It is probable, that Gulmi was the original seat of the family, as Khachi and Argha are acknowledged to be collateral branches; but with the claims of the other three chiefs I am not acquainted. Gulmi, the capital of the state so named, is situated on a hill, the ascent of which is said to be three miles in length. The castle is built of bricks, and covered with tiles. The town contained 500 houses, mostly thatched. There is
no water within a quarter of a mile of the town. A part of the great mart, called Rerighat, mentioned in the account of Palpa, belonged to the chief of Gulmi. His territory contains mines of zinc, (dasta,) cinnabar, (sabita,) and copper, of which one is on a hill, called Chandrakot, and another on Arakul Pahar, near the former. These mines would appear to be valuable. The allied chiefs of Palpa, Gulmi, Khachi, and Argha, as I have mentioned, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, destroyed the Magar chief of Balihang, and divided among themselves his dominions, both on the hills and plains. The division seems to have given rise to sundry bickerings. The capital, which was situated on a hill near the plains, and fortified, fell to the share of Palpa; but Gulmi and Khachi received a large share of the plains. Makunda Sen of Palpa, about the middle of the last century, contrived to seize on Gulmi, by the intrigues of a Brahman, named Kanak Nidhi, who gives me the account, and he delivered the fortress to an officer of his master’s, named Kirtibamb Thapa; but that person very soon restored the place to its lawful owner. I have already mentioned the base manner in which Mahadatta of Palpa joined with his son-in-law, Bahadur Sahi of Gorkha, and how he obtained Gulmi, Khachi, and Argha, as the dear bought fruit of his perfidy. These, however, he was allowed to possess, so long as he lived. Siva Saha, the dethroned chief of Gulmi, retired to Ramnagar, where he found refuge with the exiled chief of Tanahung, and while there, gave his grand-daughter in marriage to Rana Bahadur, the young Raja of Gorkha and Nepal, who no sooner obtained the government, than he compelled Prithwi Pal to restore the hills of Gulmi to his wife’s father; and when he returned from Banaras, and had secured Prithwi Pal in confinement, the original possessions of the Gulmi family were augmented by the whole
of the hills of Balihang; but this flourishing state lasted only for a few weeks, as, on the death of Rana and his high-minded spouse, all her father’s possessions were seized by the rapacious Bhim Sen, who now governs Nepal. Sidhi Pratap, the chief of Gulmi, is supposed to be still in the mountains; but others allege, that he has died without issue. He is supposed to have been about the thirtieth chief of his race.
In Gulmi and Balihang one-half of the people are Khasiyas, one-eighth Brahmans, of whom many are of pure birth, (Upadhyayas,) and few illegitimate, (Jausi.) The remainder of the population consists of impure tribes of cultivators and artificers.
The principal crop in these hills is the rice, which is reaped in the beginning of winter, (Aghani.)
The chief of Khachi, a younger branch of Gulmi, profited much by the spoils of Balihang, and had a fine territory on the plain adjacent to his hills. In the latter were no mines, except one of iron; but at the foot of the hills was a considerable mart, called Barakadwar, the trade of which, however, has been almost totally forced to Butaul, since the chief of Gorkha has seized on both countries. It is said, that there is a still more important pass, called Khor, four coses east from Barakadwar. This is said to be the easiest of all the ascents to the mountains, and leads to the town of Khachi, from whence there are routes in many directions leading to places at a great distance, without any very difficult ascent or descent. The town of Khachi, which was the capital, stands on a hill plentifully supplied with water. The town contained about 300 houses, mostly thatched; that of the chief was built of brick. The Raja’s share of the land revenue on the hills, besides the lands for supplying the officers and soldiers, amounted to 4000 rupees a-year, and from the plain he annually procured from
500 to 1500 rupees, according as the cultivators were discontented or satisfied. Some of the officers had lands free of rent on the plains; but, as usual among the mountaineers, the whole revenue from the plain went to the chief. On the hills of this state 5-16ths of the people were Khasiyas, Brahmans and Rajputs 3-16ths, and low cultivators and artisans 8-16ths. The last Raja’s name was Durgar Sahi, who was expelled by Mahadatta of Palpa, as already mentioned. I have not heard of his subsequent fate.
Argha belonged also to a collateral branch of Gulmi, which is supposed by some to have become extinct; but others allege, that the son of the last chief is now in Nepal. It had a small territory on the plain, bestowed by Makunda Sen in consequence of a marriage; but both hill and plain were seized by his son, as I have mentioned. Argha, the capital, is on a hill, four coses in ascent, on the summit of which, round the chief’s castle, are about 150 houses, while there are 350 about the middle of the ascent. The houses have mud walls and thatched roofs. Water is plenty at the lower town, but is a quarter of a mile distant from the upper. The hills possessed no mines, nor any considerable mart. The Raja’s share of the land rent amounted to about 4000 rupees a-year, and the whole of his territory might contain 5000 houses. Not above 100 of these belonged to Brahmans, and the number of Rajputs was quite trifling. One half of the people were Khasiyas, the other half impure cultivators and tradesmen.
Concerning Dhurkot I learned nothing but what has been already mentioned, and that its chief had one iron mine. It was rendered subject to Gorkha by Damodar Pangre.
Musikot was the residence of the chief of this name, who had a brick-house on a hill close to the Barigar river, and, unlike the other chiefs of his race, rejected the pure doctrines of