Lawforms

Digitised Legal Documents from the Indo-Persian World

Copy of an order of Hussein Quli Khan to the officials of Askarabad regarding a grant of land to Reza Ali

Hussein Quli Khan informs the officials and residents of disctrict (pargana) Askarabad that Reza Ali's claim to a grant of land for taking care of the mosque is true. Therefore, no one should trouble Reza Ali regarding his right to the land. The document was copied in a British colonial collector's office, likely at some point in the nineteenth century.

Functional document type: Orders

Formal document type: Parvana, Sanad

Themes: Grants, Petitioning

Date:
Julus calendar: 1 Rajab Regnal Year 2
Gregorian calendar: 1750

[Page 1r]

clerical notes (centre top): English


1For Eusoof Khan [Yusuf Khan]

2Copy
3

clerical notes (top left): Persian

۲۵۴۶ نمبر

Number 2546

clerical notes (top left margin): Bengali

1

authorisation (top centre): Persian

[Round black ink seal] 2

main text: Persian


1نقل
2سند بمهر نواب حسین قلیخان از قرار بتاریخ غره شهر رجب سنه ۲ جلوس والا شرح آنکه متصدیان مهمات حال و استقبال
3چودریان و قانونگویان و رعایا و مزارعان پرگنه 3 عسکراباد سرکار اسلاماباد بدانند که چون رضا علی ظاهر نموده که
4موازی نه کانی 4 زمین خارج جمع سیوای شاهی در وجه حراست مسجد بنام رافع بموجب اسناد حکام
5سابق در پرگنه مزبور مقرر است امیدوار که سندی بعدم مزاحمت بمهر سرکار مرحمت شود چنانچه از روی تحقیقات
6اظهار مشار الیه بصدق مفزون پیوست لهذا موازی مزبوره را بوجه خیرات مسجد مقرر و بحال داشته شد که
7مومی الیه موازی مسطوره را قابض و 5 مداخلت نموده حاصل آنرا وجه چراغ افروزی و امام خطب و موزن
8و جاروبکشی و صادروارد وغیره لوازمه مسجد مذکور کرده بدعاگوی دولت حضرت ظل سبحانی اشتغال شده باشد
9احدی [بعلت] خط حرمت جمعبندی وغیره هیچ وجه مزاحمت میرساند [در اینباب] تاکید تمام دانسته حسب المسطور بعمل آرند


1Copy.
2A sanad with the seal of Nawab Hussein Quli Khan6 issued on the first of the month of Rajab, 2nd regnal year7 and the details are [as follows]: the mutasaddis of current and future affairs,
3the chaudhris and qanungos and peasants and agriculturists of pargana Askarabad, sarkar Islamabad should know that, since Reza Ali has made it apparent that
4the amount ofnine kanis8 of land, exempt from taxes except imperial is allocated from within the said pargana to the applicant for reason of taking care of a mosque on account of the orders of the governors
5of the past. He hopes that an order sealed by the government for the end of harassment will be kindly awarded. Therefore, on the basis of checks
6the declaration of the said person was found to be true. Hence, the said land is allocated and appointed for the custody of the mosque, so that
7the said person, taking possession of the said land, can use the collections from therein for lighting lamps, the daily allowance of the sermon-giver and the caller to prayer,
8and sweeping and coming and going [i.e., hospitality for travellers] etc., legitimate [activities] of the mosque [and] engage himself in saying prayers for the state of His Lordship Zill-i Subhani9
9No one should give him trouble on account of the document of favour of the land assessment, etc. Knowing all the injunctions to be applicable [in this matter], do as written.


1 ۲۵۴۶ ۲۵۴۰

2مقابله کرده
3 محرر


12546 2540

2Compared
3written

clerical notes (bottom right): Bengali

10

Notes

1. The text is written in a cursive script and is partially covered by a paperweight. [BACK]

2. The faint and illegible inscription appears to be bi-lingual in Persian and Bengali. [BACK]

3. There is a phrase inserted here that possibly reads کرم خواجه, or 'the benevolence of the saint'. [BACK]

4. A note is inserted above this text, which may read بالا نویسی, or 'writing above'. [BACK]

5. A note is inserted above this text, which may read بالا نویسی, or 'writing above'. [BACK]

6. Naib Nazim of Bengal under Ali Vardi Khan, governor of Dhaka [BACK]

7. The Gregorian date of 1750 has been assigned based on the fact that Nawab Hussein Quli Khan (d. 1755) was active in the middle of the eighteenth century, and thus this document was likely composed during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah (r. 1748–54). [BACK]

8. Kani is a local unit of measurement in the Chittagong and Tripura areas of Bengal. Reading kindly provided by Richard Eaton. [BACK]

9. I.e., the Shadow of God, likely a reference to the Mughal emperor. This honorific text is elevated and written to the left of the seal. [BACK]

10. The text is written in Bengali, in a cursive hand the team has not been able to decipher. [BACK]

generically, a document

title of a high-ranking noble or governor

title of a high-ranking noble or governor

local revenue official (As a state post, often in charge of trade and the collection of customs in a city or port. Can also refer to a clerk or accountant.)

landlord (similar to desai, deshmukh)

record-keeper (similar to deshpande)

district

territorial division, larger than district; generic term for a sovereign or government (Mughal term)

district

Participants

Issuer: Nawab Hussein Quli Khan
Supplicant: Reza Ali

Language(s)

English
Persian
Bengali

Source

Richard Eaton Collection, no shelfmark
Archival Collection: Richard Eaton collection

Transcribed from manuscript image

Edited by Nandini Chatterjee

Encoding support and website development by Lizzy Williamson, Eva Bodenschatz, Richard Holding, Julia Hopkin and Gary Stringer