The coins analogous to the rupee of Hindustan and its fractions are collectively called Madarmali. Colonel Kirkpatrick writes this word {215} Mehnder mulie, applies it only to the Mohur or Mohr, as he calls it, and says that the word is derived from the name of a prince. The integer is called Pura Rupiya, or Du Mohur, and is seldom seen. The half is called the Mohur, and is the common silver currency in the country. When new it weighs 84¼ grains, and is worth six anas, 10 pies, or 43/100 of the Calcutta rupee. The quarter is called Adha Mohur; the eighth is called Suki.

Besides the Madarmali, there is a wretched small silver coin called Dama, of which the value in exchange is variable; but commonly 136 Damas are given for one Mohur.

The copper coins are Paisas, Half-Paisas, and a few Quarter-Paisas. These last are of the same value with the Dama, but the minute silver coin is considered as more convenient than the Paisa of copper. I am indeed persuaded that no great inconvenience arises from a very minute coinage in circulation; and that, without any loss, we might entirely dispense with the use of a copper currency.

The weights in use are founded on the Paisa, but these are by no means uniform. On an average, however, they may be taken at 162 grains Troy weight.

72 Paises = 1 Ser = lb. avoirdupois 1.666.

3 Sers = 1 Dharni = lb. 4.998.

The Dharni may therefore be considered as equal to five pounds avoirdupois. It is also divided into two Bisulis, and four Barapuls.

Grain is always sold by measure.

8 Manas = 1 Pathi = 152 cubical inches.

20 Pathis = 1 Muri = Winchester bushels 2-344/1000.

The whole lands in Nepal have long been divided into what are called Khets or fields, each of which is estimated in ordinary seasons to produce 100 Muris, or 234½ bushels of Paddy, or rice in the husk. About the year 1792 Ranjit Pangre, then one of the Karyis, by the orders of Rana Bahadur, made a survey of the valley; but the result has been kept secret. The people know only that he estimated each of their possessions at a certain number of Rupinis, and that on an average twenty-five of these formed one Khet. They also observed, that in good soils he used a rod seven cubits and a half in length, and in bad soils he employed one nine cubits and a half long. Some people who had resided at Patna informed my Brahman, that the Rupini was nearly of the same size with the Biga of that city, which is one-third of an English acre; and this is the only foundation that I have for the calculations which I have made.

It must, however, be observed, that, according to the information received by Colonel Kirkpatrick, {216} the average Rupini contains only 3¾ Kathas of the Calcutta measure, or only 3/16 of what was reported to me; and if his information is considered more likely than mine to be correct, all the statements which I have subsequently given, concerning the produce of an acre in Nepal, must be augmented in that proportion. For instance, I have stated the rice in the husk produced by an acre to be about 28 bushels; but, according to the information given to Colonel Kirkpatrick, it ought to be almost 150 bushels. This induces me to place no great confidence in part of the information given to the Colonel; for, as I shall afterwards have occasion to state, I have no doubt that the crops of rice near Calcutta are more abundant than those of Nepal.

In Nepal the pastures and forests are in general commons, and any person that pleases may use them; but some forests are reserved for the Court. Although these forests contain many oak, chestnut, pine, and yew trees, none of these are by the natives esteemed of much value; but for carpenters work a preference is given to the Champa or Michelia, which is certainly a good kind of timber.

Nothing is paid for pasture; but, as it is very scarce, and as the Newars do not employ cattle in agriculture, very few are bred in the country. A few milch cows are kept in the towns, and still more in the narrow vallies inhabited by Parbatiyas, who use cattle in their ploughs. Buffaloes and goats are imported from the low country; and horses, chaungri-cattle, shawl-goats, common goats, and sheep, are brought from Bhot. They become tolerably fat on the pasture of the hills, which, although scanty, seems to be nourishing. Captain Knox killed two female buffaloes, that had been fattened entirely on grass; and they made tolerable beef.

No taxes are paid to government for houses.

The arable lands are partly retained as the immediate property of the Court, for defraying the household expenses of the Raja. The whole of the rice land near Nayakot is reserved as the Rajas proper farm, and is cultivated by his servants and slaves, under the superintendency of a steward: and the same management is observed with a considerable number of fruit and flower gardens, in the valley of Nepal, and with an extensive pasture on the banks of the Kosi. The produce is not sold, but serves for the consumption of the Court, and for distributing in charity at temples, and to religious mendicants. By far the greater part, however, of the lands reserved for the use of the Raja, is let to tenants, as I have before mentioned. The extent of these has at different times varied; but I believe they have never produced a net income of more than a million of mohurs. The only other public revenues are the fines levied from offenders, which are sometimes considerable; the customs, which are very trifling; and some small profits arising from the mines, from elephants, and from the sale of Sal or Sakhuya timber, from the forests below the mountains. The demands on the treasury, however, are very few; for not only every officer, civil and military, and every, soldier, but even the private servants, and principal slaves of the Raja, are paid by lands granted for their support.

The lands thus granted in fee for service are called Chakran, and in general are resumable at pleasure, and follow the office of the person by whom they are held; but some branches of the Royal family, and some of the families of distinction, have enjoyed certain lands ever since the time of Prithwi Narayan, and it would not be safe to attempt a resumption of such property. Some persons have even been permitted to alienate such lands by sale; but to do so, the consent of the Court must be obtained. I procured no information on which I could attempt to calculate the amount of these two kinds of Chakran lands.

Another kind of property, which pays no rent nor tax, and which is not resumable, is called Khairat zemin, or Charity land, which is the Birtha or Brhemoter land of Colonel Kirkpatrick, (p. 92, 93.) This is of two kinds; part belongs to Brahmans Bangras, or Achars; and another part has been granted for the support of temples. The whole amount of this kind of land is not equal to that reserved by the Crown for its own purposes.

The Khairat that is given to religious men is of two kinds. The first is called Yamapatri, which is given when the Raja bestows Dhana in order to procure the remission of his sins. This can never revert to the Crown, but, in case of the family to which it was granted becoming extinct, it goes to the temples of Pasupatinath and Changgu Narayan. The second kind of Khairat given to religious men is bestowed on account of their piety and learning; and, on failure of heirs, reverts to the Crown. This kind may be sold, if the proprietor obtain the consent of the Raja.

The lands belonging to the temples are in fact held by the priests, (Pujaris,) who are bound to defray the expenses of worship. They are removable at the pleasure of the Raja.

This Khairat or Brhemoter land, Colonel Kirkpatrick says, is also divided into two kinds, Koos Brhemoter and Soona Brhemoter, the owners of which are perhaps the same with those called to me Bitalpas and Brittiyas, mentioned in page 164, although this is not very certain. The Koos Brhemoter land, according to the Colonel, is rarely bestowed but on Brahmans, and that with a very solemn investiture. Land of this kind is rent-free, saleable, and hereditary, but for certain crimes it may be forfeited. Presents are often given, especially on the accession of a new Raja. The Soona Brhemoter has been granted to certain Newars, and other natives of countries subjected by the Gorkhalis, and continued by the conquerors for a considerable fine under each succeeding prince, but it is saleable and hereditary.

Landholders, who do not cultivate their own estates, in general let them for one-half of the grain produced. Money rent can seldom be procured, and is very low. It varies from four to twelve anas a Rupini, which produces at least four Muris of Paddy, one half of which, or the rent usual when paid in kind, is worth about fifty anas, and if it be good land, it produces also a winter crop.

Most great proprietors, however, like the Raja, employ stewards with their servants and slaves, to cultivate some land for supplying their families. The great, therefore, seldom go to market, which, among a lawless people, is an advantage for the lower classes, although it subjects travellers to great inconveniency from the want of markets. It is besides alleged, that the lower classes, in the vicinity of these farms, often suffer by being compelled to labour without an adequate remuneration.

When lands are alienated by sale, they bring from 1600 to 2000 Mohurs a Khet, which high price is owing to the very small quantity of land that is brought to market.

The persons who rent lands from the owners are of two kinds: first, the Kuriyas, who occupy free (Khairat) land, are exempted from any services to government, except the repairing of roads, and the attending on armies employed on certain duties; and, secondly, the Prajas, who occupy the crown land, whether that be held by the Prince, or granted in Jaygir. The Prajas are bound to perform various services at the call, both of government and of their immediate masters. The rent which both usually pay is one-half of the produce, with an annual fine of between two and three rupees for each Khet. Where the land is tolerable, these terms are considered as favourable for the tenant, and enable him to support a family with ease.

The following is the account which my Brahman gives of the agriculture of the Newars.

The hoe used by the Newars has been represented by Colonel Kirkpatrick, (in the uppermost figure of the plate opposite to page 100 of his Account of Nepaul,) but the figure is not good. It seems a very awkward instrument, as the blade is fixed by a long neck, so as to stand parallel to the short handle, at about the distance or six inches. The labourer, therefore, must either stoop exceedingly, when at work, or must sit on his heels, which is the most usual posture. Still these people use it with great dexterity, and one man in three days digs up a Rupini. After each hoeing, the women and children break the clods with a wooden mallet fixed to a long shaft, which does not require them to stoop. Almost the only other implement of agriculture these people have is the Khuripi, or weeding iron, and some fans for winnowing the corn. In Nepal, however, they have in some measure made a further progress than in India, as they have numerous water-mills for grinding corn. The stones are little larger than those of hand-mills, and the upper one is turned round by being fixed on the end of the axis of the water wheel, which is horizontal, and is placed under the floor of the mill, with which the stones are on a level. This wheel consists of six blades, about three feet long, and six inches broad, which are placed obliquely in the axle-tree. On these blades, the water falls down an inclined plane of about eight or ten feet in perpendicular height. The hopper is a basket perforated at the bottom, but has no contrivance to shake it. The people at one of the mills which we examined said, that, in one day, it could grind twelve Muris, or rather more than twenty-nine bushels.

In Nepal, rice is the great crop, and the ground fit for it is of two kinds, which differ in the manner, and in the time of their cultivation, so as to make two harvests of rice: but no one field, in one year, produces two crops of this grain.

Colonel Kirkpatrick indeed mentions, {222} that some fields yield two crops of rice successively, the one coarse, and the other fine, besides affording in the same year a crop of wheat. This, however, I presume, does not allude to Nepal Proper, but to some of the warmer vallies in the dominions of Gorkha; as where he goes on, in the 99th page, to describe the expense of cultivation, he mentions the ploughings, an operation which is not employed in the agriculture of the Newars.

The first kind of ground produces the crop called Gheya, is the highest, and there is no necessity for its being absolutely level, as the fields are not inundated. From the 13th of March to the 11th of April, this ground is hoed; and, having been well manured with dung collected in the streets, it is hoed again. A week after this, the field is hoed two or three times, and is well pulverized with the mallet. About the 12th of May, after a shower of rain, the field is slightly hoed, and the mould is broken, and smoothed with the hand. Small drills, at a spans distance from each other, are then made by the finger, which is directed straight by a line. At every span-length in these drills are placed four or five seeds of the rice, called Uya Dhan, which is the only kind cultivated in this manner. The seed is covered by the hand, and a very small quantity only is required. In about five days the young corn comes up in small tufts, just as if it had been transplanted. From the 13th of June to the 15th of August, when the corn is about a cubit high, the weeds are removed with the spud. About the latter period, slugs, worms, and insects, fill all the moister fields in Nepal, and in order to be rid of them, the farmers keep a great number of ducks, which, at this season, they turn into the fields, to devour the vermin. The Gheya crop ripens about the 1st of September, and by the middle of the month the harvest is finished. The ears only are cut off, and next day the grain is beat out, and generally dried in the streets. Very little of the crop is made into Hakuya, a process that will be afterwards mentioned. After the Gheya crop has been cut, the field is in general cultivated with radishes, mustard, or some other crop, that is usually sown about the time.

By far the greater part of the rice ground, and that the lowest and the best, is of the kind which produces the crop of rice called Puya. The kinds of rice which are cultivated in this crop are very numerous, and it would be tedious to mention their names, as I have no observations to make on any one in particular. The fields which produce this crop must be perfectly level, as they are inundated during the greater part of the process of cultivation. Therefore, as the plain is by no means even, it has been divided into terraces. So much pains has been bestowed on this part of agriculture, that on the steep descents leading down to the rivers, there have been formed many terraces not above two feet wide. The numerous springs and rivulets that issue from the surrounding hills have been conducted with great pains to irrigate these terraces, and have been managed with considerable skill.

The cultivation of the Puya crop commences between the 13th of May and 12th of June, during which the field is hoed two or three times, and manured with dung, if any can be procured. At any rate, it is always manured with the kind of earth called Koncha, which I have already described. The banks that confine the water are then repaired; and about the 12th of June, when, either by the rain or by the irrigation from aqueducts, the fields have been inundated, and the soil has been by the hoe reduced to mud, the seedlings which have been raised in plots sown very thick, are transplanted by the women. The men perform all the other parts of the labour. This is a time of festivity as well as of hard work; and the people are then allowed a great freedom of speech, to which they are encouraged by large quantities of intoxicating liquors, in a share of which even the women indulge. The transplanting ought to commence from the 12th to the 15th of June, and ought to be finished by the Amavasya of Asharh, but this is a moveable feast. On the Krishna Chaturdasi, which happens on the day preceding the Amavasya, the Maha Rani or Queen, with her slave girls, (Ketis,) transplant a small plot within the palace, and it is reckoned an unlucky circumstance when this is not the last planted field in the valley.. The fields are always kept under water, and weeds are not troublesome. The few that spring up are removed by the spud. This crop begins to ripen about the 15th of October, and by the 1st of November the harvest is completed, after which a considerable portion of the land is cultivated for wheat or other winter crops.

The Puya rice is cut down close by the ground. The finer kinds of rice are immediately thrashed, as is likewise all that which is intended for seed; but the greater part is made into what is called Hakuya. This is done with a view of correcting its unwholesome quality: for all the grain produced in the valley of Nepal is thought by the natives to be of a pernicious nature. The manner of preparing Hakuya is as follows: The corn, immediately after having been cut, is put into heaps, ten or twelve feet diameter, and six or eight feet in height. These are covered with wet earth, and allowed to heat for from eight to twelve days, and till they may be seen smoking like lime-kilns. After this the heaps are opened, and the grain is separated from the straw by beating it against a piece of ground made smooth for the purpose. Both grain and straw are then dried in the sun. The grain is called Hakuya, and the straw is the fuel commonly used by the poor, for fire-wood is very dear. According to the accounts received by Colonel Crawford, this manner of preserving rice was discovered by accident. Many years ago one of the towns was besieged by an enemy that came so suddenly as not to allow the citizens time to gather in the crop, which had just then been cut. The citizens, rather than allow the enemy to benefit by their corn, determined to throw it into the water and cover it with earth. In this manner it remained about a week, when the enemy were compelled to retire. When the grain was taken up it was found to have begun to rot, but necessity having compelled the people to eat it, they found, to their astonishment, that it was much better and more salutary than the grain which had been prepared in the usual manner. It is only the Newars that eat this Hakuya.

The crops of rice in Nepal appeared to me very poor when compared with those of Bengal; and, if my Brahman was rightly informed concerning the extent of a rupini, they are really so. The rupini produces four muris of paddy, or 9-376/1000 bushels, but near Calcutta the biga (supposed to be of the same extent) of good ground produces often 640 sers, or 19-82/100 bushels. The difference of price, however, in the two countries makes the value of the produce in Nepal the greater of the two. I have already stated that the value of four muris of paddy in Nepal is usually 13M. 2A. 2D., or about 54 rupees. But near Calcutta in harvest the usual price of 640 sers of paddy, is 5 rupees 5 A. 4 P. If no error has been made in estimating the extent of a rupini, the acre of good land in Nepal produces rather more than 28 bushels of paddy, or rice in the husk.

Immediately after the Puya crop has been cut, the ground is formed into beds by throwing the earth out of parallel trenches upon the intermediate spaces. On these about the middle of November is sown wheat, or sometimes a little barley. These ripen without farther trouble, and are cut from the 12th of April to the 12th of May. The seed for a rupini is stated to be one pati, and the produce is stated to be two muris. This would make the seed about the fifth part of a bushel an acre, and the produce about fourteen bushels; but this seems to me greatly exaggerated. I have never seen more wretched crops, and most of the fields of wheat are quite choked with hemp, (Cannabis sativa,) which in Nepal is a troublesome and useless weed. The wheat and barley are mostly used for making fermented or distilled liquors.

Pangdu Kodo, or Maruya, is the Cynosurus Corocanus of Linnæus, of which I saw much growing on some of the higher parts of the plain. It seems to thrive well. The Maruya is sown from the 13th of June to the 14th of July, and twenty days afterwards is transplanted. It is ripe about the middle of September, and produces four muris a rupini.

In thrashing this corn, Colonel Crawford saw the Newars [Picture: Flail] using a kind of flail, an implement which I have never observed in India. Three pieces of Bamboo, about eighteen inches long, were fastened together in a parallel manner, at about a fingers breadth asunder, and then fixed to a peg, which passed through a hole in the end of a longish pole that was a little bent. The instrument seemed to require considerable dexterity in its management, but appeared to answer the purpose intended.

The Sana Kodo of the Parbatiyas is probably the Paspalum kora of Wildenow. It also is transplanted, ripens in October and November, and produces as much as the Pangdu Kodo.

The Muccai and Muruli of the Parbatiyas are both by the Newars called Kaunguni, and are varieties of the Holcus sorghum. They are chiefly planted in the small vallies that open into the plain, and on high terraces, that have a bad supply of water.

The Urid, or Kala Mas of the Parbatiyas, is by the Newars called May; and Dr Roxburgh, in his manuscripts, calls it Phaseolus minimoo, from its Telinga name. In Nepal this is the most common pulse. It is sown about the 1st of July, and reaped about the 1st of September. A rupini produces about ten patis, or an acre about three bushels and a half.

The Seta Mas of the Parbatiyas, or Chica May of the Newars, Dr Roxburgh has raised from seed, which I sent from Nepal. He thinks it a new species, which he calls Phaseolus ocultatus. It is sown about the 1st of July, reaped the 1st of October, and produces the same quantity that the urid does.

The Lato, Rato, or Ruta mas of the Parbatiyas, is by the Newars called Hayngu may. It also appears to Dr Roxburgh to be an undescribed species, and he has given it the name of Phaseolus calcaratus. It is sown and reaped at the same time with the preceding, and yields the same produce.

The Lal mung of the Parbatiyas is also called Hayngumay by the Newars. The seeds of this plant, which I sent to the botanical garden, show it to be a Phaseolus, that is by Dr Roxburgh considered as a nondescript, and he calls it the Phaseolus racemosus.

The Mung of the Parbatiyas, and the Muk or Mugy may of the Newars, is the Dolichos Mungo of Linnæus. Three manas are sown on a rupini about the 1st of July, and about the 1st of November produce eight patis.

The Seta, and Cala Bhot Mas of the Parbatiyas, are called Musa and Gya by the Newars. They are two varieties of the Dolichos soja, the one of which has yellow flowers and white seeds, and the other has black seeds, and purplish flowers. The former is ripe about the 1st of November, the latter about the 1st of September. Their seed and produce are equal to those of the mung.

The Mosuri of the Parbatiyas, and Mosu of the Newars, is the Ervum lens of botanists. About the 1st of November two manas are sown on a rupini; and about May produce twelve patis.

The same is the case with the Pea, or Pisum arvensis, called Kerao by the Parbatiyas, and Caigo by the Newars.

The mustard called Sarishi by the Parbatiyas, and Turi by the Newars is mostly cultivated as a pot-herb. It is sown about the middle of October, and is cut before it flowers. Another, which by the Newars is called Ika, is the Sinapis ramosa of Dr Roxburgh. About the 1st of February two manas are sown on a rupini, and about April produce two muris of seed. The ground is afterwards cultivated for rice.

Sesamum is called Til by the Parbatiyas, and Hamo by the Newars. It grows commonly wild as a weed, but very little of it is cultivated.

The sugar-cane is planted in considerable quantities, and seems to thrive. The Newars make a very little extract, soft sugar, and sugar-candy; but a large proportion of the cane is eaten without preparation. It is planted about the 1st of April, and is cut, from the middle of November to the middle of May. The juice is generally expressed by a lever.

Ginger, the Puli of the Newars, is planted about the 1st of April, and dug up in October or November.

The common radishes are by the Parbatiyas called Mulu, and by the Newars Kipo, and are very much cultivated. They grow in vast abundance all the year, except from the 15th of November to the 10th of February. In order to procure a supply of this useful article, for three months of winter, a large quantity is sown about the 1st of September, and pulled about the 1st of November. The roots are then buried in a pit for six or seven days, during which they seem to undergo a kind of half putrid fermentation; as when they are taken out of the pit, and dried in the sun, they exhale a most powerful stench. These dried roots are called Sinky, keep all winter, and, although offensive to the smell, enter largely into the diet of the poorer Newars. These, owing partly to the great quantity of sinky and of garlic which they eat, and partly to the dirtiness of their linen, exhale a worse smell than any people I have ever been among.

Methi, or Fenugreek, grows at all seasons, except from the 15th of November to the 12th of January. It is used only as a pot-herb, and is the one most commonly consumed in Nepal.

Khira, or cucumbers, grow to great perfection, and with another cucurbitaceous plant called Kangkari, are ripe from the 13th of June to the 15th of August.

The garlic is planted about the 1st of January, and is taken up from the 12th of April to the 12th of June.

Bera, or the Solanum Melongena, is sown about the 1st of May, and is ripe about the 1st of October.

In the hilly parts of the country, the common potatoe (Solanum tuberosum) has been introduced, and grows tolerably: but it does not thrive so well as at Patna, owing probably to a want of care.

The Sakarkandh (Convolvulus batatas) succeeds better. It is planted about the 1st of April, and is taken up from the middle of October to the middle of December.

Most of the European kitchen vegetables have been introduced: but they are only to be found in the gardens of men of distinction, and in very small quantities.

When Colonel Kirkpatrick visited the country, {230} the only kitchen vegetables (meaning, I presume, European) were cabbages and peas, both of which were of the worst kind. They had, he says, the Thibet turnip, but cannot raise it any more than the potatoe, without receiving the seed annually. This, compared with what I observed, indicates some degree of progressive improvement.

None of their fruits are good, except the oranges and pine apples; but both of these are in great perfection. The peach is every where wild, and is also reared in gardens: but it does not ripen till long after the rainy season has commenced, and is generally half rotten before it becomes soft. At Kathmandu the Plantain tree (Musa) dies to the ground in winter, but the roots are not killed, and in the spring send up fresh stems. Some good plantains come from Nayakot, and other valleys, that are situated lower than the capital is.

Such is the account I could procure of the cultivation in the plains of Nepal. On the sloping faces of the hills, bounding the smaller vallies in its vicinity, I observed another mode of cultivation. The soil there is not formed into terraces; but in April is pared and burned, and then is sown with Sama, or the Panicum Italicum, with Tangni or Kakun, which is the Panicum colonum, and with Kaungni, which is the Holcus Sorghum. When the soil is in heart, these produce very good crops, and once in the three or four years the field is allowed a seasons fallow. This seems to be the kind of land which Colonel Kirkpatrick calls Kohrya. {231a}

In Nepal, the Gangja, Charas, or Cannabis sativa, as I have already mentioned, is a common weed: but in that country it is not cultivated, although much used for the purpose of intoxication. The dried leaves are brought from the Tariyani, but are reckoned heating, and are not so much used as the extract, which is called Charas: of this Thibet produces the best. The proper manner of preparing Charas is by making incisions into the stem, and collecting the juice, in the same manner as opium is produced from the capsules of the poppy. A coarser kind is prepared from the expressed juice of the hemp.

Colonel Kirkpatrick {231b} gives a different account of the manner of preparing this drug, which, he says, is procured by rubbing the leaves of the plant Jeea, until the resin adheres to the fingers, from which it is scraped off with a spathula. The plant called Jeea is no doubt the Cannabis sativa, nor can much reliance be placed on the information which the Colonel received on this subject: as the person who gave it has evidently been inaccurate, when he stated concerning the Gangja and Subje produced from the same plant, that the former is prepared from the flowers and the latter from the leaves; while, in fact, the one is the dried plant, and the other the expressed juice.

The dose of Charas is from ten to twelve grains made up into a pill, which is smoked like tobacco. The dried leaves, or Gangja, are taken in the same manner, and both produce violent intoxication. While we were in Nepal, a shopkeeper, who attended the camp, smoked so much Charas that he died. From the accounts given me by those who saw him, he became stupid, but not irrational, and complained of nothing except thirst, for which he two or three times drank water. As it was not looked upon as any thing extraordinary, I did not hear of the circumstance till some hours after the mans death. He did not intend to kill himself; but, in the course of his indulgence, repeated the dose too often.

Two kinds of coarse cotton cloth, called Khadi and Changa, are woven by the Newar women of all ranks, and by the men of the Parbatiya cast, called Magar. The cotton grows in the hilly parts of the kingdom, and is sufficient for the consumption; but none is exported from Nepal Proper. These cloths constitute the dress of the middling and lower classes of people, although woollen would be better fitted for the cold of a Nepal winter. All those, however, that are not very poor, can afford to have woollen blankets, which are manufactured by the Bhotiyas, who even in summer wear no linen. The whole dress of the higher ranks in Nepal is imported, and consists chiefly of Chinese silks, shawls, and of the low country muslins and calicoes. The military alone wear European broad cloth.

In Lalita Patan and Bhatgang there is a very considerable manufacture of copper, brass, and Phul, which is a kind of bell-metal. The bells of Thibet are superior to those of Nepal: but a great many vessels of Phul are made by the Newars, and exported to Thibet, along with those of brass and copper. Iron vessels and lamps are also manufactured for the same market.

A very strong paper, remarkably well fitted for packages, is made at Bhatgang, from the bark of a shrub, which I call the Daphne papyrifera. The supply, however, is not adequate to the demand, and not only the paper, but a considerable quantity of the raw material is imported from Bhot. The bark is exceedingly strong and pliable, and seems to be the same with certain tape-like bandages, employed by the Chinese in tying many of their parcels.

At Kathmandu the common daily hire for a labouring man is two anas. Merchants pay three Mohurs for every porter who brings a load from Hethaura, and five Mohurs from Gar Pasara. The porter takes three days to come from the former, and five days from the latter; but he must return empty; the hire is therefore four anas a day. The usual load is twenty Dharnis, or a hundred pounds; but some strong men carry a half more. They carry their loads in a basket called Doka, of which a representation is given in the plate opposite to page 39 of Kirkpatricks Nepaul. Persons of rank, who do not choose to walk or ride on horseback, usually travel in what is called a Dandi, which is a hammock suspended on a pole, and carried by from four to six men, as represented in the plate opposite to page 39 of Kirkpatricks Nepaul. When a woman goes in a Dandi, a cloth thrown over the pole conceals her from view. This conveyance is well fitted for a mountainous country, where few of the roads will admit of the use of a horse. For a Dandi, to convey them from Kathmandu to Gar Pasara, merchants pay twenty-four Mohurs: carpenters and blacksmiths receive three anas a day: bricklayers two anas and a half: goldsmiths, for every two Mohurs weight of gold they work up, are allowed four anas: for working silver, they receive one-sixteenth part of the metal. According to the fineness of the work, the labourers obtain from one to two Mohurs for every Darni of copper which they manufacture.

The want of labouring cattle among the Newars renders the operations of husbandry so tedious, that at many seasons every person in the family capable of labour must be employed; and as no one can be left to take care of the young children, these must be carried to the field. As this is often at a distance from the house, the poor villager may be often seen carrying his infants in two baskets suspended over his shoulder by a bamboo. In these baskets some food also is taken, as the family does not return until night. An oblong mat also forms a usual part of what is carried into the field. This mat defends the children as well as the victuals from the sun and rain, and is sometimes used by the labourers for the same purposes, especially when they are employed in weeding the rice fields. As that operation is performed during the rainy season, the labourers would suffer considerably, unless they kept off the water by a mat tied over their heads and covering their backs, while their arms are left at liberty.

In Nepal most of the domestic servants are slaves. A male slave is called a Keta, and costs about thirty Mohurs. A female is called Keti, and costs about the same price; but, if young and handsome, she will bring ten Mohurs additional. There are some Brahmans who are slaves even to Rajputs: but they are not degraded by the name Keta, and are employed in great families, either as cooks, or in the service of the private chapels. All other ranks are sold for common slaves: and persons of the best families have often been degraded by the Rajas, and given to the Damais or Tailors, by which they lose not only their liberty, but their cast, which is of more importance to a Hindu. In general, however, among the higher tribes, the cast of the slave is respected, and no duty is imposed on him, by which that would be injured. It is reckoned very disgraceful for any persons but those of the lowest rank, to sell their children to any person of impure birth, or who is an infidel. Still, however, this is occasionally done by persons of high birth, who happen to be in necessitous circumstances; nor do the parents on this account lose cast. They would, however, inevitably become outcasts, should they ever afterwards admit their child into their house, even were he to be set at liberty by his master. Most of the slaves, it must be observed, have been born free. A few have been degraded, and sold by the Raja on account of crimes alleged against them: but by far the greater part have been sold by necessitous parents. All the Ketis, even those belonging to the Queen, are prostitutes, and therefore seldom have children. The masters in general do not give their slave girls any other allowance than a small quantity of rice; and a great many of them are so obdurate, that even this allowance is stopped, when sickness prevents the slave from working. The poor creatures are therefore forced to sacrifice their chastity, in order to procure clothing; and beggary is the usual resource of those who are old and infirm. The Ketis of the court, indeed, are allowed some privileges, and have a considerable influence among the young men of family. In the day time they attend the Maha Rani or queen; and when she goes out, some of them armed with swords follow her on horseback, and form her body guard. They are well dressed, and ride astride like men. They are allowed to carry on intrigues with any person of good birth: but the young Rajputs of the guard are their usual favourites. Some Brahmans and Bankers from the low country, induced by the beauty of these girls, have formed connexions with them; but they have in general paid dearly for their indulgence. Fidelity to one mistress is not a virtue among such men, and the Ketis of the court think the whole corps bound to punish any infidelity against one of their number, nor will the police interfere to prevent them from plundering the delinquent of his whole property. The slaves of private persons are not only ill fed, but are hardly wrought. The common duties imposed on them are to wash, to bring fire-wood from the mountains, to clean the cooking utensils and the house, and to carry the umbrella.

Rice is the great article of support in Nepal. Along with their rice the poorest people eat raw garlic and radishes; they also fry radishes, fenugreek, or lentiles, in water mixed with salt, capsicum, and turmeric. To these, people in more easy circumstances add oil or ghiu; and those who are rich add a great deal of animal food. Even the poorest are able occasionally to sacrifice a pigeon, a fowl, or a duck, and of course they eat these birds. No Hindu eats any meat but the flesh of sacrifices; for he considers it as a sin to kill any animal for the purpose of indulging his appetite; but, when a sacrifice has been offered, the votary may without blame eat what the Deity does not use. We observed, that even the Rajputs in Nepal were so fond of animal food, that, to the utter astonishment of our low country Hindus, they drank the blood of the sacrifices as it flowed from the victim.



SECTION IV. THE COUNTRIES BELONGING TO THE CHAUBISI AND BAISI RAJAS.

Chaubisi Rajas.Pamar Family, Impure Branch.Bhirkot, Garahang, Dhor, Pure Branch.Nayakot.Satahung.Kaski.Lamjun.Gorkha, Topography, History.Prithwi Narayan.Singha Pratap.Bahadur Sahi.Rana Bahadur.Bhim Sen.Royal Family.Kala Macwani Family.Gulmi, Khachi, Argha, Dhurkot, Musikot, Tama.Family of Bhingri and Khungri.Family of Piuthana.Family of Poin.Malihang Family.The Samal Family; Malebum; Galkot; Rugum; Musikot; Jajarkot; Bangphi; Gajal; Dharma; Jahari; Satatala; Malaneta; Saliyana; Dang; Chhilli.The Baisi Rajas.Dalu Dailek.Duti.Yumila.Taklakot, with the adjacent parts of Thibet subject to China.

Immediately west from Nepal Proper is a country of considerable extent, which had long consisted of 24 petty estates, whose chiefs were collectively called the Chaubisi Rajas. Yet it would not appear that they were all connected by any common union for defence, by a common extraction, or by any other tie. They all, indeed, acknowledged the superiority of the Yumila Raja, of whom some account will be afterwards given; but besides these 24 chiefs, he had many others in similar dependence, which, however, conferred very little authority on the superior, whose power seems chiefly to have been confined to exhort his vassals in the support of a balance of power, and to confer the mark (Tica) of supreme authority on the heirs of each chief. His superior rank was, however, never disputed, and his call seems long to have met with a good deal of attention, when directed to procure assistance, in preventing one chief from swallowing up the dominions of another. The 24 chiefs, according to Kanak Nidhi, were the Rajas mentioned in the following list; but other lists differ considerably.

1. Piuthana 9. Palpa 17. Gajarkot 2. Malebum or 10. Garahang 18. Rising Parbat 3. Galkot 11. Poin 19. Ghiring 4. Isma 12. Satahung 20. Tanahung 5. Dhurkot 13. Birkot 21. Lamjun 6. Argha 14. Nayakot 22. Gorkha 7. Khachi 15. Kaski 23. Tarki 8. Gulmi 16. Dhor 24. Musikot



Of the other lists, which I received, it would be useless to give a detail, but I shall mention that given to Colonel Kirkpatrick, {238} referring to the names given in my list by prefixing the number. (21) Loomjoong. (15) Kashki. (20) Tunhoo or Tunnohoo. (3) Gulkoat. (2) Purbut or Mullibum. (14) Noakote or Nuwakote. (11) Pyoon. (12) Luttohoon. (10) Gurhoon. (18) Reesing. (19) Ghering. (16) Dhoar. (9) Palpa. (8) Goolmi. Wigha. (7) Khanchi. Dang. (24) Musikote. (1) Purthana. Jhilli. Suliana. (5) Dhoorkote; and (4) Isma. He thus omits Gorkha, Tarki, Gajarkot, and Argha of the list which I have given; although I suspect, that his Wigha is no other than Argha, for in page 288, he reckons Urghaloor as one of the 24 chiefs, and in page 297 he speaks of the territories of the Urgho Raja. I have indeed little doubt, that Wigha is a mistake of the editor for Urgho, and that Urghaloor was originally written Urghapoor, poor or pura being a common termination of the names of Indian cities. Gorkha was probably omitted by the Gorkhali who gave him the information; as its being included would have been acknowledging the former supremacy of Yumila, which the chiefs of Gorkha now wish to disavow. In place of Tarki and Gajarkot, Colonel Kirkpatricks list introduces Dang and Jhilli, (Chhilli,) both of which I have placed in the class containing twenty-two chiefs, although perhaps on slender grounds.

Several of these chiefs had entered with others into leagues for mutual defence, as the interpositions of Yumila, although of some weight, were by no means sufficient to procure security. The leagues were sometimes connected by a common descent in the chiefs, and such were called Athabhai, or eight brothers; while other leagues were composed of chiefs who were of different origins. Such leagues were called Satbhai, or seven brothers.

Among the leagues I heard of the following:

I. Lamjun was at the head of a league composed of Tanahung and Kaski; but Tanahung was followed in war by Dhor, and Kaski by Satahung, without any reference to the union of these states with Lamjun.

II. Birkot was at the head of a league containing Garahang, Poin, and Nayakot.

III. Palpa was at the head of a league composed of Gajarkot, Rising, Ghiring, Argha, Khachi, and Gulmi.

IV. Malebum had in alliance Gulkot.

V. Piuthana had in alliance Musikot and Isma, and also the two petty chiefs of Khungri and Bhingri, who, although their territories were surrounded by those of the Chaubisiya Rajas, were not included in the number of these chiefs.

Gorkha, I was informed, was always completely unconnected, and independent of all these alliances; nor did I learn that Dhurkot or Tarki were in a contrary situation.

I shall now proceed to give an account of the chiefs who governed this assembly of states, and of their countries.

I have already given an account of the family of highest rank, including the Rajas of Palpa, Tanahung, Rising, Ghiring, and Gajarkot; because this family possessed also large estates to the east of Nepal Proper. It therefore remains to describe the other 19 states.

I shall first mention the family which at present has obtained almost universal empire over the mountains north from the Companys provinces, and does not content itself with a gentle rule, such as that exercised by the Rajas of Yumila, but has seized the entire dominion and power of the conquered countries, and assumes a menacing countenance even to the Company.

The family pretends to be of the Pamar tribe; but it is alleged, as I have already explained, that this is a mere fable, and that, on the arrival of the colony from Chitaur, this family were Magars. One of its branches, however, has long adopted the Hindu rules of purity, and has intermarried with the best families, although not without creating disgust; and the other branch remains in primitive impurity, although we have seen that the same is the case with the Chauhans, who long pretended to a great superiority over the chiefs of Gorkha.

The first persons of the Gorkha family, of whom I have heard, were two brothers named Khancha and Mincha, or Nimcha, words altogether barbarous, and in no manner resembling the high sounding titles of the family of the sun, from whom the Pamars pretend to be descended. From whence these persons came, I did not learn; but Khancha was the founder of the impure branch of the family, and Mincha was the chief of Nayakot.

The impure branch of the family possessed Bhirkot, Garahang, and Dhor, which afterwards separated under three chiefs of the same house; but Bhirkot seems to have been the head of the whole, as its chief was at the head of a league containing Nayakot, the most ancient family of the pure descendants of Mincha. Bhirkot is a very petty state, consisting entirely of mountains, and containing neither mines nor mart of any consequence.

The same is the case with Garahang, whose chief adhered to the league with his kinsman of Bhirkot. The capital, (Rajdhani or Durbar,) of the same name with the country, is situated on the top of a hill, with no water nearer than a cose. In such a situation, only 60 or 70 huts surrounded the chiefs castle, which was built of brick.

The impure chief of Dhor did not join in the league of his kinsmen; but followed in battle the pure chiefs of Tanahung. His country was as petty and as mountainous as that of his kinsmen, but contained some iron mines.

I now return to Mincha, whose descendants were reclaimed from their impurity by the Brahmans.

Mincha was Raja of Nayakot, and the chiefs of this place, although they lived pure, continued to the last to follow in war the impure representative of Khancha, who governed Bhirkot. Nayakot was very petty; but, besides the capital, contained a town of some note, named Limi, but no mines of any consequence.

A collateral branch of the Nayakot Rajas obtained a similar state called Satahung, which, besides the capital, contained a town called Gengdi. The capital, of the same name with the territory, is situated on a hill, and contained about 250 thatched huts, besides the brick castle of the chief. In the whole territory there might have been 1500 houses. The Rajas share of the land revenue amounted to 2000 rupees a-year. He followed in war the chief of Kaski. The most numerous tribe among his subjects was the Khasiya.

A second collateral branch of the Nayakot family was Kaski, a more powerful state than that of the chief from which it sprang. I believe that the territory of this chief towards the hills was much wider than is represented in the map of Kanak, for I was informed, that Gorkha had no communication with the Bhotiyas, his country being narrowed there between Kaski and Nepal. It may, however, have happened, that the want of communication was owing to the impracticability of the mountains, and not to the shortness of the frontier. The chiefs of Kaski leagued with Lamjun, a collateral branch of their own family, but had as a follower in war their kinsman of Satahung. Although adjacent to the mountains covered with perpetual snow, the southern parts are rather warmer than the valley of Nepal Proper, but the parts adjacent to the snowy peaks were inhabited by Bhotiyas, and next to these were some Gurungs. The warmer parts were occupied by Brahmans, Khasiyas, and the persons of low tribes necessary as artisans. The mountains here formed an uninterrupted and impenetrable barrier towards the north. The chief possessed some mines of copper; and, besides the capital, there is a considerable town called Pokhara, which is a mart frequented by merchants from Nepal, Palpa, Malebum, etc. and afforded duties that in so poor a country were reckoned considerable. The capital by Colonel Kirkpatrick {242} is called Buttolachoor, is situated among hills on the Seti river, (Saite, K.) which is very deep but narrow.

Kaski, the ancient capital, Colonel Kirkpatrick places 7 coses west from Buttolachoor, with Surrungkoat, a large town with a fort on a hill between them.

The chief of Lamjun was descended from a younger son of Kaski, and was originally powerful, the sum appropriated from the land revenue, for his family expense, being 22,000 rupees a-year; and he was not only followed in war by his kinsman the chief of Kaski, but by the Raja of Tanahung. Lamjun, after the loss of Gorkha, was a cold country bordering on the snowy peaks of Emodus, and inhabited by Bhotiyas, with some Brahmans and Khasiyas in the warmer vallies. It contained no mine of any importance, nor any town of note, except the capital; and the chief advantage, after the loss of Gorkha, that the Raja enjoyed, was the commerce with Bhotan or Thibet, which was carried on through a passage in Emodus called Siklik. Many goods were conveyed by this route to Lamjun, and from thence, by the way of Tarku, Tanahung, Dewghat, and Bakra, into the low country; but this trade has been interdicted by the present government of Nepal, which is very jealous of the Raja of Tanahung, to whom Bakra still is secured by the Companys protection. Siklik, however, is still the residence of a Subah or civil governor, and is probably the place called Seshant in the map of Kanak. The name merely implies a frontier place, but among the hills is used to imply a place inhabited by barbarians; that is, such as reject the doctrines of the Brahmans. In both meanings the term is applicable to Siklik, as its inhabitants, Bhotiyas and Gurungs adhere to the Lamas, and it is the frontier town towards the empire of China.

One of the Lamjun Rajas, according to Prati Nidhi, had a younger brother named Darbha Sahi, who as usual held the office of Chautariya; but rebelled, and took to himself Gorkha, the southern part of the principality, paying 12,000 rupees of the 22,000 that came to the chief for his support.

Gorkha is rather warmer than the valley of Nepal, and its chief inhabitants were Brahmans and Khasiyas, in about equal numbers, with rather fewer Magars, the Brahmans being the chief cultivators, and the Khas and Magars the fighting men. The capital Gorkha is situated on a very high hill, and was the only place of note in the territory. It is said to contain about 2000 houses, and the temple of Gorakhanath, who is one of the tutelar deities of the reigning family. From this circumstance we may perhaps infer, that the proper name of the place is Gorakha, and that, previous to having adopted the doctrines of the Brahmans, this family had received the Zogis, or priests of Gorakhanath, as their spiritual guides.

Colonel Kirkpatrick {244} states the old boundaries of Gorkha to have been the Trisulganga (Tirsoolgunga) on the east, and the Marichangdi (Mursiangdi) on the west. In place of the former he should have stated the Gandi; but from what he says, (in page 122,) it would seem that he confounded the Gandi with both the Setiganga and Trisulganga.

Nara Bhupal or Nribhupala, according to Prati Nidhi, was the sixth or seventh in descent from Darbha. The account which I received in Nepal does not materially differ. The first chief of Gorkha was, however, there called Rama Sahi, whether a different name for Darbha, or his son, I do not know; but his descendants were as follows: 1. Puran. 2. Chhatra. 3. Dambar. 4. Virbhadra. 5. Prithwi Pati. 6. Nribhupal. These chiefs entered into none of the leagues formed by their neighbours, trusting to their own vigour chiefly, for their country was very poor.

The chiefs of Gorkha being cut off from any direct communication with either the low country or Thibet, and having no mines nor other productions as a basis for commerce, were considered as insignificant, but Nribhupal procured in marriage, first, a daughter of the Palpa family; and, secondly, a daughter of the sixth son of the chief of Malebum, both of whom added much to his dignity.

His eldest son Prithwi Narayan (Purthi Nerayn in Kirkpatrick) was a person of insatiable ambition, sound judgment, great courage, and unceasing activity. Kind and liberal, especially in promises to his friends and dependants, he was regardless of faith to strangers, and of humanity to his enemies, that is, to all who opposed his views.

When a very young man, he visited Banaras, and having met with what he considered insolence at some (Chauki) custom-house, instantly put the officers to death. He was concealed from the police by a (Vairagi) person dedicated to religion, who, induced by most abundant promises, conveyed the highland chief in safety to his cousin, Makunda Sen, Raja of Palpa, by whom he was very kindly received, and furnished with the means which enabled him to undertake his first enterprises. I have already mentioned the manner in which he repaid this friendship, and in which he conquered the countries that the Chitaur colony held on the east of the Gandaki. Some account of the invasion of Nepal by this chief is given by Colonel Kirkpatrick, {245} and in the Asiatick Researches will be found a more full narration by an eye-witness of the manner in which he acquired that country, to which he immediately transferred the seat of government, although his nobles and soldiers despise the name of Nepal, and call themselves Gorkhalis. I have also mentioned his total failure in an attempt to extend his dominions to the west, towards which, during the remainder of his government, and that of his son, the Marichangdi continued to be the boundary to the west, as it had been in the time of his ancestors.

The Vairagi, who had saved the life of Prithwi Narayan at Banaras, no sooner heard of the conquest of Nepal, than he repaired to that country, and reminded the chief of his promises. These the chief did not attempt to deny; but said, that, as the promises had been extorted by fear, he would give nothing. The Vairagi, having assembled 500 of the religious order of Nagas, attempted to use force; but the whole horde was taken, and put to death, an event of great use to Bengal, which these ruffians had been in the habit of plundering.

Prithwi Narayan, besides his personal endowments, was much indebted for success to the introduction of firelocks, which until his time were totally unknown among the hills; and, so far as he was able, he introduced European discipline, the value of which he fully appreciated. His jealousy of the European character always, however, prevented him from employing any of them in his service, and he is said to have strongly recommended to his successors to follow, in this respect, his example. How far this may have been judicious, I cannot say; but it has certainly prevented his troops, although in many respects well organized, from making considerable progress in tactics, or in a dexterous use of their arms, and these are probably much more defective than his descendants and their officers think.

Prithwi Narayan died about the year 1771, and left two legitimate sons; Singha Pratap, who succeeded his father, and Bahadur Sahi, who, after his brothers death, was regent of the kingdom during his nephews minority, although he had excited the jealousy of Singha Pratap, and had with difficulty saved his life by living in exile.

Singha Prataps attention, as I have mentioned, was chiefly directed to secure the conquests towards the east, in which, as I have said, he seems to have had as few scruples as usual in his family. He died in 1775, at Devighat, and left his kingdom to his son Rana Bahadur, placed in charge of his uncle Bahadur Sahi, a very active enterprising prince, and of his mother Rajendra Lakshmi, a princess of a similar character.

Two such enterprising personages could not agree: and, until the princesss death, there were constant disputes, sometimes the one, and sometimes the other, acquiring the ascendancy, and then confining or banishing their adversary. Yet it is alleged, that in times of reconciliation, marriage had been proposed between them, the custom of the lower casts of Hindus, at least, not only permitting, but requiring a younger brother to espouse his elder brothers widow. That such a proposal should ever have been made, being contrary to the customs which at present prevail among the high casts, is rather improbable; and, perhaps, owes its origin to a desire of flattering Rana Bahadur, whose treatment of his uncle required an apology. The people of Palpa indeed allege, that, during the life of Singha Pratap, a more criminal intercourse had actually taken place between the two regents, and that it was to revenge the disgrace thrown on his family, that Rana Bahadur proceeded to extremities against his uncle. Were this true, the attempt to unite their differences by a marriage might be supposed possible: but I attribute the origin of such a story to the disappointed hopes of the Palpa family, which, after having entered into an iniquitous league with Bahadur Sahi, found itself in consequence reduced to a state of dependancy.

I have already mentioned the manner in which Bahadur Sahi thus connected himself with the Palpa family, and the success that attended Damodar Pangre, the officer who was most judiciously employed, and who then held the office of Karyi. Except Palpa, and its share of the spoil, this officer speedily reduced the whole country from Gorkha to the boundary of the country called Garhawal, the capital of which is Srinagar. At the same time, the dominion of Gorkha was extended over the Sikim Bhotiyas of the east, as I have already mentioned; and several other chiefs of the Bhotiya nation towards the north were reduced to obedience.

So far the greatest success had attended the regent, when he was tempted to adopt a very rash measure. Sumur, a discontented brother of the Tishu Lamas from Degarchi, came to Nepal, and told the needy chief wonderful stories concerning the wealth of the convent, in which the Tishu Lama, spiritual guide of the Chinese Emperor, resided. Inflamed with a desire for plunder, and without having the slightest pretence or intercourse with that priest, a large body of Gorkhalis (it is said 7000) overcame all the obstructions of a long and very difficult route, and succeeded in carrying back a large booty, although closely pursued by a Chinese army, that came to the assistance of the Lama. This army having been greatly increased, about the time when Colonel Kirkpatrick visited Nepal, advanced to Dhayabung, and compelled the regent to submit to several indignities, although it had suffered severely from the climate, and the poverty of the country. For the particulars, however, I may refer to the Account of Colonel Kirkpatrick, {248a} and of Captain Turner, {248b} whose opportunities of acquiring information were superior to mine. So far as I can learn, the people of Gorkha were very much discontented with the regent for submitting to the indignities which the Chinese demanded; and they seem to have thought, that the invading army had been reduced to a situation rather to offer than demand submission. The submission was, however, not impolitic; for I believe, that the tribute agreed upon has never even been demanded, much less expected, and the Gorkhalis are in the habit of saying, that, should they have any dispute with the English, their only formidable neighbour, they will claim the protection of the Chinese, with whose influence over the Company they seem to be much better acquainted than one would have expected. The Chinese general consented to move back on receiving a supply of grain for his army, and fifty virgins as an homage for his sovereign; but no stipulation was made for the restoration of the plunder of Degarchi. It was given out at Kathmandu, that the virgins threw themselves from the precipices on the route, and perished rather than submit to the embraces of infidels defiled by every impure food: but I have since learned, that their sense of honour did not carry them to such lengths, and that the Chinese placed them in a convent near the frontier. The people of Thibet procured no satisfaction for the injury, and Chinese garrisons having been placed through their country, they have become more subject than ever to that empire, and most of their petty chiefs have been put to death or banished, while the Chinese have since extended their conquests still farther west. The dominions of Nepal are therefore the only thing that separates them from the British power, and saves them from political discussions, managed free from the control of their own forms, and from exposing to their officers and people the view of a nation far their superior in power.

It is alleged, that at length the regents ambition overcame his sense of duty, and that he intended to keep his nephew in confinement, and seize the government. The people of Palpa allege, that he had secured the assistance of his brother-in-law Mahadatta Sen. Certain it is, that he was suddenly dispossessed of power by his nephew, and died in confinement, some say by the Rajas own hand, while others assert that he was starved to death.

Bahadur Sahi, although a prince of great vigour, is supposed to have been uncommonly superstitious; yet from some anecdotes related by Colonel Kirkpatrick, {250} it would appear, that he was very capable of evading with skill the performance of troublesome ceremonies, and that he could speak on religion with the popish missionaries without harshness, but with a considerable quickness of repartee. His superstition was probably, therefore, of that nature which is usually assumed by princes placed in difficult situations.

Rana Bahadur received little or no education from his guardians, but was allowed to indulge in every vice, surrounded by minions and young profligates of the court. These not only assisted him in the pursuit of low vices, but encouraged his natural propensity to cruel diversions. He had no sooner secured his rights to the throne, and assumed the power of the state, than he showed the restless ambition of his family by an attack on the Yumila Raja, whom all the mountain chiefs acknowledged as their liege lord. The Yumila chief, although he had been thrown off his guard by all manner of professions, having an extensive territory, made a stout resistance, but was finally compelled to seek refuge in the country of the Vazir.

Rana Bahadur had married a daughter of the Gulmi Raja, to whom he showed some favour, compelling the Raja of Palpa to give up to that chief several estates, of which he had been stript by Mahadatta Sen; but, perhaps being disgusted by his wifes having no children, he soon neglected that virtuous and high-minded lady, and very openly cohabited with other women. He first had a son by a common slave girl, and then one by the daughter of a Brahman. This gave great offence to the sacred order, but the ungovernable fury of the Rajas temper hushed all complaints. As a means of disturbing him, however, the skilful in astrology (Jyotish) published a prophecy, foretelling that the Raja would not long survive his beauteous favourite of the sacred order, who would soon be seized with a disease. As the latter circumstance happened, the Raja, who, like other Hindus, had no doubt in the science, was in the utmost consternation. Some of the learned took immediate advantage, and informed him, that, by certain ceremonies performed before a certain image, his favourite might be restored to health. The Raja, caught by this device, advanced what was held to be a very large sum, it is said 100,000 rupees; but without effect, for his favourite died in a few days. The Rajas ungovernable temper now fully disclosed itself. He not only scourged the Brahmans to make them disgorge his money, but he took the image, and, grinding it to pieces with excrement, threw the fragments into a river. His fears, however, were not abated, and the people, disgusted and terrified at his violence, were ripe for change. It was judiciously suggested to him, that, as he could not expect to survive long, he should endeavour to secure the government to the son of his favourite, by placing him immediately on the throne, (Gadi,) and by making all ranks take the oaths of fidelity to the child. The Raja approved entirely of this measure, and determined to end his days at Banaras, and thus to secure a place in heaven. Every step, however, was taken to secure the young Rajas authority. The Raja of Palpa was invited to place the mark of royalty (Tika) on his forehead, and some of the conquered chiefs, I believe chiefly those descended of Khancha and Mincha, were induced to be present, and promised an annual pension, on condition of their acknowledging the legitimacy of their illegitimate kinsman: and so much weight has been attached to this acknowledgment, that the pensions, I am told, are still continued.

Before all these ceremonies had been performed, much time had elapsed. Although, therefore, every preparation had been made for the Rajas departure for Banaras, and although he had conferred the regency on his surviving favourite the slave girl, his wife having refused to accept of the office, and having insisted on accompanying her lord, Rana Bahadur, no longer called Raja but Swami, finding himself very well, seems to have repented of what he had rashly done, and suspecting some trick, was inclined to resume the government. Both people and chiefs were, however, in general averse to this measure, as the violence of his temper was universally feared. The chiefs, therefore, under the direction of Damodar Pangre, informed him, that they, having sworn obedience to the young Raja, would support his government. The Raja fortified himself in the town of Lalita Patan, near the capital, and most of the eastern provinces were disposed to support his authority; but Damodar had shown such prudence and mildness, when he conquered the west, that the people of that quarter were determined to adhere to his cause. Sadhu Ram alleges, that on this occasion, in the country between Gorkha Proper and Garhawal, including Palpa, in the strictest friendship with Damodar, 17,000 men of the sacred order, and an equal number of the military tribes, were ready to support this officer. After some skirmishing, Damodars party being evidently the strongest, Rana Bahadur retired privately to Banaras with the character of insanity but, except in an ungovernable ferocity and cruelty of temper, and in a credulity, evidently the fault of education, he seems to have been abundantly judicious, and in fact finally overreached all his adversaries.

Rana Bahadur having incurred a considerable debt to the British Government, which supplied his wants at Banaras, a treaty was entered into for a gradual repayment, and for the residence of a British officer at Kathmandu; and Captain Knox, with whom I went, entered their territory in February 1802. We had been there only a few days, when the officers, who came to meet us, and who were very friendly disposed, were thrown into great trouble by the arrival of the princess, Rana Bahadurs wife. The unprincipled chief had connected himself with one of these frail but pure beauties, (Gandharbin,) with which the holy city abounds, had stript his wife of her jewels to bestow them on this wanton companion, and finally had turned his wife out of doors. As the slave regent had the meanness to seize on the income of the town, assigned for the princesss dowry, the poor lady was reduced to the utmost distress, and conceived that we were her enemies, being on an embassy to the low woman, by whom she had been so shamefully used. She therefore stirred up to destroy us a certain Masan Raut, who had under him many thieves and robbers, with whom he plundered the borders. We received, however, timely notice, and our guard being all night under arms, no attempt was made, although the sentries saw hovering round parties of men, who, no doubt, had come in the expectation of finding some unguarded part.

As might have been expected, under such circumstances, the slave girls regency had been from the first marked with weakness. The two most powerful chiefs then in Nepal were Brahma Sahi of the royal family, and Damodar of the house called Pangre, which, ever since the conquest, has been the most powerful family among the Gorkhalis. Damodar had strengthened his influence by the marriage of his sister into the distinguished family of the Viswanaths, and had procured the command of most of the fortresses, which he intrusted to the care of his own dependants. The eldest of his nephews, of the Viswanath family, was then a fine young man named Kritimohun. Him the regent appointed Karyi, and in his abilities reposed the highest confidence, which was supposed to have been increased by her regard for his person. Far from supporting his uncle, this rash young man removed all the adherents of the Pangre family from the command of the fortresses, and gave them in charge to dependants of his own, and of Rudravir his illegitimate brother. In the meanwhile, envy raised against him many enemies, and he was assassinated by persons of a rank too elevated to be publicly mentioned. Among these was Sri Krishna Sahi, one of the legitimate princes of the royal family, who was compelled to fly into the Companys territory; but the principal odium and suspicion fell on Damodar Pangre, the young ministers uncle. As the regent never liked this chief, the circumstance was made a pretence for attempting his ruin, and for the elevation of Brahma Sahi to the principal authority in the government. This personage having joined with two brothers of the Viswanath family, and with Sher Bahadur, illegitimate brother of Rana Bahadur, seized on the two sons of Damodar Pangre; but the old man could not be touched; he was too much versed in affairs, and was too strongly supported by his friends, and especially by two warlike brothers. With these he retired from court; and when Captain Knox approached the frontier, in the beginning of 1802, was living in sullen retirement. At this time an apparent reconciliation took place between Brahma Sahi and Damodar Pangre; both came to receive the English embassy; and the sons of Damodar were liberated. The probable cause of this reconciliation was the elevation of a low man to the principal confidence of the regent, while the charge of her conscience and heart was in possession of a young Sannyasi or religious mendicant, one of the finest formed men that I have ever seen. Both circumstances gave offence to the people.

On our arrival in the valley of Nepal, in April, we found a young illegitimate Raja, about six years of age, whose nominal chief minister, Chautariya, was an illegitimate brother, two years older than himself, and son of the regent slave girl, who had in fact given the whole power to a very low person, which occasioned universal disgust. Damodar Pangre, who had met us on the frontier, did not accompany us to the court, for what reason I do not exactly know; but it is probable that he scorned the low favourite, who had been raised to the chief authority in the kingdom. The only man of weight at the court was in fact Brahma Sahi, descended of the royal family; but whether or not legitimate, I cannot say. He was, however, highly respected by the people, and has fewer of the vices of his family than usual, with much good sense and moderation.

Soon after our arrival we learned, that the distressed princess, spouse of Rana Bahadur, terrified at the thought of remaining in the unhealthy forests during the rainy season, deprived of means to support her in the Companys territory, and probably encouraged by Damodar Pangre, intended to come up to Nepal without leave; for the regent could not bear the approach of her former mistress, and yet would not give her the stipulated dower. People were therefore sent, who brought up all the male attendants of the princess in irons; and it was hoped, I believe, that she would perish in the woods. Necessity, however, added boldness to her measures, and she advanced with ten or twelve female attendants to Chisapani, a fortress commanding the entrance into Nepal. It was evident, however, that the commiseration of the people was daily gaining strength, and the timidity of the regent gave daily an increase of power to the princess. An additional company of Seapoys was sent to Chisapani, as if soldiers were the proper persons to stop the progress of a few helpless women. The officer commanding had received positive orders to refuse the princess admittance; but he contented himself by executing merely the letter of his orders. He took in all his garrison, shut the gates, and allowed the lady and her attendants to walk quietly round the walls. Much anxiety was now evident at the capital, and another company of Seapoys was dispatched to Chitlang, with positive orders to prevent the princess from advancing farther; and, if the arrears of dower had accompanied the officer, I do not believe that she would have made any attempt; but the sordid dispositions of the regent and her favourite did not suffer them to part with money. The officer commanding the company met the poor princess and her attendants on the road, and, being a man of true honour, with a good deal of difficulty mustered courage to disclose his orders. When he had done so, the high-born lady, unmoved by fear, pulled out a dagger, and saying, will you presume to oppose the lawful wife of a Gorkhali Raja, while going to her own estate? she struck him on the arm; on which, although wounded, he immediately retired, quite ashamed of the service on which he had been employed; and his men required no orders to follow his example. The princess that morning entered the valley of Nepal, and halted about five miles from the capital. No sooner was this known than she was joined by Damodar Pangre, and all ranks flocked to pay their respects, and among them all the officers of government, except the low favourite, who immediately fled towards Thibet.

The regent, thus deserted, retired with the Raja and her son to the sanctuary of a temple, taking with her all the money in the treasury and the jewels of the crown. Next day the princess entered the capital, and, after a short negotiation, took upon herself the regency, and settled on her base-born rival an income, which, had she received, she would never have given any trouble. In the whole transaction, indeed, she showed great magnanimity; and the only stain on her character, so far as I know, during so difficult a scene, was her conduct to the wife of the low man, whom the late regent had elevated to the office of Serdar. This unfortunate woman was put to the torture, to make her disclose where her husband had concealed his treasure; but, I believe, the treasure was imaginary, and the report of his having accumulated wealth arose, I imagine, in base minds, envious of his sudden rise, and anxious to gratify their envy by misrepresentations to the princess regent. The man, indeed, bore on the whole a good character; and the meanness of his birth and education, with some low conduct, arising more from these misfortunes than from any inclination to evil, are the only things for which I ever heard him blamed.

The new regent placed in her chief confidence Damodar Pangre, the officer in the country of by far the highest reputation; and although she consulted him chiefly, she expressed great anxiety for her husbands return. She also showed the utmost jealousy of the British embassy as likely to interfere with that event; and in the end of March 1802 we left the capital. It was probably at the instigation of Damodar, that the Palpa Raja, as I have mentioned, was allowed to return home. Whether or not these chiefs had entered into any conspiracy, as has been hinted, I do not know; but it is generally believed, that Damodar, so far as he was able, opposed the return of Rana Bahadur, which certainly was neither desirable for Nepal nor its neighbours. The natives in general believe, that he wrote a letter to a gentleman of rank at Banaras, requesting his influence to keep Rana Bahadur at that city; and that this letter, by the treachery or mistaken policy of the gentleman, came into the hands of this ferocious chief. He instantly departed by post, and was in the dominions of Nepal before any one suspected that he had left Banaras. He was cordially received by his faithful wife, although he did not fail to send to Banaras for the wanton beauty, by whom he had been there captivated, and who must have cost him great sums, if we can judge from the style in which she now lives at Banaras, to which she returned on his death.

On his approach to the capital, Rana Bahadur was met by Damodar Pangre, at the head of a large body of armed men. This certainly had an alarming appearance, and the intention of a man so prudent and reserved as Damodar must always remain uncertain; but the prince, supported by the advice of Bhim Sen, a young attendant, showed no sign of fear, and called aloud to the officers and men, Now show whether you will have me or Damodar for your lord? on which the whole joined him, and the gallant veteran, and his eldest son, were bound.

Rana Bahadur contented himself with the title of Swami or Lord, and, finding that the oath of fidelity had still a considerable influence among the troops, acted merely as regent for his son; but, in action, he never hesitated to assume the full power of the prince. Soon after, having shown the letter to Damodar, he delivered him and his son to the public executioner. As leading to the place, the young man proposed resistance, and a sudden attempt might have put them in possession of arms, which, with their known courage, and the veneration for their character, where no higher authority was present, might have overcome the guard. The old general, however, recommended submission, lest their attempt might have proven totally fatal to their house. He appears to have here also acted with his usual judgment; as his only surviving son was spared by Rana Bahadur, when treacherously delivered up by the Palpa Raja, as I have above mentioned; and the young man, I believe, now holds the office of one of the Karyis, the whole soldiery viewing the family with affection, and considering it entitled to have one of its members always in possession of that dignity.

Immediately after this, Rana Bahadur determined to enlarge his dominions, and with that view entrusted Bara Amar Singha with a large force. This officer Rana Bahadur, when he arrived from Banaras, found in confinement, in which he had been placed by his old commander, Damodar Pangre, and, on this account, he was justly considered as more faithful to the prince. He rapidly seized on Garhawal, and extended the power of Gorkha beyond the Yamuna; where, had it not been checked by Ranjit Singha, the Sikh chieftain, it would soon have extended to the boundary of Kasmira.

I have already mentioned the arts by which Rana Bahadur inveigled Prithwi Pal, and the chief officers of that prince, into his power; in which he showed no symptoms of insanity, unless a shameless perfidy be considered as such. His career, however, was then near a close. Most of the chief officers were disgusted, and kept in constant terror by the remembrance of Damodar Pangres fate, with whom most of them had been intimately connected; and each daily expected, that this connection might be made a pretence for his ruin; for the regent or lord consulted only a young man named Bhim Sen, vigorous, ambitious, and unprincipled as himself. A conspiracy is said to have been formed with a view of placing the Palpa Raja at the head of affairs; and Sher Bahadur, an illegitimate brother of the regent, who long had held the high office of Chautariya, is supposed to have been concerned. In order to remove his brother from such dangerous enterprises, the regent ordered him to join the army in the field, but he declined. The regent was then very angry; and, while in full court, sent for his brother, with orders to bring him by force if he declined. Sher Bahadur followed the messengers into the court, and being asked, if he would join the army, declined by saying, we are sons of the same father, go you and I will follow. What may be exactly meant by this phrase in an ambiguous language, I cannot say; certainly, however, it so enraged Rana, that he ordered his brother for execution; but, while no one was aware, the brother drew his sword, and gave the regent a mortal blow. He was instantly put to death by Bhim Sen, into whose hands the regent, before he expired, delivered his son, the Raja, and commanded all persons to obey his authority.

When the Raja expired, Bhim Sen immediately retired to another room, commanding a view of the court, in which the guard was assembled, and, having addressed the soldiers, and received a promise of their support, he immediately surrounded the hall, in which the court was assembled, and put to death all the most active persons, under pretence, at least, of the conspiracy, and there is reason to suspect, that what he alleged was not destitute of foundation. On this occasion, Bidur Sahi, an illegitimate son of the royal family, then one of the Chautariyas, Narasingha Karyi, Tribhuvan Karyi, and about fifty military officers, were killed. On the same day he put to death the Palpa Raja, and his chief officers, as has been already mentioned; and his father, Amar Singha, immediately seized on the dominions of that chief. Some variations are told in the circumstances of this event, but the above I consider as the best authenticated.

Rana Bahadur, although he could not treat his wife with kindness, nor even decency, does not seem to have been altogether unmoved by her noble conduct; and, after his return from Banaras, had enlarged her fathers dominions. Fortunately for Bhim Sen, the high-spirited lady accompanied the body of her faithless husband on the funeral pile and freed the new regent from her presence, which might have been very troublesome. For his subsequent conduct in seizing on her fathers petty states, which was done when he seized Palpa, it will be difficult to account, except on the principle of insatiable rapacity. The tragedies of his first days government of course stopped all observations on his conduct. Disliking to have at the capital a person so venerable, and of such high rank as Brahma Sahi, he induced that chief to accept the government of Kumau or Almora, the most honourable in the kingdom, and augmented in dignity by the new title of Raja Brahma Sahi, exempt from ambition, and knowing from his character that he was safe from danger, accepted the office as more suited to his great years, than the dangerous intrigues of Kathmandu. The remote government of Saliyana is occupied by his brother Rudravir, but the youngest brother Hasthadal, and all his legitimate male issue, are held at Kathmandu, no doubt as hostages; for all the family is suspected not only of disaffection, but of being too friendly to the English. Hasthadal, however, is now one of the Chautariyas. The command of the army in the west has been continued to Bara Amar Singha, whose birth gives him no pretension to raise disturbances; but who has good abilities, and there is reason to believe is firmly attached to the present ruler. Bhim Sen, himself, now in the vigour of youth, and of the most determined courage, has probably very ambitious views. Whether or not he may think these promoted by his disputes with the English, I do not know; but the Raja approaches manhood, and the objections to his succession are very numerous, while the disputes with the English have been a pretence for assembling a very large force, (twenty-five companies under the son, and thirteen companies under the father,) and for thus attaching to his family a very large proportion of the army. The army in the west is under the command of Bara Amar Singha, father of Ranadhwar, the chief confidant and coadjutor of the young minister.

From the following genealogical table of the legitimate descendants of Narabhupal or Nribhupal, composed in spring 1803, it will appear, that the line of Prithwi Narayan ended in Rana Bahadur; nor do I know what has since become of the other branches of the family. They were in obscurity when the table was composed, and their condition since has probably in no way been altered, at least for the better; and at any rate, they are distant relations to Rana Bahadur, nor are they descended from Prithwi Narayan, the favourite hero of the nation. Every male of the family, legitimate or not, takes the title of Sa, Sahi, or Saha, which is always used in conversation and writing, but need not be repeated in the table.

[Picture: Genealogical Table]

There was another family, which contained six petty chiefs, Gulmi, Khachi, Argha, Musikot, Dhurkot, and Isma; all of whom, except Musikot, had adopted the rules of purity, and took the title of Sahi, or Saha, like the chiefs of Gorkha; but it is not alleged, that the two families had any connection, except by marriage, and two of the branches of the family, of which I am now giving an account, Gulmi and Musikot, called themselves Kala Makwani, although no one knows from whence they came, nor the origin of the appellation. The Rajas of Gulmi, Khachi, and Argha, followed Palpa in war; Dhurkot stood independent; and Isma and Musikot followed Piuthana.

It is probable, that Gulmi was the original seat of the family, as Khachi and Argha are acknowledged to be collateral branches; but with the claims of the other three chiefs I am not acquainted. Gulmi, the capital of the state so named, is situated on a hill, the ascent of which is said to be three miles in length. The castle is built of bricks, and covered with tiles. The town contained 500 houses, mostly thatched. There is no water within a quarter of a mile of the town. A part of the great mart, called Rerighat, mentioned in the account of Palpa, belonged to the chief of Gulmi. His territory contains mines of zinc, (dasta,) cinnabar, (sabita,) and copper, of which one is on a hill, called Chandrakot, and another on Arakul Pahar, near the former. These mines would appear to be valuable. The allied chiefs of Palpa, Gulmi, Khachi, and Argha, as I have mentioned, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, destroyed the Magar chief of Balihang, and divided among themselves his dominions, both on the hills and plains. The division seems to have given rise to sundry bickerings. The capital, which was situated on a hill near the plains, and fortified, fell to the share of Palpa; but Gulmi and Khachi received a large share of the plains. Makunda Sen of Palpa, about the middle of the last century, contrived to seize on Gulmi, by the intrigues of a Brahman, named Kanak Nidhi, who gives me the account, and he delivered the fortress to an officer of his masters, named Kirtibamb Thapa; but that person very soon restored the place to its lawful owner. I have already mentioned the base manner in which Mahadatta of Palpa joined with his son-in-law, Bahadur Sahi of Gorkha, and how he obtained Gulmi, Khachi, and Argha, as the dear bought fruit of his perfidy. These, however, he was allowed to possess, so long as he lived. Siva Saha, the dethroned chief of Gulmi, retired to Ramnagar, where he found refuge with the exiled chief of Tanahung, and while there, gave his grand-daughter in marriage to Rana Bahadur, the young Raja of Gorkha and Nepal, who no sooner obtained the government, than he compelled Prithwi Pal to restore the hills of Gulmi to his wifes father; and when he returned from Banaras, and had secured Prithwi Pal in confinement, the original possessions of the Gulmi family were augmented by the whole of the hills of Balihang; but this flourishing state lasted only for a few weeks, as, on the death of Rana and his high-minded spouse, all her fathers possessions were seized by the rapacious Bhim Sen, who now governs Nepal. Sidhi Pratap, the chief of Gulmi, is supposed to be still in the mountains; but others allege, that he has died without issue. He is supposed to have been about the thirtieth chief of his race.

In Gulmi and Balihang one-half of the people are Khasiyas, one-eighth Brahmans, of whom many are of pure birth, (Upadhyayas,) and few illegitimate, (Jausi.) The remainder of the population consists of impure tribes of cultivators and artificers.

The principal crop in these hills is the rice, which is reaped in the beginning of winter, (Aghani.)

The chief of Khachi, a younger branch of Gulmi, profited much by the spoils of Balihang, and had a fine territory on the plain adjacent to his hills. In the latter were no mines, except one of iron; but at the foot of the hills was a considerable mart, called Barakadwar, the trade of which, however, has been almost totally forced to Butaul, since the chief of Gorkha has seized on both countries. It is said, that there is a still more important pass, called Khor, four coses east from Barakadwar. This is said to be the easiest of all the ascents to the mountains, and leads to the town of Khachi, from whence there are routes in many directions leading to places at a great distance, without any very difficult ascent or descent. The town of Khachi, which was the capital, stands on a hill plentifully supplied with water. The town contained about 300 houses, mostly thatched; that of the chief was built of brick. The Rajas share of the land revenue on the hills, besides the lands for supplying the officers and soldiers, amounted to 4000 rupees a-year, and from the plain he annually procured from 500 to 1500 rupees, according as the cultivators were discontented or satisfied. Some of the officers had lands free of rent on the plains; but, as usual among the mountaineers, the whole revenue from the plain went to the chief. On the hills of this state 5-16ths of the people were Khasiyas, Brahmans and Rajputs 3-16ths, and low cultivators and artisans 8-16ths. The last Rajas name was Durgar Sahi, who was expelled by Mahadatta of Palpa, as already mentioned. I have not heard of his subsequent fate.

Argha belonged also to a collateral branch of Gulmi, which is supposed by some to have become extinct; but others allege, that the son of the last chief is now in Nepal. It had a small territory on the plain, bestowed by Makunda Sen in consequence of a marriage; but both hill and plain were seized by his son, as I have mentioned. Argha, the capital, is on a hill, four coses in ascent, on the summit of which, round the chiefs castle, are about 150 houses, while there are 350 about the middle of the ascent. The houses have mud walls and thatched roofs. Water is plenty at the lower town, but is a quarter of a mile distant from the upper. The hills possessed no mines, nor any considerable mart. The Rajas share of the land rent amounted to about 4000 rupees a-year, and the whole of his territory might contain 5000 houses. Not above 100 of these belonged to Brahmans, and the number of Rajputs was quite trifling. One half of the people were Khasiyas, the other half impure cultivators and tradesmen.