A rare collection of registry documents, gazettes and seals dating back to the 19th century and a few decades afterwards have been put on display at a museum set up in newly inaugurated Panjiyan Bhawan here. The multi-storeyed building Panjiyan Bhawan (Registration and Stamps office of Madhya Pradesh Government) at Arera Hills was inaugurated by Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya on Saturday.Besides having all modern amenities, the new office, constructed at a cost of over Rs8.55 crore, has a museum on the ground floor that displays rare registry documents prevalent during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when India was under British rule.
These articles also narrate the legal history of the important revenue earning department of the Government.“We have decided to display these rare collections of documents after finding them in record section so that people have a glimpse of these historical items,” said Manoj Shrivastava, Principal Secretary (Commercial Tax, Culture, Religious Trust and Endowments).“Besides we have found documents dates back to 18th century and we are taking steps to preserve them. They, too, will be exhibited soon,” he said.
An agreement dates back to June 28, 1913, for which Re 1 stamp fee was paid. It was displayed with the photo of King Edward VII (1901-1910) printed on both sides of it.Another document dates back to October 2, 1923. Instead of metres and feet, the measurement in it were written in ‘7 hath (hands), 20 hath, 21 hath’, the units prevalent during those days. A rent agreement done on a stamp paper worth ‘four anna’ on November 8, 1941 was also displayed with a photo of King George VI.