Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copperplate inscription at Su Bāḥāḥ in Lalitpur re the offering of various items by Ruhiṃju and Sirisiṃju (NS 853)

ID: NHDP_0001_0114

Edited by Rajan Khatiwoda, Rajendra Shakya and Ravi Shakya in collaboration with Simon Cubelic
Created: 2020-05-27; Last modified: 2021-09-06
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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, 2021. The image(s) on which this edition is based on is/are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the copyright lies with NHDP. All use of the digital facsimiles requires prior written permission by the copyright holder. See Terms of Use.
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Abstract

This copperplate inscription records the offering of various items including a sukimāḥ (coin garland) to Su Bāhāḥ by Ruhiṃju and Sirisiṃju.Note that the text is composed in a mixture of Sanskrit and Newari. Since this is a common feature of many inscriptions composed in a Newar setting, the apparent scribal errors have not been marked or corrected in the edition.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1स्व्त८५३जेस्तकृनपक्षअमावसिथोकुन्हु
2सुक्रवारकुन्हुदुताजुर﹨﹨सकोवाहारसदुता﹨﹨मो
3हतं३शुकिमारदुता﹨﹨भुषोराताहापो﹨﹨त्वादि
4वा﹨﹨न्हसकंसिधमु﹨﹨पत﹨﹨थुतिरुहिंजुनदुंता
5सिंरिसिंजुसमोहनजुरशुभ﹨﹨

Synopsis

On Friday, the new moon day of the dark fortnight of Jyeṣṭha in NS 853 (1733 CE), the donors Ruhiṃju and Sirisiṃju offered a garland of sukā coins (text: śukimāra) worth 3 mohararupaiyā̃ (text: mohara-ṭaṃkā) coins (śukimāra), plates (bhu), bowls (ṣorā), tā̃pha (text: tāhāpo) 2 , tvāḥdevā (text: tvādivā; old New. tvākadivā)3 and a set pair of nhāykaṃ4 (text: nhasakaṃ) and sinhaḥmū5 (text: sidhamu) to Su Bāhāḥ.

Commentary

This copperplate inscription lists various items offered to the bāhāḥ by Ruhiṃju and Sirisiṃju. The garland worth 3 mohara ṭaṃkā coins was probably offered to the main deity, but the remaining items were donated to the bāhāḥ itself, as mentioned in the inscription. The two donors also appear to have offered a set pair of nhāykaṃ and sinhaḥmū, two ceremonial objects that are used together in various rituals and ceremonies. The reading of the letter after nhasa is unclear, but it is apparently meant to yield nhasakaṃ, a ceremonial mirror that is mostly used together with a sinhaḥmū (clearly rendered in the inscription as sidhamu).

Notes

1. Note that the text is composed in a mixture of Sanskrit and Newari. Since this is a common feature of many inscriptions composed in a Newar setting, the apparent scribal errors have not been marked or corrected in the edition. [⇑]

2. A spouted water-pot usually made of brass. [⇑]

3. A Newar ceremonial lamp, a standing lamp (Malla 2000: 193). [⇑]

4. A ceremonial mirror; old New. nhaśakana, nhasakana (Malla 2000: 264) [⇑]

5. A brass or silver pot used as a container for vermillion powder; old New. siṃdhramuṃṅa, sidhraṃmu, sidharamu (Malla 2000: 493-496) [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
bāhāḥ	[fr. new. bāhāla] var. bahāla, bahāra, bāhāra; n. a Buddhist monastery (Malla 2000: 327). The term bāhā is a corruption of the Sanskrit term vihāra. The word went through various modifications: vihāra > vahāra > bāhāra > bāhāla > bāhāl > bāhā (Locke 1985: 3). There are two types of bāhāḥ: the main (mū) bāhāḥ, and the branch (kacā) bāhāḥ (Gellner 1992: 167-168). Unlike in a bahī, bāhāḥ does not have a flight of stairs leading to the main entrance, but is guarded by two lions (siṃha). There is no circumambulatory passage to the main shrine, but main bāhāḥs may have a digi, a building with a large hall for meeting and feasting that may stand within the bāḥāḥ complex or separately. (#new#RS)
mohararupaiyā̃	var. mohararupaiyām, mohararūpaiyā, moharaṭaṃkā (New.); often abbreviated as moru, morū, moharu, moharū, moharru, mohorru; n. monetary unit based on and equivalent to two eight-anna silver coins (moharas); in calculations usually broken down into four sukās, 16 ānās or 64 paisās (cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 93) or 256 dāmas; the exchange ratio with paisās was calculated differently at different times and in different parts of the kingdom, depending on the relative values of silver and copper, ranging between 52 and 80 paisās (Regmi 1982: 73). In documents sums are represented in four numerical fractions, with the rupaiyā represented by numbers; the sukās by one to three daṇḍas or the avagraha sign representing zero; the ānās by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags; the paisās again by daṇḍas or numbers; the dāmas by numbers or horizontal dashes.
sukā	var. sukī; n. monetary unit worth one fourth of a rupee, i.e. half of a silver mohara, and comprising four ānās; in documents the second of the four usual monetary fractions of the system based on the rupee, usually represented by either the avagraha-shaped sign for zero or one to three daṇḍas.

Bibliography

Malla, Kamal P. et al. (eds.). 2000. A Dictionary of Classical Newari: Compiled from Manuscript Sources. Kathmandu: Nepal Bhasa Dictionary Committee.