Chapter 17

The Parbatiyas do not, like the Newars, delight in towns and villages, and, except the followers of the court, few reside in Kathmandu, or other cities of Nepal; neither are they so much addicted to large brick buildings; for the princes of the Gorkha family, although they have united very extensive dominions under their authority, have been contented with the palace of the petty chief of Kathmandu, or Kathmaro, as it is often called. This, indeed, is a large building, but of so singular a form, that our terms of art could not be applied to describe its architecture. It possesses no magnificence, and seems to have been inferior to the palaces of Lalita Patan and Bhatgang. All the three, however, are works of astonishing magnitude, considering the small extent of country subject to the princes by whom they were built. The great families of Gorkha have occupied the best houses of the Newars, or have built others in the same style, some of which are mansions that in appearance are befitting men of rank. The greater part of the Parbatiyas, however, retain their old manners, and each man lives on his own farm. Their huts are built of mud, and are either white-washed or painted red with a coloured clay. They are covered with thatch, and, although much smaller than the houses of the Newars, seem more comfortable, from their being much more neat and clean. Their usual form may be seen in the foreground of the copperplate No. 1.

Near the palace of Kathmandu is the shrine of Tulasi Bhawani, (Toolaja Bhowani, {210}) who, with Gorakhanath, is the tutelar deity of the reigning family. There is no image of this deity which is represented by a Yantra, or cabalistical figure. In order to impress the subjects with awe, no person is admitted into this shrine except the Raja, the Rani or Queen, the Guru or spiritual guide of the prince, and the Pujari or priest, who is always of the Guru’s family. In order probably to add more to the awe of the place, Prithwi Narayan is said to have offered some human sacrifices; but the deity is reported to have reprimanded the prince in a dream, and ever since the victims offered have been buffaloes, sheep, and goats. After the proper ceremonies have been performed, the throat of the animal is cut, in the outer part of the temple, before the multitude, and the blood is carried into the shrine by the priest, or by the prince.

Colonel Kirkpatrick {211} describes the twenty most remarkable temples of Nepal, excluding the two greatest, Sambhunat and Bouddhama, as being heterodox; but he was not aware, that the same reason should have induced him to exclude the temples of Matsyendranath, (Mutchendernath,) and Gorakhnath, (Goorukhnath.) I may, however, refer to his account for all that requires to be mentioned on this subject.

Nepal Proper is immediately under the management of the Bahradar, or great officers of the court. Kathmandu, for the support of the court, pays annually 18,000 rupees, Lalita Patan pays 18,000, Bhatgang 14,000, and Kirtipur 7000.

About three years ago, a kind of perpetual settlement was made on these crown lands. Each farm was assessed at a certain quantity of grain, which the farmer might either pay in kind, or in money, at the market price. Much benefit would have resulted to the Company, had Lord Cornwallis adopted such a plan. A very large portion of Nepal Proper has been alienated, either in fee or in charity lands. A fine town, named Sangghu, is the Jaygir, or jointure lands of the Maha Rani, or Queen Regent, and is worth annually 4000 rupees. Dewa Patan, a still larger place, belongs entirely to the temples of Pasupatinath and Guhyiswari.

The trade of Nepal was formerly pretty considerable, although the territories of the Raja produce few articles for exportation, except iron, copper, and drugs. At present the defects in the police, and the total want of credit, partly owing to the weakness of the law, and partly to the falsehood of the people, have in a great measure put a stop to the commerce which passed through the country. Its nature was as follows:

Some merchants of Kasmir carried their manufactures by the way of Ladak to Kutti, and other towns in Thibet, in order to procure the wool produced in these countries by the Shawl goat. These manufactures were partly used in Thibet, partly sent to Siling or Sining, on the western frontier of China, by the way of Degarchi and Lassa, and partly sent to Patna by the way of Kathmandu. These Kasmirians have factories at Lassa, Siling, Patna, and Kathmandu. They brought from China such goods as answered for the demand of Nepal and Kasmir, among which tea and silks were the principal articles; and from Patna they carried to China otters’ skins, to the annual amount of about 50,000 rupees. These otters’ skins are procured in the neighbourhood of Dhaka in Bengal.

Again the merchants of Bhot or Thibet brought for sale to Kathmandu paper, coarse woollen cloths, horses, Shawl goats, common goats, sheep, Chaury cattle, chauries, (changwari or chaungri,) musk, salt, sal ammoniac, hurtal or yellow arsenic, borax, quicksilver from China, gold-dust, silver, preserved fruits, such as almonds, walnuts, raisins, and dates, and drugs, such as Indian madder or manjit, chirata, and charas, or extract of hemp. Formerly the Lamas of Degarchi (Teeshoo) and Lassa sent much bullion to the mint at Kathmandu, and made a very liberal allowance for having it coined; but the rapacity of Rana Bahadur induced him to alloy the money, which of course put an entire stop to this source of wealth. Of these articles, the greater part of the musk, chaungris, hurtal, borax, and bullion, are sent to Patna, or the low country. From thence again are brought up buffaloes, goats, broad-cloth, cutlery, glass ware, and other European articles, Indian cotton cloths, mother of pearl, pearls, coral, beads, spices, pepper, betel nut and leaf, camphor, tobacco, and phagu, or the red powder thrown about by the Hindus at their festival called Holi. Most of these articles, together with many utensils of wrought copper, brass, bell-metal, and iron, are sold to the merchants of Thibet.

[Picture: Wether sheep pack-animal]

The borax and salt are said to be brought from a lake, which is situated nearly north from Kathmandu, about fifteen days’ journey beyond the Brahmaputra. They are conveyed to Nepal on the backs of a large kind of sheep, of which many have four horns, and which seem to be the common beasts of burthen in all the countries towards the sources of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. The annexed figure represents a wether of this breed. Each wether, according to what I heard, carries about eighty pounds weight; but Colonel Kirkpatrick {214a} states the load at forty-two pounds, which is more probable. These sheep are about the size of the larger breeds in England.

Captain Turner {214b} describes a sheep used in Thibet for carrying burdens, but that is probably different from what I have mentioned, as he takes no notice of the sheep of this breed having four horns, and states them to be of a small size. Each carries only from twelve to twenty pounds.

In Nepal accounts are kept thus: 4 Damas = 1 Paisah; 4 Paisahs = 1 Ana; 8 Anas = 1 Mohur. The Ana is an imaginary money. The coin called a Mohur varies in its rate of exchange, but is commonly worth 34 Paisahs. The Paisah always exchanges for 4 Damas. On Prithwi Narayan’s accession, he called in all the gold and silver money and recoined it, so that I could procure no pieces of a more ancient date than his reign. Ever since that period the value of the coin has continued the same, and is as follows.

Gold coins are called ashruffies; but the full ashruffy is not coined. The fractions in use are halfs, quarters, and eighths. The half ashruffy is by the Court paid away at the rate of 14 Mohurs; and at this value it is a legal tender of payment between man and man, unless silver has been specially stipulated. In the market, however, the half ashruffy usually exchanges for 12½ Mohurs. It weighs 84¼ grains; and, according to an assay made at Calcutta, is worth nearly three Calcutta rupees, or nearly six shillings and threepence at the mint price.

The coins analogous to the rupee of Hindustan and its fractions are collectively called Madarmali. Colonel Kirkpatrick writes this word {215} Mehnder mulie, applies it only to the Mohur or Mohr, as he calls it, and says that the word is derived from the name of a prince. The integer is called Pura Rupiya, or Du Mohur, and is seldom seen. The half is called the Mohur, and is the common silver currency in the country. When new it weighs 84¼ grains, and is worth six anas, 10⅝ pies, or 43/100 of the Calcutta rupee. The quarter is called Adha Mohur; the eighth is called Suki.

Besides the Madarmali, there is a wretched small silver coin called Dama, of which the value in exchange is variable; but commonly 136 Damas are given for one Mohur.

The copper coins are Paisas, Half-Paisas, and a few Quarter-Paisas. These last are of the same value with the Dama, but the minute silver coin is considered as more convenient than the Paisa of copper. I am indeed persuaded that no great inconvenience arises from a very minute coinage in circulation; and that, without any loss, we might entirely dispense with the use of a copper currency.

The weights in use are founded on the Paisa, but these are by no means uniform. On an average, however, they may be taken at 162 grains Troy weight.

72 Paises = 1 Ser = lb. avoirdupois 1.666.

3 Sers = 1 Dharni = lb. 4.998.

The Dharni may therefore be considered as equal to five pounds avoirdupois. It is also divided into two Bisulis, and four Barapuls.

Grain is always sold by measure.

8 Manas = 1 Pathi = 152 cubical inches.

20 Pathis = 1 Muri = Winchester bushels 2-344/1000.

The whole lands in Nepal have long been divided into what are called Khets or fields, each of which is estimated in ordinary seasons to produce 100 Muris, or 234½ bushels of Paddy, or rice in the husk. About the year 1792 Ranjit Pangre, then one of the Karyis, by the orders of Rana Bahadur, made a survey of the valley; but the result has been kept secret. The people know only that he estimated each of their possessions at a certain number of Rupinis, and that on an average twenty-five of these formed one Khet. They also observed, that in good soils he used a rod seven cubits and a half in length, and in bad soils he employed one nine cubits and a half long. Some people who had resided at Patna informed my Brahman, that the Rupini was nearly of the same size with the Biga of that city, which is one-third of an English acre; and this is the only foundation that I have for the calculations which I have made.

It must, however, be observed, that, according to the information received by Colonel Kirkpatrick, {216} the average Rupini contains only 3¾ Kathas of the Calcutta measure, or only 3/16 of what was reported to me; and if his information is considered more likely than mine to be correct, all the statements which I have subsequently given, concerning the produce of an acre in Nepal, must be augmented in that proportion. For instance, I have stated the rice in the husk produced by an acre to be about 28 bushels; but, according to the information given to Colonel Kirkpatrick, it ought to be almost 150 bushels. This induces me to place no great confidence in part of the information given to the Colonel; for, as I shall afterwards have occasion to state, I have no doubt that the crops of rice near Calcutta are more abundant than those of Nepal.

In Nepal the pastures and forests are in general commons, and any person that pleases may use them; but some forests are reserved for the Court. Although these forests contain many oak, chestnut, pine, and yew trees, none of these are by the natives esteemed of much value; but for carpenter’s work a preference is given to the Champa or Michelia, which is certainly a good kind of timber.

Nothing is paid for pasture; but, as it is very scarce, and as the Newars do not employ cattle in agriculture, very few are bred in the country. A few milch cows are kept in the towns, and still more in the narrow vallies inhabited by Parbatiyas, who use cattle in their ploughs. Buffaloes and goats are imported from the low country; and horses, chaungri-cattle, shawl-goats, common goats, and sheep, are brought from Bhot. They become tolerably fat on the pasture of the hills, which, although scanty, seems to be nourishing. Captain Knox killed two female buffaloes, that had been fattened entirely on grass; and they made tolerable beef.

No taxes are paid to government for houses.

The arable lands are partly retained as the immediate property of the Court, for defraying the household expenses of the Raja. The whole of the rice land near Nayakot is reserved as the Raja’s proper farm, and is cultivated by his servants and slaves, under the superintendency of a steward: and the same management is observed with a considerable number of fruit and flower gardens, in the valley of Nepal, and with an extensive pasture on the banks of the Kosi. The produce is not sold, but serves for the consumption of the Court, and for distributing in charity at temples, and to religious mendicants. By far the greater part, however, of the lands reserved for the use of the Raja, is let to tenants, as I have before mentioned. The extent of these has at different times varied; but I believe they have never produced a net income of more than a million of mohurs. The only other public revenues are the fines levied from offenders, which are sometimes considerable; the customs, which are very trifling; and some small profits arising from the mines, from elephants, and from the sale of Sal or Sakhuya timber, from the forests below the mountains. The demands on the treasury, however, are very few; for not only every officer, civil and military, and every, soldier, but even the private servants, and principal slaves of the Raja, are paid by lands granted for their support.

The lands thus granted in fee for service are called Chakran, and in general are resumable at pleasure, and follow the office of the person by whom they are held; but some branches of the Royal family, and some of the families of distinction, have enjoyed certain lands ever since the time of Prithwi Narayan, and it would not be safe to attempt a resumption of such property. Some persons have even been permitted to alienate such lands by sale; but to do so, the consent of the Court must be obtained. I procured no information on which I could attempt to calculate the amount of these two kinds of Chakran lands.

Another kind of property, which pays no rent nor tax, and which is not resumable, is called Khairat zemin, or Charity land, which is the Birtha or Brhemoter land of Colonel Kirkpatrick, (p. 92, 93.) This is of two kinds; part belongs to Brahmans Bangras, or Achars; and another part has been granted for the support of temples. The whole amount of this kind of land is not equal to that reserved by the Crown for its own purposes.

The Khairat that is given to religious men is of two kinds. The first is called Yamapatri, which is given when the Raja bestows Dhana in order to procure the remission of his sins. This can never revert to the Crown, but, in case of the family to which it was granted becoming extinct, it goes to the temples of Pasupatinath and Changgu Narayan. The second kind of Khairat given to religious men is bestowed on account of their piety and learning; and, on failure of heirs, reverts to the Crown. This kind may be sold, if the proprietor obtain the consent of the Raja.

The lands belonging to the temples are in fact held by the priests, (Pujaris,) who are bound to defray the expenses of worship. They are removable at the pleasure of the Raja.

This Khairat or Brhemoter land, Colonel Kirkpatrick says, is also divided into two kinds, Koos Brhemoter and Soona Brhemoter, the owners of which are perhaps the same with those called to me Bitalpas and Brittiyas, mentioned in page 164, although this is not very certain. The Koos Brhemoter land, according to the Colonel, is rarely bestowed but on Brahmans, and that with a very solemn investiture. Land of this kind is rent-free, saleable, and hereditary, but for certain crimes it may be forfeited. Presents are often given, especially on the accession of a new Raja. The Soona Brhemoter has been granted to certain Newars, and other natives of countries subjected by the Gorkhalis, and continued by the conquerors for a considerable fine under each succeeding prince, but it is saleable and hereditary.

Landholders, who do not cultivate their own estates, in general let them for one-half of the grain produced. Money rent can seldom be procured, and is very low. It varies from four to twelve anas a Rupini, which produces at least four Muris of Paddy, one half of which, or the rent usual when paid in kind, is worth about fifty anas, and if it be good land, it produces also a winter crop.

Most great proprietors, however, like the Raja, employ stewards with their servants and slaves, to cultivate some land for supplying their families. The great, therefore, seldom go to market, which, among a lawless people, is an advantage for the lower classes, although it subjects travellers to great inconveniency from the want of markets. It is besides alleged, that the lower classes, in the vicinity of these farms, often suffer by being compelled to labour without an adequate remuneration.

When lands are alienated by sale, they bring from 1600 to 2000 Mohurs a Khet, which high price is owing to the very small quantity of land that is brought to market.

The persons who rent lands from the owners are of two kinds: first, the Kuriyas, who occupy free (Khairat) land, are exempted from any services to government, except the repairing of roads, and the attending on armies employed on certain duties; and, secondly, the Prajas, who occupy the crown land, whether that be held by the Prince, or granted in Jaygir. The Prajas are bound to perform various services at the call, both of government and of their immediate masters. The rent which both usually pay is one-half of the produce, with an annual fine of between two and three rupees for each Khet. Where the land is tolerable, these terms are considered as favourable for the tenant, and enable him to support a family with ease.

The following is the account which my Brahman gives of the agriculture of the Newars.

The hoe used by the Newars has been represented by Colonel Kirkpatrick, (in the uppermost figure of the plate opposite to page 100 of his Account of Nepaul,) but the figure is not good. It seems a very awkward instrument, as the blade is fixed by a long neck, so as to stand parallel to the short handle, at about the distance or six inches. The labourer, therefore, must either stoop exceedingly, when at work, or must sit on his heels, which is the most usual posture. Still these people use it with great dexterity, and one man in three days digs up a Rupini. After each hoeing, the women and children break the clods with a wooden mallet fixed to a long shaft, which does not require them to stoop. Almost the only other implement of agriculture these people have is the Khuripi, or weeding iron, and some fans for winnowing the corn. In Nepal, however, they have in some measure made a further progress than in India, as they have numerous water-mills for grinding corn. The stones are little larger than those of hand-mills, and the upper one is turned round by being fixed on the end of the axis of the water wheel, which is horizontal, and is placed under the floor of the mill, with which the stones are on a level. This wheel consists of six blades, about three feet long, and six inches broad, which are placed obliquely in the axle-tree. On these blades, the water falls down an inclined plane of about eight or ten feet in perpendicular height. The hopper is a basket perforated at the bottom, but has no contrivance to shake it. The people at one of the mills which we examined said, that, in one day, it could grind twelve _Muris_, or rather more than twenty-nine bushels.

In Nepal, rice is the great crop, and the ground fit for it is of two kinds, which differ in the manner, and in the time of their cultivation, so as to make two harvests of rice: but no one field, in one year, produces two crops of this grain.

Colonel Kirkpatrick indeed mentions, {222} that some fields yield two crops of rice successively, the one coarse, and the other fine, besides affording in the same year a crop of wheat. This, however, I presume, does not allude to Nepal Proper, but to some of the warmer vallies in the dominions of Gorkha; as where he goes on, in the 99th page, to describe the expense of cultivation, he mentions the ploughings, an operation which is not employed in the agriculture of the Newars.

The first kind of ground produces the crop called Gheya, is the highest, and there is no necessity for its being absolutely level, as the fields are not inundated. From the 13th of March to the 11th of April, this ground is hoed; and, having been well manured with dung collected in the streets, it is hoed again. A week after this, the field is hoed two or three times, and is well pulverized with the mallet. About the 12th of May, after a shower of rain, the field is slightly hoed, and the mould is broken, and smoothed with the hand. Small drills, at a span’s distance from each other, are then made by the finger, which is directed straight by a line. At every span-length in these drills are placed four or five seeds of the rice, called Uya Dhan, which is the only kind cultivated in this manner. The seed is covered by the hand, and a very small quantity only is required. In about five days the young corn comes up in small tufts, just as if it had been transplanted. From the 13th of June to the 15th of August, when the corn is about a cubit high, the weeds are removed with the spud. About the latter period, slugs, worms, and insects, fill all the moister fields in Nepal, and in order to be rid of them, the farmers keep a great number of ducks, which, at this season, they turn into the fields, to devour the vermin. The Gheya crop ripens about the 1st of September, and by the middle of the month the harvest is finished. The ears only are cut off, and next day the grain is beat out, and generally dried in the streets. Very little of the crop is made into Hakuya, a process that will be afterwards mentioned. After the Gheya crop has been cut, the field is in general cultivated with radishes, mustard, or some other crop, that is usually sown about the time.

By far the greater part of the rice ground, and that the lowest and the best, is of the kind which produces the crop of rice called Puya. The kinds of rice which are cultivated in this crop are very numerous, and it would be tedious to mention their names, as I have no observations to make on any one in particular. The fields which produce this crop must be perfectly level, as they are inundated during the greater part of the process of cultivation. Therefore, as the plain is by no means even, it has been divided into terraces. So much pains has been bestowed on this part of agriculture, that on the steep descents leading down to the rivers, there have been formed many terraces not above two feet wide. The numerous springs and rivulets that issue from the surrounding hills have been conducted with great pains to irrigate these terraces, and have been managed with considerable skill.