Documenta Nepalica

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

Version with DOI and citation guidelines

A copy of a lālamohara from King Gīrvāṇayuddha exempting eight Kusles from corvée for their services at the temples of Paśupatinātha and Jayavāgīśvarī [VS 1863]

ID: K_0030_0024A

Edited and translated by Axel Michaels in collaboration with Raju Rimal
Created: 2020-11-29 ; Last modified: 2021-08-12
For the metadata of the document, click here

Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2020. 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 Gīrvāṇayuddha, exempts eight Kusles from corvée for their services at the temples of Śrī Paśupatinātha and Śrī Jayavāgīśvarī. They are entitled to receive the offerings of mahāsnāna and mahābali pūjā. This office is hereditary.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

[Unknown seal]

1आगेविश्नुदासकुसल्यास्मेट्‌जना८कुसल्याकेअघीदेषीषाईआय़ा•
2कोटोलरजागीरषेट्‌मुरी१५०मरमहसुलमाफ्‌गरीनीत्येसाजवेहा
3नश्रीपसुपतीनाथश्रीजये़वागीश्वरी•मावाजावजाउनुटहलमारा•
4षीअवउप्रान्त•तीमीहरूआठ्‌जनाकोडंडकुंडमरोअपुताली•जोभैआ
5उछसोश्रीपसुपतीनाथश्रीजये़वागीश्वरी•प्रतीगरीडीठावीसेट्‌ह
6रूवसीभंदारडाषीलगर्नुगरीतीमीहरूकोझारावेठ्‌वेगारी•उज्या
7उनी•पज्याउनीसागुन्याफागुमाफ‌गरीमाहासनानमाहावली•
8दीय़ाकोभातषनीआठैजनालेमात्रषानु•अरुकसैलेदगावाजी•
9नगर्नुगरीतपसीलमाफीकटहलमारूजुरह्यासम्मतीमीहरूकोसं
10तानपरयें़तषोसमोसनगर्नुगरीवंधेजवाधीवक्स्यौआफ्‌नाषा•
11तीरज्मासंगटहलमारूजुरही•अघीदेषी•षाईआय़ाकोटोलको
12आईउपतीलीभोग्येगर•कसैलेअमालीकोलागनास्ती¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯१
13तपसील

[table1]

1	नाईक्याविश्नुदासकेझ्याली¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१	नाईक्याधीर्जनारांसहनाई¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१
2	कृश्ननाथसहनाई¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१	अषीनाथसहनाई¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१
3	सीवनाथझ्याली¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१	जसनाथफेरी¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१
4	कर्नाली¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१	ढोलकी¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१

18इतीसम्वट्‌मीतीसदर¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

[Unknown seal]

Translation

[1r]

[Unknown seal]

Āge: [To] 8 Kusalyās including Viśnudāsa Kusalyā, who have long enjoyed [their] ṭola and the jāgīra land amounting to 150 khetamurīs, who have been exempted from paying taxes (mahasūla), and who have been assigned to the Śrī Pasupatīnātha [Temple] and the Śrī Jayevāgīśvarī [Temple] for serving and playing music regularly [every] evening and morning. Now the regulation: If judicial fines and penalties [or] escheat property are owed by [any] of you eight people, you shall from now on deposit them in the presence of the ḍiṭṭhā and biṣet officials in the treasury for the benefit of (pratī garī) Śrī Paśupatinātha and Śrī Jayevāgīśvarī; you shall be exempted from ujjyāunī pajyāunī1 , forced labour (jhārā, beṭha, begāra), [and] from sāune phāgu, [and] you eight people alone shall enjoy the cooked rice offered on the occasion of the mahāsnāna2 and māhābali3 rituals. No one shall act perfidiously [regarding this rule]. As long as you perform service according to the particulars (below), [no one] shall seize [these benefits] from you and your descendants. Be dutifully present in service and enjoy the income from the ṭola, which you have been enjoying since times gone by. No amālī shall claim this.

Particulars:

[table1]

Nāike Viśnudāsa: jhyālī (cymbals)	1	Nāike Dhīrjanārāṃ: sahanāī (shawm)	1
Kṛśnanātha: sahanāī	1	Aṣīnātha: sahanāī	1
Sīvanātha: jhyālī	1	Jasanātha: pherī (trumpet)	1
karnālī (trumpet)	1	ḍholakī (barrel drum)	1

The era [and] date are valid.4

[Unknown seal]

Commentary

The document is a copy of a lālamohara presumably issued by King Gīrvāṇāyuddha Vikrama Śāha from VS 1863 since it comes together with a similar document exempting Kusles from corvée for playing musical instruments at the Śrī Cāmuṇḍā Temple of Bhaktapur (K_0030_0024B).

Playing music at the Paśupatinātha Temple has a long documented tradition going back to Pratāpa Malla’s inscription of NS 764 (1644 CE). For details see Ṭaṇḍana VS 2042 and Michaels 1994: 148–150.

Notes

1. Read: ughāunī paghāunī [⇑]

2. “Great (ritual) bath,” an elaborate full moon ritual, especially celebrated at the Paśupatinātha Temple that implies a great number of ingredients and people (see Michaels 1994: 142–5 for an elaborate description of the ritual). [⇑]

3. “Great sacrifice” of five animals. See Michaels (1994: 144) on the mahābali ritual at Paśupatinātha. [⇑]

4. The year VS 1863 (1806 CE) is given in the index and at the beginning of some of the previous entries (e.g. K_0030_0021A or K_0030_0026C); Cp. also the index (sūcīpatra) of the lālamoharas to the Jaisi Koṭhā (VS 1847–1864). [⇑]

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.
amāli / amālī	[fr. A.] var. amāli, ambāli, amvalī, aṃvalī; also amālidāra; n. a revenue official or functionary of a regional administrative unit (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93, M.R. Pant 2002: 131). According to Krauskopff and Meyer he had only "minor judicial powers" (Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 183). Kumar further notes that he was a "subordinate civil functionary in the tehsil" (Kumar 1967: 164). His office was called amala (cf. Adhikari 1984: 344, M.C. Regmi 1978: 853).
begāra	[fr. P.] var. begārī, bigārī; n. 1) a work exacted with no or meager payment. 2) forced and unpaid labor for purposes such as porterage, construction and digging (cf. R. Shaha 1990/vol.1: 207, M.C. Regmi 1978b: 854; cf.: M.C. Regmi 1999: 136). 3) Requisition of labourers for emergency requirement (M.C. Regmi 1965: 53). 4) compulsory porterage services, usually unpaid (cf. Michael 2012: 130).
beṭha / beṭhī	[fr. S. viṣṭi] var. beṭhi; n. usually written together with another term 'begāra'; 1) A type of unfree labour, generally employed in farms on a customary basis (cf. R. Shaha 1990/vol.1: 207, M.C. Regmi 1965: 53). 2) a tax levied on homesteads in the hill region; the commuted value of beṭha labor (M.C. Regmi 1978: 854). 3) a festival in the planting season (Parājulī et al. VS 2052: s.v.).
biseṭa	var. biseṭ, viseṭ, viseṭa, besata; n. 1) a temple steward (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 855) or a person responsible for administering a religious institution. 2) an official responsible for accountancy of temple trusts, as e.g. of the Paśupatinātha Bhaṇḍāra (Michaels 1994: 158-161). Michaels renders the term as "viśeṣ" and relates the different spellings attested to Skt. viśeṣa (ibd.: 160 n. 138). As the earliest reference quoted goes back to the Malla period (NS 794) and renders the term as beseta (G. Vajrācārya 1966: 23) it seems more likely that the term comes from Newari and is a variant of New. besata/byaṣṭa, "messenger" (cp. Malla et al. 2000: s.v.).
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).
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).
jhārā	n. forced labor, unpaid work or assistance exacted from the people by the government or a landlord for the cause of the state or public welfare; can also be commuted into cash payment (M.R. Pant 2002: 133; M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
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).
kusle	var. kusalyā; n. untouchable caste fellows who have the profession of cleaning royal houses or courtyards and temples as well as playing musical instruments in the temples.The Mulukī Ain classifies the caste of Kusles as the 10th lowest (superior to Cyāmes, Poḍhes, Vādīs, Gāinyās, Damāī̃s, Kadārās, Kāmī, Sārkī, Kulu and Hindu Dhobī) among the Untouchable castes (MA-54.160.10). In the former social setting, Kusles used to reside in a sataḥ, a two-story building made for the Jogīs to reside but not owned by them. Kusles use the surnames like Darśandhārī or Kapālī and live in such sataḥ (sataḥchẽ) built in almost every twāḥ or ṭola. They keep the records of the new births and deaths in the families of the neighborhood. The social responsibilities of the Jogī community include receiving the offerings from the families that are observing the purificatory rites after any new birth or death in the family. The Jogī community is offered nhaenumābva (a set of all the dishes prepared for the feast during the purificatory rite of the 7th day of the death in the family), sībva (similar set of dishes especially dedicated to the deceased), etc (Mali NS 1130: 223)..
lālamohara	var. lālmohara, lālamohar, lālmohora; abbreviated mohara; n. royal document bearing the red seal.
mahasūla	var. mahasula; n. 1.) a certain type of tax on land levied on certain categories of birtā lands or guṭhī endowments (M.C. Regmi 1978: 862 ). 2) “Public income from any source“ (Adhikari 1984: 353 ).
nāike	[fr. Skt. nāyaka] var. nā̃īke, nāeka; n. lit. "leader". 1) can refer to a leader of any kind of group, locality, duty etc. 2) headman (similar to pradhāna), especially of a Newar village. 3) leader of a rakam work team..
sāune phāgu	var. sāunya phāgu, sāunyā phāgu, sāunya phāghu; n. a homestead levy (valaka) collected in the hill districts, including Kathmandu Valley, during the months of Śrāvaṇa and Phālguna every year (cf. M.C. Regmi 1971: 230; M.R. Pant 2002: 136). According to M.C. Regmi (1995: 27-28) it originally served the supply of foodstuff to the royal household, and was converted into a cash payment in 1807. Normal households had to pay half the amount of landowners and local functionaries. The rates were revised in 1813.
ṭola	[fr. New. tvāḥ/tvāla, Old New. tvāra] n. a quarter of a town or village; a part of a town inhabited by persons often belonging to the same community or caste; the distinguishing feature being a separate shrine of Ganedyaḥ/Gaṇeśa (Pant and Funo 2003).
ughāunī paghāunī	[ughāunī + paghāunī] var. ūghāūnī paghāūnī; n. 1) homestead taxes. 2) collection of taxes such as sāunephāgu etc. and its submission to the revenue office (cf. Parājulī et al. 1995: s.v. ughāunī).

Bibliography

Michaels, Axel. 1994. Die Reisen der Götter. Der nepalische Paśupatinātha-Tempel und sein rituelles Umfeld. Bonn: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag.
Ṭaṇḍana, Govinda. VS 2042. "Śrī paṣupatinātha mandiramā bājā sambandhī vyvasthā; ek carcā." Śaiva-Bhūmi 3 (2): 15-41.