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 gives a route from Beni, the capital of Malebum, to
Chhinachhin, the two places lying east and west, distant by the road 250
coses. Their actual distance, by the native maps, being about 143 miles,
will give, on a long route, rather more than half a mile (0.57) of direct
horizontal distance for the cose of road distance.
One of the most important productions of Yumila is salt, which is said to
come from a place called Mukhola, reckoned ninety or a hundred miles road
distance from Chhinachhin, towards the north-east. It is said, that, at
Mukhola, there is a large space, containing many pools, that in winter
are covered with snow. When this melts in spring, the water is thrown
out, and cattle arc turned into the muddy pools to tread the bottom with
their feet. As summer advances, a crust of salt is formed, and removed.
I do not understand the nature of such a process, and suspect some
mistake, as the dialect spoken by Etawargiri was not clearly understood
by any of my people, much less by myself.
About half way between Chhinachhin and Mukhtanath is a frontier fortress
of Yumila called Tibrikot. It is remarkable for a temple of the goddess
Tibrisundari.
About one-fourth of the people in this country are Brahmans, Rajputs, and
Khasiyas, who follow the doctrines of the present Hindu law. The
Bhotiyas are on the whole the most numerous tribe, and with Gurungs,
Rohanis, Khatis, and Rahals, all impure mountain tribes, make up the
remaining three-fourths, who chiefly adhere to the Lamas. The language
spoken at Court was the Khas, but differed very much from that of Palpa
or Gorkha; even the titles of the chief officers of government were
totally different, although the same forms of administration were
established. For instance, the Chautariya of Palpa was in Chhinachhin
called Hitan, and the Karyi of the former was the Bist of the latter.
According to Hariballabh the Rajas of Yumila were of the Suryabangsi
tribe, and were admitted to be pure, so as to intermarry with the chiefs
of Kumau and Garhawal. They had penetrated into the northern hills about
500 years ago; but, as I have above mentioned, were far from having
expelled or persecuted the ancient inhabitants. It was said by the
Mahanta of the Janmasthan at Ayodhya, that they first settled in the
Almora country, and thence removed to Yumila; and as the Duti Raja,
acknowledged to be of the Shalivahan family, is also called a
Suryabangsi, I think it probable, that the Rajas of Yumila are the
descendants and representatives of Asanti and Basanti, and this will
explain the vassalage to them, which all the eastern chiefs avowed,
although the people of Kumau, by whom the Yumila chiefs were stript of
the best part of their dominions, deny this vassalage, and pretend to
knew nothing of their descent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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