Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a purjī from C-in-C General Bhīma Śamśera instructing the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse funds to the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā on the occasion of Baḍādasaĩ (VS 1970)

ID: K_0395_0049

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2019-05-09; Last modified: 2020-07-10
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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

The purjī from Commander-in-Chief General Bhīma Śamśera of which this is a copy directs officers of the Gūṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse a customary sum for purchasing bread, sweets and yoghurt to feed the poor on the occasion of the Baḍādasaĩ festival in VS 1970 at the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री/

1श्रीपुर्णेश्वर
2२

1श्रीजंगनन्दप्रकासेश्वर
2३

1[?]३सर्कार
2१

1⟪48⟫

1स्वस्तिश्री[?]कुमारकुमारा[?]श्रीकम्यां [?]नचीफजन[?]
2रराणाके[?]स्य¯ ¯१¯तर्फगुठीषर्चअडाकाहाकींका[?]पुर्जी[?]
3¯ ¯२¯पाक्सालामा[?]षानेगरीपगुरुव़ाहरुलाइवडादसैमांनालाईसावीकदरसा[?]
4मामोरु२७।गुठीषर्चअडावाटपाईआय़ाकोहुनालेय़ो७०साल्कावडादसैलाईपनी¯ ¯२¯
5कापाक्सालामाभातषानगरीपगुर्व़ाहरुलाईसावीक[?][?][?]दहीषुव़ा[?]
6केमोरू२७।सत्ताईसरूपैञाव़क्स्याकोछ¯ ¯३¯कास्याहामा[?]लेषी¯ ¯२¯पाक्सालाकाना
7ये़वराईटरपृथीमंगलजोसीहस्तेदीनेकामगरवहीवुझदानीजना∙रा∙पृथी[?]जो
8सीकास्हीछापपर्याकास्याहाभ[?]वमोजींमोजराहोलाईती[?]१९७०सालआ
9श्वीण गतेरोज शु
10सकलवमोजींदुरुस्तछभनीस्हीछापगर्ने
11षरीदारभवप्रसादउपाध्या१
12स्हीलेषन्‌गोपालउपाध्या१

[Unknown Seal]

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Śrī Purṇeśvara – 2

Śrī Jaṃganandaprakāseśvara – 3

Śrī 3 Sarkāra – 1

[no.] 481

Hail! A purjī of the venerable Commander-in-Chief General Sir Bhīma Samsera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā, a venerable prince born of a prince, KCVO 2 , to the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā under [Śrī 3 Sarkāra]3 .

Uprānta: Since 27 mohararupaiyā̃s (text: moru) have traditionally been received for observing Baḍādasaĩ [with a feast] for the poor people who take their meals (lit. "cooked rice") at the kitchen (pākaśālā) of [Śrī Purṇeśvara]4 , for the Baḍādasai of the current year [19]70, too, 27, [in words] twenty-seven, morus, are granted for feeding bread, sweets [and] yoghurt, in accord with what is usual, to the poor people who take their meals at the kitchen of [Śrī Purṇeśvara]5 . Record the expenditures in the account book (syāhā) of [the guṭhī of] [Śrī Jaṅganandaprakāseśvara]6 and carry out the task of delivering [the money] into the hands of Pṛthīmaṃgala Josī, the assistant (nāyaba) rāīṭara of the kitchen of [Śrī Purṇeśvara]7 . It will be deducted when accounts are cleared according to the account book and receipt that bear the signature and seal of the said nāyaba rāīṭara.

...day, the ...th solar day (gate) of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1970 (1913 CE).8 Auspiciousness.

Certifying that [this copy] accords with the original:

Kharidāra Bhavaprasāda Upādhyā – 1

Signature [of] Lekhan[adāsa]Gopāla Upādhyā – 1

[Unknown seal]9

Commentary

The present purjī belongs to a series of similar instructions from the period VS 1955 to VS 1970 that pertain to festive meals at the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā during the autumnal Dasaĩ festival (see K_0614_0041, K_0608_0055, K_0660_0052, K_0664_0017, K_0667_0036, K_0488_0009, K_0488_0012, K_0382_0029, K_0395_0041, K_0384_0064).

Exactly the same text had already been copied as no. 40 in the same batch of documents (K_0395_0041). This first copy specifies the missing details in the date as Saturday, the 5th gate.

Notes

1. This number was added by a later hand using Arabic numerals. It refers to the position of the document in the bundle (pokā) number 9 of the Gu[ṭhī] Ban[dobasta Aḍḍā], microfilmed from K_0395_0002 (no. 1) up to K_0397_0013 (no. 155) (cf. registration number on the catalogue card). There is another series of documents with the same registration number (Po. no. 9 Gu. Bam.), which starts with no. 1 microfilmed as K_0397_0014. The documents of the present series, scribed by different hands, are mostly copies of instructions given by the commander-in-chief general to different offices. Many of these concern affairs of institutions operating under the Jaṅgānandaprakāśeśvaraguṭhī and most of them were issued in the years VS 1970 and VS 1974. [⇑]

2. For the bestowal of the title of "Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order" upon Bhīma Śamśera, see note to the translation of K_0384_0064. [⇑]

3. Inserted from the space numbered 1 above. [⇑]

4. Inserted from the space numbered 2 above. [⇑]

5. Inserted from the space numbered 2 above. [⇑]

6. Inserted from the space numbered 3 above. [⇑]

7. Inserted from the space numbered 2 above. [⇑]

8. The spaces for noting the numbers of the weekday and solar date have been left blank. [⇑]

9. As the seal precedes the name of the kharidāra involved in copying it is very probably his seal. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
baḍā dasaĩ	var. baḍā dasai; also mahā dasaĩ; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina. Cf. dasaĩ / daśaĩ.
dasaĩ / daśaĩ	[fr. S. daśāha] var. dasai; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina (baḍā dasaĩ) and, on a smaller scale, over the bright half of the spring month of Caitra (caite dasaĩ).
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; 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 Kharca Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for managing the expenses of the guṭhīs working under the head of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā; two separate Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs.
KCVO	title of a member of the second class (Knight Commander) of the "Royal Victorian Order", founded in 1896 by Queen Victoria; another class is: GCVO. The title was bestowed on Bhīma Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā (24 December 1911).
kharadāra / kharidāra	[fr. P.] var. kharīdāra, ṣaridāra; n. secretary, official scribe, office superintendent (cf. Kumar 1967: 166).
lekhanadāsa	[S.] n. person or officer who scribes documents for private or official transactions.
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.
nāyaba	[fr. A.] var. nāeva, nāaiva; adj. deputy, assistant.
pākaśālā	[S.] var. pākasālā; n. 1) kitchen. 2) public kitchen set up to feed the poor and needy (K_0351_0071).
purjī	[fr. P. purja] var. purji, pūrjī; n. 1) slip of paper, note. 2) formal letter written by a government institution or an official to another institution or to a person.
rāiṭara	[fr. E.] var. rāīṭara; n. administrative officer higher than the bahidāra, but lower than the mukhiyā.
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 3 sarkāra	lit. "three-times venerable ruler"; title used by the Rāṇā prime ministers (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266).
uprānta	var. uprāṃta, ūprāṃnta, ūprā̃nta, prāṃta; also yathocita uprānta; conj. after that, besides, in addition to, hereafter. In earlier prose and official documents, this word marked the beginning of a text or paragraph. It has no equivalent in English (Clark 1989: 231). In some (mostly Rāṇā period?) documents, it takes the form of yathocita uprānta.