Documenta Nepalica

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

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A written bond submitted by Meheramāna Nhuche Pradhāna for a government gambling licence at the market square of Asan (VS 1959)

ID: K_0499_0048

Edited and translated by Simon Cubelic in collaboration with Rajan Khatiwoda
Created: 2016-15-09; Last modified: 2023-01-25
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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, 2017. With kind permission of the National Archives, Kathmandu. The copyright of the facsimile on which this edition is based remains with the National Archives, Kathmandu. 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

In this promissory note, Meheramāna Nhuche Pradhāna offers the sum of 60 morus for the gambling licence at the market square of Asan for the years VS 1959–1961.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री\

1श्रीअंनपुर्णा
2१

1श्री५सर्कार
2२

⟪18⟫

⟪1६नं⟫

1लीषीतम•सहरकाठमाडौटुंवहालवस्नेवर्ष४१कोमेहेरमान्‌‌न्हुछेप्रधान्‌आगे¯ ¯१¯काचारकील्लाभी
2त्रको•असन्‌दवुलीमा•जुवाकोपासाथापी•वर्षकोमोरु•५६वुझाईयो५९सालदेषी•६१सालस
3म्म•त्रीसाला•कुलरत्नउदासले•कवुलगरीगयेकोहुनालेआजमलाईझीकाई•कसोहोभनीसो
4द्धामेरोचीत्तवुझीलेषीयाकोदवुलीको•नीजकुलरत्नलेकवुलगरेका•मोरु५६मा•मोरु४व
5ढी•ज्मामोरु•६०कादरलेयो५९सालदेषी६१सालसम्मवर्ष३•मैलेकवुलगरे•सोठेक्‌वर्षै
6पीछे•कार्तीकसुदी१५सम्ममा•चुक्तीगरुंलाभनी•६१सालचैत्रसुदी१५रोजकामीतीसम्मको
7कवुलनामालेषीगुठीजाचअडामार्फट्‌¯ ¯२¯माचढाञ्यूंईतीसम्वत्१९५९साल•आश्वीन•
8सुदी१२रोज३शुभम्

1स्ही

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Śrī Annapūrṇā – 1

Śrī 5 Sarkāra – 2

No. 62

[The following] has been written by [me,] Meheramāna Nhuche Pradhāna, aged 41 [and] living in Tuṃ Bahāla, Kathmandu: “Kularatna Udāsa made a promise to pay 56 mo[hara]ru[paiyā̃]s per annum for three years from [VS 19]59 to [19]61 [for the contract] for organizing gambling at the market square of Asan within the four boundaries of -1- (i.e. [the guṭhī of] Śrī Annapūrṇā). Therefore, today I was called to the office (aḍḍā) and when I was asked about this, I was content to promise 4 morus on top of the 56 morus which had already been promised by [for the gambling contract at] the said market square—thus amounting to a rate of 60 morus per annum in total for three years, from [VS 19]59 to [19]61. I submit a written bond to -2- (i.e. Śrī 5 Sarkāra) through the Guṭhī Jā̃ca Aḍḍā for the period up to the 15th day of the bright fortnight of Caitra in 1961, stating that I will pay off the contract [sum] every year by the 15th day of the bright fortnight of Kārttika”.

Tuesday, the 12th of the bright fortnight of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1959 (1902 CE).

Signature.

Commentary

This document is one of a series of four documents in which the matter of concern is a recently concluded tender process for assigning the gambling licence for the market square at Asan for the years VS 1959–1961 (cf. K_0499_0041, K_0499_0047, K_0499_0048). K_0499_0041 states that Meheramāna Nhuche Pradhāna at first won the tender. However, even though the official deadline had expired, a man by the name of Kularatna successfully filed a petition that led to a repetition of the process, but instead of a formal tender process the bidders were assembled and the licence auctioned off. This document mirrors the bidding war between Meheramāna and Kularatna on this occasion. However, not all documents relating to this auction are extant. Only the drafts of bonds written by Meheramāna seem to have survived.

Notes

1. This number added at the upper left margin is an archival note, probably the (running) card number in bundle (pokā) 4 of the Gu[ṭhī] Baṃ[dobasta Aḍḍā] records kept in the Guṭhī Saṃsthāna. [⇑]

2. The meaning of this number is unknown. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
aḍḍā	var. aḍā; n. an office, post or station where state functionaries carry out their duties.
guṭha / guṭhi / guṭhī	[fr. S. goṣṭhī] var. guṭh, guthi; n. 1) a socio-religious organization that manages and finances religious and charitable functions, a trust. 2) “endowed lands or other sources of revenue for financing religious and charitable functions“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 132; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā, Guṭhi Bandobasta Aḍā; n. "Guthi Administration Office", office responsible for the management of guṭhīs; established under Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1852-1853 as replacement of the former Guṭhī Kacaharī. Its foundation marks the change from the guṭhīyāri system of the guṭhī management to the contractor based system; remained the central office to coordinate all offices subsequently established for handling different aspects of guṭhī management, including the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā and others. Separate Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 713-715).
Guṭhī Jā̃ca Aḍḍā	n. an institution serving an oversight function within the state’s supervision of local guṭhī management, for example in matters relating to tender arrangements.
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.
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.
śrī 5 sarkāra	lit. "five-times venerable ruler"; commonly used to refer to the Śāha king (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266) and often indistinctively to his government (Lecomte-Tilouine 2015).