Documenta Nepalica

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

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A recommendation from the Guṭhī Bandobasta regarding the drawing of funds from the Guṭhī Tahasīla (VS 1951)

ID: K_0520_0033

Edited and translated by Nirajan Kafle and Rajan Khatiwoda
Created: 2025-07-03; Last modified: 2025-12-12
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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, 2022. 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

This recommendation from the Guṭhī Bandobasta advises the Guṭhī Tahasīl to release moharu 12,400 for constructing a reservoir at Bā̃saghārī and stream-source headworks at Nagarkot to supply water to Bhaktapur. It outlines procedures for advance payments, material procurement, and supervision, reflecting the integration of traditional water management practices within a formal bureaucratic framework of the late nineteenth century.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1हामीवाटमर्जी
2वक्स्याको¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
3¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
4⟪सदर५१साल
5चैत्रसुदी२रो
6ज५शुभम्‌⟫

1चित्तलेठहरायाको¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯हामीवाटहुकुम्‌मर्जी
2वक्स्या¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯को¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
3भादगाउमानगर्कोट्‌कोपानील्याउनलाईईंजीनियेरजोगे
4न्द्रचन्द्रअैच¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

5चीत्तलेठहरायाको¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
6¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
7भादगाऊमानगर्कोट्‌कोपानील्याउनालाईइंजीनीयेरजोगें
8न्द्रचन्द्रअैचलेभन्यावमोजीम्‌•नगर्कोट्‌मामोहानहेड
9वरवनाउनेरवासघारीमारीजवरवनाउनेकामलाई
10मोरु३०हजारसम्मरीजवरकेमोहरु४हजारहेदवरकेमो
11हरु२हजारपटकगरीजिम्मावारीदीनुरीजवरतर्फकोमो
12रु३•सयेहेडवरतर्फकोमोरु२सयेस्याहावाकीभयाप
13छीतर्फकोमोरुजीम्माव़ारीदीनुभन्नेनिजगुठीतहसील्‌
14अडाकानाउमासनदगरीवक्स्यावमोजीम्‌मात्रजीम्मा
15व़ारी[...]दीनेहुजीम्‌नालेरवासवारीमारीजवरकाका
16मलाईचाहीनेहालयो२मैन्हाय़ामभीत्रछापाव़ालई
17ट्‌[...]सहलीयांईट्‌पारीपोलीतयारगर्नुपर्न्याहुदार
18वर्षामाईट्‌कोकामनचल्नेहुनालेहालजोचाहीने
19ईट्‌पारी•पोलीतयार•गर्नेकामालाईजाचअडाका
20डीठापृथ्वीवहादुरमार्फत्‌अवालेहरुकेपेस्कीदेना
21केमोरु८४००रज्याजास्तीवर्जकोमात्रकामहु
22नालेचुनलेकामकोमदत्‌पुग्दैन
23अघीवक्स्याकोमोहरु६हजार•कोचुनषरिदकेपेस्की
24दीचुनवंदोवस्तगरी•वरावरज्मागर्दैछुकुयामवर्षामाचु
25नषरीदगर्ननपाउनेहुनालेहालयो२मैन्हाभीत्रचाही
26न्याचुनषरीदगर्नालाईपेस्कीदीचुनवंदोवस्तगर्नपाया
27वर्षमास्मेतकामवरावरचल्दोहोहालयाममाचुण
28कोवन्दोवस्तगरीपेस्कीदेनाकेथपमोहरु४०००स्मेतज्मा
29मोहरु१२४००सुवेदारसंषरसाहीजीम्माअैनसवालकोरीत
30पुर्‍याईजिम्माव़ारीदीनेकामगरभंन्यानीजगुठी•तहसील्‌त् अ
31ड्डाकानाउमापुर्जीगरीवक्सनुपर्नेठहराञ्यूं¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
32¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
33ईतीसंम्वत्‌१९५१सालमीतीचैत्रसुदी२रोज५सुभम्‌¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

Our (i.e. Prime Minister Vīra Śamśera’s) Order!

Approved on Thursday, the 2nd of the bright fortnight of Caitra in the [Vikrama Era] year [19]51 (i.e. 1895 CE).

Having been decided upon deliberation.

As suggested by Engineer Jogeṃdra Candra Aica, to bring water to Bhaktapur from Nagarkot, for the work of constructing a stream-source headworks (heḍavara) at Nagarkot, and to construct a reservoir at the place Bā̃saghārī (text: Vāsaghārī; refers to an area near Kharipati, where the Nepalese Military Academy is located today), a budget of up to moharu 30,000 shall be allocated.

Moharu 4,000 for the reservoir and moharu 2,000 for the stream-source headworks shall be provided as advance payment, and the responsibility for construction shall be handed over. If moharu 300 for the reservoir and moharu 200 for the headworks remain uncleared in the syāhā ledger, responsibility shall be transferred only after the balance has been settled.

Since the responsibility is to be given only in accordance with the sanad issued in the name of the Guṭhī Tahasīl Aḍḍā, and for the construction of the reservoir it is necessary to prepare and bake chhāpāvāla-bricks and sahalīyāṃ-bricks within the next two months, an advance of moharu 8,400 is to be provided—through ḌiṭhṭhāPṛthvī Bahādura—to the Avāles (brick-makers; Avāle being their family name) for the task of preparing the required bricks, since brickwork cannot be carried out during the rainy season.

However, as the work primarily involves lime mortar, the supply of lime alone is insufficient for completing the task. From the previously sanctioned amount of moharu 6,000, an advance was granted for the purchase of lime, and arrangements are being made accordingly. Since lime cannot be procured during the rainy season, it is necessary to purchase the required quantity of lime within the next two months so that the work may continue smoothly during that period.

At the present time, after arranging for the supply of lime and providing an additional advance of moharu 4,000—making a total of moharu 12,400—it has been decided that, in accordance with the prescribed procedures of the Ain and savālas, the responsibility for this work be assigned to SubedārŚaṅkara Sāhī (text: Saṃṣara Sāhī), and that an order (purjī) be issued in the name of the Guṭhī Tahasīl Office.

Thursday, the 2nd of the bright fortnight of Caitra, in the [Vikrama Era] year 1951 (1895 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

The document’s bureaucratic precision reflects the enduring legacy of a long water management tradition in the Kathmandu Valley. Archaeological and epigraphic evidence traces organized hydraulic systems to the Licchavi period (ca. 300–900 CE), when rulers established reservoirs (pukhu/pokharī) and channels (kulo) supplied by perennial springs (Spodek 2002: 66). Inscriptions from sites such as Hadigaon and Changu Narayan record endowments for the maintenance of hiti (stone spouts), administered through local trusts and supervised by royal officials (UN-Habitat 2008: 9–10). These early systems linked hydraulic engineering with religious notions of purity and puṇya (merit), framing waterworks as acts of devotion and civic virtue.

By the Malla period (thirteenth–eighteenth centuries), this synthesis of ritual and civic function became highly institutionalized. The three royal cities—Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur—developed extensive networks of canals (rāja-kulo), ponds, and stone spouts that supplied water to neighborhoods, temples, and resthouses. In Bhaktapur, guṭhī trusts managed these systems through funds for cleaning, repair, and ritual offerings (Gautam 2014: 19–28). Royal inscriptions prescribed penalties for neglect and aligned maintenance with ritual calendars such as Sithi Nakha (Tripathi 2016: 92–96).

The nineteenth-century sanada thus marks a transitional phase between Malla-era communal management and the bureaucratic rationalization of the Rana state. The Guṭhī Tahasīl Aḍḍā formalized older communal mechanisms within a centralized fiscal framework. In Bhaktapur, the Nagarkot–Bhaktapur project recorded in this document continued the hydraulic logic of earlier centuries—capturing upland springwater to replenish urban reservoirs and hitis through gravity channels (Gautam 2014: 21–26). The sanad’s focus on pre-monsoon construction and financial accountability reflects both empirical hydrological knowledge and emerging administrative discipline. Viewed in this longue durée, the order exemplifies a moment when ancient technologies of water management, refined through Licchavi and Malla ingenuity, were maintained through modern bureaucratic means.

Notes

Glossary

Word	Notes
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.
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).
guṭha / guṭhi / guṭhī	[fr. S. goṣṭhī] var. guṭh, guthi; n. 1) a socio-religious organization that manages and finances religious and charitable functions, a trust. 2) “endowed lands or other sources of revenue for financing religious and charitable functions“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 132; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
Guṭhī Tahasila Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for collecting revenue in cash and kind from guṭhī lands, established before 1891 (K_0402_0058).
mohararupaiyā̃	var. mohararupaiyām, mohararūpaiyā, moharaṭaṃkā (New.); often abbreviated as moru, morū, moharu, moharū, moharru, mohorru; n. monetary unit based on and equivalent to two eight-anna silver coins (moharas); in calculations usually broken down into four sukās, 16 ānās or 64 paisās (cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 93) or 256 dāmas; the exchange ratio with paisās was calculated differently at different times and in different parts of the kingdom, depending on the relative values of silver and copper, ranging between 52 and 80 paisās (Regmi 1982: 73). In documents sums are represented in four numerical fractions, with the rupaiyā represented by numbers; the sukās by one to three daṇḍas or the avagraha sign representing zero; the ānās by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags; the paisās again by daṇḍas or numbers; the dāmas by numbers or horizontal dashes.
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).
savāla	n. 1) an enquiry. 2) a set of directives issued especially for the administrative purposes. Contrary to a sanada which is applicable to general public, a savāla refers to rules within a particular organization or an administrative unit (see Siṃha 1981 sv svāla. 3) rules and regulations enacted based on an existing law; administrative regulations (Adhikari 1984: 356; Karmacharya 2001: 328).
siṭhinakhaḥ	[New.] n. festival observed on the sixth of the bright fortnight of Āṣāḍha.
subedāra	n. commander of a military company (cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 137) consisting of 100 soldiers (N.R. Pant et al. 1969: 383), often placed in charge of a district (M.R. Pant 2002: 136; M.C. Regmi 1978: 229). According to Stiller (1981: 382), he is [below the subbā] the second highest commissioned officer, and, according to Whelpton (1991: 286), he is immediately senior to the jamadāra.
syāhā	n. account book. Cash book (Adhikari 1984: 357); to what stage of account keeping it exactly refers remains uncleac.

Bibliography

Gautam, Dipendra. AD 2014. Water Management through Indigenous Knowledge: A Case of Historic Settlement of Bhaktapur City, Nepal. Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing.
Spodek, Jonathan C. 2002. AD 2002. "Ancient Newari Water-Supply Systems in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley." APT Bulletin 33 (2/3): 65-69.
Tripathi, Mira. AD 2016. A Comparative Evaluation of Stone Spout Management Systems in Heritage and Non-Heritage Areas of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. New Zeland: Ph.D. diss., Lincoln University.
UN-HABITAT. AD 2008. Water Movement in Patan: With Reference to Traditional Stone Spouts in Nepal. Khamandu: UN-HABITAT Water for Asian Cities Programme Nepal.