Documenta Nepalica

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

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A letter from Dhīra Śamśera renewing the annual lokābhāra contract for contractors from Sāmā Gāũ (VS 1924)

ID: L_1200_0029

Edited and translated by Rajendra Shakya in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya and Nadine Plachta
Created: 2018-08-16; Last modified: 2023-01-24
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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, 2019. 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 letter from Dhīra Śamśera formalizes the annual lokābhāra contract in the name of Nimā Taṃbe Ghyāpo from the Sāmā Gāũ sector of Ruībhoṭ and strictly orders that local products like wax and musk not be sold elsewhere, but deposited into his treasury as part of the lokābhāra payment.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री

1श्रीराज
2१

[Seal of Dhīra Śamśera]

1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजपुर्वतर्फकाकम्यांडिङ्‌‌जनरलश्रीधीरसम्सेरजङ्‌गराणाकस्यपत्र
2म्‌¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
3आगेहाम्राजनरलिषान्गीमादरियाकोअठारसयेषोलामध्येसामागाउकामुषियानिमातंवे
4घ्यापोरैतानगैह्रके[...]१को१९२५सालआश्विनसुदि१रोजदेषिसालवसालआफ्‌
5नाआफ्‌‌नागाउगाउमादरियाकोवाजविसेर्मास्याफलसिर्तिदरिचलिआयाकोरकमकल[...]
6डडकुंडमर्‍‍योअपुतालिचाकचकुइअमालिलेषान्यारकमकलममारिमेटिशिवाये¯ ¯१¯
7अंककल्ल्यानधनधर्माधिकारपंचषतरहतावहतावाहेक वाज्वीमोरु१८१अस्मानिथप
8मोरु १६५||ज्मावेमौजरैमोहोर्रु३४६||रदापचाकोनुन्‌‌पाथि|८|स्मेत्‌‌वर्ष१कोतिर्नुति[...]
9हरुलेआफ्ना गाउघरमामुषियामुषियाकाझगडापर्‍‍योभन्यारअरुठुलाज्यूजमिनकाकुरापरिआयामामुषियाहरुका नाउमाफिर्‍‍यादपर्‍‍या
10माहेर्चाह गर्नालाईद्वार्‍‍यावक्स्याहाम्रापट्टावेदर्ताभयाकारकमकलमस्मेतअसुल्‌‌तहसिल्‌‌गर्नन्‌‌भनितिमिहरुलेविंतिगर्‍‍यामा[...]
11कद्वार्‍‍यापठाई वक्सौलासो वमोजिम्‌‌परिआयाकाकाम[...]तिमिहरुस्मेत्‌‌सवैसामेल्‌‌भैमद्दतदिनुफर्मायेसिजिन्सीमालहरु[...]

[1r-part2]

12हियामालेषिगयामुताविक्‌‌गाउकादरभाउलेदिनुभंन्यागरिलोकाभारगरिवक्स्याकोछगाउघरवसिरस्तिचलाईवस्तिवसाई
13अवाद गुल्‌‌जारगरिरैतिराजिराषिजाञिगर्नुविजाञिविदुतनगर्नुअंन्यायगरिरकमकलमवढाईदुखनदिनुडंडकुंडगर्दामु
14षियागाउघरसवैवसिषतमाषतअनुसारअैनवमोजिम्‌‌गर्नुअंन्यायमारकम्‌‌कलमवढाइदुषदिलियोभनीकोहिरैति कराउना
15आयोभन्याजस्‌‌लेअंन्यायगर्‍याकाठहर्ला उस्‌लाईअैनवमोजिम्‌‌यतावाटगयाकाद्वार्‍‍यालेसजायगर्लाआफुआफुलेठेक्‌‌कवु
16लिलियाकोदामकामरदापचाकोनुन्‌‌मुषियारयेतलेषसोषास्‌‌उठाईमुषियामार्फततपसिल्‌‌वमोजिम्‌‌काकिस्ताकिस्तामा
17हाम्रातहविल्‌‌मावुझाईरसिदलिनुसालतमामभयापछिरसिदकव़जल्याईवासिलवाकिवुझाईफार्षतिलिजानुकिस्तामारुपै[...]
18नवुझाईफारक्‌‌लिनुसकेनौभन्याकिस्ताषिलााफ्‌‌सुतस्मेतरदापचाकोनुन्‌‌काअसन्‌‌कोविक्रिवुझाउनुपर्लाषतअनुसारआ[...]
19दानिगर्‍‍याकोज्माराषिज्मालेभर्नादिदानपुगन्याभयामामुषियारैतानसवैलेदामासाहिकाहिसापउठाईसालवसालकवु
20लवमोजिम्‌‌चुक्तिगरीवुझाउनुहामिवाटजिन्सीमाल्‌‌फर्मायसिभैआयाकोमाल्‌‌चलानगर्दाअघिचलिआयाकाअडाअडावा
21टचलाईदिनुसोहामिसंगदाषिल्‌‌भयाकाजिन्सीमालकामोल्‌‌मोजरापाउलाआफ्नाआफ्नागाउमाभयाकोमैनकस्तुरिअने
22त्रनवेचनुजोभयाकोञाहादाषिलगरीमिन्हालिनुञाहादाषिल्‌‌नगरिअनेत्रवेच्याकोठहर्‍‍योभन्यातिमिहरुलेअैनवमोजि[...]
23वुझाउनुपर्लाभनीलोकाभारकोपट्टागरीवक्स्यौंआफ्नाषातिरजमासंगलोकाभारजानिवस्न्याकामगर¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
24किस्तावंदितपसिल्

[table]

	मोहुडाकिस्तामाघमैन्हा	¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
	नगदिमोहर्रुरु¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१३७\|\|
	नुन्‌‌पानि¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	\|८\|
	चुक्तीकिस्ताआश्वीनमैन्हामामोहर्रु¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	२०९

29ईतिसम्वत्‌‌१९२४साल्‌‌मितिचैत्रसुदि३रोज१शुभ्म्¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

[Unknown Seal]

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Śrī Rāja- 1

[Seal of Dhīra Śamśera]

Hail! A letter from Commanding General of the Eastern Front Dhīra Śamśera Jaṅga Rāṇā, a prince born of a prince

Āge: To Nimā Taṃbe Ghyāpo, the mukhiyā, and all of the ryots (raitāna) and so forth of the Sāmā Gāũ sector within the Aṭhāra Saya Kholā region, which has been registered as [my] khānagī of [my] generalship

We have formalized a lokābhāra [lease contract] under the following terms:

"Except for Śrī rāja-aṅka 1 , kalyānadhana, dharmādhikāra pañcakhata and arrearages (rahatā bahatā)2 , [all other liabilities] – the scheduled sermā, syāphala and sirto [revenue], [and also] registered customary taxes and levies, and daṇḍakuṇḍa, maryo aputālī, cākacakui, along with rakamakalama enjoyed by the amāli, [all of which] have been imposed on each individual locality of the aforementioned Sāmā Gāũ on a yearly basis, shall [now] receive a complete exemption from the first of the bright fortnight of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1925 (1868 CE) [onwards]. You shall [therefore] submit a total of 346 mohararupaiyā̃s and 2 sukās, which includes the scheduled [tax] of 181 mohararupaiyā̃s and an additional asmānī levy of 165 mohararupaiyā̃s and 2 sukās, along with 8 pāthīs of salt from Dāpcā for [a period of] one year.

"We shall send a dvāre in accordance with your request since you made a supplication to us with the following details:

'If you send a dvāre to look into and adjudicate (lit. take care of) disputes among mukhiyās that arise in our villages and households, and [also] cases concerning other serious issues regarding life and land along with cases involving lawsuits against mukhiyās, then he can also collect due amounts that were not included (lit. registered) in our paṭṭā.'

"Accordingly, all of you shall participate in and assist any work that needs to be carried out. When [there are orders] in writing for certain items, make the purchase at the current rate in the village and dispatch (lit. give) them.

“Inhabit the [surrounding] countryside and keep the ryots well disposed by overseeing affairs, founding settlements and making crops flourish (ābāda guljāra garī). Do not cause injury and oppression. Do not cause suffering by imposing excess levies. Sit together, [you] the mukhiyā and all [the people] from the individual localities, and rule on fines and penalties in accordance with the Ain, depending upon the crimes committed. If any ryot comes to complain that [they] have suffered due to imposition of excess levies, then the dvāre, who has gone [to your village] from here (i.e. the capital) shall punish, in accordance with the Ain, anyone who is proven to have caused injustice.

“The mukhiyās and ryots shall scrupulously collect [revenue] that each of you has promised to submit in accordance with the lease contract, [including] salt from Dāpcā; as mentioned in the details [below], each village's instalment is to be submitted by the mukhiyās to our treasury, and a receipt [for it] obtained. Once the [fiscal] year ends, bring [all] the receipts and kabacas, submit the ledger (vāsila bā̃kī) and leave only after obtaining a phārakhatī. If [any of you] is unable to obtain a phārakhatī due to the non-submission of an instalment, you will have to pay interest on the instalment as well, and the market rate of Asana 3 for the salt from Dāpcā.

“If, when [the contractual amount] is submitted, the combined revenue from fines imposed [on offenders] according to the faults [they] have committed represents a shortfall [in the total amount agreed to be paid in the contract], then everyone, the mukhiyā [and] ryots, must contribute proportionally [to make up for the shortfall] and pay [the amount due] according to the annual contract.

“When dispatching items required by us, do so from the government office (aḍḍā) that was previously used. The price of the items deposited into our [treasury] shall be deducted [from the contractual amount due]. Do not sell elsewhere the wax and musk available in your village. Deposit all available [wax and musk] here [into our treasury] and get the reduction. If they are proven to have been sold elsewhere instead of being delivered to our treasury, then you [all] shall have to pay in accordance with the Ain."

[Tend the land] with content, considering [it] as a lokābhāra [lease contract].

Tapasila of the instalments:

[table]

	Muhuḍā4 instalment [for] the month of Māgha	- - -
	Mohararupaiyā̃s in cash	137 mohararupaiyā̃s 2 sukās
	Salt in pāthī	8 pāthīs
	Instalment to be cleared in the month of Āśvina	209 mohararupaiyā̃s

Sunday, the 3rd of the bright fortnight of Caitra in the [Vikrama] era year 1924 (1868 CE). Auspiciousness.

[Two unknown seals]

Commentary

This is one in a series of documents that formalize the renewal of the annual lokābhāra contract. Another document (L_0923_0004), issued on the same day as this one, formalizes a similar annual lokābhāra contract for Chāvā Gāũ of Ruibhoṭa within the Aṭhāra Saya Kholā region. Both mention certain exemptions to come into effect six months after they were issued.

The ranks, functions and jurisdiction of many posts set up in the Rāṇā administration are not always very clear. The posts of mukhiyā, dvāre and amālī, for all their difference, share a function: the collection of revenue. The mukhiyā mentioned in the document was presumably appointed at the local level. There were mukhiyās in the district and central administration as well. Among the three named posts, it is clear from the present document that dvāres ranked above mukhiyās within the local administration, as it states in two instances that (a) the dvāres sent from the centre would address issues arising from any petition is filed against the latter when there are arguments among them or other important work is left unattended; and (b) dvāres would punish any mukhiyā learnt to have acted unjustly to the ryots by imposing excess levies.

Notes

1. The phrase Śrī rāja is inserted from the space above. [⇑]

2. See Regmi Research Series, Year 13, No. 4 (Regmi 1981: 56). [⇑]

3. Asana was and still is one of the main markets of Kathmandu. [⇑]

4. There were altogether four muhuḍās, commonly known as gaũḍā in the Rāṇā administration. Gaũḍā literally means 'a narrow pass'. But it is also used to refer to a hill station or to a castle or fort. In the legal context, however, gaũḍās were judicial offices established in certain districts to serve as appellate courts, though they also heard and decided original cases (Adhikari 1979: 16). They fell under the Iṭācapalī court network. The four gaũḍās were Dhanakuṭāgaũḍā, Ilāmagaũḍā, Ḍoṭīgaũḍā and Pālpāgaũḍā (Vaidya and Manandhar 2053: 219). The document does not specify the name of the muhuḍā here. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
aḍḍā	var. aḍā; n. an office, post or station where state functionaries carry out their duties.
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.
ain	var. āin, aina; n. 1) laws, statutes, rules, regulations enacted by authority 2) law-code of Nepal, first promulgated in 1854 during the rule of Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā and amended several times before it was completely revised in VS 2022. The revised law-code was renamed as Mulukī Ain.
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).
asmānī	[fr. P] n. 1) a kind of tax or amount imposed on each household of the mountain region of western Nepal in the ancient time (Parājulī et al. 2010: 90). 2) miscellaneous levies and payments such as judicial fines and escheats, which were not collected on a periodic basis. (M.C. Regmi 1970 (No. 4): 100; cf.: M.C. Regmi 2002: 297; M.C. Regmi 1978b: 853; M.C. Regmi 1978: 161).
cākacakuī	var. cākacakui, cāṣa caṣui; n. often translated as "adultery" or "fine for adultery" (see e.g. M.C. Regmi 1982: 135; cf. Śarmā VS 2032: s.v. cākacakuī) and sometimes as "incest" (cf. Bhaṭṭarāī and Dāhāla VS 2041: s.v. cāka cakuī) the word also denotes forms of marriage among different ethnic groups which are not in accordance with the Hindu ideal of marriage (see Stiller 1976: 174). According to the Mulukī Ain, the punishment for members of Enslavable castes was the enslavement of the man (cāka) and the woman (cakuī or cakuī) (see Fezas 1986: 173 with reference to the Mulukī Ain, ch. 86"māsinyā jyū amālile lināko" [MA-KM VS 2022: 367-68], for further details, see note in DNA_0014_0028).
daṃḍakuṃḍa / daṇḍakuṇḍa	n. generic term for judicial fines and penalties.
dharmādhikāra / dharmādhikārī	[S. dharmādhikārin] n. chief judge in religious jurisdiction whose main duties are to grant expiation and rehabilitation to polluted individuals. The term is exclusively used for Brahmins.
dvāre	var. dvāryā, duvāryā; n. 1) a local revenue collection official (e.g. M.R. Pant 2002: 132; M.C. Regmi 1970: 149) who can arrest offenders and try petty cases (Stiller 1981: 379). 2) a gatekeeper at the royal palace who collects certain levies (Edwards 1975: 106; M.C. Regmi 1978: 226); 3) a village headman in the Kathmandu Valley (M.C. Regmi 1970: 149).
gaũḍā / gauḍā	var. gaurā; n. 1) a fortification, fortress (see Parājulī et al. 2052: s.v. gaũḍā and gauḍā); 2) certain districts were known as gauḍā, according to Adhikari (describing the situation after 1850): Doti, Salyan, and Palpa in the West and Dhankuta in the east (Adhikari 1979: 16); 3) a district office for maintaining law and order (cf. Karmacharya 2001: 91) established in the districts known as gauḍā. According to Adhikari this judicial offices were placed under responsible military officials—at first under kājīs or sardāras, and later on, under generals (janarala) and colonels (karṇela). In the Ain the chief officer of a gauḍā is referred to as hākima or mālika. Gauḍās decided original cases and served as appellate courts. They had jurisdiction regarding pañcakhata cases but could order a death sentence only after receiving a lālamohara from the kausala (Adhikari 1979: 16). The other levels of courts in the disctricts besides gauḍās or gaũḍā adālatas (cf. Adhikari 1984: 310) were: adālata (sometimes also called aḍḍās) and amāla (Adhikari 1979: 14). According to Kumar there were three "first courts of appeal" known as gauḍās covering twelve lower courts after the reorganisiation of the country's judiciary by Vīra Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1887: I. Palpa gauḍā (covering 1. Salyan, 2. Piuthan, 3. Pokhara, 4. Doti, 6. Bhagwanpur, 6. Taulihawa), II. Doti gauḍā (covering 7. Jumla, 8. Dailekh, 9. Banke, 10. Kanchanpur), III. Dhankuta gauḍā (covering 11. Morang, 12. Saptari) (Kumar 1967: 129f.).
iṭācapalī	var. iṭācapali, īṭācapalī; n. one of the four central courts (cāra adālata) located in Kathmandu, others being Koṭiliṅga, Ṭaksāra, and Dhanasāra. Their jurisdictions are not clear, and they performed some executive functions as well (M.C. Regmi 2002: 300).
kabaca	[fr. A.] var. kabaja; n. a receipt issued by the government offices in the old times after the submission of money to the mulukīkhānā, the central treasury where income from all over the country is collected.
kalyānadhana	n. hidden treasures (Adhikari 1984: 350) and “unclaimed wealth or property“ (Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 186) that acrued to the state.
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).
lokābhāra	[S.] n. "a system under which the local community undertook liability for payment of the stipulated revenue through a representative designated for that purpose" (M.C. Regmi 1978: 162)
maryo aputālī / moroaputālī	var. maryo aputāli, moroaputāli; also aputālī; n. escheatable property (on a discussion of the term, see Fezas 1986).
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.
mukhiyā	var. mukhīyā, muṣiyā, muṣīyā; n. a designation for an administrative post used at the local, district and central level. At the local level mukhiyās functioned as village headmen and revenue functionaries (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93; M.R. Pant 2002: 134; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 269). District headmen were also called mukhiyās. In the central administration, mukhiyās were writers who kept accounts or supervised officials of lower ranks (Edwards 1975: 107 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 228 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 862 ; Kumar 1967: 16).
pañcakhata	n. a generic term for heinous crimes (see e.g. M.R. Pant 2002: 134; Whelpton 1991: 285).
pāthī	var. pāthi; n. 1) a volumetric unit equivalent to 4.546 litres comprising of 8 mānās with 20 pāthīs in one muri. 2) a container for grains having a volume of one pāthī.
paṭṭā	n. lease (Turner 1931: s.v.); a written deed of lease (Adhikari 1984: 354); title deed to land (Michael 2012: 133; cf. also M.C. Regmi 1978: 228; M.C. Regmi 1999: 235: “A land-allotment certificate in the Tarai region“).
phāraka / phārakha	var. pharaphārakha, phārakhati; n. 1) a written receipt. 2) a deed of release (from obligation), acquittance.
rāja aṅka	n. generic term for taxes levied on occasions of royal rituals and others that went directly to the royal palace, including cumāvana, goḍadhuvā, godāna, gādīmubārakha, and phattemubāraka (M.R. Pant 2002: 135; M.C. Regmi 1970 (No. 9): 225; M.C. Regmi 1978: 864).
rakamakalama/kalamarakama	[fr. A.] n. 1) official matters. 2) an account containing different sections of revenue. 3) knowledge of official matters, officialdom (Turner 1931: s.v. rakam-kalam). 4) customary taxes and levies (Regmi 1976: 77).
sermā	n. an annual homestead tax collected in cash on pākho land (see e.g. M.C. Regmi 2002: 302).
sirto	var. sirto, sīrto, sirtto, sirttā; n. tribute paid by Vassal states to the Central government (see Adhikari 1984: 356; Pant and Pierce 1989: 94; M.C. Regmi 1978: 865; M.C. Regmi 2002: 303).
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.
sukā	n. monetary unit worth one fourth of a rupee, i.e. half of a silver mohara, and comprising four ānās; in documents the second of the four usual monetary fractions of the system based on the rupee, usually represented by either the avagraha-shaped sign for zero or one to three daṇḍas.
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.
vāsila bāki	n. collections and balances.

Bibliography

Adhikari, Krishna Kant. 1979. "A Brief Survey of the Organization and Structure of Nepali Law Courts during the Third Quarter of the Nineteenth Century." Contributions to Nepalese Studies VI (2): 11-20.
Regmi, Mahesh C (ed.). CE 1981. "Mukhiyabhar Arrangements in Kagbeni and Other Villages." Regmi Research Series 13 (4): 55-57.
Vaidya, Tulasī Rāma and Tri Ratna Mānandhara. VS 2053. Ādhunika Nepalko Praśāsanika Itihāsa (CE 1768-1951). Kathmandu: C.N.A.S..