Category: Book Reviews

William Brook Northey, The Land of the Gurkhas or The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal [Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd, 1937]

William Brook Northey’s The Land of the Gurkhas or The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal [Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd, 1937] was published 14 years before the political changeover of 1950-51. The book begins with a general survey of Nepal by Brigadier General C. G. Bruce.

Like many other books which were published on Nepal before, Northey’s book starts with the introduction of the Nepalese land, the early history of Nepal, the rise of the Gurkhas and Prime Minister Jung Bahadur, who emerged following Anglo-Nepal War, and the turbulent years that followed. With this background, Northey generalizes the Gurkhas as they are, their customs and characteristics, and sports and diversions. Kathmandu, the capital of the Gurkhas, has been described well along with the temples and shrines, followed by the town of Patan, Bhatgaon and Nawakot. The central part of Nepal finds special mention in the book. Both the eastern and western borders of the country are discussed along with Darjeeling, which was lost to Britain after the Treaty of Sugauli, and its surroundings.

Unlike many of his predecessors, William Brook Northey also writes about the Western border of Nepal and the society around there. He points it out very categorically that the Nepalese people inhabiting the extreme western districts of Nepal – Doti, Baitadi, Jumla, Bajhang, and so on “are often not classified as Gurkhas.” There is a remarkable difference between the appearance of these people, he says, and those in the eastern part of Nepal. Be they from the Chetri tribe, the Dotials or Bajhangis, they “looked much rougher and more uncouth than any Gurkhas with whom I had ever been brought into contact before, giving the impression that existence in these extreme western districts was a good deal harder than that known elsewhere.”

Northey notes that the communities in the far Western Nepal bear little resemblance to their sturdier neighbours in Central and Eastern Nepal. Rather they look similar to the Kumaonis people inhabiting the hills west of the Mahakali river. Their customs, appearance, and even language look similar. The striking difference that Northey finds is that “just as the farther one goes eastwards in Nepal the races become more and more influenced by Mongolian ideas in the matter of customs and religion, so as one progresses in a westerly direction they become more and more disposed to Hinduism, until they eventually lose every trace of the Mongolian influence, and become as Hindu in culture as the Aryan speaking tribes that are found in the adjacent districts of British India.”

Northey also tries to explain who the Gurkhas are. The communities he adds in this group are the Thakuri, Chetri or Khas, Newars, Gurung, Magar, Rai, Limbu, Sunwar and Tamang, and so on. He also includes Brahmins in the group. He thinks that Thakuris, even though they owe Rajput ancestry, sometime resemble Chetris in certain cases. A majority of them are, however, hardly distinguishable from the Mongolian-looking Magars or Gurungs. He does not explain what the reasons must be behind these similarities. “Nonetheless, speaking generally, the Gurkhas as a race are decidedly Mongolian in appearance, possessing the high cheek-bones and almond-shaped eyes peculiar to that race.”

There are several other interesting insights in Northey’s about the Gurkha people. He writes about homespun Nepalese cap, chaubandi-surubal,and Khukuri that Gurkhas wear. He notes that “to be tall in Nepal brings no special admiration.” Nepalese are of small height for sure. Strangely, however, he quips that there is one regiment in the Nepalese army, the rifle regiment, in which the men are all six feet and more. Similarly, he finds that “a well-bred Gurkha is almost invariably fair skinned.” There are very few dark-complexioned Gurkhas, who will, in such case, be invariably nick-named as ‘Blackie.’ Adding further on the peculiarities, he refers to tribal regiments of the soldiers in Nepal. Examples given are that of the same tribe like Kali Bahadur Regiment composed solely of Gurung and the Purano Gorakh, of men of the Magar tribe.

Northey makes a point that the shoes that Nepalis wear are gradually being discarded in favour of European shoes in recent years. He also points out that Nepalese have started wearing a tweed coat of European pattern over the chaubandi that men wear with surubal. As far as money is concerned, Gurkhas love to earn and spend and might therefore be described, according to Northey, as Anglo-Saxon in their orientation. A Gurkha regards money “as something that should be spent. In this he differs greatly from the Indian of the plains, who loves to hoard his pice [paisa] as carefully as a Frenchman does his sous.” The author also gives some space to Gurkha songs. He thinks many of them are very primitive. But there are certainly some songs full of emotions. The example given is –

“In the heavens above are more than nine lakhs of stars.
I cannot count them.
Thus the words of my heart surge up into my mouth.
But I cannot utter them.”

Comparing the caste system in Nepal with that in the Darjeeling hills, Northey writes of its more liberal nature in Darjeeling. “Men of the highest caste are to be found in quite lowly occupations or doing work that they could never perform in their own country. Thus the syce (groom) of the pony that you hire on the Mall may as likely as not be a Chetri or even a Brahman, while the fact that a man of good caste marries a woman of low caste, or vice versa, seems no matter very little if at all here.” 

There is some reference about Nepal’s urban centres as well. “Outside the valley there are but few towns in Nepal that can be called important centres. Some like Ilam, Dhankuta, Jumla and Salyana, enjoy a certain amount of local prestige as chief towns and civil headquarters of districts, as others, like Silgarhi, Daelekh and Baitadi, do in virtue of their being military stations, while the shrines at Riri and Muktinath attract large numbers of pilgrims from India and Tibet; but that is all that can be said. In fact, of the provincial towns, perhaps only Butwal, Palpa, Tansing and Pokhara can with any justice be called important.”

Referring to Singh Durbar, or the home of the Prime Minister, Northey says “there is nothing of Nepalese architecture in this imposing building.” There is an interesting revelation that “of the roads in the hills, the greatest and most important is the one which traverses the entire length of the country from east to west leading from Darjeeling to Pithoragarh in Kumaon, a distance of more than five hundred miles.” There must be many men of letters in Nepal even now who may not have ever read or heard of this road, which does not even exist in the form of a remnant.

Northey mentions that while much of Terai is still very unhealthy during certain times of the year, “the Nepalese government has in recent years made great efforts to make at any rate certain parts of it more habitable, particularly in the Morang, where large stretches have been cleared and made suitable for human habitation.”  In the town of Batauli [Butwal], which he visited in 1920, unlike Kassauli, the far side of the Tindo Khola, he also observes some dark-skinned Biharis and Marwaris.

The author had almost two decades of experience in a Gurkha regiment. He served Nepalese Escort in Kathmandu not only as a trainer, but also worked with the Nepalese contingent on the Indian frontier  during the first World War, also serving thereafter as Gurkha recruitment officer for five years in Nepal. He was allowed by Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher to go around some parts of Nepal and have some first-hand experience in understanding this country. His insights on Nepal were also influenced by the authors who wrote of Nepal before him, like Sylvain Levy, Perceval Landon, and Percy Brown. 

This is not William Brook Northey’s sole book on Nepal. He also co-authored another book on the Gurkhas, their manners, customs, and their country. This 1928 book deals with the people and their language, religion and festivals, government and administration, and Nepal’s war effort, to mention a few. There is also a chapter in the book on the slavery and the labour problem.

The present book contains a good bibliography and index. It also has many important illustrations attracting attention of any reader. The author points out in the preface to the book that the map of Nepal that appears here is drawn from the most recent survey of Nepal. This is an interesting old book giving new insights. As Samuel Butler, an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author, remarked, “the oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lieutenant Colonel George Hart Desmond Gimlette’s Nepal and the Nepalese (London: H. F. & G. Witherbyn, 1927) was published at a time when the Prime Minister of Nepal was Chandra Shamsher JBR.

The book came into its present shape after sixteen years of the visit of the British King George V and six years after the visit of Prince of Wales—the  future Edward VIII. It was just four years before the signing of the Anglo-Nepalese Treaty of Friendship, and a year before the abolition of slavery in Nepal. Gimlette was yet another surgeon working at British residency in Kathmandu – the other famous notable surgeons who served there being Daniel Wright and H. A. Oldfield. Even though the book was published in 1927, many of the facts and figures referred in it were mostly from his experience in Nepal four decade earlier. Gimlette lived in Nepal from November 1883 to June 9, 1887. 

The book starts with a brief geographical sketch of Nepal, its towns and villages. This is followed by description of the various races that live here. The third chapter highlights the religious festivals, temples, etc. It is here that the author asserts that “the form of Hinduism almost universally followed [in Nepal] is Shaivism, the temples dedicated to and worshippers of Vishnu being very few.” The next chapter deals with the economy of Nepal (agriculture, trade and revenue) – agriculture being generally followed by all classes, “except, of course, traders and soldiers actually serving in the army.” The book attempts to deal with constitution and laws of Nepal also. Discussion about the history of what the author describes as the Rajput dynasties of Nepal valley has been lumped in the sixth chapter. The seventh chapter deals with the origin and history of the Khas race and the House of Gorkha. The eighth chapter explains the history of the Rana family. This follows the author’s personal recollections of some of the events that transpired at the time when he was in Kathmandu.

George Hart Desmond Gimlette writes about many things that his predecessors writing on Nepal did not mention or elaborate. He describes the 22 November, 1885, coup of Bir Shamsher and his brothers against their uncle Ranauddip Singh, who was the prime minister of Nepal at that time. But he refers to the coup as a revolution and does not explain the circumstances leading to it. He notes the Newar merchant population in Lhasa to be three thousand, “but it was probably less.” “The bulk of such articles of European manufacture as reach Thibet from India, passes from Nepal. And attempts to divert this trade to the Darjeeling route have hitherto met with but scanty success.” He mentions Taklakar or Yari, Mestang, Kerong, Kuti, Hatia and Wallang as principal passes in the Himalayas. “But only Kerong and Kuti passes are the nearest to Lhasa and hence the most frequented.” However, the Kuti pass has been described as the principal trade route from where the most of the interstate traffic has been carried on.

The author describes Nepal as a country rich in iron and copper. In his description about Nepalese agriculture, he refers to two kinds of local rice: viz, the Gaya or upland rice, and the Puya or lowland rice. The transplantation of the lowland rice takes place in June and upland rice in the middle of May. The other Nepalese products are Indian corn, the red and yellow pepper, wheat, and potatoes, radishes and other vegetables. “Besides the celebrated pepper, another Nepal specialty is the large cardamom, which is gown in extensive gardens in different parts of the valley, near the foot of the hills, in shady, well-watered corners.”

Gimlette states that King Ran Bahadur Shah had made large offerings at shrines of Devi for the long life of his Brahmini queen to whom he was greatly attached. Unfortunately, when the lady died, the King was so upset that “he revenged himself by desecrating the temples and images of the goddess. Talleju, some small temples near Simbunath, and others near Pashpati, were defiled and worship in them forbidden.”  Prime Minister Bhim Shamsher has been described in the book as having suffered from phthisis (the disease causing the wasting of the body, especially pulmonary tuberculosis). Correcting the existing misconception, he clarifies that the Khas tribe of Nepal is not always the people who have fallen from their existing caste, as the offspring of the union of high caste Hindus (father) and lower caste (mother), but also that “it was a tribe [that existed in Nepal] since days yore.” He mentions the system of the “Mana Chawal” in Nepal. This has been described as “the piece of land given by the government to the nearest relative of an extinct Raja family.” The system allowed the heir to enjoy the produce of the land as long as he lived. “There is a life pension on the jagir system. No tax is paid to government. After the death of the holder the land lapses to Government.”

There is also an account of the horror of cholera epidemic that erupted in Kathmandu and the adjoining districts in 1985. It started in the month of June and continued till the end of August claiming many lives every day. There is a reference that it spread to Hanuman Dhoka palace as well, where 23 people, most of them Ketis, died. “As soon as the symptoms had declared themselves, the sufferer was hurried off to the ghats on the banks of the Baghmati, and laid in some Pati (veranah), often on the ground with no bedding or covering of any kind; his friends generally sat by him, sleeping, cooking, and caring their food until death appeared near, when the moribund would be taken to the edge of the water, and his legs to the knees, placed in the stream.”

At times, the watchers left these sick people to die. The author says: “I frequently saw people still breathing who had been lying thus partly immersed for perhaps an hour. In one case, which had promised well, the patient was found to have been placed in the water and was taken out of it by my hospital assistant; she lived for three days afterwards, but eventually died from the effects of the exposure.” He also refers to a pathetic situation when the dead people were burned in the ghats in full view of the sick lying there. Many corpses, thrown out in the river without burning them, were brought back to the banks by dogs and jackals. “The register [of Gimlette’s hospital] shows a total of nine hundred nine persons treated, or to whom medicines were sent from the dispensary; but superstition, ignorance and indifference, were all combined against the sick.”

This sad story apart, there are other interesting events mentioned in the book. Gimlette writes about an exhibition that he observed, with some other Nepalese generals, some very good-looking girls. “Though perfectly demure and proper in their behaviour, [they] did not seem in the least to disapprove of the admiration their appearance evoked from those on our elephant. The two generals thought it no end of a joke, every now and then giving me a nudge and nearly choking with laughter. I asked who the young ladies were, rather a useless question, as I knew perfectly well they were not real ladies. [General] Ranbir Jang said, with another laugh and a sly dog expression that they were “Maids of Honour,” this is the euphemism generally employed to describe court slave girls.”   

There are some errors and inconsistencies in the book, which have been clearly indicated by T. R. Vaidya in his 1993 introduction to the book. In 1927, Gimlette also published A Postscript to the Records of the Indian Mutiny: An Attempt to Trace the Subsequent Careers and Fate of the Rebel Bengal Regiments, 1857-1858. That is another interesting book to the credit of this important writer.

(Vol 06, No. 22, May 10, 2013)

Thomas Watters’ two volume book On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India, 629-645 A.D. (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1904/1905) was put in order from an unpublished manuscript after his death in 1901.

Yuan Chwang, also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a great Chinese monk. His nineteen-year pilgrimage through Chang’an of China to Central Asia and eventually South Asia is a rich source of information.

Watters, a British scholar of Chinese Buddhism, describes Yuan Chwang’s journey that was accomplished between 626 and 645 A.D. with great energy and commitment. It includes travel accounts of the monk from Kao Chang to the Thousand Springs, from Taras to Kapis, from Lampa to Gandhar, from Udyana to Kashmir, from Kashmir to Rajapur, from Cheh-ka to Mathura, from Sthaneswara to Kapitha, from Kanyakubja to Visoka and from Saravasti to Kusinara. It also describes Chwang’s trip from Varanasi to Nepal, and then to Magadh and Sri Lanka. The author also outlines general descriptions of India as furnished by Yuan Chwang before describing the story of his journey from Lampa to Gandhar.

The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions included the original details of Yuan Chwang’s travel stories. The present book of Thomas Watters is the first analytical work on the great pilgrim’s visits. It has also tried to explore these visits based on other similar accounts and recent research and explorative works. Nepal finds only some passing mention in the first volume. All relevant Buddhist locations and monasteries of that period that Yuan Chwang saw or observed in Nepal have been dealt with or mentioned in the second volume. It is here that the author has described his visit to Kapilavastu and Lumbini, among other places in this location.

Yuan Chwang’s journey was not just a pilgrimage. He describes at length the territory and the natural world that he passed through. There are descriptions about climate characteristics, national customs and moral conduct of the people he comes across. Two other Chinese pilgrims – Tseng Tsai and Fa Hsien had already visited Lumbini long before Yuan Chwang visited it. These visits were held in the fourth and fifth centuries. But this particular visit was a record breaking one.

On his way to Nepal, Chwang also visited Sravasti, one of the six largest cities in the region during Gautama Buddha’s lifetime. Watters noted that ruins still lied on the upper course of the Rapti in Nepalese territory, near the point where the river emerges from the hills. His description of the mountains, caves and hill at Sravasti offer additional proof that the city lay close to the foot of the Himalayas. Watters pleads that Sravasti was in the Khajura locality, a short distance to the north of Balapur and not far from Nepalganj in a north-north-east direction. Mentions Watters: “But this proposed identification also has its difficulties, and must await further developments. No discoveries have been made to support the identification, but there seems to be the usual supply of mounds and ruins.”

From Sravasti, Yuwan Chwang traveled to Kapilavastu, his last stop before Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. He describes Kapilavastu about 800 miles in circuit, and as containing more than ten deserted localities all in utter ruin. The capital locality was in such a complete waste that its true area could not be ascertained. But the solid brick foundations of the palace within the capital locality still remained. As the district had been left desolate, it was very sparsely inhabited for a very long time. The country was without a sovereign, each locality having its own chief. The soil was fertile and farming operations were regular, the climate was temperate, and the people were genial in their ways.

There were remains of above 1000 Buddhist monasteries, and near the palace locality was an existing monastery with above 80 inmates, adherent of the Sammatiya School. There were two Dev temples, and the sectarians lived Pell Nell. The pilgrim proceeds to enumerate the various objects of interest, all connected with the Buddha’s life, which he found within the capital. The place where Buddha was born has been spelled as La-fa-ni[Lumbini] grove. There are many important details. The pilgrim finds the bathing tanks of Shakyas beautiful. He also refers to the Ashok tree, where Buddha was born. He also writes about shrines and paintings, topes of previous Buddhas, King Virudhaka, the Buddha’s return home, the Sakya local god, and the death of the Buddha.

Yuan Chwang visited Ni-po-lo [Nepal] valley around AD 645. He describes it as a country situated in snow mountains, and surrounded by hills and valleys. He finds it producing grain and fruit, and also copper, yaks and francolins. The use of copper coins has been noted as medium of exchange. Yuan Chwang noted that the Buddhist monasteries and the Deva temples touched each other in Nepal. The Kings are scholarly, believe in Buddhism and come from the Kshatriya Licchavi group. He refers about King Ang-shu-fa-ma who had composed a treatise on etymology. He refers to a fantastic multi-storey Buddhist monastery in an isolated hill close to the south of the capital. The readers may find that Yuan Chwang’s references on Ni-po-lo, its development and civilization very scanty. At this time, Nepal was a dependency of T’u-fan [Tibet], but had contributed a contingent to King Wang Hstian-tse to fight out the “usurper of Magadha.” In Yuan Chwang’s opinion, however, the people of Nepal are “rude and deceitful.” They slighted “good faith and rectitude.” They are “ugly and coarse in appearance” and are not educated. Moreover, he admits that they are skilled mechanics.

King Virudhaka of Kashi Kosala virtually annihilated the little autonomous tribe of Shakyas of Kapilavastu. After he annexed this territory, the remaining Shakyas fled northward to the hills, and settled in western Nepal. “In order to hide from prosecution, they took the title of Koliya. When they learned of the forest monastery in Sankhu established during the time of Buddha, they migrated to Kathmandu Valley under the Kirats. Later, they established two settlements in Yembu and Yengal. In Yengal, they renovated the monasteries of Manjupattan. By Licchavi era, Yembu and Yengal were called Koligram and Dakshin Koligram respectively. They established various monasteries in both settlements, and retook the title of Shakyas in the late Licchavi era. Various monastic traditions are still followed to date in many of these monasteries.”

The preface contributed by T. W. Davids points out that Thomas Watters left behind him a finished work. It was ready for the press. It states that “the only translation into English of the travels and the life of Yuan Chwang, the one made by the late Mr. Beal, contains many mistakes. As Mr. Watters probably knew more about Chinese Buddhist literature than any other European scholar, and had, at the same time, a very fair knowledge both of Pali and Sanskrit, he was the very person most qualified to correct those mistakes, and to write an authoritative work on the interpretation of Yuan Chwang’s most interesting and valuable records. The news that he had left such a work [before his death] was therefore received with pleasure by all those interested in the history of India.”

Thomas Watters’ Volume II includes two maps and an itinerary of Yuan Chwang prepared by Vincent A. Smith. There are also indexes of the names of Indian persons and the Indian places translated into Chinese names or forms. The book has many references that a modern reader may find interesting.

 When returning to China, Yuan Chwang passed through Ka – Sha [Khasghar] in western Tibet which is also linked with the ancient Khas people. There are dozens of places which reflect Khas names and phonetics, but which have not been in studies keeping this perspective in view. Watters has indicated places where Yuan Chwang might have been exaggerating in his report and descriptions. For example, he thinks it is not clear if Yuan Chwang reaches Ni-po-lo himself, or was only writing about it based on what he came to know while he was in India. At the time when this book was written, it was certainly a remarkable piece of work. 

 

Rajendralala Mitra, The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal, [Calcutta: The Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1882]

Gautam Buddha, also known as the Shakyamuni, was born in the Western foothill of Nepal 563 before the beginning of the Christian era. Even though there is some dispute as to the exact year on which Gautam Buddha was born, his birth place, Lumbini, is already an established fact. Buddha founded Buddhism – which is one of the great indigenous religions of the South Asian sub-continent.

The accounts of Buddha’s life, discourses, and monastic rules are available in different languages. They are believed to have been written after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to Buddha were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later. They were written in Sanskrit as well.

There are enormous amount of Buddhist literature in Nepal. Some of them were composed in Sanskrit at different points of time. There must have been many such literatures in India as well. But they disappeared after the Muslim conquests in the twelfth century. Right after the Buddha’s Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Maha-sutra (also called the Nirvana Sutra), which mentions some of the well-known episodes of the final months of the Buddha’s life, different such literatures came to be written or compiled in Nepal and India continuing up to the 12th century AD.

Out of this vast literature, comprising several thousand texts, only a portion was translated into Tibetan between the 7th and 15th centuries and into Chinese between the 2nd and 11th centuries. Of later composition in Nepal are various Parajika texts, demonstrating what is known as a Hindu-Buddhist syncretism in the country. Some large compositions such as the Avadanasataka and Mahavastu also repeat materials familiar from Indic sources. Svayambhu-purana, Bhadrakalpavadana, Vicitrakarn ikkvadana, and the Gunakaran ḍavyuha are just a few examples. The Svayambhu-purana in particular describes the Buddhist mythology of Nepal.

Rajendralala Mitra’s The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (Calcutta: The Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1882) is one of the major works on Nepalese Buddhism. Mitra was the first modern Indian Indologist, who also served as librarian of the Calcutta based Asiatic Society for many years. His work was based on the Sanskrit Buddhist manuscripts that were discovered and collected in Nepal by Brian Hodgson [1800-1894], the British resident in Kathmandu, making the literature known to the modern world for the first time. The Europeans of that time had no knowledge of these Nepalese literatures. It is thus natural that his discovery of these literatures “entirely revolutionized the history of Buddhism.” Mitra is not sure how many such documents were discovered by Brian Hodgson. They may go up to two hundred if carefully arranged and indexed. However, he reveals that “copies of these works to the total number of 381 bundles [were] distributed so as to render them accessible to European scholars.”

The book starts with extracts of Buddhist literature named Abhidhanottara and ends with Vratavadanamala. It also shows the manuscript (MSS) number, according to which they are arranged in the Asiatic Society’s Library. Asoka Avadana gives the account of the early life of King Asoka Maurya (304–232 BCE) who is said to have visited Lumbini. It also talks about his conversion to Buddhism, and tales and anecdotes related to him by a Yati named Upa Gupta, with a view to illustrate the morality of the Buddhism. Similarly, the Dvavinsha Avadana is a collection of twenty-two stories illustrating the merits of devotion to Buddhism and to the duties enjoined by it.

In one of the stories given, “a troop of Brahmans, having made their obeisance to Buddha, expressed their desire to enter Pra-vrajya or itinerancy. Instantly all were, by miracle, shaved and their clothes transformed into rags, except one who remained as he was. The Lord said, the cause of this exception was, that the person was full of Brahmanic pride. On his solicitations, the Lord changed his clothes into rags, but these rags were all dirty. Being asked the cause of this, the Lord said, ‘that Brahman, in one of his former existence, did not make his obeisance to Buddha Padmottara, disdaining to bow to a Sramana.” In Ganapati Hridaya, another piece, there are mantras in praise of Ganapati, “the proof it affords of the Buddhists having adopted the adoration of Ganesha, a purely Hindu deity.” In Divyavadana-Mala, there is a story of Rupavati or Rupavatyavadana. “Once when the Lord was at the Jetavana monastery his disciples remarked, how wonderful it was that beggars should be the most favoured of all persons to the Lord. The Lord replied, it was even so in his former existences.”

Nobody can underscore the importance of these literatures. Hodgson not only discovered them, but also explained about their importance. Mitra notes: “To reproduce them in their entirety would require not one, but many, volumes, and I had therefore to satisfy myself with their bare outlines- their skeletons- omitting all flesh and blood which give them their vividness and interest for the faithful. But reduced and attenuated as they are in the following pages, they will, I believe, prove useful in elucidating Buddhist traditions and sculpture, and in conveying a fair idea of the nature and contents of the newly discovered literature.”

In the preface of his book, Mitra explains the objective behind producing this work: “The total number of MSS, presented by Mr Hodgson to the Asiatic Society of Bengal was 86 bundles, including 170 separate works on various subjects. They vary in extent from a few slokas to a hundred and twenty thousand stanzas. The great bulk of the works refers to the history, philosophy, morality, and rituals of the religion of Buddha; a few are devoted to miscellaneous subjects. To classify them according to the scheme of the Nepalese Buddhists as described by Mr Hodgson in his essays, I find, is impracticable.”

As to the Sanskrit manuscripts, their age and authority, some are new and some are very old. Nevertheless, each of the literature which has been described is of historical importance. In principle, Buddha’s teachings deny the authority of the Vedas. Buddhism is generally viewed as a nastika (“it is not so”) school of Hinduism. However, Hindus view Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu. This view is based on many Hindu texts including Bhagavata Purana, Bhavishya Purana and Narasimha Purana. The Buddhist Dasharatha Jataka (Jataka Atthakatha) represents Lord Rama as a previous incarnation of the Buddha and as a Bodhisattva and supreme Dharma King of great wisdom. The Buddhist stories included in the book of Mitra resemble the Hindu Puranas in both their content and style. They eulogize the Buddha the way Hindu Puranas eulogize various deities, primarily the divine Trimurti God through divine stories.

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was the first renowned European who reached Central Asia and India between 343-323 BC. The British exploration, which began about the end of the 18th century triggered by the East India Company, is quite new.

Cornélius Wessels’ Early Jesuit Travelers in Central Asia: 1603-1721 [The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1924] gives an insight into the often forgotten pioneering travel and discovery by Jesuit missionaries in Central Asia, especially Tibet. The book is not on Nepal as such. However, some stories included in the book also have some interesting references about this country.

Written by Cornélius Wessels, who was a Dutch Jesuit, it is an anthology of geographical, historical and cultural information collected by the Jesuit visitors during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The book is also a valuable source of information for anyone interested in the early exploration of the Himalayan region. The great Himalaya trail is one of the longest and highest walking trails in the world. Winding beneath the world’s highest peaks and visiting some of the most remote communities on earth, it passes through lush green valleys, arid high plateaus and incredible landscapes. When the book was first published in 1924, it was said to be notable and was read with interest by all concerned. Even now, for whom the history matters, the book offers interesting insights.

Wessels analyses the travel accounts of Bento De Goes (1602-1607) who is mainly remembered as the first known European to travel overland from India to China, via Afghanistan and the Pamirs. The account of Antonio De Andrade (1624) who was the first known European to have crossed the Himalayas and reach Tibet, establishing the first Catholic mission on Tibetan soil, is another story in the book. There is an other interesting account of the Tsaparang Mission (1625-1640). At the time of the Mission, it was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Guje in the Garuda Valley, through which the upper Sutlej River flows, in Ngari Prefecture (Western Tibet) near the border of Ladakh. The Khasas of Nepal had ruled the country for a long time.

The book also has additional accounts of Francisco De Azevedo (1631-1632), Stephen Cecilla and John Cabral (1626-1632), John Gruber and Albert D’orville (1661-1664) and Hippolyte Desideri (1714-1722). The most interesting journeys are those of Stephen Cacella and John Cabral who visited Gyantse and Shigatse, John Grueber and Albert d’Orville (1661-64) who travelled from China through eastern Tibet to Lhasa to Kathmandu and then went on to India, and of Hippolyte Desideri (1714-22) who travelled from Kashmir along the Tsangpo to Lhasa. Desideri was in Lhasa during1716-1721. The book also includes a comprehensive map of such travels by Dutch cartographer C. Craandijk.

John Cabral was the first European to traverse Nepal. He left Shigatse (now the second largest city in Tibet) in 1628 and traveled through Nepal on his way back to the Jesuit mission at Hugli on the Ganges Delta. “It [the object] was, in the first place, to discover this new route through the Kingdom of Nepal, in order that the mission might be continued through it, as the road through Cocho [Cooch Behar in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas] is so dangerous and uncertain. I have also come [to Hugli] to settle some affairs in connection with this mission, which I think may become one of the most glorious of the Society of Jesus; it is the gate to the whole of Tartary, China and many other pagan countries.”

“The road to these countries is not through Cocho but through Nepal, which borders on Mogor [Mughal empire]. In Patana [Patna] and Rajmol[Raimahal] the road is perfectly safe and is used by many traders. The king gave me a captain to conduct me to Nepal. The latter carried letters and presents for the king of Nepal requesting him to help me in whatever I might need, as he esteemed me highly. This was done by the King of Nepal and very kindly he directed me to Patana.”

Some seventy pages are devoted to Hippolyte Desideri alone in the book of Wessels. He travelled by the Kuti road to Nepal, reaching Kathmandu from Tibet in December 1721. It was a little before the Gurkha conquest of the Kathmandu Valley. After a brief stay in the Valley the journey continued to Patna and onwards through India to Madras. The description of Nepal, which is one of the earliest yet discovered, is unfortunately brief.

Nepal has been mentioned here and there. The three cities of Nepal – Kathmandu, Patan and Bhatgaon - is set forth with the customary fullness, while the character, religion, language and dress of the people are likewise passed in review. Desideri points out that the country became closed to the foreigners after the Newar dynasty was overthrown by Gorkha ruler. Nevertheless, it has been mentioned that one Pandit Hariram, Explorer No. 9 of Montgomerie (Journey to Shigatse) managed in 1871 to cross the Thung La, and left a dramatic description of the sufferings he endeared on the mountain, which he attributed to emanations from the soul. At one place, further down in the plains of Nepal, he also mentions about deadly Ol [Aulo in Nepali], which he describes as a sort of influenza active during summer, which takes many lives every year.

At times, Desideri seems to be opinionated as well. He relies on many hearsay information. He describes about the wandering Lamas or mendicant monks, and others who profess magic and make money in the Himalayan region. There is a reference on the free use they make of implements formed from human bones, such as trumpets, drums, cups and rosaries. He also gives a reference of the corpse of a Nepalese who was rescued from the water. The person had died at Kuti and had been thrown into the river, by some Tibetans, with the object of stealing the skull and turning it into a goblet. About Newars, he says, “all have deceit written on their faces. … They are cowardly, mean and vagarious, spend little on their food, and are dirty in their habits.” However, he states that the people of Nepal owed no allegiance to any foreign power.

Early Jesuit Travelers in Central Asia is a must read book. It is clear that these travelers were writing about people who were pagans in their eyes. Nevertheless, it has wealth of information to help us understand the Himalayas and the people living there, as well as the point of view of these missionaries traveling abroad to preach in the name of Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hodgson also writes about speedy disposal of court cases in Nepal. However, if his finding is related with the grievance of Poet Laureate Bhanubhakta Acharya [1814-1871], who had a civil case at Kumarichok Court in Kathmandu, the finding may have been too polite. 

The two volume Miscellaneous Essays relating to Indian Subjects by Brian Houghton Hodgson [London, Brian Trubner and Co., 1880] is a rare collection of essays relating to Nepal, India and Tibet. These essays were published in Bengal Journal and also in other sources on different dates. Most of these essays were his original contribution little benefited by the materials published earlier.

Hodgson [1800-1894] was a great researcher. Apart from the essays in this collection, he published numerous notes on the ethnology and natural history, especially in the Journal of the Asiatic Society. Several collections of his essays and notes were also independently published like the 1874 essays on the languages, literature and religion of Nepal and Tibet, the 1847 study on the Kocch, Bódo and Dhimál tribes, and the 1841 illustrations of the literature and religion of the Buddhists. Hodgson had the opportunity to serve as an assistant to the British Resident in Nepal since 1820. In January 1833 he was appointed the third British Resident himself. He served there until 1843 but was also linked with Nepal and its former territories for many years in different capacities before and after his assignment in Kathmandu. Being fluent in Nepali and Newari, the resources that Hodgson produced on Nepal are numerous. A 2004 book edited by David M. Waterhouse explains his contribution to the Himalayan studies with all seriousness that it deserves. He was of course a pioneer in this area.

The collection Miscellaneous Essays covers a diverse range of topics in different sections. Volume I focuses on the Kooch, Bódo and Dhimál tribes, their vocabulary, grammar, origin, location, numbers, creed, custom, character, and a condition with a general description of the climate they dwell in. It also describes the Himalayan ethnology. This covers comparative vocabulary of the languages of the broken tribes of Nepal, vocabulary of the dialects of the Kiranti language, grammatical analysis of the Vayu language including its grammar. There is an analysis of the Bahing dialect of the Kiranti language including the Bahing grammar. Hodgson has also given the profile of the Hayu and Kiranti tribe of what he describes as belonging to the central Himalayas.

Volume II deals with many diverse topics, mostly unrelated with each other. Examples include the descriptions on the Indo-Chinese borderers and their connection with Himalayas and Tibetans, the Mongolian affinities with the Caucasians, and the comparison and analysis of Caucasian and Mongolian words. There is an effort to describe the route of Nepalese mission to Pekin with remarks of the watershed and plateau of Tibet route from Kathmandu, which is in central Nepal, to Darjeeling now in India. Hodgson also deals with the seven coins of Nepal and the native method of making paper.

Brian Hodgson is the first scholar writing about the administration of justice in Nepal. Volume II of the Miscellaneous Essays gives some accounts of the system of law and police as recognized in the state of Nepal at that time. There are two sub-sections under this title on the law and police, and the law and legal practice of Nepal as regards familiar intercourse between a Hindu and an outcast. The work on the legal system was to help British India and its traders to deal with the status of the rule of law in Nepal. It was intended to enable them to secure justice in cases which the British residency had to settle conjointly with the Nepalese courts. These facts were collected based on the questionnaire that Hodgson framed to receive answers from different respondents knowledgeable about the justice system of Nepal. Some Indian Brahmins at the British Resident’s Office were used to work on them. It was a secret process. Nepal’s pundits who were judged most capable of replying were consulted for information. These two papers (before their inclusion in this book) were submitted by Hudgson to the Asiatic Society and subsequently reprinted in Volume XXVII of the selections from the Records of the government of Bengal.

Referring to the system of ordeal being practised in Nepal to settle disputes, Hodgson writes: “The names of the respective parties are inscribed on two pieces of paper, which are rolled up into balls, and then have Puja offered them. From each party, a fine or fee of one rupee is taken. The balls are then affixed to staffs of reed, and two more are taken from each party. The reeds are then entrusted to two of the Havildars (beadles) of the court to have to the Queen’s Tank; and with Havildars, an examining officer of the court, a Brahman, and the parties proceed thither, as also two men of the Chamakhalak Caste. On arriving at the Tank the examining officer again exhorts the parties to avoid the ordeal by adopting some other mode of setting the business, the merits of which are only known to themselves. If they continue to insist on the ordeal each Havildars each holding one of the reeds, go, one to the east and the other west side of the tank, entering the water about knee-deep. The Brahman, the parties, and the Chamakhalaks, all at this moment enter the water a little away, and the Brahman performs worship to Varuna in the name of the parties, and repeats a secret text, the meaning of which is that mankind knows not what possess in the minds of each other, but that all inward thoughts and past acts are known to the gods Surya, Chandra, Varuna and Yama and that they will do justice between the parties in this cause.”

“When the Puja is over, the Brahman gives the Tilak to the two Chamakhalaks, and says to them, “Let the champion of truth win and let the false one’s champion lose.” This being said, the Brahman of the parties come out of the water and the Chamakhalaks separate, one going to each place where the reed is erected. They then enter the deep water, and at the signal given, both immerse themselves in the water at the same instant. Whichever of them first rises from the water, the reed nearest to him is instantly destroyed, together with the scroll attached to it. The other reed is carried to the court, where the ball of paper is opened, and the name read. If the scroll bears the plaintiff’s name, he wins the cause; if it be that of the defendant, the later is victorious.”

Hodgson also writes about speedy disposal of court cases in Nepal. However, if his finding is related with the grievance of Poet Laureate Bhanubhakta Acharya [1814-1871], who had a civil case at Kumarichok Court in Kathmandu, the finding may have been too polite. The Poet Laureate complained by way of a poem that the court officials continued to detain him saying “tomorrow, …tomorrow and tomorrow” – delaying the final hearing on the petty charge against him. He pleaded that this was very unjust, and that justice delayed was justice denied.

The Miscellaneous Essays is a wonderful collection. It has a wealth of information. Hodgson has obliged the Nepalese legal scholars much by providing information on what may be described as the classical legal system of Nepal. The system was revised only after the promulgation of a new civil code in Nepal in 1854.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Athanasius  Kircher, China Monumentis [Amsterdam: Jaco Meurs, 1667]

The Year 1667 is not a politically remarkable year in the history of Nepal. But it is in this year that King Pratap Malla (reigned 641-74) is said to have built Rani Pokhari (Queen’s Pool) in Kathmandu to console his queen over the death of their son who was trampled by an irate elephant. Similarly, it was the year when an important book on China with some references on Necbal[Nepal] was published.

The book in the context is China Monumentis [Amsterdam: Jaco Meurs, 1667]. Written in Latin by Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), a German Jesuit scholar with forty major works to his credit, the book aimed at providing information to the Europeans about the Chinese Empire. As Kircher had interest in Sinology, among many other subjects of his choice, he ventured to study China and also a few of its neighbouring countries as far as it was possible for him at the time. The work is based on Chinese monuments, both sacred and profane, and what he claims to be diverse wonders of nature and of art. The book which was pursued with a missionary zeal was translated from the original Latin edition into English in 1986 – after 319 years of its publication – by Dr. Charles D. Van Tuyl.

China Monumentis has wealth of information on China. Some of them have already been proved imaginary and outdated in view of new findings. What is important for Nepalese readers is the information that the book has on Nepal. They were passed on to the author by Johannes Grueber, a young Belgian missionary who had been living in Peking since1656 as a professor of mathematics. Grueber traveled through Cadmendu in 1661, on his way back to Rome accompanied by Albert d’Orville, another missionary from Austria. They were visiting Cadmendu from the imperial Chinese Observatory in Peking via Lhasa, seeking a land route to India. This difficult route was chosen because they were blockaded by the Dutch rulers at Macao, wherefrom they could safely sail home. Thus turned this restriction into an opportunity to travel overland through China, Tibet, Nepal, India, and thence onward to Rome.

Grueber described the terrors of journey from Lhasa to the foot of Mount Langur [not clear which mountain it is] that took them four days on the foot. “At the summit of Langur, the highest mountain of all, travellers is scarcely able to breathe because of the thinness of the atmosphere. One cannot cross the mountain without danger to the life from the noxious exhalations of certain plants in the summer. Neither vehicles nor beasts of burden can cross the mountain because of the dreadful precipices and the huge boulders.” The whole journey took about a month in order to reach Cuti – a township (today known as Nyalam to Tibetans) which fell under the Kingdom of Nepal at that time.

Although this mountainous region is difficult to cross, it has been emphasized that the nature has provided, from her abundance, hot and cold springs which burst forth from the caverns of the mountain, as well as an abundance of fish for men, and pastures for “beasts of burden.” Gruber also calculates that this is probably the tract which Ptolomy calls a range of the Caucasus mountains. The distance between Cuti to Nesti (also falling under Nepal) is five days, and from Nesti to Cadmendu has been described as six days. At this point, all the people living in Nesti have been described as “enveloped in the darkness of idolatry without any sign of the Christian faith.” “There is, however, an abundance of all the necessities of life, so that in some places thirty or forty chickens are sold for one scutum.” “Nothing was missing for the sustenance of life, except for faith in Christ, for all are wrapped up in pagan darkness.”

At the time when Johanne Grueber and Albert d’Orville entered Nepal, Pratap Malla was the King of Kantipur. He was a powerful ‘pagan’ king and led a prosperous kingdom. His kingdom had monopoly over trade with Tibet. Even though the King has been described as ‘pagan’, he still has been characterized as “not unfriendly to Christian law.” The king has also been reported to have been fascinated by the telescope and other scientific instruments that the visitors carried along, which he had never heard of before. That was also interpreted as the reason why he wanted the visitors to stay in Cademendu and do their missionary works.

Talking about the customs of the people of Cuti and Nesti (the later township does not seem to be known by that name today), the author notes: “They have another custom here, fearsome in its barbarism. When sick people are near death and there is no hope for their recovery, they are thrown out of the house into the ditches of the field full of corpses. There, being exposed to all injuries of nature, these die without any acts of devotion or lamentation. After dying, these are left to be devoured by birds of prey, wolves, dogs, and other creatures. They persuade themselves that it is a uniquely glorious monument for the dead to obtain a sepulcher in the stomachs of living animals.” The visitors find the women of this new country not only ugly but also more like devils than humans. Going further, it has been stated that for some religious reasons, Nepalese people never wash themselves with water but only with totally rancid oil. Moreover, besides exhaling an intolerable stench, they are so stained by the oil that you would call them ghouls and not humans.

According to the author, from Cadmendu it is only a half day’s journey to the city called Baddan (Patan) which is the seat of the whole Kingdom of Nepal. At a five days journey from Necbal lies the town of Hedonda, a colony of the kingdom of Maranga. From Hedonda it is a journey of eight days to Mutgari [Motihari] which is the first city of Mogor [Mughal] empire. In the east of Mogor, one finds the kingdom of Necbal, “which can almost be called an empire because of the strength and power of the kings. It is well provided with everything necessary for living pleasurably.” However, there is nothing in the book which gives some light on the riches that the visitors had seen in this country.

The book contains illustrations of the dress of women of the Tanguth (a part of modern Tibet) Kingdom and Cuti, and of the capital of the Kingdom of Necbal. The faces of Nepal show Aryan as well as Newar – the former bearing an earlier version of Khukuri on his waist. There is one “many-headed idol” in the illustration by Fr. Grueber. Nevertheless, the visitors described this country as the Tartar kingdom of Nepal.

Charles D. Van Tuyl has claimed that “for over two hundred years, Kircher’s China Illustrata was probably the single most important written source for shaping the Western understanding of China and its neighbors.” Therein lies the importance of this book.

 

 

William Digby, A Friend in Need-1857: Friendship Forgotten -1887′ [London: Indian Political Agency, 1890]

The Rana rule has often been the focus of many writers who wrote the history of Nepal following the rise of Prime Minister (General) Jung Bahadur Rana.

Perhaps the only book which comprehensively deals with Prime Minister Ranadip Singh, who succeeded Jung Bahadur upon his death in February 1877, is the book of William Digby – a British author, journalist and a humanitarian. As Digby was an independent critique, and differed so much with the rulers of Nepal and the British establishment in India that his point of view about the transition could be interesting for many readers.

In ‘A Friend in Need-1857: Friendship Forgotten -1887’ [London: Indian Political Agency, 1890], Digby writes about the brutal killing of Prime Minister Ranadip Singh, also spelt Renaudip or Ranodip in Nepali texts, in November 1885 by his nephews in order to usurp the throne of Nepalese prime minister, the throne which was based on the rule of hereditary succession established by Prime Minister Jung Bahadur. As per the family law of succession, Ranadip succeeded his elder brother Jang Bahadur following his death in 1877. The putsch established Bir Shumshere in power. Along with Ranadip Singh, the other person killed was Jagat Jung, who was known as ‘Mukhiya Jarnel’ at that time.

The author argues in his book that the British government based in Calcutta was most dishonest to Nepal, especially to the Prime Minister, who was brutally killed in the coup d’état. Not only it ignored the change of government, it also refused to help Ranadip Singh’s family to deal with the situation. Also the author reminds us that Ranadip Singh’s brother, Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, and his army was the most trusted and obedient supporter of the British cause in India. Their help to the British government in dousing the flames of the revolt of 1857 was not just a small thing. Also known as India’s First War of Independence, the revolt had begun as a mutiny of sepoys of the East India Company’s army, in the town of Meerut, which soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions, largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to the present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh and the Delhi region. Jung Bahadur and the Nepal army that he led were crucial to help suppress the revolt. As an aftermath, the East India Company was dissolved in 1858 and its place was taken over by the British Crown.

Explaining the objective of his book, Digby states: “the story told in the following pages is one with which, unfortunately, the annals of our [British] Indian empire are familiar. No public department in any country, despotically or constitutionally ruled, ever had so short a memory, or one more oblivious to the teachings of history and the claims of justice, than the Calcutta Foreign Office has proved itself to possess. Its course is strewn with wrecks.” He believed that the reigning family of Ranadip Singh had special claims, the strongest of which was the consideration for services rendered to the East India Company in the past: “rendered too, at a time when friendly assistance was of special value and of supreme importance.”

Digby clearly expresses his dislike for the divide and rule strategy being applied to a trusted friend – a friend in need. He maintains that the British gave little importance to the fact that the government of Nepal was subverted by an ambitious officer. The reigning prime minister, a friend of the British government, was foully murdered. His family was forced into exile, and the 12-year old king was virtually made prisoner in his own palace. In these circumstances, he questions why the British government did not respond, even though the senior members of the royal family and the exiled princess had already appealed to the ex-viceroy of India for help. The appeal, according to Digby, was rejected with “what seems like studied contempt.”

There are some additional important observations in the book. William Digby describes the decision makers in the British Indian Foreign Office as ‘apologists’ for stating that they had no other choice, but to recognize Bir Shumshere, because the Nepal Durbar was very quick to appoint him the next Prime minister. He emphasizes that this is a policy “so full of ingratitude and so fruitful of mischief.” The author pleads that the argument of the Foreign Office that China is Nepal’s suzerain, and that we are bound to respect China’s rights is wrong. “The government of India went to War with Nepal in 1814, without for a moment thinking of China’s suzerainty; nor did China help her feudatory in that conflict, or take any steps to prevent the cessation of Nepalese territory to India.”

The author also remarks that the contention that Bir Shumshere was popular among the Nepalese people justifying the British recognition of the new regime is incorrect. One can infer this thing clearly in the following lines: “This is no more true than was the boasted popularity of British rule in upper Burmah when dacoit bands were resisting British arms in every district. The people of Nepal are quiet solely for want of arms and of leaders but to infer from this seemingly tranquility their cordially acceptance of Bir Shumshere’s rules would be as rational as to conclude that a violence is extinct because for a time its fires are quiet and its action is not perceptible to the distant observer, who knows nothing of the unseen workings destined speedily to blaze forth. [In fact], the suddenness of the coup d’etate at Khatmandu in 1885, and the unexpected British support of the usurper, at first stunned the Nepalese.”

William Digby has authored a very exciting book. It helps us understand Nepal of that particular time very effectively. The quotation with which the book starts is a powerful remark of Jung Bahadur Rana addressed to the British patriarchs: “I know my nation is not equal to yours, nor our power to yours. But there is one thing in which we are and ought ever to be equal, namely, Justice – Mutual Justice.” A very commanding expression, indeed!

The conclusion of the book is that the government of Britain was failing in this pursuit and the quest for justice was not yet over.

 

Thomas Smith, Narrative of a Five Year’s Residence at Nepal [London: Colburn and Co, 1852]

Thomas Smith’s Narrative of a Five Year’s Residence at Nepal [London: Colburn and Co, 1852] brings all the excitement of the story of Nepal in the first half of the nineteenth century. The book is divided into two volumes. The narrative is one of the best accounts of the intrusion of the British army into the pristine glory of Nepal. Written by a young officer, who was based in Kathmandu as assistant political resident from 1841 to 1845, the book is also based on his personal experience in Nepal.

In the preface of the book, the author flags the necessity of writing the book on two grounds. The “friendly character of the relations which exist between England and Nepaul” and the position “which Nepaul already holds in Anglo-Indian history” created this imperative. He emphasizes that the story of Nepal to be given in the book should look complete, and ” nothing should be omitted which can throw light on its characteristics and history.” The idea was to prepare a reference work on Nepal. Several other works have been written in reference to Nepaul; but the Author of the present one confidently believes that no complete account of the kingdom, and all that relates to it, has been published until now.

Captain Smith starts his narrative with personal adventure of an overland trip from England to India via France, Italy and Egypt. Following this exciting journey, he writes about the topography of Nepaul, the animals available in this country with some narratives of sport in the forest, the inhabitants of Nepaul, especially the military tribes, Nepaul’s manners, customs and laws, and a short history of the country.

In the background of these narratives, the author explains the passion of the Goorkhas for “territorial aggrandizement,” the “aggressive conduct” of their international border security officers, the tedious and unfriendly discussions carried on between them and the East India Company with reference to some disputed lands and the subsequent declaration of the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–15) by the British side. There are stirring details of the war continued at different fronts in different chapters. There is detailed account of the termination of first campaign which resulted in Gurhwal being restored to its King, and the superintendence of the affairs of all the western chiefs being vested in General David Ochterlony. After two costly and unsuccessful attempts to seize the Nalapani fort by direct attack, the British changed their approach and sought to force the garrison to surrender by cutting off the fort’s external water supply. Nepal had started to lose. There was no full stop. This follows negotiation of peace between warring sides.

The post war Nepal remained nice to the British. Captain Smith appreciates that Nepaul did not furnish any fresh ground for quarrel in the next twenty-two years. “The treaties were respected, and the internal condition of the Kingdom was peaceable.” It is in this environment that the Nepaulese mission to England led by General Jung Bahadur, who had recently emerged as the new General in Kathmandu, was planned. He was able to show his power and clout as a visiting dignitary. The British people were impressed, but were not clear about the objective of the visit as such. Smith notes: “Nepal certainly had got herself into bad odour with the government of India by her unfriendly intrigues with the government of Lahore and Gwalior, during the period of [British] hostilities with these states.” He says: “The Nepaulese, however, situated as they are between two nations, both far too formidable to be resisted, may feel their position awkward and embarrassing; and the late mission may have originated in a desire to ascertain the power, resources, and the Indian policy of the most formidable of them.”

The book gives a special focus on General David Ochterlony, who led Britain to victory. On the outbreak of the war he was given the command of one of four converging columns, and subsequently he was promoted to the command of the main force in its advance on Kathmandu, and outmaneuvering the Gookhas by a flank march at the Kourea Ghat Pass, bringing the war to a successful conclusion and obtaining the signature of the Treaty of Sugauli (1816). The author, who was a Captain at the time of writing this book, has a fascinating note for him: “A history of Nepaul, without a special biography of Ochterlony, would be like ‘Hamlet’ without the prince of Denmark.” Obviously, what Thomas Smith means is not the history of Nepal per se, but the history of Anglo Nepal War. Ochterlony was not only “the conqueror of Nepaul, after all other Generals had failed, but was one of the finest, best, and bravest soldiers the Indian army ever had to boast.”

The Appendix of the book contains the memorial of David Ochterlony to the Court of Directors of the East India Company. At one place, Ochterlony notes: “Every male throughout the territory of Nepaul is liable to be called upon to serve as a soldier for one year, at the expiration of which period he is entitled to claim his discharge.” He further notes that even though such a provision exists, the government does not need more people in the military service.

Captain Smith has devoted a full Chapter to the Sirmoor Battalion – the regiment being raised by the East India Company in 1815 for the first time. Four battalions were formed from the disbanded Nepaulese troops (after the hills had fallen under the British yoke). The battalion was formed at Nahan, now in Himanchal Pradesh. This was the first Goorkha unit in the service of the East India Company to see action, during the 3rd Mahratta War in 1817. During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the Sirmoor Battalion was one of the Indian regiments that remained loyal to Britain.

Talking about the laws of Nepal, and the way in which they are administered, Smith refers to what he was told by a Guru named Rugnauth Pundit – that those seeking for learning should go to Benares – those seeking for justice should go to Nepaul, or rather Goorkha, which is fifty miles farther north of Kathmandu. “My own impression, although I did not tell the learned priest so, was – “you might seek it, possibly find it, but it would be a very dangerous experiment.” Smith pointed out that the laws for political offences as they existed in Nepal depend entirely upon the strength or weakness of the party they are enforced against, and the guilt or innocence depends upon the faction in power.

There are some very interesting information in the book of Captain Smith. Writing about the domestic cattle of Nepal, he declares that the milk of Nepaulese cows “is not surpassed for sweetness or richness by any in the world”, “the Rapti abounds with fish of all kinds,” and the bees in the valley provide excellent honey. They should be of great interest to the native readers.