Note.—The Gonds are the most important of the non-Aryan or primitive tribes, and their social customs are described in detail. The Baiga, Bhīl, Kawar, Khond, Kol, Korku and Korwa are other important tribes. The two representative cultivating castes are the Kurmis and Kunbis, and the articles on them include detailed descriptions of Hindu social customs, and some information on villages, houses, dress, food and manner of life. Articles in which subjects of general interest are treated are Darzi (clothes), Sunār (ornaments), Kachera and Lakhera (bangles), Nai (hair), Kalār (veneration of alcoholic liquor), Bania (moneylending and interest), Kasai (worship and sacrifice of domestic animals), Joshi (the Hindu calendar and personal names), Bhāt (suicide), Dahait (significance of the umbrella), and Kanjar (connection of Indian and European gipsies). The articles on Badhak, Sānsia and Thug are compiled from Sir William Sleeman’s reports on these communities of dacoits and murderers, whose suppression he achieved. For further information the Subject Index may be consulted.
Maps and Illustrations
Maps
- [Map of India] Frontispiece
- [Map of the Central Provinces]
- [Map of the Central Provinces, showing principal linguistic or racial divisions] 6
Illustrations
Volume I
- 1. [Hindu temple of the god Siva] 16
- 2. [Hindu sculptures] 26
- 3. [Peasant’s hut] 40
- 4. [Group of religious mendicants] 56
- 5. [Drawing water from the village well] 72
- 6. [Gāyatri or sacred verse personified as a goddess] 108
- 7. [Image of the god Jagannāth, a form of Vishnu] 118
- 8. [The god Rāma, an incarnation of Vishnu, with attendant deities] 144
- 9. [Hindu bathing party] 158
- 10. [Pilgrims carrying Ganges water] 184
- 11. [A meeting of the Arya Samāj for investing boys with the sacred thread] 202
- 12. [Jain temples at Muktagiri, Betul] 220
- 13. [Jain ascetics with cloth before mouth and sweeping-brush] 224
- 14. [Jain gods in attitude of contemplation] 228
- 15. [Jain temple in Seoni] 230
- 16. [Kabīr] 232
- 17. [Beggar on artificial horse at the Muharram festival] 248
- 18. [Carrying the horse-shoe at the Muharram festival] 252
- 19. [Tāzia or tombs of Hussain at the Muharram festival] 256
- 20. [Famous Tāzia at Khandwa] 260
- 21. [Representing a tiger at the Muharram festival] 272
- 22. [Temple of Siva at Bāndakpur, near Damoh] 302
- 23. [Images of Siva and his consort Devi, or Pārvati, with the bull and tiger] 304
- 24. [Devotees, possessed, embracing each other, while supported on tridents, at Siva’s fair at Pachmarhi] 306
- 25. [Image of the prophet Swāmi Nārāyan in the Teli temple at Burhānpur] 326
- 26. [Images of Rāma, Lachman and Sīta, with attendants] 330
- 27. [Image of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, the consort of Vishnu, with attendant] 332
- 28. [Image of the boar incarnation of Vishnu] 334
- 29. [Bahrūpia impersonating the goddess Kāli] 344
- 30. [Dāsari religious mendicant with discus and conch-shell of Vishnu] 406
Volume II
- 31. Aghori mendicant 14
- 32. Ahīrs decorated with cowries for the Stick Dance at Diwāli 18
- 33. Image of Krishna as Murlidhar or the flute-player, with attendant deities 28
- 34. Ahīr dancers in Diwāli costume 32
- 35. Pinjāra cleaning cotton 72
- 36. Baiga village, Bālāghāt District 88
- 37. Hindu mendicants with sect-marks 94
- 38. Anchorite sitting on iron nails 98
- 39. Pilgrims carrying water of the river Nerbudda 100
- 40. Coloured Plate: Examples of Tilaks or sect-marks worn on the forehead 102
- 41. Group of Mārwāri Bania women 112
- 42. Image of the god Ganpati carried in procession 116
- 43. The elephant-headed god Ganpati. His conveyance is a rat, which can be seen as a little blob between his feet 120
- 44. Mud images made and worshipped at the Holi festival 126
- 45. Bania’s shop 128
- 46. Banjāra women with the singh or horn 184
- 47. Group of Banjāra women 188
- 48. Basors making baskets of bamboo 210
- 49. Bhāt with his putla or doll 256
- 50. Group of Bhīls 278
- 51. Tantia Bhīl, a famous dacoit 282
- 52. Group of Bohras at Burhānpur (Nimār) 346
- 53. Brāhman worshipping his household gods 380
- 54. Brāhman bathing party 384
- 55. Brāhman Pujāris or priests 390
- 56. Group of Marātha Brāhman men 392
- 57. Group of Nāramdeo Brāhman women 396
- 58. Group of Nāramdeo Brāhman men 398
- 59. Chamārs tanning and working in leather 416
- 60. Chamārs cutting leather and making shoes 418
- 61. Chhīpa or calico-printer at work 430
- 62. Dhīmar or fisherman’s hut 502
- 63. Fishermen in dug-outs or hollowed tree trunks 506
- 64. Group of Gurujwāle Fakīrs 538