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ASUR.

　Asur is the dialect spoken by the Asurs, a non-Aryan tribe of Chota Nagpur. So far as can be judged, from their language, the Asurs are closely related to Korws.

　Colonel Dalton connects the Asurs with the Asuras who, according to Mu tradition, were destroyed by Siboga, and Mr. Risley is inclined to think that they are the remnant of a race of earlier settlers who were driven out by the Mus. The Rev. F. Hahn mentions that the Asur dialect contains some Dravidian words which have possibly been borrowed from Kuru, and also some words which he cannot identify in connected languages. This latter fact would point to the same conclusion as that arrived at by Messrs. Dalton and Risley. It will, however, be shown later on that at least some of the words which Mr. Hahn thinks are neither Kuru nor Mu are used in other connected theforms of speech. Moreover, Asur grammar so closely agrees with Santl and Mur that there is no philological reason for separating the Asurs from other Mu tribes. They believe in a god whom they apparently identify with Siboga, the sun, and their religion is, so far as we know, of the common Mu character. We are not, however, in this place concerned with their origin. So far as philology is concerned, they are a Mu tribe pure and simple.

　According to Mr. Hahn 'the tribe is divided into several sections, vez.,-the Agri, the Briji or Binjhi, the Lhar, the Kl, and the Pahi-Asurs. These sub-tribes are again divided into totemistic sections, which are similar in name to those found among other Aborigines in Chota Nagpur. The chief occupation of the Asurs is smelting iron, and, in the case of the Lhar Asurs, the making of rude iron utensils and agricultural implements; they also till the jungle in a most primitive manner.'

　According to information collected for the purposes of this Survey, Asur was spoken in the following districts:-

　The so-called Agri or Agari has only been returned from Ranchi. No informa- tion has been available as to the number of speakers. The Census figures for the tribe are 1,616.

　The so-called Briji, which is also called Krnt, has been returned as the dialect of 3,000 individuals in Palamau. The Brijis in Ranchi were included under the head of Agari.

　By adding these figures we arrive at the following total for Asur:-

Asur proper...	9,025
Agri...	1,616
Briji...	3,000
TOTAL.	13,641

　To this total should be added 6,000 speakers in the Raigarh State, 4,000 of whom were reported to speak Mjh, while 2,000 were entered under the head of Mur. At the last Census of 1901, Mjh and Briji were returned instead. Mjh is a common title among the Asurs, and the specimens forwarded from Raigarh in the so-called Mur