Documenta Nepalica

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

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A receipt issued by Cumāvana Kacaharī for revenue collected for the initiation and marriage ceremony of the crown prince (VS 1920)

ID: Tsum_0001_0052

Edited and translated by Nadine Plachta and Rajendra Shakya
Created: 2017-05-24; Last modified: 2021-03-22
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 Nile Labrang, Tsum. The copyright of the facsimile remains with Nadine Plachta. 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 receipt from a Cumāvana Kacaharī in western Nepal acknowledges revenue collected on crops of the year VS 1919 for the initiation and marriage of the crown prince.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री:\

1श्रीव़लिअहदमहाराजधिराज
2१

[Seal with the legend Śrī Kṛṣṇa]

1स्वस्तिश्रीत्रिसुल्‌‌गंगापश्चिम्‌‌च्येप्यामर्स्यादिपुर्वअदाकाचुमावन्‌‌कचहरि
2कस्य∙आगेदाषिलाआम्दानि¯ ¯१¯का१९सालमाव्रतवंधविवाहाहुदातह
3सिल्‌∙हुनुपर्न्या१९सालकावालिलाइलाग्याकोचुमावन्‌‌अठारसैये़षोला
4स्यारभोट्‌पारोगाउ१कामुषियाछाङ्‌‌डुंडुभोट्याहस्तेतपसिल्‌∙वमोजि
5म्‌‌सोह्रगंडिरु७७||//मु∙षिया़दुर्गादास्‌∙मार्फत्‌चुमावन्‌∙तहविल्‌‌दाषि
6ल्‌‌भयोतस्कोरसिदगरिदिञ्यूं¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
7तपसिल्‌

[table1]

1	पारोगाउ१का∙मुछाङ्‌डंडुभोट्यालेवैसाषसुदि 1 रोज 2 माले∙लेषिदिय़ाकालगत्‌कामुचुल्‌कावमो जिम्‌ज्माघर						६०के७७\|\|२
2	भोटमध्येस्‌षेप्‌गर्‍‍याषेपुव़ा			घर	१६केरु	४२
3	अव़ल्‌	घर	२केरु	१०
4	दोय़म्‌	घर	१केरु	४
5	सिम्‌	घर	२केरु	६
6	चाहार	घर	११केरु	२२
7	¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
8	हल्‌			घर	९केरु	९
9	पाट्या			घर	१२केरु	९
10	कोदाल्या			घर	२२केरु	११
11	राडि			घर	१केरु	\|∙
12	अमानट्‌घट्‌दोयेंम्‌३के					४\|\|∙
13	दीपृ६०के					१\|\|\|//

8इतिसम्वत्‌१९२०सालमितिवैसाषसुदी१२रोज3 श्भ्म्¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

His Royal Highness, the Venerable Valī Ahada - 1

Hail! A [receipt] from the Cumāvana Kacaharī office west of the Triśūla Gaṅgā and east of the Cepe [and] Marsyāṅdī [rivers].

Āge: The collection [of] revenue: the cumāvana [tax] on crops of the year [VS 19]19 totaling 77 rupees, 2 sukās, 2 ānās under the sorha (16) gaṇḍā [monetary system,] required to be collected as listed below on crops of the year [VS 19]19 for the initiation [and] marriage of [His Royal Highness, the Vali Ahada], [was] received from Chāṅ Ḍuṃḍu Bhoṭyā, headman (mukhiyā) of Pāro Gāũ -1 [of] Bhoṭa [in] Syāra [of] the Aṭhāra Saya Kholā [region] [and] has been deposited in the treasury through Mukhiyā Durgā Dāsa. A receipt for the same was issued.

Particulars (tapasila)

[table1]

[Cash received] from 60 houses according to a muculkā based on a list written by Mu[khiyā] Chāṅ Ḍuṃḍu Bhoṭyā of Pāro Gāũ-1 on Vaiśākha sudi […] roja […]4			77 rupees, 2 sukās, 2 ānās
[Cash received] from 16 houses of porters (khepuvā) who made [trading] trips (khepa) [to] Bhoṭa [and] Madhesa		42 rupees
From 2 houses of the first class (avvala)	10 rupees
From 1 house of the second class (doyama)	4 rupees
From 2 houses of the third calss (sima)	6 rupees
From 11 houses of the fourth class (cāhāra)	22 rupees

[table]

	From 9 houses of the hale [category]		9 rupees
	From 12 houses of the pāto [category]		9 rupees
	From 22 houses of the kodāle [category]		11 rupees
	Rāḍi5 [received] from 1 house [worth]		1 sukā
	From 3 mill-houses of the second class taxed directly by the government		4 rupees, 2 sukās
	From 60 Dīpṛ6		1 rupee, 3 sukās, 2 ānās

[Day not mentioned], the 12th of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha in the [Vikrama] era year 1920 (1863 CE). Auspiciousness7 .

Commentary

This document deals with the revenue taken for the initiation and marriage of Vali Ahada, the crown prince. It was issued during the 34-year reign of King Surendra Vikrama Śaha (1847-1881). His son and heir apparent Crown Prince Trailokya (1847-1878) was 16 years old at the time this document was written. By the year 1860 he had already married all of his three formal wives (see http://www.royalark.net/Nepal/nepal8.htm), but even three years later the related tax was evidently still being collected. The crown prince died during the lifetime of his father.

The document lists the amount received from porter households of Aṭhāra Saya Kholā as tax imposed on their trips to Tibet and to the Madhesa, the southern belt of Nepal. It was the usual practice of people from mountain regions to trade in Tibetan salt and other products, such as woollen blankets. On their way back home, they brought dye and other goods to trade in Tibet. The cumāvana levy was obviously imposed at at higher flat rates for those households that earned money from such trips.

Notes

1. The scribe left a gap to fill in the date here but did not do so. The exact date therefore cannot be determined. [⇑]

2. Again, the scribe left a gap to fill in the day but later failed to do so. [⇑]

3. The day is not specified. [⇑]

4. The date and day have been left blank in the document. [⇑]

5. A rough-surfaced mat knitted with Nepali wool. [⇑]

6. The term is unclear. [⇑]

7. The scribe wrote the word śubham in an elaborate manner. [⇑]

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.
ānā	[fr. S. āṇvaka- ?] n. 1) monetary unit worth one sixteenth of a rupee with four ānā*s constituting one sukā, equivalent to one ganḍā; in documents usually represented by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags. 2) sixteenth part of land, property etc. (cf. Parājulī et al 1995: s.v. ānā).
avvala	[fr. P.] var. avala; n. 1) land of the best quality. 2) first.
cāhāra	[fr. P.] n. 1) land of the fourth or lowest quality. 2) fourth.
cuvāna / cumāvana	var. cumāuna, cumāūnī; n. levy imposed on occasion of the life-cyclic initiation (vratabandha) of the King or the Crown Prince (M.C. Regmi 1978: 856; cf.: M.C. Regmi 1970 (No. 5): 125 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 225 ; M.C. Regmi 1988: 266; M.C. Regmi 1995: 76; Adhikari 1984: 346p.; Michael 2012: 130); collected in 1779 for Raṇabahādura, in 1808 for Gīrvāṇayuddha (M.C. Regmi 1995: 28), in 1863 for the son of Surendra, probably Crown Prince Trailokya (1847-1878) who died during his father's life-time (Tsum_0001_0052).
doyama	[fr. P.] n. 1) land of the second best quality. 2) second.
ganḍā	var. ganḍī; n. a monetary or weight measurement unit consisting of four paisās or four tolās; equivalent to an ānā (Cf. RRS 5.1: 40), with 16 or 25 ganḍās in one rupee. See also sohraganḍī, paccīsaganḍī.
hale	n. pākho land holding in the hill region which could be plowed by one ox-team in one day, half of such holding was called pāte, a holding smaller than pāte was called kodāle (M.C. Regmi 2002: 299; cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 234 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 858; M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
kodāle	n. pākho land holding in the hill regions smaller than a pāte holding, which was too small to be plowed by oxen and hence had to be dug with a spade (kodālo) (M.C. Regmi 1999: 234; M.C. Regmi 1978: 861; M.C. Regmi 1988: 268).
muculkā / mucalakā	var. mucalakā; n. a witnessed written statement.
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).
pāto	[fr. S. paṭṭa] var. pāṭe, pāṭā, pāte; n. 1) a large plot of field; evenly-plane widespread plot of land. 2) an pākho land holding in the hill region, including Kathmandu Valley, half of a hale holding in size (M.C. Regmi 1999: 235; M.C. Regmi 1988: 269), bigger than kodāle hence could be ploughed by an oxen.
sima	[fr. P.] var. sim; n. 1) land of the third quality. 2) third.
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	var. sukī; 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.
valī ahada	[fr. P.] var. vali ahada, valī ahīda; n. heir apparent, the king's eldest son who has already been granted the title of yuvarājādhirāja.