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
It must be observed, that the inhabitants of both Thibet, and of what we
call Bhotan or Bootan, are by the natives of India called Bhotiyas, and
their countries Bhotan or Bhot. Some of these people, who inhabit near
Kathmandu, call themselves Sayn; and the same name is given by the Newars
to the whole nation. Thibet, I am inclined to believe, is a Persian
word, totally unknown to the natives. At Kathmandu I had a patient who
had been chief of a territory north from Lassa, and who had been
dispossessed by the Chinese; and, so far as I could learn from him, the
native appellation, at least of the territory subject to Lassa, is Borka,
from whence Bhotiya is perhaps a corruption; but I could not ascertain
any general name for the countries which we call Thibet. These, however,
and also Bhotan, are inhabited by kindred tribes of people, who resemble
each other strongly in features, complexion, language, and manners. In
the plate opposite to page 40 of Kirkpatrick’s Nepaul, are well
represented, in a sitting posture, two persons of this nation, although,
by some mistake, probably in the publisher, they are called natives of
Nepal.
The Lamas are the priests of the sect of Bouddh, in Thibet and the
adjacent territories, and are monks, who have nominally at least forsaken
the pleasures of the world. They totally reject the doctrine of cast,
and a person of any nation may be admitted into the order. The whole, at
least of those at a distance, consider themselves as under the authority
of Sakya Gomba, who came from India about the time of Jesus Christ, and
has ever since resided at Lassa, where he remains in perpetual youth. On
this account he is not considered as an incarnation, (Avatar.) There
are, however, many personages of this sect who are considered as
incarnations of different Buddhas, or persons who have obtained divinity.
These enter into the bodies of children, and inspire them through life;
and when the body dies, the deity enters into another. Of this nature is
the Dharma Raja, or spiritual chief of what we call Bhotan; and still
more celebrated is the Tishu Lama, who resides at Degarchi, and is the
spiritual guide of the Chinese emperors. This class of supposed deities
seems to be pretty numerous, as, in the territory of the Lapcha and
Kirats, their number would appear to have been at least twelve, as so
many were known to my informant, who was only well acquainted with the
former territory. The ordinary lamas pretend only to be saints. The
best account I have seen of their doctrine is that given by the learned
Pallas, which is much more complete than any I could procure in Nepal.
The followers of Buddh have had five great lawgivers, and a sixth is
daily expected. As each of these is supposed to have been an incarnation
of a Buddh or Bourkan, and as all have been usually taken as one person,
we may readily account for the difference that prevails in the opinions
concerning the era when this sect arose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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