a eee 
“i 
1923.| An Essay on the History of Newar Culture. 503 
but not medicine. At the present time however no such 
caste of physicians exists. Irom the nature of the function 
of this caste—the performance of religious duty—it would 
seem as if the Bhajus are merely a section of Brahmans who 
have become somewhat differentiated by taking up an occupa- 
tion which a high class Upadhya ya—if he has ideas similar to 
the Brahmans of the plains—considers to be beneath his dig- 
nity. Their absence from Hodgson’s account of the conditions 
in Nepal at his time, coupled with his mention of the Brah- 
mans as professing to practise as physicians, seems to indicate 
that the differentiation must have been very slight 
Another possibility may just be pointed out. The Achar 
and Gaoku Achar have functions similar to those of the Bhaje 
and Lawarju of Oldfield, and in addition are very like a 
class of inferior Brahmans in other ways. Ifa foreigner were 
to collect information from people of these castes, it is possible 
that on the strength of their evidence he might class them as 
an inferior class of Brahmans. This is however a mere sugges- 
tion and the general correctness of Oldfield’s list stands in the 
way of such a view 
f the three Ksatriya castes mentioned by Oldfield, two 
occur in Earle’s and only one in Hamilton’s list. Hodgson 
gives two of these as main castes, and the third as a division 
—not a subeaste—of Srest has. 
The Thacur or Malla, variously spelt in the lists, may be 
accepted as ranking with Ksatriyas, although no question of 
origin is raised thereby. They are known to have been the 
rulers of Nepal before the Gurkhas and ranked as Ksatriyas. 
The Sresthas are not mentioned by Hodgson or Earle as 
Ksatrivas, but merely as a pure caste of high rank. As they 
were the warriors in the time of the Hindu Newar rulers, 
before the Gurkha Conquest, they may be included under this 
head. The footnote to the Census Report containing Earle’s 
list makes their rank as Ksatriyas fairly clear. It =e) 
noted in passing that the traditional origin of Sresthas given 
by Hodgson agrees in substance with the account given in the 
Census Report and finds an extremely good parallel in the 
origin of the Khas, the military Gurkha tribe, formed of the 
offspring of Brahman (and Rajput) fathers and Parbatiya 
mothers. These tribes have the rank of Ksatriyas.! 
In the table at the end of the appendix, | have given 
! Hodgson : E: on Languages, etc., Part II 37— 
Strictly Guakine Khai Fe offspring of Ksatriyas by women of 
lower castes, and the Ksatriyas, are different ; and Sresth a 
tris. But in practice the Khas, the parallel of Sresthas, rank as Kgatri- 
yas, although beneath an admittedly pure Rajput. 
