Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.2

c48.s6.2

It is convenient to treat of these tribes according to the tracts which they inhabit. The most important of these, in both extent and ethnographical interest, is what has been called in this work, the Central Belt. It comprises the great plateau of Cūtiā Nāgpur, with an extension to the north across the Santāl Parganās to the Ganges at Rājmahāl. Southwards, it follows the ranges which separate Orissa from the eastern parts of the Central Provinces, skirting the plain of Chattīsgaṛh, and continuing south as far as the lower Godāvari. Westwards from Cūtiā Nagpur, the hill country passes along the south of Shāhabād and Mirzāpur, along the Kaimūr range and the Vindhya, to Mēvār and the Aravalli. Almost parallel, to the south of the Narbadā, are the Māhādev and Sātpura ranges of Bērār and Khandēsh, ending in the forests of east Gujarāt. Contiguous to this western abutment of the Belt, is the line of the Sahyādri, or Western Ghāṭs, which, about as far as the little State of Bhōr, is inhabited by a few small tribes of the same character as those further east, and probably allied to them in race. Then there occurs a gap in the series, as the south Dekkan is cultivated almost up to the edge of the Ghāṭs; and the next locality in which the more primitive tribes are found is the Nilgiri, with their detached continuation separating Travancore from the east coast. The above tracts are the present homes of the remains of the Kōl and Dravidian tribes. The hill communities of Mongoloidic race are found chiefly in the ranges separating Assam from Upper Burma, and in the dorsal range of Assam itself, made up of the Gāro, Khāsia, Jaintyā, Nāgā and Mikir hills, between the Brahmaputra valley and the Deltaic plain. The remaining group inhabit the Himālayan southern ranges, and, being chiefly resident in Nepāl and Bhutān, countries beyond the census limits, come but slightly within the scope of this review.