What is Daftar?

— difter / / difteri / defteri / literatura / dekheN

Daftar is a word that has entered the Urdu language from Persian, and means "an account book; a register; a roll". Its meaning is also very close to its Arabic counterpart, 'dafater'.

The dictionary definition of 'daftar' also includes "the office, an official position" and "a prescribed religious service". It is derived from the Latin officium 'performance of a task' (from opus 'work' + facere 'do'). The English word 'office' is a loan from Middle French, and in turn from the Italian officium.

In the Islamic world, a defter was a type of tax register and land cadastre, used in the Ottoman Empire. A difter was a large book with columns and rows for recording the names of owners, their ages, the land they owned and other information. It was used to record property sales, inheritances, transfers and other land transactions. It was a precursor of the modern legal register. Similar words include berth, billet, capacity, charge, connection, commission, employment, function, job, occupy, place, position, responsibility, role and task.