To be executed, shaved, dispossessed, exiled or condemned to slavery – On the threat of capital punishment in a series of Nepalese inscriptions

Abstract

This paper discusses a textual passage, found in a set of at least 15 parallel copperplate inscriptions dating from 1799 CE, which threatens capital punishment to those who disrupt the proper functioning of worship at major temples in Nepal sponsored by royal endowments. Different categories of capital punishment are distinguished according to the status of the transgressor. These show parallels with rules laid down in at least two texts of paramount importance to the Nepalese legal tradition, the so-called edicts of Ram Shah and the Mulukī Ain, but unlike these Nepali-language texts the inscriptions are written in Sanskrit. In addition to exploring the textual parallels and reflecting on the fact that the inscriptions threaten capital punishment in the same breath as they promise otherworldly consequences for those who impede or promote the purposes of royal endowments, the spatial distribution pattern of the inscriptions that contain this passage will be taken into account. I will argue that the addressees and locations of the epigraphs are affirmed as the top tier of divine agents and places of worship in Nepal’s sacred topography and so are the royal roles of acting as the realm’s premier worshipper and supreme legislator.