PREFATORY NOTE

Chapter II, History and Archaeology, is by Major W. Haig, and Chapter IX, General Administration, by Mr. F. L. Crawford, Deputy Commissioner of the District. Chapter VII, Famine, is abstracted from the reports for Berar as a whole and from those by Mr. Rustomji Faridoonji for Basim in 1896—1897 and Akola in 1899— 1900 and by Mr. F. W. Prideaux for Basim in 1899— 1900. The greater part of the sections on Botany, Wild Animals, and Forests is taken from notes by Mr. R. H. Cole, Divisional Forest Officer, and the medical paragraphs are largely based on notes by Major P. F. Chapman, I.M.S., Civil Surgeon of Akola. The paragraphs on the Kanadi, Gopal, Pathrat, and Lonari castes in Chapter III represent information collected in the District by Mr Aduram Chaudhri, clerk in the office of the Superintendent of Gazetteer; and most of the local traditions given in the Appendix were recorded by my clerk, Mr. Madhorao Rangnath Shembekar, when I was on tour in the District. Information has been taken freely from Sir A. C. Lyall's Gazetteer for the Hyderabad Assigned Districts (1870), the Settlement Reports, and other official records. The reports for the original settlement were written by Major P. A. Elphinstone and Mr. R. R. Beynon, and those for the revision settlement by Major R. V. Garrett and Mr. F. W. Francis. Enquiries on some curious beliefs and customs were suggested by "Indian Folk Tales (Bilaspore)" by the Reverend E. M. Gordon, and many interesting points were mentioned, by Mr. Padithyum Shankar Das, Hospital Assistant. I have tried to make no statements about creed or practice without either substantiating them by personal enquiry or else quoting my authority in the text. A large proportion of the book is based on information gathered in a special tour of the District, when several hundred people, representing all classes, were consulted either individually or in small groups. Capable critics have kindly revised the press copy, generally with approval. In practically every instance information was given with great cordiality; I must gladly acknowledge the kindly spirit shown.

The representation of vernacular terms has caused some difficulty. As far as possible these have been transliterated directly from Marathi. In many cases, however, a word has already appeared in a Hindi form in other Gazetteers of this series; in such cases the Hindi form has generally been adopted. In other instances the local form differs from that of classical Marathi, or a word has different local forms; it has then been necessary to select a form according to the particular circumstances. The cerebral letter which is transliterated by r in Hindi words has, according to a common and convenient practice, been represented by d in Marathi words. The long accent has been omitted over capital initial vowels, generally over final vowels, and often over i and u.