Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a lālamohara from King Surendra telling Colonel Kṛṣṇadhvaja Kuvara Rāṇā to provide substitute land nearer to the Tripurasundarī temple of Tripurākoṭ (VS 1911)

ID: K_0025_0028A

Edited and translated by Ramahari Timalsina in collaboration with Rabi Acharya
Created: ; Last modified: 2021-05-03
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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. 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 lālamohara from the king, who according to the date must have been Surendra, orders Colonel Kṛṣṇadhvaja Kuvara Rāṇā to provide land nearer to the Tripurasundarī temple in accordance with a request by Rīṣīkesa Pādhyā and Ratnacandra Pādhyā.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1य़ोदस्षतपह्लाकौसीबाटभैआय़ाको
2प्र.सुवेदारफत्यसींथापा ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯

1य़ोदस्षतकोप्रसस्ती
2आगेश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीकर्णेल•कृष्णध्वजकुव़रराणाजीकेआसीषऊप्रान्त
3जुमलात्रीपुराकोट्‌दराकाश्रीत्रीपुरसुंदरीदेवीकोलालमोहररह्याकोगुठीद्वार्कासाढे
4दसधमौलागढिकेआम्दानीवाहेकभुवोभंन्यादस्तुरकारुपैञामध्येमोमोहररुपैञा१००छ
5टाढाहुनालेनीत्यनैमीत्यकपुजाचलाऊनकठीनहुंछय़स्कोसट्टाऊठतीमीलाईत्रीपुराको
6ला•ताछीनगाऊ१लाऊनगाऊ१काज्मामध्येसट्टागरीवक्स्याश्रीत्रीपुरसुंदरीदेवीको
7पुजासुवीस्तासंगचल्दोहोभनीथानीवीष्नुदत्तपाध्याका[?]छोरारीषीकेसपाध्या

1स्हीडीप्वहादुर

[Unknown seal]

8रत्नचन्द्रपाध्या•ञाहावीन्तीगर्नआय़ारतजवीजगर्दाटाढाकोनगीचपारीअैंवमोजिम्‌
9ऊठतीमीलाईनीजगुठीकोसट्टागरीदीनुभंन्याठहर्‍यो•तसर्थ१९११सालकावालीदेषी
10लाईनीज•श्रीत्रीपुरसुंदरीदेवीकागुठीरह्याकोद्वार्काकोरुपैय़ाझीकीअैंवमोजिमउठती
11मीलाईजुमलात्रीपुराकोट्‌दराको•लाताछीनगाऊ१ लाऊनगाऊ१ काज्मामध्येसट्टाग
12राईदीगुठीसट्टाकोमोहरकोरुक्कालेषीतीम्रोमार्फतहालीञाहापठाऊन्याकामगर•ई
13तीसम्वत्‌१९११सालमीतीकार्तीकशुदी६रोज६शुभ्म्‌ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯

1ल–१७३
2दोपोनं–४१
3पानं–३१
4सीनं–६१

1भंनेनासुतुलसीदास
2हेर्नेनौप्रेमलाल

1१६१

1१३

Translation

[1r]

This document came earlier through the Kausī.

Pra.1 subedāraPhatyasīṃ Thāpā

Intitulatio of this document

Āge: Blessings to the venerable Colonel Kṛṣṇadhvaja Kuvara Rāṇā, a prince born of a prince

Uprānta: The glorious goddess Tripurasundarī located in the Tripurākoṭ sub-division of Jumalā has a guṭhī [located in] Dvārkā [operating] under a lālamohara. The guṭhī has [revenue of] 100 mohararupaiyā̃s, including the amount from the customary fee (dastura) called bhuvo but excluding the ten and a half [rupees] revenue [that goes] to Dhamaulā Gaḍhī. Rīṣīkesa Pādhyā and Ratnacandra Pādhyā, sons of the local man of standing Vīṣnudatta Pādhyā, came here2 with a request: “It is difficult to perform daily and casual worship when [the guṭhī lands] are far [from the temple];

Signature: Ḍīp Bahādura

[Unknown seal]

the worship of the glorious goddess Tripurasundarī would be continued more easily if [land in] Lātāchīna village 1 and Lāuna village 1 of Trīpurā were substituted, keeping the total revenue the same.” When [the proposal] was considered, it was deemed appropriate to substitute close[r] [guṭhī lands] for distant ones, while keeping the total revenue of the mentioned guṭhī lands the same in accordance with the Ain3 . Therefore, from the harvest of the year [VS] 1911 onwards, deduct rupees from the Dvārkā [land] in the possession of the guṭhī of the glorious goddess Tripurasundarī and, keeping the revenue the same in accordance with the Ain, substitute [land] from among the total [landholdings] of Lātāchīna village 1 and Lāuna village 1 of the Trīpurākoṭ sub-division of Jumalā. Make the substitution and draw up a rukkā relating to the guṭhī [land] substitution [based on] the [lāla]mohara. Write your [name in the document] as mārphat and send it to us (lit. here).

Friday, the 6th day of the bright fortnight of Kārttika in the [Vikrama] era year 1911 (1854 CE). Auspiciousness.

la - 173

do po no.- 41

pā no.- 31

sī no.- 614

The one who read out [the original]: Nā. su.5 Tulasīdāsa6

The one who rechecked [the copy]: Nau[sindā]Premalāla

161

Commentary

For more information about the temple of Tripurasundarī, see the Commentary of K_0093_0002C.

Notes

1. Probably an abbreviation of pramukha (‘chief’). [⇑]

2. They came to Kathmandu from Tripurākoṭ. [⇑]

3. The Ain started to be composed in VS 1908 and was first circulated in handwritten form before the editio princeps of VS 1927. A version of the Ain known as Aghi aghikā mukhatyāra bhaibhārādāraharule (…) 1908 sāla dekhi banāi baksyāko Āin, published in VS 1927 and preserved in the NAK as ca. la. naṃ. 2819, states this in fol. 8, 1. 20. [⇑]

4. It is unknown what the abbreviations la, do, po, pā and sī stand for and what the numbers refer to. Possibly they were added when the copies were checked for their agreement with the originals. [⇑]

5. An abbreviation of nāyaba subbā. [⇑]

6. This and the following marginal note identify the scribes who were involved in copying or checking the correctness of the copies. [⇑]

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.
dastura	[fr. P. dastūr] n. 1) customary fee. 2) custom, tradition, rule. See also daidastura.
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).
kausī	government treasury, see kausī tosākhānā
lālamohara	var. lālmohara, lālamohar, lālmohora; abbreviated mohara; n. royal document bearing the red seal.
mārphat / mārphata	var. marphaṭ, mārphaṭa; "through (the person of)" (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93).
mohararupaiyā̃	var. mohararupaiyām, mohararūpaiyā, moharaṭaṃkā (New.); often abbreviated as moru, morū, moharu, moharū, moharru, mohorru; n. monetary unit based on and equivalent to two eight-anna silver coins (moharas); in calculations usually broken down into four sukās, 16 ānās or 64 paisās (cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 93) or 256 dāmas; the exchange ratio with paisās was calculated differently at different times and in different parts of the kingdom, depending on the relative values of silver and copper, ranging between 52 and 80 paisās (Regmi 1982: 73). In documents sums are represented in four numerical fractions, with the rupaiyā represented by numbers; the sukās by one to three daṇḍas or the avagraha sign representing zero; the ānās by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags; the paisās again by daṇḍas or numbers; the dāmas by numbers or horizontal dashes.
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 )
nāyaba	[fr. A.] var. nāeva, nāaiva; adj. deputy, assistant.
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).
subedāra	n. commander of a military company (cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 137) consisting of 100 soldiers (N.R. Pant et al. 1969: 383), often placed in charge of a district (M.R. Pant 2002: 136; M.C. Regmi 1978: 229). According to Stiller (1981: 382), he is [below the subbā] the second highest commissioned officer, and, according to Whelpton (1991: 286), he is immediately senior to the jamadāra.
uprānta	var. uprāṃta, ūprāṃnta, ūprā̃nta, prāṃta; also yathocita uprānta; conj. after that, besides, in addition to, hereafter. In earlier prose and official documents, this word marked the beginning of a text or paragraph. It has no equivalent in English (Clark 1989: 231). In some (mostly Rāṇā period?) documents, it takes the form of yathocita uprānta.