The Bahi Reading Workshop is a two-week online intensive workshop designed to train participants in reading and interpreting bahi—traditional ledger manuscripts used in the administrative, commercial, and courtly systems of western Rajasthan. These records constitute an invaluable yet underutilized archival source for historians working on early modern and colonial South Asia.

Focusing particularly on materials from the state of Jodhpur-Marwar, the workshop introduces participants to bahi manuscripts dating from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Through structured lectures, transcription and translation exercises, and supervised manuscript readings, participants will develop the practical skills necessary to decipher the script, numerical systems, and specialized vocabulary used in Marwari bookkeeping traditions. By the end of the course, participants will be able to independently read and transcribe selected passages from bahi manuscripts and apply these skills to their own research.

Week One consists of five self-paced modules covering historical context, script and orthography, numerical systems, bahi genres, and folio interpretation. Week Two moves into supervised small-group reading sessions, with thematic clusters including the events of 1857, everyday courtly life, and material histories of Jodhpur-Marwar.

The workshop is particularly suited for doctoral students, early-career researchers, and independent scholars interested in the history of Rajasthan, archival studies, and manuscript cultures. The medium of instruction is Hindi and English.

Prerequisite: Participants are expected to have a working knowledge of spoken Hindi and/or Rajasthani (especially Marwari) as well as Devanagari typing.

Certification: Participants who score 70% or above on the final transcription and translation assessment receive a certificate of completion.