Panjab Castes

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The Census of the Panjab Province was carried out in 1881 by Mr. (Afterwards Sir Dearil) 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.

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, onto of date and the territorial boundaries of the Province and districts with which the chapter deals are now considerably altered. There are also, no doubt, points on which later investigation suggests modification of the facts and opinions originally given, but it has been thought best to reproduce the chapter as it stands, without any attempt to annotate it or bring it up to date It is believed that in this way the wishes of most readers will best be met, and it is felt that by this course the volume will best fulfil the further object which the Government of the Panjab has in view, namely, the perpetuation of the memory of the original writer.

Writing the accompanying report on the Panjab Census of 1881, I have steadily kept two main objects before me. Firstly, I have attempted to produce a work which shall be useful to District officers as a handbook of reference on all the subjects dealt with in the Census Schedules, and which a ball stand with regard to such subjects in a position somewhat similar to that occupied by the modern Settlement Report in respect of revenue matters. Secondly, 1 have endeavoured to record in some detail the experience gained at this Census, for guidance on the occasion of future enumerations. My pursuance of each of these objects has helped to swell the size of the report.

It would have been easy to write a short notice of some of the more obvious conclusions to be drawn from the Census totals of the Province as a whole; and such a notice would doubtless have technically sufficed as a report to Government upon the operations which I had superintended. But it would have been of small use for future reference, and would have served no purpose beyond that of furnishing the text for a Government resolution. A Census report is not meant merely for the information of the Secretariat; it is intended to be constantly referred to in every office of the Province. The mere results would ill serve this end in the absence of an interpreter. It is of but small advantage to cast voluminous tables of naked figures at the heads of District officers, without at the same time explaining what they represent, which can be done by no one but him who compiled them, and drawing from them the more important conclusions to which they lead, which few will draw but be whose special business it is to do so.

In the ordinary routine of district work, information is constantly needed regarding some feature or other of the society which we govern. That in- formation often exists in print; but in India libraries are few and books scarce; while where the latter are available, they are often too detailed or too learned for the practical purposes of the District officer. It has been my endeavour to furnish such a sketch of the salient features of native society in the Panjab as will often supply the immediate need, and at the same time to indicate where, if anywhere, further details may be found.

**Contents and Sample Pages**