Table Of Content

Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924088964154 [^ THE CASTES AND TRIBES OF H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S DOMINIONS o Z BY SYED SIRAJ UL HASSAN Of Merton College, Oxford, Trinity College, Dublin, and Middle Temple, London. One of the Judges of H. E. H. the Nizam's High Court of Judicature: Lrtely Director of Public Instruction. Volume I BOMBAY THE tlMES PRESS 1920 ^ PREFACE. '' ^ ^ This work was undertaken with great enthusiasm, jf not by •'myself certainly""by a devoted band, headed by the late Mr. Kale of the Educational Department, who travelled through the Domi- nions and thus obtained at first hand valuable information regarding the Tribes and Castes that inhabit the Hyderabad Deccan : I »followed them, not everywhere but as far as I was able, to check their investigations and revise the monographs prepared by Mr. Kale. The—Fates were against us from the outset : a serious affection of the eyes not to mention my official and numerous other engage- — ments made>me despair of these pages ever seeing the light of day. A more severe loss was the sudden death of Mr. Kale when the last pages^of the draft lay before him. If kind friends had not come :Jo my assistance, I could not have consented to the publica- tion of the work at all, despite the gentle and kindly pressure of the Department of Finance which had entrusted me with the work. I am, however, hopeful that the material which has been collected may afford others an opportunity of contributing, in better shape ^and form, to ethnographic literature. D I must acknowledge my indebtedness to the learned gentleman who produced similar work in Bombay, for to make our own efforts complete, we had to look for help from the other side with regar(i to such castes as the "Ahirs" and others, who' are to be found in the fronti^t districts of Khandesh and Nasik. I would have acknowledged in detail the various monographs from which we borrowed; but as Mr. Kale is no more, I am hardly in a position to do so. My thanks are especially due to my old and capable friend Mr. J. E. Lee, who very kindly saw the work through the Press; also to Mr. Shawcross for looking over some of the articles as they came from the Typist. A word of thanks to the eminent Surgeon Oculist who attended me will not be out of place; for it is due entirely to the great skill of Dr. Duggan that I am able to read these pages at all. No further apology is needed to the readers of these monographs when they know under what physical strain I had to bring out the work. Its deficiencies will no douJ)t be patent and I shall always be grate- ful for friendly criticism which will help to improve a later edition. o ' s"s. H.