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 slave in Bādikoṭa, Pyuthana (VS 1979)

ID: K_0282_0005

Edited and translated by Manik Bajracharya in collaboration with Raju Rimal
Created: 2017-04-26; Last modified: 2018-12-13
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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 deed formalizes the sale of a 19-year-old slave named Bhīusīne for 240 rupees. Both the seller and buyer are residents of Pyuthana.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री\

1⟪नं२८⟫
2⟪२७⟫

1⟪१८०नं⟫

[signature of Jaṃgavīra] 1जंगवीरसहि

1साछि
2[fingerprint of Cītra Sīṃ Basnet Chetrī] वेतानेवस्नेचीत्रसींवस्नेत्‌छेत्री¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
3[signature of Hariprasāda Pādhyā] ऐजंवस्नेहरिप्रसादपाध्या¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
4[signature of Ravī Lāla Pādhyā] ऐजंवस्नेवेदुव़ारवीलालपाध्या¯¯¯¯¯¯¯१
5[signature of Īsvarīprasāda Pādhyā] कलंकोईस्वरीप्रसादपाध्या¯¯¯¯¯१

1लीषितम्‌प्युठानावादीकोटमैलपाटावस्नेजंगवा
2हादुरघर्तीछेत्रीमआ[...]मेराघरकोवर्ष१९कोभी
3उसीनेनाउगरेकोकरीय़ाकमाराकोमोलमो
4हरू२४०अंकीहछेरूपैञादुईसहेचाली
5स्मामैलेवेचेस्वहीवालुव़ावस्नेनंदुरांपाध्या
6लेकीनेआजकामीतीदेषीअघीकोझग
7डाजालरोगषुनषतकेहीठहर्योभनेम
8वुझाउलआजदेषीउप्रांतकोकालफालती
9मीलेवेहोरनुआजदेषीवेचनेकोदामपाको
10कींनेकोकामपाकोभनिकसैलेकरनला
11गाईमेरामनषुसीराजीलेपरंभटकोकागज
12लेषीनीजनंदुपाध्यालाईदीञाय़सकासा
13छीफडकेमाछमीतीसंम्वत्‌१९७९सा
14लफागुण२५गतेरोज५सुभ्म्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Number 281

272

180 number3

Jaṅgavīra4 , signed

Witnesses:

Cītra Sīṃ Basnet Chetrī, resident of Betāne 5 - 1

Hariprasāda Pādhyā, resident of the same - 1

Veduvā6 Ravi Lāla Pādhyā, resident of the same - 1

Īśvarīprasāda Pādhyā, scribe (lit. of the pen) - 1

Written by me, Jaṅga Bāhādura Ghartī Chetrī, resident of Mailapāṭā, Bādikoṭa in Pyuthana. Āge: I have sold the 19-year-old kariyā slave of my house named Bhīusīne for the sum of 240 mohararupaiyās, in words: two hundred forty. Naṃdu Rāṃ Pādhyā of Bāluvā, Pyuthana has bought [him]. I will take responsibility for any previous conflicts [involving] fraud, disease [or bodily] defects (khunakhata) [with regard to the slave] that have been proven up to today. From today onward it is for you (i.e.,the buyer) to bear [any] commitments (kālaphāla7 ) [regarding the slave]. From today onward the seller possesses the money, and the buyer possesses the [slave's] labour. I have freely and of my own will, without anyone obligating me, written [this] paramabhaṭṭa deed and handed it over to the aforementioned Naṃdu Pādhyā. [The names of] the witnesses to this are written in the [left] margin.

Thursday, the 25th day of Phāguna in the [Vikrama] era year 1979 (1923 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This is one of the paramabhaṭṭās submitted to the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā by Vīrajaṅga Sāha of Pālpā Gauḍā. For a document containing a list of the slave owners who drew up these paramabhaṭṭās, see K_0281_0041.

Notes

1. Added by a second hand in the upper margin. This number refers to the corresponding entry in the list of 99 paramabhaṭṭās in document K_0281_0041. [⇑]

2. A number of unknown meaning added by a second hand in the upper margin. [⇑]

3. A number of unknown meaning added by a second hand in the upper margin. [⇑]

4. This name and Jaṅga Bāhādura Ghartī Chetrī, the seller who drew up the deed, probably refer to the same person. [⇑]

5. Betāne lies in Bādikoṭa VDC in Pyuthana. [⇑]

6. Reading of this word is unclear in the original. [⇑]

7. 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: s.v. kāla) [⇑]

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.
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.