Documenta Nepalica

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

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A rukkā from King Rājendra ordering Kapardāra Garuḍadhvaja Pāḍe to settle tenants in Lubhu village (VS 1881)

ID: DNA_0014_0024

Edited and translated by Surabhi Pudasaini in collaboration with Rabi Acharya
Created: 2022-07-21; Last modified: 2023-03-07
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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, 2023. 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 the king, who must have been Rājendra based on the date of issue, directs Kapardāra Garuḍadhvaja Pāḍe to push back the walls of Lubhu village and settle tenants on raikara land.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्रीदुर्गा\

[Royal seal]

1स्वस्तिश्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजकस्यरुक्का¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯
2आगे∙कपर्दारगरुडध्वजपाडेप्रतिलुभुगाउमावश्नआउ
3न्याकुरियालाईताहागाउकाभलामानीस∙रअडैप्रधानचौ
4धदुव़ालराषिगाउकापर्षाल२५हातपरसारि∙वृत्ताकम्प
5नी∙गुठिप्रजाकोसुनाजगावाहिक∙रैकरभित्रचारैपट्टि
6जाहाराजीहुंछपरापूर्वकारीतसित∙आउन्याप्रजाला
7ईवसनदिनुगाउगुल्‌‌जारगर्नुरस्तिचलाईवस्तिवसाउ
8नुभनिवन्देजवाधिवक्स्यौँ∙इतिसम्वत१८८१साल∙मि
9तिपौषशुदि२रोज४शुभम्‌¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

[1v]

1⟪(४१)⟫

1⟪४४५⟫

1मार्फत्‌उदयगिरि

1मार्फत्‌भीमसेनथापा

Translation

[1r]

Śrī Durgā!

[Royal seal]

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

Āge: To KapardāraGaruḍadvaja Pāḍe

For the kuriyās who come to live in Lubhu village, assemble the respectable men (bhalā mānisa) and the aḍai, pradhāna, chaudha (for caudhari?), duvāla of that village, move back the village wall 25 hātas, except for birtā, kampanī and guṭhi [land], and the sunā[birtā]s of the prajās, let prajās who come live on raikara [land] in all four directions, wherever there is a willingness [to do so], in accordance with customary practice. We issue a bandeja stating: “Make the village prosperous, oversee affairs and establish settlements.”

Wednesday, the 2nd of the bright fortnight of Pauṣa, in the [Vikrama] era year 1881 (1824 CE). May it be auspicious.

[1v]

[Additions:]

(41)

445

[Signatures:]

Through (mārphata) Udaya Giri

Through Bhīmasena Thāpā

Commentary

This is an order from the king instructing Kapardāra Garuḍadvaja Pāḍe to push back the walls of Lubhu village and settle new tenants. Moving the village walls likely indicated an on-the-ground remarking of the village boundaries. Settling new people was a sensitive communal process. Lands had to be remeasured. Ownership, tenancy, and use rights had to be confirmed. Myriad local stakeholders had to sign off on the process. Barring specific categories of land, tenants were allowed to settle where they chose within the newly enlarged settlement limits. This order was issued three years after Garuḍadvaja Pāḍe was ordered to restart the stalled annual pajanī of tenant farmers (mohī) in the lands comprising the Lubhu serā (DNA_0014_0048). The two events are perhaps, but not necessarily, related with new people brought in to provide additional labour for the serā lands.

Notes

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

Glossary

Word	Notes
aḍai	n. a functionary at the royal palace in charge of managing serā lands (M.C. Regmi 1978: 225).
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.
bandeja	[from H. bhandheja] var. bandheja, bāndeja; n. order, arrangement, rule, regulation.
bhalā mānisa	var. bhālā mānīsa; n. local notable, respected person; see also bhalādmī.
birtā	[fr. S. vṛtti] var. birttā, bīrttā, vṛtā, vṛttā; n. a royal land grant. For discussion, see M.C. Regmi 1976: 22-37.
caudhari	var. caudharī; n. 1) overseer, headman. 2) a landlord, especially in the Terai. 3) a traditional holder of the revenue-collection right for a pragannā (subdivision of a district) in the Tarai; often used as surname by those Tharus who once held this position (Krauskopff and Deuel Meyer 2000: 183; Whelpton 2005: 260). 4) headmen of the Newar community in the hill districts. (M.C. Regmi 1970, no. 5: 124; M.C. Regmi 1978: 225).
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).
hāta	n. measurement of length equal to 24 aṅgulas or half a gaja.
kampanī	[fr. Engl. company] var. kampani; 1) n. a limited company; 2) n. a military company (cf. discussion under kampu); 3) adj. belonging to the government; 4) n. an Indian rupee (see also kampanī rupaiyā).
kaparadāra	var. kapardāra; n. high ranking official, chamberlain, described as the chief of the royal household, the keeper of the king's wardrobe, and the one in charge of jewelry and other valuable items in the palace (M.R. Pant 2002: 133; Kumar 1967: 166). “Hodgson called him the "controller of the Royal Household" and "a gentleman of rank" whose office then was known as Kot Bhandar or Kadel Chowk.“ (Edwards 1975: 106).
kuriyā	n. tenant occupying a homestead on birtā land (see e.g. M.C. Regmi 1970: 170).
mārphat / mārphata	var. marphaṭ, mārphaṭa; "through (the person of)" (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93).
mohī	var. mohi; n. a tenant (M.C. Regmi 1978: 228; M.C. Regmi 1978: 862) from whom a talsiṅ collects his revenue in cash or kind (Turner 1931: s.v. mohi); a tenant who tills jāgira land (cf. Adhikari 1984: 353).
pajanī	n. annual reassignment of offices and contracts, such as by a king.
pradhāna	n. a low-ranking state functionary. Although no clear functions of the Pradhāna post can be ascertained, this seems to be applied to several different functionaries: those who were headmen of certain communities within Kathmandu valley and beyond; and local officials who collected revenue in villages.
prajā	[S.] n. 1) subject (of a ruler). 2) “communities whose members were not eligible for military service. They included Rai, Limbu, Darai, Kumhale, Danuwar, and Chepang.“ (M.C. Regmi 2002: 302; cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 137).
raikara	n. state-owned, taxable land.
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.
serā	n. crown lands, lands assigned for the supply of provision to the royal households.
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.
sunābirtā	n. privately owned land which is liable to some taxation (cf. Whelpton 1991: 286). This form of land grants emerged when raikara (state owned) land was sold to individuals, and they were originally tax free and inheritable. Pṛthvīnārāyaṇa Śāha levied taxes on such lands in the Kathmandu Valley (cf. Regmi 1964: 39-40@BJ).