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A copy of a rukkā from King Rājendra exempting Viṣnupada Pādhyā and Badrī Pādhyā from annual payments in return for performing Dasaĩ rituals (VS 1895)

ID: K_0007_0043C

Edited and translated by Ramhari Timalsina and Astrid Zotter
Created: 2021-02-17; Last modified: 2021-12-13
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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, 2021. 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 from the king, who according to the date must have been Rājendra, exempts Viṣnupada Pādhyā and Badrī Pādhyā from paying 60 rupees in return for reciting the Veda and the Caṇḍī during the Dasaĩ festival in the Tripurasundarī temple in Jumla and performing the Dasaĩ rituals at the fort (koṭa) there.

Diplomatic edition

[22r]

⟪1ऐमारफत्⟫

⟪1से नं५४
2रुजु
3भंन्नेस्हीनौपुर्ण
4हेर्नेनौराम⟫

⟪1२६नं⟫

1त्रिपुरासुंडरीः

1रुक्कासौ
2आगे•थानि•विष्नुःपदपाध्या•वद्रीपाध्या•केजिल्लैजुमिला•दरा•त्रिपुराको•
3टमध्ये•व्यासतल्लि•फालचिल•पहरदार•व्यासगाउमासाल९४काजाचवाट•
4दरीय़ाकोज्मा•मध्ये•सोर्‍हगंडीपैसारूपैय़ा•६०तेसैदरा•काठेकथीतीकामोहर
5मातिम्हेरूकानाऊमा•मिनहागरी•वक्स्याकोछव्यासतल्लि•फालचिल•पहरदार•व्या
6सगाऊका•ज्मामध्ये•सोर्‍हगंडी⟪४६मारही⟫रूपैय़ा•६०किस्त•वमोजीम•सालवसाल•लि•अ•
7घिदेषि•गरीआय़ावमोजीम¯ ¯ ¯कास्थानमा•वेदर•चंदीपाठ•दसै२कोर•
8कोटमा•२दसै•कोपुजागरीहाम्रोजयेमनाई•सेषरह्याको•ली•भोग्‍यगरयोगाऊ•
9का•अरू•वाकीरूपैय़ाआफ्नाहातवाट•सालवसालरकीस्तवमोजीम•य़सैदरा•

[Unknown seal]

1स्हीडिडिप्‌वहादुर

[22v]

⟪1॥२२॥⟫

[Unknown seal]

1स्हीडि•डिप्‌वहादुर

10काजीम्माव़ाल•मार्फटवुझाई•आफ्ना•षातिर•जामासंग•जगागुलजारगर•ईतिसंम्वत्•
11१८९५साल•मिति•वैसाष•सुदी•१०रोज•६शुभम्

Translation

[22r]

Through (mārphat) idem1

se. no. 54, attested (ruju)2

The one who said: signature of Nau[sindā]Purṇa 3

The one who watched: Nau[sindā] Rāma

No. 264

Tripurasundarī (text: Tripurāsuṃḍarī)

This is an executive order (rukkā).

Āge: To the local [residents] Viṣnupada Pādhyā [and] Badrī Pādhyā

Of the sum that was fixed during the tax assessment of the year [18]94 in the villages of Vyāsatālle, Phālacila, Paharadāra and Vyāsa in the sub-divison (darā) of Tripurākoṭa in the district (jillā) of Jumla (text: Jumilā), a reduction of 60 rupees in sohragaṇḍī money has been made in your name in the mohara [issued] for the tax collection settlement (ṭhekathiti) of this darā. Take the 60 rupees annually in accordance with the instalments [specified in the ṭhekathiti] from the sum [fixed] for the villages, perform the recitations of the Veda and the Caṇḍī in the temple of [Tripurasundarī]5 during the 2 Dasaĩs, and the worship (pūjā) at the fort (koṭa) during the 2 Dasaĩs in line with what has been done since earlier times, celebrate our triumphs and enjoy what remains [after covering expenses], keeping [it for yourself]. Submit personally (lit. "with your own hands") [to us] the rest of the money (lit. "rupees") [specified in the contract] relating to these villages—every year and according to the [fixed] instalments—

[Unknown seal]

Signature: Ḍi[ṭṭhā]Ḍip Bahādura 6

[22v]

[p.] 22

[Unknown seal]

Signature: Ḍi[ṭṭhā] Ḍip Bahādura

through the jimmāvāla of the darā and make the land flourish, mindful of your duties.

Friday, the 10th day of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha in the [Vikrama] era year 1895 (1838 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

The document makes permanent a reduction that had previously been given as an annual privilege in a ṭhekathiti settlement for the darā of Tripurakoṭa composed of four specified villages, in the name of two Upādhyā Brahmins. In return the two Brahmins are ordered to perform the worship during the Dasaĩ festivals in the temple of Śrī Tripurasundarī with recitations and at the fort. From the phrasing of the document it appears that the two persons appointed were also responsible for fulfilling the rest of the ṭhekathiti obligations, which remain unknown, and for supervising the cultivation of land in the villages. Another copy of this document has been preserved as K_0093_0002U.

The Tripurasundarī temple referred to in the document is located on a hilltop within Tripurakot village development committee in Dolpa district. The expansion of the Gorkhālī kingdom towards the west was considerably advanced during the regency of Bahādura Śāha (1785–1794). Troops led by Kājī Śivanārāyaṇa Khatrī and Sardāra Prabala Rānā made the first attack on Jumla in 1787, and within two years secured victory over the kingdom (Hamilton 1819: 287–288, Bajracharya 1992: 92–96). After the expansion, many documents were issued to the settlement regarding tax collection in the area. Apart from the present document there are more, such as K_0012_0022, K_0012_0027B or ones within the batch K_0093_0002A to K_0093_0002Z, that are related to the management of land in Jumla and of its temples.

Notes

1. The document K_0007_0038A mentions the priest (purohita) Kavikulakesarī Paṃḍīta as being the one who signed the whole following batch of documents as mārphata in the original. [⇑]

2. It is unknown what the abbreviation se and the number refer to. Possibly they were added when the copies were checked for their agreement with the originals. [⇑]

3. This and the following marginal note identify the scribes who were involved in copying or checking the correctness of the copies. Similar notes are present in other documents (see e.g. the editions K_0013_0020B, K_0013_0020E, K_0013_0022B, K_0013_0033E or K_0015_0022B). [⇑]

4. This number refers to the place of the document in the government ledger archived as Book no. 4, which according to its front cover is from the Pahāḍa Baṃdobasta Phā̃ṭa and whose entries were microfilmed sequentially by the NGMPP from K_0007_0031 (front cover and index) up to K_0009_0014. The assemblage of bound material covers the main body (i.e. excluding the initial and final formalities) of 179 royal documents from the period VS 1892–1907 that pertain to guṭhī affairs. [⇑]

5. Inserted from the space above. [⇑]

6. This is the signature of the ḍiṭṭhā who probably oversaw the scribes in copying. His signature is found on most of the pages in the ledger. [⇑]

Glossary

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.
caṇḍī	[S.] n. 1) "the fierce one," name for a goddess, often for Durgā. 2) also (Durgā)saptaśatī; recitational form of the Devīmāhātmya, popularly recited on occasion of the Dasaĩ festival.
darā	n. revenue sub-division comprising a number of villages in the Baisi and the Jumla region (M.C. Regmi 1978: 161; M.C. Regmi 1988: 266), sub-division of a tahasila (Kumar 1967: 165).
dasaĩ / daśaĩ	[fr. S. daśāha] var. dasai; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina (baḍā dasaĩ) and, on a smaller scale, over the bright half of the spring month of Caitra (caite dasaĩ).
ḍiṭṭhā	var. ḍīṭṭhā, ḍiṭhā; a civil servant ranking above a mukhiyā and lower than a subbā (cf. Stiller 1981: 379). According to Edwards 1975: 107, ḍiṭṭhās originally had been the judges who presided over the courts in Kathmandu but later could serve in a number of other offices (such as the kausī, the hāttīsāra or the sadara daphtarakhānā; see also Kumar 1967: 165; M.C. Regmi 1978: 226). The Mulukī Ain distinguishes three categories of the ḍiṭṭhās; the jaṅgī kote ḍiṭṭhā (probably, combatant personnel), the lājimā ḍiṭṭhā and the ḍiṭṭhā in charge of Elephant or horse stable or cowshed (MA-54.31.11).
guṭha / guṭhi / guṭhī	[fr. S. goṣṭhī] var. guṭh, guthi; n. 1) a socio-religious organization that manages and finances religious and charitable functions, a trust. 2) “endowed lands or other sources of revenue for financing religious and charitable functions“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 132; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
jillā	var. jillai, jīllā; n. a major administrative district.
jimmāvāla	var. jimavāla, jimmavāla, jimvāla; n. a chief contractor (ṭhekedāra) who, before the introduction of the land administration, collected revenues from the lands in the hill region and submitted them to the government (Parājulī et al. 1995: s.v. jimmāvāla).
kājī	var. kāji; n. “an officer of ministerial rank superintending civil and military affairs“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 133; cp. Edwards 1975: 105).
koṭa / kota	n. 1) fort, typically built on hill-tops for military defense. 2) military builing for keeping weapons, arsenal. 3) place for maulo pūjā.
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.
nausindā	n. a scribe or a clerk of lower rank responsible of translating, registry and accounts; “They were the lowest rank of scribes. There were more personnel in this rank than in any other within the "civilian" hierarchy (and excluding the sipahis). A considerable number of them worked in the offices of registry and accounts. Nausindas registered the papers which came in and left the offices and copied letters and documents.“ (Edwards 1975: 109 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 228 ; Adhikari 1984: 354 ; Kumar 1967: 167 )
pūjā	[S.] var. pujā; n. 1) worship, honour. 2) formal worship ritual of a revered being with offerings.
purohita / pureta	[fr. S. purohita] var. prohita, prohīt; n. 1) house-priest called to carry out domestic rituals, chaplain. 2) house-priest and principal advisor of the king; cf. rājapurohita. 3) generic term for priests officiating in rituals.
ruju	var. rujū; (physically) present, attested (Pant and Pierce 1989: 94; Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 185).
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.
sardāra	n. “a top-ranking official next in hierarchy to a kājī“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 135; cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 94; M.C. Regmi 1978: 163 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 229 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 865; M.C. Regmi 1999: 137); "A military officer in the early Shah period; later, the designation of a civil officer also." (Kumar 1967: 167 ); "Kumar states they were of the nobility and "occupied civil and military offices of importance". Our sources place four of them in charge of the districts of Ilam, Salyan, Jumla, and Pokhara, and one at the fort at Chisapani. One was in China (perhaps as a member of the mission sent to the Emperor); one was a dittha of the courts; two were dadas (see below); and two or three were designated as "hajuria". Hajurias were "always present" with the King and served as personal attendants and body guards." (Edwards 1975: 105 ).
sohraganḍī	var. sorhagaṃḍī n. coinage system according to which 16 ganḍās are equal to one rupee, in contrast to the paccīsagaṇḍī system (Walsh 1908: 693–694).
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).

Bibliography

Bajracharya, Bhadra Ratna. 1992. Bahadur Shah: The Regent of Nepal (1785-1794 A.D.). New Delhi: Anmol Publications.
Hamilton, Francis. 1819. An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal and of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha. Edinburgh: A. Constable.