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
family, and recovered Kangra from the Muhammedans. All the neighbouring
chiefs were then afraid, and he extended his conquests on the plains by
seizing on the estate called Rajawara, which belonged to the king of
Dilli. He removed the seat of government to Nadaun, but has many places
of residence, especially a fine fortified garden at Alumnagar. I have
already mentioned his dispute with Gorkha, during which Amar Singha
besieged, or rather blockaded, the citadel of Kangra, for he was in
possession of the town. He was opposed by Anirudha, the son of Sangsar.
Bhakti Thapa besieged Sujanpur, which was defended by Man Singha, brother
of Sangsar, and by Harsha Dev’, the warlike Brahman of Kumau, often
already mentioned. Sangsar himself, with a small body of chosen men,
hovered round the besieging armies; but, these being likely to prevail,
he invited to his assistance Ranjit Singha, who affects to be called king
of Lahaur; and with his assistance the forces of Gorkha were repulsed
with great loss. For this assistance, however, he paid dearly, as he
ceded to Ranjit the fort and city of Kangra, and the fort of Kotta, with
a territory of 50,000 rupees a-year, and all the petty chiefs now despise
his authority, and respect the power of Lahaur. He still, nevertheless,
retains a territory yielding from 900,000 to 1,000,000 rupees a-year.
The town of Kangra is open, and, before the attack by Amar Singha,
contained about 2000 houses. Near it is the temple of the goddess, which
is supposed to contain many rich ornaments of gold. The fort is the
strongest in these parts. The situation is rather warm. Kotta, although
inferior to Kangra, is considered as a stronghold of importance.
Sujanpur, which remains to Sangsar, contains about 2000 houses, and is
surrounded by lines, which are said to be twelve coses in circumference,
and besides the town, contain twenty-four villages, in which there may be
3000 houses.
Nadaun, the present capital, contains about 500 houses. Jwalamukhi was a
considerable town, where many Gosaing merchants had settled; but during
the disturbances it was plundered by the Raja of Gular, who had joined
Amar Singha. At this place, where the tongue of the Goddess fell, in the
dispersion of her members, above-mentioned, there is a small temple,
perhaps twenty feet square. It is paved with large stones, and from a
hole in one corner, perhaps two inches in diameter, there issues a
constant flame, that at the lowest ebb rises about eighteen inches, but
in the rainy season it issues with great violence, and flame bursts from
several parts of the floor, and also from some places without the temple.
Although most parts of the country are high, the ascents from the plains
below are easy, and the summits of the hills are level, so that a large
proportion is fit for cultivation, and is well occupied. The poor live
much on maize. Great quantities of rice arc exported to Lahaur, and
there is plenty of sugar-cane.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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