The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India
By
R.V. Russell
Of the Indian Civil Service Superintendent of Ethnography, Central Provinces
Assisted by
Rai Bahadur Hira Lāl
Extra Assistant Commissioner
Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration
In Four Volumes
Vol. I.
Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin’s Street, London.
1916
Political Divisions of the Indian Empire
Scale = 1 : 17,500,000
Central Provinces and Berar
Scale = 1 : 4,000,000 or 63.1 Miles to an Inch
Main Linguistic or Ethnical Divisions of the Central Provinces with the Sambalpur District and Certain States now in Biharand Orissa
Scale = 1 : 4,000,000 or 63.1 Miles to an Inch
HINDI-speaking Districts.—The western tract includes the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur, Hoshangabad, Nimar and BetulDistricts which lie principally in the Nerbudda Valley or on the Vindhyan Hills north-west of the Valley. In most of thisarea the language is the Bundeli dialect of Western Hindi, and in Nimar and Betul a form of the Rajputana dialects. The easterntract includes the Raipur, Bilaspur and Drug Districts and adjacent Feudatory States. This country is known as Chhattisgarh,and the language is the Chhattisgarhi dialect of Eastern Hindi.
MARATHI.—Amraoti, Akola, Buldana and Yeotmal Districts of Berar, and Nagpur, Bhandara, Wardha and Chanda Districts of theNagpur Plain.
TELUGU.—Sironcha tahsil of Chanda District. Telugu is also spoken to some extent in the adjacent tracts of Chanda and BastarStates.
TRIBAL or Non-Aryan dialects.—Mandla, Seoni, Chhindwara, and part of Balaghat Districts on the Satpura Range in the centre.Sarguja, Jashpur, Udaipur, Korea, and Chang Bhakar States on the Chota Nagpur plateau to the north-east. B