Documenta Nepalica

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A document recording uses put to gold seized from Bhīmasena Thāpā's estate (VS 1896)

ID: E_2764_0061


Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter in collaboration with Raju Rimal
Created: 2017-10-04; Last modified: 2020-07-10
For the metadata of the document, click here

Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2020. 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 CCby-SA.

Abstract

This document lists amounts of gold seized from the property of Bhīmasena Thāpā and how portions of it were expended or otherwise made use of for specified items needed in connection with weddings of members of the Śāha family.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1९६­साल­आषाढ­सुदि­१०­रोज­१­


2दाषिल­तोसाषाना­जिम्मा­षजांची­तारानाथ­उपाध्या­हस्ते­ल
3क्ष्मीदास­ज्मादार­हर्ष­लामा­वावत्‌­वीवाहका­काम­कामके­भी
4मसेन­थापाका­सर्वस्य­मध्ये­गयाको­पटना­तौल­तोला­
5४८३।६।­के­पुराना­सिक्का­तौल­तोला­ज्मा­¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯४९५।४­

[table1]

1धोजे­१­के­पटना­तोला­१६५⟪।५⟫­दर­२२­
2 धोजे­ १­ के­ पटना­ तोला­१५६।९­दर­२२­
3धोजे­१­के­ऐंजं­तोला­१६१।२­दर­२०­
4४८३।६­



10षर्च­

[table2]

1९६­भाद्र­वदि­८­रोज­१­श्री­५­महाराजाका­षुरासान्‌­तरवारका­
 कोथि­कंठि­वनाउनाके­र्मार्फत्‌­कपर्दार­वीरकेशर­पाडे­हस्ते­
 सम्सेर­वहादूर­पाडे­धोजे­मधे­सुन­तोला­		६५­
2भाद्र­वदि­१३­रोज­६­जीम्मा­कपर्दार­कर्विर­पाडे­वावत्‌­श्री­साहेवज्यूका­
 विहाका­काम­काम्‌के­हस्ते­हर्ष­धे[?]­सुन­तोला­		९२­
3आश्वीन­वदि­१३­रोज­दाषील­मेगजि­[?]तादार­दलवीर­थापा­वावत­श्री­साहे
 वज्यू­२­का­षुकुरि­२­का­काजो­वनाउना­[?] मध्ये­ सुना­ तोला­		२।।­
4मार्ग­वदि­८­रोज­६­जिम्मा­कपर्दार­हस्ते­हर्ष­पट­तौल­सुन­तो­३२४।७­
5 धोजे­१­के­१६५।५ ­धोजे­१­के­१५९।२­
6४८३।७। ­

[table3]

1साना­ठुला­कडा­१३­
2साना­धोजे­१­
3तुंवी­५­
4आपषोरा­१­
5गुर्गुडि­हुका­१­
6सुनाथान­४­
7१२।१७।१५ ­

Translation

[1r]

Sunday, the 10th of the bright fortnight of Āṣāḍha in the [Vikrama era] year [18]96 (1839 CE)

Present [at the] state treasury (tosākhānā), [in] the care of KhajāncīTārānātha Upādhyā, [put] into the hands of Lakṣmīdāsa [and] JamādāraHarṣa Lāmā for different tasks relating to marriage (vivāha): a total of 495.4 tolās [of gold] (according to the old sikkā weight) corresponding to 483.6 tolās (according to the Paṭanā weight)1 among what was confiscated from the property (sarvasva gayāko) of Bhīmasena Thāpā.

[table1]

1for 1 ingot (?) (dhoje) paṭanā tolās2 165.5 at the rate of 22 [kt.]3
2 for 1 piece, paṭanā tolās156.9 at the rate of 22 [kt.]
3for 1 piece, dito tolās161.2 at the rate of 20 [kt.]
4483.6

Expenses

[table2]

Sunday, the 8th of the dark fortnight of Bhādra [in the Vikrama era year 18]96: tolās of gold from among the [above] ingots [put] through KaparadāraVīrakeśara Pāḍe into the hands of Samsera Bahādura Pāḍe for making the chape of the sheath (kothi) and a garland of gilded rudrākṣa beads (kaṇṭhī)4 for Śrī 5 Mahārāja's khurāsān sword (tarabāra),5 65
Friday, the 13th of the dark fortnight of Bhādra: tolās of gold [in] the care of KapardāraKarvira Pāḍe, [put] to the hands of Harṣadhe...6 for different tasks relating to the marriage(s) of the ŚrīSāhebajyu(s),7 92
... day, the 13th of the dark half of Āśvina: tolās of gold from among ... present [at] the arsenal (megaji...?) ...tādāra8 Dalavīra Thāpā for making the bolsters (kā̃jo)9 for 2 khukurī swords of 2 Śrī Sāhebajyūs2.010
Friday, the 8th of the dark fortnight of Mārga: to[lās] of gold according to Paṭa[nā] weight [in] the cāre of the kapardāra, [put] into the hands of Harṣa 324.7
from 1 ingot (i.e. the first ingot mentioned above)165.5from 1 ingot11 159.2
[in total]483.712

[table3]

small and big bracelets (kaḍā)13
small piece1
tumbī vessel13 5
drinking vessal (āpakhorā)14 1
bubbling? hookah (gurguḍi hukā)1
pieces of gold[-embroidered] cloth? (sunāthāna)4
12 । 17 । 1515


Commentary

The three parts of the present document were written in what looks like three different hands. The first part speaks of the amount and origin of what was handed over from the state treasury under the khajāncī to other officials to be expended for marriage(s). From the measurement units given in this and the following table it is apparent that gold is what is being spoken of. The text also discloses that the gold in question was confiscated from Bhīmasena Thāpā. The date given, the 10th of the bright fortnight of Āṣāḍha VS 1896, corresponding to Sunday, 21 July 1839, which is probably the date when the gold was passed on to the officials mentioned, is the day of Bhīmasena Thāpā's attempt on his own life in prison after his conviction for having conspired to kill a son of the king. Bhīmasena took this step because of rumours about his wife having been publicly disgraced (Acharya 1971: 15; Nepālī 2020: 64). C. Nepālī (ibid.: 280) quotes the text of a letter giving the solar date for this day as the 8th gate of Śrāvaṇa. Eight days later, on 29 July 1839 (16th gate of Śrāvaṇa, see Nepālī 2020: 280), Bhīmasena Thāpā died from his wounds.16 Thus the present document shows that on the day when it was clear that Bhīmasena would die, portions of his property in gold were being expended. A confiscation of his property, revoked in part later on, is known to have occurred during his first arrest in 1837 (Stiller 1976: 276).

The second table of the document lists dates and the items on which the gold was spent, probably by reworking it. The last table lists different items. These could either refer to items produced from the last sum given in the second table, amounting to 324.7 tolās, for which no purpose had been designated in the second table, or else be unrelated to the two previous tables.

The gold was expended in connection with marriage. From the second part it is clear that it was the marriage or the marriages of a male member of several members of the Śāha family (śrī sāhebajyukā vivāha). An account book recording levies raised on the occasion of royal rituals, microfilmed as E_2731_0002, lists the cumāvana levy imposed for celebrating Surendra's marriage.17 As the text relates, this marriage took place in VS 1897 (1840 CE), CautarīyaPuṣkara Śāha having been in charge of collecting the levy in Kathmandu.18 In a letter of 5 June 1840, Brian H. Hodgson reports the successful end of a mission to Northern India in search of suitable brides for the crown prince—on which occasion "inauspicious marks on the ladies’ bodies were, in fact, pronounced auspicious and their unhealthiness but temporary" (Stiller 1981: 13)—but does not mention when exactly the marriage or marriages were to take place. Thus the upcoming marriage(s) of the sāhebajyu spoken of in the present document issued in 1839 CE could have been Surendra's first marriage(s) in 1840 CE,19 even if one would expect that he would be referred to more specifically as the crown prince (yuvarāja) instead of the more general sāhebajyu. This latter title was given to sons and brothers of the king, but also to other male members of the Śāha family. In another letter, Hodgson reports the king having written in an appeal to his troops on 23 June that "just now the marriages of my sons are costing me more than I know where to get" (Stiller 1981: 18). So evidently one or more of Surendra’s brothers were married at the same time, or at least their marriages were prepared in tandem. Are the two sāhebajyus for whom khukurī bolsters were being made thus the crown prince and a brother? Surendra’s younger brothers are referred to at that time as māhilā, sāhilā and kāhilā sāhebajyus (http://www.royalark.net/Nepal/nepal7.htm and /nepal/editions/show/17825). When the context was clear, Surendra may have been referred to simply as sāhebajyu (i.e. jyeṭhā sāhebajyu). The mentioning of the cumāvana levy on this occasion also suggests that Surendra, about 11 years old at the time, and his brother(s) probably underwent the life-cycle rituals of initiation (vratabandha) and marriage (vivāha) on the same occasion, or at least in the same year.

Notes

1. The rate underlying this conversion between the two gold standards is, at 1:1.0244, higher than that given as the standard conversion of 1:1.001859 between the Company standard tolā and the so-called "old Sicca weight" (Prinseps 1840: 73). Thus the Paṭanā weight referred to here may not be the Company standard in general—what the dictionary terms aṅgreja sarakārale isṭa inḍiyā kampanīmārphata calāeko mudrā, "currency used by the English government through the East India Company" (Parājulī et al. 2067: s.v. paṭanā) but to a specific gold standard current at the mint in the northern Indian city of Patna. An alternative explanation for the discrepancy would be that the rates fluctuated over time. [⇑]

2. The meaning of dhoje is unclear. Here it seems to denote a mass of refined gold. [⇑]

3. It is here assumed that the numbers given for the individual pieces of gold, 22 in the first two cases and 20 in the last, refer to the purity of the gold. Twenty-two karat is a typical alloy (known as crown gold) and was in use in England and British India. [⇑]

4. Kaṇthī is defined as a "small kaṇthā", and the latter as a "garland of 27 or 32 gilded beads of rudrākṣa" (sunale moreko 27 vā 32 dānāko rudrākṣako mālā; Parājulī et al. 2067: s.v. kaṇṭhā 1.). From the context it appears that the garland must have been affixed to the sword or to its sheath. [⇑]

5. The early Śāha kings and other high Nepalese dignitaries of the period are invariably portrayed with a tarabāra sword at their side. The khurāsān tarabāra of the king must have been either a special sword or a special type of sword. The Persian province of Khurasan was a region famous for its manufacture of swords, whose blades were cherished by South Asian royals (Elgood 2004: 231, 233). A khurāsān sword is elsewhere (RRC_0006_0604) mentioned as being sent by the king—in this case King Gīrvāṇayuddha—to the war front after undergoing a ritual on the occasion of the Dasaĩ festival. [⇑]

6. Due to what looks like damage by water, the letters following dhe are illegible. [⇑]

7. The plural sāhebajyūkā vihā could be either honorific or indicate that more than one marriage was being prepared. See the Commentary for the question of whose marriages these could have been. [⇑]

8. Due to damage, some letters are illegible here. Thus it remains unclear what exactly the syntactic relation to the word preceding the damage (which probably read megaji[na]) was and what Dalavīra Thāpā’s title was. One likely candidate is potādāra, an official responsible for collecting the potā tax raised on birtā land. [⇑]

9. Kā̃jo denotes a round piece of metal between the blade and handle of a khukurī. [⇑]

10. Due to the ambiguous nature of this writing it is uncertain whether this number should be interpreted as 2.0, 2.2 or 2|1 tolās. But in consideration of the most likely way to assign the three ingots to the individual items in the list, an interpretation of 2.0 tolās seems to be the most plausible reading (see the note after the next below on the overall expenditures). [⇑]

11. This must have been taken from the third ingot mentioned above, of which 2 tolās would remain. [⇑]

12. This figure totalizes the above-given amounts of gold available for use, namely 65, 92, 2.0 and 324.7 tolās. This amount exceeds the gold listed above by 0.1 tolā. The difference is perhaps due to the fact that the first two items expended, 65 and 92 tolās, amount to 157 tolās, i.e. exceed the weight of the second ingot by 0.1 tolās. The biggest figure in the list, 324.7 tolās, is further subdivided into 165.5 tolās, which is the weight of the first ingot, and 159.2, which leaves 2 tolās from the third ingot, the same figure that occurs in the list as a separate item in the second table. [⇑]

13. Tumbī denotes a vessel for holding water in the shape of a tumbā gourd. [⇑]

14. Āpakhorā is a spelling variant of what modern Nepali registers as amkhorā / āmkhorā, denoting the common bulbous Nepalese drinking vessel. [⇑]

15. It is unclear what these numbers refer to. [⇑]

16. Stiller reports the 28th of July as the day of his death, which may be based on an inaccurate conversion of the day given in the letter quoted by Nepālī. Another death date reported in the literature is 5 August 1839, assuming that it was his suicide attempt that occurred on the 28th of July. This assumption may be the result of a confusion over the facts quoted above. [⇑]

17. śrī 5 sarkārako vivāha hudā lāgnyā cumāvana tahasīla hunyā daravandī, "a list of assessments for the collection of the cumāvana levy imposed when śrī 5 sarkāra's marriage took place." [⇑]

18. sahara kāṭhamāḍaumā 97 sāla śrī 5 mahārājādhirāja surendra vikrama sāhakā vivāha hudā cautarīyā puṣkara sāhamārphata tahasīlalāī bhayākā darabandī bamojima "according to the assessment list for tax collection in Kathmandu city under Cautarīyā Puṣkara when Śrī 5 Mahārājādhirāja Surendra Vikrama Sāha's marriage took place in the [Vikrama era] year [18]97." It is apparent from this phrasing that the account book was based on original documents but was written later, after the crowning of Surendra in 1847 CE, as he is referred to as king. [⇑]

19. According to C. Buyers (http://www.royalark.net/Nepal/nepal8.htm), however, Surendra's first marriage took place only on 28 May 1842. [⇑]