Documenta Nepalica

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

Version with DOI and citation guidelines

A document recording the sale of three slaves at Madanapura, Pyuthana (VS 1967)

ID: K_0281_0049

Edited and translated by Manik Bajracharya in collaboration with Raju Rimal
Created: 2017-03-02; Last modified: 2018-06-18
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, 2018. 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 document is a deed formalizing the sale of three slaves for 483½ mohara rupaiyās. The transaction took place at Bhīmarī, Madanapura in Pyuthana.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

[...]

⟪नं८⟫

⟪१६१नं⟫

[fingerprint of Gokula Jaisī Regmī]

1लिखितम्‌पीयूठानामध्येभीम्‌रीमदनपूरगाउव
2सने•म•गोकुलजइसीरेगमीआगेमैलेपरमभट्ट
3गरीपीयूठानागेजवाङ्‌वसनेगोदारथापासग
4मोर्रूपैञा६२५माजीउ४लियाकोमापार्वतीभन्ये
5कमारी•टाकुरावसनेपंडीत्‌वामदेवउपाध्यालाइ
6मोर्रू१४५मापरमभट्टगरीदियेकोहालसोम
7ध्येमेराकरीयाकमाराकमारी•तनेकमारोज्यू१
8धनीकमारीजीउ१गौरीकमारीज्यू१निजहरूको
9मोलमोर्रू४८३॥मानिजटाकुरावसनेपंडी
10त्‌वामदेवउपाध्यालाइसोपीदिञा
11आजदेखि•निजकमाराकमारीकोकालफाल
12तिंम्रोजालझेल्‌मेराभनिकसैलेकरनलगा
13इमेरामनोमानखुशीराजीलेपरमभट्टपत्र•
14लेषीआजदेखिइनिजीउ३करियाकमाराक
15मारीमामेरोलागनास्तिभनिसोपीदिञायोप
16रमभट्टकासाछीतपसीलमाखडाछन्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
17तपसील्
18मदनपूरवसनेगंङ्गाधररेगमीजैसी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
19ऐंवसनेपाराशररेगमीजैसी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
20ऐंवसनेभांनुप्रसादजैसीरेगमी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
21ऐंवसनेमुषियाचन्द्रमणिरेगमीजैसी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
22ऐंवसनेसालग्रामरेगमीजैसी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
23ऐंवसनेरविलालरेगमीजैसी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
24ऐंवसनेचूडामणिखत्रीछेत्री¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
25ऐंवसनेचन्द्रेखत्रीछेत्री¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
26लेखकस्वर्गद्वाराअखंडयज्ञमावसने
27दीक्षीतवलरामउपाध्यायअचार्ज¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
28इतिसंवत्१९६७सालआश्विन२७गतेवार४
29शुभम्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१

[fingerprint of Gaṅgādhara Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Bhāṃnuprasāda Jaisī Regmī]

[fingerprint of Candramaṇi Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Sālagrāma Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Ravi Lāla Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Cūḍāmaṇi Khatrī Kṣetrī]

[fingerprint of Chandre Khatrī Kṣetrī]

[Signature of Balarāma Upādhyāya Achārja]

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Number 81

Number 1612

[fingerprint of Gokula Jaisī Regmī]

Written by Gokula Jaisī Regmī, resident of Madanapura village, Bhīmrī in Pyuthana.

Āge: Of the 4 persons (jiu, lit. "bodies") that, a paramabhaṭṭā deed having been drawn up, I bought for 625 mohara rupaiyās from Godāra Thāpā, a resident of Gejabāṅ, Pyuthana, I [earlier] gave (i.e., sold) the female slave named Pārvatī to Paṇḍita Bāmadeva Upādhyā of Ṭākurā. Now, of this (group of slaves), I have handed over to the aforementioned Paṇḍita Bāmadeva Upādhyā of Ṭākurā my kariyā slaves—the male slave Tane - 1, the female slave Dhanī - 1, and the female slave Gaurī - 1—for 483 mohara rupaiyās and 2 sukās as the price for them. I have written this paramabhaṭṭā deed willingly, without anyone obliging [me] to, and have handed it over [to Bāmadeva], stating: "From today on, any prior commitments (kālphāl3 ) of the aforementioned slaves are yours, and any (former) deceit (on their part toward me) is mine. From today onward I have no claim to these 3 kariyā slaves." In the list (below) are the witnesses to this paramabhaṭṭā.

Particulars (tapasila):

Gaṅgādhara Regmī Jaisī, resident of Madanapura - 1

Pārāśara Regmī Jaisī, resident of the same - 1

Bhāṃnuprasāda Jaisī Regmī, resident of the same - 1

MukhiyāCandramaṇi Regmī Jaisī, resident of the same - 1

Sālagrāma Regmī Jaisī, resident of the same - 1

Ravi Lāla Regmī Jaisī, resident of the same - 1

Cūḍāmaṇi Khatrī Chetrī, resident of the same - 1

Candre Khatrī Chetrī, resident of the same - 1

The scriber Dīkṣita Balarāma Upādhyāya Acārja, resident of akhaṇḍa yajña of Svargadvārā - 1

Wednesday, the 27th [solar day] of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1967 (1910 CE). Auspiciousness.

[fingerprint of Gaṅgādhara Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Bhāṃnuprasāda Jaisī Regmī]

[fingerprint of Candramaṇi Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Sālagrāma Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Ravi Lāla Regmī Jaisī]

[fingerprint of Cūḍāmaṇi Khatrī Kṣetrī]

[fingerprint of Chandre Khatrī Kṣetrī]

[Signature of Balarāma Upādhyāya Achārja]

Commentary

The place Bhīmrī mentioned in the document is probably present-day Bhiṅgri, a village development committee in Pyuthana. Madanapura is one of the villages within the VDC. Gejabāṅ lies within Dharmavati VDC of Pyuthana. Svargadvārā, also known as Svargadvārī, is also within Biṅgri VDC.

Notes

1. Added by a second hand in the upper margin. [⇑]

2. Added by a second hand in the upper margin. [⇑]

3. Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa gives the meaning of kālaphāla as a commitment made between two persons to prosper or die together (cf. Parājulī et al. VS 2072 sv kāla). [⇑]

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.
kariyā	var. kariya; n. a slave working in house, a servant
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).
paramabhaṭṭā	[fr. S.] var. parampaṭṭā, paramabhaṭṭa, parambhaṭṭa, parambhaṭṭi, paraṃbhātā, parāṃbhaṭṭa, pārabhātā; n. a deed, prepared by the seller, formalizing the sale of a slave.
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.

Bibliography

Parājulī, Kṛṣṇaprasāda et al. (ed.). VS 2072. Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa. 9th ed. Kathmandu: Nepāla Prajñāpratiṣṭhāna.