Deeds of Sale in Afghanistan: Structural and Textual Developments, 17th-20th Centuries

Among the various types of private legal documents preserved from Afghanistan’s past, sale deeds related to property transactions are a particularly rich yet understudied group. Many of these documents are currently held in the National Archives of Afghanistan (NAA), forming a distinct corpus. Dating from the 17th to the early 20th centuries (11th to 14th centuries of the Islamic Era), these documents were drafted based on principles of Islamic law. They offer unique insights into Afghanistan’s legal culture and practices, social relations, and the methods used to compose and notarise contracts throughout its history. Studying the structure and content of these sale deeds provides an opportunity to better understand Afghanistan’s social history, as they reflect the economic, social, and legal interactions of various social groups across different historical periods. The project further contributes to the wider field of comparative Persian diplomatics (sanad-shināsī or “Urkundenlehre”), as well as the practice of Islamic law and legal institutions in Afghanistan.

This research project is funded by the Gerda-Henkel-Stiftung 2026-2028.

Lead Researcher : Masuma Nazari