Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/291



VEP:L. 279 almost all the inhabitants claiming a descent from Hindu colonists. They accordingly consist principally of the two superior classes of Hindus, Bráhmans and Kshattriyas, with their various sub-divisions. To the east of the Kali, the chicf tribes which possessed the country were—(1) Magars, who originally occupied the lower hills in the western parts between the Bheri and Marsyandi rivers, and who, with the Gurangs and the Khus, form the majority of the Gurkhalí arny; (2) the Gurangs, whose home is between the Vlagars and the snow; (3) the Newars, who are the aborigines of the valley of Khatmandu, and whose stout opposition to the Gúrkhali invaders in the last century has deprived them of the chance of military service under their present masters: they are good agriculturists, keen traders, and less backward in the mechanical arts than most of the other mountain tribes; (4) the Limbus, Kirantís, and Lepchas, inhabiting the hill country between Khatmandu and the Sikkim and Dárjiling frontier; (5) the Bhutias to the north of Khatmandu and the last-named three tribes ; (6) the Kaswars, Denwars, Tharus, and other malaria-proof tribes belong to the low valleys and Tarai. Predominant over the above are the Gurkhalis, whose principal Brahman sub-divisions are those of Panre and Upadhya, and Rajput sub-divisions are those of Khus and Thappa. The ancestors of the Gurkhalís were mainly of Rajput origin, and are said to have migrated from Rajputána during the successes of the Afghán house of Gaur, at the end of the 12th century A.D. Their first Himálayan home was in Kumáun; and thence they gradually moved eastwards, intermarrying with the hill women, until they reached Gúrkha, where they remained for about a couple of hundred years before their connection with Nepál proper began. Like all tribes of mixed race, they are great sticklers for the forms and ceremonies of their primitive (Hindu) religion, and are gradually, like their brothers in British India, absorbing into the fold of Hinduisımn the various aboriginal races whom they have conquered. It is a mere question of time when Buddhism, which is still the nominal creed of many Newars, Bhutias, and other subject races, shall be wholly merged in Hinduism. Land is held by various tenures. The Rájá's immediate estates are chiefly situated in the Gurkha territory, though there is hardly any portion of the Gurkha conquests in which the prince has not appropriated land to his own use. Some of these domains are occupied by husbandmen, who receive a share of the produce; others are tilled by the neighbouring villagers, who are obliged to dedicate a certain number of days in the year to this service. From this source the Rájá draws all the supplies necessary for the support of his household. The Bráhmans also possess lands, the title to which is generally derived from royal favour. These grants are mostly rent-free, saleable, and heredi: