170 STATISTICAL SKETCH 



The judicial administration formed one source of the revenue of the 

 state. 



In the interior, justice was administered in civil and petty criminal cases 

 by Foujdars, or governors, while cases of magnitude, and those originating in 

 the capital or neighbourhood, were determined in the Raja's court, under the 

 superintendance of the Dewan. 



Under the Gorkha government, "the former duty was entrusted to the 

 commandant of the troops holding the assignment, and the latter was execut- 

 ■ ed by the governor of the province, assisted by those military chiefs who 

 might be on the spot. As the commanders of the troops were seldom present 

 in their respective assignments, they delegated their powers to deputies, called 

 *'Becharis," who either farmed the dues on law proceedings at a specific 

 sum, or remaineda ccountable for the full receipts. The forms of investigation 

 and decision, under both governments, were the same. A simple viva voce 

 examination of the parties and their witnesses, usually sufficed to elucidate 

 the merits of the case, and where doubts or contradictions occurred, an oath 

 was administered by laying the Harlbans, (a portion of the Mahdbhdrat,) 

 on the head of the deponent. In intricate suits, such as disputes regarding 

 boundaries, or where no occuiar testimony could be produced to substantiate 

 the claim or defence, recourse was had to ordeal, the modes of which will be 

 hereafter noticed. The case being adjudicated, a copy of the judgment, 

 under the seal of the officers composing the court, and witnessed by the by- 

 standers, was delivered to the party in whose favor it had been pronounced, and 

 the losing party was, at the same time, subjected to a heavy fine, proportioned 

 to his means, rather than to the value of the cause in action. Private arbitra- 

 tion, or Panckait, was frequently resorted to, more particularly for the adjust- 

 ment of mutual accounts among traders or for the division of family property 

 among heirs. Claims, when nearly balanced, v/ere sometimes decided by lot 



