Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/99

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TTTE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [Mjjutji, 1876. " When formerly the pouts were being enu- merated, KaliilA^i wafl made to preside error the little finger; and. beeuu-je. t-vt-n in tho present day thero Sa no poet equal to him, the (luimu of) ' .'j i. ••iwikd' became poceeueed of n significant meaning." In Frofossor Honicr Williams' 8<in*kfii Dfe* tioniry * andmikd,' this ring-finger, is given ns a derivative from 'ftAjttOff/o h/jad*'. Rearing in mind, however* the peculiar difficulty, alluded to iu the extract referred to above, of bending the third finger of either liund. I would submit for confli* deration the possibility of the etymology being rather -'nfaudtn, fcm. inftniW,' with the negative

  • a.' from ' Mm, 1 bind, like 'kdmka, htrikd, 1 from

' Apj j ' pdeJiaka, pdakikd,' from 'jmica-,-' 'dd^aka, difUtdt from '<W;*dscv A Vedle word 'andmin,* unbending, is giren in the dictionary. J. T. Then, Bo. CS. £7*Hftj» Miraj, 3rd iVB. 1876. THE fitTRKIlAS. The Gnrkhfi la of Tibetan origin, but Impure Tatar blood has mingled with that of Hindu colonists, who helped to found principalities in Nepal under Rajput chiefs. One of these waa (inrkhJSL, an insigruneam State lying weaf of the Triaul-Ganga. In $& Frithi N&xayaa, tho then ruler of this small territory, began to supply has retainer* with European firearms, and to drill them after tliu English fashion. Prkbi MXNi p roved a formidable antagonist to the neighbouring pi of Katmandu, LAlitapatan, and Bhutguou. in Xepll Proper. He ultimately overpowered them, and the v'.u ~ |M ttfa) im-ri'i aj k •,-,- u , > ; . . country, whottu inhabitant* received the dwignu- tion of their conquerors. The hitter advanced rapidly westward, till, twenty -three years later, the fall of Aliuora irukto them masters of all the districts east of the Udmgangft. To use an Orieu* tall am, a rook soon appeared in this river of miccest, the Etuperrvr ot Chine, in bin capacity of defender of the Buddhist faith, sending seventy thuuuand roan into Nopal to avenge the plundering of the sacred Lama's temples. The Chinese marched np to the rery gates or Katmandu, and its defenders were glad to get rid of their Mongol visitors- by paying a tribute to Pekin, besides disgorging plunder, Gorhw&l, however, atill belangod Lo tho Ixnten Nepalesc, and in 16ti£f the Dan olsoacknow- lodged their supremacy. Tliu famou* canhtpakl of that year, vulgarly regarded as aatiounoiiig tin British advent in the Upper l)oab, was also consi- dered m heralding the Gurkha conquest, Colonel Barn marching into SahAmnpnr only a few days before the men of Katmandu occupied Dehro. At first the Gurkh;V iiJmI irtth a rod «r iron, and the once fertile Ma seemed likely soon to become a wilderness, the inhabitants emigrating, and mil- tivntiou disappearing rapidly. An improvement, howevOTi ttiw inaugurated in 1810, which may be ascribed to the determined character of the Gurkha governors, who, though personally prone to oppression, did not suffer thoir suhordiuatei to molest the p««ple. A baud of marauding Sikhs had the temerity to §ofe the now government at defiance, and, as of old, socked a village, lifting the cattle and enslaving the women. Two hundred Nepoleiw followed in pursuit, and every DMQj woman, and niiifd owning the Sikh name waa massacred in cold blood, except a few of the hand- somest females, whoso beauty purchased them their life. Slavery honmhed throughout the Dtttt till we rescued its people from the Xcpalesa thral< dom. Defaulters in eases whore sentence of fine had been paused invariably fdCpiated their fault In a lifelong bondage, together with their Guniliea. Parents aold their children, unjtfea their nephews, and elder brothers their younger sinters. Thy number of Garh waifs sold by auction during the bnef period of Gurkha supremacy has been esti- mated at so high a figure as 200,000, Din; priow ranging from ten to n hundred and fifty rupees a head, while a camel fetched seventy five, and a common bores three hundred.— Frinul of India, Aug.SU, 1S7J TOE TEMPLE AT KAKARAK. The Rev. T Bailey, in the l^ginniog ol 1673, attended the large festival ot Kanarok. ftwaj twelve years Bines he had seen the famous temple there, and he WM fttroofc with the change* had mode. Many of the figure* have fallen down, and the growth in Mil- interstices of the stones is much more luxuriant. At the present n. decay, a very -few years will suffice to obliterate much of what has been esteemed the glory of an- cient Hindu art, but which in reality surpasses in indecency anything to he vcen probably in any other part of the world. About 200 yard* from the temple lies the huge stone with tho celebrated sculptures of the Nuvu Grahn, or tiiuu Jlrahnnuucnl planets, upon it t those latter also are disfigured* and will Boon be obliterated, by the custom of the people smearing vermilion on whatever they deem to he sacred. Tho failure of the Govei, either to remove the stone bodRy, or to cut off tlie slab with the sculptures, upon it, is dlstinelly d by the natives in all the region ta miraculous Interposittou of the god.— Friend o/ India, 10th Ucc. 1874,