An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal. Francis HamiltonЧитать онлайн книгу.
of the Raja’s family, or of the chief officers of their government; and it must be remarked, that many of them assumed the title of Dev, as all the princes descended of Nanyop had done.
After the death of Hari Singha it is in Mithila generally admitted, that a Sivai Singha succeeded; and, although the Bhavans probably then formed the chief population of Gar Samaran and Tirahut, it is probable, as is asserted, that Sivai Singh vas a military Brahman of the tribe called Aniwar. It is alleged by the people of Tirahut, that Sivai having had a dispute with a brother, this unnatural relation fled to Dilli, and, having procured an army from the Musulman king, he advanced towards Gar Samaran with an intention of dethroning his brother. Before he had reached the Gandaki, Sivai Singha, having heard of the approach of an army of men that eat beef, was seized with a panic, and after having reigned twenty-two years, resigned his kingdom to Kangkali, the tutelar deity of his capital city. He then dedicated his life to God, and, having assumed the character of a religious mendicant, he passed his days in wandering about the places which are esteemed holy.
It is said, that about this time the unnatural brother of Sivai Singha died, and that the Musulman army, after a fruitless attempt on Gar Samaran, were obliged to retreat, owing, as the Hindus suppose, to the powerful influence of the tutelar deity. The Musulmans, however, seem to have seized on all the country near the Ganges, which afterwards continued subject to them till the establishment of the Company’s authority.
About the same time, the inhabitants deserted Gar Samaran, for what reason is not explained. They took with them the image of Kangkali, and retired with an intention of going to Nepal. On the route they were in danger of perishing from hunger, when Kangkali appeared to one of their chiefs in a dream, and told him, that in the morning she would grant a supply of provisions, and that she gave them permission ever afterwards to use the kind of food which she was about to send. Accordingly, in the morning, a large herd of buffaloes appeared, and were killed by the people, who ever since have indulged in that kind of food, which, according to the precepts of their religion, they had formerly considered unclean. They afterwards settled in the valley of Nepal, and are the people now called Newars.
From Dow’s translation of Ferishta, [49] we learn, that Yeas ul deen Tuglick Shaw, king of Dilli, in the year of Christ 1322, on returning from an expedition into Bengal, was passing near the hills of Turhat, (Tirahut,) when the raja of these parts appearing in arms, was pursued into the woods. Having cut down these, the royal army arrived at a fort surrounded by a wall, and by seven ditches filled with water. After a siege of three weeks the place was taken, and the government of Turhat conferred upon Achmet Chan. That this is the same story with that contained in the traditions concerning Sivai Singha and Gar Samaran, I think there can be little doubt, and the Musulman chronology is that upon which most reliance can be placed. Some of the Hindu traditions make Sivai Singha the son of Hari Deva, others make him of another family which succeeded after an anarchy of 34 years; but in both cases the period between 1315, the supposed era of Hari Deva’s death, and 1322, the time of Gar Samaran’s capture, is too short, and the difference between it and the actual time has probably been added, to make up part of the enormous reigns of Narasingha and Ramsingha. At any rate, if the people of Gar Samaran retired to Nepal, and became the Newars, then 1322 (or 1323, as Colonel Kirkpatrick has it,) [50a] is the most probable date of the event. There is nothing improbable in the circumstance, and the doctrine of cast prevailing among the Newars is a strong confirmation of their having come from Hindustan.
It must, however, be confessed, that the Newars themselves totally deny this origin, and allege, that the only foundation for it is the resemblance between the names Newar and Aniwar. They consider themselves as the aboriginal inhabitants of the country which they now occupy, and their houses have a great resemblance to those of the Bhotiyas, or people of Thibet, as described by Captain Turner, while in many points their customs resemble those of the other tribes of the Chinese race. It must be, however, observed, that their features are not clearly marked as of that origin, and that many of them have high features, large eyes, and oval faces; but considering the manners of their women, little reliance can be put on this mark, and the truth will be best discovered by an examination of their language, of which I have deposited a copious vocabulary in the Company’s library. I think, indeed, that I can trace many coincidences between it and the language of the Murmis, a tribe undoubtedly of the Chinese race, and it appears to me radically different from the Hindwi language, although religion has no doubt introduced some Sangskrita words.
A short vocabulary of this language has been given by Colonel Kirkpatrick, [50b] and may perhaps suffice to decide the language to which it has the greatest affinity. The character in which it is written is evidently derived from the Nagri of India, and will be found opposite to page 220 in Colonel Kirkpatrick’s Account of Nepaul.
In treating of the Newars, Colonel Kirkpatrick observes, [51] “That this people differ essentially, so as to prove abundantly that they are an insulated race of men, whose origin is not to be traced to any of the nations immediately surrounding them.” Now, if they came from Samaran, as he supposes, they must have been Hindus; and, if they are descendants of Thibetians, intermixed with Hindus, as I suppose, still their origin is to be derived from the nations immediately contiguous. He goes on to observe, “That the Newars are of a middle size, with broad shoulders and chest, very stout limbs, round and rather flat faces, small eyes, low and somewhat spreading noses; yet he cannot agree with those who affirm, that there is in the general physiognomy of these people any striking resemblance to the Chinese features.” For my part, I do not well know in what other terms the Chinese features could be better defined, than in the description of the Newars thus given by Colonel Kirkpatrick; and, for a confirmation of a considerable resemblance between the two people, I may refer to the figures given by this author opposite to pages 185 and 187, which, although called merely natives of Nepal, represent in fact Newars. In reality, if the morals of the Newar women had been more strict, I believe that the resemblance between the Chinese or Thibetians and Newars would have been complete; but since the conquest, the approach to Hindu countenance is rapidly on the increase, women in most cases giving a decided preference to rank, especially if connected with arms or religion. Until the conquest, there was probably little intermixture, except in the descendants of the governing family, which probably was of a mixed breed between a Thibetian lady and a raja of Banaras, as will be afterwards mentioned; and this family had, I believe, multiplied exceedingly, and composed a numerous and warlike gentry, which, of course, contributed largely to the propagation of the nation.
The assumption of the military dignity, and of the thread, one of its badges among the Hindus, and the title Rajput given to all the chiefs of the mountaineers, seems to have induced Colonel Kirkpatrick to suppose, that the Kshatriya tribe of India formed a large portion of the inhabitants in Nepal. Yet he had with accuracy observed, [52] that the progeny of a Newar female and one of these Kshatriyas may almost be taken for a Malay, that is, a mixed breed between people of a Chinese race with Hindus and Arabs; and farther, he accurately noticed, that illegitimate persons of the reigning family by Newar women, although he supposes their fathers to have been Rajputs, approach nearer than their mothers to the Tartars or Chinese. The reason of this, I would say, is, that the royal family are in fact Magars, a Thibetian race.
In the more rude and mountainous parts of Nepal Proper, the chief population consisted of these Murmis, who are by many considered as a branch of the Bhotiyas, or people of Thibet; but, although in religion and doctrine they followed the example of that people, and all their priests, called Lamas, studied its language and science, yet it seems doubtful, whether the two nations had a common origin; but this will be best ascertained by a comparison of the languages. For this purpose I have deposited in the Company’s library a copious vocabulary of the Murmi dialect. The doctrine of the Lamas is so obnoxious to the Gorkhalese, that, under pretence of their being thieves, no Murmi is permitted to enter the valley where Kathmandu stands, and by way of ridicule, they are called Siyena Bhotiyas, or Bhotiyas who eat carrion; for these people have such an appetite for beef, that they cannot abstain from the oxen that die a natural death, as they are not now permitted to murder the sacred animal. They have, therefore, since the conquest, retired as much as possible into places very difficult of access; and before the overthrow of Sikim a great many retired to that country, but there they have not escaped from the power of the Gorkhalese, and have been obliged to disperse even from that distant