Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a lālamohara from King Gīrvāṇayuddha confirming Gajabhāryā Damāī as drummer at Gorkha Palace (VS 1872)

ID: K_0015_0004E

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter
Created: 2021-08-17; Last modified: 2023-02-22
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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, 2022. 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 copy of a lālamohara from the king, who according to the date must have been Gīrvāṇayuddha, confirms Gajabhāryā Damāī as being in charge of the nagarā drum of Śrī Kālikā of Gorkha Palace.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1पो∙१२व९पा∙५३३सी∙८४२

1१२५

1जागीर

1भं∙नौहर्ष
2हेनौराम

1आगेगजभार्‍यादमाईके∙गोर्खा∙दर्वारका∙श्रीकालिकाकोनगरा∙दुवल्या[?]
2य़ल∙अघिदेखितँलाई∙वक्स्याको∙होये़स∙साल∙फेरि∙दुवल्यालेमैले∙पाँञा
3भनी⟪[?]⟫[?]च∙गरेछ∙तँलाईथामीवक्स्यैकोछ∙तपसील∙माफिककाषेत∙
4मुरि∙|८०∙जागीरलिनगारा∙वानासामेलराखि∙टहलमा∙रुजुरहि
5भोग्‍य़गरइतिसंवत१८७२साल∙माघवडी∙१२रोज६सुभं¯¯¯

[Unknown seal]

Translation

[1r]

[In the left margin:]

Bundle (po[kā]) 12, va 9, pā 533, sī 842 1

1252

[Concerning] a jāgira3

The one who said [was] the nau[sindā]Harṣa.4

The one who watched [was] the nausindāRāma.

[Main text:]

Āge: To Gajabhāryā Damāī

From earlier on, the nagarā of Śrī Kālikā of Gorkha Palace, [which has also been] Dubalyā['s charge],5 has been granted to you. This year again Dubalyā appears to have made [petition]6 stating: "May I obtain [it]." It is [hereby] confirmed to you. Take the 80 muris of irrigated land (kheta) according to the particulars (tapasila)7 [previously fixed] as remuneration (jāgīra), keep the nagarā bānā ensemble in attendance, be present for service and enjoy [the attendant fruits].

Saturday, the 12th of the dark fortnight of Māgha in the [Vikrama] era year 1872 (1816 CE).8 Auspiciousness.

[Unknown seal]9

[Unknown seal]

Commentary

The document was microfilmed twice; the second time as K_0633_0071.

The document concerns the appointment of the lead drummer of the nagarā bānā musical ensemble attached to the goddess Śrī Kālīkā of Gorkha Palace, even if another potential candidate, Dubalyā—in other documents he is called Dubalyā Damāī (K_0015_0007D, K_0030_0036B)—had also raised his claim. For more on the position of nagarcī of Śrī Kālikā of Gorkha Palace, which apparently rotated between the two persons somewhat frequently, see the copy of an earlier document (K_0030_0036B), originally issued in VS 1863 (1806 CE).

Notes

1. While the first abbreviation, po, probably stands for pokā ("bundle") it remains unclear what words the following va, pā and sī are abbreviations of. [⇑]

2. This number refers to the place of the document in the government ledger, archived as Book (BK) 9, whose entries were microfilmed sequentially from K_0014_0019 (front cover and index) up to K_0015_0044D. The bound material covers the main body (i.e. excluding the initial and final formalities) of 282 lālamoharas from the period VS 1868–1885 that pertain to guṭhī affairs. [⇑]

3. The documents seem to have been given a variety of keywords for identification purposes during the copying and archiving process. Other documents bear, for example, the words guṭha (K_0013_0020E) or purohityāī̃ (K_0013_0022B) in the corresponding place. [⇑]

4. The abbreviation bhaṃ stands for bhanne, and nau probably for nausindā. This and the following line state the names of the clerks involved in copying the documents or in checking whether copies were true to originals. Similar marginal notes are also attested in other documents (cf. K_0013_0020B to K_0013_0033E), where sometimes the verbal forms are given unabridged (e.g. K_0031_0019C). The two functions distinguished are bhanne, "saying/telling" (i.e. probably reading it back out loud) and herne "watching" (i.e. probably looking over what was written as it was being read out loud). [⇑]

5. Due to corrections and the seal confirming them, the word(s) following Dubalyā cannot be deciphered. Neither the pre- nor postcorrection reading can be reconstructed in their entirety with any certainty, but what was crossed out ended in -yala. [⇑]

6. Due to unclear corrections in this place the word that probably denoted the kind of document Dubalyā submitted cannot be deciphered. [⇑]

7. Usually these particulars would be appended to the same document. They may have been part of the original document but omitted when the copy was made. [⇑]

8. The reigning king in whose name the original lālamohara must have been issued was Gīrvāṇayuddha. [⇑]

9. In four places a seal was imprinted over parts of the text, two times in order to authenticate corrections made (see notes above). [⇑]

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.
guṭha / guṭhi / guṭhī	[fr. S. goṣṭhī] var. guṭh, guthi; n. 1) a socio-religious organization that manages and finances religious and charitable functions, a trust. 2) “endowed lands or other sources of revenue for financing religious and charitable functions“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 132; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
jāgira	var. jāgīra; n. "lands, homesteads, villages and other sources of revenue assigned to government employees as remuneration for their services" (M.C. Regmi 1999: 136).
kheta	[fr. S. kṣetra] var. khet, kheṭ; n. 1) irrigated land in the hill region suitable for the cultivation of rice and wheat. 2) a measure of land in the hill region equal to 25 ropanīs or 100 murīs (ca. 1.25 hectares) (M.C. Regmi 1999: 136-137 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 234 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 162 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 227 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 860 ; M.C. Regmi 1995: 77; Adhikari 1984: 351; M.R. Pant 2002: 133; Whelpton 1991: 284 ).
lālamohara	var. lālmohara, lālamohar, lālmohora; abbreviated mohara; n. royal document bearing the red seal.
muri / murī	n. 1) also khetamuri; unit of land measurement in the hill region, comprising 1/4 ropanī with 100 muris in 1 kheta. The area varied according to the grade: 1190 sq. ft. for lands of the best grade, and 1339 sq. ft., 1487 sq. ft., and 1785 sq. ft. for lands of inferior grades. 2) volumetric unit comprising 20 pāthis (with 8 mānas to a pāthi), equivalent to 90.919 (M.R. Pant 2002: 134 ) or 87.23 (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93) liters. (M.C. Regmi 1978: 163; M.C. Regmi 1999: 235 ; M.C. Regmi 1978a: 228 ; M.C. Regmi 1978b: 862 ; Adhikari 1984: 354; M.C. Regmi 1988: 269).
nagarā	var. nagārā; n. large kettledrum played with two sticks, traditionally in ritual and military contexts (Tingey 1997: 96 n. 12), lead instrument of the nagarā bānā musical ensemble.
nagarā bānā	n. Damāī̃ musical ensemble of nine instruments led by the nagarā drum (Tingey 1997: 100).
nagarcī	var. nagarci, nagārci, nagārcī; n. 1) person playing the nagarā drum. 2) lead drummer of the nagarā bānā musical ensemble. 3) respectful address for a member of the Damāī̃ community.
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 )
purohityāī̃	var. purohiṭāī, purohītyāñī, prohityāī, prohītāī; n. the office of priest.
śrī	[S.] n. word of blessing, can be used as apprecatio, in which case it means 'good fortune' (Pant and Pierce 1989: 12), can be used as a prefix to names of persons and gods, in which case it means 'venerable' or 'glorious' respectively. The number of śrīs used varies, depending on context.
tapasila	[fr. A.] var. tapasīl, tapasīlā, tapsīl; n. particulars, details; can be a self-sustained document, but is more often appended as a list after the narratio of documents.