Translation of Marriage-Contract Deed of Kashmiri Pandits

Specimen of Shahjahan’s time

In the victorious reign of the most devout worshipper of the Primeval Divinity, the most respected, supreme ruler, overload of kins, illustrious among emperors, protector of his subjects, the glorious Shahjahan- in the year so and so, in the month so and so, on the date so and so, on the day so and so, this marriage-deed is executed in village Gunda district Mannaka (?) between so and so Bhatta, son of so and so Bhatta (on the one side) Bhatta, son of so and so and so Pandit of village Chandraka, district Nagrama (on the other), under these provisions : (1) that my daughter, who is a virgin named so and so, is given in marriage by the religious law pertaining to the Brahmans, in the presence of the gods Soma, Surya and Agni as witnesses, to your son named Pandit so and so; (2) that the bride’s side will provide (a) one thousand dishes (of cooked rice and meat) to the guests as promised by the cook, (b) one full-dress of cotton cloth for the bridegroom, (c) one garment for the bridegroom’s father, (d) one single-bhari turban for ‘Potmaharja’, (e) one umbrella, one garment for the foster-father, and (f) one cow, two heifers, one bronze dish, one vessel, one wooden sandal with straps (pushtakhas), ten thousand dinaras, one walnut tree and two prasthas of land. This is to be given by me (the father of the bride) as dowry and is accepted by you, the father of the bridegroom. From the bridgroom’s side will be given (to the bride) twenty thousand dinaras according to the Kashmiri system, one shriangaka, one woollen-garment (phiran), one shri-davanika, one padukavartika, one silver ring, one blanket (or shawl) and one toilet box. All this is to be given by you (the bridegroom’s party) as is usual with the Kashmiris and I accept it. Witness Almighty.

(For original text in Sanskrit see Lokaprakasa, Book II, and Indische Studien, XVIII, p.378)