Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/358

Rh 344 NEPAL noon the first ghari struck indicates the number of gharis which remain of the day till sunset. Day is considered to begin when the tiles on a house can be counted, or when the hairs on the back of a man s hand can be discerned against the sky. Sixty bipalas=l pala ; 60 palas = 1 ghari or 24 minutes ; 60 gharis = 1 day of 24 hours. History. Nepal and the somewhat similar country of Kashmir are peculiar among the Hindu states of India in possessing an historical literature. The Nepalese Vamcavall professes to start from a very early period in the Satya Yuga, when the present valley was still a lake. The earlier portion of it is devoted to the Satya and Treta Yugas, and contains mythological tales and traditions havirfg reference to various sacred localities in the country. During these two Yugas, and also the Dwapur Yuga, the Vamcavall deals in round numbers of thousands of years. In the beginning of the Kali Yuga, the Gupta dynasty is said to have been founded by Ne-Muni, from whom the country takes its name of Nepal. Lists are then given of the various dynasties, with the lengths of the reigns of the rajas. The dynasties mentioned are the Gupta, Alrir, Kiriiti, Somavanshi, Suryavanshi, Thakuri or Rajput, Vaishya Thakuri, second Rajput, and Karna- taki dynasties. The country was then invaded by Mukunda- sena, and after his expulsion various Vaishya Thakuri dynasties are said to have held the throne for a period of 225 years. The chronology of the Vamc ( dvall up to this period is very confused and inaccurate ; and, though the accounts of the various invasions and internal struggles, mixed up as they are with grotesque legends and tales, may be interesting and amusing, they can hardly be considered authentic. Some of the names of the rajas, and the dates of their reigns, have been determined by coins, the colophons of old MSS., and certain inscriptions on the temples and ancient buildings. For instance, An9U- varma, of the Thakuri dynasty, reigned about 633 A. p., as he is mentioned by the Chinese traveller Hwen Tsang, who visited Nepal. His name too is found in an inscription still extant. In like manner it is ascertained from MSS. that Rudra-deva-A r arma was reigning in 1008 ; Lakshmikama-deva from 1015 to 1040 ; Padma-deva, of the Vaishya Thakuri dynasty, in _1065; Miina- deva, of the second Rajput dynasty, iu 1139 ; Ananta-Malla, 1286-1302; Harisinha-deva, 1324; Jayastithi-Malla, 1385-1391. Much information as to the chronology of the various dynasties can be obtained from the catalogue of the Cambridge MSS. com piled by Mr Cecil Bendall, M.A., and also from his papers on the ancient coins of the country. Inscriptions too have been edited by Professor Biihler in the Indian Antiquary, vol. ix. Detailed lists of the rajas are to be found in Kirk patriot s Account of Nepal, in Hodgson s Essays, Prinsep s papers in the Asiatic Society s Journal, and Wright s History of Nepal. The records begin to be more accurate from the time of the in vasion and conquest of the country by Harisinha-deva, the raja of Simraungarh, 1324. This raja was driven from Simraungarh by Tughlak Shah of Delhi, but seems to have found little difficulty in the conquest of Nepal. There were only four rajas of this Ayodhya dynasty, and then the throne was occupied by Jayabhadra- Malla, a descendant of Abhaya-Malla, one of the Rajput dynasty, who reigned in the 13th century. There were eight rajas of this dynasty. The seventh, Jayastithi-Malla, who reigned for forty- three years (1386-1429), appears to have done much in forming codes of laws, and introducing caste and its rules among the Newiirs. In the reign of the eighth raja, Yaksha-Malla, the kingdom was divided into four separate states, namely, Banepa, Bhatgaon or Bhaktapur, Kantipur or Kathniandii, and Lalitapur or Patan. There was only one raja of Banepa, who died without issue. The Malla dynasty in the other three branches continued in power up to the conquest of the country by the Gorkhalis in 1768. The GSrkhalis (Ghorkhas or Ghoorkas) claim descent from the rajas of Chitaurgarh, in Rijputana, near Tonk. They were driven out of their own country by the victorious Moslems, and took refuge in the hilly districts about Kumaon, whence they gradually pushed their way eastwards to Lamjung, Gorkha, Noakote, and ultimately to the valley of Nepal, and as far as Sikhim. Prithiwi-narayana Sah came to the throne in 1742. From an early period he seems to have devoted all his energies to the con quest of Nepal, but it took him upwards of twenty-five years to accomplish his object. During the early part of the 18th century Nepal was visited by Italian missionaries, who founded a mission at Patan, which appears to have been in a flourishing state at the time of the Gdrkhali invasion. Father Giuseppe has given a short account of the conquest in vol. ii. of the Asiatic Researches, the details of which are fully corroborated by the Vamqavali. Strange to say, that work contains no reference whatever to the presence of Christians in the country. Prithiwi-narayana entered Kathmandii in 1768, and in the course of the following year also conquered Patan and Bhatgaon. In the final struggle, which took place at Bhatgaor?, Jayaprakasa (the raja of Kathmandu) was wounded, and shortly afterwards he died at Pashupati. Ranjlt-Malla, the aged raja of Bhatgaon, was allowed to retire to Benares, where he ended his days. Tej Narsinha, the raja of Patan, was kept in confine ment till his death. During the latter years of the war Jayaprakasa applied to the British for assistance, and a small force, under Captain Kinloch, was sent into theterai in 1765, but it was repulsed by the Gorkhas. Sah and Bahadur Sah. The former succeeded his father, but died in 1777, leaving an infant sou, Rana Bahadur Sah. On the death of Pratapa-sinha, his brother, who had been in exile, returned to Nepal and became regent. The mother of the infant king, how ever, was opposed to him, and he had again to flee to Bettiah, where he remained till the death of the rani, when he again becaine regent, and continued so till 1795. During this time the Gorkhas were busily annexing all the neighbouring petty states, so that in 1790 their territories extended from Bhutan to Kashmir, and from Tibet to the British provinces. At length, in 1790, they invaded Tibet, and were at first successful ; but they were thus brought into contact with the Chinese, who in 1791 sent a large force to invade Nepal. In 1792 the Chinese advanced as far as Noakote, and there dictated terms to the Nepalese. In 1791 the Gorkhas had entered into a commercial treaty with the British, and hence, when hard pressed, they applied for assistance against the Chinese to Lord Cornwallis. In consequence of this Colonel Kirkpatrick was despatched to Nepal, and reached Noakote in the spring of 1792, but not till after peace had been concluded. One result of this embassy was the ratification of another commercial treaty on 1st March 1792. In 1795 Rana Bahadur removed his uncle, Bahadur Sah, from the regency, and two years subsequently put him to death. From this time up to 1799 the king, who seems to have been insane, per petrated the most barbarous outrages, till at length his conduct became so intolerable that he was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, Girvan-yuddha Vikrama Sah, who was still an infant. Rana Baha&amp;lt;lur once again recovered the throne in 1804, but was assassinated in 1805. In October 1801 another treaty was signed by the British and Nepalese authorities, and Captain W. D. Knox was appointed resident at the Nepalese court, which he reached iu April 1802. He soon became dissatisfied with the conduct of the Nepalese, and he was withdrawn in 1803. From this time the Nepalese carried on a system of encroachment and outrage on the frontier, which led to a declaration of war by the British in November 1814. At first the British attacks were directed against the western portion of the Nepalese territory, and under Generals Marly, Wood, and Gillespie several disasters were met with. General Gillespie himself was killed while leading an assault on a small fort called Kalunga. General Ochterlony was more successful, and the Gorkhas were driven beyond the Kali river, and began to negotiate for peace. Arms, however, were soon taken up again, and Ochterlony, who was put in command, in January 1816, advanced directly on the capital in the line of the route that is now in use. He soon fought his way as far as Mukwanpur, and the Nepalese sued for peace. A treaty was concluded in March, by which the Nepalese relin quished much of their newly acquired territory, and agreed to allow a British residency to be established at Kathmandu. In November the raja died, and was succeeded by his infant son, the reins of government being held by General Bhimasena Thapa. From this time the records for many years furnish little of interest except a history of struggles for office between the Thapa and Panre factions, and futile attempts at forming combinations with other states in Hindustan against the British. In 1817 Dr Wallich visited Nepal, and pursued his botanical researches for a year. In 1S39 Bhimasena s enemies succeeded in driving him from power, and he committed suicide, or was murdered, in prison. The Kala Panre faction then cani into power, and there were frequent grave disputes with the British. War, however, was averted by the exertions of the resident, Mr B. H. Hodgson. In 1843 Matabar Singh, the nephew of Bhimasena, returned from exile, soon got into favour at court, and, as a necessary conse quence, speedily effected the destruction of his old enemies the Kala Panres, who were seized and executed in May 1843. At this time mention begins to be made of a nephew of Matabar Singh, Jung Bahadur, the eldest of a band of seven brothers, sons of a kaji or state official. He rose rapidly in the army and in favour at the court, especially with one of the ranis, who was of a most intrigu ing disposition. In 1844 he was a colonel in the army, and Matabar Singh expressed some alarm at his growing influence to Sir Henry (then Major) Lawrence, the resident at the time. This alarm proved well founded, for on the 18th of May 1845 Jung Bahadur effected the murder of his uncle, and immediately thereafter, with the aid of the rani, took a prominent part in the government. After a short but turbulent interval of intrigue, Jung Bahadur determined to get rid of his enemies at one fell swoop, and most thoroughly carried out his design by what is known as the Kot massacre, on the 15th September 1846. From that time till the day of his death Jung Bahadur was in reality the ruler of Nepal. His old friend, the intriguing rani, was banished, and all posts of any
 * Prithiwi-narayana died in 1774. He left two sons, Pratapa-sinha