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_0016_0075

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2015-02-14; Last modified: 2018-06-19
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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 Kathmandu Valley of Raṃjīta Giri's appointment as central overseer (mahantamaṇḍalāi) of sannyāsīs and orders them to collect revenue (rakama) for him.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

श्रीदुर्गाज्यूः

[Royal seal]

1स्वस्तिश्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजकस्यरुक्का¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯
2आगे•त्रिसूलगंगापूर्वमेचिपश्चिम•का•सुवा•सुवेदार•ज्मादार•विर्त्तव़ाल•
3वितलप्या•छापछपालीमोहरिया•अमालिदारगैह्रप्रति•रंजीतगिरिला
4इसंन्यासिकोमहन्तमंडलाइवक्स्याकोछ•आफ्नाआफ्नाअम्वलमापट्टा
5वमोजीमअम्वलमामुलकोरकमचलाइदेउकसैलेहरहेमायेतटंटात
6क्रार•नगर•इतिसंवत्•१८९८सालमितिभाद्रवदि१२रोज७शुभ्म्¯ ¯¯¯

[1v]

⟪(५७)⟫

⟪७२५⟫

मार्फत्अभीमानसिंराना

Translation

[1r]

Venerable Durgājyū

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

[Regarding] the following: To the subbās, subedāras, jamādāras, birtāvālas, bitalapyās, chāpachapālīs, mohoriyās, amālīdāras etc. of [the kingdom]1 east of the Trisūlagaṅgā and west of the Mecī.

The office of central overseer (mahantamaṇḍalāi) of sannyāsīs is granted to Raṃjīta Giri. Collect [for him] the ambalamāmula (?)2 revenue (rakama) according to the contract (paṭṭā) [each] in your own territory. No one shall display anything in the way of favouritism, obstructive activity [or] altercation.

Saturday, the 12th day of the dark fortnight of Bhādra of the [Vikrama] era year 1898 (1841 CE). Auspiciousness.

[1v]

(57)3

7254

Through (mārphata) Abhīmāna Siṃ Rānā

Commentary

The document is part of a series of similar missives addressing officials in other parts of the kingdom (DNA_0013_0059, DNA_0015_0031). Also available is a royal edict to Raṃjīta Giri himself in which further details are specified (see DNA_0015_0033).

In this series, only for the present document is a photo of the signature on the backside available. The signee, Kājī Abhimāna Siṃha Rānā, was an influental person at the court of Kathmandu. In a letter to the British governor-general (dated 1st August 1841, just a couple of days before the present document was issued), the British resident in Nepal, Brian H. Hodgson, refers to him as: "[h]ead of Ranas and in chief charge of the army and of the Causi" (quoted in Stiller 1981: 113, 115). It was probably in his function as head of the government treasury (kausī) – an office he took over in January of the same year (cf. Stiller 1981: 75) – that he was authorized to follow through on the present royal order. Abhimāna Siṃha Rānā was killed in the Kot massacre (1846 CE).

Notes

1. Cf. yeti rājyakā (DNA_0015_0031), yeti rājyabharako (DNA_0013_0059) and yeti rāje (DNA_0015_0033). [⇑]

2. For a discussion of the term, see note 3 in DNA_0013_0059. [⇑]

3. The meaning of this addition by a second hand is unclear. [⇑]

4. This number, added by a second hand, refers to the ms. no. given by the National Archives, Kathmandu. [⇑]

Glossary

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).
ambalamāmula	[ambala + māmula] var. amalamāmula; n. a levy (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 861 (on “Kot-mamuli”)) collected within a particular administrative area (ambala)?
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)?
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.“
kausī	government treasury, see kausī tosākhānā
mahantamaṇḍalāi	var. mahaṃtamaṃḍalāi, mahantamaṇḍalī; n. 1) central overseer of the sannyāsīs; 2) office of the central overseer. See also maṇḍalāi.
mārphat / mārphata	var. marphaṭ, mārphaṭa; "through (the person of)" (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93).
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.

Bibliography

Stiller, Ludwig F. 1981. Letters from Kathmandu: The Kot Massacre. Kirtipur: CNAS.