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
The Raja of Piuthana, among these petty chiefs, was a person of some
consequence, and was followed in war by Isma and Musikot, two chiefs of
the last mentioned family. He was also followed by the chiefs of Khungri
and Bhingri, whose countries were surrounded by Piuthana; and I think,
that in all probability these two belonged to the Chaubisiyas, although
they are not mentioned in Kanak Nidhi’s list; and I must confess, that
the latter I have heard arranged with the twenty-two Rajas. All that I
learned concerning these chiefs is, that they were of the same family,
followed Piuthana in war, and were very petty. The situation of their
countries will be seen in the maps.
Piuthana had no mines of value, but it possessed a considerable tract on
the plain, and paid the revenue of this through the Raja of Bangsi, after
Mahadatta of Palpa had been freed from that vassalage by the Nawab Vazir.
This territory on the plain, called Siwaraj, is, therefore, claimed by
the Bangsi family; but is in possession of the Raja of Gorkha. The chief
of Piuthana pretends to be a Chandel Rajput, nor had his family
subdivided into different branches. The town, from whence he derived his
title, is situated on a hill, the ascent to which is two coses in length.
Round their chief’s house, which was built of brick after the fashion of
Kathmandu, were about 400 houses, mostly mud-walled huts with thatched
roofs. The Jimri, called Rapti in the low country, passes on its south
side. The whole territory on the hills and plains contained about 2500
houses, of whom 5-16ths were Khasiyas, 3-16ths Brahmans, one-half low
cultivators and tradesmen. There were a very few Rajputs and Newars.
Manik Chandra possessed this country in quiet, and was succeeded by Mati
Chandra, who retired without a struggle, when attacked by Damodar Pangre.
Rudra Chandra, his son, now resides at Ramnagar with the Tanahung Raja,
for the people of Gorkha seized on Siwaraj, when they took possession of
Piuthana, although it then belonged to the Nawab Vazir, and should now
form a part of the Gorakhpur district. They at first cajoled the Bangsi
Rajah, promising to pay more than the chief of Piuthana had done; but,
after the first year, he got nothing. The present representative of the
family, in 1814, was about twenty-eight years of age, and is supposed to
be the twenty-fifth chief of his race. If so, his pretence to be a
Chandel is probably ill-founded, as no true Rajputs are said to have
settled so early in these hills.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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