890 A few Notes on the subject of [No. 155. 



for doubting that the Turaee throughout its whole extent formed an 

 integral part of the Kuthoora Kumaon Raj. That it also formed an 

 important part, may be assumed from the almost absolute necessity 

 still existing, that a large portion of plain country should, if not 

 attached to the hills, at least be available for the annual resort of 

 the Paharees and their cattle ; (an occupancy which under native rulers 

 could hardly be maintained without an actual right of property 

 in the soil, and actual separate possession thereof by the hill powers ;) 

 and from analogies drawn from the late and existing feeling in Nepaul 

 in regard to the tract at its base. Beyond this, all is conjecture re- 

 garding those ancient times ; and the question whether Sumbhul and 

 Bareilly were then subject to Kuthoor, may be left for discussion 

 between the Paharees and the Desees, when they meet annually at 

 their now common pasture grounds, and need not engage the too 

 jealous attention (as at one time it was feared it might,) of British 

 functionaries. 



4. The Kuttooras in Kumaon were, we are told, succeeded for 

 Khussia Raj. some time (13 or 14 generations) by a Khussia Raj, 



that is, by numerous petty chiefs among the mountaineers themselves, 

 each governing his own small territory, and fighting with his neigh- 

 bours. The many small forts scattered throughout the province, 

 in situations where such defences would be useless to a Government 

 holding undivided authority over the whole tract, would seem to prove 

 the truth of this traditional history. 



5. On emerging at last, from this confusion, we find the earliest 

 Chund Dynasty, name of the Chund dynasty in Som Chund, a Chun- 



drabunsee Rajpoot, who is narrated to have come from the village of 

 Joosee in the province of Allahabad, (Trans-Doab,) and to have esta- 

 blished his power and a capital at Chumpawut* at or about the year 

 1100 Saka, corresponding to 1235 Sumbut, and 1178 a.d. The 

 Joshee (Jyotishee) Brahmins who have subsequently been such influ- 

 ential members of the hill community, accompanied the first of the 

 Chunds to Kumaon. It would be quite out of place to register in 

 this report, the list of Rajahs who followed Som Chund. Some per- 



* Also called Kalee Kumaon, from its vicinity to the Kalce river. 



