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
In one point respecting these maps, I consider myself bound to do justice
to the researches of Colonel Crawford. From a treatise on the sources of
the Ganges, given by H. T. Colebrooke, Esq. in the 11th volume of the
Asiatick Researches, page 429, etc. it might be possibly inferred,
although this, perhaps, was not intended to be expressed, that Colonel
Colebrooke and his kinsman were induced to reject the authority of
D’Anville respecting the sources of the Ganges, merely from examining the
authorities, upon which the course of the Ganges above Haridwar had been
laid down in the geographical charts then in use. Now, the fact is, that
Colonel Colebrooke had other grounds for rejecting the authority of
D’Anville, and especially one of the above-mentioned maps, which had been
officially communicated to him by Colonel Crawford. In this map the
sources of the Ganges are laid down from the reports of pilgrims; nor has
the survey, carried on by the suggestion of Colonel Colebrooke, added any
thing material, so far as relates to the general outlines of these
sources. By this observation I by no means intend to depreciate the
labours of Mr Webb, by whom the survey was conducted; nor the judgment
and love of science evinced in the recommendation of Colonel Colebrooke
to employ him. So long as the matter rested entirely on the report of
pilgrims, doubts would exist; and the survey has not only entirely
removed these, but has given us many details of a country previously
unknown.
Concerning the country between Nepal Proper and the river Kali, I follow
chiefly the authority of the following persons: 1_st_, a Brahman, named
Sadhu Ram Upadhyaya, whose family was in hereditary possession of the
office of priest (Purohit) for the Raja of Palpa, one of the principal
chiefs in this district; 2_d_ and 3_d_, Prati Nidhi Tiwari, and Kanak
Nidhi Tiwari, two brothers of the sacred order, the former very learned,
and the latter a man of business. Their family had been long Mantris, or
advisers of the same chiefs, but came originally from Kumau; 4_th_, Samar
Bahadur, uncle to the Raja of Palpa, now in exile.
Two maps of these parts, now in the Company’s library, were prepared by
Sadhu Ram and Kanak Nidhi, with the assistance of Kamal Lochan, one of
the natives attached to the survey of Bengal, on which I was engaged.
Although they differ in some points, they agree in so many more,
especially in the eastern parts, that considerable reliance may be placed
on their giving some tolerable idea of the country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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