Occasional essays on native South Indian life

240 Pages·2001·11.6 MB·English

by  Rice, Stanley, 1869-1944

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OCCASIONAL ESSAYS
v
ON
NATIVE SOUTH INDIAN LIFE
OCCASIONAL ESSAYS
ON
NATIVE SOUTH INDIAN
LIFE
BY
STANLEY P. RICE
INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1901
All rights reserved
OCCASIONAL ESSAYS
ON
NATIVE SOUTH INDIAN LIFE
STANLEY P. RICE
ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
NEW DELHI ★ MADRAS * 2001
ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
* 31, HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE, NEW DELHI - 110016
Tel : [phone] Fax : [phone]
e-mail : [email protected]
* 5, SRIPURAM FIRST STREET, MADRAS - 600 014,
Tel : [phone] Fax : [phone]
e-mail : [email protected]
First Published: London, 1901
AES Reprint : New Delhi, 2001
ISBN : 81-206-1569-7
Published by J. Jetley
for ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
31, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi - 110 016.
Processed by AES Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi-110 016
Printed at Subham Offset Press, DELHI - 110 032
PREFACE
De Quincey somewhere says that, if he stopped to
consider what is proper to be said, he would soon
come to doubt whether any part at all is proper. In
writing the following pages I have stopped to
consider, and the inevitable misgiving has often
caused me to lay down my pen. Much that I have
written must, it seemed to me, be already well known,
and what was new was probably not worth knowing.
Hoping, however, that peradventure there may be
some men to whom these papers will be interesting,
I have taken courage to submit them to the public.
Amongst the many books which have been
published on India and Indian topics, it is rare to
find one that treats of the South. Since the time
of Clive and Hyder Ali, historical interest has
centred in the North. Travellers prefer to visit
the famous cities of the Punjab and the North-West
Provinces, the gardens of Kashmir, and the moun¬
tains of Nepal, rather than the less attractive towns
and districts of the Southern Presidency. There are
PREFACE.
VI
many reasons why this should be so ; and I feel
that an apology is almost needed for venturing upon
a South Indian topic.
In writing on such subjects, it is almost impossible
to avoid the use of some Indian words for which
there are no exact English equivalents. In these
cases I have added a footnote for the benefit of
readers who may not be sufficiently acquainted with
India to understand them. It may often happen,
too, that what is commonplace to the Anglo-
Indian is unintelligible to the English reader, and
the task of steering a middle course was not always
easy.
My thanks are due to many friends, both English
and Indian, who have assisted me with advice and
information. I am also indebted to the editor of the
Madras Mail, who has kindly allowed me to use
material contributed to that paper, and to the editor
of the Calcutta Review, for permission to reprint the
paper called “ A Forgotten Rebellion.”
S. P. R.