Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal
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A lālamohara from King Pratāpasiṃha reconfirming Gosāī̃ Bhagavantanātha as central overseer of jogīs (VS 1833)

ID: DNA_0014_0050


Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2015-02-11; Last modified: 2023-05-22
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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, . 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 CCby-SA.

Abstract

In this lālamohara King Pratāpasiṃha Śāha reconfirms the appointment of Gosāī̃ Bhagavantanātha as central overseer (maṇḍalāi) of jogīs, orders officials throughout the country to collect for him one ānā from every household among specified groups and awards certain fines, fees and escheated property from the jogīs to the maṇḍalāi.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री­दुर्गा­सहाय­ः\

1श्री­गोसाइ­भगव़ंतनाथ­•

[Royal seal]

1स्वस्ति­श्रीगिरिराजचक्रचुडामणिनरनारायणेत्यादिविविधविरुदाव
2लिविराजमानमानोन्नतश्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजश्रीश्रीश्रीमहाराजेप्र
3तापसिंहसाहवहादूर्सम्सेर्जङ्‌देवानाम्‌­सदा­समरविजयिनाम्‌­¯¯¯
4आगे­•¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯जिके­•हाम्रो­मुलुक्‌भरिको­जोगिको­मंडलाइ­चर्‍‍हाँ
5इउँ­•हाम्रा­मुलुक्‌भरिका­•उमरा­•द्वार्या­•अमालिदार­•सभैले­•माझि­कु
6ह्माल­•दरवै़­•दनुव़ार­•नेव़ारकुह्माल­•कुसल्या­•थारु­•ज्वलाहा­•पहरि­कु
7सहरि­•थामि­•हायु­•सुनुव़ार­•चेपांग­•एति­जातका­•घरहि­एक्‌­एक्‌­•
8आना­दस्तुर­लिनु­•साज­विहान­षान­दिनु­•जोगिका­षत्‌•छित्‌­•दंडकुं
9ड­•मोरोअपुतालि­•महाषतछित­जोगिको­•टिको­अम्वलिको­•एस­हि
10सावले­अमालिदारले­तिराइदिनु­•वितलपका­कुरियामाहा­पनि­ति
11राइदिनु­•जो­छेक्‌थुन्‌­गर्ला­सो­अप्सरिया­होला­•इति­सम्वत्­१८३३­
12साल‌­अगहन­शुदि­८­रोज­४­मुकाम­•कांतिपूर­शुभम्‌­¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

[May the] venerable Durgā help.

The venerable gosāī̃Bhagavantanātha

[Royal seal]

Hail! [A decree] of him who is shining with manifold rows of eulogy [such as] "The venerable crest-jewel of the multitude of mountain kings" and Naranārāyaṇa (an epithet of Kṛṣṇa) etc., high in honour, the venerable supreme king of great kings, the thrice venerable great king, Pratāpasiṃha Śāha, the brave swordsman, the divine king always triumphant in war.

Āge: To --- 1 ji

We have offered you the office of central overseer (maṇḍalāi) of the jogīs throughout our country. [Have] all umarāus,2 dvāres, amālidāras throughout our country collect [for you] one ānā from every household of the [following] groups (jāta): mājhīs, kumhāles,3 darāis, danuvāras, nevārakumhāles, kusles, thārūs, julāhās, paharis, kusaharis, thāmīs, hāyūs, sunuvāras [and] cepaṅs.4 [Have them] offer food [to the jogīs] mornings and evenings. Have the amālidāras arrange [the money] to be paid [to you relating to] jogīs' illicit sexual relations (khatachita),5 [other] fines, escheated property (i.e. the property of jogīs who die childless), the mahākhatachita6 and the jogīs’ ṭiko7 according to the amāli's (text: aṃvali) rates for these. 8 [Have] the tenants (kuriyā) of bitalapa land9 also made to pay. He who obstructs [this arrangement] will be [considered] a rebel (apsariyā).

Wednesday, the 8th of the bright fortnight of Agahana (i.e. Mārgaśirṣa) of the [Vikrama] era year 1833 (1776 CE),10 the Kathmandu (text: Kāṃtipūra) residence. Auspiciousness.


Commentary

Bhagavantanātha, who had played an important role in the conquest of Kirtipur (see Bouillier 1991 [a]: 10f. with further references), was granted, among many other honours, the title of maṇḍalāi of jogīs for the first time in VS 1827 (1770 CE) through a royal edict of Pṛthvīnārāyaṇa Śāha (Bouillier 1991 [a]: 11f.; Naraharinātha VS 2022: 459; N.R. Panta et al. VS 2025: 1069; Unbescheid 1980: 26; cf. also K_0469_0009). Until the death of Pṛthvīnārāyaṇa he remained a spiritual and political advisor of the king (see e.g. Acharya 1969). The present document attests that he was also held in high esteem by Pṛthvīnārāyaṇa's son and successor, Pratāpasiṃha, who confirmed themaṇḍalāi status of Bhagavantanātha soon after he ascended the throne. Referring to earlier grants, King Raṇabahādura, too, reconfirmed the privilege in 1782 (K_0469_0008) and 1787 (K_0469_0010). After Bhagavantanātha's death a dispute arose among different claimants to his title (see Bouillier 1991 [b]: 159, 164).

The office of central overseer appointed by the king was not unique to jogīs (for the manamahanta of vairāgīs and other Vaiṣṇavas, see Burghart 1984; for the mahantamaṇḍalāi of sannyāsīs, see e.g. DNA_0015_0033; and for the sardārī of Muslim phakiras, see Gaborieau 1977: 36). However, it seems exceptional that, as in case of Bhagavantanātha, such an honour should have been granted without temporal limits and for "the whole country". Later appointments of overseers were usually made under the terms of a contract (ijārā) valid for one year and a certain part of the realm (see e.g. regarding the conferral of the yogīko maṇḍalāi title on Haranātha Jośī in VS 1887, Regmi 1975: 62; or the sannyāsīko mahantamaṇḍalāi title on Raṃjīta Giri in VS 1898, DNA_0013_0059, DNA_0015_0031 and DNA_0015_0033).

Notes

1. The addressee’s name, Venerable Gosāī̃ Bhagavantanātha, written at the blank space above the main text, is to be added here. [⇑]

2. D.R. Panta defines umarā of the present document as bhārādāra (D.R. Panta VS 2025: 34). [⇑]

3. D.R. Panta, in his edition, has mājhikuhmāla (D.R. Panta VS 2025: 34) but usually mājhīs and kuhmālas are understood as distinct groups (see e.g. Bista 1996: 140; Bouillier 1991 [a]: 11; Regmi 1970: 174 and Unbescheid 1980: 26). [⇑]

4. D.R. Panta, in his Nepali summary of the document, observes that the list excludes high-ranking castes and ethnic groups, such as the "bāhuna, kṣatrī, magara, guruṅ, tamaṅ" (D.R. Panta VS 2025: 35; cf. N.R. Panta et al. VS 2025: 1070). Later, in the Mulukī Ain (first promulgated in 1854), several of the groups mentioned in the list are classified as low-ranking "enslavable alcohol-drinkers" (Höfer 2004: 115, 117-120). Characteristic of the ethnic groups mentioned is that they retained a customary form of communal landownership known as kipaṭa (cf. Regmi 1976: 7, 88 and passim). On the kusles as customary supporters of the jogīs, see Bouillier 1991 [a]: 18f. n. 14. [⇑]

5. Concerning this term, see Gaborieau 1977: 253 n. 59; cf. Bouillier 1991 [a]: 11. [⇑]

6. The term mahākhatachita, although it occurs (in orthographic variants) in several other documents relating to the maṇḍalāi of jogīs, has not been found in other contexts so far. Similar lists of judicial revenues assigned to officeholders may feature the pañcakhata instead, the fine for heinous crimes (see e.g. Pant 2002: 78 and 86; for different definitions of pañcakhata found in the literature, see ibid.: 134f.) The latter term is also used in a lālamohara appointing Raṃjīta Giri as mahantamaṇḍalī of sannyāsīs (see DNA_0015_0033). Given such parallels, I tend to assume that pañcakhata is meant in the present context, too. [⇑]

7. The word ṭiko or ṭīkā, lit. a mark, was used for a fee (also known as ṭīkābheṭī or °bheṭa) levied during the autumnal Dasaĩ festival (for a description of the ṭīkā ceremony in the rāmānandī monasteries in Janakpur, see Burghart 2016: 210-212). Is the jogiko ṭiko, which is elsewhere (K_0469_0010) called maṇḍalīko ṭiko, such a fee paid by the jogīs to their maṇḍalāi? [⇑]

8. In an earlier document relating to the maṇḍalāi of Bhagavantanātha (K_0469_0009) only the khatachīta, daṇḍakuṇḍa and moroaputālī are mentioned. The present document provides further details and names the amālidāra as state official involved in the collection of these revenues for the overseer, not as formerly the dvāre and umarāu. This reformulated passage is then repeated with some variants (such as mahākhatachitako instead of mahākhatachita and hisābasaga instead of hisābale; see also fn. 7 above) in follow-up documents (K_0469_0008 and K_0469_0010). While D.R. Panta simply paraphrases that the document was issued to grant the right to enjoy, among other things, the escheated property of jogīs who died (jogīharū mare tinako aputālī khāna pāune ādi adhikāra diī; D.R. Panta VS 2025: 35; cf. N.R. Panta et al. VS 2025: 1070), I have tried to provide a complete translation of the sentence which, however, given the uncertain meaning of some of the items mentioned, is still tentative. [⇑]

9. Bitalaba (or bitalapa) is a category of birtā, granted instead of talaba (pay, wages), which obliges its beneficiary to work for the state when called upon to do so (Pant 2002: 132; Regmi 1978: 855). It is often exempted fron taxes and this might be the reason why it is specially mentioned here. In two later documents confirming Bhagavantanātha's privilege, the respective sentence is rephrased, mentions no kuriyās, but specifies that in the bitalapa (text: bītalapamāhā) the bitalapyā shall cause the money to be paid (see K_0469_0008 and K_0469_0010). [⇑]

10. The date corresponds to Pauṣa 7 gate VS 1833 (D.R. Panta VS 2025: 35) and 18 December 1776 CE. [⇑]