A purjī from Bhīma Śamaśera directing the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to distribute travel expenses for ascetics undertaking a pilgrimage to the four dhāmas (VS 1969)
ID: K_0385_0026
Edited and
translated by Ramhari Timalsina
Created: 2025-06-05;
Last modified: 2025-12-03
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Abstract
This copy of a purjī from Commander-in-Chief General Sir Bhīma Śamśera Rāṇā directs the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to distribute travel expenses for ascetics undertaking a pilgrimage to the four sacred dhāmas.Diplomatic edition
[1r]
1श्री\[Unknown seal]1141श्रीजङ्गनंदप्रकासेश्वर2२1श्री३सर्कार
2१1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीकम्यांडरईनचीफजनरलसरभीमसम्सेरजङ्गबहादुरराणाके.सी.भी.ओ.कस्य¯¯¯१तर्फ
2गुठीषर्चअडाकाहाकींकारींदाहरुकेपुर्जीऊप्रान्तचारधामगर्नजानेसाधुसंतहरूलाईषर्चवाढ्नालाईतेसअडालाईभयाका
3अैंसवाल्कोरीतपुर्याई¯¯¯२गुठीकास्याहामाषर्चलेषीजुनसुकैनम्वरकोभयापनी१००दरकोनोटकीत्ता२केनोटरू
4२००दुईसयलेफटेंस्यामबाहादुरसाहीहस्तेदीनुवहीबुझ्दानीजलेफटेंकास्हीछापपरेकास्याहाभरपाईवमोजींमोज
5राहोलाईतीसम्वत्१९६९सालमाघ२गतेरोज३शुभ्म्¯ ¯ ¯1सक्कलवमोजींन
2कलदुरुस्तछषःभवप्र
3सादअर्ज्याल्लेषंदास्
4शेरवहादुरस्ही...
Translation
[1r]
[Unknown seal]
1141
Śrī Jaṅganaṃda Prakāśeśvara --- 2
Śrī 3 Sarkāra --- 1
Hail! A purjī from Commander-in-Chief General Sir Bhīma Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā, KCVO, who is a prince born of a prince, to the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā under -1- (i.e. Śrī 3 Sarkāra)2
Uprānta: For purposes of distributing [travel] expenses to ascetics (sādhu-santas) undertaking a pilgrimage to the four dhāmas,3 hand over an amount of 200 rupees, in the form of two 100-rupee notes, to Lieutenant4 Syāmabāhāudura Sāhī, regardless of which entry number they correspond to, after recording the expenditures in the account book of the -2- (i.e. Śrī Jaṅganaṃda Prakāśeśvara)5 guṭhī,6 following the regulations mentioned in the Ain and savālas for your (lit. this) office. It will be deducted when accounts are cleared according to the account books that bear the signatures and seals of the said lieutenant.
Tuesday, the 2nd day (gate) of Māgha in the [Vikrama] era year 1969 (1913 CE). Auspiciousness.
Attesting that the copy is true to the original: Kharadāra (text: ṣa[radāra]) Bhava Prasāda Arjyāla; signature of the scribe: Śerabahādura
Commentary
This document illustrates how the Rāṇā administration integrated religious patronage into its bureaucratic and budgetary framework as a tool of governance. In issuing formal purjīs to fund ascetics’ pilgrimages, the state was actively supporting Hindu religious practice while reinforcing its own authority. The Rāṇā regime maintained a tightly organized administrative apparatus wherein all financial transactions, even for religious purposes, were subject to the legal code (Ain) and auditing protocols. This reflects the Rāṇās’ desire to ensure their religious legitimacy as well as bureaucratic control by using state-managed guṭhīs as financial checks on religion.
In economic terms, the document reveals the use of such institutional religious trusts to mobilize and regulate public funds. The guṭhī system, traditionally one of communal religious institutions, was increasingly absorbed into the state machinery during the Rāṇā period. Pilgrimage, while a spiritual endeavour, thereby became a channel for the redistribution of state resources in a way that enhanced the rulers’ moral capital. The directive to fund a pilgrimage to the four dhāmas using guṭhī funds shows how religious travel was institutionalized within the Rāṇā economy—treated not as a private act of devotion but rather as an act of public service administered through formal military and financial structures.