Documenta Nepalica

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

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A deed of surety executed by Herāmāna Karmācārya underwriting Jogalāla Śreṣṭha's biseṭ khānagī in service to Sveta Matsyendranātha (VS 1965)

ID: K_0213_0060

Edited and translated by Manik Bajracharya and Rajendra Shakya
Created: 2022-02-03; Last modified: 2023-09-11
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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, 2023. 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 document, Herāmāna Karmācārya agrees to act as guarantor of Jogalāla Śreṣṭha's financial obligations following the latter's acceptance of his appointment as a biseṭ in service to Kathmandu's Sveta Matsyendranātha (aka Janabāhāḥ Dyaḥ).

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्रीश्वेतम[...]
2२

1श्री५सर्कार
2१

1सहीहेरामान्‌कर्माचार्यके
2लटोल्‌

1लिषितम्‌काठमाडौ∙केलटोलवस्न्यासाहेवसिंकोनातिजित्मान्‌कोछोरा∙हीरामान्‌कर्माचा
2र्य्येआगे∙केलटोलवस्न्याजोगलालश्रेष्ठले ¯ ¯ ¯ काविसेटषांगीकवुलगरेकोहुनालेनीजजो
3गलाल्‌∙श्रेष्टकोधंज्मानि∙मभञासो ¯ ¯ ¯ कोकामकाजनीजकाकवुलियेत्‌वमोजिम्‌जोग
4र्नुपर्नेनीजवाट∙गरेनौरकामकाजअडकाई∙नीजठेकदार∙मरीभागीवेपत्ताभयोभन्यानीजले
5वुझाउनुपर्नेदामकामकाजवेहोरा∙रसाविक्‌वमोजिम्‌कोकामस्मेत्‌मैलेचलाउला¯ ¯ ¯ को
6कामअडकाउनेछैनभनीमेरामनोमान्‌षुसिराजीसंगधंज्मानीभैधंज्मानीपत्रलेषी
7गुठीवन्दोवस्तअडामार्फत्‌ ¯ ¯ ¯ माचढाञ्यूं∙सम्वत्‌१९६५सालकार्तिक्‌५गते३श्भ्म्‌

Translation

[1r]

Glorious Śvetamatsyendranātha1 – 2

Śrī 5 sarkāra – 1

Signed, Herāmān Karmācārya [of] Kelaṭola

Written (Likhitam) by Herāmān Karmācārya (text: Hīrāmān Karmācāryye), a resident of Kelaṭola in Kathmandu—grandson of Sāheba Siṃ [and] son of Jītmān.

Āge: Jogalāla Śreṣṭha, a resident of Kelaṭola, having accepted his appointment (khānagī) as a biseṭ of [the glorious Śvetamatsyendranātha]2 , I offer myself as his guarantor (dhanajamānī). If the aforementioned contractor (ṭhekadāra) does not fulfil his responsibilities relating to the affairs of [the glorious Śvetamatsyendranātha] as [written] in the agreement (kabuliyata), obstructs his [own] work or disappears, whether by reason of death or for having fled, I will pay the amount of money he should have paid, [submit] the report of activities and do [his] work according to what is customary. I will not hinder the tasks relating to [the glorious Śvetamatsyendranātha]. I have written this deed of surety, offering myself as the guarantor willingly, and submit it to [Śrī 5 sarkāra] through the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā.

Tuesday, the 3rd of Kārtika in the [Vikrama] era year 1965 (1908 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This document is a deed of surety submitted to the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā by Herāmān Karmācārya of Kelaṭola in Kathmandu. He commits himself to underwriting Jogalāla Śreṣṭha's term as biseṭ in service to Śvetamatsyendranātha (also known as Seto Matsyendranātha in Nepali and Janabāhāḥ Dyaḥ in Newari). In case of Jogalāla's failure to meet his obligations, he agrees not only to stand in for him with his own wealth, but also to act as a replacement to fulfil the tasks assigned to the biseṭ. That Jogalāla is termed a ṭhekadāra means that the post of biseṭ was assigned to him on a contractual basis and that he was subjected to the payment of an agreed amount to the government.

The top section of the document is damaged, whence the invocation (usually the letter "śrī") is not visible.

Notes

1. Part of the deity's name has been lost in the original due to breakage, but it can be safely concluded that śrī śvetamachindranātha was what was originally written. [⇑]

2. The original gives only three macron-like symbols as a reference here to an entity mentioned in the upper margin. From the context, it is clear that the reference is to "śrīśvetamachindra". [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
āge	[fr. S. agre] adv. lit. "henceforeward" (Riccardi 1976: 150 n. 6), especially used in administrative and legal documents to mark the beginning of a text or paragraph. In its function it is similar to uprānta.
biseṭa	var. biseṭ, viseṭ, viseṭa, besata; n. 1) a temple steward (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 855) or a person responsible for administering a religious institution. 2) an official responsible for accountancy of temple trusts, as e.g. of the Paśupatinātha Bhaṇḍāra (Michaels 1994: 158-161). Michaels renders the term as "viśeṣ" and relates the different spellings attested to Skt. viśeṣa (ibd.: 160 n. 138). As the earliest reference quoted goes back to the Malla period (NS 794) and renders the term as beseta (G. Vajrācārya 1966: 23) it seems more likely that the term comes from Newari and is a variant of New. besata/byaṣṭa, "messenger" (cp. Malla et al. 2000: s.v.).
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā, Guṭhi 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).
kabuliyata	n. a deed of consent, agreement or acceptance.
khānagī / khānkī / khāngī	n. 1) salary, wages, or an annual emolument. 2) emoluments of government employees and functionaries, generally in the form of land assignments (M.C. Regmi 1978: 227; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 860; Adhikari 1984: 351). 3) rents accruing from the lands assigned to jāgiradāras (cf. M.C. Regmi 1965: 18-19).
likhitam	[S.] var. likhitama, likhītama, likhita; 1) adj. written. 2) n. a written document (as evidence).
śrī 5 sarkāra	lit. "five-times venerable ruler"; commonly used to refer to the Śāha king (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266) and often indistinctively to his government (Lecomte-Tilouine 2015).
ṭhekadāra	var. ṭhekaḍāra, ṭhekādār, ṭhikidār, ṭhekdār; n. contractor. 1) person who holds a ṭheka for the collection of taxes (M.C. Regmi 1988: 270). 2) farmer who rents his land.