Himalayan Journals — Volume 1: Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.Hooker, Joseph Dalton
History
Himalayan Journals — Volume 1: Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.
Hooker, Joseph Dalton
Himalaya Mountains -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Himalaya Mountains
Next to the Lepchas, the most numerous tribe in Sikkim is that of the
Limboos (called "Chung" by the Lepchas); they abound also in East
Nepal, which they once ruled, inhabiting elevations from 2000 feet to
5000 feet. They are Boodhists, and though not divided into castes,
belong to several tribes. All consider themselves as the earliest
inhabitants of the Tambur Valley, though they have a tradition of
having originally emigrated from Tibet, which their Tartar
countenance confirms. They are more slender and sinewy than the
Lepchas, and neither plait their hair nor wear ornaments; instead of
the ban they use the Nepal curved knife, called "cookree," while for
the striped kirtle of the Lepcha are substituted loose cotton
trousers and a tight jacket; a sash is worn round the middle, and on
the head a small cotton cap. When they ruled over East Nepal, their
system was feudal; and on their uniting against the Nepalese, they
were with difficulty dislodged from their strongholds. They are said
to be equally brave and cruel in battle, putting the old and weak to
the sword, carrying the younger to slavery, and killing on the march
such captives as are unable to proceed. Many enlist at Dorjiling,
which the Lepchas never do; and the rajah of Nepal employs them in
his army, where, however, they seldom obtain promotion, this being
reserved for soldiers of Hindoo tribes. Latterly Jung Bahadur levied
a force of 6000 of them, who were cantoned at Katmandoo, where the
cholera breaking out, carried off some hundreds, causing many
families who dreaded conscription to flock to Dorjiling. Their habits
are so similar to those of the Lepchas, that they constantly
intermarry. They mourn, burn, and bury their dead, raising a mound
over the corpse, erecting a headstone, and surrounding the grave with
a little paling of sticks; they then scatter eggs and pebbles over
the ground. In these offices the Bijooa of the Lepchas is employed,
but the Limboo has also priests of his own, called "Phedangbos," who
belong to rather a higher order than the Bijooas. They officiate at
marriages, when a cock is put into the bridegroom's hands, and a hen
into those of the bride; the Phedangbo then cuts off the birds'
heads, when the blood is caught on a plantain leaf, and runs into
pools from which omens are drawn. At death, guns are fired, to
announce to the gods the departure of the spirit; of these there are
many, having one supreme head, and to them offerings and sacrifices
are made. They do not believe in metempsychosis.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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