Study of a Few Documents Relating to the Coinage of SikkimAuthor(s): P. K. BhattacharyyaReviewed work(s):Source: East and West, Vol. 32, No. 1/4 (December 1982), pp. 93-97Published by: Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29756629 .Accessed: 03/04/2012 10:44

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to East and West.

http://www.jstor.org

Study of a Few Documents Relating to the Coinage of Sikkim

by P. K. Bhattacharyya

We possess little knowledge of the coinage of Sikkim C). It was as early as 1909 that a paper (2) on Sikkim Copper Coins was written on the basis of a few stray finds in Darjeeling. Notices on Sikkim coins have also been made in some other works (3). In course of my investigation I have collected in?

teresting information about these coins from Sikkim and adjoining areas. I take

this opportunity of presenting here a few unpublished Tibetan records (4) which are extremely important from the point of view of the history of the coinage of Sikkim. These documents are in the nature of the contracts given to the Newari

traders (5) for minting copper coins during the reign of Thutol Namgyal

(*) Sikkim, the 22nd State of Indian Republic (formerly a kingdom with the Chogyal as ruler), lying between 27?5' and 28?9' N. and 87?59' and 88?56' E. is also known as

"Denjong" and "Demojong" or "Demoshong": Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. XXII, 1908, p. 365. Samuel Van de Puttee and Horace della Penna call the country "Bramacjon", (C.R. Markham, Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet (1774) and of the Journey of Thomas

Manning to Lasha, 2nd ed., London, 1879, p. lxiv). The country has also been described as the "Kingdon of Bregion" (Markham, op. cit., p. 311). It has been suggested that the Indrakila mountain of the Mah?bh?rata is the present Sikkim, cf. Itihas, Calcutta, No. 3, 1378 (Bengali San). Risley is of the opinion that the Nepali word Sikkim has been de? rived from the Sanskrit Sikin (sic.) meaning having one spire. Gazetteer of Sikkim, Bengal

Government Secretariat, Calcutta, 1894, pp. 39-40.

(2) M.M. Chakravarti, "Sikkim Copper Coins", Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic

Society of Bengal, New series, Vol. V, 1909, pp. 15-17.

(3) W.A. Valentine, The Copper Coins of India, Part I, 1941, chapter ^History of Sikkim''; AAV. Botham, Catalogue of the Provincial Cabinet of Coins, Assam, 2nd ed. 1930.

(4) I am greatly indebted to Ven. Tulku Thondup, Reader in the Department of Indo-Tibetan Studies, Visva-Bharati for the transliteration of the Tibetan documents and also to M.C. Pradhan and Dhardo-Rimpoche, both of Kalimpong for helping me in translating these documents into English.

(5) Two Newari brothers, viz. Lakshmidar Pradhan and Chandrabir Pradhan, secured a mining lease for copper and also agricultural estates in Sikkim in 1868. The Gazetteer of Sikkim, op. cit., pp. 57 ff. Also cf. the letter of M.C. Pradhan of Kalimpong addressed to the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Darjeeling, dated the 30th Sept. 1952.

93

(m Thu-stobs-rnam-rgyal, 1874-1914) of Sikkim. I collected the photostat copies of these documents from the office of Mr T. P. Gazamir, Under Secretary to

the former Chogyal of Sikkim (6) and later on I compared them with the original documents, now lying with the family of the late M.C. Pradhan of

Kalimpong in Darjeeling District, West Bengal.

Documents

Text no. I

Rang zhabs su 'khod pa'i ser sky a drag bzhan spyi dang bye brag Bal tshong La che me dhar khrid pa nas nges dgos. sngon du Bal tshongs khrid pa nas 'do le'i spe bsags brdung chog pa'i bsnyan zhu 'byor don bzhin, 'di nas las thog spyi khas brgyud Lar A'i mgrin Sa heb chen por snyan zhu phul ba'i spe bsags brdung chog pa'i bka' gsal byung don. Bal tshong La che me dhar khrid par spe bsags brdung chog pa'i bka' shog song ba Itar, da lam Gar rdzong brgyud gzhungs 'bab khral brgya tham pa yar 'phar gyi gyi (?) ceb kra spe bsags brdung chog pa'i snyan zhu 'byor don bzhin bka' shog sngon song 'di ga'i yongs 'bab zhu chag dkag dkor med pa dang, rgyal khab dbar rdabs bsigs med pa byung phyin lo nga'i bar ceb krags spe bsags brdung chog pa'i bka' shog don smin

btang ba, de don tshangs mas nges pa byed. chu lug zla 10 tshes 3 la pho brang nas.

Text no. II

Sri Bal 'tshongs La che me dhar lus 'tsho dang, 'byid sgo lhod med nas da lam ngo tshab mdun mtshams zhu rten gsal dang, khral 'bab bcas 'byor pa

yid spro che, dkon chog thugser (thugs rjer) 'dir kyang gzugs bzang zhing, 'byid sgo lhod med du gnas, chod 'bras Gar rdzong brgyud ceb krags spe bsags brdung rgyu'i bka' shog dang, khra'i dngul 'byor ba'i bka' 'dzin kyang myur du btang pa 'chang legs byed. slar 'tsho bar mthun spel dang, 'phros 'os kyang yong ba 'tshal. rten kha btags ja bag 1 snam thig bub gnyis mal bkag gsum bcas zla 10 tshes 3 la pho brang nas.

(6) Cf. the letter of T.P. Gazamir, Under Secretary to the Chogyal and it was ad dressed to me, vide his D.O. No. 1580/Sc. dated August 23, 1971 (the letter is at present with me).

94

Translation

Text no. I

Be it known to monks and laymen superior and inferior residing within the kingdom in general and those led by the Newari trader Lakshmidhar in particular that in accordance with their request made in the petition submitted

by the latter requesting for permission to mint doli paisa, we had written to

Lord Eden(?) Sahib through the Political Officer and obtained his concurrence. In pursuance thereof order has been issued to Lakshmidhar, the Newari trader, and others communicating grant of permission to mint paisa. Recently, an ap?

plication has been received through Gar-rdzong requesting for permission to mint

chepte paisa, together with the payment of Rs. one hundred as government tax, and in this connection order has been passed already granting permission for a period of five years subject to the condition that there should not be any hindrance to or failure in payment of the government dues and that there will be no occasion to to disturb the friendly relations existing between the neigh? bouring countries. This should be borne in mind by all.

From the palace on the third day of the tenth month of the Water-Sheep year (December 2nd, 1883).

Text no. II

I am pleased to receive a letter with a scarf from Shri Lachimidhar, Newari

trader, through his agent, containing news about his sound health and smooth

running of his work together with the presents mentioned therein and also the amount of tax payable by him. Through the grace of the Triple Gem we are here maintaining excellent health and progress in our activities. You will ack?

nowledge receipt of the written order permitting you to mint coins and also a

receipt of tax paid by you ? both of which were sent through Garzong (Karmi Zongpon). I wish you the best of health and spirits and expect to hear from you also. Herewith I have sent one brick tea, two rolls of woollen thickma

pieces and three blankets with a scarf. From the Palace on the third of the tenth month. It will not be out of place to discuss here a few points in connection with

the history of Sikkim coinage. The system of trading by barter which was pre? valent in Sikkim from eary times, however, seems to have been in vogue even

during the reign of Thutob Namgyal. We possess an interesting document is?

sued from the Palace in 1883 A.D. in which instructions were given to the

Newari merchants of Sikkim to procure certain articles like rice, maize flour,

chilli, good quality chang bear, etc. "by way of exchange from the local people

95

as these would be required for the entertainment of the royal guests". Again for the purpose of exchange "five loads of salt, each load consisting of 50 maphal and 10 woollen blankets" were being sent from the Palace (7). The necessity of coins of lesser denomination for ordinary commercial transaction was, howe?

ver, actually felt by the business community towards the latter half of the 19th century. The Indian Rupee already appeared there by way of subvention payable to the king of Sikkim (8). Also, from a letter (dated Samvat 1942 i.e. 1885

A.D.) (9) of the Newari trader Lakshmidar Pradhan addressed to Col. Gajrejang Thapa, Governor of Elam (Nepal), it appears that from Samvat 1906 (i.e. 1849 A.D.) onwards the Doli Paisa of Nepal was made current in the territory of Sik? kim with the permission of the British. It may be noticed here that the coins of Nepal were also in circulation in Tibet even from earlier times (10).

The Newari traders, who became the owners of the copper mines of Sik? kim (X1) found that the minting of copper coins would not only facilitate com?

mercial transactions but would also be a profitable business (12). Hence, they decided to play the role of mint-masters (Taks?ri) of the country. From Samvat 1939 (i.e. 1882 A.D.), the Doli paisa and later the Chepte paisa, in close imi? tation of the Nepalese currency (13) began to be issued by the Newari traders

(7) The Original document in Tibetan language has been translated by Dhardo Rimpoche and M.C. Pradhan, both of Kalimpong in Darjeeling District and is now with the family of the late M.C. Pradhan. The document, is said to have been written from the Summer Palace (i.e. Chumbi, now in Tibet) on the 16th Dav of the 5th month (possibly 1882-3 A.D.).

(8) The king of Sikkim came into close alliance with the British by assisting them against the Gurkhas in 1814 and at the end of the war (1816) was rewarded with territory and the guarantee of protection. In February 1835 the king granted the site of Darjeeling to the British, and received in return a pension of Rs. 3000/= per annum. In 1890, Sikkim became a British protectorate state. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. XXII, 1908, pp. 365-73.

(9) The rough copy of the original letter (in Nepali) is now in the possession of the family of the late M.C. Pradhan of Kalimpong. Incidentally, M.C. Pradhan was the great grandson of the Taks?ri Lashmidar Pradhan.

(01) See Morkham, op. cit., p. 129 note.

(u) Of a number of the copper mines discovered in Sikkim, only two, viz. Pachikhani and Rathokhani (near Chakang) remained operative during the last decade of the 19th cen? tury. The Gazetteer of Sikkim, cit., p. 71.

(12) It is not true to say as Chakraborty suggested (op cit., p. 16) that with the arrival of the imported cheap foreign copper, the business of the Newari traders stopped and they had resort to the minting of coins, for the export of Sikkim Copper was actually stopped long after the discontinuation of minting of Sikkim coins; cf. The Gazetteer of Sikkim, cit., p. 66.

(13) Cf. E.H. Walsh, The Coinage of Nepal, Delhi 1973, PL VII, no. 11 (copper coin of Surendra Vikrama, Saka 1873).

96

of Sikkim with the consent of the king and the approval of the British (l4). In this way, the Newari traders entered into new contracts with Thutob Namgyal for minting different types of coins. The first contract issued in response to

the traders' petition for Doli paisa appears to have been lost. But the second one (cf. Text no. I) meant for Chepte paisa (initially for 5 years) contains im? portant information concerning Doli paisa as well. In the space below the Text no. 1 there is a three-line Nepalese hand-writ ten endorsement which refers to

the payment of Rs. 100/ = made by the mint masters in Sarhvat 1940 in ho?

nour of the Government's order permitting them to mint Chepte paisa: cf.

(1) Sri... praj?l?i diyeko l?Umohar. (Left side).

(1) Sarhvat 1940 SM miti mamsirm? chepte (2) pais? nijko Taks?rko l?Umohar han?n? Rs. 100). (Right Side)

On the other document (cf. Text no. II), there is a one-line Nepalese hand-written sentence referring to the king's congratulation on minting the

Chepte paisa of Sikkim. (Cf. Chepte pais? ban?unako hukum-m? praj?ko ... ba dhai diy?ko chha bhani-r?j?ko param-n? chitthi samvat 1940 S?l.).

This document refers to the formal permission of the government to mint coins as well as remittance of the receipt of the tax paid by the party. Both of these

were sent through Garzong (also possibly known as Karmi Zongpon) (15), ap?

parently a royal official.

The new coins remained in circulation in Sikkim along with the coins of Nepal. Similarly, the Sikkim coins were also accepted as legal tender in the territories of Nepal. But ultimately the circulation of the coins of Sikkim was disallowed in Nepal, much to the inconvenience of the traders, and of the Ne? wari traders of Sikkim in particular. This decision of the Nepalese government gave a fatal blow to the minting business of Sikkim. It appears that no coin was issued by the Newari traders after Samvat 1942.

(14) From a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Govt. of Bengal issued from the

Foreign Department (Finance), Simla, dated 20th July 1881, (Document No. 18 EE in the National Archives Library, New Delhi), it appears that the Govt. of India expressed "no

objection" to the request of the mah?r?j? of Sikkim to make "Dooba" (same as "Doli") pice at the Copper mines in his territory. Subsequently, the minting of Chepte paisa also received similar approval by the British (Cf. Text no. 1).

(15) The name of the official mentioned in the translation of the document sent to me

by the Chogyal (vide the letter of the Under Secretary to the Chogyal addressed to me D.O. No. 1580/Sc. dated August 23, 1971).

97

P.K. BHATTACHARYYA