07-01-002

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MARH.

 Several broken dialects are spoken in various parts of the Marh territory, and will be dealt with in connection with the various forms of that language. In the northern part of the coast strip belonging to Marh we find some smaller dialects, such as Kth, Vrl, Vval, Phug, and Smvd, which in several points agree with Gujart-Bhl. The Khnd dialect of Khandesh, which has hitherto been classed with Marh, has in this Survey been transferred to Gujart. It contains a large admixture of Marh, but the inner form of the language differs, and its base is a Prkrit dialect more closely related to aurasn than to Mhrshr which latter Prkrit is derived from the same base as modern Marh.

 Further towards the east we find some broken dialects, such as Katiy, Halb, Bhunji, Nhar, and Kamr, which have been so largely influenced by Marh that it has been found convenient to deal with them in this connection, though they are no true Marh dialects.

  Marh, including its dialects, is the home tongue of several districts which are not included in the present Survey, such as the Portuguese terri- tories and part of His Highness the Nizam's dominions. The numbers of speakers of such districts must be added to the figures returned from the various districts within the scope of this Survey.

 Speakers of Marh in those districts of Central India and the Central Provinces over which the Peshwa and Holkar formerly held sway have been included among the total of those who use the Dekhan form of Marh as their home language. The details will be found under the different forms of Marh; the total number of speakers of the various forms of the language within the Marh territory is as follows:-

Marh of the Dekhan...
6,193,083
Marh of Berar and the Central Provinces (including the Nizam's dominions).
7,677,432
Marh of the Konkan...
2,350,817
Kka (including Porouguese territories and Madras Presidency)...
 1,559,029
TOTAL.
17,780,361

 These figures include the speakers of broken dialects in the Konkan and the Central Provinces. The figures for the Nizam's dominions, Portuguese India, and the Madras Presidency have been taken from the reports of the Census of 1891. Marh and its dialects is also, to some extent, spoken outside the territory where it is a vernacular. At the Census of 1891.

 Marh and its dialects is also, to some extent, spoken outside the territory where it is a vernacular. At the Census of 1891 Marh and Kka were separately returned. The figures for those districts where Marh and Kka were spoken as foreign tongues were as follows:-

Marh spoken abroad in
Number of speakers.
Ajmere-Merwara...
1,604
Andamans...
913
Assam...
85
Bengal and Feudatories...
909
Burmah...
565
Coorg...
2,621
Madras...
123,530
Mysore...
65,356
Punjab and Feudatories...
551
Quettah...
1,340
Rajputana and Central India...
11,072
Sind...
9,265
United Provinces and Feudatories...
    7,414
TOTAL.
  225,225