An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal: And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of GorkhaHamilton, Francis
History
An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal: And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha
Hamilton, Francis
Nepal -- Description and travel; Nepal -- History
Colonel Kirkpatrick {187c} quotes books, which he calls Hurrumunt Khund
and Ooter Khund, probably portions of the Sri Bhagwat, for copious
details concerning Nepal, during the time that it continued one of the
favourite haunts of the Hindu deities, that is, during the Satya Yug, or
Golden age; nor have we any reason to regret, that, instead of detailing
such idle fables, he has contented himself with a mere reference to this
work. Afterwards he goes on to give a series of princes, who are said to
have governed Nepal in subsequent ages, commencing with Niyam Muni, or as
he writes Nymuni. In this part of his work Colonel Kirkpatrick quotes no
authority; but, as he brings the lists down to the termination of the
Newar dynasty in 1767, his authorities are probably quite modern, and, as
he supports the doctrine of the Newars having come from Gar Samaran,
which they deny, his authorities must be founded on the legends of the
Brahmans, much of which probably may be inventions perfectly recent, but
some foundation may have been taken from ancient works, mangled to suit
them for modern systems of Hindu chronology.
However this may be, Niyam Muni and his eight descendants are said {188a}
to have governed during the Treta and Dwapar Yugs, or the Silver and
Brazen Ages, which, according to the present system, lasted for many
hundred thousand years. The eight successors of Niyam Muni governed
{188b} four hundred and ninety-one one-third years, which requires rather
an unwarrantable stretch of faith to believe; but, even admitting this,
what remains to Niyam Muni is altogether beyond measure. This, perhaps,
is owing to the works originally consulted having been composed before
the present system of chronology was invented. It is more to the purpose
to observe, that these princes have Sangskrita names, and therefore
probably came from the plains; and that, except Niyam and his immediate
successor, all of them are called Gupt; which shows that they were of the
cow-herd tribe.
This dynasty was deprived of power by Bhul Singh of the Rajput tribe, and
descended of Mehip Gopal, who came from Semrounghur (Gar Samaran) and
Jamnukpou, (Janakipur.) He and his two descendants both having
Sangskrita names, governed a hundred and eleven seven-twelfth years. Gar
Samaran, it must be observed, was not built for many ages after the time
of this dynasty; but Bhul Singh may have come from Janakipur, which was
in the vicinity of the place where Gar Samaran was afterwards built.
Whatever title these princes may have assumed, there is no reason to
suppose that they were of the ancient Kshatriyas, descended of the sun,
who resided at Janakipur, and governed Mithila, as no such name as Mehip
Gopal appears in any list of the princes of Mithila that I have seen.
Indeed, the title Gopal rather implies, that, like the former dynasty,
the descendants of Mehip belonged to the low tribe of cow-herds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account