what look down upon them. There are, however, very few tribes of any country that have any real right, or can really afford, to despise the moral and physical qualities of the Jats. Great as their prowess in arms has been, their success in the arts of peace has been still greater; some of the finest estates, the best managed concerns, the best regulated communities in these provinces, belong to the Jat tribe. It so happens, that none of the districts, at present selected for the scene of educational operations, are tenanted by the Jats. As the scheme is extended, a trial will probably be given to this most meritorious class. Intellectually perhaps they may be inferior to some of the more aristocratic tribes. It is not improbable that they may be led to appreciate the practical benefits of elementary education; and should their attention be turned that way, and a fair opportunity offered them, it is not unreasonable to expect that their known resolution and perseverance may enable them to make marked and beneficial progress. At present, however, in point of education they are even worse off than some of their neighbours. The returns for the Delhi division show that they are entirely uneducated, and that scarcely any of their children attend the indigenous schools.

The Gujurs are a thievish predatory set, and much addicted to cattle-stealing. They are spread over the Delhi territory and the extreme Northern Doab. The Seharunpore district abounds in them. Their village communities hold together closely and firmly, but not for any good object; they unite not so much for mutual support and encouragement in industry, as for purposes of resistance and contumacy. We do not augur much good from educational efforts amongst them. Those, who have conducted the recent investigation into the state of indigenous education, pronounce them to be utterly uninstructed, and averse to education of any kind.

The characteristics of the Rajput and Brahman castes need not here be detailed. From the maps appended to the Glossary, it appears that the Rajputs still hold the largest tracts in these provinces of any tribe, and that formerly nearly two-thirds of the country was in their hands. It cannot be said that the Rajputs are quite uneducated. Rajput children are to be found in most of the village schools. But the proportion of children receiving education to those fit for education and not educated, is painfully small. In Ajmir (which, as most of our readers know, though it belongs to these provinces, is geographically separated from them, and lies in the very heart of Rajputana) hardly any Rajput scholars are to be found in the village schools. Upon these facts it was remarked that "this confirms the conclusion to which we are led by the paucity of Rajput scholars

in other districts, that the Rajputs are, as a class, averse to intellectual improvement."* This conclusion appears to us somewhat premature. It is certain that among the Rajput children some receive education, while, among the children of other important Hindu tribes, there are absolutely none who go to school. In industry and steadiness the Rajputs are inferior to the Jats, and so are the Brahmans. In intellect and capacity the Jats are not equal to either.

The Brahman caste, even in the agricultural tracts, has some pretensions to education. The Sanskrit schools in the villages are of course entirely supported by them; and, in the Hindu schools, they form a considerable portion of the teachers and the pupils.

The Kayths, since our rule, have become a large, though very scattered, class of landholders. They are of course not aborigines; their titles are all acquired from the avтox@oves. In Akbar's time, in A. D. 1596, there were only four or five compact little divisions held by these Kayths. But, since that time, these tracts have increased and multiplied and replenished the land. They appear like plague spots in every district. These people have settled themselves down, sometimes by fair means, sometimes by foul. We doubt not that some of these properties were founded by retired officials, men who had expended their ill-gotten gains in landed speculations, and whose doings were parallel to those recorded by the Special Sale Commission. It is superfluous to say, that the members of this tribe (which, according to the division of labour in the theoretical Hindu state, has the task of reading and writing assigned to it) have a natural aptitude for education ;-in fact most of them are educated already. In the Hindi and Persian village schools, many of the masters and scholars belong to this caste. Among the Mussulmans, as a class, it will be shown subsequently that education is partially extended.

The Mewatis, who reside principally in the district of Gorgaon, are represented to be utterly destitute of either the desire or capacity for instruction.

From small proprietors we pass on to the large landlords. In this set would be included the Talukadars, Jaghirdars, &c, that is, those, who hold land by the primary Zemindari tenure. It will be remembered that we have classed those, who hold by the secondary Zemindari tenure, together with those who hold by the

See Mr. Fink's abstract for the Editorial Report for Ajmir, Appendix I., General Report for 1845-46.

† Vide Sir H. Elliot's Comparative Maps, showing the status of Zemindari pos. sessions in Akbar's time, and in the year 1814,

Puttidar's tenure, with small proprietors in general. These great Zemindars are gentlemen, often non-resident on their estates. They are of course generally an educated class, and are not personally concerned in the village schools; but they might be induced to co-operate with the Government for the purpose of educating their cultivators; and any assistance from them would be most valuable.

out.

We have still one class among the sons of the soil to deal with, namely, the cultivators; the improvements, which have been effected in the position and prospects of this class, and the many enactments passed in their favour, have been already pointed The hereditary cultivators are not very far removed from the small proprietors; their hold upon the soil is much the same, except that it is not transferrable, and not so valuable, inasmuch as the small proprietor enjoys the profits accruing to both cultivator and owner. On the other hand, they have less risk, and they stand alone, being not bound to any community. Nearly all, that has been said regarding the small proprietors, may be applicable to these cultivators, except the remarks concerning the necessity for education forced upon the communities by the form of their constitution. The non-hereditary cultivators, being simply tenants-at-will, are generally the dependants of an absentee landlord, or else of an agent or lessee. Much capacity or aptitude for education cannot be expected from them; but the advantages, which the ability to read and write would confer on them, are very evident. How often it happens that wrong leases (pottahs) and wrong receipts are purposely given to the poor cultivator! How often sums are put down to his name as paid, which he never did pay, in order that the same sum may be speciously demanded of him in future! How often are fields entered in the rent-roll, as cultivated by him, which he never even saw! These entries run on for years. Undisputed records must of course carry weight with them; and, when the demand is at last made, it is perhaps unavoidably enforced against him. Had the man been able to read, he would have at once represented the incorrectness of the entries to the proper authorities, and timely redress would have been afforded. As a rule then, this class are unintelligent, poor in spirit, careless, indolent, and migratory. We fear that they will not frequent the village schools; but bright exceptions are to be found in some of the castes, which furnish hands to till the ground. The Kurmis, or Kumbhis, Lodhas, Kachis, and Kochris, almost equal the Jats in industry. The latter tribes cultivate garden soil, and are always to be found in the neighbourhood of cities and large villages. The first tribe cultivate those lands, which yield the staple products. They are often hereditary cultivators. In all

positions their general habits fit them for the reception of education. In Cawnpore,* Futtehpore, and that neighbourhood, members of this caste are to be found in the village schools.

"

We have thus endeavored to describe the condition of the agricultural population in these provinces. It remains to be seen what is the present state of popular education. That can unfortunately be described in a very few words. The resolution of Government opens with the following sentences:-" Enquiries, which have been lately instituted in order to ascertain the state of education throughout these provinces, show that the greatest ignorance prevails amongst the people, and that there are no adequate means at work for affording them instructions. The means of learning are scanty, and the instruction, which is given, is of the rudest and least practical character.” In the General Report on public instruction in the North Western Provinces, for the year 1848-49, we find the following paragraphs: During the past year, the enquiries into the education of the people, by means of their own indigenous schools, have been brought to a conclusion. The reports have been revised, and the table recast, to meet our more correct statistical knowledge, and they are now in the course of re-publication in a separate memoir, with a translation into the Urdu language. The investigation has established without a doubt that the mass of the population is in a state of the grossest ignorance, and that even, were the desire for knowledge awakened among them, there at present exist no means for its gratification. Masters and pupils are for the most part alike in darkness." The revised educational statistics, alluded to in the last extract, have not yet been published, we believe: otherwise we should have laid before our readers an abstract of their contents. But we are enabled to offer a tabular statement, drawn up from the separate returns for the different districts, which are to be found amongst general reports. The latter will show the centesimal proportion of male children receiving some kind of education, to those that are fit for education but quite uneducated. We are not aware that any complete statistical information on this subject for the whole of the Lower Provinces has been published. We subjoin a few extracts from Mr. Adam's report for five districts in Bengal and Behar; and we add a table for the principal countries of Europe taken from Mr. Kay's work, in order that (although no very accurate comparison can be drawn on account of the several tables being prepared in different forms) an approximate idea may be formed of the small amount of education at present existing among the natives of the N. W. Provinces.

Vide Report on Settlement of Cawnpore, by Mr. Rose, and Sir H. Elliot's Glossary, heading of Kurmi.

Table showing the centesimal proportion of the total number of Scholars to the number of male children fit for instruction, assumed on total population at one-twelfth, in the North Western Provinces.

There are 80,883 Mouzahs, or Townships, in the North Western Provinces, and not quite 7,000 schools, of which at least one-third belong to the towns; so that the proportion of schools to villages is very small.