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I read a sentence in my history book which was:

In the native year 1203, corresponding with 1796-97, the land advertised for sale comprehended.....

I can't figure out what the word "native" means in this context.

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  • Welcome to ELL.SE. What event and setting is the text describing? Who might be the natives in this case? Quoting some additional context might help, and the name of the book and author.
    – choster
    Commented Apr 23, 2019 at 13:11
  • Hard to say, without more context. I would guess that the writer is comparing the local ("native") calendar with the standard European calendar.
    – James Random
    Commented Apr 23, 2019 at 13:11
  • The source is History of India by Dr Malti Malik, quoting from Fifth Report from the [British Parliamentary] Select Committee on the Affairs of the East India Company. The particular piece appears to be about Bengal, the "native calendar" will be the Bengali one.
    – jonathanjo
    Commented Apr 25, 2019 at 17:31

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Here the word is being used in the sense of:

grown, produced, or originating in a particular place or in the vicinity : Local
definition 6a from merriam-webster.com

The people in the area counted it as the year 1203; in the standard reckoning used by most of the world, it was either 1796 or 1797 (because the local year did not start at the same time as the standard year).

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