A hundi or hundee is a financial instrument that developed in Medieval India for use in trade and credit transactions. Hundis are used as a form of remittance instrument to transfer money from place to place, as a form of credit instrument or IOU to borrow money and as a bill of exchange in trade transactions. The Reserve Bank of India describes the hundi as "an unconditional order in writing made by a person directing another to pay a certain sum of money to a person named in the order." History Hundis have a very long history in India. Written records show their use at least as far back as the Twelfth century. The merchant Banarasi Das, born 1586, received a hundi for 200 rupees from his father to enable him to borrow money to start trading. During the colonial era, the British government regarded the hundi system as indigenous or traditional, but not informal. They were reluctant to interfere with it as it formed such an important part of the Indian economy and they also wished to tax the transactions taking place within the system. Official hundi forms were produced incorporating revenue stamps bearing the image of British monarchs, including Queen Victoria, and disputes between merchants often entered the court system, so in no way was the system an underground one even though it did not take place through normal banking channels. Types of hundi Sahyog Hundi: This is drawn by one merchant on another, asking the latter to pay the amount to a third merchant. In this case the merchant on whom the hundi is drawn is of some 'credit worthiness' in the market and is known in the bazaar. A sahyog hundi passes from one hand to another until it reaches the final recipient, who, after reasonable enquiries, presents it to the drawee for acceptance of the payment. Sahyog means co-operation in Hindi and Gujrati, the predominant languages of traders. The hundi is so named because it required the co-operation of multiple parties to ensure that the hundi has an acceptable risk and fairly good likelihood of being paid, in the absence of a formalized credit monitoring and reporting framework. Darshani Hundi: This is a hundi payable on sight. It must be presented for payment within a reasonable time after its receipt by the holder. Thus, it is similar to a demand bill. Muddati Hundi: A muddati