Note on Transliteration

Italicized Hindi and Chhattisgarhi words have been transliterated using a conventional system of transliteration. Proper nouns, including names and place names, appear without diacritics and thus in the form that most closely approximates their English pronunciation. Hence, the Hindi � and 1Sf appear as sh (Kausalya = Kaushalya, l{n:Q.a =Krishna); "if. appears as c and appears � as ch. According to this system, the spelling of the name of the region under consideration in this volume should appear as "Chattisgarh" rather than "Chhattisgarh." I have retained the latter spelling, however, since it appears thus in the Census oflndia, on most maps, and elsewhere in print. Hindi and Chhattisgarhi differ from Sanskrit in that the final a is not usually pronounced, and hence I have not retained it in transliteration except for words and names to which Hindi speakers add an attenuated final a, such as Shiva, or in words and names that have become familiar to English readers in their Sanskrit forms, such as Ramayana and Mahabharata.