Lekhapaddhati - Revision history

IBADorris7: general update structure for clarity and improved wording

2026-02-28T18:20:19Z

general update structure for clarity and improved wording

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	{{short description\|Collection of Sanskrit documents}}		{{short description\|Collection of Sanskrit documents}}
	{{italics title}}		{{italics title}}
	The '''''Lekhapaddhati''''' ({{Translation\|''Models of Written Documents''}}), also known as '''''Lekhapañcāśikā''''' (English: ''Models of Fifty Written Documents''), is a collection of [[Sanskrit literature\|Sanskrit documents]] written between the 8th and 15th centuries during the [[Chaulukya dynasty\|Chaulukya]] rule in [[Gujarat]], India.It was later also composed in [[Prakrit]] and it contained rules for drafting variety of documents like documents related to land grants, treaties between the rulers and rule of administration.<ref>{{cite book\|last=Prasad\|first=Pushpa\|title=Lekhapaddhati: Documents of State and Everyday Life from Ancient and Early Medieval Gujarat, 9th To 15th Centuries\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4MMAQAAMAAJ\|year=2007\|publisher=Oxford University Press\|isbn=978-0-19-568447-6}}</ref>		The '''''Lekhapaddhati''''' ({{Translation\|''Models of Written Documents''}}), also known as '''''Lekhapañcāśikā''''' (English: ''Models of Fifty Written Documents''), is a collection of [[Sanskrit literature\|Sanskrit documents]] written between the 8th and 15th centuries during the [[Chaulukya dynasty\|Chaulukya]] rule in [[Gujarat]], India. It was later also composed in [[Prakrit]] and it contained rules for drafting variety of documents like documents related to land grants, treaties between the rulers and rule of administration.<ref>{{cite book\|last=Prasad\|first=Pushpa\|title=Lekhapaddhati: Documents of State and Everyday Life from Ancient and Early Medieval Gujarat, 9th To 15th Centuries\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4MMAQAAMAAJ\|year=2007\|publisher=Oxford University Press\|isbn=978-0-19-568447-6}}</ref>

	== Description ==		== Description ==
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	It provides us information about five department of trade in the contemporary Chaulukya empire. They are "Vyapara Karana", "Velakula Karana", "Jalapatha Karana", "Tanka Shala" and "Mandapika Karana" which corresponds to Department of trade, harbours, waterways, custom and mint. It provides further detail regarding the practice of providing sureties for loans or collateral; as it appears to have become necessary for securing loans in the contemporary period. The failure to repay dues could result in selling of the mortgaged property of the debtor.<ref name="cam"/>		It provides us information about five department of trade in the contemporary Chaulukya empire. They are "Vyapara Karana", "Velakula Karana", "Jalapatha Karana", "Tanka Shala" and "Mandapika Karana" which corresponds to Department of trade, harbours, waterways, custom and mint. It provides further detail regarding the practice of providing sureties for loans or collateral; as it appears to have become necessary for securing loans in the contemporary period. The failure to repay dues could result in selling of the mortgaged property of the debtor.<ref name="cam"/>

	Besides being a source of information on trade, it also provides a glimpse of society under Chaulukya rule. Accordingly, it shows the slavery to be a common feature of the society and people used to sell themselves to evade famine and hunger. It further narrates the story of a girl who wanted to sell herself to evade harassment by the invaders and the hunger. It also provides information on slave trade between [[India]] and west [[Asia]]n countries. The merchant communities of the [[Gujarat]] provided charitable help to sufferers in form of food and clothes, which is well documented in the text.<ref name="cam">{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4eFBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA303\|title=The Cambridge World History, Volume 5\|first= ~~Benjamin Z~~. ~~Kedar~~\|last= Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks\|publisher =Cambridge University Press\|year= 2015\|isbn=978-0521190749\|accessdate=2020-08-17}}</ref>		Besides being a source of information on trade, it also provides a glimpse of society under Chaulukya rule. Accordingly, it shows the slavery to be a common feature of the society and people used to sell themselves to evade famine and hunger. It further narrates the story of a girl who wanted to sell herself to evade harassment by the invaders and the hunger. It also provides information on slave trade between [[India]] and west [[Asia]]n countries. The merchant communities of the [[Gujarat]] provided charitable help to sufferers in form of food and clothes, which is well documented in the text.<ref name="cam">{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4eFBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA303\|title=The Cambridge World History, Volume 5\|editor-first= Merry E. \|editor-last= Wiesner-Hanks\|editor-link= Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks\|editor2-first=Benjamin Z.\|editor2-last= Kedar\|editor2-link=Benjamin Z. Kedar\|first= Himanshu Prabha\|last=Ray \|author-link= Himanshu Prabha Ray\|publisher=Cambridge University Press\|year= 2015\|isbn=978-0521190749\|accessdate=2020-08-17}}</ref>

	== Publication history ==		== Publication history ==
	Though the author of the ''Lekhapaddhati'' is unknown, the original Sanskrit documents were first collected and edited in 1925 by Chimanlal D. Dalal and Gajanan K. Shrigondekar. These scholars compiled the volume using four Sanskrit manuscripts, consisting of around 100 leaves with nine to thirteen lines per page, and dating to around the 15th century. Further, Shrigondekar observes, the work in the original documents was written in "mixed Sanskrit" during the same period.<ref name="Pushpa Prasad">{{cite journal \|last1=Prasad \|first1=Pushpa \|title="Lekhapaddhati" Documents and the Chaulukya Inscriptions: A Comprehensive Study \|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress \|date=1998 \|volume=59 \|pages=1050–1056 \|jstor=44147080 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book\|editor=Chimanlal Dahyabhai Dalal\|others=Gajanan Kushaba Shrigondekar\|title=Lekhapddhati \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFagNAAACAAJ\|accessdate=2 June 2020\|year=1925\|publisher=Central Library\|page=Preface}}</ref>		Though the author of the ''Lekhapaddhati'' is unknown, the original Sanskrit documents were first collected and edited in 1925 by Chimanlal D. Dalal and Gajanan K. Shrigondekar. These scholars compiled the volume using four Sanskrit manuscripts, consisting of around 100 leaves with nine to thirteen lines per page, and dating to around the 15th century. Further, Shrigondekar observes, the work in the original documents was written in "mixed Sanskrit" during the same period.<ref name="Pushpa Prasad">{{cite journal \|last1=Prasad \|first1=Pushpa \|title="Lekhapaddhati" Documents and the Chaulukya Inscriptions: A Comprehensive Study \|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress \|date=1998 \|volume=59 \|pages=1050–1056 \|jstor=44147080 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book\|editor=Chimanlal Dahyabhai Dalal\|others=Gajanan Kushaba Shrigondekar\|title=Lekhapddhati \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFagNAAACAAJ\|accessdate=2 June 2020\|year=1925\|publisher=Central Library\|page=Preface}}</ref>

	Some commentators have labeled the language as "[[Jain literature\|Jaina]] Sanskrit".<ref name="Tieken">{{cite journal \|last1=Tieken \|first1=Herman \|title=Book Review \|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal \|date=2004 \|volume=47 \|issue=2 \|page=146 \|jstor=24663800 }}</ref> Similarly, according to some experts, the imperfect Sanskrit used in the documents provides more information about the vocabulary of old Gujarat and the style of internal administration of contemporary rulers in Gujarat.<ref>{{cite journal\|title=Indica by L. D. Barnett - 18. Lekhapaddhati. Edited by … Chimanlal D. Dalal, M.A. With preface, notes and glossary by Gajanan K. Shrigondekar, M.A. (Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. xix.) 130 pp. Baroda : Central Library, 1925.\|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society\|volume=58\|issue=4\|year=2011\|page=772\|issn=1356-1863\|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00056604}}</ref>		Some commentators have labeled the language as "[[Jain literature\|Jaina]] Sanskrit".<ref name="Tieken">{{cite journal \|last1=Tieken \|first1=Herman \|title=Book Review \|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal \|date=2004 \|volume=47 \|issue=2 \|page=146 \|jstor=24663800 }}</ref> Similarly, according to some experts, the imperfect Sanskrit used in the documents provides more information about the vocabulary of old Gujarat and the style of internal administration of contemporary rulers in Gujarat.<ref>{{cite journal\|title=Indica by L. D. Barnett - 18. Lekhapaddhati. Edited by … Chimanlal D. Dalal, M.A. With preface, notes and glossary by Gajanan K. Shrigondekar, M.A. (Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. xix.) 130 pp. Baroda : Central Library, 1925.\|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society\|volume=58\|issue=4\|year=2011\|page=772\|issn=1356-1863\|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00056604\|s2cid=250346710 }}</ref>

	==Other editions==		==Other editions==
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	[[Category:Chaulukya dynasty]]		[[Category:Chaulukya dynasty]]
	[[Category:~~History~~ of Gujarat]]		[[Category:Cultural history of Gujarat]]
	~~[[Category:History of India~~]]
	[[Category:Sanskrit literature]]		[[Category:Sanskrit literature]]
	[[Category:Medieval Indian literature]]		[[Category:Medieval Indian literature]]

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{{short description|Collection of Sanskrit documents}}
{{italics title}}
The '''''Lekhapaddhati''''' ({{Translation|''Models of Written Documents''}}), also known as '''''Lekhapañcāśikā''''' (English: ''Models of Fifty Written Documents''), is a collection of [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit documents]] written between the 8th and 15th centuries during the [[Chaulukya dynasty|Chaulukya]] rule in [[Gujarat]], India.It was later also composed in [[Prakrit]] and it contained rules for drafting variety of documents like documents related to land grants, treaties between the rulers and rule of administration.<ref>{{cite book|last=Prasad|first=Pushpa|title=Lekhapaddhati: Documents of State and Everyday Life from Ancient and Early Medieval Gujarat, 9th To 15th Centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4MMAQAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-568447-6}}</ref>

== Description ==
The collection of these documents served as a repository used mainly for administrative purposes by the court officials and for private correspondence. The documents thus give some indication of the various procedures and government interactions adopted by the rulers of Gujarat.<ref name="Green2010">{{cite journal|last1=Green|first1=Nile|title=Pushpa Prasad, Lekhapaddhati. Documents of State and Everyday Life from Ancient and Early Medieval Gujarat: 9th to 15th Centuries. (Aligarh Historians Society Series.) Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Pp. xv, 245. $49.95.|journal=Speculum|volume=85|issue=4|year=2010|pages=1011–1012|issn=0038-7134|doi=10.1017/S0038713410002484}}</ref> There has been an abundance of historical resources available for three and a half centuries of Chaulukya rule in Gujarat; however, this source is distinctive, as it was written as a guidebook for revenue officers and professional letter writers in the administration.<ref name="Green2010"/>

The ''Lekhapaddhati'' is an extensive glossary to many Sanskrit terms used to denote actions and practices to be undertaken by the administrators and the subjects.<ref name="Tieken"/> The document serves as a comprehensive guide to the historians studying the important role played by Gujarat in medieval India. The text provides models for conducting various activities such as economic, sociological, and administrative aspects to the subjects of the state. One set of the documents articulates various socio-economic activities, including the sale of property, the capture of slaves and duties assigned to them, and standards for trade accounting and inventory management. Similarly, another set of manuscripts deals with administrative matters, such as different types of taxes to be levied, punishment by means of confiscation of lands, and conduct of government officers, where it mentions: "no one should be harassed and troubled and no one should be spoken [harshly] anywhere". The third set of text refers to models relating to correspondence with families, teachers, lovers, and spouses, among others.<ref name="Green2010"/>

===Lekhapaddhati as a source of information on trade and society ===
It provides us information about five department of trade in the contemporary Chaulukya empire. They are "Vyapara Karana", "Velakula Karana", "Jalapatha Karana", "Tanka Shala" and "Mandapika Karana" which corresponds to Department of trade, harbours, waterways, custom and mint. It provides further detail regarding the practice of providing sureties for loans or collateral; as it appears to have become necessary for securing loans in the contemporary period. The failure to repay dues could result in selling of the mortgaged property of the debtor.<ref name="cam"/>

Besides being a source of information on trade, it also provides a glimpse of society under Chaulukya rule. Accordingly, it shows the slavery to be a common feature of the society and people used to sell themselves to evade famine and hunger. It further narrates the story of a girl who wanted to sell herself to evade harassment by the invaders and the hunger. It also provides information on slave trade between [[India]] and west [[Asia]]n countries. The merchant communities of the [[Gujarat]] provided charitable help to sufferers in form of food and clothes, which is well documented in the text.<ref name="cam">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4eFBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA303|title=The Cambridge World History, Volume 5|first= Benjamin Z. Kedar|last= Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks|publisher =Cambridge University Press|year= 2015|isbn=978-0521190749|accessdate=2020-08-17}}</ref>

== Publication history ==
Though the author of the ''Lekhapaddhati'' is unknown, the original Sanskrit documents were first collected and edited in 1925 by Chimanlal D. Dalal and Gajanan K. Shrigondekar. These scholars compiled the volume using four Sanskrit manuscripts, consisting of around 100 leaves with nine to thirteen lines per page, and dating to around the 15th century. Further, Shrigondekar observes, the work in the original documents was written in "mixed Sanskrit" during the same period.<ref name="Pushpa Prasad">{{cite journal |last1=Prasad |first1=Pushpa |title="Lekhapaddhati" Documents and the Chaulukya Inscriptions: A Comprehensive Study |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1998 |volume=59 |pages=1050–1056 |jstor=44147080 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Chimanlal Dahyabhai Dalal|others=Gajanan Kushaba Shrigondekar|title=Lekhapddhati |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFagNAAACAAJ|accessdate=2 June 2020|year=1925|publisher=Central Library|page=Preface}}</ref>

Some commentators have labeled the language as "[[Jain literature|Jaina]] Sanskrit".<ref name="Tieken">{{cite journal |last1=Tieken |first1=Herman |title=Book Review |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |date=2004 |volume=47 |issue=2 |page=146 |jstor=24663800 }}</ref> Similarly, according to some experts, the imperfect Sanskrit used in the documents provides more information about the vocabulary of old Gujarat and the style of internal administration of contemporary rulers in Gujarat.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Indica by L. D. Barnett - 18. Lekhapaddhati. Edited by … Chimanlal D. Dalal, M.A. With preface, notes and glossary by Gajanan K. Shrigondekar, M.A. (Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. xix.) 130 pp. Baroda : Central Library, 1925.|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=58|issue=4|year=2011|page=772|issn=1356-1863|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00056604}}</ref>

==Other editions==
The guidebook was translated into English and German by Pushpa Prasad and Ingo Strauch, respectively. The translated versions provide additional details for the terms used in the original work by providing appendices indexing various individuals, places, and castes, as well as a dictionary of various vernacular terms used in the original work.<ref name="HeimStrauch2004">{{cite journal|last1=Heim|first1=Steven|last2=Strauch|first2=Ingo|title=Die Lekhapaddhati-Lekhapancasika: Briefe und Urkunden im mittelalterlichen Gujarat; Text, Ubersetzung, Kommentar: Glossar (Sanskrit-Deutsch-Englisch)|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=124|issue=4|year=2004|pages=835|issn=0003-0279|doi=10.2307/4132146|jstor=4132146}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=HFagNAAACAAJ ''Lekhapaddhati'' 1925 Edition in Sanskrit]

[[Category:Chaulukya dynasty]]
[[Category:History of Gujarat]]
[[Category:History of India]]
[[Category:Sanskrit literature]]
[[Category:Medieval Indian literature]]