One of these is the. S.utadru or'v'Sa'tlej, whieh,Iike the
Indus,' flows towards the north-west, hut turns southward
after a much shorter course in that direction, and penetrating
the Snowy Chain, runs down into the Panjhb to join the
Indus before that river reaches the ocean. The other is the
Gogra, which flows almost directly southward from its
source, and passing 'through the mountain-chain ^becomes
one of the numerous contributaries of the Ganges. These
two rivers separate and iiisulate between them a cohsiderable
portion of the Himalaya, which is the middle part of the'1
whole chain, while ä larger tract is cut off by them towards
both extremities, on one side between the Sutlej aiid the
Indus, and on the other between the Gogra and the Brahmaputra.
The central part of the mountainous region
between the Sutlej and the Gogra liesbehind the hill-state§
of northern India, Sirm6r, Garwhal, Bisahur, and Kumaon.
These are elevated countries situated in the hill-terrasses
which lie out in front of the Himalaya, between ther Snowy.
Chain and the plains of Hindustan. The western? section of
the mountainous country between the Sutlej and tħ: Indus
contains the celebrated valley of Kashmir and other mountainous
districts, for the most part subject - to Lahore and
politically connected with the Panjab, of which they form
the northern and higher tract, while the eastern portion
between the Gogra and the Brahmaputra contains Nepal
and Bhutan, and various countries connected with those
kingdoms.
The population of these three sections of the Himalaya,
or rather of the hill-countries subjacent to it, is very different
in different parts. The long line of elevated countries
lying to the eastward of the Gogra, or which is nearly the
same thing, of the Kali, a tributary of the Gogra, namely,
Nephl and Bhutan and the subordinate tracts, is chiefly
inhabited by people who are apparently the aboriginal stock
of the whole chain. They are not Hindoos, nor have they
any affinity to the Hindb race, but they resemble in physical
character the Tartars of High Asia, and are nearly related
to the Bhotiyahs, the proper inhabitants of Tibet. They
might be termed the Bhotiyah race, but as that name
more properly belongs to the?natives of Tibet and BMtan
I shllJPugO the term Indo-Tartars as a more general
^ray^ation. p^pi^dly, in the ^aniries between the Kali
and the §,ut!$É|in 'the hiltestatesnqf Kumaon, Bisahur, and
Sir-mór and Garivkal, a Hindu population has encroached
on the native stciek^pf, the mpunjajhs,.. The Hindu colonies
„settled in fh<^g tracts, as, it-is supposed, since the Mohammedan
invasion India,* are subj<É| to Brahmans, whereas
the Bhotiyahs and,other. Ipgp-Tartar tribes, are principally
worshippers pf Buddha and reyere the. Lama of Tibet.
The Hind ut,,Colonists, in , some places intermixed with thfb
aborigines, are called. K| i s» s ig in . other places Paharias
ot$I&people.inhabiting hilj^sj* . A mdr^p^eral and classical
.designation forffh^wbpfe'istock 'is that of ijo q d l i l —
PÊrèaéyd^oT Mountaineers. Thfeglppeiople retain with
their religion the Hindu lahgöagêi h* The Parbatiya-bhashai
is,L 'according^ to Mr. Hodgson,' one- of thedndian prakrits
or popular dialeetSV It is said to be a .slight modification of
the Hindii|'^‘
If-TÖtparbatiya H in d is are not wholly limited ; to the
|cöunlri:ës betweètfthe Sutlèj^and the*Kali y 'but this is their
principal territory. To the westward of the Sutlej there
are MmO - tracts occupied^by rfe&eSêï comparatively recent
Hindu "colonists. But in this section: of the. Himalayan
tract there is another Indian nation of much greater antiquity.
I allude to the pèoplè^ of Kashmir. They will be
described in a particular section.
All the nations 'abdve-mentioned are either Hindoos' Or
Buddhists. The Indo-Tartar tribes who follow!the religion
of Buddha received that creed, together with a certain
tincture of Indian customs and Indian mythology, at an
early period, many centuries before the settlement of the
* Dr. Buchanan Hamilton found a tradition prevalent in.Nepdl, that the
arrival of Hindü colonists in that country took place from Chetaur, and was
occasioned by the conquest of that province by the Mohammedan king of
Delhi, about five centuries ago.—See Hamilton’s Account of Nepal, &c.
t Hamilton’s Description of India. Fraser’s Journey in the Himalayan .
Mountains.
t Hodgson in thé Asiatic Researches, vol. 15.