the Nagpur plain fell to the
Marathas, and one of the most important Maratha States, the Bhonsla
kingdom, had its capital at Nagpur. Cultivators from western India
came and settled on the land, and the existing population are of
the same castes as the Maratha country or Bombay. But prior to the
Maratha conquest Berar and the Nimar District of the Central Provinces
had been included in the Mughal empire, and traces of Mughal rule
remain in a substantial Muhammadan element in the population. To
the south the Chanda District runs down to the Godavari river, and
the southern tracts of Chanda and Bastar State are largely occupied
by Telugu immigrants from Madras. To the east of the Nagpur plain
the large landlocked area of Chhattisgarh in the upper basin of the
Mahanadi was colonised at an early period by Hindus from the east of
the United Provinces and Oudh, probably coming through Jubbulpore. A
dynasty of the Haihaivansi Rajput clan established itself at Ratanpur,
and owing to the inaccessible nature of the country, protected as
it is on all sides by a natural rampart of hill and forest, was able
to pursue a tranquil existence untroubled by the wars and political
vicissitudes of northern India. The population of Chhattisgarh thus
constitutes to some extent a distinct social organism, which retained
until quite recently many remnants of primitive custom. The middle
basin of the Mahanadi to the east of Chhattisgarh, comprising the
Sambalpur District and adjoining States, was peopled by Uriyas from
Orissa, and though this area has now been restored to its parent
province, notices of its principal castes have been included in
these volumes. Finally, the population contains a large element of
the primitive or non-Aryan tribes, rich in variety, who have retired
before the pressure of Hindu cultivators to its extensive hills and
forests. The people of the Central Provinces may therefore not unjustly
be considered as a microcosm of a great part of India, and conclusions
drawn from a consideration of their caste rules and status may claim
with considerable probability of success to be applicable to those of
the Hindus generally. For the same reason the standard ethnological
works of other Provinces necessarily rank as the best authorities on
the castes of the Central Provinces, and this fact may explain and
excuse the copious resort which has been made to them in these volumes.

3. The word 'Caste.'

The word 'Caste,' Dr. W