# Urdu: chalaan چالان



## teaboy

Is it only the word for a traffic ticket?  Does it also mean to get arrested?  Chalaan ho gaya?  Chalaan mil gaya?  Chalaan karega?  What are some example sentences showing how it is used?


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## Cilquiestsuens

Basically it is not only a traffic ticket... it is any kind of ''charge sheet'' (not sure if it is correct English). (example here for the traffic part and here for another legal aspect of it)

For instance when you have to pay official charges to the government like for having a new electricity meter installed or an new gas pipe, i.e. anything official you pay the government through a bank and that payment is made through a _chaalaan_.... چالان .
I don't exactly know the English equivalent.... I would say charge sheet....


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## panjabigator

I always thought of it as a "fine" or some sort of a fee.


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## Cilquiestsuens

panjabigator said:


> I always thought of it as a "fine" or some sort of a fee.




A fine is  جرمانہ *jurmaanaa*. I don't exactly know what word better translates _chaalaan_ in English?? The fee is what you have to pay, so if you like the fee is always indicated in the chaalaan and the chaalaan is about the fee, but it is also more than that (see the link I posted above about BB)


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## omlick

Cilquiestsuens said:


> Basically it is not only a traffic ticket... it is any kind of ''charge sheet'' (not sure if it is correct English). (example here for the traffic part and here for another legal aspect of it)
> 
> For instance when you have to pay official charges to the government like for having a new electricity meter installed or an new gas pipe, i.e. anything official you pay the government through a bank and that payment is made through a _chaalaan_.... چالان .
> I don't exactly know the English equivalent.... I would say charge sheet....


 

We would just call it a government or licence fee if it has to do with governmental requirements.


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## Qureshpor

*I don't know if all of you are familiar with an American police series called " Hawai Five-O. Well, the main character played by Jack Lord was often heard telling his subordinate, "Book him Danno"! Well, a "chaalaan" is a "booking" where an offence (both criminal and traffic) is recorded and forwarded (via the local police station) to the Magistrates for trial. Unless (juzar) of course if you use your bank notes as your go between! 
*


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## Cilquiestsuens

QURESHPOR said:


> *I don't know if all of you are familiar with an American police series called " Hawai Five-O. Well, the main character played by Jack Lord was often heard telling his subordinate, "Book him Danno"! Well, a "chaalaan" is a "booking" where an offence (both criminal and traffic) is recorded and forwarded (via the local police station) to the Magistrates for trial. Unless (juzar) of course if you use your bank notes as your go between!
> *



I repeat that chaalaan has a broader meaning since you pay things like school fees or property registration fees through a *chaalaan, *which is not restricted to fines and doesn't have to be criminal.


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## Qureshpor

Cilquiestsuens said:


> I repeat that chaalaan has a broader meaning since you pay things like school fees or property registration fees through a *chaalaan, *which is not restricted to fines and doesn't have to be criminal.



*Cilquiestsuens Sahib. You have a great advantage over me as you are actually on the ground and therefore in the know whereas mujhe pardesi hu'e ek "yug/jug" biit gayaa hai!*

*By the way, please look out for the"difinitive" answer to your "hu'aa hu'aa" enquiry!*


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## iskander e azam

Friends, 

I am reading کالا پانی : تواریخِ عجیب which is the memoir of مولانا محمد جعفر تھانیسری published originally in 1885. I am reading the reprint of 2018 with a introduction by محمد حامد سراج. Please note all page numbers are from this edition and may not match the edition to which you have access.

مولانا صاحب uses the word چالان throughout the text to refer to the cohort that was convicted alongside him or that cohort that accompanied from one prison to another. Here is the last example (and he is using it of those convicts to arrive in the future):

۔۔۔ پنجابیوں کو گندم خور ملک کے آدمی سمجھ کر گیہوں کی روٹیاں ملنے لگیں اور ہمارے بعد سے یہ خصوصیت کل چالان آمدہ پنجاب کے واسطے ہمیشہ کے لیے مقرر ہو گئی۔

chapter ۱۶ (p ۷۰)

The question is: how widespread is this use of the word جالان to mean something akin to 'party of convicts'?

All help appreciated.

Best wishes,

Alex


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## marrish

Note the parts in *RED*:


Qureshpor said:


> H & P چالان चालान _ćālān_ [S. चालनं rt. चल्; or i.q. _ćālānā_ = _ćalānā_, q.v.], s.m. An invoice or way-bill, bill of lading; a list (of letters, &c. sent); a certificate of despatch; a remittance; a memorandum of money received and invested; a pass, a passport; clearance (of a ship); sending up or forwarding (a case, or a prisoner, &c. to a magistrate, &c.); transportation:—_ćālān-dār_, s.m. The person who has charge of an invoice, the bearer of a despatch or remittance; an escort:—_ćālān karnā_, v.t. To send up (a case, or a prisoner, &c. to a magistrate), to commit (a prisoner) for trial; to forward an invoice (of).





marrish said:


> Shamsul Rahman Faruqi, in لغات روزمرّہ (Urdu), writes "it is an Urdu word, made from [the verb] chalnaa/chalaanaa. Its meaning is that of a paper, bearing a list of some commodity/goods [...] The first mentioned meaning was extended onto a *document submitted to a court, on which there was a list of the accused due to be produced before it*. [...]
> *چالان*– چالان اردو کا لفظ ہے۔ یہ "چلنا/چلانا" سے بنایا گیا ہے۔ اس کے معنی وہ کاغذ کے ہیں جس پر کسی سامان یا سامانوں کی *فہرست* درج
> 
> کر کے وہ سامان کسی کے پاس بھیجا جائے (یعنی سامان کو چلایا جائے)۔ اس سے پھر یہ معنی بنائے گئے کہ وہ کاغذ جس میں کسی چیز، مثلاً کسی رقم کی
> 
> کیفیت درج ہو۔ لہٰذا سرکاری خزانے میں جمع ہونے والی رقم جس کاغذ پر درج کی جاتی تھی اسے بھی "چالان" کہا جاتا تھا۔ اول الذکر معنی سے یہ
> 
> معنی نکلے کہ وہ کاغذ جس پر ملزموں کی فہرست درج کر کے عدالت میں جمع کی جائے (یعنی وہ عدالت میں لے جائے جائیں) اسے بھی "چالان" کہا
> 
> جائے گا۔ یہ لفظ ہندوستانی انگریزی میں مستعمل ہے، معیاری انگریزی میں نہیں ہے۔


Perhaps 'batch' would suit the context, wouldn't it?


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## Qureshpor

iskander e azam said:


> Friends,
> 
> I am reading کالا پانی : تواریخِ عجیب which is the memoir of مولانا محمد جعفر تھانیسری published originally in 1885. I am reading the reprint of 2018 with a introduction by محمد حامد سراج. Please note all page numbers are from this edition and may not match the edition to which you have access.
> 
> مولانا صاحب uses the word چالان throughout the text to refer to the cohort that was convicted alongside him or that cohort that accompanied from one prison to another. Here is the last example (and he is using it of those convicts to arrive in the future):
> 
> ۔۔۔ پنجابیوں کو گندم خور ملک کے آدمی سمجھ کر گیہوں کی روٹیاں ملنے لگیں اور ہمارے بعد سے یہ خصوصیت کل چالان آمدہ پنجاب کے واسطے ہمیشہ کے لیے مقرر ہو گئی۔
> 
> chapter ۱۶ (p ۷۰)
> 
> The question is: how widespread is this use of the word جالان to mean something akin to 'party of convicts'?


First question, IeA SaaHib. When is this "War and Peace" going to come to an end?

Secondly, are you reading this as "aur hamaare ba3d se yih xususiyyat *kul chaalaan aamadah-i-Punjab* *ke vaaste* hameshah ke liye muqarrar ho ga'ii"?

You have said on a number of occasions the writer is using archaic language. I have a feeling that he is pretty well versed in English too and this may be a (clumsy) Urdu translation of "*for all the convicts arriving from Punjab*". Strictly speaking, a person who has been committed ("chaalaan shudah") to court is not a convict until s/he has been found guilty of the crime.


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## iskander e azam

Friends,

Thanks for the replies.

Again, مولانا صاحب writes:

۔۔۔اپنے  چالان کے قیدیوں سے جدا ہو کر۔۔۔

page ۷۴، ll ۲َ-۳.

Best wishes,

Alex


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## Qureshpor

Qureshpor said:


> ....Secondly, are you reading this as "aur hamaare ba3d se yih xususiyyat *kul chaalaan aamadah-i-Punjab* *ke vaaste* hameshah ke liye muqarrar ho ga'ii"?.....


Any comment on this IeA SaaHib?


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## iskander e azam

Qureshpor said:


> Any comment on this IeA SaaHib?



QP SaaHIb,

Apologies for my oversight.

Yes, I am reading the sentence as you present it.

Best wishes,

Alex


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## marrish

marrish said:


> Perhaps 'batch' would suit the context, wouldn't it?


iskander e azam SaaHib, I'd like to hear from you on this too.


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## iskander e azam

@marrish I think 'party of convicts' is most idiomatic in English, in forced labour contexts then 'gangs of convicts' are used (also 'chain gang' as the convicts are chained to one another).


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