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A document from Phattye Śamśera formalizing an annual lokābhāra contract for Ruibhoṭ village (1959 VS)

ID: L_0922_0003


Edited and translated by Rajendra Shakya in collaboration with Yogesh Budathoki and Nadine Plachta
Created: 2018-08-11; Last modified: 2023-01-24
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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

This document from Phattye Śamśera sanctions a lokābhāra contract under the mukhiyā of Ruibhoṭ village without any demand for collateral and calling for payment in a single instalment in the month of Māgha.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

[Seal of Phattye Śamśera]

1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीपश्चीम्‌तर्फकाकम्यांडीङ्‌जनरलफ[...]
2णाबाहादुरकस्य­पत्रम्­¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
3आगे­अठार­सये­षोलामध्ये­दोचेतर्फ­कुतांपट्टी­रुईभोट्‌­गाउका­मुषीया­
4रैतीहरूके­हाम्रा­षान्गीमा­दरीयाको­षुवा­१८­सये­षोलामध्ये­दोचेतर्फका­गाऊ­सावीक्‌­[...]
5रहरूवाट­लोकाभारका­जगा­हुनाले­म्याद­नटासी­वेजमांनीमा­लोकाभारको­सालवसाली­पट्टा­गरिवक्सेको­हो­हजुरवाट­प
6नी­सावीक्‌‌­वमोजीम्‌­हजुरलाई­सो­षुव़ा­छंज्याल­सालवसाली­लोकाभारको­पट्टा­गरी­पाउ­भनि­गाउगाउका­मु[...]­
7जीम्माव़ालहरू­स्मेतले­हाम्रा­हजुरमा­वींती­चढाउदा­जाहेर­भयो­तसर्थ­सो­हाम्रा­षान्गीका­षुव़ा­१८­सयेम[...]­
8दोचेतर्फका­गाउगाउलाई­सावीक्‌­चली­आया­वमोजिम्‌­हाम्रीलाइ­यो­षान्गी­छंज्याल­सालवसालीको­क[...]
9लियेत­लेषाई­सो­वमोजीम­पट्टा­गरिदीनु­सावीक्‌मा­म्याद­नटासी­वेजमानीमा­दी­आयाको­हुनाले­म्या[...]­[...]­
10र­धनजमानी­स्मेत­लीनु­पर्दैन­भंन्या­५९­साल­माघ­वदी­५­रोज­१­मा­तहसील­अडाका­नाउमा­दस्कत्‌­गरि[...]
11क्से­मुतावीक्‌­अठार­सये­षोला­मध्ये­दोचेतर्फ­कुतांपट्टी­रूइभोट्‌­गाउ­१­को­इस्तक्‌­सम्वत्‌­१९५९­सा
12ल­आश्वीन­वदी­१­रोजदेषी­६०­साल­भाद्र­सुदी­१५­रोज­तक्‌­वर्ष­१­को­मीतिले­हामीलाई­यो­षान्गी­छं[...]
13लसम्म­सालवसाली­सिवाये­¯ ¯१¯­अंक­कल्यानधन­धर्माधीकार­पंचषत­रहतावहता­उडंतागडं
14ता­रकमी­झारा­वेदर्ता­रकंकलं­वाहेक­व़ाज्वी­सेर्मा­साउन्याफागु­स्याफल­सीर्ती­चुषत्­स्मेत्‌­सावीक्‌­
15दरि­चली­आयाको­रकंमकलं­र­अैन­वमोजीम्‌का­डंडकुंड­मर्‍‍यो­अपुताली­चाकचकुई­मारीमेटी­वेमौ
16जरी­सावीक­५८­सालसम्मको­लोकाभारका­ठेक्‌­चुषत्‌­वमोजीम्‌­वर्ष­१­को­ठेकको­मोरु­२२२­क
17स्तुरी­विना­१­र­चुषत्‌को­मोरू­७|||/|१­स्मेत्‌­ज्मा­मोरू­२२९|||/|१­लेषीयाको­नगद­जीन्सीमा­रैतान­लो
18काभारको­ठेक­गरिवकस्यौं­रस्ति­चलाई­वस्ती­वसाई­गाउघर­अवाद­गुलजार­गरि­रैती­राजी­राषी­सावीक्‌­
19दरी­चली­आया­वमोजीम्‌­असुल­तहसील­गरि­लेषीया­वमोजीम्‌को­नगद­जीन्सी­सालवसाली­यकै­की
20स्ता­माघ­मैन्हामा­जीम्मावाल्‌­मुषीया­मार्फत्‌­चुक्ती­गरि­हाम्रा­तहसील­अडा­दाषील­गरि­रसिद­लीनु­क
21दाचीत्‌­मुषीया­जीम्मावालले­दाम्‌काम­हीनामीना­पारी­मर्‍‍यो­भाग्यो­नासीयो­भनि­तीमि­मुषीया­रैती[...]
22रूका­घरघरानावाट­वुझाउनु­पर्ला­सर्कारवाट­र­हामीवाट­फर्मायसी­माल­केही­काम­लेषी­आया­सावी
23क­वमोजिम­गाउमा­चल्याका­दरभाउले­षरिद­गरि­सो­माल­चलान­गर्दा­अघी­चली­आयाका­अडावाट­
24चलाई­दाषील­गरि­काम­तामेल­गर्नु­ठेकवाहेक­तीम्रा­गाऊभरमा­भयाका­मैन­कस्तुरी­अनेत्र­वेचविषन्‌­
25नगर्नु­जो­भयाको­ल्याई­हाम्रा­तहसील­अडा­दाषील­गर्नु­साल­आषीर­भयापछी­जो­दाषील­भयाको­रसिदहरू­ल्या
26इ­व़ासील­वाकी­गरि­फारषती­लीनु­कवुल­वमोजिमका­नगद­जीन्सीमा­¯ ¯२¯­पर्‍‍यो­अथवा­जगामा­उठन­स
27केन­नोक्सान­भया­भनि­कौनै­कुराको­यक­दाम्‌­मीन्हा­मोजरा­पाउन्या­छैन­¯ ¯३¯का­जात्रा­आजा­पुजा­दसै
28मा­मुली­षर्च­गैह्र­सावीक­वमोजीम्‌­कट्टी­नघटाई­ठेक­वाहेक­तीमिहरूका­घरघरानावाट­चलाउनु­लो
29काभारका­ठेकमा­नफा­भया­पनी­नोक्सान्‌­भय़ा­पनि­रैती­गैह्रसंग­दामासाहीका­हीसावले­लीनु­दीनु­अ
30सुल­तहसील­मामीला­मुद्दा­इन्साफ­गर्दा­अैन­वमोजीम्‌­जाञी­गर्नु­वीजाई­वीदुत­नगर्नु­गाउघरमा­परि­आ[...]
31को­झगदा­मुद्दा­तीमि­मुषीयाहरूले­छिन्न­नस्केको­र­मुषीयाहरूका­नाउमा­नालीस­गर्न्याहरूको­स्मेत्‌­
32झगदा­मुद्दा­अैन­वमोजीम्‌­हेरी­इन्साफ­गर्न्या­हाकीं­१­हामीवाट­षटाइ­पठाई­वक्स्यौंला­तीमि­मुषीया[...]
33ले­छीनेका­झगदा­मुद्दामा­भयेका­आम्दानी­लोकाभारका­ज्मामा­राषनु­हाकिंले­छीने­जती­नीजैले­हाम्रा­हजुर[...]­[...]
34षील­गर्नेछ­यो­लेषीया­वमोजीम्‌­नगरी­घटीवढी­पारी­घुस­रोसवत्‌­सरसलामी­षाइ­नञा­वढता­रकंक[...]­
35लगाई­लीयो­वीजाइ­वीदुत­गरि­दुष­दीयो­भनि­कोही­रैती­कराउन­आयो­सावीत्‌­ठहर्‍‍यो­भन्या­अैन­वमो[...]
36म्‌­तीमिहरूले­वुझाउनु­पर्ला­मैन­कस्तुरी­जो­भयाको­हाम्रा­तहवील­दाषील­नगरी­कसैले­दवाइ­छपाइ­अ
37नेत्र­वेचवेषन्‌­गरायाको­ठहर्‍‍यो­भन्या­र­कीस्तावंडीमा­वुझाउनु­पर्न्या­सालवसालीका­यकै­कीस्ता­माघ­मै
38न्हामा­दाषील­गर्नु­सकीन­भन्या­कीस्ता­नाघ्या­वापत्‌­नगदीको­कीस्ता­षीलापी­सुद­र­जीन्सी­मालको­अ
39सन­वजारका­दर­भाउले­मोल­स्मेत्‌­तीमि­मुषीया­रैतीमा­जो­फेला­पर्छ­उसवाट­वाकी­उठाइ­ली­लोका
40भार­तोडी­वक्स्यौला­भनि­साविक्‌­वमोजिम्‌­सालवसाली­लोकाभार­ठेक्‌को­पट्टा­गरिवक्स्यौं­लोकाभार­
41पट्टा­जानी­जगामा­चलन­गर­इती­सम्वत्‌­१९५९­साल­मीति­माघ­वदी­५­रोज­१­शुभ्म्­¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

[Seal of Phattye Śamśera]

Hail! A letter from Commanding General of the Western Front Phattye Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā, a prince born of a prince

Āge: To … … …1 , the mukhiyā, and ryots of the Ruibhoṭ village beyond Kutang in the Doce sector within the Aṭhāra Saya Kholā [region]

“As the villages in Doce sector within the Aṭhāra Saya Kholā [region that are] the khuvā[s] registered as our khānagīs were customarily [leased] by former jāgīradāras as lokābhāra land, you too have been making annual lokābhāra leases [with us] without [either] a [seven-day] deadline notice [or] surety [requirements]. We beg you to provide us with annual lokābhāra leases as usual for as long as the khuvā[s] remain yours.”

This came to our notice after the mukhiyās together with the jimmāvālas of the various villages made petition to us. Therefore, in accordance with previous custom, have [them] (i.e. the other mukhiyās)draft annual agreements and [then you (i.e. the mukhiyā of Ruibhoṭ)] formalize [lokābhāra] leases in accordance with them for the villages in the Doce sector of the Aṭhāra Saya [Kholā region that are assigned as] the khuvās of our khānagī for as long as this khānagī remains with us.

In accordance with an authorization (lit. signature) given under the Tahasila Aḍḍā's name on Sunday, the 5th of the dark fortnight of Māgha in [Vikrama] era [19]59 (1903 CE) that states: “No notice of the deadline need be posted, nor is collateral required, since [lokābhāra contracts] have been granted without posting a notice or putting up collateral in the past”, we, for as long as this khānagī remains with us, have sanctioned a raitānalokābhāra contract for the 1 village of Ruībhoṭ [situated beyond] beyond Kutang in the Doce sector withing the Aṭhāra Saya Kholā [region] for 1 year beginning from (istaka) the 1st of the dark fortnight of Āśvina in the year VS 1959 (1902 CE) to the 15th of the bright fortnight of Bhādra in the year VS 1960 (1903 CE) at the stated cash and kind [rate] totalling 229 mohararupaiyā̃s, 3 sukās, 1 ānā, 1 paisā 1 dāma for 1 year, comprising the previous contractual amount due on lokābhāra contracts up to the year [VS 19]58 (1901 CE), namely 222 mohararupaiyā̃s along with 1 musk pod and the [fines for] faults (cuṣat)2 [committed by holders of] pagarī [contracts] of 7 mohararupaiyā̃s, 3 sukās, 1 ānā, 1 paisā 1 dāma. There is a complete exemption for the appropriate sermā, sāunephāgu, syāphala3 and, sirto [revenue], and also, in accordance with the Ain, for registered customary taxes and levies and for daṇḍakuṇḍa, maryo-aputālī, and cākacakui; but not on rāja-aṅka4 , kalyānadhana, dharmādhikārapañcakhata, arrearages (rahatā, bahatā, uḍaṃtā, gaḍaṃtā)5 , jhārā levies upon rakamī households, [and] unregistered customary taxes and levies (rakamakalama).

Keep the ryots well disposed by overseeing affairs, founding settlements and making villages and households and crops to flourish (ābāda guljāra garī). Collect revenue as listed and managed previously and submit it in cash and kind according to what is recorded [to be paid], clearing the amount due annually in a single instalment in the month of Māgha through the jimmāvālas and mukhiyās. Deposit it at our Tahasila Aḍḍā and obtain a receipt.

In the case where a mukhiyā or jimmāvāla mishandles money matters [and then] dies or runs away, or [the money is otherwise] lost, then you, the mukhiyā and ryots, shall pay from your household property. When [there are orders] in writing for grains or [other] needed items, make the purchase at the current rate in the village, as it was done previously. When dispatching such items, do so from the government office (aḍḍā) that was previously used. Unless [under terms of] a contract, do not sell elsewhere the wax and musk available in your village. Deliver all [available wax and musk] to our Tahasila Aḍḍā. When the [fiscal] year comes to an end, bring all receipts for the deposits [of levies and goods], hand over the ledger (vāsila bā̃kī)6 and obtain a phārakhatī. You shall not receive the remission of even a single dāma in cash or kind contracted to be paid for any reason, whether that there is -2-7 or that you failed to collect [what is due] on [lokābhāra] land or that you have incurred a loss.

Besides [the commitments] under a contract, you shall bear the basic expenses and the like from your own households for the religious processions for and worship of -3-8 during the Dasaĩ festival, without any reduction in the previous outlay. In cases of profit or loss in the lokābhāra contract, proportionally distribute to the ryots etc., or collect from them, [the surplus or shortfall]. Follow the rules set by the Ain when collecting revenue and adjudicating lawsuits among ryots. Do not cause injury and oppression.

We shall send 1 hākima to look into and adjudicate, in accordance with the Ain, cases involving disputes that arise in villages and households that you mukhiyās fail to settle, and also cases involving disputes of persons who file lawsuits against the mukhiyās. Deposit the revenue from the cases and disputes that you mukhiyās settle into the lokābhāra account. All [the revenue from cases] the hākima settles will always be delivered to us by him personally.

If you do not act in accordance with what is written here and go against it by taking bribes or embezzling sarsalāmī payments, imposing and collecting new, superfluous levies, or [otherwise] causing injury and oppression so as to make [ryots] suffer, and if any ryot comes to complain and [such wrongdoing] is proven, then you shall have to pay [the penalty] in accordance with the Ain.

If anyone is proven to have concealed wax or musk that is available [in the village] and sold it elsewhere instead of delivering it to our treasury, and if [anyone among you] is unable to deposit the instalment that is to be paid as a single annual instalment in the month of Māgha, then you shall have to pay interest on the instalment for having crossed the instalment [deadline], and at market rates for goods at Asana. What is due shall be exacted from you, whether mukhiyā or ryot, whosoever is found [wanting], and the lokābhāra [contract] shall be annulled. We have therefore formalized the annual lokābhāra lease contract under the previous terms. Be informed that it is a lokābhāra lease and tend the land.

Sunday, the 5th of the dark fortnight of Māgha in the [Vikrama] era year 1959 (1903 CE). Auspiciousness.


Commentary

This letter from Phattye (Fateh) Śamśera sanctions land being assigned under a lokābhāra contract to the mukhiyā of Ruibhoṭ in the cluster of villages around Kuṭāṃbhoṭ in the Aṭhāra Saya Kholā region without taking surety from them. It is clear from other documents (L_0923_0004 and L_1200_0029) that Phattye Śamśera’s father, Dhīra Śamśera, had sanctioned a similar scheme in 1868 CE, but one without any clauses regarding the taking of surety and the posting of a seven-day deadline notice. Hence it appears that these clauses were introduced only later, requiring potential contractors henceforth to put up property as surety to win the lokābhāra contract and to post a seven-day notice publicly in the village so that objections to awarding the contract could be aired. Another document (L_0922_0002) mentions that the local contractors had been making payments in full since the year 1865 CE, which suggests that that was the year in which the sanctioning of land in Ruibhoṭ began. That document also sanctions the lokābhāra contract without taking surety or requiring a seven-day notice.

The Ain (Legal Code) published in 1888 includes an article on ‘Rakama Bandobastako’ (On revenue-collection arrangements), which contains a section that sheds light on the lokābhāra contract system:

12. In case the inhabitants of any village stipulate arrangements under the lokabhar system within a period of six months after an ijara has been issued for a collection of revenue from that village, undertaking liability to pay the amount stipulated by (the ijara), and designate a representative through which they stipulate such payment, and also furnish a responsible person as surely for that purpose, then lokhabar arrangements shall be made with them, subject to payment (of the stipulated amount) in installments, even though of the advance of the amount stipulated by him. After lokhabar arrangements are once sanctioned, (the function of collecting revenue in that village) shall not be granted to another person in the same year even if he offers a higher amount. If such a higher offer is received in the following year, (the applicant) shall be granted (the ijara) only if the inhabitants of the village undertake to bear liability for the increased amount. Such increased amount shall not be collected from the villager on a compulsory basis; only the amount stipulated by them previously may be collected. (Regmi 1980: 67).

Almost all of the documents from Kutāṃbhoṭ and Ruibhoṭ mention that the lands from these areas were assigned as an emolument (khānagī) to the commanding general of the eastern front. The present document, however, deals with land from the same area but situated in the Doce sector, which was assigned as a khānagī to the commanding general of the western front, the seniormost among the four commanding generals. Indeed, almost all the documents from the Tsum valley assign emoluments (khānagī) to the commanding general of the western front.


Notes

1. The name of the mukhiyā is missing in the original, the folio being torn there. Or else the missing word may have been jimmavālas, as mukhiyās and jimmavālas are mentioned together in line 20. []

2. Another document, L_0923_0001 from VS 1937 (1881 CE), which is very similar to this one, uses the expression pagarīkā cukṣata in a similar context. Cuṣat may be an elided form of two independent Nepali words used in compound: cuka ("mistake, carelessness") + khata ("fault, accusation"); see Turner s.v. []

3. The term syāphala is not clear, but it is evidently a kind of tax. []

4. Here the text makes reference to the space above in the document with a reference number ‘¯ ¯1¯’, followed by the word ‘aṅka’. It appears that, when this document was microfilmed, the topmost part was not captured. Hence the invocation and text in the blank space below the invocation is missing. The missing invocation probably is ‘Śrī\’ and the missing text in the space below it is ‘Śrī Rāja-1’, as seen in ‘L_1230_0029’, another document from the same region. []

5. See Regmi Research Series, Year 13, No. 4 (Regmi 1981: 56). []

6. This is the final ledger containing income, expenditure and all outstanding amounts, signed by both the submitting and receiving parties, thus signifying that all accounts tally. This, however, does not mean that all outstanding sums have necessarily been paid. []

7. This reference is not clear due to missing top parts of some words. []

8. This is another reference that is unclear due to the missing topmost part of the document. However, it is clear from the context that reference is being made to a revered deity. []