Indian Antiquary Vol 04

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 96

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
sanft agurkerदनामिका सार्थवती बभूव ॥
"When formerly the poets were being enumerated, Kalidasa was made to preside over the little finger; and, because, even in the present day there is no poet equal to him, the (name of) ⚫anámika' became possessed of a significant meaning."
In Professor Monier Williams' Sanskrit Dicderivative from naman,' a name. Bearing in mind, tionary andmika, the ring-finger, is given as a however, the peculiar difficulty, alluded to in the extract referred to above, of bending the third finger of either hand, I would submit for consideration the possibility of the etymology being rather ndmaka, fem. námiká,' with the negative 'a,' from 'nam,' bend, like 'káraka, karika,' from 'kri;' páchaka, pdchiká,' from 'pach;' dayaka, dáyika,' from 'dd;' &c. A Vedic word 'anamin,' unbending, is given in the dictionary.
J. F. FLEET, Bo. C.S. Camp Miraj, 3rd Feb. 1875.
THE GURKHAS.
The Gurkha is of Tibetan origin, but his pure Tatar blood has mingled with that of Hindu colonists, who helped to found principalities in Nepál under Rajput chiefs. One of these was Gurkha, an insignificant State lying west of the Trisul-Gañgå. In 1765 Prithi Nârâyan, the then ruler of this small territory, began to supply his retainers with European firearms, and to drill them after the English fashion. Prithi soon proved a formidable antagonist to the neighbouring princes of Katmandu, Lâlitapatan, and Bhatgaon, in Nepâl Proper. He ultimately overpowered them, and the year 1767 saw him master of the whole country, whose inhabitants received the designation of their conquerors. The latter advanced rapidly westward, till, twenty-three years later, the fall of Almora made them masters of all the districts east of the Ramganga. To use an Orientalism, a rock soon appeared in this river of success, the Emperor of China, in his capacity of defender of the Buddhist faith, sending seventy thousand men into Nepâl to avenge the plundering of the sacred Lama's temples. The Chinese marched up to the very gates of Katmandu, and its defenders were glad to get rid of their Mongol visitors by paying a tribute to Pekin, besides disgorging plunder. Garhwal, however, still belonged to the beaten Nepalese, and in 1803 the Dan also acknowledged their supremacy. The famous earthquake of that year, vulgarly regarded as announcing the British advent in the Upper Doâb, was also considered as heralding the Gurkha conquest, Colonel
[MARCH, 1875.
Burd marching into Saharanpur only a few days before the men of Katmandu occupied Dehra. At first the Gurkhas ruled with a rod of iron, and the once fertile Dân seemed likely soon to become a wilderness, the inhabitants emigrating, and cultivation disappearing rapidly. An improvement, however, was inaugurated in 1810, which may be ascribed to the determined character of the Gurkha governors, who, though personally prone to had the temerity to set the new government at oppression, did not suffer their subordinates to molest the people. A band of marauding Sikhs defiance, and, as of old, sacked a village, lifting the cattle and enslaving the women. Two hundred Nepalese followed in pursuit, and every man, woman, and child owning the Sikh name was massacred in cold blood, except a few of the handsomest females, whose beauty purchased them their life. Slavery flourished throughout the Dün till we rescued its people from the Nepalese thraldom. Defaulters in cases where sentence of fine had been passed invariably expiated their fault in a lifelong bondage, together with their families. Parents sold their children, uncles their nephews, and elder brothers their younger sisters. The number of Garhwalts sold by auction during the brief period of Gurkha supremacy has been estimated at so high a figure as 200,000, the) prices ranging from ten to a hundred and fifty rupees a head, while a camel fetched seventy five, and a common horse three hundred.-Friend of India, Aug. 20, 1874.
THE TEMPLE AT KANARAK. The Rev. T. Bailey, in the beginning of 1873, attended the large festival at Kanarak. It was twelve years since he had seen the famous temple there, and he was struck with the changes time had made. Many of the figures have fallen down, and the growth in the interstices of the stones is much more luxuriant. At the present rate of decay, a very few years will suffice to obliterate much of what has been esteemed the glory of ancient Hindu art, but which in reality surpasses in indecency anything to be seen probably in any other part of the world. About 200 yards from the temple lies the huge stone with the celebrated sculptures of the Nava Graha, or nine Brahmanical planets, upon it: these latter also are disfigured, and will soon be obliterated, by the custom of the people smearing vermilion on whatever they deem to be sacred. The failure of the Government either to remove the stone bodily, or to cut off the slab with the sculptures upon it, is distinctly ascribed by the natives in all the region to the miraculous interposition of the god.-Friend of India, 10th Dec. 1874.