Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal
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A copy of a rukkā from King Raṇabhīma Śāha to Bhuvaneśvaranātha confirming a land grant in Sīsavā (VS 1854)

ID: K_0123_0050


Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2019-01-23; Last modified: 2019-03-25
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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, 2019. 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

The rukkā of which the present document is a copy confirms the right of Gosāī̃ Bhuvaneśvaranātha to enjoy a village named Sīsavā in Sunāra as a birtā.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

⟪15­⟫

1श्री­सिद्ध­भगवंतनाथ­•

1श्री­वुवाज्यु­•

[seal of the Sunāra Māla]

⟪1नकल­दुरुस्त­छ­⟫

नकल­ [seal of Lokanātha]

1सकल्‌­वमोजीं­नकल्‌­•
2दुरुस्त­छ­भनी­सही•छा
3प ­गर्ने­लोकनाथ­¯¯

1स्वस्ति­श्री­श्री­श्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजकस्य­रुक्का­¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
2आगे­•श्री­गोसाँई­[?]•भुवणेस्वरनाथ­के­• ¯ ¯ ¯कासि­वस्न­जादा­¯ ¯ ¯ला
3ई­सुनार­मध्ये­•सीसव़ा­गाँऊ­भीक­चराय़ाको­हो­•सो­वमोजीम­•हांमीवा
4ट­पनी­थामी­•वीर्त्ता­गरिदीञ्यूं­सो­जानी­•सो­गाऊले­चर्च्याको­जगा­वी
5र्ता­जानी­•चलन्‌­गर­•ईती­सम्वत्‌­१८५४­साल­मिती­आषाड­वदी­१­रोज­३­
6शुभ्म्‌­¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

[blank space above the main text:]

51

Venerable (śrī) SiddhaBhagavantanātha

Venerable Father2

[seal of the Sunāra revenue office] 3 The copy is exact.

[at the left margin:]

Copy: [seal of the Lokanātha]4

Attesting that the copy is in accord with the original, Lokanātha.

[main text:]

Hail. [This is] an executive order of the thrice venerable5 king of great kings.

Āge: to Gosāī̃Bhuvanesvaranātha6

[The Venerable Father]7 , when he was [about to] leave to dwell in Kāśī (text: Kāsi), offered a village (named) Sīsavā in Sunāra to [the Venerable Siddha Bhagavantanātha]8 as alms.9 Accordingly, we too have supported [this and] made [the village] a birtā. Take cognizance of it [and] 10 use the land controlled by the village, considering [it as your] birtā.

Tuesday, the 1st of the dark fortnight of Āṣāḍha of the [Vikrama] era year 1854 (1797 CE).11 Auspiciousness.


Commentary

One challenge of royal rukkās—which display only the short title of the king, not his full praśasti—is that the king's identity needs to be determined. According to the NGMPP catalogue card of the present document, it was issued by King Raṇabahādura Śāha. According to the catalogue card of another copy (K_0469_0025), for which the year is mistakenly given as VS 1954, the issuer was King Pṛthvī Vikrama. This document, in any event, was not issued by the king of Nepal12 but by the king of Salyan. According to a phrase in Naraharinātha's edition of the document that is not recorded in the copies available in the NGMPP material,13 the sender of this rukkā was Raṇabhīma Śāha (text: Śrī Raṇabhīmasāha), son of Śrīkṛṣṇa Śāha (text: Śrī Kṛṣnasāhā). As we know from other documents, the latter abdicated the throne in favour of his son in VS 1850 and went to Kāśī (cf. above) to await his death there. 14 The grant of a village in Sunāra by King Śrīkṛṣṇa is also mentioned in the Yogivaṃśāvalī, 15 where it is further related that this land grant (among others) enabled Bhuvaneśvaranātha to build a temple at the samādhi of his guru Bhagavantanātha.16

The copy is attested by Lokanātha and the revenue office (māla) in Sunāra. It was prepared as an attachment to a written statement (likhitam) sent by Lokanātha in VS 1964, Pauṣa gate 11, Friday (see K_0123_0049).

Notes

1. This number is an archival notation. [⇑]

2. Naraharinātha's edition of the document (Naraharinātha VS 2022: 460) does not record the names written in the blank space above the main text; it does, however, have an additional phrase missing in the present document and another available copy (see K_0469_0025): "śrī kṛṣṇasāhasuta śrī raṇabhīmasāhā" (cf. Commentary). [⇑]

3. The legend reads "śrī sunāra māla 57". [⇑]

4. The legend reads "śrī lokanātha 64". [⇑]

5. The present copy has śrī śrī śrīman. Another copy (K_0469_0025) reads śrī śrī śrī (see also the discussion in Manandhar 1986: 103). Naraharinātha's edition of the document (see Commentary) simply has śrīman, the standard form used by Śāha kings in their rukkās (Naraharinātha VS 2022: 460). [⇑]

6. Again, the available copies and Naraharinātha's edition vary in the usage of honorific titles. While the copy formerly kept in the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā has "śrī śrī śrī gosāi bhuvanesvaranāthajī" (see K_0469_0025), Naraharinātha gives the addressee's name in the standardized spelling (Bhuvaneśvaranātha) and writes "gosāī bhuvaneśvaranāthajyū" (VS 2022: 460). [⇑]

7. Inserted from the space above. [⇑]

8. Inserted from the space above. [⇑]

9. Naraharinātha's edition has bhīka dīyāko, "gave .... as alms" (VS 2022: 460; cf. Bouillier 1991: 157 n. 16). K_0469_0025 reads yek dīyāko, "gave one village ...". [⇑]

10. The phrase so jāni is also found in K_0469_0025 but is missing in Naraharinātha's edition (VS 2022: 460). [⇑]

11. Neither according to the pūrṇimānta nor to the amanta system was the 1st lunar day (tithi) of the dark fortnight of the said month a Tuesday. Diverging from the present document and K_0469_0025, Naraharinātha gives the tithi as "9" (VS 2022: 460). This might be correct. Following the amanta system this date corresponds to 18 July 1797, a Tuesday. [⇑]

12. There are some formal features of the copies indicating this: The honorific word śrī is irregularly used in the line announcing the sender (cf. note 5). Furthermore, the copy filmed as K_0469_0025 has in the upper part the word "syāhamohara". Thus the document was not a red-sealed lālamohara but a rukkā sealed in black. [⇑]

13. Cf. note 3. [⇑]

14. See e.g. the lālamohara sent by King Raṇabahādura from Kāntipura in VS 1851, Vaiśākha vadi 11 (Naraharinātha VS 2022: 404); cf. Manandhar 1986: 103. [⇑]

15. śrī kṛṣnasāhāle kāśī jādā bhanī sunāramā sisavā gāu carāya (Naraharinātha n.d.: 88). [⇑]

16. Naraharinātha n.d.: 88. [⇑]