the Brahmans. The house of the chief was surrounded by 400 houses of his subjects, mostly thatched. He had no possessions on the plain, and his whole territory might contain 3000 houses, of which 5-16ths were occupied by Rajputs, 1-16th by Brahmans, mostly of spurious birth, (Jausis,) 4-16ths by Khasiyas, and 6-16ths by impure cultivators and tradesmen. Most of the Rajputs were of the Raja’s family, a circumstance uncommon on the hills, where the governing families seem seldom to have propagated to nearly such an extent, and were often rather weak. The Raja’s share of the landed revenue was estimated at 2000 rupees a-year. There was no great mart, but near the Barigar there is a mine of copper. The great crop here, also, is winter rice. When Damodar Pangre seized the country, the chief and many of his family went to Kathmandu, where a great part has obtained service.
Isma, the last chief of this family, resided at a fortress of the same name, situated on a lofty hill, of very difficult access, three coses in ascent. Horses could not ascend more than half way, where there were about 250 houses. Round the castle, on the summit, were 50 or 60. These houses are thatched huts, with walls of stone or planks. On the hill are several springs of water. The Raja had no possessions on the plain, and his subjects might amount to 2500 houses, from whom his share of the rent might amount to 2000 rupees. One half of his subjects were Khasiyas, 1-8th pure Brahmans, (Upadhyayas,) 1-16th bastard Brahmans, (Jausis,) 1-16th Rajputs, and 1-4th low cultivators and tradesmen. The country contained neither mines nor marts. It must, however, be observed, that both in this country and in Musikot, Corundum (Kusan) is found in detached masses, either on the surface or mixed with the soil. Some of it is bluish like lead, and some is of a copper colour. The pieces seldom exceed 4lbs. or 5 lbs.
in weight. It affords no revenue. The chiefs of this family waged a constant war with their kinsman of Musikot, and the twenty-third or twenty-fourth of them married a daughter of Makunda Sen of Palpa, so that Mahadatta leagued with the chief of Gorkha to destroy his nephew.
The Raja of Piuthana, among these petty chiefs, was a person of some consequence, and was followed in war by Isma and Musikot, two chiefs of the last mentioned family. He was also followed by the chiefs of Khungri and Bhingri, whose countries were surrounded by Piuthana; and I think, that in all probability these two belonged to the Chaubisiyas, although they are not mentioned in Kanak Nidhi’s list; and I must confess, that the latter I have heard arranged with the twenty-two Rajas. All that I learned concerning these chiefs is, that they were of the same family, followed Piuthana in war, and were very petty. The situation of their countries will be seen in the maps.
Piuthana had no mines of value, but it possessed a considerable tract on the plain, and paid the revenue of this through the Raja of Bangsi, after Mahadatta of Palpa had been freed from that vassalage by the Nawab Vazir. This territory on the plain, called Siwaraj, is, therefore, claimed by the Bangsi family; but is in possession of the Raja of Gorkha. The chief of Piuthana pretends to be a Chandel Rajput, nor had his family subdivided into different branches. The town, from whence he derived his title, is situated on a hill, the ascent to which is two coses in length. Round their chief’s house, which was built of brick after the fashion of Kathmandu, were about 400 houses, mostly mud-walled huts with thatched roofs. The Jimri, called Rapti in the low country, passes on its south side. The whole territory on the hills and plains contained about 2500 houses, of whom 5-16ths were Khasiyas, 3-16ths Brahmans, one-half low cultivators and tradesmen. There were a very few
Rajputs and Newars. Manik Chandra possessed this country in quiet, and was succeeded by Mati Chandra, who retired without a struggle, when attacked by Damodar Pangre. Rudra Chandra, his son, now resides at Ramnagar with the Tanahung Raja, for the people of Gorkha seized on Siwaraj, when they took possession of Piuthana, although it then belonged to the Nawab Vazir, and should now form a part of the Gorakhpur district. They at first cajoled the Bangsi Rajah, promising to pay more than the chief of Piuthana had done; but, after the first year, he got nothing. The present representative of the family, in 1814, was about twenty-eight years of age, and is supposed to be the twenty-fifth chief of his race. If so, his pretence to be a Chandel is probably ill-founded, as no true Rajputs are said to have settled so early in these hills.
Poin was a very petty chief, who followed in war the impure chief of Bhirkot, but was himself pure, and called himself a Sirnet, saying that he came from the mountains south-west from the Yamuna. Poin is situated on a high hill, where much snow falls, and there is intense cold. At this capital were only 120 houses, and the whole in the territory amounted to only 2000; but there were iron and copper mines in the country, and the Raja, for his share of the revenue, had 4000 rupees a year.
In the list of the twenty-four Rajas given by Kanak Nidhi, a Tarki Raja is mentioned; but I heard no account of any such person, nor does any such place appear in the maps. In place of Tarki I suspect, therefore, we must introduce the very petty chief of Malihang, usually called the Sat Bisi, or seven-score Raja, because his revenue amounted to 140 rupees a year; a poverty which renders St Marino an empire.
There remain two countries, Malebum or Malebamba, and Galkot, which, by all the authorities that I consulted, were
included among the Chaubisiya or twenty-four Rajas, and, therefore, I shall treat of them here, although I suspect an inaccuracy. It is said, that there was a certain impure chief of the Jariya tribe, who had very extensive dominions. The daughter and heiress of this chief married a Gautamiya Brahman, and by him had twenty-two sons, each of whom obtained a share of his grandfather’s dominions, and among these, besides Malebum and Galkot, are the northern Musikot, Jajarkot, Jahri, Bangphi, Rugun, and Salyana, all reckoned in a class called the Baisi or twenty-two Rajas. I have not been able to procure a complete list of these chiefs, some of whose dominions extend farther north than the knowledge of my informants; but I think, that the above mentioned circumstance of the twenty-two descendants of a common origin must have given rise to the classification, and that Malebum and Galkot in fact belong to the Baisi, thus making room for Khungri and Bhingri in the Chaubisiyas, among whom they are placed in the maps. The same conclusion may be drawn from a circumstance stated of Nag Bamba of Malebum; who is said in his wars to have led twenty-two chiefs to battle.