MSS EUR HODGSON/103 Buddhism, Hinduism, society and ethnography; Hindu castes and tribes, army, economy; tax, agriculture, salaries, topography (routes), account of Nepal's war with British India and some of the bordering states of India (Persian and Urdu documents mostly translated from Nepali, Newari, Sanskrit and Tibetan) 1825-1845
Description of different sects of Buddhist monks, accounts of sati ceremonies observed in 1826, 1830 and 1845 AD, list of Hindu and Buddhist deities, list of Hindu castes and tribes and various sects of each caste, Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy, abstracts of 19th chapter of the Prajnāpārmitā, tri-ratna, tri-yāna, Pancha Buddha, details of pay for the army and civil officials, routes from Kathmandu to Timure dated 1842, short treatise on the agriculture of the Newars, pencil sketch map of Nepal, accounts of salaries and various payments to officers and army personnel, taxes and duties, salaries and grants to be paid to soldiers, castes and customs of the hill people of Nepal, description of wars fought between Nepal and Nawaab of Murshidabad and other rulers of Bihar (1711-1756 AD), description of British invasion of Nepal and Anglo-Nepal War and Lord Hastings' supposed visit in June 1814 (?), various Hindu castes of Nepal.
1[vol.103 fol(s)1-7] Various types of Buddhist monks and their customs 08/17/1842 Nepali hand-made paper, fair hands, folio 7 blank.
Farsi
Description of various types of Buddhist monks such as: śrāvaka, cailaka, arhata with their customs, see [vol 98/11 fol.152-170][vol 21/05 fol.19-24][vol 21/16 fol.137-???][vol 60/05 fol.32] .
2[vol.103 fol(s)8-10] Description of four sati incidents Nepali hand-made paper, neat and poor hand.
Urdu Farsi
Description of four separate sati incidents occurring in 1826, 1827, 1830 and 1845. One of the incidents involved a female slave rather than a wife, see [vol 26/04 fol.15-24] (female slave sati).
3[vol.103 fol(s)12-13] Names of major Hindu deities and their positions Nepali hand-made paper, fair hand.
Farsi
Hindu and Buddhist deities and their positions in the temples, monasteries, stupas; English title description.
4[vol.103 fol(s)14] Land system of the Malla period with a separate list of dates used in the documents relating to land transactions Nepali hand-made paper, fair hand.
Farsi
Rough note on the land system of the Malla period with a separate list of dates used in the documents relating to land transactions, includes terms related to the land system like talasiṅ (land owner) and mohī (tenant). Dates are given in NE with the earliest NE 108 and the latest NE 871.
5[vol.103 fol(s)15-27] Buddhist account of Nepal and Newar castes Nepali hand-made paper, very neat hand.
Farsi Urdu
Buddhist account of Nepal and castes and sub-castes of the Newars; Quraishi's catalogue includes this manuscript, but the content described is not correct [India_Office_Library_1990:76].
6[vol.103 fol(s)28-37] Buddhist philosophy: excerpts from the text of Prajñāpāramitā, chapters 4 and 19 Machine-made and Nepali hand-made paper, fair and poor hands.
Farsi
Buddhist philosophy: excerpts from the text of the Prajñāpāramitā, chapters 4 and 19, see [vol 18/13 fol.270][vol 28/06 fol.21][vol 96/01 fol.1-8] ; Nepali and English title description. On this Buddhist text, see [vol 28/6 fol.21] .
7[vol.103 fol(s)38-45 verso] Abstract of dharma, saṃgha and tri-ratna, tri-yāna, Pancha Buddha and other Sanskrit-Buddhist terms and names 12/01/1833 Machine-made paper, fair hand.
Sanskrit Farsi
Abstract of dharma, saṃgha, tri-ratna, tri-yāna, Pancha Buddha and other Sanskrit-Buddhist terms and names; English title description and some terms are in Nagari as well, see [vol 21/17 fol.149-184][vol 29/09 fol.29][vol 22-44/12 fol.102-129] .
8[vol.103 fol(s)46-50] Salaries of the army and other officials of Nepal and revenue 1840 Machine-made paper, fair hand, folio 50 is blank.
Urdu
ff. 46-50: Salaries of different army ranks and of civil officials in Nepal. Quraishi's catalogue includes this manuscript but wrongly states that it contains "details of accounts of various platoons of the East India Company in Nepal" [India_Office_Library_1990:76].
f. 51: Translation of a royal proclamation (istihār or lālmohar) dated VE 1897 (1840-1841 AD) related to revenue collected on the occasion of vratabandha (investiture with sacred thread) of the prince of Nepal (presumably Crown Prince Surendra, born in 1829).
9[vol.103 fol(s)52-60] Details of the route from Kathmandu to Timure (Rasuwa District) 10/28/1842 Nepali hand-made paper, fair hand.
Urdu
Route to Timure written in six parts with six different destinations and distances from each place to the next, people and topographical description.
10[vol.103 fol(s)61-70 verso] Agriculture of the Newars of Nepal Nepali hand-made paper, fair hand.
Newari Urdu
A brief description of agriculture in Nepal (Kathmandu Valley) divided into five parts (viz. history of land revenue, land measurement, tools used, irrigation and the produce (rice)) respectively; in some cases, Newari terms are also mentioned in Nagari. For similar material in English, see [vol 15/1 fol.1-38] .
11[vol.103 fol(s)71-74 verso] Pencil sketch map of Nepal Machine-made paper, rough hands.
Nepali Urdu English
Showing major rivers, mountains and names of political and ethnic regions.
12[vol.103 fol(s)75-78] Salaries paid to soldiers and officials 09/??/1832 Nepali hand-made paper, fair and poor hand.
Urdu
Accounts of salaries and various payments made to officials and soldiers, together with some miscellaneous notes [India_Office_Library_1990:76].
13[vol.103 fol(s)79-96] Revenue: taxes and duties collected by the state Nepali hand-made paper, reasonable writing, some with pencil.
Nepali Newari Urdu
Details of various taxes and duties collected by the state from different provinces and villages of Nepal, mostly from around the Kathmandu Valley and nearby areas; also includes the details of various duties paid by state employees and workers of different occupations [India_Office_Library_1990:77].
14[vol.103 fol(s)97-110 (ff. 97 and 107 are blank)] Salaries and special grants to army personnel of Nepal Nepali hand-made paper, fair hand.
Urdu
Details of salaries (khāngī) and grants to be paid to the army personnel of Nepal.
15[vol.103 fol(s)111-125a] Hill tribes and castes of Nepal 03/27/1843 Nepali hand-made paper, fair hand.
Urdu
An account of various hill tribes and castes of Nepal with their customs and manners; Nepali title description.
16[vol.103 fol(s)125b-135] Account of clashes between Nepal and Indian rulers from the late 18th century to 1813 Machine-made poor quality paper, very poor hand.
Urdu
Account of clashes between Nepal and the Nawab of Murshidabad (Nawab of Bengal, whose capital was at Murshidabad) and various other local Indian rulers with details of incidents which occurred at different dates; mention of the name of the Nabab of Murshidabad Qasim Ali Khan (Mir Kasim Ali Khan, often known simply as Mir Kasim, reigned 1760-1764), who in 1763 had intervened unsuccessfully to support the Sen ruler (Digbandhan Sen) of Makawanpur against Prithvi Narayan Shah (reigned Gorkha 1743-1768, Nepal 1769-1775).
folio 125b is not related to the military narratives but is a title description of another account related to Tulajābhavanī (Taleju).
17[vol.103 fol(s)136-150] Account of the British invasion of Nepal and a supposed visit by Lord Hastings in June 1814 Machine-made poor quality paper, very poor hand.
Urdu
An account entitled Dar bayan-i jang (Account of the Anglo-Nepal War) describing the details of the British invasion of Nepal between 1814 and 1815 and a short account of a 'visit to Nepal' by Lord Hastings, Governor-General of India in 1814 (presumably referring to a tour along the frontier before his ultimatum and declaration of war).
18[vol.103 fol(s)151-155] Various family names of Hindu Hill Brahmins and Chetris Nepali hand-made paper, very neat hand.
Urdu
Various family names of Hindu Hill Brahmins and Chetris, see [vol 58/01 fol.1-2][vol 51/14 fol.200-203][vol 56/02 fol.21-24] ; Nepali title description.