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56 his attention, and to this we must now revert. Nepál is a long and narrow mountainous region, in appearance like a band of ribbon, of uniform breadth, stretching from the plains of Hindustán to the high lands of Tibet, some 700 miles long by 100 broad. On the north it is bounded by the Himálayas, on the south by Delhi, Rohilkhand, Oudh, and the Bengal provinces, and on the east and west by the Tistá river and the Sutlej respectively. Nepál was always outside the pale of the Mughal Empire; but as it forms the upper fringe of the northern basin of the Ganges, with no natural barrier on the south, its geographical position is important and connects it closely with the territories in English possession.

The original inhabitants were of Tibetan stock, among whom Hindu colonists settled, led it is supposed by Rájput chieftains who established themselves as petty independent Rájás over the country. There was perpetual war and perennial anarchy, until a mountain tribe, called the Gúrkhas, overran in 1767 the valley of Khátmándu, and gradually extended their conquests over the whole region known as Nepál. The Gúrkhas claimed to be of Rájput descent; they were organised on a military and feudal basis, with an army trained on the English model, and were far superior in national discipline and in political intelligence to the races they conquered. In less than fifty years they acquired and consolidated supreme power, gave their name to the whole country, and, notwithstanding internal commotions, prosecuted their foreign