Q.What is the Khatavahi, and how does the way it records entries differ from a modern ledger?

The Khatavahi is the Deshi Nama system's ledger, but the way it carries information is deliberately brief compared with a modern ledger. This economy of narration is a notable feature.

The Khatavahi is the ledger of the Deshi Nama system — the book in which individual accounts (of parties, expenses, incomes and assets) are maintained.

How it records entries. A distinctive feature of the Khatavahi is how little it carries. For each posting it records only:

• the amount,
• the folio (page) reference to the Rojmel where the dealing was first entered, and
• the date (tithi).

The full narration — the description of what the dealing was about — is not repeated in the Khatavahi, because it already exists in the primary book (the Rojmel). Anyone needing the details simply follows the folio reference back to the Rojmel. …

Thinking the Khatavahi repeats the full narration like a modern ledger. It deliberately carries only the amount, folio …