*42 I I I N ' p O S T A IsT. . :
BoftHfiiv longitude from Greenwich, there are 26°, which in the latitude of 250
”*l£S‘ conftkiite a breadth of more than 14-00 g. miles, or !f^oo Bridfti/'''Cfornparatively,
if we exclude Scandinavia, the former kingdom of Poland,
, and the Ruffian enapire, the extent may be'-confidered as equal to that
ef the remainder of Europe. '
The houndkffes are marked on'the north by "the mountains abo.ve*
mentioned. On-the weft, towards Peifia, other ranges and ( defarts
eonftitute -the: frontier tiif the Southern feparation end in rite Yi^dP'bf.
Araba. The other boundaries ’ are fupplied by the Indian qc£an,‘ and
Bay of Bengal, where the eaftern extremity is, limited by the little
4 yer Naaf, and thofe mountains which divide % ’%^ti£h pefleffions
c anft Gafhar. The northern ■ hnii,mlp.ry .g^npr^Py
epnfifts of. the fouthem ridges of the Tibetian Alps. On the N.’Eiof
Bengal a fimilar ridge divides Hindoftan from the fmall territory bf
Afam, which feems an independent date, never living formed a mxr-
tion of Hindoftan*, of dubious eonne&ioh with Tibet', and as; ^ef u$-*
fobdued by the Birmans/*
JyjSSL.. . The original population may be generally confided a*.md%eioui,
or.,in other words peculiar to the country. Yet in fo extcnfive a re-^
gion, and amidft the great diverftty of climate and fituation^ the riatrve;
race prefents conBderable varied,, efpeiialy as b#hg fMt ltThJ^
northern parts, -and in the fouthem alihoft' or ' wholly black, but with-
- out the negro wool or features, f Still- the tinge of the women1-and
fuperior clafles is deep olive, with fometimes a flight "an d ^ f^ r f^
mixture of the ruddy, and- the Hindoo form and'features may be faiS'
to approach the Perftan or European ftandard. The foie ancient con - -
quefla of Hindoftan having proceeded from the ‘N'.-'Wi and therb1
may: be fome flight admixture of [the Perfians, df the rGrdeks df Bacl
triana, of the ancient -Scythians, who appear to have proceeded from
Imaus, and to have held a eonfiderable country on the Indus, being
the IndorScythac -of antiquity. Mdre recently Mahmud of Ghizni, in-
* A ; defection of Afam may be found in the fecond volume of the Afiatic 'Refearches,
?aSe l Hl °Aay° £.d’fc and fome idea of this country will be given m the account of the river
Burrampooter, which- wilt follow that of the Ganges:
• f Yet even m fpeaking of Bengal Sir William; Jolnes- terms the natives bladSn H’e' fays Af.
Ref. IY. xxui. that in Hindoftan there are not lefs than thirty millions of Hack Britilh fubjeft s.
I troduced
. c h a p :- W :t e jE N E R A t 1 V I E W . Mi
troduCed 'a groupe"of Mahometans of Various or^g-ins,1" The Patans, of
?erfi^feemgaverted to,
hetffbetef1 Albarifarif wno emtgWed1 to the eattward.* The Mppguh
at1e',wHll',khhwnlt0,’L^^yMa?ua^u'many 'Iatats./and Mahometan tribes,
from the5 eaft of' trafGarpi'an. Theie, witp the Arabs ;and Perfians, arc
g^hetally malle<$ Moots. V
The progfeffi ^geography of Hindoftan 'tnayAe f^d tq!beg|n with
ffid victories of Alexander the G,rel,t, for the fables concerning Sefoftris
and1 Bacchus deieryetio attention j and though,1 the Pqrfi^ns appear td
have“ made early cohqueffs,' arid to have ppflclfrd.rio fmall knowledge .of
ihdia, yet their fcie&e*was loft to civihz’ecLEurope. 'dAfter the,age of
Alexander m'an'v „Greek and Roman,, authors,t particularly ;Strabo,,
Arrian, arid Plipy, haveder^inrormation cttecermng^thejftate of India.,
One ofthe mbit important ancient E&oqrds is- the description-and Hj£p(ofj
Ptolemy,1 but they'are,fo tnUchdiftQrted./f%s. tp* epab^raafs the -tupfr,
learned • enquirer. Far from reprele.nting dridia in , its tjuft form, as,
ftretdhingTar to the tpj^jv^fro^fhe.
gu|ph of Cambay, almoft in a line to the lake qf Chilka, thim immerfing
^rider the Wav^ a dhird part ol :^in,doftans, - At the Ipme^.tin^e'Jte.
affigns to the ifland of Taprobana, or Geylon, an enormous and fabulo.us ■
extent» ^ This, the
attempted , td jbe that- tbri.
Taprobana o f Ptolemy is tne Deccan, or fouthern part of Hindqftan,
from Surat to Cape Cbmprm, a ftrait .b4 ng . ifujRPofed to pals from the
glyph' of Cambay to' the eaftern- ftiqre o f Drifla.; fapd Fe-infers that-:
Tome of the ancients believed in this ftrait. The idea -ingenious,
and ably illuftrated, ye tis far from being fatisfaftory. 1. Ptolemy’s,
map of Taprobana is a tolerably juft regrefentation qf Ceylon; and the
' * The Avghans, or Afgans,' pretend that ,theii- .founder remov-Cd;5 from &e moiintaihs :of Armenia;
to thofe of Candaliar. Colonel.Gaerber takes. iL.fof grlautedlthat.thc /VilCIums vyhom he •,-
fbuhd hear Derbentj were defeeridants of the A lb a tiian d Dr. Rshieggs contends that the names
of the, two' people, are In faft the fame, -Tlie-Armemanslffajls'lie).cannot'proiiounce-the letter D
in the middle o f a word, ..but call the Albans AgvhanSj.a.-i they eall Kalaki, IKaghaki, See.
Ellis,s Memoir, page 5. Sir William Jones, Af. Ref. ii. 76,' warmly, reepmmended an enquiry
into .the hiftory of the Afgans, and fays that their language' refemblea the Cualdaic. ■ I t fhould'
be Compared with that of the olher*C%ucafian tribes.
,? Geographic des Grecs Analyffe, page 133.
I 12
O k lG fN A l,
Poru-L'A-'
TXOJT. :
ProgrefEye
-Geography,
numerous