No. XXIII.—The Coles, the Bheels, the Gonds, the Khonds, &c.—[Vol. i. p. 236.]

AN EXTRACT FROM “THE TIMES,” NOV. 23, 1847.

“Our readers are aware that the Hindoos are not the aboriginal inhabitants of India. Arriving from the north-west, they first occupied that moiety of the peninsula to the north of the Nerbudda called emphatically Hindostan, and subsequently crossed that river into the Deccan, or ‘south’ portion of the country, where they dispossessed the natives as before. There are reasons for concluding that this expulsion of the early inhabitants by the Brahminical Hindoos was characterized by great ferocity on the part of the invaders. The inferior tribes, however, were by no means exterminated. Under the various denominations of Bheels, Coles, Gonds, Khonds, &c., they still exist in the peninsula, to the number, it is computed, of at the least two or three millions. Whether they are branches of the same family or not appears hardly ascertained, but they all possess features in common, and are altogether distinct, not only from the Hindoo, but also from the Thibetan varieties of native tribes near the Himalayan range. They are small, dark, and active, with a peculiarly quick and restless eye, highly barbarous, and owning only a few importations of Hindoo superstitions or civilization. They have little clothing, few arms but bows and arrows, and no ordinary food beyond berries or game. They have no repugnance to killing or eating oxen, and bury their dead instead of burning them. Their religious rites involve much greater barbarism than the Brahminical precepts; indeed, it is alleged by the advocates of Hindoo excellence that the most objectionable practices attributed to the disciples of Brahma have either been imported from these tribes at a late period, or erroneously related by writers who confused the identity of the nations. This is said to have been particularly the case with human sacrifices, which had no place in the original code of the Vedas, while they were so inveterately established among these older tribes, that the disturbances of the present day have actually originated in the defence of the rite. The main retreat of these people from the persecution of the invaders was in the hills, which, under the names of the Vindhya and Santpoora ranges, rise on each bank of the Nerbudda, and form the barrier between the Deccan and Hindostan. At the eastern extremity these hills expand into a lofty mountain rampart on the confines of Orissa and Berar, forming, with the contiguous districts, the most barbarous and unreclaimed portion of the whole peninsula. Much of it, in fact, is unexplored to this day, as may be seen by a glance, in any map, along the western frontier of Orissa. Such are the actors, and such the scene of the present disturbances. A few words more will explain their origin and character.

“The eastern coast of India between the Delta of the Ganges and the mouths of the Kistna came into our possession by successive instalments. In 1765 the sagacity of Lord Clive demanded, and his power obtained, the cession of that maritime province known by the name of the Northern Circars, previously attached to the Government of the Deccan, but readily and cheaply yielded by the emperor to the request of the victorious general. This carried the Madras presidency along the coast nearly up to the confines of Bengal; the sole interruptions to a continuity of English territory being the Southern Sircar of Guntoor at the lower end, still depending on the Deccan, and the province of Cuttack at the upper, claimed by the Mahratta Prince of Berar. The former, after considerable turmoil on both sides, was surrendered by Nizam Ali in 1788, and the latter by Bhonslay at the end of the first great Mahratta war of 1803. The contiguous districts, forming part of the ceded territories, were restored by the policy of Sir G. Barlow, and did not finally return to us till the conclusion of the war of 1818, when the inveterate hostility of Apa Saheb was punished by the demand of these peculiar territories on the Nerbudda, solely valuable as opening a communication between Bengal and Bombay. We found the eastern country in the hands of petty Rajahs of ancient standing, and some consideration amongst their subjects, though they were not of the aboriginal race, but individual families (apparently Rajpoots) of the invading nation who had contrived to establish themselves in hereditary power amongst the savages. As long as we were content to allow these people their ancient licence, to accept a small uncertain subsidy by way of rent, and leave them to their own privileges and habits, things went well enough; but as soon as the more scrupulous civilization of later times introduced or attempted reforms, disturbances at once ensued. A settlement of a fixed, though not extortionate, rent was imposed upon the Rajahs, and when this fell seriously in arrear they were dispossessed. Police were introduced in some of the villages, and civil courts established. The consequences were speedily visible. In 1816 the Goomsoor people rose in arms to demand an ejected Rajah; and though a force of 3000 men in the country repressed these outbreaks, yet they could not be prevented from aiding a similar insurrection in Cuttack immediately afterwards, nor was peace entirely restored for three long years, and then only after some conciliatory abolitions of the obnoxious institutions.

“In the present case the rebellion (in Goomsoor) is based on our interference with their Meriah sacrifices, in observance of which rite they store, fatten, butcher, and dissect some hundreds of children annually, distributing the fragments, as a propitiatory offer to the local Ceres, over the surface of their fields, and the old cry for their indulgent Rajahs is again raised. The Khonds—the precise tribe who gave us so much trouble in 1816—are again the chief insurgents, though common cause is eagerly made by all their neighbours. Their method of fighting is to lurk in their tangled thickets and shoot their arrows from the ambuscade. Recently, too, they exchanged a herd of bullocks which they captured, for some fire-arms, and they are said now to possess some 700 or 800 matchlocks. This, of course, does not make them less noxious, but their offensive warfare forms but a small part of the dangers of the campaign. The tracts about which they roam are, beyond all comparison, the most pestilential in India. The air of Shikarpoor is bracing and salubrious compared with the atmosphere of these territories. The malaria of their jungles is almost certain death, and a bivouac in the bush will cause far more havoc in an invading force than a battery of cannon. In addition to this, beasts of prey swarm in every cave and forest, numerous and ravenous enough to give a clean account of all stragglers. The ordinary briefness of an Indian campaign is here so far circumscribed, that there are very few weeks in the year when an inroad would even be attempted, and at this moment not 200 men of the regiment employed there are fit for duty.

“The Khonds are in nowise disaffected to us, nationally. On the contrary, when Sir G. Barlow surrendered their country again to Berao, against our compact and their entreaties, he was forced in decency to offer a home in Cuttack to those who chose still to live under English rule, and the struggle between the latter wish and the reluctance to quit their birthplaces produced some very tragical scenes. Towards the west, too, the Bheels are enrolled in local corps in the Company’s service, and conduct themselves with very great credit. The only rebellion is that of a hardy, barbarous, and inaccessible race, against masters whose supremacy they gladly own, but whose civilization they are averse to borrowing.”

No. XXIV.—Bengal coins.—[Vol. i. p. 273.]

4kaurīs=1 gunda.
20gundas=1 pun.
4puns=1 ānā.
4ānās=1 kāhan, 1280 kaurīs, or about one quarter of a rupī.

Kaurīs, small white glossy shells, are made use of for small payments in the bazār. They rise and fall according to the demand there is for them, and the quantity in the market.