A letter from Subbā Jayanta Khatri writing from Ilamagaḍhī to Kājī Jaspāu Thāpā reporting on the killing of Limbus and Lepchas at the Nepal-Sikkim frontier (VS 1883)
ID: DNA_0001_0109
Edited and
translated by Julia Shrestha
in collaboration with
Martin Gaenszle
Created: 2018-11-14;
Last modified: 2024-11-05
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Abstract
This letter, written from Īlāmagaḍhī by Subbā Jayanta Khatri to Kājī Jaspāu Thāpā, details the persecution and killing of Limbus and Lepchas at the Nepal-Sikkim frontier by Kājī Ikundā's descendants.
Diplomatic edition
[1r]
श्रीदुर्गाज्यू\⟪११०९⟫1स्वस्तिश्रीसर्वोपमाजोग्येत्यादिसकलगुण:गम्भीर:राजभारोद्धरसामर्थसी2लसागर∙महोदधीधर्म्मऔतारःधर्म्ममूर्तीश्रीश्रीश्रीकाजीसाहेवजस्पा
3उथापाज्यूःकाचरनतलश्रीसुव्वाजयन्तषत्रिकस्यसलाम:सतम्पू
4र्वकपत्रमीदम्:ईतसाहेवकामेहेरकृपालेकुसल:ताहांसाहेवकुसल
5मंगलभया:हाम्रोप्रतीपालउद्धार∙होलाआगेञांहांकोसमाचार∙भलोछ:
6उप्रान्तअलीकवीस्तार∙हिजोपनिलेष्याकोहो∙योकुरानीसय∙रहेछ५ज
7नामानीस्आईपुग्या:ईकुन्दाकाजीकोसन्तानभाईभतीजा:यताका
8पुरानामानिस्लीम्वुलापचालाईपक्रदैकाटतैगरेछ:उमकन्या
9जंगलमाकवीलाहालीजंगलमापसीरह्याछं:यस्वेलाःमा:हाम्रोर∙प्र
10जाप्रानीकोसरननलीदियाता:हामीप्रजाप्रानीलाईमासीसक्योहिजो
11पनि:ईकुन्दालाईपीछालीतामापत्रगरीवक्सनुभयाकाकामलेसुषी
12म्याराजाकोवनायाथीउ:उहीपापलेउहीधारहाम्राकपाल्मापर्यो
13अवहामीलेचेतीसक्यौ:फीरंगीका१पट्टिवस्याकाथीयागरे:योषलव
14लमा:उहीपनितलझर्यो:षजनापनि१८पीपाथी:यासवैलग्यो२पी
15पाषलंगामाछं:राजालेझिकाया:कातोप२फासीदेवामाछंगरे:ञा
16हाछैन:केहिकवीलाताअवथोरैदिनमानीस्कनंभन्छन्:गोर्षा
17आयोभन्नमात्रैपर्न्याछछहामीजोभयाकाप्रजाप्रानीयताहुदा:
18हिडीजान्याछ:हेर्नसक्न्याछैन:भारादारहरुलाई:पक्रदैकाटतै
19पुरानाप्रजाप्रानीकोयोजहजातहुदा:जाउरवीन्तीगरीसरनपरी
20ताहाषानुञाहाचुठनआउनु:भनी५जनामानिस्पठाईराष्या
21छ:श्रीकाजीसाहेवसंगंवीन्तीनगरीवांहांकोनीकास्नआईकुराहुदै
22न:भनीराष्याछु:यस्पालाहाम्रोसरनपीछालीनुभयेनभन्या:हामी
23वाचीउन:भनिगुहारगुहारभनिकराउछं:योकुराकोवीस्तार∙ञाङ्रू
24पवाटपनिवुझीयेला∙सुषीम्याकोघर:फुटिरहेछ:वषतभन्यापरी
25रहेछ:ईनलाईक्याजवावदिन्याहोजोआग्यासोसहि:ईक्याडवल
26लेआयाकोरह्याछभनि३जनाञाहाराषी२जनावांहांवाटआ
27उन्यारञाहावाटहाम्रालापचा४जनासाथलाईकनवुझनपठाया∙
28हामीलाईसिक्षादिन्यासिक्षादी:दर्वारमावीन्तीगर्नाकुरावीन्तीग
29री:चांडोनीकासीझीकीनवक्स्यासव्यअसव्यकेहीवुझीयेन∙यो
30कुराकोचांडोनीकासाकृपागर्याजाला:जलदाजल्दीकोहालसु
31रथलेषौभन्या:१५ ।१६ दिनमातांहांदाषिलहुदैनरहवल्दा
32र∙वाकावस्न्यात्∙लाईपठा∙याकोछ:सरनदिया:मुषज्मानीस
33वैवीस्तार∙वीन्तीगर्नान्:सरअपसर∙माफराषीसिक्षाउपदेस
34कृपाराष्याजालाईतिसम्वत्१८८३सालमीती∙माघसुदि६रोज
35६मोकामईलामगढीशुभ्म्¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯
Translation
[1r]
Glorious Durgā
1[/]109 1
Hail! This letter—with a hundred salutations at the feet of the thrice venerable KājīJaspāu Thāpā, who is worthy of all exalting similes and suchlike, who is laden with all [superior] qualities, fit for royal duties, an ocean of virtues, an incarnation and embodiment of dharma—[is] from the venerable SubbāJayanta Khatri. If you, Sir (sāheba), are fine there, with your kindness we may prosper [and be] uplifted here.
Āge: The tidings here are good.
Uprānta: A short report was also written yesterday. It turns out to be true. 5 people have arrived [here]. "Ikundā Kājī's2 decendants and nephews [have been] capturing and killing local natives (text: purānā mānīs)3 : Limbus and Lepchas. The ones who escaped into the jungle are dividing into [seperate] family groups (kavīlā)4 and setting up camp in the jungle. At this time, rather than refuge (saran)5 being given to us and the subjects (prajāprānī) 6 here, we [and] the subjects have been killed. Earlier, moreover, your act of granting protection and issuing a tāmrapatra to Ikundā made him a confederate of the Sikkimese (text: suṣimyā) king. Because of this wrongdoing, this blade has fallen upon our heads. Now we have learned a lesson. One company of white foreigners (i.e. British) was present it seems.7 It, too, descended into this turmoil. Moreover, there were 18 barrels (pīpā) of munitions. It took everything (i.e., the British unit). 2 barrels are in Khalaṅgā. The 2 cannons released by the king seem to be in Phāsīdevā;8 [they are] not here. Some family groups (kavīlā) say [they] will set off within a few days. One will only need to say that Gorkha has come [to scare the aggressors off]. [When they do so], we, who have remained here, will set off. We cannot only look [—we have to act]. [As the aggressors are] capturing and killing [the natives'] elite (bhārādāra), go petition and seek refuge where the [Hindu] castes (i.e., Gorkhalis) are. Take food there and come [back] to wash your hands here."9 Thus were the 5 people instructed. I have been telling that without petitioning [you,] Śrī Kājī Sāheba, the matter will not be resolved. "If we cannot find refuge this time, we cannot be saved," they (i.e. the Limbu and Lepcha subjects) cried for help. [Other] details regarding this matter will likely be learned from Ñāṅrūpa.10 The house of Sikkim (text: Suṣim)11 is crumbling. Time is running out. How should they be responded to? We will abide by whatever [you] command. To understand with what intention they (i.e. Ikundā's descendants) have come, 3 people have been put [forward] here, and if 2 people come from you, we shall send 4 of our Lepchas together with them to find out. Please give us instructions on what we need to instruct [them], and [please] make petition to the palace [in Kathmandu]. We will have been unable to learn what is proper and improper if, in making petition, you do not find a way out quickly. We hope that, mercifully, you will find a way out of this situation quickly. [Even] if we wanted to hastily write about the current state, it would [still] not reach you within 15-16 days. We have [therefore] sent havaldāraVākā Vasnyāt [to you]. If you grant him shelter, he will convey to you all the details. Please forgive [my] mistakes and provide guidance and instruction. Friday, the 6th of the bright fortnight of Māgha, in the [Vikrama] era year 1883 (1827 CE). Station: Īlāmagaḍhī. Auspiciousness.
Commentary
This letter sent by Subbā Jayanta Khatri from his post in Īlāmagaḍhī12 to Kājī Jaspāu Thāpā13 describes an incident of persecution and killing of Limbu and Lepcha subjects on the Nepal-Sikkim frontier. Apparently trapped, they sought protection from the Gorkha official Jayanta Khatri. The five people mentioned in the document, it seems, were despatched to the subbā to seek help, and the latter turned to Kājī Jaspāu Thāpā for instructions. This situation resulted from a chain of events unfolding in the eastern Himalayan area following the Gorkha invasion. Tensions and conflicts over territory, subjects, labour, taxes and access to roads intensified in the region, which probably resulted in large-scale conflict-driven migrations (see Warner 2021: 5-6). Some Limbu and Lepcha factions resisted external conquest successfully by using guerrilla tactics and strategically navigating alliances with multiple actors (ibid. 3-4). However, their position also rendered Limbu and Lepcha subjects vulnerable to getting caught between the fronts of competing powers, which included Sikkim, Gorkha and the British East India Company, and Limbus and Lepchas’ own political elites and headmen as well, as evidenced by the contents of this document.
A key person in the events described in Jayanta Khatri's letter was the Lepcha Kājī Ikundā a.k.a. Yug-Kunga. Though he sided with Sikkim and had fought against Gorkha in the Sino-Nepal War (1788-1792), between 1792 and 1814 the Gorkhalis installed him as govenor over Nagri, Ilam, and the northern Bengal plains, an area of considerable strategical and economic importance, where Ikundā held ancestral properties (Hamilton 1819: 123, Mullard 2013: 184). Pradhan (2009: 147) calls this instalment a pacifying move, to reconcile the Lepcha inhabitants with Gorkhali rule. Ikundā received a tāmrapatra granting him jurisdiction over the area, jagirā lands and the right to collect fines (RRC_0040_0442). He was also granted by Gorkha land for resettlement in areas around Chainpur and Vijayapur (see RRC_0006_0858, RRC_0036_0251, RRC_0036_0252). By the end of the Anglo-Gorkha War (1814-1816), Ikundā was overseeing territory and collecting tax revenue in both Sikkim (east of the Mechi) and Nepal (parts of Chainpur and Vijayapur, and of Ilam) (cf. Mullard 2013: 186). As Mullard (ibid.) remarks, this put him and his descendants in a position where he was serving two overlords at the same time, which must have been particularly worrisome for the Sikkimese king, inasmuch as Ikundā belonged to the Lepcha Barfung clan.
To understand Jayanta Khatri's letter, it is necessary to dig a little deeper into Ikundā's family background and the events that preceded those described in the text. The Barfungs were an aristocratic family that had effectively ruled Sikkim from the 1740s on (Mullard 2009: 12). Ikundā was a nephew of the Lepcha commander Chogthup (Pradhan 2009: 146-147), who had led the Sikkimese force in the Limbuwan-Gorkha War (1771-1774, see Mullard 2009: 13), and the elder brother of Bolhö, Sikkim’s chancellor under King Tshugphü Namgyal (Mullard 2013: 185). Enthroned as a child, Tshugphü Namgyal was entrusted to the care of Bolhö, who was also the king's maternal uncle. Hence, Bolhö held de facto ruling power until he was executed along with his wife and son by order of the king in 1826. Bolhö's execution has been interpreted as the Namgyals reclaiming power from the Barfungs (Sprigg 1995: 88; Mullard 2013: 181).14 In response to Bolhö's execution, Ikundā's sons started their rebellion, conducting several raids in the borderlands. Writing on the events of this insurrection, Pradhan (2009: 158; footnote 149) refers to the present document as Jayanta Khatri's letter concerning the "slaughter of Limbus, Lepchas" (ibid. 158) and a delegation of five that sought Khatri's help. As the "Kotapa insurrection,"15 these raids became a defining moment in the history of the Nepal-Sikkim border, contributing to the intensification of the boundary dispute and the successive consolidation of the border in response, and also paved the way for Sikkim's later cession of Darjeeling to the British in 1835.16