A pañjāpatra from King Rājendra requesting Cautariyā Bhīma Vikrama Śāha etc. to return to Kathmandu (VS 1903)
ID: DNA_0016_0086
Edited and
translated by Rajan Khatiwoda
in collaboration with
Simon Cubelic and Christof Zotter
Created: 2015-08-17;
Last modified: 2018-06-22
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Abstract
This pañjāpatra from King Rājendra is an official, albeit reassuring-sounding summons to Cautarīyā Bhīma Vikrama Śāha and Cautarīyā Colonel Vīra Vikrama Śāha, who had fled from the kingdom after the Kot massacre.
Diplomatic edition
[1r]
1श्रीदुर्गाज्यूसहायः[palm-seal of the king]1स्वस्तिश्रीगिरिराजचक्रचूडामणिनरनारायणेत्त्यादिविवि2[?]विरूदावलिविराजमानमानोन्नतश्रीश्रीश्रीश्रीश्रीमहाहा
3राजाधिराजराजराजेन्द्रविक्रमसाहवाहादूरसम्सेरजङ्गदेवानाम्
4सदासमरविजयीनाम्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
5आगे•चौतरिया•भिमविक्रमसाह•चौतरियाकर्णेलवीर
6विक्रमसाहप्रति•तिमिहरूकोमँछु•षातिरग[...]•पंजाप
7ठाइवक्स्याकोछ•पंजादेषतचाँडोआउन्या[...]गर•इति
8सम्वत् १९०३सालमितिवैशाषवदि [...]रोज३शुभम्
Translation
[1r]
May venerable Durgā help [us].
[palm-seal of the king]
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 five times venerable great king, Rājendra Vikrama Śāha, the brave swordsman, the divine king always triumphant in war.
To CautarīyāBhīma Vikrama Śāha [and] Cautarīyā Colonel Vīra Vikrama Śāha
I am [there for] you. We shall honour (khātira) [you]. The pañjā[patra] has been sent by [us]. Come [back here] as soon as you receive (lit. see) it.
Tuesday, the ...1 day of the dark fortnight of Vaiśākha in the [Vikrama] era year 1903 (1846 CE). [May it be] auspicious.
Commentary
A pañjāpatra, also known as a keśarīpañjā is a variety of lālamohara. It is a royal order with the seal of the palm of king. According to Amatya 1988: 2-3, these types of lālamoharas were issued when any executive power, facility etc. was being granted to a person, or else a royal family member was being assigned responsibility to rule over a certain territory of the kingdom or to take on the job of running the government.
Cautarīyā Bhīma Vikrama Śāha and Cautarīyā Colonel Vīra Vikrama Śāha were sons of MukhtiyāraPuṣkara Śāha. Puṣkara Śāha was appointed as mukhtiyāra by Queen Sāmrājyalakṣmī in early April 1840. He was soon (1 November 1840) dismissed from the post, however (cf. Acharya 1971: 16). Bhīma Vikrama Śāha, a cousin of Cautarīyā Phatte Jaṅga Śāha, was governor of Doṭī. When Phatte Jaṅga was killed, along with many of his relatives and followers, the family’s property was confiscated. Some of survivors, including Bhīma Vikrama, fled the kingdom. On 27 August 1847, on his way back to Kathmandu from Bettiah with 200 or 300 men intent on killing Jaṅga Bahādura, Bhīma Vikrama was defeated by the latter’s troops in Alau, an event called the Alau massacre in Nepalese history. He had no recourse but to flee to Varāṇasī (cf. Stiller 1981: 300, 301, 355, 357).