An English civil servant who worked in British India and Nepal, Brian Houghton Hodgson (c.1801–94) was also a specialist in Tibetan Buddhism. First published in 1874, this is a collection of his essays on nineteenth-century Nepal and Tibet, earlier versions of which had appeared in the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society and two books of Hodgson's own, later updated for the Phoenix, a monthly magazine for China, Japan and eastern Asia. Diverse in coverage, the essays represent over thirty years' research. Those in Part 1 focus on Buddhism, covering religious practices, writing, literature, attitudes to Buddhism and the differences between Buddhism and Shaivism. The pieces in Part 2 explore other aspects of Nepal and the Himalayas, such as tribal culture, colonisation and commerce. Discussing a range of linguistic, cultural, sociological and economic topics, this collection remains relevant to scholars working in these fields.
Contents
Part I: 1. Notices of the languages, literature, and religion of Nepál and Tibet; 2. Sketch of Buddhism; 3. Quotations from original Sanskrit authorities; 4. European speculations on Buddhism; 5. Remarks on M. Remusat's review of Buddhism; 6. Note on the inscription from Sárnáth; 7. Notice of Adi Buddha and the seven mortal Buddhas; 8. Note on the primary language of the Buddhist writings; 9. A disputation respecting caste by a Buddhist; 10. On the extreme resemblance that prevails between many of the symbols of Buddhism and Saivism; 11. The Pravrajyá Vrata or initiatory rites of the Buddhists; Part II: 1. On the physical geography of the Himálaya; 2. On the aborigines of the Himálaya; 3. Origin and classification of the military tribes of Nepál; 4. On the Chepang and Kusunda tribes of Nepál; 5. Cursory notice of Náyakot and of the remarkable tribes inhabiting it; 6. On the tribes of northern Tibet and of Sifan; 7. On the colonization of the Himálaya by Europeans; 8. On the commerce of Nepál; Index.
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