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
Mohan Chandra, who held it for sixteen months. Harsha Dev’ could no
longer suffer this, but attacked his enemy, and, having taken him and his
son prisoners, he put them both to death. In this he vented his hatred
on the father by a barbarous refinement of cruelty. Under pretence of
not shedding royal blood, he kept his unfortunate rival without food, and
daily beat him, until he expired. It is said that he suffered for
seventeen days, but this seems incredible. The Brahman then placed on
the throne a certain Siva Chandra, who was alleged to be of the family of
Kumau, and acted as his chief minister. About this time the forces of
Golam Kader having been dispersed by the Mahrattas, many of them were
engaged by Lal Singha, whom some call the son, and others the brother of
Mohan Chandra. With these troops this chief drove out Harsha, who fled
to Garhawal. He there entered into an alliance with Parakrama, the
Raja’s brother, his former enemy, and both attacked and defeated Lal
Singha, who had advanced into Garhawal to meet them. He was driven into
Almora, where he contrived to form a treaty with Parakrama, by which
Mahendra, the son of Mohan, was made Raja, and Harsha was placed in
confinement. From this, however, he soon contrived to escape, and
retired to the plains. Siva Chandra was allowed to escape, as having
been a mere tool in the hands of the Brahman. In this state were
affairs, when Damodar Pangre, the officer commanding the troops of
Gorkha, sent his brother Jagajit and Amar Singha Thapa to attack the
country. They were joined by Harsha Dev’, and met with very little
resistance. Lal Singha and Mahendra Chandra the Raja retired to
Rudrapur, where Mahendra died, leaving a son named Pratap Singha. Their
valuable estates in the low country are in the Company’s possession, nor
has it been determined to whom they will be given; for there are several
competitors. Pratap claims as heir to the family, but his father was an
usurper, although it would appear, that all other more direct lines of
the family have now failed. Harsha claims as heir of Jaydev, who, by the
agreement with Thor Chandra, should be Zemindar (collector) and Kanungoe
(register) for the whole, availing himself of the interpretation, which
has been given in our courts to the term Zemindar, (landlord.) The widow
of Siva Lal claims, as her husband, being deputy of Harsha, was in actual
possession when the country was ceded by the Nawab. The widow of Lal
Singha and Siva Lal are allowed pensions.
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