Documenta Nepalica

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

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A purjī from C-in-C Bhīma Śamśera to the chief and clerks of Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā re providing travel expenses to sādhus (VS 1962)

ID: K_0667_0070

Edited and translated by Ramhari Timalsina in collaboration with Rabi Acharya
Created: 2021-08-06; Last modified: 2023-12-10
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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

This is a purjī from Commander-in-Chief Bhīma Śamśera to the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā ordering that travel expenses be provided to sādhus, santas, phakīras, phageḍās, ramatās and other persons who travelled in the previous year to the pilgrimage festival at Prayāga.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

श्री

श्री३सर्कार
१

श्रीजंगनंदप्रकासेश्वर
२

118

८७

1स्वस्तिश्रीमहाराजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्री∙कम्यांडरइनचीफजनरलभीमस्मसेरजंगबहादुरकस्ये¯ ¯१¯
2तर्फगुठीषर्चअडाकाहाकींकारींदाकेपुर्जिउप्रान्त∙पोहरसालकाप्रयागकोमेलामा∙जानेसाधुसंत
3फकीरफकेडा∙रमतातीर्थवासीहरूलाईबाटोषर्चबाड्नालाई¯ ¯१¯तर्फगुठीबंदोवस्तअडाकाषरी
4दारमनप्रसादअर्ज्यालले∙कपतांगंधरवराजक़वरसाछीराषीबाड्नेभ़याकोहुनाले∙कंपनिरु
5४००¯ ¯१¯तर्फगुठीगोस्वारा∙जगेराढुकुटी∙बाटजींवावारीलीतेसअडालाई∙भयाकाऐनस़वाल
6कोरीतपुर्‍याई¯ ¯२¯गुठीकास्याहामा∙षर्चलेषी∙नीजषरीदार∙भवप्रसादअर्ज्यालहस्तेकंप
7नीरु∙४00चारसयेदीनेकांगर∙बहीबुझ्दा∙नीजषरीदारको∙स्हीछापपर्‍याकास्याहाभर
8पाईबमोजिं∙मोजराहोला∙ईतीसम्वत्‌१९६२सालपौषगतेरोज३शुभं‌ ------

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Śrī 3 Sarkāra 1

Śrī Jaṃganaṃdaprakāseśvara 2

118

871

Hail. A purjī of the venerable Commander-in-Chief General Bhīma Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura, a great prince born of a prince, to the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā under -1- (Śrī 3 Sarkāra)

Uprānta. Manaprasāda Arjyāla, the kharadāra of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā, which [office] comes under -1- (Śrī 3 Sarkāra), will, with Captain Gandharvarāja Kavara as witness, be distributing travel expenses to the sādhus, santas, phakīras, phakeḍās, ramatās and the persons who travelled last year to the Prayāga festival and stayed there on pilgrimage.2 Therefore, withdraw kaṃpanī rupaiyās 400 from the reserve treasury of the Guṭhī Gosvārā under -1- (Śrī 3 Sarkāra) and, in accordance with the usual practice under regulations made for this office in the Ain and savālas, write the expenses in the account book of the -2- (Śrī Jaṃganaṃdaprakāśeśvara) guṭhī and provide [him] kaṃpanī rupaiyās 400 through Khardāra Bhavaprasāda Arjyāla. Compensation will be provided [to you], when the accounting is done, on the basis of the receipt of the account book bearing the said kharadāra’s signature.

Tuesday, the ... 3 day (gate) of Pauṣa in the [Vikrama] era year 1962 (1905/1906). Auspiciousness.

Notes

1. These numerals by a second hand were probably added when documents were either sorted or, more likely, when they were microfilmed. [⇑]

2. Prayāga, a holy place at the confluence of the Gaṅgā and Yamunā rivers, is located in Uttara Pradesh in India. A full Kumbha Melā is held there every 12 years, a half Kumbha Melā in the following sixth year, and a normal Māgha Melā every other year. [⇑]

3. The space for the day of the month has been left blank in the original. [⇑]

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.
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 Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā; n. "Guthi Administration Office", office responsible for the management of guṭhīs; established under Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1852-1853 as replacement of the former Guṭhī Kacaharī. Its foundation marks the change from the guṭhīyāri system of the guṭhī management to the contractor based system; remained the central office to coordinate all offices subsequently established for handling different aspects of guṭhī management, including the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā and others. Separate Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 713-715).
guṭhī gosvārā	var. guṭhī gosvarā; n. office for keeping the paperwork for guṭhīaminīs.
Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for managing the expenses of the guṭhīs working under the head of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā; two separate Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs.
kampanī rupaiyā	[kampanī + rupaiyā] var. kaṃpanī rupaiyā; abbr. as kampanī ru, kamru, kaṃru etc.; n. a currency introduced by the East India Company in India.
kharadāra / kharidāra	[fr. P.] var. kharīdāra, ṣaridāra; n. secretary, official scribe, office superintendent (cf. Kumar 1967: 166).
phakaḍā	[fr. H. phakkaḍa] var. phakeḍā; n. ascetic, jogī (denoting his carefree, uninhibited lifestyle).
phakira	[fr. A. faqīr] var. phakīra; phakīḍa; phakiraphageḍā; phakiraphakaḍa; n. lit. "beggar"; an ascetic, specifically a Muslim one. In the Mulukī Ain, however, the term is used (as bheṣadhārī) to refer to ascetics in general, also including Śaiva jogīs and sannyāsīs (Bouillier 1976 and 1985: 201; see also Clark 2006: 19n.).
purjī	[fr. P. purja] var. purji, pūrjī; n. 1) slip of paper, note. 2) formal letter written by a government institution or an official to another institution or to a person.
ramatā	n. an individual itinerant ascetic.
sādhu	[S.] n. lit. "the good one", a holy man, an ascetic.
santa	n. "a holy man; a saint; a hermit" (Karmacharya 2001: 93)
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).
śrī	[S.] n. word of blessing, can be used as apprecatio, in which case it means 'good fortune' (Pant and Pierce 1989: 12), can be used as a prefix to names of persons and gods, in which case it means 'venerable' or 'glorious' respectively. The number of śrīs used varies, depending on context.
śrī 3 sarkāra	lit. "three-times venerable ruler"; title used by the Rāṇā prime ministers (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266).
uprānta	var. uprāṃta, ūprāṃnta, ūprā̃nta, prāṃta; also yathocita uprānta; conj. after that, besides, in addition to, hereafter. In earlier prose and official documents, this word marked the beginning of a text or paragraph. It has no equivalent in English (Clark 1989: 231). In some (mostly Rāṇā period?) documents, it takes the form of yathocita uprānta.