466 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. |N.S., X1X, 
These two sources of information have proved of great 
value in drawing up a table of social groups in Nepal.  Lévi 
had to accept Oldfield’s classification of Newar castes without 
any check except the practically useless one of Hamilton’s 
list (see Appendices), which itself requires corroboration before 
acceptance. hee ail manuscripts in particular have proved 
invaluable in this res 
The detailed sits oaiie of the two groups of Newars, 
that has been rendered possible by a comparative study of the 
different lists has brought out definitely certain special and 
interesting facts, leading to the hypothesis put forward in this 
essay.! 
2. The Kingdom of Nepal, situated on the northern 
frontier of India, falls ethnologically into three divisions, 
(i) the Terai or lowlands, (ii) the valley of Nepal proper and 
(iii) the mountainous regions on the Tibetan side. The first 
numerous group of its inhabitants. The other group in Nepal 
is that of the Gurkhas, who are the dominant ruling people at 
the present time. They have, however, entered Nepal in a 
body only in recent times, in fact i in 1768, although previous 
immigration of the Khas people who form the bulk of the 
Gurkhas has also taken place.2 The Newars are the earlier 
people, and as already mentioned, the chief inhabitants of the 
valley. To them are almost wholly confined metal-working 
agriculture, pasting, architecture, sculpture and the literature 
that oe possesses.* 


e pur eae refrained f ti erie 

-some intensive field w ie in Nepal before pee te these baer fay Sante 
‘of them have been ntioned in the main body of the essay ; others, 
such as the ex nistence of a Vaigya priestly see the employment of spe- 
cial textile material at funerals, or the monopoly of the Bandyas in 
working the precious metals, have not eile. touched upon as requiring 
2 i material. 
A brief summary with t greater details will be found in 
ated ty Haat wepel a the Pte i of Religion and Ethics, vol. 9. 
* Sylva a Lévis a Nepal, Vol ,I, p. 219 et seq. Annales du Musée 
+ Colon el W. Kirkpat k: A) 3 N " 
London, i811, pp. 101, ponte’ 4n account of the Kingdom of Nepau 
rancis Hamilton Buch : eeak 
Edinburgh, 1 7 uc anan) : An account of the Kingdom of Nepa 
Capt ain O° pe das " R isn. 
1851, Chap, IIT. & ough notes on the State of Nepal, Calcutta 


