Documenta Nepalica

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

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A sale deed recording the purchase of three slaves in Pyuthana (VS 1974)

ID: K_0282_0001

Edited and translated by Manik Bajracharya in collaboration with Raju Rimal
Created: 2017-04-10; Last modified: 2018-11-27
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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, 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 is a deed formalizing the sale of three slaves for 360 rupees in Pyuthana.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री\

1⟪नं२४
2२२⟫

⟪1१७६नं⟫

1साछि

1प्युठानदामरिगाउवश्नेमन्‌
2सररोकामगर¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
3ऐंगाउकोमोतिलाल्‌पाध्या

[seal of Motirāma]

1लेखितम्‌प्युठानमध्येगजुलगाउवश्ने
2मोतिराम्‌पाध्येआगेमेराघरकिकरी
3य़ाकेटिस्वमिमंन१ऐ•कोछोरोवाध्या
4केटो१ऐ•कोपहलेकेटो१ज्यू३कोमो
5रू३६०अछेरितिन्‌सय़साठिमाप्युठा
6नडाम्‌म्रीगाउवश्नेदलविरपुनमगरवाट
7वुझिलिय़ादुव़ापातिपरम्‌भट्टगरीदीय़ा
8यालिनेकाज्युदिनेकाधन२थरिका
9साछिय़परम्‌भट्टमलेषिदिय़कासदर
10छन्‌सम्वत्‌१९७४सालमार्ग२७गतेरोज
11४सुभ्म्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯[seal of Motirāma]

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Witnesses: Mansara Rokā Magara, resident of Dāmari Gāu, Pyuṭhāna; Motilāla Pādhyā of the same village

Number 241

Number 1762

[Seal of Motirāma]

Written by Motirām Pādhye, resident of Gajula Gāu in Pyuṭhāna.

Āge: I have received mohararupaiyā̃s 360, in words three hundred sixty, from Dalavira Puna Magara of Ḍāmmrī Gāu in Pyuṭhāna for 3 slaves: slave girl (karīyā keṭi) Svamimaṃna in my house - 1, her son slave boy (keṭo) Vādhyā - 1, and her [son] slave boy Pahale - 1. I have prepared two copies (duvāpāti) [of] paramabhaṭṭā and handed [one copy to Dalavira]. The taker possesses the slaves [and] the giver owns the money. The witnesses for both parties written on this parambhaṭṭā are valid.

Wednesday, the 27th solar day (gate) of Mārga[śīrṣa] in the [Vikrama] era year 1974 (1917 CE). Auspiciousness.

[Seal of Motirāma]

Commentary

This sale deed adheres to the standard format. Three slaves, a mother and her two sons, were sold in Pyuthana for mohararupaiyā̃s 360. The places Dāmari and Ḍāmmrī mentioned in this document probably both refer to Damri village in Pyuthana district. The village of Gajula lies in present day Rolpa district.

Notes

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

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

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.
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.
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.