A rukkā from King Rājendra ordering Kapardāra Garuḍadhvaja Pā̃ḍe to make use of land reclassified as serā (VS 1892)
ID: DNA_0014_0086
Edited and
translated by Surabhi Pudasaini
in collaboration with
Rabi Acharya
Created: 2022-07-21;
Last modified: 2023-03-07
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Abstract
This rukkā from the king, who must have been Rājendra based on the date of issue, converts lands in the hills and Nepāla that had been provided to Māhilā Bhitryāni Bajyājyu as a lifetime jāgira mānā cāmala as serā. It instructs Kapardāra Garuḍadhvaja Pā̃ḍe to make use of the lands.
Diplomatic edition
[1r]
1⟪२९झ⟫1श्री\1श्रीमाहिलाभित्र्या2निवज्याज्यू• [Royal seal] 1स्वस्तिश्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजकस्यरुक्का¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
2आगेकपर्दारगरुडध्वजपाँडेप्रति¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯लाईजागिरमानाचा
3व़लगरिवक्स्याकाषेतछापडिहिगोठरतस्कोलगापात¯ ¯ ¯ ¯वा
4टचर्च्याविहोर्याकामधेसवाहिकपाहाडनेपालकाजगाजति
5छन्सोसवैसेरामादरिवक्स्यौं•चलन्गरइतिसम्वत्१८९२सा
6लमितिश्रावणसुदि४रोज४शुभम्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
[1v]
1⟪(२९)⟫1⟪५०८⟫1मार्फत्उमाकान्तउपाध्याTranslation
[1r]
[Addition:]
29 jha
[Invocatio:]
[In the left margin:]
Śrī Māhilā Bhitryāni Bajyājyū
[Royal seal]
Hail! [This is] an executive order (rukkā) of the supreme king of great kings.
Āge: To KapardāraGaruḍadhvaja Pā̃de
We have registered as serā all the khetas, chāpas, unirrigated [possibly sloping] land (ḍihis) and cattle farms (goṭha), and their curtilage (lagāpata), granted as jāgiramānā cāmala to Śrī Māhilā Bhitryāni Bajyājyū—however much [such] land there is in the hills (Pahāḍa) and in Nepāla, [thus] excepting those [lands] being used by Śrī Māhilā Bhitryāni Bajyājyū in the Madhes. Make use [of them].
Wednesday, the 4th of the bright fortnight of Śrāvaṇa in the [Vikrama] era year 1892 (1835 CE). May it be auspicious.
[1v]
[Additions:]
(29)
508
[Signature:]
Through: Mārphat Umākānta Upādhyā
Commentary
This document is an order from King Rājendra (unmentioned in the document) to Kapardāra Garuḍadhvaja Pā̃ḍe converting a portion of land held as jāgira mānā cāmala by Śrī Māhilā Bhitryāni Bajyājyū to serā. King Rājendra was sitting on the throne when this rukkā was issued. As he refers to the grantee as grandmother (bajyājyū), the māhilā bhitryāni in question would have been a concubine (bhitrenī) of King Raṇabahādura.1 Rājendra’s father and Raṇabahādura’s son, King Gīrvāṇayuddha, had earlier granted serā land to the same person, his māhilā bhitryāni mumā (see DNA_0014_0075).
This document suggests that the serā lands spread across Gorkhali territory were not a fixed category. They could be converted into personally held land, at least on a temporary basis. Royal women were among those who received these lifetime grants, which likely formed an important source of income for them. Such lands, however, were not permanent property but eventually reverted back to serā land, which was under the control of the kapardāra. Garuḍadhvaja was kapardāra from the early VS 1870s till the early 1890s. He was a son of the former kapardāraBhoṭu Pā̃ḍe (see Pā̃de Chetrī 1977: 246).