Documenta Nepalica

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

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A deed recording the sale of a 17-year-old slave in Khairā Gāũ, Pyuthana (VS 1977)

ID: K_0282_0009

Edited by Manik Bajracharya in collaboration with Raju Rimal
Created: 2017-05-11; Last modified: 2020-02-27
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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, 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 deed confirms the sale of a male slave, aged 17, of Khairā Gāũ, Pyuṭhāna for 181 mohararupaiyās.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री \

1⟪नं३३⟫

1⟪30⟫

1⟪१८५नं⟫

[fingerprint of Dhanarāja Giri]

1साछि

[fingerprint of Jamunā Giri]

1जमुना
2गीरीषैरा¯¯¯१

[unknown fingerprint]

1पादगीरी
2ऐ¯¯¯१

[signature of Ṣoḍasa Lāla Upādhyā]

1जोतीसीषो
2डसलालउ
3पाध्याऐ१

[signature of Gopīvallabha Upādhyā]

1जोतीसीगो
2पीवल्लभउपा
3ध्या¯¯¯१

[signature of Dīnānātha Upādhyā]

1लीषतसु
2दीनानाथ
3उपाध्या१

1[...]तमप्युंठानामध्येषैरागाउवश्न्याव
2र्ष•५३कोमहंतधनराजगीरीआगेमेरा
3घरकोघरीय़ाकरीय़ा•वर्ष१७को•भंक्तेभ
4न्याकमारोमेरासावगासलेधानीराष
5ननसकदास्वभक्तेकमाराकोमोलमो
6हरूय़कसैय़कासीअं.१८१मामोलप
7टकवैनागरी•स्वहीषैरागाऊवश्न्यापं.
9भव़ानीसंषरसर्मावाटरूपैञाँवुझीली
10स्वपीदीञाँआजअघीकोकालफालरोग
11ऐनवमोजींवेचनेकोआजपछिको
12कालफाललीनेको•वेचनेकोमोलरू
13पैञाँपकालीनेकोमालपकाभनी
14मेरामनोमानषुसीराजीलेहोस्‌दुरुस्त
15सगदांदोहोरीवुझीली•परंभट्टकोकागज
16लेषीतीमीपं.भव़ानीसंषरसर्माउपाध्याला
17ईदीञांय़सपरंभट्टकागजकासाछिफ
18ट्‌केकीनारामालेषीय़ाकासदरछं•य़ो
19कागज•नीजमहंन्तधनराजगीरीकाघ
20रमालेषीय़ाकोहो•ईतीसम्वत१९७७सा
21लफागुणगते२४वार३सुभ्म्¯¯¯¯¯

Synopsis

[1r]

This sales deed (paramabhaṭṭā) executed by 53-year-old MahantaDhanarāja Giri formalizes the sale of his 17-year-old household slave (gharīyā kariyā) named Bhakte to Bhavānīsaṅkhara Sarmā. Both the seller and the buyer are residents of Khairā Village in Pyuthana. The reason given for selling is not being able to afford the expense. The slave was sold for 181 mohararupaiyās, and advance payment being given. Five names are mentioned in the left margin of the document, four being the witnesses and one the scribe. The witnesses are Jamunā Giri, Pāda Giri1 , Ṣoḍasa Lāla Upādhyā and Gopīvallabha Upādhyā. The scribe is SubbāDīnānātha Upādhyā.

The deed is dated Tuesday, the 24th solar day (gate) of Phāguna in the [Vikrama] era year 1977 (1921 CE).

Notes

1. The reading for this name is not clear. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
mahanta	[S.] var. mahaṃta; n. the temporal and spiritual head of a centre (āśrama, maṭha, sthāna, akhāḍā) or wandering group (khālsā) of an ascetic order (cf. Burghart 1976: 100); an abbot.
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.
paramabhaṭṭā	[fr. S.] var. parampaṭṭā, paramabhaṭṭa, parambhaṭṭa, parambhaṭṭi, paraṃbhātā, parāṃbhaṭṭa, pārabhātā; n. a deed, prepared by the seller, formalizing the sale of a slave.
subbā	var. subā; n. 1) governor or chief administrative officer of a province or district (cf. Kumar 1967: 168; Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 185; M.R. Pant 2002: 135; M.C. Regmi 1999: 137; M.C. Regmi 2002: 303). 2) civil officer ranking higher than a mukhiyā, but lower than a sardāra (Stiller 1981: 382). According to Edwards subbās were stationed at Gorkha (cf. also Michael 2012: 134) and Chitwan, “with five others being administrators in the Terai” (Edwards 1975: 106). Edwards further mentions that “men of subba rank were also assigned in the capital to the Kumari Chowk, and Kat Bhandar offices, where they were the deputies of the kaji and kapardar in charge” (ibid.). 3) headmen of the Limbu community in the far-eastern hill regions (M.C. Regmi 1978: 229; cf. also 1978: 865).