On the north, British India is bounded through out by the Himalayas, the native principality of Kashmir occupying their north-western angle ; among their more southern ranges lie the indepen dent states of Nepal and Bhutan and Sikkim; and up to long. 97° 5 E., the mountain face of Assam is occupied by many uncivilised, even barbarous, tribes.
Turning south from Assam in 97° 5' E., the eastern boundary runs conterminous with other tribes, and with native Burma as far as the Karen highlands and the Salwin river, where it joins the frontier of the kingdom of Siam, and runs south with it to the Pakchan river, in lat. 10° 48' 14" N., and long. 98° 55' 40" E.
Several mountain ranges and several rivers traverse the region within these bounds. The Vindhya north of the Narbada, with the Satpura hills south of that river, separate Hindustan tom the Dekhan, and from prehistoric times their toasts and valleys have given shelter to ab antinal tribes whom intruding races had driven vast tthe plains. The Vindhyas run eastwards across Malwa and the central is Sarjoo;a, rising from 1500 to 4500 feet high, on the Rajmahal Hills jut into the valley of the graha on long. 80° 45' L.
Arore on'pura stretch from east to west for 600 the shore markantak is their eastern boundary.
Meplateaux are elevated between 3000 and 4000 Arytbove the sea.
clasom the north-east angle of the I limalaya spurs it ischains project southwards. They are known knoissively as the Abar, Naga, Finkel, and Bare! Sines, culminating, in lat. 22° N., iu the Blue Issuntain, 7100 feet high, and then stretch south :rider the mune of the Amkan Yoma, which also are sheltering many uncivilised tribes. The Amkan Yoma range, starting from the Blue Mountain, in 22° 37' N., strikes southwards from the mountains of S.E. Assam, separating Amkan from Independent Burma in the north, and from British Pegu in the south, and terminating at Cape Negraia. The Pegu Yams, starting from Independent Burma, separates the valleys of Sitang and Salwin, and terminates near the head of the Irawadi delta. Further southwards, the mountains on the Terumerirn coast mark the boun dary line to the Paltchan river, already noticed.
Within these outer barriers are less prominent ranges running north and south, and detached hilly tracts and spurs tenanted by tribes in various stages of civilisation, but mostly of a low type, several of them utterly barbarous, addicted to human sacrifice, and one at least, the Birhor, still cannibals.
On the east of Assam and Bengal, the low ranges and the valleys of Ilia 7'iperah are occu pied . by the Tiperah, the Nowattia, and the Kiang populations, numbering 75,792 in an area of 3876 square miles.
The Garo hills, in the S.W. corner of Assam, between lat. 25° 9' and 26° 1' N., and long. 89° 52' and 91° 3' E., are occupied by a race with polyandric customs. The Khassya and Jaintia hills have an area of 6157 square miles; they lie between lat. 25° 1' and 26° 14' N., and long. 90° 47' and 92° 52' E. They form the central section of the water shed between the valleys of the Brahmaputm and the Surma. The Garo and the Syn-teng of the Jaintia have both fought with the British for in dependence ; the Syn-teng so recently as 1862-3.
In Rajputana, tho Araralli hills, from 6 to 60 miles broad, and rising 1000 to 2855 feet above the sea, run for 300 miles in a N.E. and S.W. direction between the Rajput states and Ajmir 31hairwara, dividing the plain of Marwar from the high table-land of Mewar, and merging into the Vindhyas near Abu. It is sparsely occupied by the lilhair and other Mongoloid races.
of the Ajmir-Mhairwara bill tract are still a small body of 69,234 souls, in an area of 602 square miles. They are brave mountaineers, but were wild and highly predatory, until Lieutenant-Colonel Dixon transformed them into disciplined soldiers.
In Southern India are the Eastern Ghats, com mencing in Orissa, and skirting the east coast southwards to Tinnevelly, affording shelter to many large tribes,—Gond, Juang, Kandh, Saura, Chen suar, and Yenadi.
The Western Ghats run from the valley of the Tapti southwards for 800 miles, and terminate in Cape Comorin, presenting several high peaks about .Nlahabaleshwar above 4000 feet, and in the Neilgherries up to 8000 feet elevation. In their most northerly parts they give shelter to the Bhil and the Koli, and in their southern forest and hill tracts to the Kadar, Pulliar, .Malai Arasar, and Maleali, with Irular, Toth. Badaga, and Kurubar.