Documenta Nepalica

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

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A note from the Dang māla to the Salyana adālata re a mandated inventory of Bhagavantanātha's monastery in Dang (VS 1964)

ID: K_0469_0016

Edited by Christof Zotter in collaboration with Yogesh Budathoki
Created: 2019-06-12; Last modified: 2024-05-31
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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, 2024. 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

In this note, the Dang revenue office (māla) responds to an order from the Salyan court (adālata) to freeze the assets of [Bhagavantanātha's] monastery (maṭha) in Dang and makes a witnessed inventory (tāyadatī [muculkā]) of them. Towards that end it requests the Salyan administration to send officials in order to help with the assigned task.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1⟪17⟫

1⟪5⟫

1[seal of a Dang Māla official]

1दाङ्‌मालवाट•सल्ल्याना
2अदालतलाई•लेषेको
3उर्प्रान्त•महंन्तछत्र•नाथमरेकोहुदा•सल्ल्यानागौडाकोतोकवमोजीं[...]
4क्कागर्नुपर्दा•रानागाउ•मठ्‌रोक्कागरी•ताये़दाती•गर्नालाई•येसअड्डा[...]
5वीचारी•गौडाकाकोटेसिपाहीस्मेत्‌षतीगयाकाछंन्‌•दाङ्‌मठ्‌कोधं
6मालरोक्कागर्नाकेस्वतोकवमोजीं•तेस‌अड्डावाट•स्वमठ्‌कोधंमाल
7र•जगाजीमींउठती•कोतयिदाती•षडागरी•पठाउनुभंन्ये•६४सालजे[...]
8१८गतेरोज६मातेसअड्डावाट•येसअड्डाकानाउमा•लेषोट्‌भैआया
9कालाई•स्ववारेको•मुकदमा•स्मेत्‌•तेसअड्डामापरेकोर•मालरोक्का
10गर्नालाई•पनीपाहाद्‌कोते⟪स⟫अड्डावाट•हातहालीताये़दातीहुन्येरदाङ
11कोये़सअड्डाले•मात्र•ताये़दार्तीगर्नमुनासिवनपर्ने•भरसष•स्ववारेको
12कामतामेल•गर्नुप्रर्न्या•तेसअड्डावाटै•जाहाजाहा•जेजे•रोक्काताये़दा
13र्तीगर्नुपर्छ•गर्नालेमुनासिवप[?]र्ने•तेसअड्डावाट•कामतामेलग[...]
14प्रर्न्याकांमा•ये़सअड्डाले•मात्र•हातहाली•ताये़दातीगर्न•वेमना[...]
15देषीनाले•भरसष•दाङ्‌कोस्मेततेसैअड्डावाट•तायेदातीषडाग[...]का
16रींदा•मानीसजोपठाउनुपर्छ•पठाउनेर•साछीवस्नचाहींन्छभन्ये[...]
17अड्डालाई•लेषोट्‌भैआयावमोजींगर्नकांहोला•स्ववमोजींनभै[...]
18अड्डावाटमात्र•हातहालीताये़दातीषडागर्ने•कां•गर्नालाईवाधा
19परीमद्दतस्मेत्•नपुग्न्ये•र•स्वकामयेसअड्डावाटगर्न[?][?]
20नी•अैनसवालले•राषनवस्नहुन्या•साछी[?]
21हुन्येछ•ताये़दातीगर्नालाईतेसैअड्डावाट•मानी[...][...]
22या•वेसहोला•सम्वत्‌१९६४साल्‌•जेष्ट२४गतेवार[?]•

1[unknown seal]

Synopsis

[1r]

This is a partly torn note written by the Dang (text: Dāṅ) revenue office (māla) to the Salyan (Sallyānā) court (adālata) on [Thurs]day, the 24th solar day (gate) of Jyeṣṭha in [the Vikrama] era year 1964 (1907 CE).1 The document starts by quoting a note (lekhoṭ) from the Salyan adālata sent to the Dang māla dated Friday, the 18th solar day (gate) of Jyeṣṭha in [the Vikrama] era year 1964 (1907 CE), 2 stating that, according to a decision (toka) of the Salyan district office (gauḍā) made when Mahanta Chatranātha had passed away, the magistrate (bicārī) of the Salyan adālata and the kote of the Salyan gauḍā together with guards (sipāhī)3 were deputed to freeze the assets of [Bhagavantanātha's] monastery (maṭha) in Rānāgāũ (text: Rānāgāu) [in Salyan] and make a [witnessed] inventory (tāyedatī for tāyadatī [muculkā])4 of them. According to the same toka, the Dang māla is to freeze the property of the maṭha in Dang (i.e. in Śrīgāũ), make an inventory of it (both the landholdings and revenue) and send [the resulting documentation]. The Dang māla replies, given a lawsuit initiated relating to the maṭha, it is not appropriate for it alone to freeze the property and that the office(s) in the Pahad [region] (i.e. in Salyan) should be also involved in enforcing the mandate and preparing the tāyadatī list. As far as possible, the Salyan adālata should send clerk(s) (karindāmānīsa) of its own; also, since according to the law witnesses should be present, it would be good for the Salyan administration to send men as well.

Commentary

The present document belongs to a series of material to a lawsuit regarding the succession of the late Chatranātha as mahanta of the two monasteries (maṭhas) of Bhagavantanātha in Rānāgāũ (Salyan) and Śrīgāũ (Dang),5 and helps to clarify the order of events and the involvement of different (local) offices in the lawsuit: Chatranātha passed away on Thursday, the 17th solar day (gate) of Jeṣṭha, VS 1964 (30 May 1907 CE). This is learned from a bintīpatra (K_0469_0015) that Chatranātha's biological brother,6 Devīnātha, submitted that same day, probably via the Salyan gauḍā (cf. Commentary to K_0469_0015), to the prime minister (by that time Candra Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā). As the present document discloses, the very next day (the 18th gate) the Salyan adālata issued a lekhoṭ informing the Dang māla about the gauḍā’s decission to send representatives of the two offices to investigate the maṭha in Rānāgāũ and freeze its assets, and ordering the Dang māla to do the same at the maṭha in Śrīgāũ.

After this rapid start the administrative process seemingly slowed down. The muculkā listing the frozen property of Bhagavantanātha's maṭha in Rānāgāu, submitted almost three months after the present document, on [Satur]day, the 8th solar day (gate) of Bhādra, VS 1964 (24 August 1907 CE), contains a list of the 94 items belonging to the maṭha in Dang prepared according to the tax assessment register (jammābandī) kept by Madhau Ghartī (see K_0469_0017, table 19), the person put in charge of the property in Dang (see K_0469_0017, table 24). Whether the request of the Dang māla made in the present document was followed up on, and the witnesses (and other functionaries) who signed the muculkā (see K_0469_0017 table 24) were also present when the property of the maṭha in Dang was assessed, is not entirely clear.

Notes

1. The date corresponds to 6 June 1907. [⇑]

2. The date corresponds to 31 May 1907. [⇑]

3. According to the tāyadatī muculkā issued three months after the present document (K_0469_0017, see also Commentary below) the deputed bicārī was Lāla Bāhādura Rāyāmājhī Chetrī, the koteRaṇabāhādura Sāha, and the sipāhīs were Ganesa Bāhādura Khāṃ and Le(?)te Thāpā Chetrī. [⇑]

4. The word tāyadātī (or, as written here and elsewhere, tāyedātī) is an adjective related to a noun (tāyadāta) that can either mean "property, estate" or "confiscation" (see K_0469_0017 note 3). [⇑]

5. For the background to this lawsuit see, among others, the Commentaries in K_0469_0015, K_0469_0033 and K_0469_0046. [⇑]

6. Cf. K_0468_0061. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
adālata	[fr. A.] n. a court of justice. According to K.K. Adhikari (1984: 301), adālatas were superordinate to ṭhānās and amālas. There were two categories of adālatas: 1) gaũḍā-adālatas which were situated in the frontier areas, Dhankuta in the east and Palpa and Doti in the west. 2) jillā-adālata which were located in the various administrative regions. In the Mulukī Ain, adālatas, ṭhānās and amālas were the central institutions for judicial administration (see, for example, MA-KM 1854 1.5, 19 and 21).
bicārī / vicārī	[fr. S. vicārin]. n. magistrate.
bintīpatra	[fr. S.] var. bintipatra, biṃtipatra, bīntīpatram; n. formal letter written to an authority; more specifically, a petition or request letter. Cf. bintī.
gaũḍā / gauḍā	var. gaurā; n. 1) a fortification, fortress (see Parājulī et al. 2052: s.v. gaũḍā and gauḍā); 2) certain districts were known as gauḍā, according to Adhikari (describing the situation after 1850): Doti, Salyan, and Palpa in the West and Dhankuta in the east (Adhikari 1979: 16); 3) a district office for maintaining law and order (cf. Karmacharya 2001: 91) established in the districts known as gauḍā. According to Adhikari this judicial offices were placed under responsible military officials—at first under kājīs or sardāras, and later on, under generals (janarala) and colonels (karṇela). In the Ain the chief officer of a gauḍā is referred to as hākima or mālika. Gauḍās decided original cases and served as appellate courts. They had jurisdiction regarding pañcakhata cases but could order a death sentence only after receiving a lālamohara from the kausala (Adhikari 1979: 16). The other levels of courts in the disctricts besides gauḍās or gaũḍā adālatas (cf. Adhikari 1984: 310) were: adālata (sometimes also called aḍḍās) and amāla (Adhikari 1979: 14). According to Kumar there were three "first courts of appeal" known as gauḍās covering twelve lower courts after the reorganisiation of the country's judiciary by Vīra Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1887: I. Palpa gauḍā (covering 1. Salyan, 2. Piuthan, 3. Pokhara, 4. Doti, 6. Bhagwanpur, 6. Taulihawa), II. Doti gauḍā (covering 7. Jumla, 8. Dailekh, 9. Banke, 10. Kanchanpur), III. Dhankuta gauḍā (covering 11. Morang, 12. Saptari) (Kumar 1967: 129f.).
jammābandī	var. jmābaṃdī; n. Tax assessment record or register.
kārindā	[fr. P. kāranda] var. kārīṃdā, kārīndā; n. clerk or low-ranking official.
kote	var. kotyā, koṭe; n. officer in charge of arms and ammunition, headman of porters in the army (Adhikari 1984: 352).
mahanta	[S.] var. mahaṃta; n. the temporal and spiritual head of a centre (āśrama, maṭha, sthāna, akhāḍā) or wandering group (khālsā) of an ascetic order (cf. Burghart 1976: 100); an abbot.
māla	n. an office for collecting revenues (M.L. Karmacharya 1996: 63; M.C. Regmi 1978: 862). Cf. māla aḍḍā
maṭha	[fr. S.] n. abode of ascetics, monastery.
muculkā / mucalakā	var. mucalakā; n. a witnessed written statement.
sipāhī	[lw. H. fr. Pers.] var. sīpāhī; n. 1) a soldier. 2) a non-combatant person employed as a policeman, or an office attendant. According to Edwards "some of the sipahis assigned to the offices in the 1840s were not "soldiers", although those who stood guard at the banks and treasuries undoubtedly were affiliated with the police or military. Such guards or watchmen were deployed at the Kausi, Kumari Chowk, and surely at the Tahvils and other offices as well" (Edwards 1975: 109-110 ).
toka	var. tok; n. decision, sanction.