[Y-Indology] NEPALESE news & rituals

[Guest guest]

>> (It may come as a shock to some that the official language

>> especially regarding royalty-- of this only remaining Hindu

>> Kingdom abounds in Urdu words, including even the ceremonial

>> verbs used for/by the King)

 

>-Arun Gupta :

 

>Why should it come as a shock ? It is common knowledge that the

>royal classes of India, with few exceptions, were a support of the

>Islamicate, and later, the British rule.

 

>You are free to interpret the abolition of royalty and their privy

>purses by PM Indira Gandhi as yet another Hindutva scheme.

 

Well, the point was of course not Mrs. Gandhi (can we ever stick to the

topic?!) but Nepalese language:

 

* Nepal was and continues to be a fiercely independent Hindu kingdom. It

never was under the British, nor under the Moghuls. Nor anybody else (if we

forget a 3-week(!) invasion by the Sultan's forces in c. 1347 and a

largely unclear situation with regard to the Tibetan empire for some time

in the 8th c.).

 

* This in spite of having been, and still being situated "like a gourd

between two rocks", as the first King of united Nepal, Prthvi Narayan, said

at the end of the 18th century --- then Tibet and the East India Company,

now China and India.

 

* In fact, even after a defeat in the Anglo-Nepalese war of 1814, the

Nepalese court continued to conspire with Rajasthan kings (we have some

letters) and to bear the standard of Hinduism -- they have invented

"Hindutva" before its day. There is, for example, a contemporary

unpublished Sanskrit text criticizing the British 'merchant robbers' under

the name of GoraNDa.

 

* The laws ("muluk-i ain" !!), first codified in Nepali after 1850 by the

Rana regime, were fiercely Hindu. (Even now you are "awarded" 12 years in

jail for killing a cow).

 

* In spite of all of this, the court / administrative language is highly

influenced by Perso-Arabic (Urdu) words: mausuf sarkaar ko hukum

bamojim... ityaadi

 

Not by conquest but by choice. Certainly not as "support of the Islamicate,

and later, the British rule"; on the contrary, they were a thorn in the

side of both empires.

 

The dominant public and private culture of the general area always exerts

its influence: A lot of Urdu, very little English, some Hindi films --

until the last decade. Now politicians and others have begun to sprinkle

their speeches with --a few-- English words. (NB: English had and still

has no official status in Nepal at all.) Its increase now is a sign of

globalization. And, incidentally, not due to British/Indian influence. No

Indian English in Nepal. Most of the intellgentsia have studied outside of

South Asia after the first democratization in 1950.

 

 

In short, things are a little bit more complicated than the present

cultural wars let them appear to be... A study of Rajasthani courts would

also be useful in this context. But, again, no need for Mrs Gandhi here.

 

 

*** Add also:

 

 

As far as Nepal is concerned, very few south of the Terai (the Madesi)

know anything about - quote - "the hilly people". ((Similarly, about

Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Khand, etc.)) As you can witness on this

and the other list:

 

The only thing I have read (t)here about Nepal in the present tragic and

difficult situation was

 

(1) about the study of some Royals in some Christian-run schools:

 

Perhaps people do not know that even in the new democratic constitution

(1990) freedom of religion is guaranteed but that trying to convert someone

is forbidden. (The Christian wife of a former prime minister was not

allowed then to appear in public functions!)

 

But again, differently from the present cultural wars in India, note that

Nepal was & is confident enough with its Hinduism (and Buddhism, local

tribal religions, Islam!) to tolerate Christian schools and sending their

best people there -- no fear of "loosing out" to Christianity. I myself

have helped children of "staunch" Hindus to get into these schools, just

because they had asked me to do so. And, even after democratization, the

number of Christians has not significantly increased though (illegal)

missionary activity is going on unabated...

 

and (2), I read about the 'mongoloid eyes' of the royal family. No comment:

study the history of Gorkha and the other 22/24 kingdoms!

 

 

Both true contributions to the knowledge of Indology/Indian Civilization!

 

Jaya Nepal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

========================================================

Michael Witzel

Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University

2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

 

ph. 1- 617-496 2990 (also messages)

home page: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm

 

Elect. Journ. of Vedic Studies: http://nautilus.shore.net/~india/ejvs/