Panjab Castes

Panjab Castes Synopsis

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Census of the Panjab Province was carried out in 1881 by Mr. (afterwards Sir Denzil) Ibbetson of the Indian Civil Service and his Report on the Census was published in 1883. The Report has always been recognised as one of the most remarkable official publications in India, and a work of the greatest value both from the administrative and from the literary and scientific point of view. It at once attracted widespread attention, more especially in view of the copious information which it provided regarding the people of the Province, and a separate volume was issued in 1883, under the title of Panjab Ethnography which contained a reprint of those portions of the Report which dealt with the Religions, the Languages, and the Races, Castes and Tribes of the people. The number of copies published, however, both of the Report and of the Ethnography, was comparatively small and they are now difficult to procure outside Indian official circles. There are at the same time indications of a continuing demand for the Report, and more especially for the ethnological portion of it, and to meet this demand the Punjab Government has determined to undertake the issue of the present volume.<br><br>This volume reproduces a portion only, - but that is the most important portion, - of the original Report, namely the chapter on the Races, Castes and Tribes of the Panjab. The chapters on Religion and Language, which formed part of the Ethnography published in 1883, though valuable and interesting, have necessarily lost something of their original importance owing to the progress made in scientific enquiry during the last thirty years, but the chapter on the Races, Castes and Tribes still contains much valuable information that cannot be obtained elsewhere, and this chapter must always command attention and respect for its vigorous and comprehensive treatment of the subject. The figures are, of course, out of date and the territorial boundaries of th