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
A kind of mixed breed of Newars are, by the Sivamargas, acknowledged as
of very high rank. I shall, therefore, mention them in this place,
although their pretensions are disputed by the Bangras. They are called
Jausi, and are the only cast that ought to practise medicine; but at
present all ranks profess that art. The Jausis are descended from the
offspring of a Brahman by a Newar woman; and if their mother has been a
Bangra, or an Achar, they wear the thread, and act as instructors (Gurus)
and priests (Purohits) for their brethren of mixed descent. These
privileges are not allowed to such as are descended from low mothers. In
imitation of their fathers, the Jausis are mostly Sivamargas; but in
other matters, they follow the customs of the Newars.
The next in rank among the Newars are the Srishtas, who form a small
cast. They can serve as cooks for all Newars, the Achars and Bangras
excepted, which is a sure mark of their transcendent rank. The
Buddhmargas and Sivamargas of this cast eat together; but a woman, for
her first paramour, always chooses a person of her own persuasion. The
highest rank of Srishtas are called Sira, and are mostly traders. A
lower class, called Sual, act as porters; and a still lower, called
Bagul, cultivate the ground. All these eat together; nor is the
difference of class any restriction in their amours.
The persons of the remaining casts are almost entirely Buddhmargas; but,
being low and ignorant, they will worship almost any thing that is called
a God, which is, indeed, usual with all Hindus of their rank. Some of
our Seapoys, who were Brahmans, immediately on our arrival at
Swayambhunath, took flowers and consecrated water, and went round the
hill offering some to every image which they saw, and, among others, to
that of Sakya Singha. I happened to be standing near it with Ramajaya,
my Brahman, who asked them if they knew what they were doing, and
informed them that they were worshipping Buddh. At this the poor fellows
were much ashamed. However, an old Havildar (serjeant) comforted them,
by observing, that, on the march to Bombay, under General Goddard, they
had often seen this deity, and that their worshipping him seemed to have
been very lucky, as the army had great success.
I shall enumerate the lower casts, according to their respective
dignities.
The Jopu Newars were originally all cultivators; but some of them have
now become traders and porters.
The Uda were all originally traders, and are nearly of the same rank with
the Jopus.
The Bhat procure a living by proclaiming the titles of great men, and
singing their praises on all public occasions,—a vanity in which the men
of power in India take great delight. The Bhat also beg in the name of
the Gods, which, among the Hindus, is always a profession of some
dignity.
The three next casts, Got, Kurmi, and Now, are nearly of the same rank.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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