Vatandar, or Watandar is a
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
of the
Koli
Koli may refer to:
Places
* Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland
* Koli National Park, a national park in Finland
* Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran
* Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific
Other uses
* Koli peopl ...
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultur ...
meaning "landholder Kolis". The title was given to landowners, particularly in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...
.
The vatandar generally owned a plot of land or ''vatan'' (or ''watan'') worked by the local people, who were dependent on the vatandar for their subsistence. In some cases, ''vatan'' land and the title ''vatandar'' were awarded to an individual by a higher ruler as reward for meritorious service.
The grant of a watan plot differed from the grant of an ''
inam Inam ( ar, إنعام ) means ''gift''.
It may be used as a given name for a person. It is mainly female but also male when used in compound forms such as Inam-ul-Haq / Enamul Haque. The name is subject to varying transliterations such as Inaam, ...
'' and a person might hold either or both. While a watan was a hereditary rent-free grant to a village resident in lieu of services that the resident was expected to perform for the village on an ongoing basis, an inam was granted in recognition of past service to the state, usually but not always in relation to the military. A watan grant continued for as long as its holder had the confidence of the village community, whilst an inam grant, which might also take the form of a share of village land revenues, was held in perpetuity.
See also
*
Bara Balutedar
*
Jagir
A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, starti ...
*
Ryot
*
Zamindar
A zamindar (Hindustani language, Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian language, Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous Raja, ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughal Em ...
References
Further reading
*The State and the Village Community in Medieval Maharashtra (Seventeenth-Eighteenth Century AD). Mily Roy Anand. New Delhi, Rajat, 2005, pp. vii, 119, .
Government of Maharashtra ''Gazetteer''"Ahmadnagar Collector − general administration".
''Medieval Indian History'' Krishnaji Nageshrao Chitnis. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2003 ; {{ISBN, 978-81-7156-062-2.
*''Administrative System of the Marathas''. Surendra Nath Sen, Published by K. P. Bagchi, 1976, pp. 18, 21, 141
Social history of India
Indian feudalism
Titles of national or ethnic leadership