of abolishing the last political prerogatives of the Company and the new Government which was organized resembled in almost every respect the system now in force. Together with this reorganization, tax reform and financial reform, as well as the revision of the Indian Penal Code and the opening of the East Indian railway marked the opening of a distinct era in Indian progress. Political Divisions of India under British Rule.—At the present time India may be divided politically into two great territories, the fifteen provinces under British rule and the 900, more or less, native states under the titular rule of native princes. Of the provinces, Madras with 1,142,330 square miles and 41,405,404 population is the largest in point of area and the third largest in population, followed by Burma with 230,839 square miles and 12,115,217 inhabitants; Bombay with 123,059 square miles and 19,672,642 population; the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh with 107,267 square miles and 47,182,044 people, the most thickly populated of all provinces; the central provinces and Berar with 99,823 square miles and 13,916,308 people; Punjab with 99,779 square miles and 19,974,956 population; Bihar and Orissa with 83,181 square miles and 34,490,084 inhabitants; Bengal with only 78,699 square miles but 45,483,077, or the second largest population; Baluchistan with 54,228 square miles but only 414,412 people; Assam with 53,015 square miles and 6,713,635 people; the Northwest Province with 13,418 square miles and 7,196,933 people; Andamans and Nicobais with 3,143 square miles and 26,459 people; Ajmer-Merwara with 2,711 square miles and 501,395 people; and Coorg with 1,582 square miles and 174,976 inhabitants. This shows a total area of 1,093,074 square miles and a total population of 244,267,542 in India directly under British rule. The British Indian Government.-The Secretary of State for India in the British Cabinet is at the head of a council in London in general charge of Indian affairs. In India the authority of the Emperor, as the King of England is called, is delegated to a Viceroy, or Governor-General, assisted by a Council, who has supreme control over the Indian Government. Under him are Departments of Finance, Commerce, Home and Foreign Affairs, Revenue and Agriculture, Army Regulation, Education and Public Works, and the headquarters of the Government are at Delhi in winter and Simla, in the Himalaya foothills, in summer. The Department of Commercial Intelligence which is maintained at Calcutta, furnishes useful information on business matters. The Government has control of the customs, post offices, telegraphs, and the financial system of the Empire, owns some of the principal railroads, and regulates others. The administrative details, such as the assessment and collection of revenue, local public works, etc., are left to the provincial governments, which are divided into districts governed by Collectors and Chief Magistrates with administrative and judicial powers. Aden, in Arabia, is under the administration of the Bombay Presidency. Political Divisions of Native States.-The native states consist of the groups forming the Rajputana agency, with 128,987 square miles and 10,530,432 population; Kashmir State, 84,432 square miles and 3,158,126 population; Hyderahad State, 82,698 square miles and 13,374,676 population; Baluchistan States, 80,410 square miles and 396,432 population; the Central India Agency, 77,367 square miles and 9,356,980 population; Bombay States, 63,864 square miles and 7,411,675 population; Punjab States, 36,551 square miles and 4,212,794 population; the Central Provinces States, 31,174 square miles and 2,117,002 population; Mysore State, 29,475 square miles and 5,806,193 population; Bihar and Orissa States, 28,648 square miles and 3,945,209 population; the Northwest Province Agencies, 25,500 square miles and 1,622,094 population; Madras States, 10,084 square miles and 4,811,841 population; Assam State (Manipur), 8,456 square miles and 346,222 population; Baroda State, 8,182 square miles and 2,032,798 population; Bengal States, 5,393 square miles and 822,565 population; the United Provinces States, 5,079 square miles and 832,036 population; and Sikkim, 2,818 square miles and 87,920 population. This shows a total of 709,118 square miles and 70,864,995 population in the native states. These states are autonomous in their government, the British Government exercising a supervisory control through political officers, or "Residents," who reside at the seat of government of each. The native states are not allowed diplomatic relations with foreign countries except through the British Government, although many of them have their own customs houses and collect duties on imported goods in addition to those collected by the Government of India at the seaports. Some have post office systems for internal mail service only, although the Government of India post office must be used for correspondence with other parts of India and abroad. Currency for local circulation is also made in some of the native mints but the Indian rupees circulating throughout India are used even in these States. The rulers of all the larger states except the Nizam of Hyderabad are known as Maharajas, and in the smaller Hindu states as rajas, while in the smaller Mohammedan states they are known as nabobs. Ceylon is a crown colony, with an entirely separate administration from India, with a distinct system of customs, posts, and telegraphs. The French colony of Pondichery on the southeast coast and several small French settlements farther up the coast constitute all that remains in India of French power and influence. The Portuguese still retain the colony of Goa on the southwest coast. QUESTIONS 1. Describe the first attempts at Indian trade by the Portuguese. 2. What were the causes of the decline of Portuguese commercial power? 3. (a) What led the English to seek direct trade with India? (b) What privileges were granted the first East India Company? 4. Who were the "separate traders" and how did their charter differ from that of the East India Company? 5. (a) What caused the coalition of the Old Company and the "separate traders"? (b) Name four of the posts transferred to the New Company. 6. What led to the regulation of the Company by Parliament? 7. Discuss five important regulations imposed upon the Company. 8. Why did the Company agree to engage in trade on behalf of individuals? 9. Name five important provinces of modern India and describe their government. 10. Name five native states and discuss the limitations placed upon their government. CHAPTER XV AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRIES OF BRITISH INDIA The economic structure of Indian village life explains India's reputation among financiers as a "sink for silver.", Mutual exchange of services, rather than the use of money as a medium of exchange, has been the rule, and the villagers, with no practical use for gold and silver coins when acquired, have hoarded them or melted them into ornaments. This, however, is only one of the many characteristic customs of Indian life which have so vitally affected their industrial progress in the past. The utter lack of desire for better living conditions both among agriculturists and artisans led them to no competitive enterprise and no improvement in method.) But the village is being transformed from a self-contained economic unit by the introduction of cheaper imported goods, which not only have changed the nature of the industries, but the whole character of the village itself. The gravitation of the laborer formerly employed in the rural industries or fields toward the large industrial centers and more profitable plantation work at home and abroad have developed a landless class of transient rural labor, which is an economic danger, especially in those provinces liable to periodic famines. The increased demand for more and better food, which the higher returns from this transient employment afford, has exceeded the production, curtailed by shortage of rural labor, and a rise in food prices has resulted. The present problems in India, therefore, almost exactly parallel the problems in the United States, with the exception that in India the population is triple ours and the area one-half, |