A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

land grant in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic era of the

, starting in the early 13th century, wherein the powers to govern and collect tax from an estate was granted to an appointee of the state.Jāgīrdār system: INDIAN TAX SYSTEM
Encyclopædia Britannica (2009) The tenants were considered to be in the servitude of the jagirdar. There were two forms of jagir, one conditional, the other unconditional. The conditional jagir required the governing family to maintain troops and provide their service to the state when asked. The land grant, called , was usually for a holder's lifetime; the land reverted to the state upon the death of the jagirdar. The jagirdar system was introduced by the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

, and continued during the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

, but with a difference. In the Mughal times, the jagirdar collected taxes which paid his salary and the rest to the Mughal treasury, while the administration and military authority was given to a separate Mughal appointee. After the collapse and takeover of Mughals, the system of jagirs was retained by

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

, Charans, Rajputs, Rajpurohits, Jats, and Sikh jat kingdoms, and later in a form by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Definition

''Jagir'' (, Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیردار, Marathi: जहागीर, ) is a Persian word meaning 'place holder'. In its 1955 of the case '' Thakur Amar Singhji v. State Of Rajasthan'', the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

used the following definition of ''jagir'' in interpreting the ''Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of Jagirs Act (Rajasthan Act VI of 1952)'':

Succession

A jagir was technically a feudal

life estate In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death, when the property rights may rever ...

, as the grant reverted to the state upon the jagirdar's death. However, in practice, jagirs became a hereditary position. The family was thus the ''de facto'' ruler of the territory, earned income from part of the tax revenues and delivered the rest to the treasury of the state during the Islamic rule period, and later in parts of India that came under Afghan,

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

and Rajput rulers. The ''jagirdar'' did not act alone but appointed administrative layers for revenue collection. These positions, according to Shakti Kak, were called, among other titles, '' patwari'', ''tahsildar'', ''amil'', ''fotedar'', '' munsif'', ''qanungo'', '' chaudhri'', and ''

dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

''.. See pp
71–72
/ref>

13th-century origin and successors

This

system of land ownership is referred to as the ''jagirdar'' system. The system was introduced by the

Sultans Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

from the 13th century onwards, was later adopted by the

, the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

and continued under the

. Some Hindu jagirdars were converted into Muslim vassal states under Mughal imperial sway, such as the

nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

s of

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema". Kurnool is also famous for Diamond hunting as diamonds ca ...

. Most princely states of India during the colonial

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

era were jagirdars such as Mohrampur Jagir. Shortly following independence from the

British Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

in 1947, the ''jagirdar'' system was abolished by the Indian government in 1951.

References

{{reflist, 2 * Feudalism in Bangladesh Feudalism in Pakistan Indian feudalism Indian words and phrases Administrative divisions of India Types of administrative division

Definition

Succession

13th-century origin and successors

See also

References