Documenta Nepalica

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

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A rukkā from King Rājendra to officials appointing Raṃjīta Giri as central overseer of sannyāsīs (VS 1898)

ID: DNA_0013_0059

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2015-02-16; Last modified: 2018-06-20
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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 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 executive order from King Rājendra informs officials in the districts between the Sunkosi and Meci about the appointment of Raṃjīta Giri as central overseer (mahantamaṇḍalī) of sannyāsīs and orders them to collect the revenue (rakamakalama) for him.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्रीदुर्गाज्यूः\

[royal seal]

1स्वस्तिश्रीमन्महाराजाधि[?][?]क्का¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯
2आगेसुनकोसिपुर्वमेचिपश्चिमयेतिराज्यभरकोसुवासुवेदारज्मा
3दारविर्तवारवीतलप्याछापछप्यालीमोहरियाअमालीदारगैह्र
4प्रतिरंजीतगिरीलाईसंन्यासिमहंतमंडलीवक्स्याकोछआफ्
5नाआफ्‌नाअम्वलमापट्टावमोजीमअमलमामुलकोरकमक
6लमचलाइदेउकसैलेहरहेमायतटंटातक्रारनगरइतिसम्व
7त्१८९८सालमितिप्र•आश्वीनसुदी१४रोज४शुभ्म् ¯¯ ¯

Translation

[1r]

Venerable Durgājyū

Hail. [This is] an executive order of the supreme king of great kings.

To the subbās, subedāras, jamādāras, birtāvāras, bītalapyās, chāpachapyālīs, mohariyās, amālīdāras etc. throughout the kingdom (yeti rājyabharako) east of the Sunakosi and west of the Meci.

The [office of] central overseer (mahantamaṇḍalī)1 [of] sannyāsīs2 is granted to Raṃjīta Giri. Collect [for him] the revenue (rakamakalama) of the amalamāmula3 according to the contract (paṭṭā) [each] in your own territory. No one shall engage in anything in the way of favouritism, obstructive activity [or] altercation.

Wednesday, the 14th day of the waxing moon of First Āśvina, [Vikrama] era year 1898 (1841 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

The document is part of a series of similar missives addressing officials in other parts of the kingdom (cf. DNA_0015_0031, DNA_0016_0075). Also available is a royal edict to Raṃjīta Giri himself in which further details are specified (see DNA_0015_0033).

For the present document no image of the backside is available but probably it was signed by Abhīmāna Siṃ Rānā (cf. commentary to DNA_0016_0075).

Notes

1. The second part of the compound, maṇḍalī (from Skt. maṇḍala, "circle, circumference"), denotes a (regional) assembly or meeting (cf. Turner 1931: s.v. maṇḍalī) and the head of such group or, as Turner (ibid.) has it, "a powerful and influential man" (cf. the discussion of the term in Bouillier 1991: 18 n.13 where (with reference to Adhikary 1988) it is related to maṇḍalika or maṇḍaleśvara, a district governor under the Khas administration (for the rather recently introduced institution of the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara of the daśanāmī order, see Clark 2009: 76-79)). The term mahantamaṇḍalī could be translated as "the head of the assembly of mahants, or abbots". The translation presented above, however, follows the related documents (DNA_0015_0031 and DNA_0016_0075), which use the word °maṇḍalāi, a term denoting both the head of a maṇḍala or maṇḍalī and the corresponding office (cf. Parājulī et al. VS 2052: s.v. maṇḍala). [⇑]

2. The present translation takes into account both parallel documents (DNA_0015_0031 and DNA_0016_0075), which read "saṃnyāsiko". In the given context, the term sannyāsī refers not to ascetics in general but to the Śaiva ascetics of the daśanāmī order (cf. Burghart 1984: 167). [⇑]

3. The parallel passages in DNA_0015_0031 and DNA_0016_0075 have ambalamāmula but the variant amalamāmula seems to occur elsewhere, too (cf. M.C. Regmi 1973: 51: "Amal-Mamul (?)"). The first part of the compound (ambala or amala) denotes a dependent subdivision of a larger territorial unit (Parājulī et al. VS 2052: s.v. ambala). Regmi explains "mamuli" in some contexts as a levy for religious functions (e.g. M.C. Regmi 1979: 158; cf. also M.C. Regmi 1978: 861, on "Kot-mamuli"). Is amalamāmula, then, such a tax collected within a particular administrative area? [⇑]

Word	Notes
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).
ambala	var. aṃbala, amavala, amala, ammala; n. 1) territory, administrative unit, district. 2) office, position, term of office, honour, respect (Turner 1931: s.v. amal); "territory in Gorkhali official discourse; land occupied by force, land from which the state has acquired right to collect revenue; generally conveys the same meaning as the term amal" (Michael 2012: 129).
birtāvāra / birtāvāla / birtāvālā	var. virtavāra, birttāvāra, birttāvāla, birttāvālā, virttavāra; n. holder of a birtā (cf. Parājulī et al. 1995: s.v. birtā; Karmacharya 2001: 91; Whelpton 2005: 260).
bitalapyā	var. bītalapayā, vatalapyā; also birtābitalapyā; n. holder of a bitalaba land grant.
chāpachapyālī	var. chāpachapeli, chāpachapālī, chāpchapyālī; n. holder of a chāpa (birtā)?
daśanāmī	[S.] n. an order of Śaiva ascetics said to be founded by Śaṅkarācharya.
jamadāra / jamādāra	var. jmādāra, jaṃdāra; n. a low ranking commissioned officer in the army (cf. Adhikari 1984: 350; Kumar 1967: 166; M.C. Regmi 1978: 227; Stiller 1981: 380) who could be also assigned to civil offices (Edwards 1975: 108), below the subedāra and above havaladāra (Whelpton 1991: 283). According to Edwards 1975: 108: “In the Kausi two jamadars supervised the work of harkaras, or menials, who carried in supplies and were sent on errands as messengers.“
mahanta	[S.] var. mahaṃta; n. the temporal and spiritual head of a centre (āśrama, maṭha, sthāna, akhāḍā) or wandering group (khālsā) of an ascetic order (cf. Burghart 1976: 100); an abbot.
mahantamaṇḍalī	var. mahaṃtamaṃḍalī; see mahantamaṇḍalāi; cf. discussion in note to DNA_0013_0059.
mohariyā / mohoriyā	1). adj. bearing the royal seal or government stamp; possessed of something under the royal seal (Turner 1931 s.v. mohoriyā) 2) n. one whose title to land is based on the royal seal (cf. Adhikari 1984: 353). 3) A non-confiscatable type of land grant for service-holders (Pandey 1997: 353).
paṭṭā	n. lease (Turner 1931: s.v.); a written deed of lease (Adhikari 1984: 354); title deed to land (Michael 2012: 133; cf. also M.C. Regmi 1978: 228; M.C. Regmi 1999: 235: “A land-allotment certificate in the Tarai region“).
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).
saṃnyāsī / sannyāsī	[fr. S. saṃnyāsin-] var. saṃnyāsi; n. renouncer, specif. a member of the Daśanāmī order.
subbā	var. subā; n. 1) governor or chief administrative officer of a province or district (cf. Kumar 1967: 168; Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 185; M.R. Pant 2002: 135; M.C. Regmi 1999: 137; M.C. Regmi 2002: 303). 2) civil officer ranking higher than a mukhiyā, but lower than a sardāra (Stiller 1981: 382). According to Edwards subbās were stationed at Gorkha (cf. also Michael 2012: 134) and Chitwan, “with five others being administrators in the Terai” (Edwards 1975: 106). Edwards further mentions that “men of subba rank were also assigned in the capital to the Kumari Chowk, and Kat Bhandar offices, where they were the deputies of the kaji and kapardar in charge” (ibid.). 3) headmen of the Limbu community in the far-eastern hill regions (M.C. Regmi 1978: 229; cf. also 1978: 865).
subedāra	n. commander of a military company (cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 137) consisting of 100 soldiers (N.R. Pant et al. 1969: 383), often placed in charge of a district (M.R. Pant 2002: 136; M.C. Regmi 1978: 229). According to Stiller (1981: 382), he is [below the subbā] the second highest commissioned officer, and, according to Whelpton (1991: 286), he is immediately senior to the jamadāra.