Things indian: Being Discursive Notes On Various Subjects Connected With India

- This book discusses at length, the history, religion, literature, geography, geology, or natural history of the Empire, subjects which cannot be dealt with in a satisfactory way within the limits of short articles. It has been my object to search in the by-ways of Anglo-Indian literature, and discuss some of the quaint and curious matters connected with the country which are not specially considered in the ordinary books of reference.India forms a continent rather than a country. The Panjabi, for instance, differs as much in physique, character, language, and traditions from the Madrasi, as the Scotchman from the Neapolitan. Hence, when a writer attempts to deal with subjects which concern the Empire as a whole, the difficulty of the task becomes apparent. A statement which may be true as regards Northern India may in no sense apply to the land or races of the South. For matters, therefore, which lie beyond my own experience, confined as it was to the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, I have been obliged to rely on the best available authorities. A bibliography of this literature will be found prefixed to the new edition of " Hobson-Jobson."