716 N E P 
and thefe kaiths are fubjefi to various other impofitions. 
The law, and the adminiftration of it, are in an equally- 
imperfeft ftate. The trade of Nepaul needs better regu¬ 
lations; in order to render it 'more extenfive. Some of 
the reftraints by which it was fhackled were removed by 
a treaty concluded with the Eaft-lndia Company in 1792 ; 
but it Itill languilhes under feveral impolitic reftriftions. 
The exports of Nepaul are—elephants, elephants’ teeth, 
rice, timber, hides, ginger, terra japonica, turmeric, wax, 
honey, re fin, fruit, pepper, fpices, ghee, lamp-oil, and 
cotton. The duties on articles palling between Thibet 
and Nepaul are enormous. The company import into 
Nepaul woollen goods, chintzes, drawls, raw filk, gold 
and lilver lace, carpets, cutlery, cloves, fandal-wood, alum, 
quickfdver, dyeing woods, tin, zinc, lead, foap, tobacco, 
coral, &c. &c. &c. The Newars, already mentioned, are 
almoft the only artifans: their cloths are coarfe; but in 
iron, copper, and brafs, and alfo in carpentry, they work 
well: they export fome of their brazen articles to the 
foilthward; and their cutlery is not contemptible. They 
gild extremely well; call bells of a large fize ; make paper, 
diftil Spirits, and prepare fermented liquors. The filver 
brought into Nepaul by way of Thibet muft be carried 
to the mint, as no lilver is allowed to pafs into Hindooftan ; 
in exchange for his filver, the merchant receives rupees, 
lofing from 10 to 12 per cent, by the tranfa&ion; 4 per 
cent, on account of coinage, and 8 per cent, for alloy. 
Gold has ufually been a monopoly in the hands of govern¬ 
ment, which is fiippofed to be rich. Their artillery is 
contemptible. Their troops are armed with matchlocks, 
and bows and arrows. The regular force confifts of from 
fifty to fixty companies, each containing 140 fire-locks; 
but their dilcipline is very lax. They are, however, as 
colonel Kirkpatrick fays, brave, and capable of fuftaining 
great hardfhips. 
The pundits of Nepaul are not inferior to their brethren 
in fuch branches of fcience as are cultivated in Hindooftan. 
Aftronomy, in connexion with judicial aftrology, is faid 
to be their favourite ftudy. In the valley of Nepaul, and 
particularly at Bhatgong, which is reprefented as the 
Benares of the Ghoorkali territory, a fingle private library 
contains 15,000 volumes. The Shanfcrit is confiderably 
cultivated by the Nepaul pundits; and, befides, there are 
eight vernacular languages fpoken within the dominions 
of that kingdom. Befides his own immediate eftates, 
there is hardly any divifion of the Ghoorkali conquefts, 
in which the prince has not appropriated a fhare to him- 
felf. Some of thefe eftates are cultivated by hutbandmen, 
with whom he equally divides the produce; others are 
managed by agents of his own, and tilled by the neigh¬ 
bouring lrCffbandmen, who are obliged to dedicate a cer¬ 
tain number of days in the year to his fervice ; and others 
are farmed out. Many of the kaith-lands yield three 
liarvefts; one of wheat, one of rice, and one of an excel¬ 
lent vegetable called tori. The fugar-cane is alfo cul¬ 
tivated in thefe lands. In the generality of them, land 
is reckoned to yield from twenty to thirty fold; in fertility 
not much exceeding that of the belt arable land in this 
ifiand. The plough is fcarcely known among the Newars ; 
the prejudice againft the ufe of it originating in their 
reverence for the bullock, which they never approach but 
in the form of adoration. The expenfes of the military 
eftablifhment are for the moft part difcharged by aflign- 
ments of land; though, in fome inftances, the loldier 
receives his pay either from the treafury or the granary. 
The kingdom of Nepaul is thought to be very ancient; 
becaufe it has always preferved its peculiar language and 
independence; but the caufe of its ruin has been the dif- 
fention which fubfifts among its three kings. At length 
the king of Gorcha, taking advantage of dilfentions which 
prevailed among the other kings of Nepaul, attached to 
liis party many mountain-chiefs, and, having poflefled 
himfelf of the mountains which furround the plain of 
Nepaul, defcended into the flat country; but, failing to 
fubduc it by force of arms, he hoped to cffeit his purpofe 
A U L. 
by caufing a famine. Not fucceeding in this barbarous 
mode of conqueft, he fomented divifions among the nobles 
of the three kingdoms of Nepaul, and he gained over to 
his party fome of the principal of thefe, for which purpofe 
he had about 2000 Brahmins in his fervice. He then 
laid fiege to Khirtipoor, aftrongtown, confiding of about 
8000 houfes, about a league from Khatmandu, which 
having long attempted in, vain, he at laft obtained by 
treachery. See Khirtipoor. After the capture of this 
city, he proceeded againft Pattan; but in the mean wdiile 
he made himfelf mafter of Khatmandu, in 1768, and then 
compelled the inhabitants, with their king, to withdraw 
to the king of Bhatgong. Having gained Pattan, he got 
into his pofleflion the perfons of the nobility. At the 
commencement of the year 1769, the king of Gorcha 
regained the city of Bhatgong, by the fame modes of vio¬ 
lence and treachery by which he had fucceeded in his 
other conquefts ; and, having thus in four years effected 
the conqueft of Nepaul, he made himfelf mafter alfo of 
the country of the Ciratas to the eaft of it, and of other 
kingdoms, as far as the borders of Coochbehar. After 
his deceafe, his eldeft fon held the government of the 
wdiole country; but in about two years afterwards, when 
he died, a younger brother was requefted to accept the 
government, who began his reign with many dreadful 
maflacres. 
Nepaul, like the other kingdoms of this mountainous 
region, remained excluded from the notice of Europeans 
by its furrounding mountains, till a recent period. Lord 
Cornwallis, among his comprehenfive views, projected a 
connexion with Nepaul: but the fteps which he took were 
not followed up. No Englifhman had hitherto palled 
beyond the range of mountains which feparates the valley 
of Nepaul from the north-eaftern parts of Bengal; when, 
towards the clofe of the year 1792, an opportunity was 
unexpeftedly prefented to the Britifli government in India, 
of removing the veil which had fo long feparated the two 
countries. The court of Pekin, relenting certain en¬ 
croachments which had been made by the government of 
Nepaul upon the rights of the lama of Thibet, whom the 
emperor of China had for fome time taken under his pro¬ 
tection, (or, in other words, fubjeCted to his yoke,) came 
to the resolution of punifliing the aggreftor; and for this 
purpofe detached an army, which palled the mountains of 
Thibet, penetrated nearly to Khatmandu, the capital of 
Nepaul, and, in the minority of the rajah, alarmed the 
regency into an application to the Britifli government for 
their interference. That government now beheld, for the 
firft time, the Angular fpeftacle of a numerous Chinefe 
force occupying a pofition which, from the heights of 
Dhyboon, commanded a diftant profpeCt of the valley of 
the Ganges, and of the richeft of the Eaft-lndia Company’s 
pofleflions. The necellity of conciliating the Chinefe go¬ 
vernment, and of watching over our interefts on the other 
fide of Alia, prevented our military interference; but 
colonel Kirkpatrick was fent as a mediator, to fee if it 
W'ere poflible, by any diplomatic arrangements, to put an 
end to the differences which fubfifted between the two 
nations. The ambaflador, however, arrived too late; the 
regency of Nepaul was intimidated by the danger; and 
conditions were entered into by the Chinefe, extremely 
unfavourable to the independence of the country. The 
Nepaulefe would very willingly have now difpenfed with 
the vifit of the colonel: but the Englifli government, 
which expected advantages from an improved connexion 
with the country, prefled his reception ; and the Nepau- 
lians, who thought that they could not with a good grace, 
after he had come fo far on their errand, abfolutely refufe 
to admit him, fent at laft an invitation for him to proceed. 
His refidence in the country extended only to a few weeks; 
and during a confiderable part of that little time he was 
confined with a fever. He, however, made the very beft 
ufe of the time and opportunities he could command; 
and the refult was fome very important information relative 
to a country heretofore fcarcely known. From that gen- 
. tleman’s 
