Features of the Deshi Nama System

The Deshi Nama system has a number of characteristic features that set it apart from the modern English system while still capturing the essence of double-sided recording.

Recording of both cash and credit dealings. Every transaction — whether cash received and paid, or goods and money dealt with on credit — finds a place in the books, so the merchant always knows the true position of cash and of parties' accounts.

A reversed debit and credit convention. This is the feature students most often confuse. In Deshi Nama the left-hand side is the Jama (credit) side and the right-hand side is the Udhar (debit) side — exactly the reverse of the modern English system, where the left side is debit and the right side is credit. The underlying idea of two sides for every dealing is the same; only the physical placement is flipped.

Hand-written, string-tied books. The account books are kept vertically on plain (unruled) white paper, stitched together with a string through the middle and given a cloth cover, traditionally red. There are no printed columns.

Written in the regional language and script. Entries are made in Gujarati (or the trader's own regional language), in the trader's own words, which makes the books easy for the family firm to read and maintain.

The Vikram Samvat cycle. As noted earlier, the books traditionally follow the Vikram Samvat year tied to the Diwali/Kartak season. …