Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal
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A rukkā from King Rājendra re the annual provisions of certain items to Narāja Bāniyā̃ (VS 1880)

ID: DNA_0010_0019


Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter
Created: 2017-03-06; Last modified: 2023-02-24
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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, 2017. 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 CCby-SA.

Abstract

This rukkā from the king, who according to the date must have been Rājendra, orders officials involved in the Dasaĩ rituals of Gorkha Palace to provide certain items to Narāja Bāniyā̃ annually.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री­दुर्गा­\

[Royal seal]

1स्वस्ति­श्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजकस्य­रुक्का­¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯
2आगे­•गोर्षा­दर्वारमा­दसैं­गर्न­जान्या­पुरोहित­भारादार­थरघर­गैर्‍ह­प्रति­नराज­
3वानियाँके­पाषि­१­भेडा­१­मुड्‌कट्टा­१­को­मामुलि­वाँधिवक्स्यौं­सालवसाल­•
4दिन्या­गर­•ईति­सम्वत्‌­१८८०­साल­मिति­ज्येष्ट­सुदि­७­रोज­१­शुभ्म्‌­¯ ¯ ¯ ¯

[1v]

मार्फत्‌­भीमसेन­थापा­

मार्फत­उदय­गिरि­

Translation

[1r]

Śrī Durgā

Hail! [This is] an executive order (rukkā) of the supreme king of great kings.1

Āge: To all those priests (purohita), courtiers (bhārādāra), [members of] the six clans (tharaghara) and others who go to perform (garna jānyā) the Dasaĩ [rituals] at Gorkha Palace.

We fixed one thick woollen blanket (pākhi), one sheep (bheḍā), [and] one muḍkaṭṭā2 as usual provision (māmulī) for Narāja Bāniyā̃. Keep providing [it to him] annually.

Sunday, the 7th of the bright fortnight of Jyeṣṭha of the [Vikrama] era year 1880 (1823 CE). Auspiciousness.

[1v]

Through (mārphat) Bhīmasena Thāpā

Through Udaya Giri


Commentary

Though the document is short, clearly scribed and unproblematic in terms of grammar, it raises a number of questions that cannot be answered conclusively in the present state of research. The document establishes a regular allocation of non-monetary provisions to an individual. As the addressees of the document are those in charge of performing Dasaĩ rituals at Gorkha Palace, such provisioning was probably to be financed through the regular budget for the performance of this major state festival and possibly had to do with ritual tasks carried out by Narāja Bāniyā̃. From his fieldwork on Dasaĩ at Gorkha Palace in the 1980s G. Unbescheid (1996: 110) reports that there were "Baniyā Chetris" among the group of servants performing outdoor duties (bahiryā susāre) and that they were specifically expected to provide poles for banners. One of the ten bearers of ceremonial banners who formed part of the escort of the phūlapātī procession was a "Baniyā Chetri" (ibid.: 118). According to N. Chaulagain (2019: 194–196) the ten banners (niśāna) themselves are called by the clan names of the bearers, one of them being a "Bāniyān," and the same set is worshipped in all units of the Nepalese army (cf. DNA_0002_0061 for the sending of prasāda of the kotanisāna).

It is not clear from the document, however, for what service or broader purpose Narāja Bāniyā̃ was provided the items named. Was he one of the bahiryā susāres? Was the system observed in the 20th century already in place at that time? Was the provisioning a non-monetary remuneration for services as ritual specialist and meant for personal use? Or was it a provision of "tools of the trade" with which to carry out ritual tasks (as e.g. the sheep to be sacrificed, the woollen blanket used as a ceremonial garb or as an offering)?

Notes

1. From the date of the document, the issuing king must have been Rājendra (r. 1816–1846). [⇑]

2. The meaning of the term is unclear. Turner gives the translation "basket" for the term murkaṭṭo (Turner 1931: s.v.). The Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa translates murkaṭṭā (with the variant reading muḍakaṭā) as "cut head" (ṭāuko kāṭieko) and relate it to Skt. muṇḍa ("shaven head") and Nep. kaṭṭā ("the act of cutting") (Parājulī et al. 1995: s.v. murkaṭṭā). Given that in the document it occurs listed together with a sheep and a woollen blanket, it may either be an instrument for slaying the animal or, if a basket, a vessel for collecting the severed head. Another possibility is that the muḍkaṭṭā is a shearing implement, but this seems less plausible if the māmulī was meant as a provision of "tools of the trade" (cf. Commentary). Then the sacrificial context would be more probable. Note that, in addition to buffaloes and goats, sheep were and indeed still are sacrificed during Dasaĩ at Gorkha Palace (Chaulagain 2019: 181–183; Unbescheid 1996: 115; cf. K_0030_0050A for the provision of "rams of the kāgyā-type" for the Dasaĩ rituals at Gorkha). [⇑]