Documenta Nepalica

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

Version with DOI and citation guidelines

A rukkā of the king directing twelve families of Māsau and Kimāḍi villages to operate a hulāka (VS 1864)

ID: DNA_0013_0062

Edited and translated by Manik Bajracharya
Created: 2019-05-21; Last modified: 2020-01-22
For the metadata of the document, click here

Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2020. 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 of King Gīrvāṇayuddha Vikrama Śāha directs twelve families of Māsau and Kimāḍi villages to operate a hulāka and provides them jāgīras in return.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

श्रीदुर्गाज्यू\

[royal seal]

1स्वस्तिश्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजकस्यरुक्का¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯
2आगेगढ़कोमासौ⟪मा⟫चिठिपत्रञाहाँवाटगयाकोपश्चिमवाट‌आय़ाका
3तपसीलवमोजिमकाघरलेमासौमाजना४चारलेआठौप्रहररुजु
4रहिचिठिपत्रकोहुलाकचलाउनुषटाय़ावमोजिमकाहुलाकिलाईआ
5फुवस्याकोघरवारिजिमिकोअम्वालिलेषोसमोसनगर्नु•गर्षासरह
6कोरकमकलमकोतिमिहरूलेसालवसालतिर्यामध्येघर१केदर
7रूपैया१येकर•फागुआनादुई//दुवैकलमकोज्मारूपैया१//
8अरूझारावैकरवेठवेगारमाफ‌औहुलाककोकाजकाये़मरहंज्याल
9समवर्स्याईनीचासकोपालोवाहिकसाल६०देषीपुढ़ोकोव़ये़रान
10जिमिमध्येघर१केदरजागिरविसी२गरिवक्स्यौंलालमोहरचिठिपत्र
11कोहुलाकचलाउनुअरूआउन्याजान्यावाटमाहिडन्याकोवोझाभा
12रिचिठिपत्रकाहुलाकीलेनवोकनु•कसैलेजवरदस्तीगरिवोझाभारि
13वोकाय़ाअमालिकम्पनीछेउभनीविराउमाफिककोसासनागराउ
14नुचिठिपत्रलैजादाल्याउदावाटमाये़कछिन•अटक्योकेहितलविच
15पर्योभन्याहुलाकमाषटाय़ाकाघरलाईभारिसासनाहोला¯¯ ¯¯

16हुलाकवस्न्याघर१२कोतपसील

[table]

मासौगाउ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯		किमाडीगाउ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
धंसीभंडारि¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१	मदुवानेगि¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१
कलुव़ाभडारि¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१	मानुकुनेगि¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१
कमलुभडारि¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१	ठुनाषकड्याल¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१
कुन्दमासै¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१	मलुषकड्याल¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१
षुसालुमासै¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१	जसोदोसारै¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१
दुव्नुमासै¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१
जिव़ासारै¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१

ईतिसम्वत१८६४सालमितिआश्विनसुदि१५रोज६शुभ्म्¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

Venerable Durgā

[royal seal]

Hail! [This is] an executive order (rukkā) of the glorious great king.

Āge: [In order to relay] letters dispatched from here along with ones that come from the west, 4 persons from Māsau [supplied] by the households listed [below,] should be present during all eight praharas [and] operate the hulāka [post] at Māsau of Gaḍha. Ambālīs shall not take possession of the house in which the assigned hulākī [porters] live, or their garden or their land. Of the taxes and levies (rakama-kalama) that you have been paying annually at the same rate as the [whole] garkhā1 , [you need only pay] 1 rupee per house. As for the phāgu2 [levy], [pay] two ānās. Both levies amount to a total of 1 rupee and 2 ānās. Other [obligations such as] jhārā, baikara, beṭha and begāra are exempted. As long as one remains on duty for the hulāka, we have granted for each house, on top of the annual cultivating of land, a jāgīra [of a plot of] twenty (bisī)3 of sloppy (vayerāna/oirāna) land in Puḍho from the year [VS 18]60. Operate the hulāka for [relaying] lālamoharas and mail. Mail-relaying hulākīs should not carry the loads of any other wayfarers. If anyone forcibly causes them to carry loads, report this to the amālī or to the [military] company, and have him punished according to the extent of his offence. If in the course of relaying the mail gets held up even for a moment or if a discrepancy occurs, the household assigned will be subject to heavy punishment.

Details of 12 households operating the hulāka

[table]

Māsau Village		Kimāḍī Village
Dhaṃsī Bhaṃḍāri	1	Maduvā Negi	1
Kaluvā Bha[ṇ]ḍāri	1	Mānuku Negi	1
Kamalu Bha[ṇ]ḍāri	1	Ṭhunākha Kaḍyāla	1
Kunda Māsai	1	Malukha Kaḍyāla	1
Khusālu Māsai	1	Jasodo Sārai	1
Duvnu Māsai	1
Jivā Sārai	1

Friday, the 15th of the bright fortnight of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1864 (1807 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This executive order of King Gīrvāṇayuddha Vikrama Śāha assigns seven families of Māsau and five families of Kimāḍī villages to operate a hulāka post at Māsau. The places mentioned are in Nepal's far west, but their exact locations are yet to be determined. Kimāḍī probably is Kimari, which lies within Giregada VDC of Baitadi district.

The document orders that a team of four porters should take turns manning the post around the clock in order to relay the mail. The porters are to carry lālamoharas and the mail only. Therefore, they are of the kāgate hulākī type.

It is apparent that the hulākī labourers were privileged in comparison to other kinds of forced labourers. The document not only provides some land as a jāgīra for them, it also protects the land currently being used by them by prohibiting it from being confiscated by ambālīs. On top of this, they enjoyed reduction in some taxes and levies and were exempted from other forms of labour obligations.

Two years after this document, in 1809, Bhīmasena Thāpā issued an ordinance (savāla) which mentions the establishment of hulāka posts along the route from Kathmandu up to Yamuna River in the west (see RRC_0006_1015 for this ordinance).

Notes

1. A revenue sub-division comprising a number of villages. [⇑]

2. A homestead levy collected in the hill districts during the month of Phāguna. See also sāunephāgu. [⇑]

3. Probably referring to 20 muris of land. [⇑]

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.
amāli / amālī	[fr. A.] var. amāli, ambāli, amvalī, aṃvalī; also amālidāra; n. a revenue official or functionary of a regional administrative unit (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93, M.R. Pant 2002: 131). According to Krauskopff and Meyer he had only "minor judicial powers" (Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 183). Kumar further notes that he was a "subordinate civil functionary in the tehsil" (Kumar 1967: 164). His office was called amala (cf. Adhikari 1984: 344, M.C. Regmi 1978: 853).
ānā	[fr. S. āṇvaka- ?] n. 1) monetary unit worth one sixteenth of a rupee with four ānā*s constituting one sukā, equivalent to one ganḍā; in documents usually represented by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags. 2) sixteenth part of land, property etc. (cf. Parājulī et al 1995: s.v. ānā).
baikara	n. obligation of supplying provisions without any payment
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).
hulāka	n. system of transportation for official mail and civil and military supplies through relays of porters.
hulākī	1) n. a porter of the hulāka system; 2) adj. pertaining to hulāka.
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).
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).
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).
prahara	[S.] var. pahara; n. division of time equivalent to about 3 hours, eighth part of a day.
rakamakalama/kalamarakama	[fr. A.] n. 1) official matters. 2) an account containing different sections of revenue. 3) knowledge of official matters, officialdom (Turner 1931: s.v. rakam-kalam). 4) customary taxes and levies (Regmi 1976: 77).
rukkā	[fr. A. ruq'a] n. an executive order, short note, missive from the highest authority. The king, the crown prince, but also queens and the Rāṇā prime ministers issued rukkās.
sāune phāgu	var. sāunya phāgu, sāunyā phāgu, sāunya phāghu; n. a homestead levy (valaka) collected in the hill districts, including Kathmandu Valley, during the months of Śrāvaṇa and Phālguna every year (cf. M.C. Regmi 1971: 230; M.R. Pant 2002: 136). According to M.C. Regmi (1995: 27-28) it originally served the supply of foodstuff to the royal household, and was converted into a cash payment in 1807. Normal households had to pay half the amount of landowners and local functionaries. The rates were revised in 1813.
savāla	n. 1) an enquiry. 2) a set of directives issued especially for the administrative purposes. Contrary to a sanada which is applicable to general public, a savāla refers to rules within a particular organization or an administrative unit (see Siṃha 1981 sv svāla. 3) rules and regulations enacted based on an existing law; administrative regulations (Adhikari 1984: 356; Karmacharya 2001: 328).