An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal. Francis Hamilton

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СКАЧАТЬ called Prayaschitta, in which the prince washes in the river with great ceremony, and bestows large sums on the Brahmans, who read the expiatory prayers proper on the occasion. The expense of an expiation of this kind, which was performed during our stay in this country, was, by my Brahman, estimated at two thousand rupees; but the natives alleged that it amounted to ten times this sum.

      Colonel Kirkpatrick [21a] mentions the Dhewars as husbandmen and fishers of the western district, from which circumstance we may conclude that they belong to the Hindu colony; but I did not hear of them, as my account of the Parbatiya tribes was chiefly derived from the central parts. From the condition of similar tribes on the plains, these Dhewars probably belong to the third of the ranks above enumerated, although the Majhis, (Mhanjhees,) whom Colonel Kirkpatrick joins with the Dhewars, were represented to me as a tribe of original Khas, which has been converted by the Hindus, and admitted into the military order.

      Colonel Kirkpatrick then states, [21b] “That Nepaul, having been ruled for many centuries past by Rajput princes, and the various classes of Hindus appearing in all periods to have composed a great proportion of its population, we are naturally prepared to find a general resemblance in manners and customs between this part of its inhabitants, and kindred sects established in adjacent countries; accordingly, the differences are so faint as to be scarcely discernible in a single instance.” Now, I must here observe, that Nepal, in the proper sense of the word, when Colonel Kirkpatrick wrote, had not been governed for half a century by chiefs, who even pretended to be descended of a Hindu colony, for the Rajas of Nepal were Newars, who deny this extraction. They indeed called themselves Rajputs, that is, the descendants of princes, but so does the king of Ava, although no one ever imagined that he is descended of the Rajputs in Hindustan. 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; but, in fact, the resemblance, though strong, is not so complete as Colonel Kirkpatrick’s short stay amongst them induced him to suppose, as will appear from what I shall afterwards state.

      These mountain Hindus appear to me a deceitful and treacherous people, cruel and arrogant towards those in their power, and abjectly mean towards those from whom they expect favour. Their men of rank, even of the sacred order, pass their nights in the company of male and female dancers and musicians, and, by an excessive indulgence in pleasure, are soon exhausted. Their mornings are passed in sleep, and the day is occupied by the performance of religious ceremonies, so that little time remains for business, or for storing their minds with useful knowledge. Except a few of the Brahmans, they are, in general, drunkards, which, joined to a temper uncommonly suspicious, and to a consciousness of having neglected the conjugal duties, works them up to a fury of jealousy that frequently produces assassination. For this they are all prepared, by wearing a large knife in their girdle, and the point of honour requires them never to rest, until they have shed the blood of the man who has been suspected of a criminal intercourse with their wives. The jealous man watches his opportunity for months, and even for years, should his adversary be on his guard; and, having at length found a favourable time, with one stroke of his knife in the throat of his rival, he satisfies his revenge. This is considered as so commendable, that, at Kathmandu, the police, in other respects very strict, does not at all interfere, although the murderer is often actuated merely by suspicion.

      The higher ranks, whenever not compelled by the most urgent necessity, conceal their women; and their widows ought to burn themselves with their husbands’ corpse. Many, however, refuse, nor did I learn that force is ever used. The custom seems, however, more prevalent than in any part of India where I have been, the vicinity of Calcutta excepted.

      The appearance and dress of the lower orders of these Parbatiya Hindus is represented in the plate opposite to page 40 of Kirkpatrick’s Nepaul, where the figure, behind those seated, is a porter of this tribe.

      In these eastern parts of the dominions of Nepal, the mountain Hindus are far from having extirpated the aboriginal tribes, most of which, until the accession of the Gorkha family, enjoyed their customs and religion with little or no disturbance, and they are still numerous and powerful, as will be afterwards mentioned; but, west from the Kali river, there is a great difference. The whole people in Kumau, and Garhawal at least, as well as their language, are called Khasiyas, as having settled in the Khas country; but all pretend to be descended of colonists from the south, and disclaim every connection with the original impure barbarians. West from Garhawal, the term Khas is altogether rejected, and it is pretended that this impure race never held the country. Each cast, west from the Kali, preserves its race with the utmost care; nor are widows of the high cast permitted to become concubines. 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. To such a height is caution on this subject required, that the people, who have settled near the passes in the snowy mountains, although acknowledged as of the same tribes with those nearer the plain, and although they use the same language and manners, are called Bhotiyas, and are no longer permitted to intermarry with the people who can have no intercourse with these impure infidels. On account of this strictness, the Rajputs of the western districts are as much courted by those of the plains, as those east from the Kali are scouted.

      The mountain tribes, which I consider aboriginal, as I have said, have Chinese or Tartar faces, but each spoke a peculiar language. Some used a written character altered from the Nagri, so as to enable it to express their utterance; others had not the use of letters. Before the arrival of Hindu colonies, they had no idea of cast; but some of the tribes confined their marriages to their own nation, while others admitted of intermarriages with strangers. The women in all seem to enjoy great indulgence, and are allowed, as in Europe, to form a choice for themselves, after they have arrived at mature years.

      In all these hill tribes the women were weavers, and seem to have enjoyed great privileges; but the plurality of husbands had not been introduced with the religion of Thibet. 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. They have not yet introduced the custom of inoculation for the small-pox, and those who are seized are put into a separate hut, to which the friends daily convey water and food, but do not enter; and the sick is allowed to take his chance. They are all very slovenly and dirty.

      The tribes, which, on the arrival of the colonies from Hindustan, occupied the country east from the Kali river, (for those to the west have been extirpated or abolished,) were chiefly Magars, Gurungs, Jariyas, Newars, Murmis, Kirats, Limbus, Lapchas, and Bhotiyas. Colonel Kirkpatrick [25] mentions also people called Nuggerkoties and Hawoos, of whom I have not heard. All these tribes he calls Hindus of the meanest cast; but on what foundation, unless that they are Pagans, and neither Christians nor Muhammedans, I do not know.

      The Magars, called Mungurs by Colonel Kirkpatrick, occupied a great proportion of the lower hills in the western parts, seem to have received the Rajput chiefs with much cordiality, and have now adopted a great part of the ferocious customs of these mountain СКАЧАТЬ