Check the image paths!
PCCHA_0001_0039

Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal
Version with DOI and citation guidelines Editorial Principles

A letter from Kaṃca Purī in Lhasa to Rāya Bhāratī in Patan inquiring about issues related to their trade with Tibet (NS 859)

ID: PCCHA_0001_0039


Edited and translated by Rajendra Shakya and Kashinath Tamot in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2023-12-18; Last modified: 2025-11-17
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, 2024. 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 letter from Kaṃca Purī based in Lhasa inquires whether the packages with money and gold that he sent from Shigatse have arrived safely and asks Rāya Bhāratī to send two persons to Lhasa as soon as possible.


Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1᠀­श्री­३­भिर्म्मस्यन­साहायः­॥
2᠀­शुभ­कुसर­वात­विचार­भिनकं­हया­अमकन­गुसाहिजु­राय­भात्रिजु­
3मंसा­ग्री­गुसाहिजु­सुखुदेओ­श्री­गुसाहिजु­जयरां­भात्रिजु­वरिभद्र­पु
4रिजु­स्यओ­पुरिजु­रघुनार्थ­पुरिजु­नारायन­पुरिजु­स्यओरां­भा
5त्रिजु­कपु­भात्रिजु­सकरस्कें­,थन­कंच­पुरिया­भाखान­नमोनारा
6यन­याङहया­थन­जि­फया-ख­अमकन­छिस्क(र)­सकर्‍यं­कुसर­जुओ­
7मखु­रा­विचार­ख­थुति­,उपरात­ख­ङ्हपा­२­जिखाछेन­वियाओ­हया­दा
8मपोर­सकर्‍यं­थ्यङ­मखु­रा­रिस्वर­ल्हासन­विस्यहया­,कुतिया­तंजिङ
9या­राहाति­विस्यहया­रुपोर­१­थ्यङ­मखु­रा­रिस्वर­विस्यहया­कुतिया­
10मापा­तासिया­वंजा­प्यमाया­राहाति­विस्यहया­कस्तुरि­व­कु­३­चिन­स
11हिन­थ्यङ­मखु­रा­निपोतोयां­ज्यारा­पाचुख­मारको­ङ्हपा­प्रतिस­तया
12ओ­हयधुन्व­थुका­ख­उतिं­थुका­उपरात­ख­थन­सरुपश्री­ओ­झकरा­जु
13याओ­ल्हासया­जुजुयाक्य­तों­ख­थ्यन्व­आओ­ल्हासया­जुजुन­कसुव­वि
14याओ­निपारस­पच­सकरस­वावतसं­पंजिङ­सिघपुरि­छोस्यहया­
15अमकन­भिनक­विचार­याङाओ­सुया­२­दाम­कायदु­न्यङङाओ­सा
16हुति­याङाओ­प्रति­ननां­वियाओ­हिओ­ना­चोगां­भात्रिया­रु­तंक­१३­
17सरुपश्रीयाक्य­थुगुतिन­र्‍याख­भिनक­स्वयाओ­ननान­छोयाओ­ह
18यमार-ना­सिओराय­भात्रि­नारायं­पुरि­निम्हस­राहातिस­पुर­
19पुस्यार­भिङगु­वियाओ­ननान­थछोयाओ­हयमार-ना­विरंभ­याय
20मत्य­विरंभन­तयमत्य­,पु­,पुस्यार­मदसां­थ्वपनि­निम्ह­जित­ननां­
21छोयाओ­हिओ­,छमि­दाम­,सकर्‍यं­वियाओ­हय­थुका­,श्वगु­सहरस­चोङ­गु
22साहिजुपनित­प्रति­वियाओ­हया­थुकाथि­२­साहुति­याङाओ­प्रति­वियाओ­हि­

1ख­मतया­,सम्वत्‌­८५९­मिति­दिरागाक­२­चोया­प्रति­शुभ­॥

[1v]

[Unidentifiable wax seal partially intact]

1᠀­झोरछे­,मथस­चो
2ङ­,महंत­राय­भात्रि
3जुस्त­प्रति­शुभ­॥

Translation

[1r]

Svasti. [May] the thrice venerated Bhīmasena (text: Bhirmmasyana1 ) help [us]!

Svasti. [Let it be] auspicious (śubha)! [I] positively (bhinakaṃ) send [my] thoughts (vicāra) and concern (bāta) [for your] well-being (kusara). Greetings (namonārāyana)2 from Kaṃca Purī here [in Lhasa] to everyone there [in Nepal, including] Gosāīṃ3 Rāya Bhāratī (text: GusāhijuRāya Bhātriju), Maṃsā Girī Gosāīṃ (text: Maṃsā Grī Gusāhiju), Sukhadeva Gosāīṃ (text: Sukhudeo Śrī Gusāhiju), Jayarāma Bhāratī (text: Jayarāṃ Bhātriju), Balabhadra Purī (text: Varibhadra Puriju), Śiva Purī (text: Syao Puriju), Raghunātha Purī (text: Raghunārtha Puriju), Nārāyaṇa Purī (text: Nārāyana Puriju), Śivarāma Bhāratī (text: Syaorāṃ Bhātriju), [and] Kapu Bhatriju. I am fine here. You all are well there, aren’t you? That is all [in regards to my] thoughts [for your wellbeing].

Uprānta: the packages (burlap packaging?) with cash that I had sent from Shigatse4 (text: Jikhāche; Tib. གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ།, Wylie. gzhis ka rtse) previously have all arrived, haven’t they? [I am] sending [this] reply from Lhasa (Tib. ལྷ་ས།, Wylie. lha sa). The one pack of gold that [I] had sent in the hands of Tenjing (text: Taṃjiṅa; Tib. བསྟན་འཛིན།; Wylie. bstan ‘dzin) of Kuti5 has arrived, hasn’t it? [I am] sending [you this] reply [for confirmation]. The three bakūs6 of musk pods that [I] had sent in the hands of Pemā (text: Pyamā), the trader from Māpā Tashi7 in Kuti, have arrived in proper condition with the marks8 intact, haven’t they? Be informed that the [payment of] wages for both occasions have been cleared, [as] I have mentioned in the previous letter. That is all [in this regard]. Uprānta: here, Svarūpaśrī (text: Sarupaśrī) had a fight9 [and] the issue has now reached to the king10 of Lhasa. Now, the king of Lhasa has sent a kasuva11 to the officials of Nepal.12

There, after a careful consideration (bhinaka bicāra yāṅāva) and consultation [among yourselves], [and] after having asked who-whomever owes money13 , give the letter soon [in the hands of the persons coming here mentioning the details in it]. Collect Cogāṃ Bhātrī's 13 rupees (taṃkā) from Svarūpaśrī, count it carefully, [and] have it sent [here] soon. Give pure [gemstones like] corals (text: pura, San. vidruma) and topaz (text: pusyāra, San. puṣparāja) at the hands of both Śivarāja Bhāratī (text: Siorāya Bhātri) and Nārāyaṇa Purī (text: Nārāyaṃ Puri) and have them sent up here (i.e., Tibet) promptly. Do not delay; do not defer [sending them here]. Even if corals and topaz are not available, send these two promptly for me. Be informed that I have already sent all of your money. [I] have sent letters to the Gosāīṃs of the three cities. Consult among yourselves accordingly [regarding the content of those letters] and send a letter at the hands [of these two]. [I] have not mentioned the details [here].

A letter [I] wrote on the date, the 2nd of the dark fortnight of Dillā (text: Dirāgāka, Āṣāḍha), in NS 859 (1739 CE). [Let it be] auspicious.

[1v]

Svasti. To Rāya Bhāratī, the Mahanta residing at the Jhvaḥchẽ Maṭha (text: Jhorache Matha)14 . [Let it be] auspicious.


Commentary

This is one of such 19 letters in the private collection of the residents of the Chāy Bāhāḥ Maṭha (for more on the maṭha, see DANAM LAL0751), a monastery of the daśanāmī ascetics. The letters mainly deal with the trade in Tibet by the members of the monastery, which was so far unknown until these letters came to light. While most of the letters in this series do not specify the location from which the writer has sent them, this letter mentions that the writer, Kaṃca Purī, was located in Lhasa while he sent this reply to a previous correspondence. He is also known to have stationed in Shigatse earlier, from where he had sent money to his counterparts in Patan, Nepal. As, in this letter, Kaṃca Purī asks for confirmation whether the packages containing cash and gold that he sent from Shigatse have arrived, he appears to have moved to Lhasa only recently.

It was a local tradition to present Tibet-bound merchants with a little figure made of cloth representing Bhindyaḥ, the patron deity of traders. They wore it on a string around the neck like an amulet. Moreover, Buddhist merchants also carried a Buddhist manuscript on their person. When the caravan stopped for the night, they unfolded the book and read passages from it, besides singing hymns to Bhindyaḥ (Tuladhar 2011: 40).

Notes

1. There is a tendency of ‘ra’ sound appearing as a glide ahead of a nasal pronunciation. For instance, Yamarāja, the ruler of the Underworld in the eastern mythology, is often referred to as Jarmarāja or Jaramarāja. Vernacularly, he is also known as Janmarāja. The same is witnessed here with Bhīmasena being referred to as Bhirmmasyana. [⇑]

2. The term literally means, “homage to Nārāyaṇa”, which has been used here as a form of greeting. It is interesting for Śaiva ascetics to use Lord Nārāyaṇa’s name to greet others. [⇑]

3. Derived from the term Gosvāmī, Gosāī̃ are householder ascetics (Parājulī 2067: 339). [⇑]

4. The Newar traders in Lhasa referred to Shigatse as “Jhikhāchẽ” or, in this case, “Jikhāchẽ”, which used to be a part of the caravan route (Tuladhar 2011: 53/119). Shigatse was Tibet's second city and the capital of Tsang, one of the two provinces of Western Tibet (Dowman 1988: 264). [⇑]

5. Kuti was a Nepali name for Nyalam (Boulnois 1989: 85) given by the Nepalese trans-Himalayan traders. Nyalam (tib. གཉའ་ལམ།, Wylie. gnya’ lam) was an important trading town, once belonging to Nepal, at the north end of the deep Po Chu gorge. Nyalam means “the path to hell”, a reference to the torturous passage down the gorge of Po Chu, a tributary of the Sunakośī river (Dowman 1988: 282). [⇑]

6. Bakū is a coolie’s load of 16 dhārnī, which equals 38 kilograms. These loads are carried on either side of the back of ponies and mules (Tuladhar 2011: 35/149). [⇑]

7. While it seems to be place name from the context, it may also be a person’s name. [⇑]

8. It probably is a reference to some kind of seal used in the packages. [⇑]

9. It is unclear from the document who he had a fight with, but it probably was with some local individual. [⇑]

10. It probably was a senior government official appointed by the Dalai Lama and not the king himself, as such issues would have been settled by a local functionary. [⇑]

11. The term is unclear, but it probably refers to some form of formal letter sent by the Tibetan government to the Nepalese government regarding the settlement of the dispute relating to Svarūpaśrī. [⇑]

12. The line is unclear due to some confusing terms. It appears the ‘king’ of Tibet sent a communiqué to the Nepalese government for the settlement of the dispute. [⇑]

13. The persons who owe the money are unclear from the letter. It probably refers to the persons Rāya Bhāratī collected goods from to send them to Kaṃca Puri in Tibet. [⇑]

14. The location of this maṭha is unclear. The name suggests it was situated in an area with house lined up in a row. There is a place called Jhvaḥchẽ in Kathmandu but the existence of a daśanāmī maṭha in not known in Kathmandu. It probably refers to the Chāy Bāhāḥ Maṭha. [⇑]