Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.33

c48.s6.33

§ 102. The five principal tribes of Nēpāl, known as the Mukhya, are the Khas, the Gūrūng, the Mangar and the Sūnuvār. It was the combination of these which overthrew the Nevār rule in the middle of the 18th century, and established that of the Gōrkha. The Khas is a thoroughly Brāhmanised community, with a strong admixture of Brāhman blood. On the advent of the Muslim, many Brāhmans had to fly for refuge to the hills, where they settled amongst the local tribes and proceeded to bring them into conformity with their own scheme of life. To help on this task the families of highest rank were dubbed Kṣatriya, and the same rank was stipulated for by them for the offspring of their own order by the hill women. These two stocks furnished the now dominant class in the State, with the peculiarity that with Kṣatriya rank the patronymic titles are all Brāhmanic, from the caste of the father. It is also on record, however, that in the 14th century, a Rājput Chief of north Bihār dispossessed an ancient Hill Rājput dynasty, and that the Gōrkha Chief who in turn dispossessed the intruder from the plains, was himself a direct descendant of one of the Ūdēpur line, who fled to Gōrakhpur after defeat by the Muslim, and set up a principality of his own on the upper Gandak. Thus, whilst the Āryan strain is undoubtedly existent in the Khas, the Mongoloidic origin is no less apparent. The Gūrūng rank next to the Khas among the fighting, or Gōrkha, tribes. In their case there is no question of mixed origin. Since, however, the Gūrūng has abandoned Buddhism for the creed of his rulers, there has been, as between this tribe and the four others of the Mukhya, not exactly an interchange of brides, but the condonation of the abduction of them from each other. In the tribal worship and ceremonial there remains a good deal of the Himālayan animism, imported, probably, from the interior, and a member of the Lāma sub-caste, though not a professional ministrant, is often substituted for the Brāhman, when there is a suspicion of sorcery or witchcraft. The Mangar and Sūnuvār both hail from western Nēpāl, and both made their way east-ward by the same route. Their appearance and the nomenclature of their subdivisions stamp them as Mongoloid of the Tibetan type, though both are now what are called "undeveloped" Brāhmanists, like the rest, and are served by Upādhyā Brāhmans, who suffer no degradation thereby. Both are agriculturists and soldiers, the Mangar also doing something in the way of petty trade. In connection with the recruiting of so-called Gōrkha soldiers, mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, it should be noted that the term Gōrkha is used outside the State of any recruit of a Nēpāl tribe, but it correctly appertains to the Mukhya tribes only. At the same time, the Nēpāl rulers have for a generation or more taken into their service recruits from the Kirāta tribes, but they are brigaded into regiments by themselves. In the British army, some of the Gōrkha battalions contain a good many of this class, especially in Assam.