Order of Abdussalam, an employee of Prince Murad Bakhsh, to Purshottam Das and Paras Ram demanding tax records
Order of Abdussalam, an official of Sultan Murad Bakhsh, to the landlords (chaudhri) Purshottam Das and Paras Ram to send the daily accounts and the records of tax collections, as the writer of the letter did not have these records with him. They are also instructed to send news of Gujarat if anybody comes from there.
Functional document type: Orders
Formal document type: Parvana
Themes: Administration, Desertion and Depopulation, Records, Taxation and Tribute
Date:
Hijri-qamri calendar: 1054
Gregorian calendar:
1644
[Page 1r]
invocation (top centre): Arabic
[هو]
[He [God] is]
main text: Persian
1زبده الاقران چودری
پرشوتم داس
و چودری
پرسرام
بعافیت باشد
2 هرچه گردید از خدا بباید الحال باز سیاهه روزنامچه و آمدن
3 و جمع و جمیع و رشته را
[درست|دربست]
نموده بزودی زود بفرستد
4 درین باب تغافل نکنند که از این نوشته ها و سیاهه
5 اصلا و مطلقا در پیش فقیر نیست و نویسنده ها خود همه در خانه
6خود مانند شما این قدر کار نکنید تنهای که نصفا نصف
7نوشته بودید
[مهر امل]1
نموده حواله
[باله]
نموده چون در کنار
8
آب شنیده شد
که کس
نراین مودی
[گریخته]
رفت
9باز بهمین سبب همه دلگیر شده این ها را نگاهداشتند
10 هرکسی بیاید فرستاده خواهد شد اگر از
گجرات
کسی آمده باشد
11 خبر آنجا را بنویسند و شخصی که از
گجرات
بیاید
2
12 روانه اینجانب نمایند تغافل نکنند
13 اگر از
اوجین
خبر برسد بنویسند
14 تغافل نکنند و
…
1Eminent among Contemporaries chaudhri
Purshottam Das
and chaudhri
Paras Ram, may they [i.e. you] be well.
2 Whatever happens, [it] must come from [must have been ordained by] God. Now, once again, prepare the list of daily accounts
and arrivals and
3tax collections and records and send them as soon as possible.
4 Do not neglect this since none of these notes and lists
5 in their original and entirety are in front of this poor man [me], and his [my] own records are at home.
6 You just do not work in such a way that you write in halves [i.e. vaguely].
7[Attach the official seal [to the papers]]
[and] deposit them.3
8
Since it was heard at the edge of the water4 that some person Narain Modi [fled]
9
…
An eye should be kept on things
10 and whoever comes, should be sent. If anyone comes from Gujarat
11 with news from there, write [about it].
12 And if anybody comes from Gujarat, send them here.
13 If any news arrives from Ujjain, write.
14 Do not neglect it.
…
authorisation (right margin): Persian
عبد السلام بن [محمد] … خان … بنده سلطان مراد بخش شهان ۱۰۵۴
[Round black ink seal] Abdussalam son of [Muhammad] … Khan servant of Sultan Murad Bakhsh … 1054 5
Notes
1. a possible misspelling of عامل [BACK]
2. From this line onwards, the text continues on the right margin of the document. [BACK]
3. Literally, place them in a bag. [BACK]
4. This is likely an idiomatic expression [BACK]
5. It appears that the seal was applied after concluding the main text in the right margin. While a date has been ascribed to the document based on the year in the seal, it was likely issued in the mid-1650s. Abdussalam> used the same seal in 1655, in the document "Order of Abdussalam to Purshottam Das and Paras Ram about a dispute with other officials". [BACK]
landlord (similar to desai, deshmukh)
landlord (similar to desai, deshmukh)
Participants
Issuer:
Abdussalam
Recipient:
Purshottam Das
Recipient:
Paras Ram
Language(s)
Arabic
Persian
Source
Choudhary Family Collection, Bada Raola Dhar, no shelfmark
Archival Collection: Purshottam Das collection
Transcribed from manuscript image.
Edited by Nandini Chatterjee and Elizabeth Thelen
Encoding support and website development by Lizzy Williamson, Eva Bodenschatz, Richard Holding, Julia Hopkin and Gary Stringer