An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal. Francis Hamilton

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СКАЧАТЬ a Persian word, totally unknown to the natives. At Kathmandu I had a patient who had been chief of a territory north from Lassa, and who had been dispossessed by the Chinese; and, so far as I could learn from him, the native appellation, at least of the territory subject to Lassa, is Borka, from whence Bhotiya is perhaps a corruption; but I could not ascertain any general name for the countries which we call Thibet. These, however, and also Bhotan, are inhabited by kindred tribes of people, who resemble each other strongly in features, complexion, language, and manners. In the plate opposite to page 40 of Kirkpatrick’s Nepaul, are well represented, in a sitting posture, two persons of this nation, although, by some mistake, probably in the publisher, they are called natives of Nepal.

      The Lamas are the priests of the sect of Bouddh, in Thibet and the adjacent territories, and are monks, who have nominally at least forsaken the pleasures of the world. They totally reject the doctrine of cast, and a person of any nation may be admitted into the order. The whole, at least of those at a distance, consider themselves as under the authority of Sakya Gomba, who came from India about the time of Jesus Christ, and has ever since resided at Lassa, where he remains in perpetual youth. On this account he is not considered as an incarnation, (Avatar.) There are, however, many personages of this sect who are considered as incarnations of different Buddhas, or persons who have obtained divinity. These enter into the bodies of children, and inspire them through life; and when the body dies, the deity enters into another. Of this nature is the Dharma Raja, or spiritual chief of what we call Bhotan; and still more celebrated is the Tishu Lama, who resides at Degarchi, and is the spiritual guide of the Chinese emperors. This class of supposed deities seems to be pretty numerous, as, in the territory of the Lapcha and Kirats, their number would appear to have been at least twelve, as so many were known to my informant, who was only well acquainted with the former territory. The ordinary lamas pretend only to be saints. The best account I have seen of their doctrine is that given by the learned Pallas, which is much more complete than any I could procure in Nepal. The followers of Buddh have had five great lawgivers, and a sixth is daily expected. As each of these is supposed to have been an incarnation of a Buddh or Bourkan, and as all have been usually taken as one person, we may readily account for the difference that prevails in the opinions concerning the era when this sect arose. Gautama is the fourth of those lawgivers, and his doctrine alone is received by the priests of Ava, who reject the fifth as a heretic; but by the Bouddhists of Nepal, Thibet, Tartary, and China, he is named Sakya. Gautama, according to the best authorities, lived in the sixth century before the Christian era, and Sakya in the first century after the birth of our Lord.

      Although there is no distinction of cast among the Sayn or Bhotiyas, yet they are not without differences in religious opinions; for some of them in Nepal worship at Swayambhunath, while others prefer a temple of Bouddhama, which is situated near Pasupanath. The doctrine of Sakya Singha differs most essentially from that of Gautama. The Bhotiyas, following the former, worship all the spirits, that by the Burmas are called Nat, a practice which is held in abhorrence by the Rahans of Ava. They also consider the Buddhs as emanations from a supreme deity, view many of their Lamas as incarnations of a Buddh, and accordingly worship them as living Gods, although they do not consider them as equal to Sakya, who is the Lama of Lassa. There is among the Lamas no prohibition against the laity from studying any character or any book; but they must have wonderfully degraded the human understanding, when they can induce the people to swallow the belief in the deities living among them. It is true, that these are in all probability very much secluded, and rarely shown to the vulgar, except at a very great distance, and in obscurity; but still this seems to be nearly the utmost height of human imbecility.

      The belief of Sakya having lived among them since about the commencement of the Christian era, is probably confined to Nepal, and other remote parts, where no means of knowing the contrary exists. Such an absurdity could scarcely pass among actual observers, however degraded in understanding, and in Thibet the Lama of Lassa is probably considered as merely an incarnation of Sakya.

      Besides the countries which we call Thibet and Bootan, the Bhotiyas occupy, every where between the Kali and the Tista, the Alpine region adjacent to the snowy peaks of Emodus, on both sides of that chief of mountains, where none of the highland tribes above mentioned can endure the cold of winter any more than the Bhotiyas can suffer the moderate summer heats of Kathmandu. This induces me to think, that the present highland tribes, although of the same race with the people of Thibet, had originally occupied the plains, and, on the invasion of the present Hindus, had retired to the mountains, so far as they considered the temperature of the air tolerable, just as a colony of Hindus had retired to the same quarter, to avoid Mohammedan intolerance. In a region so extended, as that occupied by the Bhotiya nation, it is probable, that there exists a great variety of custom and dialect, for I heard of many different kinds, even among those who inhabit the southern face of Emodus; but the accounts given by people of different tribes and languages, differed so much, that I can say nothing satisfactory on the subject, especially as the season, when I resided on the frontier, was totally insufferable to a Bhotiya, so that I had no opportunity of conversing with them; the Lama from whom I received an account of the Lapchas being by birth a Murmi.

      I have already said that the Murmis are by many considered as a kind of Bhotiyas, but this the Lama denied, and the languages seem to have little affinity. I heard, besides, of Khat, Sirmi, and Kutung or Kutiya Bhotiyas, but cannot venture to speak of the nature of these distinctions, farther than to state, that the Khat Bhotiyas are mentioned by Colonel Kirkpatrick [59] as having long governed Nepal before the Newars, and as at this time occupying the lower parts of Bhotan, (Kachar,) on which subject I have already given my opinion. The resemblance to be traced between the Newar and Murmi languages, induces me to suppose that these two tribes are originally the same, and the historical hints given by Colonel Kirkpatrick induce me to draw the conclusion, that the Newars are Khat Bhotiyas, who have adopted some new customs in consequence of a greater connection with the Hindus. I never, indeed, heard the Murmis and Khat Bhotiyas mentioned as the same; but the former I have often heard named Siyena Bhotiyas, which is very likely to be another appellation for the Khat Bhotiyas, one name implying wild or forest Bhotiyas, and the other implying Bhotiyas who eat carrion like jackalls.

      The Bhotiyas, at least the greater part of those in Thibet, neglect agriculture, and, like the Dasnami Sannyasis of Puraniya, chiefly pursue commerce and a life of monkish austerity, but occasionally they wield the sword; and the principal support of the country is in its mines, and its numerous and various herds of cattle. The quantity of grain is said to be very inconsiderable, and both it and the herds of cattle are probably reared by some inferior tribe; but on this subject I have not yet had sufficient information. I have only learned, that the highest and proper Bhotiyas confine their attention entirely to religion, commerce, and arms, and it is in the first alone that they have had much success.

      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; but it seems to have a greater effect on the temperament. Cold can produce a change of temperament from the melancholic and choleric to the phlegmatic and sanguine, and heat acting on the human frame, is capable of producing a contrary revolution. Hence, rosy cheeks and lips are frequently observed among the mountain Hindus of Nepal, although they are very little fairer than those of Madras.

      Such are the principal tribes that occupy the mountains subject to the dominion of Nepal, or rather of Gorkha. In the plains adjacent to the mountains, and subject to the same prince, are several other tribes; but it is my intention to treat of them when I describe the Company’s provinces, where the greater part of these tribes is now found.

CHAPTER SECOND.

       nature of the country.

       Table of Contents

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