Aims and objectives
The project digitised and prepared listings of the family papers of Mr R D Prabhas Chataut (1936-), an ethnographer and historian. His family served as priests for Nagi Malla, Khas king of western Nepal. The collection includes late 19th and 20th century land documents, contracts, revenues and expenditures, loans and mortgages, government and court documents, private correspondence, astrological compendia, almanacs, and ritual texts (Sanskrit and Nepali), from Dadeldhura, Doti, Achham and other districts in western Nepal. This material is all hand-written, distinctly pre-modern and pre-industrial, and scarcely represented in Nepal collections anywhere in the world.
Outcomes
The project has archived materials housed in a total of 13 Pokas (cloth bundles) that produced a listing of 1600 items and 8,380 tiff images. The materials date from 18th to 20th century, with mostly falling in the range between 19th and 20th CE. They represent hitherto unavailable collection originating from western Nepal and across the adjoining region in India.
