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JUXE, 1875.]
BOOK NOTICES.
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of Bundelkhand is populated almost exclusively by Hindås, their historian is evidently a complete stranger to Hindu legends and literature at first hand, and is in the habit of consulting only either Muhammadan or pseudo-Muhammadan authorities, who are for the most part both prejudiced and ignorant. It is the necessary result of Mr. Atkinson's official good fortuno that he has never had much opportunity for mixing with a rural population or acquiring a knowledge of popu. lar speech; but, except as regards the accumulation of statistics, his position at head-quarters has decidedly interfered with the completeness of his topographical researches. Thus under no other circumstances would it be possible to explain the fact of a civilian of 10 years' standing inditing such a sentence as the following :-"In 1872 the number of Baniyas in the Lalatpur district were, Jainis 6,556, Saraugis 322, and Maheśris 26;" a form of expression which would be exactly paralleled by a statement that in some part of India the fol- lowers of the Prophet numbered 500, of whom 200 were Muhammadans and the remainder Musal- måns, Jainis and Saraugis being terms of identical import. The mistake must have arisen from the fact that the returns were supplied by different native officials, one of whom used the word Jaini,
Is one of whom used the word Jaini. the other the word Saraugi; but it is none the less surprising that Mr. Atkinson was unable, or neglected, to reconcile the discrepancy. The lists of castes appended to the descriptions of the different towns in the second half of the volume supply other illustrations of a similar shortcoming. Thus, no mechanic is more necessary to an agricultural community than a carpenter, and one or two persons plying that useful trade will be found in almost every village. Ordinarily Mr. Atkinson gives their number under the familiar name Barhai,' by which as a matter of fact they are universally designated throughout the whole of Upper India. Munshis, however, in official docu- ments often prefer to style them Darodgars;' and whenever they have done so he has followed their lead. He can scarcely bave been ignorant of the usage; but in a book of statistics the retention of a double name is a defect which he should have been more careful to avoid. Similarly,
Sweepers' in some of the lists appear as 'Bhan. gis;' in others as Khâk-robs:' and, speaking generally, the office clerk-who in most cases would be a foreigner-has been too hastily accepted as the mouthpiece of the people. Thus it cannot for a moment be supposed that a Bundelkhandi knows the inner room of his dwellinghouse by the Perso-Arabic name hujra andavuni, which is quoted by Mr. Atkinson. The Tahsildar in his Urdu return used the word, no
doubt; but that is a matter of no interest to the reador, who is not taking a lesson in polite phraseology, but rather wants information about the genuine Bundelkhandi patois. In the same way, it is of no consequence to learn that the Tahsildar of one part of the district uses the word majnún for insane persons, while another prefers the term pagal; or that one in his census tables brings
idiots' under the heading kam-samajh, and lepers' under that of korhi, while another calls the first class of unfortunates fatir ul-all, and the second jazdm. And why, when the number of blind, or deaf and dumb people is noted, Mr. Atkinson should have thought it worth while invariably to add that in the vernacular they were styled andhe, and bahiro aur gunge, is quite beyond our competency to explain; as the book does not profess to be an elementary vocabulary of Hindustâni.
A list of words supposed to be peculiar to Bundelkhand is given in the first part of the volume; but it has not been very carefully compiled; many of the forms quoted as exceptional are common throughout the whole of Upper India; while those given in the comparison column as the rule are many of them comparatively rare. This is one indication of the writer's imperfect knowledge of colloquial usage, which is amazingly illustrated by his remarks on the dhi mars, who (he says) "correspond and probably belong to the ka hår caste elsewhere, but the word is perhaps peculiar, probably being a corruption of the Sanskrit dhivara, a fisherman", -the fact being that the word is in daily use everywhere. It is also a defect that in the list of Fairs, the only two of which lengthy descriptions are given are the Muharam and the Râm Lila. These are celebrated in every part of India, and might have been passed over with a bare mention of their name and date. Of the festivals peculiar to the district, and of which, therefore, some explanation would have been acceptable, the account given is most meagre, leaving it doubtful whether some--as for instance that of Mahâbir—are Hindu or Jaini solemnities.
In the Preface it is stated that "the present volume is practically the first published in these Provinces in which an attempt ab accuracy in transliteration has been made. The errors of the press are consequently very numerous." To this remark we think the Superintendent of the Press may very reasonably demur: for though he has not succeeded in producing a volume of very attractive exterior, and it certainly is by no means free from errors in spelling, these latter, so far as we can judge, are not due to carelessness in correcting the proofs, but rather to that fundamental defect on the part of the writer of which
