Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a purjī from Bhīma Śamśera to the West no. 3 Bakyautā Aḍḍā ordering the purchase of cannabis for the ascetics at Kālamocanaghāṭa (VS 1959)

ID: K_0655_0030

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2024-06-18; Last modified: 2024-10-29
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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

In this purjī Commander-in-Chief General Bhīma Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā instructs the officials of the West no. 3 Bakyautā Aḍḍā to purchase up to 35 mohararupaiyā̃s of good-quality cannabis for the ascetics of the akhāḍās at the Kālamocanaghāṭa and visiting ascetics coming for the Śivarātrī festival of VS 1959.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री\

1श्री३सर्कार•
2\

1⟪34⟫

1३२नं

1स्वस्तिश्री•मद्राज•कुमार•कुमारात्म•जश्रीकम्यांडरइनचीफ्‌जनरल्•भीमसम्सेरजंङ्गराणा•वाहादुरकस्य
2पश्चीम्‌३लम्वर•वक्यौता•अडाकाहाकीम्कारि•न्दाहरूके•पुर्जीउप्रान्त•५९साल•काशीवरात्रीलाईका
3ल्‌मोचं•मारह्याका४अषडाका•साधुसंतहरू•लाई•र•सोसीवरात्री•कोमेलामा•आउनेदेसीपर्दे
4सीसाधु•संतफ•कीर•फकेडा•हरू•स्मेत्‌लाईषुव़ाउनानीमीत्ततेसअडाका•आम्दानी•मध्ये•कीफा
5ये़त्‌•साथ•असल्‌गाजामोरू•३५सम्मको•षरिदगरीतौल्‌दरषोली•चलानीलेषी¯ \ ¯ ¯तर्फगु•
6ठीवन्दोवस्त•अडामा•पुग्नेगरी•पौषमैन्हा•भरमा•चुक्तीगरी•पठाइदीनेकामगर•सोचलीनीव•
7मोजीम्‌•कोमोलवुझीलीमोल्‌•नीजअडामार्फत•भर्ना•हुंन्याछसोगाजा•लेहर्जानहोस•
8इतिसम्वत्‌१९५९साल•मीती•मार्ग•वदी२रोज२शुभम्‌¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[Invocatio:]

Śrī

[In the space above the main text:]

Śrī 3 Sarkāra

[In the left margin:]

no. 321

Hail! [This is] a purjī of the venerable Commander-in-Chief General Bhīma Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā (text: Bhīma Samsera Jaṅga Rāṇā Bāhādura), a venerable prince born of a prince, to the hākima and kārindās of the West no. 3 Bakyautā Aḍḍā (for Bakyautā Tahasila Aḍḍā).

Uprānta: For Śivarātrī of the [Vikrama era] year [19]59, in order to supply the ascetics (sādhu santa) living in the 4 akhāḍās at Kālamocana[ghāṭa] (text: Kālmocaṃ),2 and the native and foreign ascetics and mendicants (sādhu santaphakīra phakeḍā (for phakira phakaḍā))3 coming for that Śivarātrī festival (melā), purchase with [an eye to] frugality, using [as close as possible] up to 35 morus (for mohararupaiyā̃s) of your (lit. that) office's revenue, good-quality (asal) cannabis (gājā for gā̃jā), write a note (calānī), disclosing weights and rates, clear it in full [and] send [the goods] so that [they] reach the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā under [Śrī 3 Sarkāra]4 by the month of Pauṣa. Take charge of the goods5 that correspond to the calānī. The cost will be reimbursed through the said [Guṭhī Bandobasta?] Aḍḍā.6 Let there be no scarcity of cannabis.7

Monday, the 2nd of the dark fortnight of Mārga in the [Vikrama] era year 1959 (1902 CE).8 Auspiciousness.

Commentary

A month before this document, a similar order was sent to the West no. 2 Bakyautā Aḍḍā (see K_0655_0026). For documents relating to the akhāḍās' cannabis supply for the previous year, see K_0642_0024 and K_0642_0025.

For details on the quantities sent, the purchase rates and the amounts refunded, see the Commentary to K_0655_0026.

Notes

1. For these two registration numbers, see K_0655_0026 notes 1 and 2. [⇑]

2. For these four so-called "wrestling grounds" (akhāḍās) at Kālamocanaghāṭa, see K_0655_0026 note 3. [⇑]

3. For these two compounds, see also K_0230_0035 n. 1. [⇑]

4. Inserted from the space above the main text. [⇑]

5. The emendation of mola to māla is based on the parallel passage in K_0655_0026. [⇑]

6. Other documents (see Commentary to K_0655_0030) suggest that the actual reimbursement was carried out by the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā after it had received instructions to do so from the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā. See also K_0661_0003. [⇑]

7. Alternatively, one could also translate: "Let there be no loss [for your office] because of the cannabis", but a subsequent sentence in K_0382_0039 and K_0661_0003 makes the reading given in the translation more plausible. [⇑]

8. The date corresponds to 17 November 1902. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
akhāḍā	[fr. S. akṣavāṭa-] var. akhaḍā. n. lit. "wrestling ground", military station of ascetics; organised group of fighting ascetics. akhāḍās are found e.g. in the traditions of the Śaiva Daśanāmī, the Vaiṣṇava Vairāgī and the Sikh affiliated Udāsī (Clark 2012).
Bakyautā Tahasila Aḍḍā	var. Vakyautā Tahasīla Aḍa, Vakyautā Aḍā; n. offices established to collect revenue on taxable lands. Prior to their establishment in 1860s, collection of such revenue was done traditionally by village headmen and other non-official functionaries (cf. Regmi RRS 11 (2): 18-19).
calānī	var. calāni; n. a note or letter pertaining to an order or consignment (calāna); an invoice, a letter of dispatch; committal.
gā̃jā	[gañjā-] var. gāṃjā, gājā; dried buds of the female hemp plant (Cannabis sattiva L., Cannabis indica Lam.); Marijuana.
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā, Guṭhi Bandobasta Aḍā; n. "Guthi Administration Office", office responsible for the management of guṭhīs; established under Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1852-1853 as replacement of the former Guṭhī Kacaharī. Its foundation marks the change from the guṭhīyāri system of the guṭhī management to the contractor based system; remained the central office to coordinate all offices subsequently established for handling different aspects of guṭhī management, including the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā and others. Separate Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 713-715).
Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for managing the expenses of the guṭhīs working under the head of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā; two separate Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs.
hākima	[H. fr. A.] var. hākim, hākīm; n. chief of an administrative unit, government office or court (Adhikari 1984: 349; Kumar 1967: 165; Michael 2012: 131; M.C. Regmi 2002: 299).
kārindā	[fr. P. kāranda] var. kārīṃdā, kārīndā; n. clerk or low-ranking official.
melā	n. 1. a large crowd (esp. for festivals); 2. fair, festival; 3. market; bazar.
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.
phakira phakaḍā	[phakira + phakaḍā] n. generic term for mendicants.
purjī	[fr. P. purja] var. purji, pūrjī; n. 1) slip of paper, note. 2) formal letter written by a government institution or an official to another institution or to a person.
sādhu santa	[sādhu + santa] n. generic term for holy men, ascetics.
śivarātri	[S.] var. śivarātrī; also mahāśivarātri; n. lit. "Śiva's night", festival in honour of Śiva celebrated in the night of the 14th of the dark fortnight, on a bigger scale (then called mahāśivarātri) in the night of the 14th of the dark fortnight of the month of Phālguna.
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.
śrī 3 sarkāra	lit. "three-times venerable ruler"; title used by the Rāṇā prime ministers (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266).
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.