Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal
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A copy of a lālamohara from King Gīrvāṇayuddha re financing worship of Śrī Kālikā of Gorkhā's dasaĩghara (VS 1865)

ID: K_0020_0007B


Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2019-09-02; Last modified: 2023-03-01
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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, 2021. 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 CCby-SA.

Abstract

This copy of a lālamohara from the king, who according to the date must have been Gīrvāṇayuddha, fixes 405¼ rupees as the annual sum for a revenue-collecting contract (ijārā) on 13 khetas of land in Purkoṭa dedicated in an act of ritual commitment (saṃkalpa) by the queen mother in VS 1856 (1799 CE) for financing the twice-monthly worship of Śrī Kālikā of Gorkhā's dasaĩghara.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1⟪५२­नं­⟫

1⟪पो­७­सी­३६५­पा­∙४६­⟫

1स्ही­रुजु­ना­∙रा­∙
2वीस्नुडास्‌­

1भंने­स्ही­नौ­मोहन­

1आगे­५६­∙साल्मा­∙श्री­∙मुमाज्युवाट­∙गोर्खा­∙दसैघर­श्री­कालिकाका­चौवीस­अष्ट∙
2मीका­∙पुजा­नीवित्य­∙संकल्प­∙गरी­राष्याको­पुर्कोट­∙वार­वर्न­छ∙तीसै­∙जातको­भन्यौं­∙
3अपुतालि­धर्माधीकार­∙कल्यानधन­साऊन्या­∙फागु­दसै­दंद∙कुंद­∙घरगंनी­औ­∙
4दर्वार∙वाट∙का­असमानी­∙फरमानी­पुर्कोट∙भित्रको­षेत­∙१३।­सर्व­अंक­
5मारीमेटी­∙श्री­कालिकालाई­∙चर्‍हायाको­∙तेस­जगा∙मा­ये़क­साल्को­ज्मा­∙
6रुपैञा­चार­सै­सावा­∙पाच­∙४०५।­श्री­∙मुमाज्युके­ईजारा­गरीवक्स्य़ौं­औ­∙
7गुटिका­जगा∙भित्र­दर्वार∙वाट­असमानी­फर्मानीका­हकाला­जफतले­ऊका
8ईदीय़ा­ईजाराध⟪दा⟫रलाई­∙मीनहा­मोजरा­वक्स्यौंला­गुटिवाट­ल्याय़ाको­मी⟪मा⟫ल
9मताको­जगात­भन्सार­∙नतीर्नु­गुटिभित्र∙को­मानीसले­गुटिको­सराजाम­∙
10वोकनु­ईती­१८६५­साल­∙मार्ग­सुदी­१­रोज­७­सुभ्‌­¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

[In the left margin:]

no. 521

Bundle (po[kā]) 7 sī 365 pā 462

Signature: Deputy (nā[yaba]) Rā[iṭara]Vīsnuḍās, present (ruju) [when the copies were checked] 3

The one who said (i.e. read out): signature of Nau[sindā]Mohana

[Main text:]

Āge: We stated that Purkoṭa, which was established [as a guṭhī] by [my] venerable mother making a ritual commitment (saṃkalpa) in the year [VS 18]564 to [fund] worship (pūjā) on the twenty-four aṣṭamī days of Śrī Kālikā of Gorkhā's dasaĩghara, [is a domain] of the four caste-classes (varṇa) and 36 caste groups (jāta).5

13 khetas [of land] within Purkoṭa have been offered to Śrī Kālikā as exempt from all taxes and levies (sarva aṅka mārīmeṭī)—[including those relating to] escheatable property (aputālī), the dharmādhikāra, unclaimed wealth (kalyāṇadhana), levies collected during the months of Śrāvaṇa and Phālguna (sāune phāgu) and on Dasaĩ, judicial fines (daṇḍakuṇḍa), homestead levies (gharagantī) along with unscheduled levies (asmānī) and special requests (pharmānī) from the royal court. We fix 405¼ rupees per year on this land as [the revenue sum to be collected] under ijārā [contract] for [the grant made by our] venerable mother. And we will cancel or recompensate to the tax contractor (ijārādāra) whatever is extracted from the guṭhī's land by force as levies and special orders from the royal court. Goods (mālamatā6 ) transported from the guṭhī are not to be submitted to transit (jagāta) or customs (bhansāra) duties. Persons from within the guṭhī shall carry the the guṭhī's items for worship [to the place of worship].

Saturday, the 1st of the bright fortnight of Mārga in the [Vikrama] era year 1865 (1808 CE).7 Auspiciousness.


Commentary

The document fixes conditions for a revenue-collecting contract (ijārā) to benefit a guṭhī endowment for worshipping Śrī Kālikā at Gorkha Palace for which the ritual commitment (saṃkalpa) had been made by the king's mother, Kāntavatī Devī, in VS 1856 (1799 CE). The annual contractual sum, which a contractor would have to submit in advance for the right to collect the revenue from the 13 khetas (or, as the founding charter says 1,300 muris), is fixed at 405¼ rupees.

It is not clear from what point on the guṭhī started operating to provide worship material, as the original dānapatra, which would have identified the exact borders of the endowed plots and laid out the material provisions to be provided, has not yet been traced.8 It must have existed, as a reissued version of it from VS 1942 (K_0120_0024) mentions these details. It also remains unknown from what point on and for how long revenue was farmed under an ijārā contract. Appointments of caretakers of the guṭhī issued between VS 1876 (K_0015_0022B) and VS 1890 (K_0003_0035C) make no mention of ijārā obligations or tax collectors, but rather read as if the caretaker (akhtiyārī) appointed was directly responsible for procuring the needed material from the revenue of the land endowed. In the reissued version of the dānapatra a contractor is mentioned, though.

Notes

1. This number added by a later hand refers to the place of the document in the government ledger, archived as BK 14, whose entries were microfilmed sequentially from K_0019_0043 (front cover and index) up to K_0020_0020B. The bound material covers the main body (i.e. excluding the initial and final formalities) of 104 lālamoharas from the period VS 1865–1867. [⇑]

2. While the first abbreviation, po, probably stands for pokā ("bundle") it remains unclear what words the following sī and pā are abbreviations of. [⇑]

3. This and the following marginal notes were probably added when the copies were checked for their correctness. An officer whose post probably was that of a deputy rāiṭara supervised the nausindā, who read out the text. In other examples, two nausindās, one speaking (bhanne) and one looking at (herne) the texts certified the copies (see e.g. K_0013_0020B, K_0013_0020E, K_0013_0022B, K_0013_0024E, K_0013_0033E or K_0015_0022B). [⇑]

4. This refers to the saṃkalpa for the endowment made by Queen Mother Kāntavatī Devī in VS 1856 shortly before her death, as recorded in a copperplate issued in the same year (K_0120_0020). [⇑]

5. The phrasing of this sentence seems awkward. Are some words missing, such as guṭhī? Does it imply that the whole area of Purkoṭa endowed as guṭhī land in VS 1856 (1799 CE, see K_0120_0020), was to be cultivated by the "four varṇas and 36 jātas", i.e. by people who fell under the Gorkhālī caste system? The use of the verb in a normal rather than in a high honorific form is also remarkable. [⇑]

6. The Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa gives mālamattā as a synonym of mālatāla, defined as "group of goods" (mālaharūko samūha, Parājulī et al. VS 2067: s.v. mālatāla). [⇑]

7. The ruling king in whose name the original lālamohara was issued must have been King Gīrvāṇayuddha. [⇑]

8. For further thoughts on steps normally taken to establish a guṭhī and the usual timely interval between the ritual declaration (saṃkalpa) and its implementation, see Commentary to K_0120_0020. [⇑]