DAFTAR-I-DIWANI

Daftar-i-Diwani which was the first Daftar of the Asaf Jahi period, came into existence in 1721 A.D., and was entrusted with the civil and military administration of the provinces of Aurangabad, Berar, Bijapur and Burhanpur. This Daftar exercised supervision over all matters related to finance, revenue, settlement, accounts, police and judicial affairs, marketing, grants of cash or lands, appointments, postings, transfers and the dismissal of government personnel. The treaties concluded between the Nizams and the Marathas and Nizams with the British are also available. This Daftar, which formed the pivot of the administration and was in consonance with the principles of the devolution of the administrative functions, was assisted by a number of other ancillary and subordinate Daftars which were established for specific purposes. The documents of this Daftar were transferred to the newly created Government Office in 1303 F/ 1894 A.D. for their perpetual preservation. It was the foundation of Record Office or Archives in the former state of Hyderabad.

The details particulars of the records of Daftar-i-Diwani are shown in the table given below:

S.No	Nature of the Document	Periodicity	No.of Documents approximately
1	Jagir ( Rank fixing status : gradation of pay)	-	2808
2	Inam (Grant free from the payment of assessment or revenue)	-	2668
3	Mansab ( A grants of villages lands by the rule free of all assessmenent)	-	3430
4	Maqta (A land of village granted at a fixed rate)	-	108
5	Qual Written contract and Qubuliyat/A deed of agreement.	1741-1871 A.D.	413
6	News letters pertaining to the period of Nizam Ali Khan-II	1763-1800 A.D.	204
7	News letters pertaining to the period of Sikandar Jah Nizam The - III	1805-1809 A.D.	298
8	News letters pertaining to the period of Nasir-ud-Daula Nizam The - I	1831-1857 A.D.	959
9	News letters pertaining to the period of Afzal-ud-Daula Nizam The - V	1858 A.D.	14
10	News letters pertaining to the period of Mahboob Ali Khan Nizam The - VI	1871-1897 A.D.	800
11	Tafwiz (assignment of land)	-	5953
12	Treaties and connected papers pertaining to the period of Nizam Ali Khan	1767-1800 A.D.	620
13	Treaties and connected papers pertaining to the period of Sikandar Jah	1823-1824 A.D.	388
14	Treaties and connected papers pertaining to the period of Nasir-ud- Daula	1831-1850 A.D.	49
15	Watan (Office of the village official with revenue and Police powers and emoluments attached to it such as watan Deshmukhi)	-	1113
	Reference record:
1	Jagir and Inam	-	1817
2	Mansab	-	6230
3	Maqta	-	1,82,000
4	Qaulnama and Qubiliyatnama (Treaty: agreement and acceptance)	-	1229
5	Tafwiz (Assign)	-	1,82,000
6	Utan (Plural of watan)	-	27,207
7	Yaumiya (Daily)	-	14,572

MARATHI RECORDS / MODI RECORDS

THE DAFTAR-I-DIWANI RECORDS IN MARATHI

Origin

The Marathi papers (mostly written in the Modi script), which were part of the Daftar-i- Diwani, were separated from the daftar between the years 1944 and 1946. They were kept apart to facilitate their study and ultimately to publish papers of historical value, chronologies, etc., selected from among them .

The Marathi papers of the Daftar-i-Diwani consist of akhbars, sanads, private correspondence of the Rai Rayans account papers, and miscellaneous papers. All the papers are in Marathi, mostly written in the Modi script. The Marathi records here are a fantastic collection and are a veritable research treasure-trove. Research into them will throw new light into hitherto unknown aspects of Maratha’s history and Asaf Jahi history.

Detailed particulars of Marathi/Modi records

	Class of paper	Quantity	Chronological limits
1	The poona Akbhars	223	1776-1794
2	The Akbars of the Dewdi-i-Khas of Nawab Nasir-ud-Daula Bahdur (1829-57)	496	1844-1846
3	Papers relating to private Correspondence of the Rai Rayans	About 50,000	1766-1822
4	Sanads	About 50,000	1766-1822
5	Accounts and Miscellaneous	About 20,000	1766-1822

The Poona Akhbars which come into the category of diplomatic correspondence give an actual eye-witness account of the day-to-day happening at the seat of the Maratha empire in the Peshwas’ court. These epistles contain reports of important events in different parts of India where the Marathas were active. They are useful for reconstructing the political, social, cultural and economic history of the period as they describe the court life, the pleasures, the pastimes and the activities of the Peshwas and the darbars, accounts of fairs and festivals and various events particularly in the Maratha Poona kingdom, and the happenings in the greater Maratha empire all over India, the customs and manners of the period, and the condition of trade and commerce. The material in these Marathi records relating to diplomatic relations between the Peshwas and other Maratha chiefs on the one hand and various other Muslim and European powers in India, is very valuable for historiography.

RAJENDRA COLLECTION

(Also designated as the Gangakhed Papers)

Origin and background

This collection was acquired from the Devdi* of Rani Sitabai Sahiba (well-known as Raja Raghottam Rao’s Devid ) at Shah Ali Banda near Char Minar in Hyderabad City and from Gangakhed (now in Maharashtra State) between 1949 and 1952.

These papers are the family archives of the Gangakhed Jagirdars,called the Rajendras. The Rajendra family of Gangakhed rendered valuable services to the Asaf Jahi kingdom. The earliest known valuble services to Asaf Jahi kingdom. The earliest known ancestor of this family was Balaji Pant who served under the Nawab of Kurnool. However, it was Haibat Rao Gopal (1803) who came into limelight during the reign of Nawab Nizam Ali Khan (1762-1803).

Haibat Rao Gopal was granted the jagir of Gangakhed in the Parbhani district. His son Raghottam Rao (1804) assumed and duties entrusted to his father long before his death. He also acted as Peshkar. For a brief period before his death, he had come under the displeasure of the Nizam. Raghottam Rao was made Peshkar and given the little “Rajendra” by Nawab Nizam Ali Khan in about 1796. He appears to have been virtually in charge of the foreign affairs of the Hyderabad State during this period. Raghottam Rao’s son, Gopal and Sanskrit, and was a realized soul who was greatly respected for his simplicity and nobility of character. He rose to a position of honour in the time of Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Asaf Jah VI (1869-1911). He was the Nizam’s personal physician.

This collection consists of Marathi Urdu and Persian documents, consisting of Akhbarat (news-letters), Treaties, Agreements, Letters, etc. The larger proportion of these documents is in Marathi. The other documents are in Urdu and Persian with a sprinkling of English and Hindi documents also.

Types of papers: Marathi

The analysis of Marathi papers is given below:

• Akbhars (news-letters) or Khabars (bakhar in Marathi).
• Political letters, anecdotes, etc.
• Private family correspondence (relating to the family of Raja Raghottam Rao) useful for economic and social history.
• Major account papers comprising of Salzhada (annual accounts), Dehezhada (accounts of Jagir Villages etc.), and those relating to Chauth,Sardeshmukhi 2, etc.
• Minor account papers including promissory notes, money receipts, hundies (Bills of Exchange), etc.
• Miscellaneous papers such as Rahadari permits, Dastaks, inventories, etc.
• Sanskrit (pre-classical and classical) manuscripts.
• Manuscripts and scrolls relating to Astrology.
• Marathi Bhajans* and sahasranamas* in scroll form.
• Hindi Bhajans and sahasranamas in scroll form.
• Lac impressions of seals.

There are also documents such as accounts, etc., useful for reconstructing the economic and social history of the period. There are a few English documents and quite a number of Hindi and Marathi scrolls, which are in the nature of literary and political compositions and a few metaphysical manuscripts in Sanskrit.

There are no contemporary reference media for this collection, Some 1,100 documents consisting of Akbhars (news-letters) and miscellaneous papers have been entered in a register giving the date of each document.

Types of papers: Urdu and Persian

This collection contains an assortment of :-

• Treaties, engagements and covenants between Nizam Ali Khan the Rao Pandit Pradhan, and the Residant
• Political correspondence between the Nizam, the Peshwa Rao Pandit Pradhan, Marquess Wellesley, and James Kirkpatrick, the British Resident at Hyderabad.
• Military despatches relating to the Qila-i-Arak or the Arak Fort (Aurangabad), list of British servants in the service of the native States, Assessment of military forces, etc.
• Sanads-Jagir, Inam, Altamgha, copies of Siyahas, copies of Sanads.
• Akhbars-From the Arak Fort of Aurangabad, proposals of friendship between the Rao Pandit Pradhan and Mr. Ballot.
• Descriptive rolls of men and horses in the army.
• Lease deeds and contracts.
• Agreements, bonds, etc.
• Acquittance rolls of income and expenditure.
• Papers of economic importance such as market rates, price movements, etc.
• Papers useful for social and socio-economic study of those times.

The detailed particulars of Marathi records in Daftar-i-Diwani are as given below:

SI.NO	Nature of the Documents	Periodicity	No.of Documents Approximately
1	Akhbars of Davidi-i-Khass of Nasir-ud-Daula - Nizam The IV	1844-1846 A.D.	496
2	Accounts and Miscellaneous	1766-1822 A.D.	20,000
3	Poona Akhbars	1776-1794 A.D.	223
4	Private correspondence of Raja Rai Rayan	1766-1822 A.D.	50,000
5	Sanads	1766-1822 A.D.	50,000