Sacred Trusts and State Law: Guṭhī Property in Nepal’s Ain of 1854

Abstract

The guṭhī system, a cornerstone of sociation, communal organization, and collective ownership in Nepal, has roots traceable back to the 6th century. As socio-religious associations and foundations, guṭhī institutions have historically played a vital role in maintaining religious sites, public infrastructure, and services of general interest. Its central importance to state and society is codified in the Ain of 1854, Nepal’s first legal code, which recognized the guṭhī system as integral to the maintenance of the socio-religious order. Over time, guṭhī became not only a mechanism for sustaining ritual and communal obligations but also a pillar of state administration, complete with a distinct bureaucracy responsible for managing endowments, resolving disputes, and overseeing economic and legal functions. A flourishing guṭhī system was envisioned as a guarantor of both earthly and otherworldly prosperity, with the state actively expanding its resource base and encouraging private endowments. This paper aims to reconstruct the imagination of guṭhī property as codified in the Ain of 1854, examining how it articulates a distinct property concept intertwined with social, ritual, and religious responsibilities. Drawing on historical documents and inscriptions, the paper explores how this property concept shaped modes of economic transaction as well as administrative and legal practices. At the same time, the entrenchment of guṭhī property within a ritual economy often led to tensions with competing economic and fiscal logics, particularly in contexts of rent-seeking, state taxation, and private property claims.