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
Soon after these advantages over the Gorkhalese, the troops of the Deva
Dharma Raja retired; for they are allowed no pay, and the country was too
poor to admit of plunder. By a letter from Mr Pagan, this would appear
to have happened before the 29th March 1789. On this the greater part of
the people of Sikim submitted to the Gorkhalese; but the Raja fled to
Tankiya in Thibet, and the chief of the Lapchas retired to a stronghold
situated between the two branches of the Tista; from which he has ever
since annoyed the Gorkhalese. This place, called Gandhauk, has annexed
to it a territory of considerable extent, and affords the Raja a revenue
of about 7000 rupees a-year, which is all that he possesses; but, being a
man of high birth, he lately obtained in marriage a daughter of the chief
minister at Lasa, with whom, in 1809, he returned to the petty dominion,
which the vigour of his minister has retained.
Both the Deva Dharma Raja and the government of Lasa seem to have been
most seriously alarmed at the progress of the Gorkhalese, and applied to
the Emperor of China for his interposition. In the meanwhile, the Deva
Dharma Raja is said to have sent an embassy to Kathmandu, offering as a
sacrifice the part of Baikunthapur, that had been given to him by Mr
Hastings; but the interposition of the emperor came in time to save this,
and the Gorkhalese have ever since abstained from giving him any
molestation. The people of Thibet were not so fortunate, and were
compelled to cede to the Nepalese a part of Kutti, which now forms the
government of Kheran or Kheru, on the head of the Sankosi, and some
Bhotiya villages near the Arun, which are now annexed to the northern
part of Vijaypur, and with that form the government of Chayenpur. By a
letter from Colonel Ross, dated in the end of December 1789, it would
appear that our government had received intelligence of every thing
having been settled by the interference of the Chinese, and that a
Gorkhalese envoy had been dispatched to pay homage to the emperor.
The Lapchas were, however, not so easily managed. Part under their chief
Nam-si maintained an absolute independence, and the remainder have been
so troublesome, that the Gorkhalese have judged it prudent to give them a
governor, or, at least, a collector of their own. This person, named
Yu-kang-ta, and called Angriya Gabur by the Bengalese, is nephew of the
Lapcha chief, who has so gallantly defended the remnant of the
principality. In 1808, I found that he was in possession of the whole
civil government, and had agreed to pay annually a fixed sum as tribute.
The Subah of Chayenpur was, however, in military authority over him, and
there were Gorkhalese troops at Sikim and Darjiling, the two chief places
in the district.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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