An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal: And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha — John Shaqi
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
The most northern ridge, which is probably the highest, as it is nowhere
penetrated by rivers, approaches Hindustan only at the lake Manasarawar,
where the remarkable peak called Kailasa may be considered as its centre.
This peak may perhaps be visible from the southward, although there
exists no certainty of its being so; but the portions of this ridge,
which extend west and east from Kailasa, bordering on the north, the
upper part of the Indus, and Brahmaputra rivers, are certainly invisible
from every part of Hindustan, and very little is known concerning them.
The middle ridge of Himaleh, which separates Thibet from Hindustan,
taking this word in its most extended sense as including Kasmir, the
dominions of Gorkha, etc. extends probably to the Chinese Sea along the
northern frontier of the provinces of Quangsi and Quantong, lowering
gradually as it advances to the east. Although, so far as connected with
Hindustan, it is of enormous height, yet it is perforated by many rivers,
such as the Indus, Sutluj or Satrudra, Karanali or Sarayu, Gandaki, Arun,
Brahmaputra, etc.
Mr Colebrooke, indeed, {91} doubts of any rivers crossing this chain; for
he says, “It is presumable that all the tributary streams of the Ganges,
including the Sarayu, (whether its alleged source in the Manasarawar lake
be credited or discredited,) and the Yamuna, rise on the southern side of
the Himaliya;” and again he says, “From the western side of the
mountains, after the range, taking a sweep to the north, assumes a new
direction in the line of the meridian, arise streams tributary to the
Indus, or perhaps the Indus itself.” On this I would remark, that all
the rivers I have enumerated, no doubt, arise from Thibet, and penetrate
this chain. If, indeed, the Sarayu, or rather Karnali, arises from the
lake Manasarawar, which is undoubtedly on the north side of the Himaleh
ridge, how could Mr Colebrooke’s position be maintained? He is also
probably wrong in supposing that the central Himaliya ridge bends to the
north. There is rather reason to think that it passes straight west,
after it is penetrated by the Indus, and reaches to the Hindoo Coosh of
the Honourable Mr Elphinston; while it is the western extremity of the
northern ridge, first mentioned, that turns to the north, and separates
Samarkhand and Bokhara from Kashgar. These rivers, which penetrate the
central Himaliya ridge, do not appear to me to arise from any remarkable
ridge of mountains, but spring from detached eminences on the elevated
country of Thibet, and pass through interruptions or chasms in the
central ridge of Emodus. It is very possible, that Colonel Kirkpatrick
saw this ridge from Lama Dangra; but I am very doubtful, whether any part
of it is visible from the plains of Hindustan; or, at least, that any of
the more distinguished peaks visible from thence belong to it. All the
peaks measured by Colonel Crawford were, no doubt, to the southward of
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