484 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XIX, 
(Buddhism) having been imposed by exceptional measures of 
force by any la 2r (presumably ‘Buddhist) invaders of the 
country. Itwas_ erefore adopted voluntarily. In view of the 
strong conservatism displayed by the Newars towards the 
adoption of elements of foreign culture, in its material aspects at 
any rate, when it would have been advantageous for them to do 
so, it may be admitted that they would not have easily adopted 
an absolutely foreign religion coming from a foreign people. i 
therefore suggest that this religion did not come to Nepal from 
men of a foreign culture, but that it was developed a people 
of the same civilization. This would mean, of course, that a 
good many of the elements of Buddhism were in late in 
Nepal, in the undeveloped state if I may so term it, before that 
religion came to the country in its official form. It may however 
be said, why in'that case these elements did not develop in 
Nepal itself. Historical facts and traditions of Buddhism 
show that the people among whom it rose, were in contact 
with Brahmanic culture, i.e. a civilization of a different type. 
The impulse that would be derived from this source, might 
absent in Nepal because of its comparative isolation from 
the rest of India. - detailed ae aoe of the origin of 
Buddhism can however be undertaken only after a critical 
survey of the social eaailadcoh of the rest of India and must 
be left out in this essay. 
§ 6 It has already been evident that the early culture of 
Nepal probably came from India. The facts leading to this 
conclusion up till now have been drawn from social organisa- 
tion, and religion. The evidence from arts and crafts also 
seems to support this view. The data on these matters, how- 
ever, is not so copious as could be desired. 
The evidence from metal-working, carpentry and the 
related arts is indecisive. It is indeed “true that the cleverest 
smiths in Tibet are the Newars who have gone there; further, 
that the Tibetans are clumsy carpenters and jewellers.! It 
is also true that formerly, over a long period, the Neca 


| Hue s in Tartary, oo and China 1844- 6. (Translated 
by Hazlitt), anon (no date), Cha 
Th © given of the New wars in Lhasa, by Hue. is Péboun. 
Baudhas are called Ba(1) bo i oe distinction from the Gurkhas of Nepal. 
. Dutreuil de Rhins renard, Mission scientifique dans la 
Haute Asio, Paris, 1898, II, p 
odins: Le ‘Thibee, ‘Paris, 1885, pp. 3 
C. Tsy bikoff : Lhasa and Central Tibet : p. 730 | (£ rom the transla- 
tion from Russian given in the Annual report of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, 1903). 
sy bikoff’s evidence is esey venebe as he er a Buriat by birth 
Lamaist by re religion, educated a sian university, and stay ed in 
Lhasa as a pilgrim for a whole ae “ike ‘s many piste Buriats. | 
