Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal

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A lālamohara from King Surendra to Prime Minister Jaṅga Bahādura re the latter's partition of property amongst his family members (VS 1921)

ID: DNA_0013_0051

Edited and translated by Rajan Khatiwoda in collaboration with Ramhari Timalsina
Created: 2016-10-06; Last modified: 2018-11-23
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Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2018. Published by the courtesy of the National Archives, Kathmandu. The copyright of the facsimile remains with the Nepal Rashtriya Abhilekhalaya (National Archives, Government of Nepal). All use of the digital facsimiles requires prior written permission by the copyright holder. See Terms of Use.
The accompanying edition, translation/synopsis and/or commentary are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Abstract

In this lālamohara, King Surendra endorses Prime Minister Jaṅga Bahādura’s plan to partition his property amongst family members. The document further stipulates that once Jaṅga Bahādura issues the deed of partition in accordance with the present order given by the king to do so, no one including the king himself and his descendants is entitled to hear any complaint having to do with the issue made by any beneficiary.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्रीदुर्गाज्यू\

1श्रीगुरु
22

1श्रीमदतिप्रचण्डभुजद
2[...]त्यादिश्रीश्रीश्रीमहा
3राजजङ्गवहादूरराणा
4[...]वी.प्राइम्‌मिनिष्ट
5[...]डकम्यान्डरइन
6[...]फ्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१

[royal seal]

1स्वस्तिश्रीगिरिराजचक्रचूडामणिनरनारायणेत्यादिविविधविरूदावलीविराजमानमानोन्नतश्रीमन्म
2हाराजाधिराजश्रीश्रीश्रीमहाराजसुरेन्द्रविक्रमसाहवहादुरसम्सेरजङ्गदेवानांसदासमरविजनियाम्
3आगे ¯१¯ ¯केमेराघरकाश्रीसम्पतिनगदविर्तामधेस्‌पाहाडनेपालकाघरषेतपाषा
4मालमाहालात्‌जगाजमिनजिनीसीचौपायापशुपंछिजोछतेस्मामेरातजविजलेमेराविवा
5हिताल्याइतामाछोरापाउन्यारछोरापालन्याछोरानपाउन्याश्रीमहारानिभीत्र्यानिहरूरछोरा
6हरूलाइअंसदिदा•विवाहनभयाकाछोराहरूलाइविवाहषर्च•वुहारिहरूलाइगहनापोशाक्‌
7वावत्‌दिदा•औछोरिहरुलाइविवाहषर्चदाइजोदिदा¯२ ¯ ¯¯३¯भाइ•भारादारसाछिरा[...]
8भागलायाको•वेहोरातिमिलेहाम्राहजुरमानजरगराइविंतिगर्दाजाहेरभयो•मुनासिववमोजि
9म्कोवंडातिमिलेगर्याकोरहेछसोहितिमिलेगरिदियाकावंडावमोजिम्‌हामिवाटमंजुरगरि
10वक्स्याकोछ•सोवमोजिम्‌तिम्रोरुक्काकोवंडापत्रगरिदिनु•हामिवाटहुकुम्‌वक्स्यावमोजिम्‌ति[...]
11लेवंडापत्रकोरुक्कागरिदियाकोमा•ऐनवमोजिम्•मलाइथोरैभयोफलानालेवढतापायोभनि
12कसैलेउजुरगर्नआयाभन्याहामिवाटरहाम्रासंतान्‌वाटसुनिन्याछैन•अरुकसैलेपनिनसुन्नु
13यसैवंडापत्रवमोजिम्‌वाडिदिन्याकामगरभनिहुकुम्‌‌कोलालमोहरगरिवक्स्यौँइतिसंवत्१९२०
14सालमितिआश्विनवदि९रोज७शुभम्¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯

Translation

[1r]

Glorious Durgā!

The venerable guru – 21

Thrice Venerable Mahārāja Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā G.C.B., Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief, [he who holds] a formidable club in the form of his arms etc. – 12

Hail! [A decree] of him who is shining with manifold rows of eulogy [such as] ‘The venerable crest-jewel of the multitude of mountain kings’ and Naranārāyaṇa (an epithet of Kṛṣṇa) etc., high in honour, the venerable supreme king of great kings, the thrice venerable great king, Surendra Vikrama Śāha, the brave swordsman, the divine king always triumphant in war.

Āge: [addressed] to -1- (i.e., Mahārāja Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā)

The [following] details [regarding the partition of property amongst your family members] came to be known to us after you had [the matter] brought to our attention and requested [my assent to it] [as follows]: "The entire property of my household, I have divided up with due consideration on my part (merā tajabījale)—what there is in cash, land grants (birtā); homesteads and unirrigated upland fields (pākho) in the Madhesa (i.e., Terai), Pāhāḍa (i.e., hill regions) and Nepāla (i.e., the Kathmandu Valley); valuables, [other] land, commodities, four-footed animals and birds—assigning shares among the ritually married (vivāhitā) and brought into household [without ritual marriage] (lyāitā) wives, those venerable Mahārānīs and concubines who have given birth to sons and brought them up, and to the venerable Mahārānīs and concubines (bhitrenī) who have not given birth to sons, and to my sons; and a share for marriage expenses to my unmarried sons, a share for jewels and clothing to daughters-in-laws and a share for marriage expenses and dowries to daughters, (calling upon) -2- (i.e., the venerable guru), -3-3 and relatives and high royal officials (bhāībhāradāra) [as] witnesses.

It is apparent that you have done the partition appropriately. We have endorsed the partition you have done. Accordingly, make a deed of partition [in the form] of a rukkā [issued by] you. Once you issue the deed-of-partition rukkā in accordance with the order we have given [to you], we and our descendants shall not entertain (lit. "hear") [any complaint], even if some [beneficiary] comes to complain to us, saying, "I received a small[er] [share than what I deserve] according to the law (ain), while such and such a person received a bigger [share]." Nor shall anybody else entertain [such a complaint]. We [hereby] issue [this] lālamohara [in the form] of an order, as follows: "Carry out the division of your property in accordance with the deed of partition."

Saturday, the 9th of the dark fortnight of [the month of] Āśvina in the [Vikrama] year era 1920 (1864 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This document is of some importance for understanding legal practice in 19th-century Nepal. The Mulukī Ain of 1854 (MA) invested the courts with absolute autonomy. To safeguard such autonomy, the MA explicitly empowers judges to hand down decisions uninfluenced by any outside authority. For example, it states: "Judges of the courts, [such as] ḍiṭṭhās, bicārīs [and] heads of ṭhānā [offices], shall handle lawsuits in accordance with the law. Even if an [oral] order or an order to handle a lawsuit [in a way that] deviates from the law is given by the king or prime minister through a lālamohora or daskhat, [judges] shall not obey it. Lawsuits shall be handled in accordance with the law. They, [the judges,] shall not be fined for or convicted of having committed a crime based on the accusation of having disobeyed such a lālamohara, rukkā, oral order or pramāṅgī" (MA-KM: 45 §2, p. 218).

This lālamohara demonstrates, however, that limits were placed on the right of an individual to register complaints, even if made in accordance with the law. Such a contradictory regulation was incorporated into the MA of 1870, which cut back on much of the authority and immunity of the judiciary and placed high-ranking government officials above the law. The following section demonstrates this: "If the king, a minister, general, cautariyā, [royal priest] or colonel, kājī, sardāra, high royal officials (bhāradāra) or the like gives an order to the chief, ḍiṭṭhā, bicārī, amālī, dvāre or the like of an aḍḍā, gauḍā, adālata or ṭhānā to reverse a court decision (lit. to let the winner lose and let the loser win) in a way that is not in accord with the law, the latter shall request [the former’s indulgence], saying: "We have taken an oath [to abide by] the dharma. Therefore, we cannot do such injustice as will lead us to hell." If the order [continues] to be given even after such a request is made [to reconsider], [and] in spite of the fact that it is not in conformity with the law, the [chief etc.] shall request [as follows]: "Issue a lālamohara or sanada [to the same effect and] I shall act accordingly." If a lālamohara or sanada is issued, he shall do as written in the sanada [or lālamohara]" (MA 1870: p. 77 §2).

Notes

1. The honorific reference "śrīguru" is written in the left-hand margin of the manuscript, but the guru is not identified by name. [⇑]

2. The inscriptio is written in the left-hand margin of the manuscript. [⇑]

3. The name of the referent of this honorific reference is not found in the manuscript. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
adālata	[fr. A.] n. a court of justice. According to K.K. Adhikari (1984: 301), adālatas were superordinate to ṭhānās and amālas. There were two categories of adālatas: 1) gaũḍā-adālatas which were situated in the frontier areas, Dhankuta in the east and Palpa and Doti in the west. 2) jillā-adālata which were located in the various administrative regions. In the Mulukī Ain, adālatas, ṭhānās and amālas were the central institutions for judicial administration (see, for example, MA-KM 1854 1.5, 19 and 21).
aḍḍā	var. aḍā; n. an office, post or station where state functionaries carry out their duties.
āge	[fr. S. agre] adv. lit. "henceforeward" (Riccardi 1976: 150 n. 6), especially used in administrative and legal documents to mark the beginning of a text or paragraph. In its function it is similar to uprānta.
ain	var. āin, aina; n. 1) laws, statutes, rules, regulations enacted by authority 2) law-code of Nepal, first promulgated in 1854 during the rule of Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā and amended several times before it was completely revised in VS 2022. The revised law-code was renamed as Mulukī Ain.
amāli / amālī	[fr. A.] var. amāli, ambāli, amvalī, aṃvalī; also amālidāra; n. a revenue official or functionary of a regional administrative unit (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93, M.R. Pant 2002: 131). According to Krauskopff and Meyer he had only "minor judicial powers" (Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 183). Kumar further notes that he was a "subordinate civil functionary in the tehsil" (Kumar 1967: 164). His office was called amala (cf. Adhikari 1984: 344, M.C. Regmi 1978: 853).
bhāradāra / bhārādāra	n. lit. "burden bearer"; a generic term for high-level functionaries (M.R. Pant 2002: 131); courtiers (cf. Adhikari 1984: 346; cf.: Kumar 1967: 164 ; Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 183 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 854 ; M.C. Regmi 1999: 136; M.C. Regmi 2002: 297; M.C. Regmi 1978: 225; Whelpton 2005: 25). According to Michael 2012: 130 the term denotes "top ranking posts such as chautariya, kaji, sardar, khardar, karpardar and khanjanchi". See also bhāibhārādāra.
bhitrinī / bhitrenī	var. bhitryāni; 1) brought in or kept woman, not married with a full marriage ritual; see also lyāītā. 2) secretly kept woman.
bicārī / vicārī	[fr. S. vicārin]. n. magistrate.
birtā	[fr. S. vṛtti] var. birttā, bīrttā, vṛtā, vṛttā; n. a royal land grant. For discussion, see M.C. Regmi 1976: 22-37.
cautariyā	var. cautarīyā; n. 1) in the early Shah period, a royal collateral appointed as principal officer of the state, often kings' second and third sons; 2) later a title with no specific functions attached, granted to several male descendents of the Śāha kings at a time. Cautarīyās held different higher administrative posts, like governors (cf. Adhikari 1984: 98–99; Kumar 1967: 164-165; J.C. Regmi 1981: 32–35; M.C. Regmi 1995: 42-43); descendents of different Śāha kings of earlier periods could be nominated thus.
daskata / daskhata	[fr. P. dastkhata]; n. 1) signature, especially that of the prime minister (Adhikari 1984: 347); 2) a missive signed by the prime minister (see also lālamohara daskhata and rukkā daskhata or another high official.
ḍiṭṭhā	var. ḍīṭṭhā, ḍiṭhā; a civil servant ranking above a mukhiyā and lower than a subbā (cf. Stiller 1981: 379). According to Edwards 1975: 107, ḍiṭṭhās originally had been the judges who presided over the courts in Kathmandu but later could serve in a number of other offices (such as the kausī, the hāttīsāra or the sadara daphtarakhānā; see also Kumar 1967: 165; M.C. Regmi 1978: 226). The Mulukī Ain distinguishes three categories of the ḍiṭṭhās; the jaṅgī kote ḍiṭṭhā (probably, combatant personnel), the lājimā ḍiṭṭhā and the ḍiṭṭhā in charge of Elephant or horse stable or cowshed (MA-54.31.11).
dvāre	var. dvāryā, duvāryā; n. 1) a local revenue collection official (e.g. M.R. Pant 2002: 132; M.C. Regmi 1970: 149) who can arrest offenders and try petty cases (Stiller 1981: 379). 2) a gatekeeper at the royal palace who collects certain levies (Edwards 1975: 106; M.C. Regmi 1978: 226); 3) a village headman in the Kathmandu Valley (M.C. Regmi 1970: 149).
gaũḍā / gauḍā	var. gaurā; n. 1) a fortification, fortress (see Parājulī et al. 2052: s.v. gaũḍā and gauḍā); 2) certain districts were known as gauḍā, according to Adhikari (describing the situation after 1850): Doti, Salyan, and Palpa in the West and Dhankuta in the east (Adhikari 1979: 16); 3) a district office for maintaining law and order (cf. Karmacharya 2001: 91) established in the districts known as gauḍā. According to Adhikari this judicial offices were placed under responsible military officials—at first under kājīs or sardāras, and later on, under generals (janarala) and colonels (karṇela). In the Ain the chief officer of a gauḍā is referred to as hākima or mālika. Gauḍās decided original cases and served as appellate courts. They had jurisdiction regarding pañcakhata cases but could order a death sentence only after receiving a lālamohara from the kausala (Adhikari 1979: 16). The other levels of courts in the disctricts besides gauḍās or gaũḍā adālatas (cf. Adhikari 1984: 310) were: adālata (sometimes also called aḍḍās) and amāla (Adhikari 1979: 14). According to Kumar there were three "first courts of appeal" known as gauḍās covering twelve lower courts after the reorganisiation of the country's judiciary by Vīra Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1887: I. Palpa gauḍā (covering 1. Salyan, 2. Piuthan, 3. Pokhara, 4. Doti, 6. Bhagwanpur, 6. Taulihawa), II. Doti gauḍā (covering 7. Jumla, 8. Dailekh, 9. Banke, 10. Kanchanpur), III. Dhankuta gauḍā (covering 11. Morang, 12. Saptari) (Kumar 1967: 129f.).
GCB	title of a member of the first class (Knight Grand Cross) of "The Most Honourable Order of the Bath", founded by King George I in 1725 and restructured in 1815; other classes are: KCB and CB. The title was bestowed on Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā.
kājī	var. kāji; n. “an officer of ministerial rank superintending civil and military affairs“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 133; cp. Edwards 1975: 105).
lālamohara	var. lālmohara, lālamohar, lālmohora; abbreviated mohara; n. royal document bearing the red seal.
pākho	n. unirrigated high or hillside land on which only dry crops can be grown (M.R. Pant 2002: 135). See also khuvā.
pramāṅgī	[fr. P. farmān?] var. pramānagī, pramāṃnagī; n. permission, order; specifically an order or authorization letter from the king or a high-ranking government official such as the prime minister that have to be in written form and approved, often issued when existing legal norms are to be overruled.
rukkā	[fr. A. ruq'a] n. an executive order, short note, missive from the highest authority. The king, the crown prince, but also queens and the Rāṇā prime ministers issued rukkās.
sanada	var. sanad; n. a regulation, order, decree or certificate of appointment, esp. from the prime minister (prāimaminisṭara yaṇḍa kamyāṇḍara ina cipha) or the commander-in-chief general (kamyāṇḍara ina cipha janarala); "government orders" (Karmacharya 2001: 327).
sardāra	n. “a top-ranking official next in hierarchy to a kājī“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 135; cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 94; M.C. Regmi 1978: 163 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 229 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 865; M.C. Regmi 1999: 137); "A military officer in the early Shah period; later, the designation of a civil officer also." (Kumar 1967: 167 ); "Kumar states they were of the nobility and "occupied civil and military offices of importance". Our sources place four of them in charge of the districts of Ilam, Salyan, Jumla, and Pokhara, and one at the fort at Chisapani. One was in China (perhaps as a member of the mission sent to the Emperor); one was a dittha of the courts; two were dadas (see below); and two or three were designated as "hajuria". Hajurias were "always present" with the King and served as personal attendants and body guards." (Edwards 1975: 105 ).
ṭhānā / thānā	[fr. S. sthāna] n. a police or military office with semi-judicial functions responsible for upholding public order (cf. Adhikari 1984: 243). In the Mulukī Ain, adālatas, ṭhānās and amālas were the central institutions for judicial administration (see, for example, MA-KM 1854 1.5, 19 and 21).

Bibliography

MA 1870 [The Mulukī Ain of 1870]. VS 1927. Śrīmadrājakumārakumārātmaja Śrīkamyāṇḍara iṃ Cipha Jenarala Raṇoddipa Siṃhā Rāṇā Bahādurakā Marji Motāvika Chāpyāko Kitab. Kathmandu: Nepāla Manorañjanākhya Yantrālaya.
MA-KM [The Mulukī Ain of 1854; Kānūna Mantrālaya's edition] = Kānūna tathā Nyāya Maṃtrālaya (ed.). VS 2022. Śrī 5 surendra vikrama śāhadevakā śāsanakālamā baneko mulukī ain. Kathmandu: Kānūna Kitaba Vyavasthā Samiti.