CHAPTER V
THE RELIGIONS OF THE TIBETANS, HINDUS, AND
BHOTIAS COMPARED
One of the things that strikes the observer most about
these eastern Bhotias, though it really holds good
with the other Bhotias also, who have only lately
issued from their seclusion and become Hinduised,
is, that they have been so little affected by their surroundings
to the north and south. Being Mongolians,
we should naturally expect them to have much in
common with the Tibetans, especially in their religion,
but the reverse is the case. Similarly, their freedom
from Hindu influence in the past is due to the fact that,
up till quite recent times, certainly within the last fifty
years, they have had a terrible dread not only of the
plains but even of the lower mountains. They disliked
leaving their homes and mixing with strangers,
and it was only when the middle-man in trade began
to make exorbitant profits that they broke through
their prejudices and went further afield. They can
now be found in all parts of India, such as Calcutta,
Delhi, and Cawnpore, while one man in Garbyang said
he had been twice to Bombay with a friend “ just to
have a look at the place,” and to see the big ships,
and he further informed me that he had had a sail
(using this very word) on a boat in the harbour.
But it is more difficult to understand their freedom
from Tibetan influence, for they have been ruled by