of men of scholarly attainments, and of cultivated understandings, who might be expected to interest themselves in the contemplation of every diversity of intellectual development. It has happened, however, partly from the course of our early education, and partly from longcherished prepossessions, that scholarship with us has rarely deviated from the beaten track of classical study, and has thought little worthy of attention except the literature of Greece and Rome. That the preference is well placed need not be disputed; but preference need not have been exclusiveness. Without in the least depreciating the superior excellence of Latin and Greek, men of studious habits and inquiring minds may be assured that they will find much to reward research, much to gratify taste, much to interest, much to enlighten, in the languages and literature of the East. ART. XII.-An Account of the Religion of the Khonds in Orissa. By CAPTAIN S. CHARTRES MACPHERSON, Madras Army, late Agent for the Suppression of Meriah Sacrifice and Female Infanticide in the Hill Tracts of Orissa. [THE following paper was presented by Captain Macpherson as further illustrating, and in some respects correcting, the notices contained in his paper on the subject printed in the seventh volume of the Journal. The information there given was the result of some years' personal observation among the Khonds, and was of great value and interest; but, from the nature and novelty of our intercourse with that people, it was necessarily imperfect. Captain Macpherson having subsequently returned to the scene of his labours, prosecuted his inquiries over a larger extent of country, and among other portions of the Khond tribes. He thus collected additional important details, which he has now communicated to the Society.] INTRODUCTION. Their Relation to The Khonds-one of the Primitive Races of India. WHEN the people which spread the Brahminical religion and institutions from the valley of the Ganges, extended them, by migration and conquest, over the Indian peninsula, large portions of the primitive population remained unsubdued and unconverted where physical circumstances specially favoured their resistance to force and to the pressure of moral influences; and, accordingly, numerous remnants of them are now seen, scattered widely under the most various aspects, and often under highly interesting relations to the dominant people. The physical conditions most favourable to the preservation of the aboriginal races were combined in high perfection and on a great scale in the portion of the north-eastern quarter of the peninsula nearly comprised between the Vindhya range on the north, the eastern chain of Ghauts, and a line connecting these drawn from the mouth of the Godavery to the centre of the valley of the Nerbudda;—a region composed of lofty and rugged mountains, impenetrable forests, swampy woodlands, and arid wastes, interspersed with extensive tracts of open pestilential, while, for strangers, it is salubrious in the open country alone. In that territory, large remnants of no fewer than five peoples who claim to be children of the soil-the Khonds, the Koles, the Sourals, the Gonds, and the Bheels-have preserved, with various degrees of purity and distinctness, their race, their institutions, their language, and their superstitions. Wholly or in part within it, kingdoms were established by the Ooriya, the Telugu, the Mahratta, and the Rajpoot divisions of the Brahminical people; and between the ancient races and each of those kingdoms, strikingly contrasted in their genius and institutions, connexions have sprung up, the most diversified in their origins and their forms, but having one common tendency towards the suppression and obliteration of the ancient and ruder by the more civilized people-worked out, consciously and unconsciously, through the gradual assimilation of manners, through proselytism to the Hindu or the Mahomedan faith, and through the fusion of races, notwithstanding every barrier of caste and custom. Of these Hindu kingdoms, the ancient state of Orissa was formed chiefly from the territories of three of the primitive peoples, the Khonds, the Koles, and the Sourahs. In the ninth century, when the dominion of Orissa was at its height, its great social features bore the same general relation to its geographical divisions which they now present; and I conceive that, by briefly indicating those features and that relation, I may best exhibit the main facts of the position in which the remnants of the primitive races, and of the Khond race in particular, have stood towards the conquering people. The Orissan form of polity may be broadly defined to have been a despotic monarchy, limited by a military aristocracy, while theocratic influences predominated. The sovereigns of its historical dynasties, from A.D. 473 to A.D. 1558, are celebrated for magnificence in their courts, and their public works; as successful in their wars of aggression; as liberal promoters of learning and the arts; and superstitiously devoted to the interests of their faith; while their power was amongst the last in the peninsula which was overthrown by the Mahomedans. The body of territorial nobles were highly elevated in respect of rank, power, and possessions. They all bore the title of Rajah. They held, generally in virtual independence, estates of great extent, yielding large revenues. From their exclusive relations with the unsubdued portions of the primitive races, enabling them to command their wild valour, they derived considerable power. And they mainly wielded the great distinctive institution of Orissa-its Paiks, or hereditary landed militia, an army numbering from a hundred and fifty ART. XII.—An Account of the Religion of the Khonds in Orissa. By CAPTAIN S. CHARTRES MACPHERSON, Madras Army, late Agent for the Suppression of Meriah Sacrifice and Female Infanticide in the Hill Tracts of Orissa. [THE following paper was presented by Captain Macpherson as further illustrating, and in some respects correcting, the notices contained in his paper on the subject printed in the seventh volume of the Journal. The information there given was the result of some years' personal observation among the Khonds, and was of great value and interest; but, from the nature and novelty of our intercourse with that people, it was necessarily imperfect. Captain Macpherson having subsequently returned to the scene of his labours, prosecuted his inquiries over a larger extent of country, and among other portions of the Khond tribes. He thus collected additional important details, which he has now communicated to the Society.] INTRODUCTION. Their Relation to The Khonds-one of the Primitive Races of India. WHEN the people which spread the Brahminical religion and institutions from the valley of the Ganges, extended them, by migration and conquest, over the Indian peninsula, large portions of the primitive population remained unsubdued and unconverted where physical circumstances specially favoured their resistance to force and to the pressure of moral influences; and, accordingly, numerous remnants of them are now seen, scattered widely under the most various aspects, and often under highly interesting relations to the dominant people. The physical conditions most favourable to the preservation of the aboriginal races were combined in high perfection and on a great scale in the portion of the north-eastern quarter of the peninsula nearly comprised between the Vindhya range on the north, the eastern chain of Ghauts, and a line connecting these drawn from the mouth of the Godavery to the centre of the valley of the Nerbudda;—a region composed of lofty and rugged mountains, impenetrable forests, swampy woodlands, and arid wastes, interspersed with extensive tracts of open pestilential, while, for strangers, it is salubrious in the open country alone. In that territory, large remnants of no fewer than five peoples who claim to be children of the soil-the Khonds, the Koles, the Sourahs, the Gonds, and the Bheels-have preserved, with various degrees of purity and distinctness, their race, their institutions, their language, and their superstitions. Wholly or in part within it, kingdoms were established by the Ooriya, the Telugu, the Mahratta, and the Rajpoot divisions of the Brahminical people; and between the ancient races and each of those kingdoms, strikingly contrasted in their genius and institutions, connexions have sprung up, the most diversified in their origins and their forms, but having one common tendency towards the suppression and obliteration of the ancient and ruder by the more civilized people-worked out, consciously and unconsciously, through the gradual assimilation of manners, through proselytism to the Hindu or the Mahomedan faith, and through the fusion of races, notwithstanding every barrier of caste and custom. Of these Hindu kingdoms, the ancient state of Orissa was formed chiefly from the territories of three of the primitive peoples, the Khonds, the Koles, and the Sourahs. In the ninth century, when the dominion of Orissa was at its height, its great social features bore the same general relation to its geographical divisions which they now present; and I conceive that, by briefly indicating those features and that relation, I may best exhibit the main facts of the position in which the remnants of the primitive races, and of the Khond race in particular, have stood towards the conquering people. The Orissan form of polity may be broadly defined to have been a despotic monarchy, limited by a military aristocracy, while theocratic influences predominated. The sovereigns of its historical dynasties, from A.D. 473 to A.D. 1558, are celebrated for magnificence in their courts, and their public works; as successful in their wars of aggression; as liberal promoters of learning and the arts; and superstitiously devoted to the interests of their faith; while their power was amongst the last in the peninsula which was overthrown by the Mahomedans. The body of territorial nobles were highly elevated in respect of rank, power, and possessions. They all bore the title of Rajah. They held, generally in virtual independence, estates of great extent, yielding large revenues. From their exclusive relations with the unsubdued portions of the primitive races, enabling them to command their wild valour, they derived considerable power. And they mainly wielded the great distinctive institution of Orissa-its Paiks, or hereditary landed militia, an army numbering from a hundred and fifty |