Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a lālamohara appointing Dhanapuṃcā Kumāla the caretaker of the Tripureśvara temple garden in Kathmandu (VS 1879)

ID: K_0019_0019A

Edited and translated by Marija Grujovska
Created: 2024-04-06; Last modified: 2024-09-21
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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 lālamohara appoints Dhanapuṃcā Kumāla the caretaker of the garden within the premises of Tripureśvara temple in Kathmandu.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

श्री1त्रीपुरेश्वरमाहादेव•

1७७

1नं•८७
2वगैचाकोचीताईदार
3ते•पोनं४२
4पानं१८
5सीनं३१
6भंनेस्हीनौहर्ष
7हेर्नेरुजुडी•डीपवाहादुर¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
8थपको १ठाउभेटेको
9१थाउमाछापछुट्

1आगेधनपुंचा•कुमालके----कावगैचाकोचीतईदारीना•
2ईक्यावक्स्यौं•आफ्ना•षातीर•ज्मासीतआफुलाईलाग्याकोका
3ममारुजुरही•तपसीलमाफीक्‌कोषां•गीषेत•१।१लीजागीरजानी
4भोग्यगर¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯
5तपसील

[table1]

1	हाडीगाऊकनकसीं•कार्कीहरुलेवीर्‍हाय़ाकोमटवाहाल षेतमुरी¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯	।६०
2	पाटंसींहदेउसाल्मी•लेषाय़ाकोकोटषावावाहीकसा नीपाकुजु•षेतमुरी•¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯	।४१

6ईतीसम्वत•१८७९साल•मीतीप्रथमआश्वींवदी६रोज७शुभ्‌

Translation

[1r]

[In the upper left margin:]

771

[Space above the main text]:

Śrī Trīpureśvara Māhādeva

[In the left margin:]

No.(naṃ) 862

[Concerning] the citāīdāra of a garden

te bundle (po[ka])3 no.142

pā no.18

sī no.31

The one who said: signature of nau[sindā]Harṣa.

The one who was present [when the original was being] read out: ḍi[ṭṭhā]Ḍīpa Bahādura.

An additional [seal] found in one place

In one place the seal has broken off

[Main text:]

Āge: To Dhanapuṃca Kumāla

We [hereby] appoint you the chief caretaker (cītāīdārīnāīkyā) of the garden of — (i.e.,Tripureśvara Mahādeva [temple])5 . Mindful of your duties, remain present at the work entrusted to you, take and consider the emolument (khānagī) of 1|1 khetas specified in the particulars (tapasila) as your remuneration (jāgira) and enjoy [it].

Particulars (tapasila):

[table]

	[In] Hāḍīgāū, [in] Maṭa Bāhāla 6 cultivated by Kanaka Sīṃ Kārkī etc., khetamurī	\|60
	[In] Pāṭaṃ, [in] Sānīpā Kuju 7 enjoyed by Sīṃha Deu Sālmī (except Koṭ Khāvā) 8 , khetamurī	\|41

Sunday, the 6th of the dark fortnight of the first Āśvina9 [in the Vikrama] era year 1879 (1822 CE) 10 . Auspiciousness.

Commentary

The current document appoints Dhanapuṃcā Kumāla the chief caretaker (cītāīdārīnāīkyā) of the Tripureśvara temple garden in Kathmandu. In the broader context of temple oversight, the term implies the management of the temple treasury, homesteads, and guṭhi (M.C. Regmi 1972 (No.4)):80. In VS 1879, an additional 34 persons were appointed to assist in the oversight and upkeep of the Tripureśvara garden (K_0014_0005B). Although the exact duties of the cītāīdāra of the Tripureśvara temple garden remain unknown, it can be assumed that Dhanapuṃcā Kumāla may have been responsible for the garden's maintenance, compensating the other people working at the garden and managing its proceeds.

Notes

1. This is likely the page number of the assemblage of lālamohara texts (dating from VS 1861-1913) archived as BK 13, whose entries were microfilmed sequentially from K_0018_0026 (front cover and index) up to K_0019_0042D. [⇑]

2. This number added by a later hand refers to the place of the document in the government ledger (cf. previous note). [⇑]

3. While the abbreviation, po, probably stands for pokā ("bundle"), it remains unclear what words the following pā and sī are abbreviations of. That these indeed are abbreviations is clear from preceding entries, where the same syllables are followed by a dot. [⇑]

4. This marginal note likely refers to the document from which the present document was copied. It describes the position and condition of its seals. The exact meaning of the note is not clear. It suggests that a new seal was placed on top of one that had broken off or that a seal was added later because it had been previously forgotten. [⇑]

5. Added from the space above the main text [⇑]

6. The reading is unclear. Probably a name of a place. Bāhāla suggests a Buddhist monastic building, but one of that name does not seem to be located in Hadigaun. [⇑]

7. Probably the name of a place. [⇑]

8. The reading is unclear. Probably a name of a place. [⇑]

9. The year VS 1879 had an intercalary month of Āśvina. [⇑]

10. According to the date, the issuer of the original lālamohara must have been King Rājendra Vikrama Śāha. [⇑]

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.
citāīdāra	[N.] n. caretaker, manager. The documents referred to by M. C. Regmi in which the term occurs indicate that it is often used for persons entrusted with the oversight or managment of temples (M. C. Regmi 1971 (No. 2): 80; M. C. Regmi 1972 (No. 4): 130), guṭhīs (M. C. Regmi 1988 (No. 6-7): 76) or crown land (Regmi 1976 (No. 2): 36).
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).
jāgira	var. jāgīra; n. "lands, homesteads, villages and other sources of revenue assigned to government employees as remuneration for their services" (M.C. Regmi 1999: 136).
khānagī / khānkī / khāngī	n. 1) salary, wages, or an annual emolument. 2) emoluments of government employees and functionaries, generally in the form of land assignments (M.C. Regmi 1978: 227; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 860; Adhikari 1984: 351). 3) rents accruing from the lands assigned to jāgiradāras (cf. M.C. Regmi 1965: 18-19).
kheta	[fr. S. kṣetra] var. khet, kheṭ; n. 1) irrigated land in the hill region suitable for the cultivation of rice and wheat. 2) a measure of land in the hill region equal to 25 ropanīs or 100 murīs (ca. 1.25 hectares) (M.C. Regmi 1999: 136-137 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 234 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 162 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 227 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 860 ; M.C. Regmi 1995: 77; Adhikari 1984: 351; M.R. Pant 2002: 133; Whelpton 1991: 284 ).
khetamuri	var. ṣetamuri, ṣetamurī; n. unit of land measurement in the hill region, comprising 1/4 ropanī with 100 khetamuris in 1 kheta. The area varied according to the grade: 1190 sq. ft. for lands of the best grade, and 1339 sq. ft., 1487 sq. ft., and 1785 sq. ft. for lands of inferior grades. see muri / murī 1).
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 )
śrī	[S.] n. word of blessing, can be used as apprecatio, in which case it means 'good fortune' (Pant and Pierce 1989: 12), can be used as a prefix to names of persons and gods, in which case it means 'venerable' or 'glorious' respectively. The number of śrīs used varies, depending on context.
tapasila	[fr. A.] var. tapasīl, tapasīlā, tapsīl; n. particulars, details; can be a self-sustained document, but is more often appended as a list after the narratio of documents.