Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a rukkā from King Rājendra announcing a ten-year restriction on land inspections in Pallo Kirāta (VS 1891)

ID: E_3420_0016

Edited and translated by Julia Shrestha
Created: 2024-08-05; Last modified: 2024-12-05
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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, 2024. 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 copy of a rukkā announces a ten-year restriction on land inspections, household censuses and the assignment of new subbā, rāī and pagarī titles, all in order to prevent disputes in the areas of Limbuvān (Pallo Kirāta) specified in the text. The order was issued in response to a prior petition from the local communities opposing annual land inspections.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

114

1स्वस्तिश्रीमन्माहाराजधिराजकस्यरूक्का
2आगेअरूनपूर्वमेचिपश्चिमचैनपुरकाभरअम्वलका
3लिम्वुवानपांचषपनदशमझियायाषालोहोरुंआठपहर्‍या
4सोह्राषाल्साभांफुगोवाभोटनागैह्रप्रतिहामीहरूकागाउघर
5षेतमाजाचआईजाचभयापछिसालवषालपल्टनकाअमालि
6कम्पुकाजिल्लादारहरूलेषेतघरजांचिदिंदारसालिन्ना
7हाम्राभाईविरदारहामीदेषिफुतिनयांसुवाराईपगरिहुंदा
8जगामाधेरैषिचोलोगर्नुजान्छन्‌अवउप्रान्तयेस्तैहुनगया
9भाईविरदारपनिभोटमोगलान्‌जान्याछन्‌१०वर्षसम्मन्ञा
10सुवाराईपगरिहुनानि( )[...]दिनुहाम्राघरदरजांचनगर्नुकिपत
11षेतनजाचनुढाक्य्रालेविह्रायाकोत्रिसालापुग्याकोविह्रौटोजाची
12लिनुभन्याथितिकोवन्देजगरिवक्सनुभयादामकामवरोवरीकिस्ता
13किस्तादामवुझाउलाभनिकाजिनहारसिंथापामार्फतविन्तिगरि
14पठायाकोहाम्राहजुरमाजाहेरहुंदासम्वत्‌१८९१सालवैशाकवदि१
15रोजदेषि१०वर्षसम्मकम्पुपल्टनकाअमालिजिल्लदारवाटतिमि
16हरूकागाउँघरदरकिपतषेतनिजकुटाकोदालालेआफ्ना
17किपटजमिनविह्राईषायाकोथितिमोहोरवमोजिमकोषेतमा
18जांचनगर्नुघरदरवढ्यानलिनुभाईफुटिआउन्यालाईनञासुवा-

[1r-part2]

1राईनतुल्याउनुठेकथितिमाषिचोलोनपारनु१०वर्षसम्मनवढाउनु
2तिमीहरूलेपनि८४सालदेषि९१सालसम्महुन्यानयापुरानासुवसामिल
3८४साल९१सालमादरियाकोठेकथितिमारहिदामकामवुझाउनु
4जाचमादरियाकोगाउँमाघरठेकठेकढडामापुर्जादर्‍याकोषेतको
5रुपिञामाषिचोलोनपारनुमिन्हानमागनुरैकरजगामालिम्वु
6ढाक्यागैह्रलेविह्रायाकोरढाक्याकुरियालेविह्रायाकोनयाँ
7विह्रौटोकोवालित्रिसालापुग्याकोआफ्नाअम्वलकोनदवाउनु
8दाषिलगर्नुभनि१०वर्षकोवडकारागरिवन्देजवाधिवक्स्यौं
9१०वर्षपुग्यापछिघरदरघटवटतजवीजगरिवक्सौलाआफ्ना
10षातिज्मासंगथितिवन्देजजानिरस्तिचलाईवस्तिवसाईजगा
11आवादगुलजारगरिवसईतिसम्वत्‌१८९१सालमितिवैशाक
12सुदि१४रोज३शुभम्‌
13पछादि---मार्फतफत्येजंसाहा
14मार्फतपुस्करसाहा
15मार्फतभिम्सेनथापा
16मार्फतदलभंजनपाडे
17मार्फतकुलमानसिंवस्न्यात
18मार्फतरणजोरथापा
19मार्फतरश्वोतसाहा

Translation

[1r]

141

Hail! [This is] a rukkā from the venerable king of great kings.2

Age: [Concerning the areas] east of the Arun and west of the Mechi [rivers], [to all the] Yākhās, Lohorungs, Āṭhpahariyās throughout the territory (ambala) of Chainpur, Limbuvān, Pāñca Khapana [and] Daśa Majhiyā, [and to the] govās and Bhoṭanās [of] Sohra Khālsā [and] Bhaṃphu 3 etc.4

We have received your petition, submitted through KājiNahāra Siṃ Thāpā to us, which states:

“An inspection [party] came to our villages, houses and fields. After the [initial] inspection was completed, annual inspections were carried out by the amāli[s] of the regiment (palṭana) and the jilladāras of the regular army (kampu), who have inspected the fields and houses every year.5 Our brothers (bhāīviradāra)6 , having split off from us, have become new subbās, rāīs [and] pagaris, and have been causing many disputes over the land. From now on, our brothers who have become such [functionaries] will also go to Tibet (Bhoṭa) and India (text: Mogalān for Mugalān). [We request] that no new subbās, rāīs or pagaris be appointed and that no household census (ghardara) be conducted or inspections of our kipaṭ fields carried out within the next 10 years. According to the thiti bandeja that Your Majesty has established, [a subbā’s] tenant (ḍhākryā) is to be inspected [only] every three years; he will pay [the accrued rent] in equal instalments."

We have issued the following decree settling 7 [this matter] for 10 years:8

From the 1st of the dark fortnight of Vaiśāka in the year [VS 18]91, the amāli and jillādāra of the regular army and regiment are not to inspect your villages, houses or your kipaṭ fields; the kipaṭ fields you have cleared and brought under cultivation by your own hoe; [or] lands that have been granted for cultivation to you according to the prior thiti mohara—they are not to conduct an inspection of the fields or take more household censuses. Regardless of how many brothers are splitting off, no new subbās [or] rāīs are to be appointed for 10 years. No disputes are to [be allowed] to arise under the ṭhekathiti. [Rates] are not to be increased for 10 years. You, too, remain in compliance [with] subbās, new or old, from the years 84 to 91, and with the ṭhekaṭhiti written in the year 84 [and updated] to the year 91, and submit the required sums.9 Do not cause disputes regarding the rates on those lands and houses for which land titles (purjā) have been recorded in the ledger during the village inspection. Do not request exemptions on raikara lands. Do not withhold but [rather] submit [the rent] on standing crops (bālī) in your ambala that accrues every three years, on land cultivated by Limbu tenants etc. and on fields newly cultivated by settler tenants.10 After reaching 10 years, we may consider (tajavija gari vaksaulā) scaling back or enlarging the household censuses.11 Being mindful of your duties, continue overseeing affairs, establishing settlements and making the land prosperous in accordance with the thiti bandeja.

Tuesday, the 14th of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha in the [Vikrama era] year 1891 (1834 CE).

Backside: through (marphāta) Phatpejaṃ Sāhā

through Puskara Sāhā

through Bhimsena Thāpā

through Dalabhaṃjana Pāḍe

through Kulamānasiṃ Vasnyāta

through Raṇajora Thāpā

through Raśvota Sāhā

Commentary

This copy of a royal executive order shows that tax inspections in the Limbuvān (Pallo Kirāta) region had been meeting with local resistance during the preceding period. The ṭhekathiti system, introduced in 1820 as an agreement between the Limbu headmen and the Nepalese government, required every household to pay a tax, which necessitated a comprehensive census of households. It also made the Limbu headmen, the subbās, the tax collectors (tālukadāra) (Sagant 2008: 132), to whom the other officers (rāī, pagari) were subordinate (ibid.: 139). As the text indicates, following the initial census conducted between 1820 and 1827 the Limbus and other Kiranti communities resisted annual inspections, which usually resulted in higher tax burdens for them (Regmi 1965: 107–109). This resistance apparently was so strong that the state compromised by reducing the frequency of inspections to every ten years (ibid.).

Another point of dispute was the increasing number of officers, which must be understood in the context of the subbā's role as the custodian and manager of the communal landholdings. The titles were hereditary, though new clan segments and subbās emerged amid factional conflicts over territory as well as titles. As the subbā could earn commissions on land transactions mediated by him within his ambala, he could exploit this for his own profit by selling areas of cultivable land. In doing so, the local elites contributed to Limbus being dispossessed of their ancestral lands (see Sagant 2008: 125–6; for an analysis of the disintegration of kipaṭ lands and the fragmentation of lineages and titles, see Chapter 3: "Land and Kin Groups" in Caplan 2000).

The communal landholdings of Limbus gradually eroded over time. Under the Gorkha Śāhas, the state largely recognized the indigenous tenure system as part of an agreement with the Limbus in exchange for their political loyalty. However, the land surveys conducted by Gorkha officials in Pallo Kirāta mentioned in the present document reflect a shift toward increased state control. The weakening of indigenous land rights reached its peak under the Rāṇā regime, during which many Limbus were economically forced to mortgage land. Still, in comparison to other indigenous communities, they tenaciously clung to their traditional land rights until recent times (Regmi 1965: 91; see also the newspaper article Mabohang 2022).

Notes

1. This number was added to the copied document as part of the private collection of R. Sharma. The present catalogue contains 53 documents from this collection, all relating to eastern Nepal. These copies, transcribed into modern paper notebooks, were apparently made well after the original documents were written. [⇑]

2. According to the date of the document the ruling king must have been King Rājendra (r. 1816–1847). [⇑]

3. The location of Bhaṃphu remains unclear, but it likely is some place, as the word element phu is common in Tibetan place-names, indicating a settlement on an elevation or in the upper part of a valley (cf. Jäschke 1881: s.v. p͑u). [⇑]

4. To indicate the addressees, the document uses terms for places and for groups of peoples. While Limbuvān, Pāñca Khapana and Daśa Majhiyā are administrative divisions, Yākhā, Lohoruṅ and Āṭhpaharyā are Kiranti communities, and Bhoṭanās are Tibetan ones. Govā is the title of a Tibetan village leader. [⇑]

5. Both emended terms sālavasāla and sālindā can be translated as "annually," emphasizing the regular frequency of the inspections (Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa 2022: s.v.sālabasāla; Turner 1931: s.v. sālindā). [⇑]

6. The term bhāīviradāra could specifically refer to bhāradāras (courtiers or high-level functionaries) or, more generally, to brothers (dājubhāi) in premodern Nepali (Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa 2022: s.v. virādāra). In this translation, I have chosen "brothers," as the document likely refers to fellow Limbus who would be regarded as kin. [⇑]

7. The text uses the form vaḍakārā, which may be a variant of barakarāra, an adjective meaning "firm" or "settled" (cf. Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa 2022: s.v. barakarāra). This meaning would suggest that the matter is considered settled for a period of 10 years. [⇑]

8. I.e., what follows may be the citing of a concomitant decree sent to the amālis etc., rephrased and addressed to the local populace. [⇑]

9. The census mentioned was likely the first comprehensive one, conducted between 1820 and 1827 as part of the initial revenue settlements for the area (Regmi 1965: 107). Thus this period begins at the end of that first census, in VS 1884 (1827 CE), and ends in the year the present document was issued, 1834. [⇑]

10. The expressions in the text are limvu ḍhākryā gaihra (referring to tenants from the local indigenous populations, primarily Limbu and other Kiranti groups) and ḍhākyā kuriyā (referring to settler tenants who migrated into the area later). These immigrants were predominantly Hindus encouraged by government policy to settle in Limbuvān (see Sagant 2008: 128–32). [⇑]

11. In modern Nepali, ghaṭbaḍh refers to fluctuations of one sort or another (Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa 2022), which here likely pertains to adjustments in the frequency of household censuses. [⇑]

Word	Notes
āge	[fr. S. agre] adv. lit. "henceforeward" (Riccardi 1976: 150 n. 6), especially used in administrative and legal documents to mark the beginning of a text or paragraph. In its function it is similar to uprānta.
amāli / amālī	[fr. A.] var. amāli, ambāli, amvalī, aṃvalī; also amālidāra; n. a revenue official or functionary of a regional administrative unit (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93, M.R. Pant 2002: 131). According to Krauskopff and Meyer he had only "minor judicial powers" (Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 183). Kumar further notes that he was a "subordinate civil functionary in the tehsil" (Kumar 1967: 164). His office was called amala (cf. Adhikari 1984: 344, M.C. Regmi 1978: 853).
ambala	var. aṃbala, amavala, amala, ammala; n. 1) territory, administrative unit, district. 2) office, position, term of office, honour, respect (Turner 1931: s.v. amal); "territory in Gorkhali official discourse; land occupied by force, land from which the state has acquired right to collect revenue; generally conveys the same meaning as the term amal" (Michael 2012: 129).
Aṭhpahariyā	var. Aṭha Pahariyā; n. 1) an eastern Kiranti ethnic group, inhabiting south-western parts of Pallo Kirāta/Limbuvān, 2) the language of that group (van Driem 2021 II: 602; 664).
bālī	var. bāli; n. 1) standing crops. 2) rent to be payed by tenants on standing crops. 3) produce of land enjoyed by the soldiery as their emoluments under the jāgīra land tenure system (cf. Adhikari 1984: 345).
bhāradāra / bhārādāra	n. lit. "burden bearer"; a generic term for high-level functionaries (M.R. Pant 2002: 131); courtiers (cf. Adhikari 1984: 346; cf.: Kumar 1967: 164 ; Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 183 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 854 ; M.C. Regmi 1999: 136; M.C. Regmi 2002: 297; M.C. Regmi 1978: 225; Whelpton 2005: 25). According to Michael 2012: 130 the term denotes "top ranking posts such as chautariya, kaji, sardar, khardar, karpardar and khanjanchi". See also bhāibhārādāra.
bhoṭe	var. bhoṭiyā, bhoṭyā; adj. 1) inhabitant of Bhoṭa, people of Tibetan language and culture (cf. Whelpton 2005: 260). 2) An umbrella term designating Tibetanid groups classified as Enslavable Alcohol-drinkers in the Mulukī Ain (see Ramble 2008: 29-30), but also for a non-ethnically defined legal status.
ḍhākre	var. ḍhākryā; n. 1) a porter; one who carries goods on his back in a ḍhākara, a large hand-woven conical basket of bamboo widely popular in hill regions; 2) a former state employee (cf. M.R. Pant 2002: 132 ), "off-role, out of government employment" (Whelpton 1991: 282); 3) an unemployed person; 4) another word for raitī, i.e. tenants or settlers, who fall under the jurisdiction of and pay taxes to the Limbu subbā (cf. Parajuli et al. 2075 s.v. ḍhākre).
gharadara	n., system of enumerating homesteads and pākho holdings every 10 years for tax assessment in the Kathmandu valley and the hilly regions (M.C. Regmi 1963: 266).
govā	n. hereditary function of head-man in Tibetan village communities (cf. "guobah" in Hooker 1854: 217; Saxer 2022: 26).
jillādāra	n. a district-level functionary.
kājī	var. kāji; n. “an officer of ministerial rank superintending civil and military affairs“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 133; cp. Edwards 1975: 105).
kampu	[from E.] var. kaṃpu; n. 1) “regular army“ (Adhikari 1984: 351); the Kampu Daphadarakhānā was responsible for dealing with land assignments for the kampu (Whelpton 1991: 283). However, the exact structure of the kampu still remains obscure. 2) one of three categories of army units in the early 19th century, the other two being palṭana and kampanī or company (Hamal 1995: 33). A kampu comprised different palṭanas (M.C. Regmi 1979). According to Hamal (1995: 32), however, in the early 19th century those companies stationed in the Kathmandu Valley and under the command of the general were called kampu, while those outside palṭana.
kipaṭa	var. kīpaṭa; n. system of communal land tenure traditional amongst several ethnic groups.
kirā̃tī / kirātī	var. kirāti, kirāntī; n. "Limbu and Rai peoples of eastern Nepal" (Whelpton 2005: 262).
mārphat / mārphata	var. marphaṭ, mārphaṭa; "through (the person of)" (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93).
mohara	[P.] n. 1) a seal. 2) a document bearing royal seal; often an abbreviated reference to a lālamohara. 3) a coin having the value of eight ānās or half a mohararupaiyā̃.
mugalāna	var. mogalānā, mogalāna; muglāna; n. lit. territories of the Mughal empire. The MA-54 follows the hill usage of the term which especially refers to the Indo-Gangetic plains of North India (See Adhikari 1984: 353 and Michael 2012: 132).
pagarī	n. 1) turban, often given as a token of honor or as official appointment to office. 2) wearer of a turban of honor, thus 2a) general term for civil and military personnel (Adhikari 1984: 354); 2b) officer of higher rank (subedāra or above) (Whelpton 1991: 285); 2c) “Member of a Limbu village council in Pallokirat.“ (M.C. Regmi 1978: 863), court assistant to the Limbu subbā in Pallo Kirāta (Ingnam 2081: 847); 3) “an additional sum of rupees demanded from a winner of a court case in return for a turban (pagarī) accorded to him.“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 134; cf. pagarī-dastura).
palṭana	[fr. Eng. platoon] var. palṭan; n. regiment, battalion (Turner 1931: s.v. palṭan); army unit, according to Adhikari (1984: 158) smaller than a kampu. According to Hamal (1995: 32), in the early 19th century those companies stationed in the Kathmandu Valley and under the command of the general were called kampu, while those outside palṭana. Commonly, however, both were known as palṭanas.
purjā	n. receipt; may be signed and handed over by the jagirdāra to a tenant on receiving his rent (Adhikari 1984: 74 n)
rāī	var. rāi; n. 1) ethnonym, "collective term for a larger number of different Kiranti groups living west of the Limbus in the eastern hills" (Whelpton 2005: 264), also Khambu (Schlemmer 2010: 43); 2) derived from the title "rāya" given by the Sens of Makwanpur to their Kiranti ministers (Schlemmer 2010: 48), title for the village headmen in Kiranti communities (M.C. Regmi 1978: 229 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 864); 3) a position at the subbā's court in Pallo Kirāta, appointed by and ranking below the subbā (Sagant 2008: 439; Caplan 2000: 27).
raikara	n. state-owned, taxable land.
rukkā	[fr. A. ruq'a] n. an executive order, short note, missive from the highest authority. The king, the crown prince, but also queens and the Rāṇā prime ministers issued rukkās.
subbā	var. subā; n. 1) governor or chief administrative officer of a province or district (cf. Kumar 1967: 168; Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 185; M.R. Pant 2002: 135; M.C. Regmi 1999: 137; M.C. Regmi 2002: 303). 2) civil officer ranking higher than a mukhiyā, but lower than a sardāra (Stiller 1981: 382). According to Edwards subbās were stationed at Gorkha (cf. also Michael 2012: 134) and Chitwan, “with five others being administrators in the Terai” (Edwards 1975: 106). Edwards further mentions that “men of subba rank were also assigned in the capital to the Kumari Chowk, and Kat Bhandar offices, where they were the deputies of the kaji and kapardar in charge” (ibid.). 3) headmen of the Limbu community in the far-eastern hill regions (M.C. Regmi 1978: 229; cf. also 1978: 865).
tālukadāra [tālukī]	n. a person who collects land revenue from the raitī and enters them into the māla and who works in accordance with the Ain and savāla and performs tālukadārī; mukhiyā of the village; jimmāvāla (Parājulī 2010: 565); "headman in the capacity of a ṭhālu; authorized person [agent]" (Karmacharya 2001: 329)
ṭhekathiti	n. 1) settlement with the village community represented by the mukhiyā for the collection of taxes on rice-lands and homesteads in the villages of the far eastern hill region and the Baisī region. (M.C. Regmi 1978: 163; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 270, M.C. Regmi 1978b: 867).
thiti	[fr. S. sthiti] var. sthiti, thīti; n. 1) custom, tradition. 2) arrangement, order, regulation. See also rītithiti.
thiti bandeja	[thiti + bandeja]; var. sthiti bandej; n. sanctioning of customs and traditions; according to Höfer 2004: 151 (who writes ° bāndeja) the term refers to both, "to codification as a whole and to singular decrees bearing the royal seal". A thiti bandeja can also give legal sanction to a revenue settlement (ibid.: 152 n. 1). Besides lālamoharas often copper plate were issued.
Yakkhā	var. Yākhā; n. 1) a Kiranti ethnic group, endonym "Yakkhaba," mainly inhabiting areas east of the Arun river in Pallo Kirāta/Limbuvān. 2) the language of that group.