that his mission was to bring to light the statue of
Buddha concealed in the temple. The Raja resisted the attempt and the
followers of Bhima Bhoi were worsted in a sanguinary encounter. Since
that time they have retired to the more remote districts of Orissa and
are said to hold that the Buddha will appear again in a new
incarnation. They are also called Kumbhipatias and according to the
last census of India (1911) are hostile to Brahmans and probably
number about 25,000.

Traces of Buddhism also survive in the worship of a deity called
Dharma-Raja or Dharma-Thakur which still prevails in western and
southern Bengal.[289] Priests of this worship are usually not Brahmans
but of low caste, and Haraprasad thinks that the laity who follow it
may number "several millions." Though Dharma has come to be associated
with the goddess of smallpox and is believed even by his adorers to be
a form of Vishnu or of Siva, yet Dhyana, or meditation, forms a part
of his worship and the prayers and literature of the sect retain some
traces of his origin. Thus he is said to be highly honoured in Ceylon
and receives the epithet Sunyamurti.

A corrupt form of Buddhism still exists in Nepal.[290] This country
when first heard of was in the hands of the Nevars who have preserved
some traditions of a migration from the north and are akin to the
Tibetans in race and language, though like many non-Aryan tribes they
have endeavoured to invent for themselves a Hindu pedigree. Buddhism
was introduced under Asoka. As Indian influence was strong and
communication with Tirhut and Bengal easy, it is probable that
Buddhism in Nepal reflected the phases which it underwent in Bengal. A
Nepalese inscription of the seventh century gives a list of shrines of
which seven are Sivaite, six Buddhist and four Vishnuite.[291] After
that date it was more successful in maintaining itself, for it did not
suffer from Mohammedan attacks and was less exposed to the
assimilative influence of Brahmanism. That influence however, though
operating in a foreign country and on people not bred among Brahmanic
traditions, was nevertheless strong. In 1324 the king of Tirhut, being
expelled thence by Mohammedans, seized the throne of Nepal and brought
with him many learned Brahmans. His dynasty was not permanent but
later in the fourteenth century a subsequent ruler, Jayasthiti,
organized society and religion in consultation with the Brahman
immigrants. The followers of the two