A purjī from the Thāpāthali Gu. Ban. Aḍḍā instructing Kharidāra Hari Lāla to submit report re repair of rest house within seven days (VS 1948)
ID: K_0600_0003
Edited and
translated by Nirajan Kafle and Rajan Khatiwoda
Created: 2025-07-10;
Last modified: 2025-12-09
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Abstract
This purjī (note) from the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā fines an official for the delayed submission of the accounts of the Vīrabhakteśvara Tīnadhārā Pākasālā Guṭhī and warns of further penalties under the Mulukī Ain.
Diplomatic edition
[1r]
1श्री1⟪73⟫1स्ही::हस्तेवीरवहादुर1स्वस्तिश्रीथापाथलिगुठिवन्दोवस्तअडाकस्येगुठिगुठिकाषर्चअडाकाषरीदारहरिलाल2केपुर्जिउप्रांततीमिलेकाम्गरेकोश्रीधीरभक्तेश्वरतीन्धारापाकसालागुठिकोपाटीपौवाभ
3त्केवीग्रेकोवनाय़ाका४८सालजेष्ठवदि८रोजदेषीआषाडसुदि१रोजतक्१।२३कोढपोट्
4कीत्ता२साल४८कार्तिकवदि७रोजमादाषील्हुनुपर्न्येसोम्यादभीत्रदाषीलनगर्दाल
5म्वरकाअैनवमोजीम्मोहरुपैया१५तीमिलाईजरीवानाभयाकोछसोजरीवानाकोरुपैयार
6सोढपोट्कित्ता२स्मेत्दाषीलाम्याददिन७भीत्रमायस्अडामादाषील्हुन्यागरीचाडोपठा
7उनुपठायेनौभन्यावहिवुझ्न्याका६लम्वरकाअैनवमोजीम्भैआऊलाइतिसम्वत्१९४८
8सालमितीकार्तिकवदि९रोज२शुभम्¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
Translation
[1r]
731
Signed by the hand of Vīra Bahādura
Hail! This is a purjī from the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā.
The purjī (letter) is addressed to KharīdāraHarilāla of the Kharca Aḍḍā, [responsible for] various guṭhīs. Henceforward (uprānta): Concerning the tasks you carried out for the Venerable Dhīrabhakteśvara Tīnadhārā Pākasālā Guṭhī—namely, the renovation of the rest-house (pāṭī) and the water shelter (pauvā) that had collapsed—two copies of the ledger (ḍhapoṭ kittā 2), numbered 1/23, covering the period from [weekday?] the 8th of the dark fortnight of Jyeṣṭha, Vikrama [era] year 1948 [i.e. 1891 CE], until the 1st of the bright fortnight of Āṣāḍha, were required to be submitted by the 7th of the dark fortnight of Kārtika, Vikrama [era] year 1948 [1891 CE].
Since they were not submitted within the stipulated period, you have been fined 15 mohara-rupaiyā in accordance with the [xx Section] Number of the Ain. Therefore, you shall, within seven days from the deadline, send the fine amount together with two copies of the ledger to this office. If you do not comply, then, according to [Section] Number 6 of the Ain “On Bahi Bujhanyā” (Receiving Accounts), further action may be taken.
Written on Monday, the 9th of the dark fortnight of Kārtika, Vikrama era 1948 (1891 CE).
Auspiciousness.
Commentary
This directive highlights the state’s emphasis on financial accountability in late 19th-century guṭhī management and the multiple layers of account regulation. Although it refers to physical neglect, the central issue is the delayed submission of accounts, penalized with fines in accordance with the Mulukī Ain and reinforced by threats of further legal action. As already shown to some extent (see Khatiwoda 2018; Khatiwoda 2024 on the implementation of the Mulukī Ain of 1854), such cases challenge the notion that the 18th- and 19th-century Nepalese administration operated arbitrarily. Rather, it was already extensively guided by Nepal’s first comprehensive legal code, the Mulukī Ain of 1854 and its subsequent amendments.
The directive refers to specific articles and sections of the Mulukī Ain to justify fines for the delayed submission of accounts and to impose additional penalties for continued noncompliance. Even without detailing the precise clauses, the reference itself is revealing—it shows that the Ain was invoked not only in judicial verdicts, where such citation was expected, but also in routine administrative communications. This document thus clearly illustrates that the Mulukī Ain of 1854 was not merely a theoretical or scholarly composition modeled after dharmaśāstra texts, but a codified legal instrument actively applied in the governance of late 19th-century Nepal.