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 Rājendra providing compensation for the defined duties of eight attendants who protect the silver-plated doors of Matsyendranātha Temple at Ta Bāhāḥ (VS 1897)

ID: K_0008_0028B

Edited and translated by Manik Bajracharya in collaboration with Rabi Acharya
Created: 2020-10-28; Last modified: 2025-07-17
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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

This rukkā from King Rājendra provides instructions to eight families in Patan, mandating their daily presence to guard the deity's silver-plated doors of the Buṅgadyaḥ temple at Ta Bāhāḥ. In compensation, these caretakers are granted the right to collect revenue from designated trust land.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्रीमछिन्द्रनाथ
2१

1१०१नं

1सेनं६२
2रुजु
3भन्नेमीनौपुर्ण

[signature: स्हीडीदिपवहादुर]

[seal with the legend: पाहाडवन्दोवस्ततहवीलफाटअडा]

[signature: स्हीडीदिपवहादुर]

1॥१०१॥

[signature: स्हीडीदिपवहादुर]

3[seal with the legend: पाहाडवन्दोवस्ततहवीलफाटअडा]

1रुक्कासौ
2आगेसहरपाटनकातपसिलवमोजिमकादेपालाघर८पाटनटवहालका.
3¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯कोदेवालमाचादीकाध्वकाकुरन्यादिपाल८रहँदाऊनहरूलाईषा
4नगीनहुदा¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯कागुठीकाषेतरोपनि८५।।कमाऊनुअजसंम्मतीरीआय़ाको
5कुतकाकुतअधीयाकाअधीयावालीघ्यूषानिचारदामठेकी८वाहालमाविसे
6टदीठामार्फटतानुअघिदेषिचलिआ़याकोतहलपनिगर्नुदरीयाकादेपाल
7लेयेकघडीदीनवाकीछंदाआठैजनासामेलभैदेवालयमाचादीकाध्वका
8कुर्न्हुसंभारगर्नुविसेटदीठालेदेपालआयानआयाकोरोजींन्नाजाचदैगर्नु
9देपालजना८लाईसीतकालमापाषी८सालवसालवीसेटडीठालेवही
10माषर्चलेषीदीनुईनदेपालहरूलाईझारावेठवेगारमाफगरीषतषोसमो
11सनास्तीगरीवंदेजवाधीवक्स्यौआफ्नाषातिर्ज्मासंगटहल्मारुजुरहीदरीया
12काषेतकोचलंगर¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
13तपसील

[table]

संषनारानषपीछेघर१को		१०।	अतसींषपीछेघर१के¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯		१०।।।
ईताडोलरोपनि¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	७		भेलुपाही¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	३।।।
ईति¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	२		मलवु¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	७
दति¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१।		¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
==================			मनतननीघर१के¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯		१०
भागीसींषपींछेघर१के¯¯¯¯¯		१०	वंधु¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	५
अफल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	५		वदोल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	५
कौपाचा¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१।।		==================
लसीचल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	३।।		जगनासींधालाछे१के¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯		१०।।
==================			अफल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	५
विष्नुसींलेहेर्नेघर१के¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯		१०।।।	मगि¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	४
सीजचल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	५		अनुचा¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	१।।
वाहाफल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	३।।।		==================
नेसीचल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	२		धीर्जनारानतवाहालघर१के¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯		९
==================			उडोकुलां¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	४
लछीवरचलपोटघर१के¯¯¯ पादुव गर¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯		१४।।	सीजचल¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯	५
==================			==================

31ईतिसंम्वत्१८९७सालमितीआश्वीणशुदी७रोज६शुभ्म् ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

Glorious Matsyendranātha (text: machindranātha) - 1

No. 1011

Se. no. 62

Attested; read aloud by the head scribe (mī[ra]nau[sinda]) Pūrṇa.

[Signature of ḍi[ṭṭhā] Dipa Bahādura]

[Seal with the legend: Pāhāḍa Bandobasta Tahavīla Phāṭa Aḍā]

[Signature of ḍi[ṭṭhā] Dipa Bahādura]

1012

[Signature of ḍi[ṭṭhā] Dipa Bahādura]

[Seal with the legend: Pāhāḍa Bandobasta Tahavīla Phāṭa Aḍā]

[This is an executive order] rukkāsau.

Āge: The 8 individuals [listed below] who serve as attendants (depālā)3 from the 8 households in the Patan city that supply attendants for the silver-plated doors of the [Matsyendranātha] temple in Ta Bāhāḥ, Patan, who receive no compensation (khānagī) are to cultivate 85½ ropanīs of land belonging to the [Matsyendranātha] guthi. They (i.e. the depālās) are to pay customary levies to the bāhāḥ (i.e., the Matsyendranātha guthi at Ta Bāhāḥ) through the biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā, including either kuta or adhiyā from the harvest yields; ghyūkhāni; and cāradāma ṭhekī, and to serve as has been done in the past. They are to attend [at the temple doors] according to customary practice. One ghaḍī before sunset4 , all eight registered attendants are to gather to attend to the silver-plated doors. The biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā should check daily whether they have come or not. Every year during the winter season, the biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā is to dole out 8 blankets to the 8 attendants, recording the expense in the ledger. We have exempted the attendants from [the mandatory labour obligations of] jhārā, beṭha and begāra, and they are not subject to [fines for] faults (khata)5 or dismissal [from their duties]. Remain present [at the temple] mindful your duties, and work the land assigned to you.

[The following are] details [of the families and plots of assigned land in ropanīs]:

[table]

[for] 1 family of Saṃkhanārān [from] Khapīṃche (text: Khapīche)		10¼	[for] 1 family of Atasīṃ [from] Khapīṃche (text: Khapīche)		10¾
Ītāḍola	7 ropanīs		Bhelupāhī	3¾
Īti	2		Malabu	7
Dati	1¼		¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
==================			[for] 1 family of Manata [from] Nanī		10
[for] 1 family of Bhāgīsīṃ [from] Khapīṃche		10	Baṃdhu	5
Aphala	5		Badola	5
Kaupācā	1½		==================
Lasī Cala	3½		[for] 1 family of Jaganāsīṃ [from] Dhālāche		10½
==================			Aphala	5
[for] 1 family managed by Viṣnusīṃ		10¾	Magi	4
Sīja Cala	5		Anucā	1½
Bāhāphala	3¾		==================
Nesī Cala	2		[for] 1 family of Dhīrjanārān [from] Ta Bāhāḥ		9
==================			Uḍokulāṃ	4
[for] 1 family of Lachīvara [from] Calapoṭa Pādu Bagara		14½	Sīja Cala	5
==================			==================

Friday, the 7th of the bright fortnight of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1897 (1840 CE).

Commentary

This copy of a rukkā, the original order having been issued by King Rājendra Vikrama Śāha, sets up guidelines for eight families of Patan, who are to continue regularly guarding the silver-plated gate of the Buṅgadyaḥ temple at Ta Bāhāḥ. It was archived at the Pahāḍa Bandobasta Tahabila Phā̃ṭa Aḍḍā. It was copied on two folios joined by strings. One of the two seals is stamped across adjoining margins of the two folios.

The families appointed to the care-taking task came from five different localities of Patan. The document mentions that the care-takers had not been previously compensated. Now, they were being given the right to cultivate designated trust land. The document lists 18 plots of land covering a total of 85¾ ropanīs. From the fruit of the land they were required to pay either a fixed amount (kuṭa) or half (adhiyā) of the harvest, along with a couple of other levies to the guthi. The biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā of Ta Bāhāḥ was given the responsibility to oversee the care takers.

The biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā mentioned here is quite probably Kīrtimāna Siṃ Bhaḍela, who was appointed to the post at Ta Bāhāḥ in 1836 (see document K_0017_0002A). In document K_0017_0002A, he is ordered to construct the silver-plated door for the Buṅgadyaḥ temple. Documentary evidence shows that traditional managers (biseṭ) of the Buṅgadyaḥ guthi were replaced by state-appointed ḍiṭṭhās during the early Śāha period (see, for example, documents K_0341_0018 and RRC_0005_0159). Such documents reveal that the state alternatively appointed traditional biseṭs to the post but termed the latter as either ḍiṭṭhā (K_0341_0018, 1805 CE), ḍiṭṭhā biseṭ (RRC_0005_0159, 1806 CE) or, as in the current document, biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā.

The construction of the silver-plated doors was pressumably finished just before this document was issued in the month of Āśvina in VS 1897 (1840 CE). The temple sustained heavy damage during the great earthquake of 1934, and the doors seem to have been replaced afterwards. John Locke mentions that the doorframe, too, was overlaid with silver in 1058 NS (Locke 1980: 251). However, the inscription at the plinth of the door mentions the donation of this silver occurred on the 4th of the dark fortnight in NS 1059 (1939 CE).6

Notes

1. This number refers to the place of the document in the government ledger archived as bk. 4 ms. no. 101 at the Guṭhī Saṃsthāna, Bhadrakālī. [⇑]

2. This number refers to the place of the document in the government ledger. [⇑]

3. The term depālā, alternatively written as dipāla and depāla in this document, generally refers to a person taking care of the deity's icon in the sanctum. The present caretakers tending to the doors were probably also responsible for assisting the priest who attended the deity (i.e., Buṅgadyaḥ) in the main sanctum of the temple. [⇑]

4. The text reads dina bākī chãdā, "before the end of the day". [⇑]

5. The specific faults for which they were exempt from fines are not mentioned. [⇑]

6. For a documentation of this inscription, see NHDP LAL0060 (https://danam.cats.uni-heidelberg.de/report/6a2ca05c-3aaa-11ea-b44d-0242ac130006; https://danam.cats.uni-heidelberg.de/files/uploadedfiles/LAL0060_I_20200125_01.jpg [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
adhiyā̃ / adhiyā	var. adhiñā, adhiyā̃; n. a system in the central hill region under which the cultivator paid half of the crop as rent.
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.
begāra	[fr. P.] var. begārī, bigārī; n. 1) a work exacted with no or meager payment. 2) forced and unpaid labor for purposes such as porterage, construction and digging (cf. R. Shaha 1990/vol.1: 207, M.C. Regmi 1978b: 854; cf.: M.C. Regmi 1999: 136). 3) Requisition of labourers for emergency requirement (M.C. Regmi 1965: 53). 4) compulsory porterage services, usually unpaid (cf. Michael 2012: 130).
beṭha	[fr. S. viṣṭi] var. beṭh, beṭhi; n. usually written together with 'begāra'; compulsory labour; unpaid labour esp. for farms (cf. R. Shaha 1990/vol.1: 207); exaction of unpaid labour on a customary basis in the hill region, usually for agricultural work (cf. M.C. Regmi 1965: 53, Michael 2012: 130).
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.).
cāradāma ṭhekī	var. cārdām ṭhekī; n. 1) A cash levy on rice-fields in the hill region. 2) A fee paid by a tenant to the landowning or local elites on the confirmation or renewal of his tenure (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 161).
ḍiṭṭhā	var. ḍīṭṭhā, ḍiṭhā; a civil servant ranking above a mukhiyā and lower than a subbā (cf. Stiller 1981: 379). According to Edwards 1975: 107, ḍiṭṭhās originally had been the judges who presided over the courts in Kathmandu but later could serve in a number of other offices (such as the kausī, the hāttīsāra or the sadara daphtarakhānā; see also Kumar 1967: 165; M.C. Regmi 1978: 226). The Mulukī Ain distinguishes three categories of the ḍiṭṭhās; the jaṅgī kote ḍiṭṭhā (probably, combatant personnel), the lājimā ḍiṭṭhā and the ḍiṭṭhā in charge of Elephant or horse stable or cowshed (MA-54.31.11).
ghaḍī	[fr. S. gaṭhikā] var. ghari, gharī, ghaṭi, ghaṭī, ghaḍi; n. a measure of time equal to 24 minutes usually measured by floating a bowl with a hole on a bucket filled with water.
ghiukhānī	var. ghyūkhāni, ghyukhāne, ghyūkhāne, ghiukhāne; n. "a cash levy paid on rice-fields in the hill region" (M.C. Regmi 1978: 162).
jhārā	n. forced labor, unpaid work or assistance exacted from the people by the government or a landlord for the cause of the state or public welfare; can also be commuted into cash payment (M.R. Pant 2002: 133; M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
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).
kuta	var. kut; n. a system of tenancy under which a cultivator paid a fixed quantity of produce or a fixed amount of money as rent to the owner of the field.
nausindā	n. a scribe or a clerk of lower rank responsible of translating, registry and accounts; “They were the lowest rank of scribes. There were more personnel in this rank than in any other within the "civilian" hierarchy (and excluding the sipahis). A considerable number of them worked in the offices of registry and accounts. Nausindas registered the papers which came in and left the offices and copied letters and documents.“ (Edwards 1975: 109 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 228 ; Adhikari 1984: 354 ; Kumar 1967: 167 )
ropanī	[fr. S.] var. ropani; n. unit of land measurement in the hill region, including the Kathmandu Valley, comprising four murīs. The area may vary according to the grade, but current standard area for a ropanī comprises 5,476 square feet (cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 235 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 864; Whelpton 1991: 286; M.C. Regmi 1995: 77; M.C. Regmi 1978: 163; M.C. Regmi 1988: 270).
rukkāsau	[S.] n. lit. "this is a rukkā", used in copies of royal rukkās in place of the king's praśasti.