Part 11

In the western parts of the territory belonging to this family, I procured a manuscript said to have been composed by Rana Bahadur, late Chautariya of Palpa, and one of its descendants. He states, that the first of his ancestors, who came to this country, was Rudra Sen, the son of Chandra Sen, Raja of Chitaur, descended of Ratna Sen, first Chauhan chief of that city; but I think that this account is not tenable, and Samar Bahadur, the brother of Rana Bahadur, gives one totally different, and, in my opinion, more probable. He says, that Ratna Sen, instead of being the first Raja of Chitaur, was the last of these princes; and that Naya Sen, his eldest son, settled at Prayag or Allahabad, which he seized with 20,000 men, and he considers Tutha Sen, Ribeli Sen, Dimirawa Sen, Udayarawa Sen, Udayachanda Sen, Jagadbrahma Sen, Dharma Pala Sen, Aneka Singha Sen, Ramraja Sen, and Chandra Sen, the father of Rudra Sen, not as Rajas of Chitaur, as his brother’s manuscript represents, but as chiefs of the colony from that city, which settled in the vicinity of Nepal. Tutha Sen, he says, having been driven from Prayag, seized on the country adjacent to the hills of Butaul, and afterwards seized on the principality of Champaranya, the capital of which was Rajpur. Now, this seems highly probable, for Chitaur was taken in about 1306, and Garsamaran, of which Champaranya was originally a dependency, did not fall until 1322, while an anarchy prevailed throughout the territories of Garsamaran until 1346, that is to say, until these were mostly reunited under the colony from Chitaur, 40 years after the fall of that city. It is, therefore, unlikely, that the chief who left Chitaur should have seen his family established in a new dominion; but, that it should have been his son who accomplished this event, as Samar Bahadur says, is highly probable. Tutha’s first acquisition on the hills seems to have been Rishiyang, now an inconsiderable place between Butaul and Palpa. His son founded Ribdikot in that vicinity, of which it continued to be the capital, until Palpa was founded by Rudra Sen. It must be observed, that the accounts procured in Puraniya and Gorakhpur differ totally as to names, until the time of Chandra Sen, after which they agree tolerably well, and Rudra was probably the first of the family, as his descendant alleges, who assumed the title of the Palpa Raja. It is agreed by all, that the Makanda Sen, the son of Rudra, possessed very extensive dominions, and might probably have founded a kingdom equal to that which the Gorkhalese now enjoy, but he had the imbecility to divide his estates among his four sons. The accounts concerning these sons differ somewhat. According to what I heard in Puraniya, Manik, the eldest son, obtained Palpa, Bhringgu received Tanahung, Rajpur the original possession of the family, was given to Arjun, and Makwanpur, with its hardy mountaineers, fell to the lot of Lohangga. But the account given in the manuscript of Rana Bahadur, which here, I think, deserves most credit, is, that the eldest son was Binayak, who communicated his name to a large territory on the plain west from the Gandaki, which he received as his patrimony; but this territory is now most commonly called Butaul, from its chief town, and in the low country the chiefs are commonly called the Butaul Rajas. The second son, Manik, obtained Palpa; the third son, Bihangga, (Bhringga of the Puraniya account,) obtained Tanahung, and Lohangga, the fourth son, obtained Makwanpur.

I shall now return to the Kiratas, the nation next to the Lapchas, when they were about to receive Lohangga as their chief.

At that time the country between the Kosi and the Kankayi, and on the plain so far as the Mahanandah, was subject to Vijayanarayan, whose ancestors are said to have come from Kamrup. From his title, one might be led to suppose that he was of the Vihar family; but one of this race, who was in my service, denied any such relation; and, indeed, as Vijaya is said to have been the seventh prince of his family, he could scarcely have been descended of the grandson of the Koch Hajo, ancestor of the chief’s of Vihar. The natives allege, that the title of the chiefs of this family was Harbhang Raja, and that the title of his minister was Bharbhang Mantri. Harbhang Bharbhang, in the provincial dialect, implies foolish, similar to the notions entertained by the Bengalese of Havachandra and Bhavachandra of Kamrup, which may perhaps serve to connect the history of the two dynasties. Not that these princes seem to have been more foolish than their neighbours, but they probably had some customs, that appeared extraordinary to their subjects. Two dynasties are mentioned as having preceded that of the Harbhang Rajas; 1_st_, That of Kichak Raja, contemporary with Yudhishthir; and, 2_d_, That of the Satya Rajas, in whose time probably the power of the Kirats or Kichaks was at the greatest height.

I have received three accounts of the manner in which Vijayanarayan was overthrown. The first was given me orally by Agam Singha. He says, that the ancestors of Vijayanarayan originally possessed only the low country called Morang; but that this prince took into his service his ancestor Singha Ray, the son of Khebang, who was Hang or hereditary chief of the Kirats, that occupied the hills north from Morang. When the needy mountaineers had for some time been accustomed to the luxuries of the plains, the Raja built Vijayapur, and took the title of Vijaya Bharati, or victorious over the earth. He soon after took occasion to put the mountain chief to death, under pretence, that he, being an impure beef-eating monster, had presumed to defile a Hindu woman. Baju Ray, son of the mountain chief, immediately retired, and, going to the Rajput chief of Makwanpur, promised to join him with all his Kirats, if that prince would enable him to destroy the murderer of his father. This was accordingly done, and the Hang was constituted sole Chautariya or hereditary chief minister of the principality, which dignity his descendants enjoyed, until its total overthrow, and Agam Singha, the last possessor of the office, accompanied his master, when he fled for refuge into the Company’s territory, and now lives with the mother of that unfortunate youth.

The second account was given by the Munsuf of Bahadurgunj, mentioned in the Introduction. He nearly agrees with the Kirat chief, but says, that the new dynasty was formed in a manner entirely peaceable. Vijayanarayan having died without heirs, the Kirat chief, who was the second person in the government, invited a brother of the Palpa Raja to take possession of the government.

The third account was communicated to me in writing by Premnarayan Das, mentioned also in the Introduction. The scribe says, that one day Vijayanarayan went to Varahachhatra, a place of pilgrimage on the Kosi, where Vishnu is worshipped under the form of a boar. Here he found a Sannyasi, Ramanath Bharati, who, warned by a dream, had come from Surya kunda, and had taken up his residence in a hut near the place of worship, where he was assiduous in prayer. The Sannyasi having been insolent to the Raja, a circumstance not at all improbable, the prince had the audacity to kick him down the hill, and to burn his hut. The god then appeared to the saint in a human form, and gave him authority of speech, (Bakya Siddhi,) by which all men would obey his command. Bharati then went to the poor chief of Makwanpur, who, having been kind and attentive, was commanded to take possession of the dominions of Vijayanarayan, and was informed how it might be done.

The account of the Kirat is evidently the most credible, although it is not unlikely that Ramanath may have been disgusted, and might have been employed to gain over the people, and to negotiate between the Rajput and Kirat; but the scribe alleges, that these barbarians were not elevated to the first office of the state until a later period. However that may be, in the remainder of the history, I shall follow chiefly his account, although even there it differs in some particulars from the accounts that I received both from Agam Singha, and from the Brahman.

Lohangga, on crossing the Adhwara, first subdued a petty chief of the Magar tribe. He then took possession of a small territory on the plain, belonging to an Aniwar Brahman. Then he destroyed Mohan Thakur, another chief of the last mentioned tribe, and seized on his territory, which now forms the district of Mahatari. He in a similar manner seized on Korani, belonging to a Bhawar, and probably a descendant of Nandakumar, (p. 129;) on Khesraha, belonging to Raja Langkeswar; on Rampur belonging to Raja Muzles; on Pokhari, belonging to Raja Karabandar; on Jhamuna, belonging to Raja Roja; on Jogoda, belonging to Raja Udaygir; on Dhapar, Kalisa, and Belka koth, belonging to Raja Karnadeo; on Samda, belonging to Ballabh deo; and on Karjain, belonging to Dullabh deo, a brother of the two last mentioned chiefs, who were descended of Saran deo, brother of Karma Singha and Nandakumar, (p. 129,) as I am informed by Gauri Chaudhuri, their representative, and now Zemindar of Dhapar, in the district of Puraniya. All these were petty independent chiefs, whose territories now form Pergunahs in the Subah of Saptari, belonging to Gorkha, or in the adjacent parts of the Company’s territory. The rapacious chief now made an attack on the hill Gidha, but here he was opposed by a devil, (Dano,) who killed a number of his troops, and prevailed, until the holy man Ramanath ordered the god Ramkrishna to cut off the devil’s head, which was accordingly done. The Raja then descended to Meghvari on the banks of the Kosi, where he learned that Vijayanarayan had died. He, therefore, left one-half of his troops at Meghvari, and, advancing with the other, took quiet possession of Vijayapur, (Bissypur, R.) The nature of these transactions strongly confirms the account given by Agam Singha, as the force of the petty district of Makwanpur seems to have been totally inadequate to effect such conquests; but the junction of the Kirats will readily account for the success.

Agam Singha says, that during these wars, his ancestor Baju was killed, and was succeeded by his son Bidyachandra, who relinquished the title of Hang, and in its stead took that of Chautariya, and who, like all his successors, assumed a Hindu name, and adopted some degree of purity in his manner of life.

Lohangga had now acquired a very extensive territory, reaching from the Adiya on the west to the Mahananda on the east, and from the alps of Bhot to Julagar near Puraniya. When the Sannyasi had placed the Raja on the throne, he wished to return to his native country, but, at the intercession of the prince, he remained some time longer, having been appointed priest (Mahanta) to a temple (Math) erected at Varaha Chhatra, and well endowed. According, indeed, to my authority, the priests, his successors, seem to have held a distinguished place in the state; but, since the conquest, they have sunk into insignificance, although the Gorkhalese still allow them ample endowments.

Lohangga had two sons, Raghav’ and Bhagawanta, but rationally left the whole of his dominions to the former, who, by all other persons except the scribe, is considered as having been the founder of the family in these parts, and as a brother of the Raja of Palpa. In his reign Ramanath delivered over his office to Jagamoban, and disappeared; but he promised his successor to favour him with an annual visit.

Harihar’, the son of Raghav’, extended his dominions to Gondwara, and took the title of Hindupati, or chief of the Hindus. His wife, Jagamata, having been delivered of a daughter of most extraordinary beauty, he, in his joy, called to her by her name; but, as it is totally contrary to Hindu law for a man to call his wife Mata, that is, mother, he was under the necessity of divorcing her, which will, perhaps, show that his civilians had a considerable skill in discovering legal pretexts for the actions of their prince. The chief was soon after supplied with other wives, for, having made war on the Vihar Raja, and taken that prince in battle, his anger was pacified by obtaining Mahisi and Maheswari, two beautiful daughters of the descendant of Siva. By Mahisi the Morang Raja had four sons, Chhatrapati, Padma, Pratap, and one who died an infant. Maheswari bore only one son, named Subha, to whom his father intended to leave the whole of his dominions, and, in order to secure his authority, gave him immediate possession of the territory of Makwani.

After this, Harihar seems to have fallen into a state of dotage, and his three sons by Mahisi rose upon their aged parent, and put him in confinement. In this difficulty he applied to Adanuka, the wife of Chhatrapati, one of these unnatural sons, and promised, if she would procure his release, that he would leave the whole of his kingdom to the child with which she was then pregnant. This lady, who seems to have possessed great abilities, persuaded her husband and his two brothers to release their father, on condition that the whole kingdom should be divided into four equal shares, one for each brother. The three sons of Mahisi then went and attacked their brother, in order to compel him to agree to this engagement, but they were defeated with great loss, and retreated to Phulwari, on the Kamala river, where Adanuka was delivered of a son, whom his grandfather immediately created king of all the territories east from the Kosi, while he left all on the west of that river to his son Subha. The father and uncles of the infant had probably been too much weakened by their defeat to venture on any farther enterprise of villainy.

I shall now follow the history of Subha, who soon after these events fell sick, and sent for Ganggadhar, the successor of Jagamohan as priest at Varaha Chhatra. This person informed the Raja that he was just about to die, but, as he himself had forty years of life to spare, he would transfer them to the prince, for whom he had a great regard. The Raja accepted the offer, and soon after the priest went and buried himself alive, (Samadi,) a manner of taking leave of the world which is considered as very laudable, and to this day is occasionally practised at Varaha Chhatra. The Raja, on the strength of this accession of life, married a young Rajput named Amarawati, by whom he had two sons, Mahapati and Manik.

Subha Sen had governed thirty-one years of his additional life, when he had a dispute with Pradyumna Upadhyaya, a Brahman of Tanahung, who was his Dewan, or minister of finance. This traitor entered into a conspiracy with a certain officer named Parasuram Thapa, and, in order to induce this man to rebel, did not hesitate to give him his daughter in marriage, although the fellow was of the spurious breed called Khas, descended by the father’s side alone from the sacred order; and this would appear to be considered as by far the most reprehensible part of the Brahman’s offence. Having seized on the old Raja, their master, these traitors intended to deliver him up to Isfundiyar khan, the Nawab of Puraniya. By this time Indu Bidhata, the infant who had been made Raja of Marang, had grown up, and, hearing of his uncle’s misfortune, led an army against the Nawab and the traitors, and was accompanied by his brother Budha Sen. Having obtained a victory, he restored his uncle; but, while they were still in the midst of their joy, Kalu Upadhyaya, a relation of the treacherous Brahman, contrived to seize on both the uncle and nephews, and again delivered them to the Nawab, who had made the most liberal promises. It was on this occasion that the Moslems reduced the greater part of the low country of Morang, and, in fact, they settled some free land on the family of the traitor, but to no great extent, and vastly less than was expected. One of his descendants is now the Munsuf at Bahadurgunj, mentioned above as one of the persons from whom I received information respecting this principality.

The unfortunate Subha and his nephews were sent to Dilli, where Muhammed Azim, then emperor, deprived them of cast by a curtailment of which the faithful are proud.

Prabodh das, the then Neb, or second hereditary minister of the family, fled with the two sons of Subha Sen to the Kirats, and his descendant, who gave me the written account, alleges that it was then only that the chiefs of this tribe were elevated to the dignity of Chautariya; but in this, I imagine, he is mistaken.

Mahapati, the eldest son, was placed by the Kirat Bidyachandra Ray on the throne of all that remained to the family east from the Kamala river, while the smaller portion west from that river was given to his brother Manik, to whom Prabodh das adhered; but a Kirat of the same family with Bidyachandra acted as the Chautariya of Manik, and Mahapati had a Neb of the family of Prabodh das.

Mahapati married, but neglected his wife, and had eighteen illegitimate children. Mahapati means elder son, and I was assured by the Munsuf of Bahadurgunj, that his real name was Mandhata. Here, indeed, I must follow chiefly the authority of the Munsuf; for the descendant of Prabodh das is little acquainted with the history of the eastern division, while the Munsuf was naturally unwilling to speak of the western.

Mandhata governed eighteen or twenty years, and left his territory to his natural son Kamdatt. I am informed by a Brahman, who had resided long in these parts, and by an intelligent Kirat, that Kamdatt lived on very bad terms with Bichitra Ray, the Kirat Chautariya of this part of the principality, who drove Kamdatt to Lasa, and placed on the throne Jagat, a younger but legitimate son of the western branch of the family. This prince reconciled the Chautariya to Kamdatt, and while Jagat reserved to himself the country between the Kamala and Kosi, he gave all the territory east from the latter river to his kinsman Kamdatt. Thus the principality became divided into three shares.

Soon after this Bichitra the Chautariya died, and was succeeded by Budhkarna his son, with whom Kamdatt continued to live on the worst terms; sometimes the one, and then the other, being under the necessity of flying from Vijayapur, which was the seat of government. On one of these occasions Kamdatt came to the Company’s territory, and applied to Ghanasyam Upadhyaya, of the family of the traitor who had betrayed Subha Sen. The Brahman took him to Calcutta; but, receiving no countenance from the Governor-General, they returned to the frontier, where they raised some men, with whom Kamdatt recovered the government of Morang. Kamdatt still farther enraged the Kirat by putting his brother to death, on which event Budhkarna applied to the legitimate heir of the family, then in exile, who recommended an alliance with the Sikim Bhotiyas. Budhkarna having gone to that country, and having formed an alliance with its rulers, ten men were sent by them under pretence of adjusting the differences between the prince and his minister. These ruffians, having been admitted to a conference without suspicion, rushed on Kamdatt and put him to death. Budhkarna then placed on the throne of Vijayapur the legitimate heir, Karna Sen, whom the Gorkhalese had then expelled from the middle principality. He died in about eighteen months afterwards, in the year 1774, leaving an only son, a boy, under the charge of his widow, and of his Chautariya Agam Singha, descended in the fifth degree from Bidya Chandra, who was contemporary, according to Agam Singha, with the first Rajput prince of this country. In the same year the Gorkhalese attacked Vijayapur, and the widow fled with her son, and accompanied by Agam Singha, to the Company’s territory.

The widow, her son, and minister, settled near Nathpur; while Budhkarna, after some fruitless engagements, went to Calcutta to solicit assistance, but without success. He soon after came towards the frontier, at Chilmari in the Company’s territory, from whence he was carried off by a party of Gorkhalese soldiers disguised like robbers. He was taken to Vijayapur, where, under pretence of avenging the death of Kamdatt, the slender claim which the Gorkhalis used to cover their unjust attack on the infant son of Karna Sen, he was put to the most cruel tortures, which continued three days before he expired.

The jealousy of Prithwi Narayan of Gorkha did not permit him to view the poor child, then five years old, without anxious fears. His first plan was to endeavour to inveigle him into his power, by promising, on condition of an annual tribute, to restore his inheritance. He next offered to hold the territories of the youth from the British government, and to pay an annual sum; for he was cruelly alarmed lest the governor should interfere. At length he is alleged to have calmed his fears by a stratagem worthy of his savage nature. A Brahman was hired to insinuate himself into the favour of the mother, to whom he represented himself as a person skilled in the inoculation for the small pox. Having gained the mother’s consent, he performed the operation; but the smallpox did not appear; in its stead most dreadful ulcerations took place, and the child perished of a wretched disease. It is in general believed that poison was used instead of matter, and that the perpetrator was hired by Prithwi Narayan; for, immediately after the operation, the Brahman disappeared, and is supposed to have retired to Nepal. The character of the prince does not leave much room to think that he would hesitate about employing such means.