Total population 238,830,958 | ||
Country British Raj
Princely states Most populous region Bengal Presidency (62,680,633) Least populous region Kingdom of Manipur (126,000) | ||
The 1872 Census of India was the first comprehensive census of India, then a component of the British Empire. The census has been held every ten years following, with the fifteenth national census held in 2011. This census was preceded by the British decennial census of 1801 and decades of regional surveys in India.
Contents
Memorandum on the Census of British India of 1871-72
In the year 1881-82 the first approach was made to the taking of a general census for the whole of India at a given date. Enumerations of the people had already been made in - The North-West Provinces in 1853 and 1865 - Oude in 1869 - The Punjab in 1855 and 1868 - The Hyderabad Assigned Districts in 1867 - The Central Provinces in 1866
- In Madras quinquennial returns have been prepared since 1851-52 by the officers of the Revenue Department, giving with more or less accuracy the numbers of the people in each district. - In British Burma also a tolerably correct census is made each year for the purpose of the capitation rate.
The Census of 1872 was, however, an attempt to obtain for the whole of India statistics of the age, caste, religion, occupation, education, and infirmities of the population; and the results, for their respective provinces, have been carefully analysed in the reports written by Mr. Beverley for Bengal, Mr. Plowden for the North-West Provinces, Mr. Neill for the Central Provinces, Surgeon-Major Cornish for Madras, Surgeon-Major Lumsdaine for Bombay, Mr. M`Iver for British Burma, and Major Lindsay for Coorg and for Mysore, which State, though administered for its Native Prince, may for present purposes be treated as part of British India.
Imperfection in the Census
The enumeration was not carried out in all the provinces since it was thought undesirable to incur the expense or disturb the people in the Punjab, Oude, and Berar so soon after the last census taken in those parts of the country. In the following endeavour, therefore, to bring into one view particulars relating to the whole population of British India, it will be necessary to use for those provinces returns which are from three to six years antecedent in date to the general census of 1871-72.
List of Provinces under British Control and Feudatory States by area and population
The following Statement gives the Area and Population of British India as shewn in the various Census Reports, with the best information available relating to the Native States:
According to the most recent information from India, the area of one or two of the provinces differs slightly from that above given,* the correction being due either to more accurate survey or to the transfer of territory from one administration to another. It has, however, been thought desirable to adhere in this Memorandum to the figures of the census.
The penal settlement in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, of which the population is returned as 8,643, has been omitted, as not being strictly within Indian limits.
In a few instances fairly accurate statistics have been obtained for the Native Feudatory States; but as a rule the numbers can only be accepted as estimates.