addition, the area of the country includes about 100,000 square miles. On the South it has for it boundaries the province of Cutch and the Ocean. On the East it has Rajwara, or the country of the Rajpoots, as also the Daood pootras. On the North it has the Punjab and Cutch Gundava. On the West lies Beloochistan, from which it is separated by the lofty mountains of Hala. The great feature of Sinde is the Indus. It traverses the country diagonally in one trunk to the Latitude of 25° 30 when it begins to throw of branches. Its Delta. however, commences below Tatta in the latitude of 21° 40, after which it enters the sea by eleven mouths, and presents a face of 125 British miles to the ocean. The sources of this great river are hidden. It is certain that it rises in the mountains of Himalaya near Thibet. It is probable that the Shyook from Karakorum and the river of Ladak, from near Lake Munsurour, are its principal feeders. From Cashmeer the Indus is separated by a snowy range. It then receives the Abba Seen and passes on to Attok, where it is joined by the Lundye, or river of Cabool. One of the sources of this tributary descends from Pamere, and is nearly as remote as the principal branch. From Attok to the sea, the Indus is Attok," familiarly known by the name of "Sinde," or " Mehran is a name known to foreigners. Attok signifies" forbidden," and it is said to be so called, because the Hindoos are forbidden to cross it. Below the Punjab rivers, it takes the name of "Sira" down to Sehwun, and from thence to the sea that of Lar." These are two Belooche words for north and south. The local names for different parts of the Indus are various. Those of the branches in the Delta shall be afterwards enumerated. the word, Sinde cannot be considered rich: possessing a The history of Sinde is clearer than most Asiatic Chro- was made subject to the ephemeral it preserved till the try inhabited by Hindoos, and ruled by Brahmins. It rise of Islam, when, after various struggles, it became Mahomedan. In the first century of the Hijra, or the 7th of the Christian era, the caliphs overturned the Brahminical dynasty, and ruled by deputies from Bagdad. Duhrbin Chuch was the name of the deposed Raja, and Alore, the modern Bukkur, was his capital. Sooltan Mahmood of Ghuzni, conquered it in the 11th century. Altimush, the Ghorian Sooltan of Delhi, made it a fief of his crown, which it continued till the 14th century, when the native Rajas recovered their ascendancy. The successful tribe was the Soomra, which was settled in the confines of Mukran at the Mahomedan invasion. They did not long retain their power, and were displaced by the Suma, another great and ancient native tribe, which yet exists in the country. They took the title of Jam. The Raja of Cutch and the Jarejah Rajpoots are descendants from these Sumas. There are both Hindoo and Mahomedan Sumas. They held it till it was again subdued, after some difficulty, by the Tartar conquerors of Delhi; who, for a time, used the Sumas to govern it. Nadir Shah annexed it to his crown, and it formed a The face of Sinde is uninteresting. Eastward of the portion of the kingdom of Cabool, raised up by Ahmed Indus, there is not a rising ground or a stone in the Shah, one of his generals, to which it is nominally subcountry, excepting the hilloks of Bukkur and Hydra-ject at this day. In the time of Nadir the country was bad. It is flat and covered with bushes, till it at last grauted to the Caloras, a religious family from Beloojoins the desert of sand hills which separates Sinde from chistan. In the reign of Timor Shah of Cabool, it was India. Westward of the river, as low down as Sehwun, conferred on the Talpoor family also of Belooche origin, the same flatness prevails to the base of the Belooche who now hold it. mountains. From that town to the sea, the land is rocky and barren. The Delta, of the Indus does not differ from that of other rivers. It is rich, but it is poorly cultivated. Ten miles from the sea, it is frequently an impervious thicket. Higher up, it is overgrown with tamarisk shrubs which also thread into each other. The rest presents a naked plan of hard, caked clay. Much of the land that is adopted for agriculture, is only used for pasture. Much of it also lies neglected; yet the crop of rice is extensive, and far exceeds the consumption of the country. It is the staple of Sinde; the inIt is habitants live on it, the merchants export it. more abundantly produced towards to the sea; higher up, the other grains-wheat, barley, juwaree, &c are cultivated; also indigo, sugar-cane, tobacco, and hemp both the latter are used as norcotics. There are but few trees in Sinde. : The inhabitants of Sinde are much scattered, but the country not populous. In traditional poesy, it is said to be "now lakki Sinde," that is nine lakh Sinde. The meaning of this is obscure, but I do not discard it; for the same rhyming statistics assign" Choud Charee," (or 14 times 40-560) to Cutch. Though in excess of its number of inhabited places, this is sufficiently near to be understood. Sinde is said to have a lakh of peers' or Saints' tombs in it. To quite legends, Sinde has a vast number of are called "Wand near the river Raj" and " Tanda." villages, most of which are moveable. In the desert they The temporary villages of Sinde are distinctly mentioned by the Greeks. It is difficult, in consequence, to fix the population of Sinde, it is difficult even to fix the number of inhabited places. A village is often changed, and, if stationary, it even changes its name with its owner. This is but a remnant of the pastoral life of the aborigines. No two maps of Sinde can resemble one another. The provinces or subdivisions of it even change names. I find no less than fifty names of this in one author and he says that their limits run into each other. Even in Alexand. er's times, we have the names of so many kingdoms on the Indus, that we can only account for them by exaggeration, to enhance the conquest of the Greeks. The whole population may amount to a million. The greater portion of it is moveable. The large places are not numerous. Shikarpoor is the first in importance, and has a population of about 25,000, which surpasses that of the modern capital Hyderabad. Tatta, the ancient metropolis, has about 15,000 souls. The only other places of Roree and Sukker), Sehwun, Hala, and Churachee, note are Subjul. Khyrpoor, Ladkhanee, Bukker (with which latter is a sea port, and the only one accessible to Sinde owes its fertility entirely to the Indus, and more my self. The inhabitants of Sinde are chiefly Mahomedan. A fourth of the population may be Hindoo. There are no people of other tribes or creeds, if we except a few homedans are tall and well proportioned; very dark in seiks of the Punjab, called seik Lobanee. The Mathe head, but the Sindians preserve it, which gives them complexion. All other Mahomedans shave the hair of a look very different from other Asiatics. They also wear caps instead of turbands. Sinde is a term generally used for those who live in temporary villages. They are mostly the original inhabitants converted to Islam, who have intermarried with the conquerors. They are Mahomedans in Sinde, and Hindoos in Cutch, who claim one lineage. The Hindoos do not differ from those in India. They are fairer than the Mahomedans. The Lohanu and Bhatea tribes prevail: they are purely commercial. They are not oppressed more than in other Mahomedan countries. They are often employed in places of confidence. They amass wealth, but they conceal it, and wish to appear poor. The subjugation of Sinde has been always facilitated by the Indus. India escaped in many places the inroads from the West, but Sinde was one of the earliest conquests of every invader. It is easily accessible from the Punjab, but it is separated from India by a desert. Sinde has very little resemblance to India on that account. The people have not the effeminacy of the Indian nor have they polish of the Persian. They are less civilized than either: ignorant and very bigoted. This arises from the nature of their government. It continues from the limited connexion with other countries. The Mahomedan invasion involved a change of creed among the people, and the impression has never been effaced. The dynasty of the Caloras was religious and the effect of it is apparent every where. It has been well said, that in Sinde" there is no spirit, but in celebrating the Eed, no liberality, but in feeding lazy Syuds, and no taste but in ornamenting old tombs." The desire to propagate the faith does not now interfere with a certain degree of toleration towards the Hindoos. That tribe is not respected, but it is not degraded. An unclean idolator is a common term of reproach, but has much the same acceptation in Sinde as heretic has among Protestants and Roman Catholics. Justice is meeted out to both, if it cannot be claimed it is not refused. There are no great Hindoo buildings in Sinde, but there are at the same time, no grand Mahommedan ones, except a mosque and some tombs at Tatta. Hindoos are rich, but the mass of the people are poor. Their dress, subdued manners and filth, all more than another attest it. They have no education; few of them can read; very few write. In physical form they seem adapted for activity, the reverse is their character. Their faculties appear benumbed. Both sexes, Hindoo and Mahomedan, are addicted to " Bang," an intoxicating drug made from hemp. They also drink a spirit distilled from rice and dates. Debauchery is universal, and the powers of man are often impaired in early life. They do not seek for other than gross and sensual amusements. People only congregate to visit the tombs of worthies or saints, who are deemed capable of repairing the wasted and diseased body, as well as the soul. They have few much formal ceremony. There are no healthful exercises social qualifications, and even in common life keep up among the peasantry, who as well as the grandees of the land, lead a life of sloth. To be fat is a distinction. A better government would ameliorate the condition of this people; without it the Sindian and his country will con ed. I venture to reverse the observation of Montesquieu, tinue in the hopeless and cheerless state here representand say that the mediocrity of their abilities and fortunes fatal to the public prosperity. It is unnecessary to state is fatal to their private happiness. The effect is also that the sciences are not cultivated in Sinde. The arts, however, exhibit some taste and ingenuity. Leather is better prepared than in any part of India; and their The artisan receives no encouragement; the peasant has longees," or silk cotton cloths are rich and beautiful. no reward for his toil. The language of Sinde is of Hindee origin. The upper classes speak corrupted Persian, the lower orders a jargon of Sinde and Panjabee. Sinde is a written language. A despotic government is necessarily upheld by force. The citizen is lost in the soldier. The great portion of the land in Sinde, is held on the tenure of affording military service. External enemies are not now to be much dreaded, so that the fetters of the people are forged for themselves. They furnish their rulers with the means The Government of Sinde may be called despotic. to oppress. They never knew a citizen's rights, and they Its rulers, the Ameers, are restrained by no laws, though are as ignorant of their own strength as of their rulers' they pretend to abide by the dicta of the Koran in their weakness. Most of the chiefs in Sinde are Belooches. administration of justice. There are no officers such as In their relative position to the people they in some deCazees or Moollahs, who exercise, independent, their gree, resemble the Mamalukes of Egypt. They are not, functions, or receive their patronage and encouragement. however, recruited (as was that body) from abroad, Syuds and Fakeers are however, respected to veneration, though they keep up a connexion with their native counthe one as being descended from the line of the Prophet, try. They are the last invaders of Sinde. The time of the other as following, or pretending to follow, a life of their inroad. I cannot fix, but it was probably a succesgreat austerity. Many of the fakeers are, without doubt, sion of inroads. It is now difficult to distinguish a Bevirtuous men, but the great bulk are hypocritical fana-loche from any other Sindian, for they have intermarried tics. The universal respect shown to them seems to with the people. They preserve, however, with care, have corrupted the land. The mendicants in Sinde are their lineage, and name their tribes with honor. The more numorous than in any other country in Assia. Sindians complain of the oppression of the Belooches, but They can scarcely be called beggars, for they levy tri-habit has subdued their energies to resist. The military bute in crowds, and, by treats, with great arrogance. power of Sinde is considerable. For an Asiatic state it is respectable though without discipline. The force conMany of the common people take to this profitable sists of infantry; the arms are a matchlock and sword. vocation, which only requires some show of sanctity. This The former is of a description peculiar to Sinde. There is exhibited in various ways; one of the most common is are few horses, so that there is a want of cavalry. There to sit all night on the house-top, and repeat the sacred are guns in Sinde, but their artillery is always ill-served name of Ullah" (or God) as many thousand times as and neglected. On a foreign inroad the country would the tongue can utter it. In Sinde, religion takes the rise in arms, and the three different Talpoor chiefs would worst possible turn. It does not soften the disposition contribute their contingents to meet the enemy. From of the rulers or the asperities of the people; it becomes an European force, I believe they would shrink without a trade, and its worthless professors degrade it and them-resistance; without any persevering opposition. As a selves. To this there is no counteracting effect in the soldier, the Sindian is considered brave; at least he is government, which, besides encouraging these worthies, respected by his neighbours, and often hired by them as is, in itself, politically oppressive. Trade and agricul- a mercenary. He does not lose his reputation by being ture languish under it. The people have no stimulus to forced to yield to disciplined valour, which is an exotic. moral rectitude, and yet they are less degraded than might be looked for. They are passionate, as well as proud. They have much supple flattery, but this does not deceive in Sinde. If trusted, the Sindian is honest; if believed he is not, false; if kindly treated, he is grateful. I repeat, that in oppression the Mahomedan and the Hindoo appear to be pretty equal sharers. The productions, both vegetable and animal, in Sinde, differ but little from other parts of India. Most of the former have been already mentioned. Many of the European vegetables that are now so common in India, have not been introduced. Apples are however, found even so low as Tatta. The climate of Sinde is variable. In the winter the cold is great: ice is common. In summer the heat is most oppressive, and rain is almost Without political freedom, and with misdirected religi-unknown. The dust is intolerable. The clayey nature ous zeal, Sinde cannot boast of the condition of its popu- of the soil admits of all moisture being soon exhaled, and lation. There is no intermediate class between the rulers, the least wind raises clouds of impalpable powder. The their favoured Syuds, and the common people. Some houses require ventilators in the roof; and the windows After the Indus has fairly entered Sinde, it throws off its branches. At Bukkur, which is an insulated fortress of flint on the Indus, below the latitude of 25°, the superfluous waters of the inundation are sometimes drained off by a chanuel. In two years out of three it is dry; but when this channel is filled, the water passes the ancient city of Alore (4 miles from Bukkur,) and through the desert near Òmercote, to the Eastern mouth the course of the great river. or Koree. Some authors suppose this to have been once The reasons are more specious than probable. The first permanent off-set of the Indus is the Fulailee, which passes eastward of the It successively takes the name capital, Hyderabad. from Sinde in the lower part of its course. of Goonee, Phurraur, and Koree, and separates Cutch The next off-set takes its departure near Jurk and is named Pinyaree. It afterwards is called Goongra, and where it enters the sea, Seer: Both these branches, the Fulailee and Pinyaree, have been closed by "bunds" or dams, for the purpose of irrigation. At their estuaries, therefore, they are but creeks of the sea, and have salt; instead of fresh water, if the inundation does not make them fresh by its excess. Some remarkable changes were brought about in the Eastern mouth from an earthquake in 1819, by which a large tract of land was, and still continues, submerged. and doors are made of the smallest dimensions to exclude, within fifty miles of Cabool. Above its junction with the the dust. Altogether the climate of Sinde is sultry and river of Cabool, the Indus is navigable. disagreeable, and very trying to the constitution. The only remarkable tenant of the Indus is the sable fish (pulla), which enters the rivers four months during the year. This fish is not found in any other of the rivers of Western India, it is highly flavored. Game of all kinds is abundant in Sinde; but the country is thick, and it is difficult to kill it. The camels and buffaloes of Sinde are superior and very numerous. The horned cattle and sheep are in general larger than those of India. Of all these, there are vast herds. They are to be found both near the river, and away from it. All that tract between Sinde and India, and North of the Run of Cutch, is frequented by herdsmen and shepherds, who find water in wells and tanks. They live in "wands,' and are erratic in their habits. The tract is much more frequented than its appearance in the map (where it is described as a desert) would suggest. There is pasture between the sand hills and they themselves are not destitute of verdure. The peloo (salvadora persica,) khureel (capparis,) babool (mimosa Arabica), and phoke, are its principal productions, with the thorny milk bush and swallow wort (ascelepias gigantia). The geological features of Sinde need not detain me. I found fossil shells at Jurk and Lucput. At the latter place some of these weighed 12 and 16 lbs. English! and were in a perfect state of preservation. They were imbedded in limestone. Westward of the Indus various kinds of marble are found. Limestone indeed appears to be the principal formation. Sandestone also exists; I found a small piece of it about forty miles North of Lucput, imbedded in the soil, which, for the first foot,was mixed with fresh water shells. There are many mineral springs in the Hala mountains. It has been already observed that the most striking geographical feature of Sinde is the Indus. About five miles below Tatta, the Indus forms its Delta by dividing into two branches. These bear the names of Baggaur and Sata. The first runs off at right angles Westward; the other flows Southward. The Bauggaur passes Peer Putta, Darajee, and Lahory Bunders, and enters the sea by two subdivisions, the Pittee and Peeteeanee. The Satta subdivides into seven streams, and reaches the sea by the mouths of Jooa, Reechel, Injamaree, Khedywaree Gora, and Mull. Its length of course, and the body of water discharged There are even other subdivisions, but it would only by this river, prove it to be one of the largest in the old confuse to name them. All these mouths have comworld. Its tributaries even are rivers of some magni- munication with each other, so that the internal navigatude. The Hydaspes, Hydraotes and Hesudrus, are tion of the Delta is extensive. The course of the waters superior to the Rhone. The course of the Hyphasis is of the Indus is most capricious and inconstant. One forty miles longer than that of the Elbe, and only sixty year the Baggaur is dry, and in another the Satta less than that of the Rhine. Yet the channel of the In-shares a like fate. In 1809 the principal portion of dus seldom exceeds the width of half a mile. In the the waters were disembogued by the Baggaur.-In 1831 water it is even narrower. During the season of inunda-their channel of egessr was confined to the Sata. The tion, the different branches which it throws off are filled. seven mouths of the Sata even vary in their supply By October they become unnavigable and stagnant. of water, but one branch of the Indus is always acThe Indus is a foul river and very muddy, with nucessible to country boats. The great mouth at present is merous shoals and sand banks. Though there is gene- the Gora, but, from sandbanks, it is not accessible to rally a depth of 11 feet in the shallowest parts, flat bot-ships. Those mouths which discharge least water are tommed boats can only navigate it. The reason of this most accessible. is, that vessels, with a keel, get fixed on the banks, and would be destroyed. The Indus is navigable for about 1,200 miles from the sea. (Signed) Boats may drop down it from Cutch, January, 1836. ALEXANDER BURNES. MADRAS LITERARY SOCIETY. Society. From the "Journal of Science and Literature" just published. At a general Meeting of the Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society, held at the College, on Saturday, the 30th January, 1836. A report of the proceedings of the last General Meet- | conduct its duties to the advantage and honor of the ing of the Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society on the 30th January last, we have been favored with and publish. Their importance rivals the number of attendants, but the contributions make a lengthened display. We understand that Mr. I. C. Morris has resigned the post of Secretary to the Asiatic Department, in which capacity the task fell upon that gentleman of editing the quarterly journal. The multifarious and arduous duties of his public situation must indeed have long made this additional labour rather irksome to him. Dr. Cole has been appointed his successor to the post, and, as he brings a quantity of good inclination backed by some leisure time to his literary task, we hope to see it abundant in rich and valuable fruits. The Society are much indebted to his able and diligent predecessor in the same department, and we confidently expect that the new occupant will PRESENT. The Honorable Sir ROBERT COMYN, President, in the Chair. The Honorable WILLIAM OLIVER, Esq., Vice President. W. LAVIE, Esq. The Ven. Archdeacon H. HARPER, A. M. J. OUCHTERLONY, ESQ. and The Meeting having been opened by the Honorable | Oriental Historical Manuscripts.... Rev. W. Taylor. the President, the Rev. Mr. Spring, for the Secretary, laid before them a statement of the Funds of the Society, presented by Lieutenant Newbold, in the name of the The following books, in the Chinese character, were Malacca as specimens of the produce of the Chinese Rev. Mr. Evans, of the Anglo-Chinese College at Press of that institution. in both its branches. The following donations having been made to the Society since the last Annual General Meeting the thanks of the Meeting were unanimously voted to the donors. FOR THE LIBRARY. 3 Copies of Koro's Tibetan Dictionary and Gramar..... Easy on Beriberi and Rheumatism, Holy Scriptures in the Chinese lan- Supreme Govern- Lieutenant Newbold-in the name of the Rev. Mr. Evans. Scripture Proof-in do 3 vols...... Do. Do. Do. Do. by J. G. Malcolmson, Esq....... Madras as Medl. History of Kea-kue-Chinese empe Board. Journal of the Royal Assiatic Society, -the three first Nos...... Do. Report of the Oriental Translation Do. Fund..... ror, 6 vols.... works, 41 vols..... Malayan translation of the Bible Do. Do. Do. printed at Serampore.. FOR THE MUSEUM. A bow and four arrows taken from A collection of Geological specimens, sented through Dr. Benza, by.... The Asiatic So- De A series of Mineral specimens, one Do. Do. Do. The Author. Presented through Do. Vejledning til Akra Sproget-at Do. Solemna Scholastica ad Celebran dum.... Do. Dr. Benza. These specimens illustrate the very able and interesting paper by Dr. Benza, on the Geology of the Neilgherries, contained in the Bengal Journal of Literature and Science, for August 1835. It is to be regretted, however, that the specimens presented to the Madras Museum, are not numbered according to the references contained in that paper; a classification which would very much enhance their value, in the eyes of the geological student, who may hereafter wish to refer to them. A member of the society having engaged, in communication with Dr. Benza, to arrange the specimens in the order in which they are described in the paper above alluded to there is no doubt but that this desirable end will be attained.* A collection of Geological specimens from the Northern Circars, by.... Dr. Benza. The formations in the district whence the above were taken, are described by Dr. Benza in an appendix to the paper cited above. A number of most beautiful spe- The following notice, from a paper by Mr. James Bird, in the 3d number of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, will afford an idea of the formations whence these specimens are derived. "The elevated table-land of the Dekhan is exclusively composed of rocks belonging to the floetz-trap formation. The hills which rise on the western ghats as a base have conical or tabular forms, and are sometimes distributed in long ridges or terraces which run eastnorth-east. "At the openings in the hills west of Punah, known by the name of the ghats, and which are the passages from the lower land of the Konkan into the higher land of the Dekkan, these tabular forms are grand and beautiful. They are generally triangular shaped, and insulated from each other by broad and deep ravines, of which the perpendicular descent cannot be less than twelve or thirteen hundred feet. "The rock composing these tables is compact basalt of a black colour, in which hornblend predominates. "About Punah, and further south-eastwards, the rocks are generally amygdaloidal, and become lighter in colour the farther they are removed from the western entrance. This amygdaloid is in no respect different from the load-stone of extra tropical climates. It shews embedded masses of calcedony, zeolites and green earth; and in the neighbourhood of water courses, at the depth of five-and-twenty or thirty feet below the surface, contains drusy cavities of crystallized quartz, the appearance of which, in digging wells, indicates that water is near.' A collection of Mineral specimens from various parts of the Peninsula of India, by....... A figure of a Burmese Deity.. The sumpitan, or blowpipe, and a quiver of poisoned arrows used by the Jacoons, a savage race inhabiting the mountains and forests of the Southern parts of the Malay Peninsula, once the property of one of their Batins or chiefs, by whom they were presented to the donor..... A specimen of the rude cloth worn by them round the loins, made from the fibrous bark of the Terap tree.. A hunting basket worn across the shoulders..... Captain Boileau. Colonel Pearse, do. Sir R. Captain Lane, do. W. F. Underwood, Esq., Retired. T. H. Davidson, Esq., do. do. Lieutenant Do. Do. Captain Alexander, Resolved, that an early meeting of the Committee of Management be called, for the purpose of taking into consideration the best means of effecting an improvement in the selection of books from England, and the expediNew-ency of disposing of any useless works which may now form part of the Library. The meeting proceeded to elect three members of the Committee of Management for the ensuing year, in suc cession to Lieutenant Colonel Cullen, A. Robertson Esq., and Captain Rowlandson-when the Venerable Archdeacon H. Harper, A. M., and James Minchin, Esq., were duly elected and Captain Rowlandson re-elected. The thanks of the meeting were voted to the Honorable the President, for his able conduct in the chair.Madras Herald. |