An Act to provide for the ultimate adoption of a uniform system of weights and measures of capacity throughout British India' was passed by the Governor-General of India in Council in 1871. The Act orders: Art. 2. The primary standard of weight shall be called a seer, and shall be a weight of metal in the possession of the Government of India, equal, when weighed in a vacuum, to the weight known in France as the kilogramme,' 2-205 lbs. avoirdupois. Art. 3. The units of weight and measures of capacity shall be, for weights, the said ser; for measures of capacity, a measure containing one such ser of water at its maximum density, weighed in a vacuum.' Unless it be otherwise ordered, the subdivisions of all such weights and measures of capacity shall be expressed in decimal parts.' = Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning India. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. 'Accounts relating to the Trade and Navigation of British India for 1889. Calcutta, 1890. Administration Report on the Railways in India for 1889-90. By Col. L. Conway Gordon, Director-General. Calcutta, 1890. Administration Reports of the various Provinces. Annual, Aitchison (Sir Charles U.), A collection of Treaties, &c., relating to India and neighbouring Countries. 2nd edit. 7 vols. Calcutta, 1876. Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of British India with Foreign Countries, and of the Coasting Trade between the several Presidencies, together with Miscellaneous Statistics relating to the Foreign Trade of British India, from various periods to 1889–90. Imp. 4. Calcutta, 1890. Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886. Special Catalogue of Exhibits, London, 1886. Correspondence respecting the Relations between the British Government and that of Afghanistan since the Accession of the Ameer Shere Ali Khan. Fol. London, 1879-87. East India: (1) Finance and Revenue Accounts, 1888-89, and Estimate for 1889–90; (2) Financial Statement, 1889-90, 1890-91; (3) Home Accounts: (4) Net Revenue and Expenditure; (5) Public Works Expenditure; (6) Loans raised in India. London, 1890. Finance and Revenue Accounts; and Miscellaneous Statistics relating to the Finances of British India. Part I. Revenues, Charges, and other Cash Transactions of British India. Fol. Calcutta, 1890. Finance and Revenue Accounts: Part II. Revenues and Charges of each Presidency and Province. Fol. Calcutta, 1890. Finance and Revenue Accounts: Part III. Revenues and Charges, Statistics for the Administration of Revenue, and Miscellaneous Statistics. Fol. Calcutta, 1890. General List of the Native Chiefs of India, with Memoranda prepared for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. 3 vols. Calcutta, 1875. Hunter (Dr. W. W.), Statistical Account of Bengal. 20 vols. London, 1877. Statistical Account of Assam. 2 vols. London, 1879. Hunter (Dr. W. W.), The Imperial Gazetteer of India. 2nd edit. 14 vols. 1886-87. Indian Army and Civil Service List. Issued by permission of the Secretary of State for India in Council. 8. London, 1890. Map, with Classified Index, of Indian State Railways. London, 1883. Roport of the Census of British India taken on February 17, 1881. 3 vols. London, 1883 Review of the Accounts of the sea-borne Foreign Trade of British India for the year ending March 31, 1890. Simla, 1890. Statement exhibiting the Moral and Material Progress and Condition of India during the year 1882-83 (including the decade of 1874-83). Two parts. Fol. London, 1883 The same for 1888-89. London, 1890. STATISTICAL AND OTHER BOOKS OF REFERENCE 147 Statistical Abstract for the several Colonial and other Possessions of the United Kingdom in each year from 1875 to 1889, No. XXVI. 8. London, 1890. Statistical Abstract relating to British India from 1879-80 to 1888-89. No. XXII. 8. London, 1890. Statistical Atlas of India. Calcutta, 1886. Statistics of British India for the Judicial and Administrative Departments. Calcutta, 1890. Trade of India with Great Britain, in Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions in 1889.' Imp. 4. London, 1890. Watt (Dr. G.), Dictionary of the Economic Products of India. Vols. I. and II. Calcutta, 1885-88. 2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. London, 1885. Anderson (Dr. J.), Mandalay to Momien. London, 1871. Balfour (Edward), The Cyclopædia of India. 3 vols. Birdwood (Sir G.), The Industrial Arts of India. London, 1887. Carnegy (P.), Notes on the Land Tenures and Revenue Assessments of Upper India. 8, London, 1874. Chesney (Col. R. E.), Indian Polity: a View of the System of Administration in India. London, 1870. Cotton (J. S.), India, in 'Colonies and Dependencies,' in 'The English Citizen' Series. London, 1883. London, 1881. Cunningham (H. S.), British India and its Rulers. 8. Fontpertuis (Ad. Front de), L'Inde britannique. 8. Paris, 1878. 2 vols. London, 1878. Grant Duff (Sir M. E., M.P.), Notes of an Indian Journey. 8. London, 1876. Griffin (Sir Lepel H.), The Rajas of the Punjab, being the History of the principal States in the Punjab. 2nd edit. 8. London, 1872. Hunter (Dr. W. W.), The Indian Empire, its History, People, and Products. 2nd edit. London, 1886. Jacolliot (L.), Lois, prêtres, et castes dans L'Inde. 8. Paris, 1877. Kaye (John William), The Administration of the East India Company: a History of India. Progress. 8. London, 1853. Keane (A. H.), and Temple (Sir R.), Asia. London, 1882. Laurie (Colonel), Our Burmese Wars. London, 1880. Ashé Pyee, the Superior Country. London, 1882. Low (Charles Rathbone), The History of the Indian Navy. 2 vols. 8. London, 1878. London, 1871. Marshman (John Clarke), The History of India, from the Earliest Period to the close Lord Dalhousie's Administration. 3 vols. 8. London, 1867-70. Phayre (Sir Arthur), History of Burma. London, 1883. Reclus (Elisée), Géographie universelle. L'Inde et l'Indo-Chine. Paris, 1883. Rousselet (L.), India and its Native Princes. 4. London, 1876. Saunders (Trelaunay), Atlas of India. London, 1889. Scott (J. G.), Burma: as it was, as it is, and as it will be. London, 1886. Sherring (Rev. M. A.), History of Protestant Missions in India. 8. 2nd edit. London, 1884. Smith (Dr. G.), Short History of Christian Missions. Edinburgh, 1886. Smith (Dr. G.), The Geography of British India, Political and Physical. London, 1882. Strachey (Sir John), India. London, 1888. Strachey (Sir John), The Finances and Public Works of India, from 1869 to 1881. 8. London, 1882. Temple (Sir R.), India in 1880. London, 1881. Men and Events of my Time in India. London, 1882. Townsend (M.) and Smith (G.), Annals of Indian Administration, 1856-75. 19 vola Serampore and Calcutta. Trotter (Capt. L. J.), History of India under Victoria. 2 vols. London, 1886. Wallace (Prof. R.), India in 1887. Edinburgh, 1888. Watson (J. Forbes) and Kaye (Jn. Wm.), The People of India: a Series of Photographic Illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the Races and Tribes of Hindustan. 4 vols. Imp. 4. London, 1866-70. Wheeler (J. Talboys), The History of India from the Earliest Ages. 4 vols. 8. London. 1874-76. Williams (Sir Monier), Modern India and the Indians. 8. London, 1879. Yule (Colonel) H.), Narrative of the Mission to the Court of Ava. London, 1858. DEPENDENT STATES. To some extent dependent on, or feudatory to, India, are the two border States of Baluchistan and Sikkim. BALUCHISTAN. A country in Southern Central Asia, lying approximately between lat. 25° and 32° N., and between long. 61° and 70° E.; extreme length from E. to W. about 550 miles; breadth about 450. Bounded on the N. by Afghanistan, on the E. by British India, on the S. by the Arabian Sea, on the W. by Persia. Includes (1) Independent Baluchistan; (2) Quetta and the Bolan, administered on the Khan's behalf by the British Government; (3) British Baluchistan; (4) certain Afghan and Baluch tribes on the Indian frontier. The reigning sovereign is Mir Khudadad Khan, Khan of Kalat, who succeeded his brother in June 1857; born 1841; eldest son, Mir Muhammad Khan. The power of the Brahui Khans of Kalat was founded towards the end of the seventeenth century by a hill chief named Kambar. Called in to protect the Hindu Raja of Kalat against marauders from the east, Kambar first expelled these invaders and then overthrew the Hindu dynasty. His successors gradually made themselves supreme from Kalat to the Arabian Sea, and about 1740 Abdulla Khan, the fourth Brahui Khan of Kalat, was acknowledged as chief of Baluchistan by Nadir Shah. The districts of Quetta and Mustung were granted to Abdulla's son, Nasir Khan I., by Ahmed Shah, the Durani King of Afghanistan. Nasir Khan's grandson, Mehrab Khan, was killed in the storming of Kalat by a British force in 1839. His son, Nasir Khan II., was acknowledged by the British Government in 1841; and in 1854 a treaty was executed with him, under the terms of which he received a yearly subsidy of 50,000 rupees. Nasir Khan was succeeded by his brother, Khudadad Khan, now reigning, with whom a fresh treaty was concluded in December 1876, by which the subsidy was raised to 100,000 rupees a year. The Khan also made over the district of Quetta to be administered by British officers, at first receiving the surplus revenue, but since 1882 an annual quit-rent of 25,000 rupees. He also receives 30,000 rupees per annum, as compensation for his right to levy transit dues on merchandise in the Bolan Pass. The Khan of Kalat is at the head of a confederacy of chiefs, but his powers cannot be precisely defined. In all important matters he is amenable to the advice of the Agent to the Governor-General in Baluchistan, who also arbitrates in disputes between the Khan and minor chiefs. The area of Baluchistan is about 130,000 square miles. This includes (1) the greater part of Baluchistan ruled by a confederation of chiefs under the suzerainty of the Khan of Kalat; (2) the districts of Quetta and the Bolan administered on the Khan's behalf by British officials; (3) the assigned districts of Pishin, Shorarud, Kach, Kawas, Harnai, Sibi, and ThullChotiali, which formerly belonged to Afghanistan, and are now directly under British rule; (4) the Afghan tribes between the Ameer's territory and India; and (5) the Baluch tribes, known as Murris and Bugtis. Total population of Baluchistan (British and Independent) about 500,000. The nomad BALUCHISTAN-SIKKIM 149 Baluchis are the most widely spread race, the Brahuis of the eastern plateau being the dominant race. During the year 1888-89 the district of Khetran was brought under British control; and more recently steps have been taken to establish British influence and authority in the country between the Zhob Valley and the Gomul Pass. The principal towns are Kalat (the capital), Quetta, which is already much larger than Kalat, Mastung, Kozdar, Bela, Kej, Bagh, Dadar, Gandava, Sonmiani. The religion is Mahomedan. The only Hindoos are shopkeepers and those who have come to Quetta for trade, labour, &c. There is no standing army, with the exception of about 1,200 men kept up by the Khan; His Highness could perhaps assemble, at an emergency, 10,000 irregular tribal levies, indifferently armed. The fortifications recently erected by the Indian Government lie within the territory under British administration. The numerous forts scattered about independent Baluchistan could offer no resistance against artillery. The Khan of Kalat's revenue consists of his subsidy from the Indian Government of 100,000 rupees a year, his quit-rent of 25,000 rupees for the Quetta district, and a share in the agricultural produce taken from the inferior cultivators in Independent Baluchistan. The last source of revenue varies considerably. In a good year it might be worth 500,000 rupees. The agricultural produce of Baluchistan is limited, owing to the scanty and uncertain rainfall; but most of the crops grown in India may be found in the country. Coal has also been found in several places. At Khost, on the Sind-Pishin Railway, it has been successfully worked for some years past. Baluchistan is an immense camel-grazing country. Local manufactures are unimportant, being confined to a few matchlocks and other weapons. The nomad tribes make for themselves rough blankets and rugs. The chief exports are wool, hides, madder, dried fruit, bdellium, tobacco, and dates. In 1889-90 the exports to British India were valued at 399,000 rupees, and the imports from British India at 355,000 rupees. The country through which the Bolan and Sind-Pishin Railways is run under British administration. Elsewhere camels serve as the chief means of transport. There is a line of telegraph to Quetta, and the submarine cable from Karachi to the Persian Gulf touches at Gwadar. See 'The Country of Baluchistan,' by A W. Hughes, London, 1877. The Annual Reports of the Resident. Travels in Baluchistan and Sinde,' by Sir H. Pottinger, London, 1816. Unexplored Baluchistan,' by E. A. Floyer, London, 1882. Wanderings in Baluchistan,' by General Sir C. MacGregor, London, 1882. The Administration Report of the Baluchistan Agency for 1887-88, Calcutta, 1890. 'Across the Border, or Pathan and Biloch,' by E. E. Oliver, London, 1890. SIKKIM. An Indian feudatory State in the Himalayas, bounded on the N. by Tibet proper, on the E. by the Tibetan district of Chumbi, on the S. by the British district of Darjeeling, and on the W. by Nepaul. Extreme length from N. to S. 70 miles; extreme breadth 50 miles. The political relations of the English with Sikkim date from 1814, when the Indian Government, being at war with Nepaul, entered into an alliance with the Maharajah of Sikkim. At the close of the war a grant of territory was made to the Maharajah, and he also received a guarantee of British protection. In 1835 he ceded Darjeeling and was given in return an allowance of 6,000 rupees a year. In 1850 this allowance was forfeited as a punishment for an outrage on two English travellers. In 1860 troops were sent into Sikkim to demand the restitution of British subjects kidnapped from Bengal; and a new treaty was signed in 1861, by which the Maharajah undertook to keep open a trade route to Ti et, to protect travellers, to reside at least nine months in every year within his own dominions, and to allow no armed force belonging to another country to pass through Sikkim without the sanction of the British Government. His allowance was at the same time restored as an act of grace, and was increased to Rs. 9,000 a year, being further increased a few years later to Rs. 12,000. In July 1886 the Maharajah allowed a party of Tibetans to enter his dominions and to build a fort at Lingtu; and as he furthermore contravened the terms of the treaty by residing all the year round in Tibetan territory, his allowance was stopped, and a British force was sent in March 1888 to expel the Tibetan troops. The intruders were ejected, and after a time the Maharajah returned to his allegiance. At the same time negotiations were entered into with the Chinese Government (to which Tibet is tributary); and in March 1889 a treaty was signed by the Viceroy of India and the Chinese representative, by which the British protectorate over Sikkim is recognised by China. The treaty (ratified by Queen Victoria on August 17, 1890) also declares that the British Government has direct and exclusive control over the internal administration and foreign relations of Sikkim. A British officer has been appointed to advise the Maharajah and his council, and to reorganise the administration. Area, 2,600 square miles. Population, 8,000 or more. The people are known to their Goorkha neighbours as Lepchas, but call themselves Rong. Principal towns, Tumlong and Gantok. The religion is Buddhist. The revenues of the Maharajah are said to amount to Rx. 844 yearly over and above his subsidy. They consist practically of an income tax, assessed and collected by twelve Kazis and other subordinate officials; the collectors, however, retaining most of the money themselves, and only handing over a portion to the Maharajah. The Kazis exercise a limited civil and criminal jurisdiction within their districts; important cases being referred to the Rajah and decided by his minister and the diwans. The lamas pay no dues to the State. Sikkim produces rice, Indian corn, millet, oranges, tea, and two or three kinds of cloth. There are valuable forests in the State and wide tracts of unoccupied waste. The principal trade route from Bengal to Tibet passes through Sikkim; but the through trade is, for the time being, practically extinguished, owing to the complications on the Tibetan frontier. During the year 1888-89 the trade of Sikkim (exclusive of through trade) with British India amounted to: Exports, 124,000 rupees; imports, 75,000 rupees. The chief imports were cotton piece goods, tobacco, and rice; the chief exports food grains and vegetables. See Report on a Visit to Sikkim in 1873,' by Sir John Edgar, Calcutta, 1874. Report on Explorations in Sikkim, &c.' by Lieut.-Col. Strahan, Dehra Dun, 1889. Also attached to British India are the following island groups: ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS. The Andamans are a group consisting of the Great and Little Andamans on the east side of the Bay of Bengal, 600 miles from the Hugli mouth of the Ganges. The Great Andamans comprise three large islands, the North, Middle, and South, with several smaller ones; the group is about 156 miles long and 20 miles wide; area, 1,760 square miles. The most considerable of the Little Andamans are Interview, Outram, Henry Lawrence, and Rutland Islands. The aboriginal population, of diminutive size and low type, |