In May 1901 the Government of India issued orders for the commencement of the Ethnographical Survey of the Provinces of Punjab, Burma, Central Provinces, Assam, Madras, Bengal, the then United Provinces and Bombay, and proposed Province that the enquiries into the origin, social configuration, customs and occupations of the numerous castes and tribes should be spread over a period of four or five years. These enquiries were to follow closely the lines of certain questions approved by Messrs. Nesfield, Ibbetson and Risley at a Conference held in 1886. They were to be carried out by the Superintendents of the specified Provinces. The work was assisted by stalwarts like Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar and B. A. Gupte who placed their knowledge at the disposal of the Superintendent.
The book is the result of that survey and remains till date the most authoritative account of that region.