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September 1, 1975 Regrni Research {Priv,::te) Ltd Kathmandu: S eptanber 1, 1975 Regmi Research Series Year 7, No. 9, Edited By Mahesh c. Regmi. ******** Contents . Page 1. Ranajit Kunwar's Letters to Bhimsen Thapc1 ••• 161 2. Social Changes During the Early Shah Period •• • 163 3. Srimanavihar.:r •• • 173 4. Selected Documents for Marga-Poush, 1887 ••• 174. ************ Regmi Research (Private) Ltd. Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal. Compiled by Regmi Research {Private) Ltd for private study and research. l�ot meant for public sale or display• 161. Ranajit Kunwar• s Letter to Bhimsen 'Ihap a By Dinesh Raj Pant. From Ranaj it Kunw ar, to Kaji Bhimsen Thapa. Greetings. ,;11 i s well here, and I wish the same there. The news here is g ood. '. I nformation ab out_ the situation prevailing here had been given i n t he previous letter. The enemy, wh o had proceede:l · through Panthajada, ha s not advanced farther. Our S az::dars and companies are making preparations to attack him. _The position of the w estern kingdoms r emains t he same as before. As regards the Hudhesh region, we hav e r eceived repo rts t hat Ranajit Singh has vacated t he fort as well a s the territories (Parganna) that he had occupied, when the British m ade a reque st t o t hat effect o n the basis of a complaint submitted b y_ Baghal S ingh. Ranajit Singh is now trying to o rganize a united front of the Marhattas, the Sikhs, and t he hill Rajas, on the ground that otherwise the British will assllllle supreme au thority. Th e hill Rajas, on their part, want to start a quarrel-w ith us. I shall . report on whatever developments tak e place. I have leamt from the letter sent by. the boys that Rewanta . Kunwar has be en graciously deputed to �umaun.we could have. accou�lJI shed ev erything through the grace of F..J..s M ajesty and ·-your support. We tried t o act acco.tding to royal orders, not to Please other .people. In Kumaun, Rewanta was becoming a victim of i ntrigue, and th at was why we h ad petitioned for his transf er,, We are here acting acco.tding to the orders of . the Budha Kaj i (Amara Simh a Thapa), as we had been di·rected unde� royal. in- s�ructions. RE:wanta writes, "N ot to t alk of increasing the strength of the Barakh Company by fo,ur platoons (Patte), even the two existing platoons that have been c reated are not being abl.e to receive their emoluments•. Because •. • in his battal ion (Pal tan), no order h as been iss�d to· charge our increase:i Contd• •• 162. allowances (on the revenues of) Kurnaun.,;The Kaji has. clearly stated that he has ,net received any order to allot lands in this r�gion . Because of the large number of Sardars, it is not proper for us to ranain in the unny like ordi�cy persons. I have represented my problems before you, and will do whatever you adviDe. Hopinl) that you will coontinue giving me advice, and informing me about your welfare. Sunday, Bhadra SUdi 11 (1867) Camp: Sugatror. .§Ource: Dinesh Raj Pant, "Bhimasena Thapalai Ranajit Kunwaralc Vi. sam. 1867 Bhadra 26 Gate Lekheko Patra. 11 (L�tter written by Ranujit Kunwa:t to Bhimsen Thapa on Bhadra 2G, 1367 Vikrama). Purnirna, Year 7, No. l, Margu 2028 (Novernb�r-Decenber. 1971), pp. 9-13. Explanation Sard�= Baghel Singh seems to have played·an important rola - in the Punjab before the rise of Ranjit Singh. ·see Joseph D. Cunningham, History of th•� Sikh s ( 1966 ed.), Pp. 102-11; . Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, PP• 173-80. Not much information is available about the battle of Pan• thaj ada. ;" 1-.:!tter T.-,ri tt(.)n by Sard ar Shumsher Rana and Sardar . Dhokal Simha Khatri to Bud ha Kaji l\111,:ira Simha Thapa on l'5hadh Sudi 3 1 1867 {June 1810), and the Bhasha vamshavali, contain the following information: Nepal was efeutcdd in the battle of Nagini. During the rainy season of 1867 Vikramn, the Rajas of the Barha Thakuri principalities seize4. the 0pportunity ot besiege the eN palis at Panthajada.h T ey· had been able to win over the local ryots and Zamindars to their side. Some troops had been ts atione:l at Panthajada under the command of Subba Basanta Bogati and · Birqbahu Simha uf Musikot. '.rhe Nepalis were compelled to sur� render the fort ftera four days. Hearing of che siege, Bu::la .•' es" Kaji l.mara Simha Thapa nse t the Tripuradal and other compani ·'� to Panthajada under the command of Sardar Shumsher Rana and Sardar Dhokal 'Simha Khatri. By the tim� these troops :reached Panthaj ada, the en.emy had entrenched himself in four positiollSj.;... in the hills, and was launching an attack on Jada. ·aecause Contd ••• 163 . of the limited forces at their disposal, the Nepali corrmanders had not been able tp finalize a strategy. Meanwhile, �he enemy took up . two .more positions. The commarxler's then -wrote' to . .' . BUdha Kaji l�ara Simha Thapa on ,"\s hadh 23, 1867 Vikrama for'. advice'. · Subsequently, according to th e Bhasha Vamshavali, th e Nepalis clcfeat(.� the enemy and reoccupied Panthajada. R.e\-rnnta Kunwar was Ranajit Kunwar'' s son'. ********* x Social Changes during the Early Shah Per iod By Baburam Acharya (Cont inued from �he AUgust 1975 issue) Prithvi Nar ayan Shah l1imoelf appears to have conducte:i tr ade. After a war wi th China, Khasa situated on the left · · banks'· of the sunkoshi river had been merged into Tibet. Pri­ thvi Narayan Shah had appoin ted'.consuls at Khasa, directing them to send him infonnation about the quantity of gold which might reach Khasa from Lhasa. He also advised them to buy t he gold , and not l e t it fal l into the hands of o'thers. Prithvi Narayan Shah col l ected as much gold as possible, and sold sane gold to the people of India also . It was also his d esire.to develcp· agr iculture in t he coun tcy'. H e s'tress ed t he nefad· £or · reclaiming lands which could be irrigated, and prospecting for mines even if this required th � evacuation of settlement's . A mine, once i ts operation was started, yielded subst@tial . income fo r generations. Prithvi Narayan �ah.�'· therefore.:�·d id X Baburam Acharya, Ncpalko Samkship tc1 Vrittanta (.l, Conclse ,"\c coun t * of Nepal). Kathnandu: Pramod Shamsher and Ni'r •Bikram "Pyasi, 2022 ·<1966)'. Cpapter 21': "'Ilin Shahrajaharuk� -Sana­ Yama Samajma Bhayeko Pari vart� ra i: rabandhako TUlanatmak Lckhajokha." (A comparative evaluation of t� social changes and arranganC$lts .during th� t:1me ··of three Shah Kings) •· pp'. 127-5 1. Contd ••• .. 164. not want to le av e �y mine unexploited . He mad e effectiveo. arr angements for theo· development of. agr;Lculture and mining. Prithvi Narayan Shah permitted the export only of herbs und elephants to India. Trade in elephants wus a gov ernment monopoly, whereas herbs were al lowed to be .exported by private tr.ide:cs. Elephants abounded in the Tarai·f orests , but it wus not easy to c aptur e them . Prithvi Narayan Shah therefore laid spec ial empha.si� on the need for capturing and exporting el� phants. Herbs were available in abundance and perennially. Prithv i Nar.iyan Shah accordingly gave full freedom to �xport herbs. Ibwever, hw stressed that peopl e should imp ort only gold .:i.nd silver. He p rohibit ed the import of manuf actured foreign goods, particul urly t extiles and luxury good s . He earnestly desired his .. subjects to become affluent . He desired to increase agriculturul product ion , anq expand cotton culti­ vation in o.cder to d E:!velop the ind igenous textile manuf acturin0• Durin g the reign of Prithvi n.irayan Shah, not much was spent on the administration . Ec9nomy was practised even during war . Durin g the Kirat war, Prithvi Ncirayan Shah obtain ed a loan of Rs 8,000, and later of Rs s,ooo, f rom a Br ahman . After the conquust of Saptari, he rc.-<l oem£<l the loan by assigning some Birt a and Jimidari Linds. ht that time, paddy so ld at onG J;"upee per muri in the Kirat and Tarai regionso. Other good:J also were very cheap. For all these reasons , not much cash expenditure was necess ary. In asmuch as civil servants (Jagi1 r­ dars) were given land assignments in lieu of c ash emolument s monetary revenue from customs , taxes, and market levies was credited to the st ate treasury. Th1;:re was, thereforeo., no short­ age of money during the r�ign of Prithvi Narayan Shah. But much of th-= mon ey s aved during his reign was squander ed durinc; the rule of Dahadur Shah , when Nepal was engaged in series o f milit ary carnpaigno. H::>weve r, the treasury had not yet become empty. In fact, the Nepal government had asked .the Company government for ··autho rity to purchase muskets from the Br iti sh, an:i permissoion for its troop s to go to Danapur to take del i­ very. Until then the Nepc1l goven1rr1cnt was in a strong financ i:. l position. Both the state and the subjects appeur to have been affluent at that time. 1.1. tmugh the offers of the state dwinJ ... led during the rule of Bahadur Shah as a res ult o f the war with China, his administrat ion must be: 2..dmitted to be one of growth, in view of the expansion o f the territory of Nepal.
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