NEPAUL, an extensive country of Hindustan, long and narrow in its form, and, although somewhat curtailed in its dimensions by the progress of British conquest, still one of the largest and most compact independent kingdoms in the country. To the north it is bounded by the great mountain wall of the Himalayas, which separates it from Thibet; to the south the Nepaul territory reaches about twenty miles beyond the base of the mountains, into the plains, being bounded by the provinces of Delhi, Oude, Bahar, and Bengal, with the exception of about sixty miles of territory belonging to the nabob of Oude, which intervene; to the east the river Mitchee separates Nepaul from the British territories; and thence it is bounded by the principality of Sikkim, which extends to the Chinese frontier. Previously to the late war with Britain, the conquests of the Ghoorkhas or Nepaulese extended to the banks of the Sutlege, the eastern river of the Punjab; but the boundary is now the river Cali, or the western branch of the Goggra, which separates the Ghoorkha territory from the British province of Kumaon. The above limits, however, include a territory much larger than that to which the peculiar name of Nepaul Proper belongs, and made up of conquests gained by the Ghoorkhas within the last sixty years from a variety of petty hill states. This extended dominion is mostly included between the twenty-seventh and thirty-first degrees of north latitude, and in extreme length maybe estimated at 460 miles, by 115 miles in breadth. The following are the modern districts into which this territory is divided:

1. Nepaul Proper.

2. Country of the twenty-four rajahs.

3. Country of the twenty-two rajahs.

4. Muckwanpoor.

5. Kirauts.

6. Khatang.

7. Chayenpoor.

8. Saptari.

9. Morung.

Nepaul comprehends the greater part, probably about two thirds, of Northern Hindustan. It is accordingly extremely diversified in its surface, the mountains which form its northern boundary rising to the level of perpetual snow. These high mountains generally decline into lower hills, from which they are separated by fine valleys, which are still considerably above the level of the plains, and the lowest belt of the Nepaul dominions forms part of the great, plain of Hindustan. Immediately to the north of this flat country there is a region of nearly the same width, consisting of small hills, which rise gradually[7:16:94] towards the north, and are watered by many streams from the loftier mountains to which these hills gradually unite. The hills are covered with forests: on the lower hills are found the saul forests, which, with the pines, are not surpassed in any country, either for straightness or size, as well as for strength and durability. Higher up there is a variety of other trees, and amongst the northern hills many pines, and an abundance of mimosa, from which the catechu or Indian rubber is made; also oaks, walnut and chestnut trees, hornbeam, Weymouth pine, and common spruce, for the most part of but very little value, owing to the inaccessible nature of the country. The breadth of this mountainous belt immediately north and east of Catmandoo is estimated at from thirty to forty miles. This is a very elevated region, consisting of one mountain heaped upon another rising to a great height, so that in winter their summits are for a short time covered with snow, and it even falls sometimes in the valley below. A hoar frost also very often covers the ground; but although the cold is occasionally for three or four months severe enough to freeze the tanks and pools of standing water, the rivers are never frozen. Between the mountains are narrow valleys of from 3000 to 6000 feet above the plains of Bengal. The height of the valley of Nepaul, measured by the barometer, is about 4000 feet. It is nearly of an oval figure; its greatest extent from north to south is twelve miles, and it stretches east and west nine miles; and though it scarcely lies in a higher latitude than twenty-seven and a half degrees, yet it enjoys nearly the same climate as the southern countries of Europe.

Lying near a region buried in snow, its climate must no doubt be somewhat modified by such a vicinity. Still Kirkpatrick mentions, that in summer the thermometer rose once to eighty-seven degrees during his residence in the valley; and its usual height about noon varied from eighty-one to eighty-four degrees. At sun-rise it was commonly between fifty and fifty-four, and at nine in the evening it generally fluctuated from sixty-two to sixty-six degrees. Fifty-one observations, from the 17th to the 25th March, gave an average of sixty-seven degrees. The seasons are nearly the same with those in Upper Hindustan. The rains commence a little earlier, and set in from the south-east quarter; they are generally very violent, and break out towards the middle of October. The mountain-torrents rush down in consequence with great impetuosity, overflowing their banks, and spreading over all the adjacent country. By these violent inundations, the plain is cut into numerous and deep ravines. The temperature varies necessarily with the elevation of the ground; so that by ascending the adjacent mountains, the heat of Bengal may in the course of a few days be exchanged for the cold of Russia.

The produce also varies along with the climate. In some parts rattans and bamboos, both of enormous dimensions, are seen, and others produce only oaks and pines. In several parts the pine-apple and sugar-cane ripen, whilst others yield only barley, millet, and similar grains. The mulberry grows luxuriantly all over the hills; and they cut its young and tender shoots annually, whilst full of leaves, and, having dried them, stack them for fodder, which is said to be both nutritious and agreeable to the animals. In this comparatively cold and elevated climate, the periodical rains are not favourable for the ripening of fruits, which everywhere abound, but never come to perfection, the heat of the climate not being sufficient to bring them to maturity before the approach of the rains. Peaches grow wild on every hill; but one side of them is rotted by the damp, whilst the other side is green; and the grapes, which grow without shelter from the rains, are always bad. Kirkpatrick, however, from the spontaneous productions which he saw on the spot, namely, the peach, the raspberry, the walnut, the mulberry, and others, thought that all the fruits and esculent vegetables of England might with proper attention be successfully raised in the mountainous valleys of Nepaul. In the warmer valleys, the pine-apple is uncommonly fine; as also the orange, which ripens in winter. The abundant rains, if they spoil the fruits, are, however, very favourable to the produce of grain; and wherever the land can be levelled into terraces, however narrow, it is well adapted for transplanted rice, which ripens after the rains have ceased. The least rocky faces of the hills are generally cut into these terraces, which are seen everywhere rising above each other. This operation produces numerous strips of level ground, more or less narrow, according to the steepness of the hills. Great labour and care are bestowed upon this operation, and it is often necessary to build a retaining wall to support the edge of the small strip of ground. Much attention is also paid to the levelling of its surface, to fit it for irrigation, as every rivulet is first conducted by drains to the higher cultivated spots, and then, after saturating them, to the lower range of fields. In some parts the same land gives a winter crop of wheat and barley. Where the land is too steep for terraces, it is generally cultivated after fallow with the hoe, and produces rice sown broadcast, maize, cotton, three kinds of pulse, a kind of mustard, manjeet or Indian madder, wheat, barley, and sugarcane. Tobacco is an article of general cultivation in these hills, and it is considered as of a fine quality. It is exported in considerable quantities both to the plains and to Bootan. One of the great staples of agriculture in these mountainous countries is a large species of cardamom; and ginger is likewise a valuable production in the country between Nepaul Proper and the Cali, though rice is still the main dependence of the farmer. Various dry rices are cultivated in Nepaul, under the general name of ghya, some of which, so far from needing hot weather to bring them to maturity, are actually raised in situations very much exposed to falls of snow; whilst others do not require, as in Bengal, to be flooded, but flourish in the driest and loftiest spots. There are also amongst the spontaneous productions of this fertile soil several edible roots and herbs, which form a considerable part of the sustenance of the poorer inhabitants. Of these there are a species of yam, and a kind of wild asparagus, as well as various other plants well deserving the attention of travellers. There are also medicinal plants, and a rich variety of dyeing drugs procured from bitter or aromatic woods, which grow naturally in the country, and which are held in great estimation. The jeea is a very curious plant, from the expressed leaves of which is produced a juice called cherris, which is a potent narcotic, and possesses very valuable qualities, burning with a flame as bright as that of the purest resin. Its leaves are fabricated into a species of hemp, from which the Newars manufacture some coarse linen, and likewise a very strong kind of sackcloth. Though the soil seems well adapted to the growth ofkitchen vegetables, yet the inhabitants are either too indolent or unskilful i to raise them. The only kitchen vegetables which Colonel Kirkpatrick met with were cabbages and pease of the worst kind. They have the Thibet turnip, but cannot raise it, any more than the potato, without renewing the seed annually. Amongst these mountains are found the nettle, wild wormwood, raspberries, and mulberries; also a curious shrub called khaksi, the leaf of which answers the purpose of emery or sandpaper, giving a fine polish to the harder woods.

The mountain pasture, though not so good as that in the low country, yet supports numerous flocks of sheep, which migrate with the seasons, in winter to the lower valleys, and in summer to the alpine regions, where they feed upon the herbage of those extensive tracts which lie in the neighbourhood of perpetual snow. The sheep in these altitudes are of considerable size, and have fine wool; the larger are the same as in the lower countries, but are not numerous.
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Buffaloes are not reared by the natives, neither are hogs nor goats, though the country is admirably adapted for both. Horses are brought from Thibet, as none are bred south of the Himalaya; also the large ox of Thibet, or the bos grunniens, described by Turner, the beautiful tail of which forms one of the exports from Nepaul; and the goat which produces the shawl wool. The kustoora or musk-deer is a native of Lower Thibet, though it is not very abundant anywhere. It is usually caught by means of a snare made of a particular kind of mountain bamboo. It is difficult to obtain the musk pure, even at Catmandoo; and Colonel Kirkpatrick mentions, that it is even usual to adulterate it whilst it is yet in the bag on the body of the animal. In the great forest which skirts the Nepaul territories throughout their whole extent, from Serinagur to the Teesta, wild animals abound. Elephants are found here in great numbers, and are a source of revenue to the Nepaul government. About 200 or 300 of these animals are caught annually; but most of them being very young, and not being above seven feet and a half in height, they are not of great value. They are extremely mischievous, and two or three of them sometimes take possession of the road, and obstruct the progress of travellers for a considerable time. A large herd of them assaulted the camp of the Nepaul deputies when they were on their way to Patna, and were with great difficulty driven away. They sometimes issue from the forest in droves, and overrun the cultivated country on its borders, penetrating sometimes a considerable space within the company’s territories. The rhinoceros, the tiger, the leopard, and other ferocious animals, find shelter in the depths of the forests. The animal known in Bengal by the name of the Nepaul dog is brought from Upper and Lower Thibet, of which it is a native. It is a fierce, surly creature, about the size of an English bull-dog, and covered with thick long hair. Several very fine birds are found in these mountainous countries, as the manal (meleagris satyra), and the damphya {phasianus impeyanus). They are a species of pheasants, the damphya being of the golden, and the manal or moonal of the spotted sort. They are both extremely beautiful birds. The chakoor is well known to the Europeans of India under the name of the fire-eater. It is a species of partridge, and derives its name from its reputed power of swallowing fire. The fact is, that in the breeding season this bird is remarkably fond of red pepper, after eating two or three capsules of which, it will bite at a red coal if presented to it. The khaledge is met with in the thickets which overrun the gorges of the mountains near Noakote. The sarus, wild goose, wild duck, and several others of the feathered species common to Bengal and the rest of the countries to the southward of Nepaul, are occasionally seen in this and the adjacent valleys; where, however, they merely appear as birds of passage, making Nepaul only a stage in their flight from Hindustan to Thibet.

The stones and ores collected in the country indicate the existence of a variety of minerals in the mountains of Nepaul, such as iron, lead, copper, &c. It was formerly a prevalent idea amongst the Hindus, from whom it was received by the British, that the country contained mines of gold. The only foundation for this notion appears to be, that in the course of commerce the gold of Thibet passed into Bengal and Bahar through Nepaul; or that a few grains of gold were occasionally collected in the sands of the rivers, or found in the consecrated pebbles of Gunduck; or sometimes that specimens of gold ore have been sent to the governor-general by way of presents or curiosities. Other accounts of gold mines may also be referred to the circumstance of scanty particles of gold being found in the beds of torrents from the mountains. With regard to silver, it is said that some veins of it have been discovered to the westward of Noakote. But Kirkpatrick, in his account of Nepaul, suspects that it has no better foundation than that silver has lately been found in certain ores which were very rich in lead; whilst others appeared to be a species of galena, well worth the working for the sake of the silver which they contained. Several attempts had been made to extract the silver, but by such an unskilful process, that most part of the baser metal was sacrificed, in consequence of which the return scarcely repaid the expense. The copper is found quite near the surface of the earth, the ore being dug from trenches open above, so that the work is entirely interrupted by the rainy season. Those ores are found in several varieties, and are said to be rich and of an excellent kind. The mine is shared amongst certain families along with the rajah, who, there is every reason to believe, claims the lion’s share, and, as in all other parts of Hindustan, leaves the workmen a bare subsistence. Oude was formerly supplied with copper from Nepaul; but of late years it has been superseded by European copper, owing to the difficulties and expense of transferring it to the market through a mountainous country without navigable rivers. The iron ore is also found near the surface, and is not surpassed in excellence by that of any other country. Sulphur is likewise abundant, and procured in great quantities. There is no good authority for believing that either the ores of antimony or mercury are found in the territories of Nepaul; but the western parts abound in arsenic and pyrites, though these sulphureous ores are no longer worked, on account of the deleterious effects occasioned by the operation. Stone is found in abundance and variety, particularly jasper and marble; but the houses are universally built of brick, because the use of stone, though abounding everywhere, is prevented by the expense of carriage in a country where the roads do not admit of wheel-carriages, and where there is no navigation. There is said to be a considerable mass of rock crystal near Ghoorkha, and limestone as well as slate abounds everywhere; yet there are no limekilns in the country, the only cement employed being mud, which, the natives pretend, answers better in their humid climate than mortar.

The alpine region belonging to Nepaul is about the same breadth of thirty or forty miles from north to south. Scattered peaks are here seen covered with perpetual snow, until, in advancing to the boundaries of Thibet, everlasting winter reigns. This inhospitable region consists chiefly of immense rocks rising into sharp peaks and tremendous precipices, covered with snow, and almost constantly involved in clouds. Some of these mountains are estimated to rise 19,960 feet above the valley of Nepaul. The rains here are periodical, as in the plains of Hindustan, and fall in the hottest season of the year. The snowy ridge of the Himalaya Mountains, though it has a winding course, has few interruptions, and is in most places impassable. Several rivers which take their rise in Thibet make their way through the mountainous ridges, but by such narrow chasms, and amidst such enormous precipices, that these openings afford no practicable communication between the mountains and the plains. In the mountain passes no sort of baggage or merchandise is transportable, except on the shoulders of hill porters. The price of this carriage is regulated by the government.

The numerous valleys which are interspersed throughout the mountains of Nepaul are inhabited by a variety of mixed races. The aboriginal inhabitants appear, from their physiognomy, to have been of Tartar or of Chinese origin, and to have had no resemblance to the Hindus either in features, religion, or manners. Before their arrival they had no idea of caste. The period when these mountainous regions were first invaded by the Hindus is uncertain; but, according to the most authentic traditions, it is supposed to have taken place about the fourteenth century. The Hindus who now inhabit these mountains were about this [7:16:96]period driven from their country by the invasion of the Mahommedan sovereign of Delhi, who made proposals to marry a daughter of the rajah of Chitore, celebrated for her beauty. This offer was refused, and the consequence was that his city was captured and destroyed; and, to avoid the hated yoke of the conqueror, great numbers of the inhabitants fled to the mountains. Many of the chiefs amongst the mountain tribes, accordingly, claim descent from these Chitore princes, although on doubtful grounds. There are a fewrajpoots whose claims to a pure descent from the Chitore family are allowed; and the families of the mountain chiefs who have adopted the Hindu rules of purity, and some even who have neglected this, are now admitted to be rajpoots; whilst, on the other hand, the purity of the Chitore blood has been so often contaminated by alliances with the Tartar and Chinese races, that several of the Chitore family have acquired the Tartar countenance, and some of the mountain tribes, by intermarriages with pure rajpoots in a low station, have acquired the oval faces and high noses of that remarkable race. The original purity of the rajpoot blood having been thus lost by indiscriminate alliances, all the hill chiefs, whether their descent from the Chitore family be real or pretended, are now called rajpoots, and hold the principal offices, civil and military, of the petty states in which the country was subdivided, until Nepaul was subdued by the reigning family of the Ghoorkhas. In the eastern parts of the country the aboriginal tribes still remain; and, until the predominance of the Ghoorkhas, they enjoyed unmolested their customs and religion. But west of the Cali the case is different, almost all the inhabitants claiming a descent from the Hindu colony. They accordingly consist principally of the two superior classes of Hindus, or brahmins and chetrees, with their various subdivisions.

East of the Cali the tribes which possessed the country were chiefly, 1. Magars, who occupied the lower hills in the western parts, and were very soon converted to the brahmin doctrine of abstaining from beef. They are at present enlisted by the Ghoorkha sovereigns, and compose a great majority of their troops. 2. The Gurungs, a pastoral tribe, shift their abode between the mountains and the valleys with the summer and the winter. They still adhere to the lama priesthood and the Buddhist religion. They cultivate with the hoe, are diligent miners and traders, and employ the numerous flocks which they possess in conveying their goods to market. 3. The Jariyas form a numerous tribe, and inhabit the lower hilly region between the Cali and the Nepaul valley, and are now nearly all converted to the brahminical doctrines. 4. The Newars are an industrious people, following agriculture and commerce, and are more advanced in the mechanical arts than the mountain tribes. The greater part of them adhere to the tenets of the Buddhists: though they have adopted the distinctions of caste, they do not acknowledge the lamas, and have a priesthood of their own. The more fertile part of what is called Nepaul Proper was chiefly occupied by the Newars, a race addicted to agriculture and commerce, and far more advanced in the arts than any other of the mountain tribes. Their style of building, and most of their arts, appear to have been introduced from Thibet. All the Newars burn their dead; they eat buffaloes, sheep, goats, fowls, and ducks, and are addicted to the immoderate use of spirituous liquors. They live in towns or villages, in houses built of brick cemented with clay, and covered with tiles; these houses are three stories high, the ground-floor being allotted to the cattle and poultry, the second to the servants, and the third to the family of the owner. Their rooms are low, and have a mean and dirty appearance, and, besides, are infested with vermin, which, in addition to the filth, the offals of the shambles, and the blood of their sacrifices collected in the streets, give their towns an exceedingly offensive aspect to Europeans. The Newar women are never confined to the house. At the early age of eight years they are car- ' ried to a temple, and married, with the usual ceremonies of the Hindus, to a fruit called ull ; and when they arrive at puberty they are betrothed to a man of the same caste, and the parents give a dower to the husband, or rather her paramour, their manners being extremely licentious. Like the women amongst the Nairs, they,may in fact have as many husbands as they choose, being at liberty to divorce them as often as they please, and upon the slightest pretences. The Newars are peaceable, industrious, and even ingenious; much attached to the superstition which they profess, and now reconciled to the chains imposed on them by their Ghoorkha conquerors. Their occupations are chiefly those of agriculture; and they are, besides, almost exclusively employed in the arts and manufactures of the country. They are generally of the middle size, possessed of great corporeal strength, with broad shoulders and chest, very stout limbs, round and rather flat faces, small eyes, low and somewhat spreading noses, and open and cheerful countenances, with little or no resemblance, according to Kirkpatrick, to the Chinese countenance. The complexion of the women is somewhat between a sallow and a copper colour. 5. The Dhenwars and Mhanjees are the husbandmen and fishers of the western districts. 6. The Bhootias. Though some families of this race are planted in the lower lands, they occupy, generally speaking, such parts of the mountainous country as are included in the Nepaul territories. They shave their heads, and observe many idolatrous rites and customs. 7. The Bhanras are a sort of separatists from the Newars, and are supposed to amount to 5000. They observe many of the customs of the Bhootias. To the eastward some districts of the Nepaul dominions are inhabited by tribes, such as the Lim-booas, Nuggerkootees, and others, of whom little more is known than the names.

With regard to the number of inhabitants within the bounds of Nepaul, we have no data to form any thing like an accurate estimate. The wild and rugged nature of the country gives no ground to suppose that the population is considerable. It is in the valleys that the population is collected; and these, says Kirkpatrick, with the exception of Nepaul and two or three others, are little better than mountainous cavities. Even the Terriani, or low belt of land which runs along the southern frontier, is but indifferently peopled, the villages being, according to the traveller already mentioned, very thinly scattered, and mean both<n their appearance and in their size. The Nepaulese themselves give the most exaggerated account of their numbers. They reckon their population by houses; and to Patan, their largest town, they assign 24,000 houses, to Bhatgong 22,000, and to Catmandoo 18,000. This would give a population of 640,000. There are, besides, many large villages and towns scattered around Kirtee-poor, containing 12,000 houses; Theamee, Buneba, Phar-ping, Punonlee, Dhulkill, Chappagang, all containing from 6000 to 7000 houses; and, besides these, there are reckoned between twenty and thirty smaller, of from 1000 to 4000 houses, all within the valley of Nepaul. But this gives a population that sets probability at defiance, and is considered, both by Frazer and Kirkpatrick, as a glaring fallacy. A loose estimate of the latter traveller lowers the population of Nepaul to half a million of souls.

The lands are held by various tenures. Those constituting crown-lands, or the rajah’s immediate estates, are chiefly situated in the Ghoorkha territory, though there is hardly any portion of the Ghoorkha conquests in which the prince has not appropriated land to his own use. Some of these lands are cultivated by husbandmen, who receive a share of the produce; others are tilled by the neighbouring husbandmen, who are obliged to dedicate a certain [7:16:97]number of days in the year to this service. From such lands the rajah draws all the supplies necessary for the support of his household. The brahmins also possess lands, the title to which they receive by royal investiture. These lands are rent free, saleable, and hereditary; but they may nevertheless be alienated for certain crimes. Their proprietors are bound to the reigning prince for nothing beyond his prayers, though they sometimes consider it as prudent to conciliate him by more substantial gifts. Another tenure by which land is possessed by the Newars, is the payment of a considerable fine when the original titles are confirmed, which must be renewed on the accession of each prince. Other lands pay a rent to the crown, or to the jaghiredar (proprietor), in proportion to their produce. The khyra and barilands are those which are destitute of springs or running water, and which, requiring considerable labour i yield, after all, no very profitable return. These pay a rent according to their produce, which is estimated by the number of spades or ploughs employed. Widows may cultivate as much of this land as they can, without paying any rent at all. The kaith or plantationlands, which are well supplied with water, and, being situated in the valleys, are fruitful, and yield all the superior kinds of grain, pay the half of their produce to the cultivator, who in return defrays all the charges of tillage, with the exception of the seed. These lands are reckoned to yield from twenty to thirty fold; and they pay different rates to the proprietor, according to the value of their produce.

The whole population of Nepaul are liable to military service in times of public danger, though they arc not regularly trained to arms. But there is a standing army dispersed over the country, besides a large force always in the capital, amounting to 30,000 or 35,000 troops. These troops are regularly trained, disciplined, and officered after the manner of European troops; and they likewise affect the European exercise, dress, and arms. The regular force of Nepaul has so long been accustomed to active service and to constant victory, that they have acquired all the qualities of veteran soldiers, a fearlessness of danger, and a contempt of any foe opposed to them. “They have,” says Frazer, “much of the true and high spirit of a soldier, that setting of life at nought in comparison of the performance of duty, and that high sense of honour which forms his most attractive ornament, and raises his character to the highest.” These qualities were frequently displayed in the course of the campaign with the British, against whose overwhelming attacks fortresses were defended with a determined bravery, and a patient endurance of famine and misery, that were truly exemplary. And when they at length surrendered a fort which was no longer tenable, they deplored their hard fate, called themselves wretched men that ought rather to have died, and refused to return to their native country; whilst the courtesy they showed to the British, and the reciprocal good offices received and returned, resembled more the generous spirit of European warfare, than the cruel practices of the East. The expenses of the military establishment are mostly defrayed by assignments of land, though in some instances the soldier receives his pay from the treasury, and occasionally from the public granary; others are paid partly in money, and partly in land; but the most usual mode, and the one most agreeable to the troops, is by putting them in possession of tracts of land, on which they generally settle their families, whom they can maintain better in this manner than by any pecuniary stipend. There seems no fixed rate of reward for different ranks, a good deal depending on the interest of the parties, and other incidental circumstances. One of the captains of the rajah’s company of guards informed Colonel Kirkpatrick, that the lands which he held yielded him 180 rupees a year, and that he received an additional sum in money of 280 rupees; but added, that he was better off when he belonged to a private company. It may be added, that government evinces great consideration for its military and public servants, being particularly indulgent to their widows, orphans, and other destitute branches of their families. The soldiers are in general stout, thick, and well-built men. They are very brave, and prefer close fighting, giving an onset with a loud shout. During the war with the British they attacked with great valour and impetuosity, advancing to the very muzzles of the cannon. They understand the use of the sabre; and each man wears, besides, a “cookree,” or long crooked heavy knife, which may be used in war, but is also of great use in all common operations where a knife or hatchet is required. The soldiers also carry a long sort of matchlocks or muskets. The officers, besides the sword and shield and “cookree,” carry bows and arrows, which they use very dexterously. The sword which they use has the edge curved inwards like a reaping hook, but far more straight, and very heavy, particularly at the point, where it is very broad, and ends abruptly squace. A few small guns are used; but they are confined to the walls of forts, and never carried into the field.

The government of Nepaul is essentially a despotism, and is good or bad according to the character or temporary views of the reigning prince. It is no doubt slightly ameliorated by the authority of immemorial customs, and the influence of religion, which no prince, however despotic, can safely disregard; as well as by the occasional opposition of the aristocracy or chiefs. But the great body of the people derive little benefit from the struggle for power between the prince and his nobles. They seem to possess no civil rights, and are at the mercy of their rulers for whatever treatment the latter think proper to give them. It was observed by Kirkpatrick, in the course of his journey into the country, that the carriers were pressed, without ceremony, into the service of government, and compelled to work without any promise of pay; and in the war with the British, a detachment of troops, because they yielded a post to the enemy which they could no longer hold, were punished with extraordinary cruelty, being mutilated in their faces in the most shocking manner. In Europe the progress of improvement has modified the rigour of the most absolute governments; but in Nepaul, as in all the Asiatic states, despotism grows up to the most frightful maturity in the congenial soil of ignorance; and although the arbitrary will of the prince may be opposed by the force of circumstances, yet there is no permanent security for life and property, such as is derived from the authority of fixed laws. The administration of public affairs is carried on by various officers. The first of these is the choutra or prime minister to the rajah, to whom he is invariably akin. His business is to receive and examine all written and verbal communications regarding public business, and to act as a sort of comptroller-general over the inferior departments of administration. He holds his office during the pleasure of the prince, to whom he submits all his reports on matters of state; and the former, if he see proper, refers them for further investigation to a court of inspection appointed for the purpose. He is paid by a commission or fine on every rice plantation, with the exception of those of the Thurgars or nobles and the military. Secondly, the kajees are four commissaries who superintend all civil and military affairs, and are employed in the collection of the revenue, and in the management of the Jaghire lands. They are paid by a tax of one rupee on all taxable lands. Thirdly, the sirdars command the armies of the state, and likewise participate in the management of civil business. Fourthly, the kurdars act as secretaries, preparing all communications from the rajah to foreign powers, or to the officers of state. Fifthly, the kup-perdar and the kuzanchee have the charge, the one of the [7:16:98] rajah’s private wardrobe, jewels, and kitchen; and the other of the public wardrobe, from which honorary dresses are issued. All these officers are paid by a moderate duty upon all taxable lands. Sixthly, the ticksali or superintendent of the mint is paid by a commission on the import duties from' Thibet, and on a tax payable by all natives of Nepaul who return to their country from Lehassa, Diggerchch, or other parts of Thibet. This tax is exacted with a good deal of rigour. Seventhly, the dhurma-udhikar is the chief criminal judge, who commissions all the inferior judges, excepting those who officiate in the farmed districts. The fees in this department are very great; and as most crimes are punishable by fine, the penalties constitute a large source of emolument, which does not by any means favour the pure administration of justice. Civil questions regarding property are decided by another tribunal, the members of which are usually brahmins. Over this court the criminal judge sometimes presides. Intricate questions are occasionally referred to a superstitious ordeal, in which chance decides; and this barbarous process is a sure index to the manners of the people, and to the low state of their civil institutions. There is, besides, a superintendent of the police, a minister who is employed in complimentary embassies to foreign powers, or in carrying orders to public officers. The soubahs are governors of districts, or farmers, and government collectors, acting as officers of revenue, of justice, and of police; and the omrahs are commanders of military posts.

The public revenue is derived from land-rents, customs, fines of various sorts, and from mines. Annual presents are made by the soubahs, and by everyone who approaches the court; and a sort of arbitrary income-tax is besides levied from all ranks, even the sacred o order, who possess free lands, not being exempted. An officer is often employed for the express purpose of collecting this tax, which is rated according to the exigencies of the state, and which mounts up in many districts to more than the regular revenue. According to Colonel Kirkpatrick, who visited the country in 1792, and who derived his information from good authority, the revenue actually remitted to Catmandoo never exceeded thirty lacs of rupees (L.35,000), but it sometimes fell to twenty-five lacs. The subsequent conquests by the Ghoorkha sovereigns were not productive of a great increase of income; and the reduction of territory by the late war would of course occasion a corresponding diminution. The export duties, and the profits on the sale of elephants, bring in from three to four lacs of revenue. The import duties levied on the trade from Thibet, included under the mint, as the returns consist chiefly in silver bullion, amount to about seven or eight lacs. The duties on salt, the profits on saltpetre, which appears to be a monopoly, on copper and iron mines, and the produce of the land-tax, may be estimated at from fifteen to eighteen lacs. Formerly the inhabitants of Thibet were supplied with a silver currency from the mint of Nepaul, on which the treasury gained a profit of a lac of rupees.

The trade of Nepaul is by no means so extensive as it might be if it were conducted under proper regulations; being shackled by monopolies for the benefit of government, or of a few favoured merchants, who labour to preserve their privileges by the most invidious and corrupt means in their power, and by other injudicious restraints. But, at the same time, the surplus produce of so poor a country could scarcely afford the basis of an extensive trade; and it was accordingly rather the medium of communication between other countries, than remarkable for the extent of its own commerce. Formerly merchants from Cashmere carried their manufactures to Kutti and other towns in Thibet, and received in return the wool produced in these countries from the shawl goat. Such portions of these manufactures as are not used in Thibet were exported by the way of Teshoo Loomboo and Lassa, to Siling or Sining on the frontiers of China, and partly sent to Catmandoo by way of Patna. The principal goods imported in return to answer the demand of Cashmere and Nepaul were teas and silks; and from Patna, it is said, they exported otters’ skins to a great amount, procured from the neighbourhood of Dacca. The articles imported into Nepaul from Thibet are coarse woollen cloths, paper, horses, sheep, shawl goats, chowry bullocks, chowries or cow-tails, musk-deer, dogs, falcons, pheasants, salt, sal-ammoniac, hurtal or yellow arsenic, borax, quicksilver from China, gold in grains and in small lumps, antimony, rugs or coarse blankets, muιιijheet or Indian madder, cherris or extract of hemp, besides various medicinal drugs and preserved fruits, such as almonds, walnuts, raisins, dates. Of these articles, the greater part of the musk, chowries, hurtal, borax, and bullion still find their way to Patna; whence in return are sent north, buffaloes, goats, broad cloth, cutlery, glass ware, and other European commoditiès, Indian cotton manufactures, mother of pearl, pearls, coral, beads, spices, pepper, betel nut and leaf, camphor, tobacco, tin, lead, zinc, and phajoo, the red powder thrown by the Hindus during the hooly. Besides these articles, utensils in wrought copper, brass, bell-metal, and iron, are sold to the merchants of Thibet. The borax and salt are said to be brought from a lake which is situated nearly north from Catmandoo, about fifteen days’ journey beyond the Brahmaputra. The carriers of these articles are a large kind of sheep, with four horns, which appear to be the common beasts of burden in all countries towards the sources of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. Formerly the lamas of Lassa and Teshoo Loomboo sent a large sum in bullion to be coined at the mint of Catmandoo, on which an allowance of four per cent, was made for the coinage. But the rapacity of the rajah induced him to alloy the rupee to the amount of eight per cent., which had the effect of putting an entire stop to this source of revenue.

The Newars are almost the only artisans in Nepaul; and they appear to be acquainted with and to exercise most of the handicraft occupations of their neighbours. The Newar women of all ranks, as well as the men, of the hill-tribe of Mugar, weave two sorts of cotton cloth, partly for home use and partly for exportation. These cloths are the dresses of the middling and lower classes, although woollens would be much better fitted for the cold climate of a Nepaul winter. Those, accordingly, who are not very poor, wear woollen blankets, which ∣are manufactured by the Bhooteas, who wear nothing else. The dress of the higher ranks is not manufactured at home, but is imported, consisting of Chinese silks, shawls, low country muslins, and calicoes. European broad cloth is worn by the military alone. They work very well in iron, copper, brass, &c.; and in Lalita, Patan, and Bhatgong, there are considerable manufactories of these articles, and also of a species of bell-metal. One bell which was manufactured at that place measured five feet in diameter. The Thibet bells are superior to those of Nepaul, though a great many bell-metal vessels are made by the Newars, and exported to Thibet, along with those of brass and copper. They are likewise particularly ingenious in carpentry; but it is remarkable that they never use a saw, dividing their wood, of whatever size, by a chisel and mallet. They are skilful in gilding; and they manufacture at Bhatgong, from the bark of a shrub, a very strong paper, remarkably well suited for packages. They distil spirits from rice and other grains, and also prepare a fermented liquor from wheat, munooa, rice, &c. which they call jhaur. It is made somewhat in the manner of malt liquors, but is more intoxicating. The Newar peasants use it in the same manner, and consider it as necessary for their comfort as the labouring people of Britain do porter. > [7:16:99]The early history of Nepaul, like that of most of the eastern countries, is buried under a mass of fable. The inhabitants exhibit a list of princes for several thousand years back, which is given in Colonel Kirkpatrick’s work, but without any evidence of their authenticity. It is doubtful whether such persons ever existed. We know, however, that Nepaul was the scene of important revolutions, though it never was subjected to the Delhi emperors, or to any of the other great Asiatic powers. It is said to have been completely subdued in a. d. 1323, by Hurr Singh, one of the princes of Oude, who was driven out of his own possessions by the Patans. But from that period there exists no accurate information respecting the dynastics which ruled during the interval, or the race of princes who governed Nepaul at the time of the Ghoorkha conquest. Runjeet Mull was the last of the Surya Bansi race, or children of the sun, that reigned in Nepaul. He formed an alliance with Purthi Nirain, which ended in the loss of his dominions, of which he was stript by his ally in the Newar year 890 or 888, corresponding to A. υ. 1768. He possessed great courage and insatiable ambition, and was indebted for his success in war to his introduction of firelocks and European discipline amongst his troops. It was in his reign that Captain Kinloch, with a British force,’endeavoured to penetrate into Nepaul. But, from the sickness of the troops, and the difficulty of the country, the enterprise was abandoned. Purthi Nirain died about three years after the final conquest of Nepaul, that is, in the year 1771. He left two sons, Singh Pertaub and Behadur Shah, the former of whom succeeded to the throne, and, conceiving a jealousy of his brother, threw him into prison, whence he was with difficulty released by the interference of one of the spiritual guides of the Ghoorkha family, on condition that he should live in exile. Singh Pertaub, after having extended his father’s conquests, died in 1775, leaving one son, who was an infant. Behadur Shah, on the death of his brother, returned from his exile to Catmandoo, and, having placed his nephew on the throne, assumed the office of regent. But the mother of the infant prince, Rajender Letchemi, contrived to supplant Behadur Shah in his office, and even to secure the person of her rival. Through the mediation, however, of one of the priests, an accommodation took place, and Behadur Shah was thus enabled to seize and confine the ranee in his turn. Neglecting, however, to conciliate the chief men of the state, he was again driven into banishment, from which he did not return till the death of the princess, when he re-assumed the regency without opposition. In the course of his administration, Palpa, and many other petty states to the westward, Bhote to the north, and Sikkim to the east, were compelled to submit to the rule of the Ghoorkhas.

Towards the close of the administration of Mr Hastings in India the Ghoorkha sovereigns were involved in hostilities with Thibet, and finally with China. The Teshoo Lama of Thibet having proceeded to Pekin, died soon after his arrival in that city. His brother, Sumhur Lama, taking advantage of his absence, fled from Lassa to the rajah of Nepaul, carrying along with him a considerable quantity of treasure; and he made such representations to the Nepaul government that their avarice was inflamed, and having marched a body of troops to Lassa, they extorted from the lama a tribute of three lacs of rupees. In 1790 they detached to Teshoo Loomboo, the residence of another sacred lama, a second body of troops, amounting to 7000 men, who pillaged the place and the sacred temples, and succeeded in carrying off a large booty, though closely pursued by a Chinese army, and though, from the severity of the weather, they lost 2000 men in their retreat. The emperor of China, as the terrestrial superior of the lamas, and their worshipper and protector, incensed by these unprovoked aggressions, despatched an army of 70,000 men against the Nepaulese, who were overthrown in repeated battles; and the Chinese army advanced to Noakote, within twenty-six miles of Catmandoo, and sixty of the British territory of Bengal. A peace was at last concluded, though on terms ignominious to the Nepaulese, who were compelled to become tributaries to the Chinese, and to refund the spoil which they had taken from the Thibet lamas. It does not appear, however, that this tribute was ever exacted. It was about this period that Lord Cornwallis attempted to conclude a treaty of commerce with the Nepaulese; but every proposition of this nature was frustrated by their extreme jealousy.

The queen-regent died in 1786, when the care of the young rajah devolved entirely on his uncle Bahadur Shah, who was accused of having, from disgraceful motives, encouraged the rajah in his debaucheries, in hopes of bringing him into contempt, and of thus securing to himself the reins of authority. In this expectation, however, he was deceived, as the rajah, in 1795, when he had entered into his twentieth year, suddenly announced to his uncle that he had now resolved to assume the reins of government, and being supported by a large proportion of the nobles, Bahadur Shah, making a virtue of necessity, forbore all resistance, and received in return assurances of the most distinguished favour. The young rajah rendered himself extremely popular during the first year of his reign. But this fair prospect was speedily overcast, and the youth plunged into all the excesses of the most furious despotism and cruelty. His first act was to arrest his uncle, and, loading him with chains, to throw him into prison, where he was starved to death. He daily tortured and mutilated his subjects, and beheld their sufferings with savage joy. In his outrages he made no distinction of age or sex. Women of all castes, even those belonging to the sacred orders, were seized, and subjected to abuse from the vilest characters. In 1797, he had a son by a brahmin widow, who being taken seriously ill next year, and finding her end approaching, reminded the rajah of the prediction of astrologers, that he would never complete his twenty-fourth year, and entreated that he would provide for the unprotected orphan they were about to leave. The rajah, relying implicitly on the superstitious prophecy, immediately, and in the most solemn manner, before all the chiefs, abdicated the throne in favour of his son, though illegitimate, and an administration was then appointed, over which one of his ranees or queens was appointed to preside. The abdicated monarch now devoted his whole time to attendance on his favourite widow, who, notwithstanding all his attention, and rich offerings at the different temples, soon afterwards expired. In his affliction he became quite frantic, and perpetrated atrocities, the bare mention of which causes the Nepaulese still to shudder, and which are too shocking to be narrated. Amongst various enormities, he directed the sacred temple of Balwani to be demolished, and the golden idol, which was a venerated object of worship, to be ground to dust; and when the soldiers to whom he had issued the orders demurred at such an act of sacrilege, he commanded boiling oil to be poured on their naked bodies. Nor did any one escape his rage. Neither rank nor caste afforded any protection from his violence. Even the first members of the government were scourged without mercy, and otherwise tortured. A confederacy was at last formed against the tyrant, who finding himself abandoned, absconded during the night, and fled to Benares, which he reached in May 1800.

A close connection with Nepaul had always been a favourite object with the British rulers of India, and the flight of the rajah to Benares appeared to present a fair opportunity for bringing it about. A treaty of alliance was accordingly concluded between the two states, by Captain W. D. Knox, who was appointed ambassador, [7:16:100]and who proceeded to Catmandoo for the purpose in 1802. The terms of the treaty were considered as favourable to the British interests; the Nepaulese being anxious to secure the influence of such powerful neighbours against the faction of the abdicated rajah, who still contended for his restoration. But whatever advantages were attained by this treaty, were ultimately rendered nugatory by the jealous opposition of the subordinate officers amongst the Nepaulese, who were probably instigated by their chiefs, the latter being entirely unable to fulfil the obligations which they had entered into.

The residency at Catmandoo was accordingly withdrawn in the year 1804. About this time the abdicated monarch, Run· Bahadur, by the able management of his queen, whom he had always ill treated, was restored to his former authority. But as he continued to rule with his former barbarity, his reign was of short duration; in 1805 a conspiracy was formed against him, which terminated in his assassination. His death was succeeded by the most violent conflicts between the adverse parties in the state, and did not terminate until nearly the whole of the nobles at Catmandoo had perished. The surviving adherents of the late rajah having at length secured the person of his son, seized on the reins of government, putting to death such of the opposite party as still remained.

But during all these intestine commotions, it is remarkable that the Nepaulese still extended their conquests on every side. To the west of Catmandoo, and towards the Sutlege, the hill-chiefs were distracted by mutual jealousies, and by no means in a condition to form a league for their mutual defence. They were accordingly subdued one after another by the armies of the Ghoorkhas, who very soon made themselves masters, without the aid of artillery, of every hill-fort, from the Ganges to the Sutlege. When their movements first attracted the notice of the British government, their chief was vigorously prosecuting the conquests of these states; and as he advanced westward, he erected strong forts and stockades at convenient positions, namely, Almorah, Serinagur, and Malowa. The Sikh frontier was also guarded by a strong line of fortified posts; and thus the consolidation of the Ghoorkha empire proceeded with a slow but sure progress. The extensive tract which lies between Catmandoo and the Sutlege was held in firm subjection by a strong military force, whilst to the east the Sikkim rajah was deprived of half his territories, and compelled to pay a tribute for the remainder. To the north the progress of conquest was restrained by the Chinese power, with which the Ghoorkha chiefs had already found themselves unable to cope, and also by a lofty range of barren mountains. But the fertile and low situated plains of the south presented a more alluring prospect, and greater probabilities of success in a contest with a new and untried power. The consequence was a series of encroachments along the whole northern frontier of the British possessions, especially in the district of Gorruckpoor and Sarun. The British remonstrated against these proceedings, and an investigation into the respective claims of the two powers was commenced by commissioners jointly chosen, the result of which being entirely favourable to the British, a detachment of regulars was ordered to take possession of the debateable ground. But these being withdrawn during the rainy season, the chief police station upon the frontier was attacked by large bodies of Nepaulese, and the officers were compelled to fly, with a loss of eighteen killed and six wounded. Shortly afterwards a second attack was made on another police station, and several persons were killed, after which the whole body was withdrawn; and, in 1814, the war commenced. A brief account of the operations of this war will be found under the article Hindustan ; and it is only necessary here to state generally, that the invasion of the Nepaulese dominions was commenced on the western frontier, beyond the Jumna and near the Sutlege, the country there being considered as of easier access than the mountainous barrier which bounds the Nepaulese dominions on the side of Bengal. But the British troops, in attempting to storm the stockades and hill-forts, were repeatedly driven back with severe loss, and suffered reverses to which they had been wholly unused in the wars of India. Here it was that the brave General Gillespie was slain, whilst he was encouraging his troops, who had been repulsed, to renew the attack. In 1815, Sir David Ochterlony assumed the chief command, and by a series of skilful operations, in which he dislodged the Ghoorkha troops from the fortified heights of Malowa, and ultimately so hemmed in their renowned commander Ameer Singh, and his son, that they were forced to sign a capitulation, by which they agreed, on being permitted to retreat with their remaining troops, to abandon the whole territory west of the Cali branch of the Goggra. In Kumaon also the British troops succeeded in driving the enemy before them; and, in consequence of these successes, a definitive treaty of peace was signed on the 28th of November 1815. But the signature of the rajah being withheld, it was determined to renew the war, and to strike a decisive blow directly at the capital of the country. Preparations for this arduous enterprise were made on a great scale, a force being assembled at Sarun amounting to about 13,000 men, of whom 3000 were Europeans, besides a large body of irregulars, amounting in all to above 46,000 troops. This formidable force took the field in the end of January 1816, and advanced from the Bettiah district directly on Catmandoo. The greatest difficulties were encountered, from the ruggedness of the country, in marching along the dry beds of torrents, through ravines, and in the face of precipices. But all these obstacles were overcome by the patience of the troops, and the consummate skill and science of their commander. The Ghoorkhas made a brave resistance, but they were overthrown in several severe encounters; and the British force had now approached within three days’ march of their capital, Catmandoo. Deeming all further resistance vain, an ambassador was sent to the British head-quarters, to sue for peace; and the unratified treaty of the year 1815 was accordingly duly signed. By this treaty the Nepaulese renounced all claims to the territory in dispute. They also ceded all the conquests which they had made to the west of the Cali branch of the Goggra, and which, with the exception of Kumaon, the Deyrah Doon, and some other portions of territory annexed to the British dominions, were restored to the families of the chiefs who had reigned there prior to the Ghoorkha invasion, and who were now to rule as vassals of the British; it being understood, however, that the latter were not to interfere in the internal administration, but were merely to act as arbiters between rival chiefs.

In the course of this contest with the British, the Nepaulese had earnestly entreated the aid of the Chinese against the Europeans, whom their ambassadors represented as desirous of acquiring Nepaul merely to serve as an intervening point in their progress to China. Their application being transmitted by the grand lama to Pekin, an answer was received, in which the emperor expressed his conviction that the Ghoorkhas had themselves been the cause of the war by their unjust encroachments, and declined all interference. After peace was concluded, the Chinese emperor expressed deep offence against the rulers of Nepaul, who, being merely tributaries, had presumed to make war or peace with the British, without the sanction of their superior; and, to back those lofty pretensions, an army of 15,000 men, commanded by five generals, and attended by Chinese functionaries of superior rank, usually stationed at Lassa, actually advanced towards the Nepaulese territories. At the request of the Nepaul ministers, [7:16:101] the British consented to act as mediators. But in the mean time they themselves despatched to the Chinese camp agents, who having reached it early in September 1816, succeeded in bringing about the restoration of peace, and of all the ancient relations between the two powers. In 1816, Ameer Singh Thappa, one of the most distinguished Ghoorkha commanders, who had so gallantly disputed the field with Sir David Ochterlony, died, at the age of sixty-eight. To the last day of his life he was endeavouring, by negotiation, and by every art, to excite amongst thedifferent states a spirit of hostility against the British, as the common enemies of Indian independence. Two of his widows devoted themselves to death along with him; one sacrificed herself on the spot, and the other was at the same time preparing for the fatal pile at the temple of Pushpoonath, within the valley of Catmandoo. In November 1816, the young rajah died of the small-pox, at the age of twenty-one years. One of his queens, and one of his concubines, together with five female attendants, devoted themselves to the funeral pile along with the corpse. He left one son, three’years of age, named Rajindra Bickram Shah, who succeeded quietly to the throne, under the guardianship of the minister Bheem Singh Thappa; a very unusual circumstance in the annals of Nepaul. No interruption has occurred since this period to the peace happily concluded with the British; nor, according to the latest accounts, has the internal tranquillity of the country been disturbed.