Francis Hamilton

“ The road over this mountain called Chisapani, is on the whole fatiguing; nor will it admit of any load being transported by cattle. To conduct a road over such a mountain, with proper slopes, so as to enable carriages to pass, is a work not to be expected from the natives, who, even if they were able to contrive such a work, would be afraid to put it in execution; as they would consider it as likely to afford too free an intercourse with their more powerful neighbours; and jealousy of strangers is the predominant principle in the Nepal government. ”

“ Whenever a woman pleases, she may leave her husband; and if, during her absence, she cohabit only with men of her own cast, or of a higher one, she may at any time return to her husband’s house, and resume the command of his family. The only ceremony or intimation that is necessary, before she goes away, is her placing two betel-nuts on her bed. So long as a woman chooses to live with her husband, he cannot take another wife, until she becomes past child-bearing; but a man may take a second wife, when his first chooses to leave him, or when she grows old ”

“ Except in a very few places, near the passes through the snowy mountains, the aboriginal inhabitants are alleged to have been obliged entirely to conform to the rules of Hindu purity, and to reject their ancient forms of worship; for I hope that the colonists from the south are not so bad as they pretend, and that religious zeal has not had such a victory over humanity as they allege; for the fear of being thought in any degree contaminated by the infidel Khas, would make them carefully conceal whatever indulgence humanity may have wrung from intolerance. ”

“ I shall afterwards have occasion to show, that the various classes of Hindus, that is, of the natives of India, who have adopted the Brahmans for spiritual guides, have not in all periods composed a great proportion of the population, nor have even entered any part of the country as residents. At present, indeed, in most parts of the kingdom, except in Nepal itself, they, or converts to their doctrine, form a large proportion of the inhabitants; and the more recent the importation, I should expect the greater resemblance between the colonists and the inhabitants of the plains of India ”

“ The stone usually employed in Nepal for building is a rock containing much lime, which is so impregnated with other matters, that, though it effervesces strongly with acids, and falls to pieces in a sufficient quantity of these liquids, yet, by calcination, it cannot be reduced to quicklime fit for use. It is disposed in vertical strata, is very fine grained, has a silky lustre, cuts well, can be procured in large masses, and powerfully resists the action of the weather, so that it is an excellent material for building.
Limestone is so scarce, that clay is the only mortar used by the natives. ”

“ One circumstance relative to the Bhotiyas is remarkable, and seems to me to decide a matter that has long been agitated concerning the natural history of man. All those that I have seen at Kathmandu, not only from the territory of Gorkha, but from Mostong, Kuti, Lasa, and Degarchi, are as black as the natives of Canton or Ava. Climate is not, therefore, able to change the colour of a nation ”

“ In a few places the Company’s territory extends to the foot of the mountains which bound the great plain on the north, which are called Himadri, Himachul, Himalichul, or Himaliya, and which form the Emodus of the ancients: but in most parts the dominions of Gorkha extend about twenty miles into the plain, and it seems in general to have been the policy of the princes of India to allow the mountain chiefs, even when very petty, to retain at least this extent of the low country, as being too obnoxious to their incursions to be of a value adequate to defray the expense of its defence. ”

“ It is called Lungcha by the Newars, and used by them for painting the walls of their houses.
The whole of this mountainous region is copiously watered by limpid streams and springs, and the vegetable productions are of most remarkable stateliness, beauty, and variety. Except at the summits of the mountains, the trees are uncommonly large; and every where, and at all seasons, the earth abounds with the most beautiful flowers, partly resembling those of India, but still more those of Europe. ”

“ The chief crop is summer rice, but there is also much wheat, and some barley. The parts conquered from Yumila are cold, but abound in pasture, and produce great flocks of sheep. The whole rents of the mountains, exclusive of lands granted to Brahmans, amounted to 125,000 rupees a-year, the whole of which, as usual west from the Kali river, was collected by the Raja’s officers; but since the conquest, much has been granted to the army of Gorkha. The government is one of the best in the country, and with the title of Raja, is held by Brahma Saha, one of the Chautariyas. ”

“ When Rana Bahadur had returned from Banaras, had assumed the management of affairs, as regent for his son, and had put to death Damodar Pangre, and the other discontented nobles of his kingdom, his first care was to secure Prithwi Pal. He accordingly sent an embassy to that chief, requesting his sister in marriage, and making the most profuse offers of increasing the territories of his future brother-in-law. ”

“ About one-fourth of the people in this country are Brahmans, Rajputs, and Khasiyas, who follow the doctrines of the p. 287present Hindu law. The Bhotiyas are on the whole the most numerous tribe, and with Gurungs, Rohanis, Khatis, and Rahals, all impure mountain tribes, make up the remaining three-fourths, who chiefly adhere to the Lamas. The language spoken at Court was the Khas, but differed very much from that of Palpa or Gorkha; even the titles of the chief officers of government were totally different, although the same forms of administration were established. ”

“ In a short time, therefore, it is highly probable that this people may unite with the mountain Hindus, and be considered as one of their casts. When I was at Kathmandu, indeed, I found that many people were then of this opinion; and Colonel Kirkpatrick [26b] p. 27includes them among the Kshatriya or military cast. But hitherto the tribe has been so powerful, that many people in the west speak its language although they do not belong to it; and by far the greatest number adhere to the original impurity of life which their ancestors embraced. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The numerous valleys among the prodigious mountains, of which Nepal in its extended sense consists, are inhabited by various tribes, that differ very much in language, and somewhat in customs. All that have any sort of pretensions to be considered as aboriginal, like their neighbours of Bhotan to the east, are, by their features, clearly marked as belonging to the Tartar or Chinese race of men, and have no sort of resemblance to the Hindus. ”

“ The Parbatiyas do not, like the Newars, delight in towns and villages, and, except the followers of the court, few reside in Kathmandu, or other cities of Nepal; neither are they so much addicted to large brick buildings; for the princes of the Gorkha family, although they have united very extensive dominions under their authority, have been contented with the palace of the petty chief of Kathmandu, or Kathmaro, as it is often called. ”

“ Until the arrival of the Rajputs, they seem all to have eaten every kind of animal food, and still do so whenever they are at liberty to indulge their inclinations. They still continue to drink spirituous liquors. Each tribe appears originally to have had a priesthood and deities peculiar to itself, although the worship of Bhim Sen, the son of Pandu, seems to be very general, and to have been that which preceded the doctrine of the Buddhas; but first the Lamas, or, perhaps, rather the Zogis, and then the Brahmans, have made encroachments, and at the same time introduced many new customs. ”

“ At other times, again, on business of the utmost emergency, a kind of assembly of notables is held, in which men who have neither office, nor any considerable influence in the government, are allowed to speak very freely, which seems to be done merely to allow the discontents of the nation to evaporate, as there is not a vestige of liberty in the country, nor does the court seem ever to be controlled by the opinions advanced in these assemblies. ”

“ A custom of the Newars, which was observed on the 11th of August by Colonel Crawford, deserves to be mentioned on account of its oddity. Each man on that day purchases a small quantity of boiled rice, mashed into a soft substance, and carries it to the field which he has cultivated. He then searches the field for frogs, and to every one that he can discover he gives a small portion of the boiled rice, at the same time uttering a prayer, and requesting the frog to watch over and protect his crop.
The Newars are a peaceable people, and not so much addicted to assassination as the Parbatiyas ”

“ Bhim Sen, the present violent ruler, did not respect the daughter of the favourite hero of his country; but, when he seized Palpa, seized also on her estates, carrying her and her younger son to Kathmandu, where he allows them a very scanty subsistence. The eldest son fled to his estates on the plain, fortunate in having the protection of the Nawab Vazir, with whose p. 278dominions the chiefs of Gorkha do not interfere. Why they respect them more than the Company’s, I do not exactly know; but that they do so is certain. ”

“ The child is two years old, and is very healthy. The natives consider the disease as hereditary, and allege that the child will become its victim.
The same kind of swelling in the throat that is common among the inhabitants of the Alps, prevails in Nepal, and, indeed, is frequently seen every where north from Patna. It might at first sight be supposed, that this disease does not derive its origin from the people drinking the water which came from mountains covered with perpetual snow, the cause to which in Europe it has been usually attributed. ”

“ The inhabitants of Vijaypur, towards the east, are chiefly Koch or Rajbangsis, who are considered as the same, live on the plain, and speak the dialect of Bengal; on the lower hills are many Mech. Both these tribes are original inhabitants of Kamrup. In the western parts, most of the cultivators are of the Gangaye cast, who speak the dialect of Mithila, and adhere to the doctrines of purity, as established in that country. On the hills, the people are mostly Khas, or a mixed breed between the mountain Hindus and natives, with some Rajputs, and some Magars, who have been lately introduced. ”

“ Wherever the land can be levelled into terraces, however narrow, it is exceedingly favourable for transplanted rice, which ripens after the rains have ceased, so that the harvest is never injured; and, as most of these terraces can be supplied at pleasure with water from springs, the crops are uncommonly certain. This is by far the most valuable land, and is that in which all the officers and servants of the Crown are paid, and from whence all endowments are made. In some parts the same land gives a winter crop of wheat and barley ”

“ This fort is always guarded by a company of seapoys; and, if fully garrisoned, might contain two hundred men. Round the fort a space has been cleared from trees; but so steep is the hill, that an enemy resting at the edge of the forest, and within two hundred yards of the fort, is not from thence visible. Immediately above the fort is a small village and market, (bazar;) but the Hindu engineers have been so improvident, that the only supply of water is about half a mile higher up the mountain. There, near the road, is a small spring of fine clear water, like that at Bhimphedi. ”

“ The one is called Sambhunath, or rather Swayambhunath, as being, in the opinion of the Bouddhists of Nepal and Thibet, a favourite residence of the Supreme Being. It is an elegant hill, with two peaks occupied by religious buildings, and covered with the most stately trees. It is a conspicuous object from almost every part of the valley, and every where appears to great advantage. ”

“ There is, therefore, great room to doubt, whether in reality Nanyopdev was a Kshatriya. The Brahmans of Mithila, indeed, are totally unwilling to admit, that a person of any lower rank could have authority to settle their customs; but in Bengal a person of the medical tribe obtained this power; and the chiefs of the low tribe called Bhawar trace their origin to a Nanyopdev who brought the stud of the king of Dilli to pasture in the plains of Mithila, then entirely waste. ”

“ Our residence in the Tariyani was at the most favourable season; but about the time (1st April) at which we advanced towards Nepal, the country becomes very unhealthy, good water for drinking becomes very scarce, and, till the cold season, the people are very subject to fevers and disorders in the bowels, which by the natives of Nepal are attributed to the Ayul, or a poisonous air, which many of them imagine proceeds from the breath of large serpents, supposed to inhabit the forests of the northern mountains. ”

“ The first rank of councillors is the only one now confined to the prince’s family, and is often given to illegitimate kinsmen. The Chautariya, who is the nearest relation to the reigning prince, is always considered as the prime minister, although he may have little real authority. During our stay in Nepal, the first Chautariya was a boy, brother to the Raja, and never appeared except on occasions of ceremony, where he was exhibited like a puppet, in the same manner as his sovereign.
The office of Karyi should be held by persons only of a few very distinguished families ”