Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Plural form of
mirza .
Etymologies
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Examples
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The mirzas handled the majority of smaller, everyday, and ordinary bureaucratic and clerical tasks, but they could also be assigned to delicate and important matters by Abd al-Rahman or other superiors. 2 The mirza label connotes generic literacy because literacy could be either numerical or narrative.
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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Abd al-Rahman was undeterred by the prospect of being branded with a poor commercial reputation, and continued to press his uniquely construed claim for multiple years of back taxes from the Peshawar tea traders. 43 In order to execute his intentions in this matter, Abd al-Rahman relied on a cadre of accountants, bookkeepers, and clerks sometimes referred to as daftaris, but most often termed mirzas.
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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The labels bookkeeper and clerk apply well to mirzas whose duties subsumed both forms of literacy.
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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Note 3: The Kandahar Newsletters indicate that diwans and mirzas could act as sarishtadars.
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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Note 2: Higher ranking mirzas reported directly to Abd al-Rahman, his sons Sardars Habibullah and Abdullah, and Diwan Naranjan Das who rose to become arguably the most important financial officer in Abd al-Rahman's government, a status he seems to have maintained during the reigns of Habibullah (ruled 1901-1919) and Amanullah (ruled 1919-1929).
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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Abd al-Rahman relied on a diverse and growing class of accountants, secretaries and clerks, known locally as diwans, sarishtadars and mirzas, to execute his commercial policies and practices.
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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The mirzas were the state appointed accountants, bookkeepers, and collectors who wielded such great power through their reviews and manipulations of various sets of financial records.
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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See Chapter 5 for more on the mirzas or state-appointed account/bookkeeper/financial clerks during Abd al-Rahman's reign. back
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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In a similar vein, when diwans, sarishtadars, and mirzas replaced one another, accusations of past fraudulent activity regularly ensued.
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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See Adamec, 1991, p. 174 for more on Naranjan Das, Kakar, 1979, pp. 27-30 and 33-34 for more on mirzas, and Martin, pp. 245 – 9 for a picture and useful description of mirzas and their professional business practices in Kabul at the beginning of the twentieth century. back
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier 2008
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