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KACHCHH.

　The peninsula of Cutch (Sanskrit Kachchha, or sea-coast land) lies between the peninsula of Kathiawar on the south, and the Province of Sindh on the north. A belt of land, 160 miles from east to west and from 35 to 70 from north to south, it is almost entirely cut off from the continent of India,-being bounded on the north and east by the Ran, a salt desert for many months in each year covered by the sea,-on the south by the Gulf of Cutch, and on the west by the Arabian Sea and the eastern, or Kori, mouth of the Indus. It has long had close connexion with Sindh, and has frequently been invaded from that country.

　The language spoken in Sindh, to the north of Cutch, is the L dialect of Sindh. To its east, various dialects of Gujart are spoken, and to its south, the Khiw dialect of the same lan- guage. In Cutch itself several languages are in common use. Gujart, the home- tongue of most Brhmas and Viys, and of the hrs, Chras, and other shep- herd tribes, is the language of literature, business, and general correspondence. Kach- chh is the home-tongue of the Jjs, Lhs, and Bhis, and of other Sindh tribes in North Cutch. Though generally understood, Kachchh is seldom written. Hindstn is spoken by great numbers, and, except in the north, is understood by all. The Gujart is spoken in two dialects. One is the ordinary standard form of the language used by educated people. It is described in Vol. IX, Part ii, p. 424 of this Survey. For the purposes of this Survey it was reported to be spoken by 205,500 people. The other dialect of Gujart is a form of Bhl named hr or yar. It is the Gujart used by the hrs and other tribes mentioned above. It is reported to be spoken by 30,500 people, and is described on pp. 63ff. of Vol. IX, Part iii of this Survey. Hindstn is reported to be the home-language of 3,000 people.

　There remains Kachchh. This falls into two sub-dialects,-Kachchh proper and Kyasth. The latter is used by Kyasths, and is a mixture of true Kachchh, Rjasthn, and Gujart. The number of speakers of Kachchh, in Cutch, was reported to be:-

Kachchh Proper...	311,000
Kyasth...	500
TOTAL.	311,500

　Kachchh is not confined to Cutch. Emigrants have carried it to neighbouring territories. From the Sindh District of Karachi, immediately to the north, 50,000 speakers are reported, and from Kathiawar 76,214. The last figures include 12,214 returned from the Amreli Prnt of the Baroda State, which is situated in Kathiawar. The remaining 64,000 are reported from the rest of Kathiawar. In Bombay Town and

　　　　　　　　　 Bombay Gazetteer (1880), Vol. V, p. 1.

　　　　　　　　　 Gazetteer, p. 38.