufactures are carried on to a considerable extent. Piece goods, consisting mostly of blue cloths, coarse chintzes, and the like; also rum, indigo, grain, and other commodities, are exported to Madras. The blue cloths are re-exported, as well as the other goods, to eastern markets. The imports are very inconsiderable.

The Carnatic was first invaded by the Mahommedans in A. D. 1310, when they defeated the Hindu sovereign, and conquered the country. After this period it was liable to an occasional tribute, first to the Deccany sovereign, and subsequently to the Mogul emperors; and early in the eighteenth century it was overrun by the armies of Aurungzebe. It was dismembered from the Mogul empire in 1717, when Nizamul Mulk obtained possession of the Deccan and the south of India. In 1743 he appointed Anwar ud Deen nabob of the Carnatic and Arcot; in 1754 a competition for the government arose; and after a long and tedious war, in which the English and the French took different sides, Mahommed Ali was left in possession of that portion of the Carnatic which was the fruit of the successes achieved by the British. The Carnatic was laid completely waste in its central parts by Hyder Ali, but was again re-conquered by the British in 1783. In 1801 all the possessions of the nabob of Arcot situated in the Carnatic were transferred by treaty to the British, the conditions of which were, that a clear revenue should be reserved to the nabob of two or three lacks of pagodas annually; and that the British should undertake to support a sufficient civil and military force for the pro tection of the country and the collection of the revenue· A liberal establishment was also provided for the other branches of the family of Mahommed Ali Khan. After* this the country was taken possession of by the British collectors of revenue. It was subdivided into districts; and an assessment was imposed, which has been since collected with little difficulty. (Fifth Report of the Select Committee on India Affairs — Appendix, Reports of Colonel Munro, Memoir of Mr Hodgson, of Mr Thackeray, Revenue Consultations, &c. &c.; Buchanan’s Travels in Mysore.) (f.)