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Description:
The article discusses the status, powers, and functions of Rajas and Rajautas in nineteenth-century Nepal in the light of contemporary documents. The author writes that the actual number of the Rajas and Rajautas that existed in the period under consideration cannot be ascertained as their number fluctuated from time owing to the creation of new Rajyas and the abolition of the existing ones. From the study of the available contemporary documents, one can discern three categories of Rajyas or vassal states in nineteenth-century Nepal which continued to exist as late as 1961. They were the Thekka Rajyas, Sirto Rajyas, and Sarbangamaphi Rajyas. Though with abolishment of Rajyas by a law, there continued enjoyment of the title of Raja by some former chiefs along with the allowances associated with it, leads the author to conclude that Nepalese society is yet to be free from feudal chains of the medieval age. (Rajeev Ranjan Singh 2007-01-19)
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