munshis

Munshi is a historical term used in South Asia to denote a professional scribe, clerk, or secretary. The word derives from Persian munshi, meaning writer or secretary. In the Mughal era and continuing into later periods, munshis were literate clerks who kept ledgers, drafted letters, translated documents, and maintained records for government officials, nobles, and merchants. Their work required fluency in Persian (and later Urdu and Hindi) and knowledge of local languages, as well as basic accounting skills.

With the expansion of British colonial administration, munshis often served as bilingual intermediaries between European officials and Indian communities. They translated orders, collected taxes, prepared reports, and managed correspondence. The position could provide social mobility within the clerical middle class and was often sustained by patronage networks that linked administrators with local populations.

In modern times, the traditional role of the munshi has largely diminished as bureaucratic structures professionalize and adopt standardized civil service appointments. The term persists primarily as a historical descriptor and, in some cases, as a surname or family tradition. In literature and historical accounts, munshis are typically depicted as skilled literate brokers who facilitated communication and administration in multilingual settings.