Sarkar (, , , also spelt Circar) was a historical
administrative division
Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
,
used mostly in 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 ...
. It was a division of a
Subah[ or province. A sarkar was further divided into ]Mahalla
is an Arabic word variously translated as district, Quarter (country subdivision), quarter, Ward (country subdivision), ward, or neighborhood in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations.
...
s or Pargana
Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...
s.[
The Sarkar system was replaced in the early 18th century by the Chakla system.]
Examples
* Northern Circars
The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pre ...
, the five individual districts making up a former division of British India's Madras Presidency
* Rajamundry Sarkar Rajahmundry Circar or Rajahmundry Sarkar was one of the five Northern Circars in the Golconda Sultanate, Deccan subah of Mughal empire and later in the Nizam's dominion of Hyderabad. The Northern Circars were the most prominent ones in the Deccan s ...
, one among the Northern Circars
* Pakhli Pakhli or Pakhal (اردو: پکھلی) is a historical de-facto region consisting of Mansehra District and Battagram District located in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa Province, Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republ ...
, an ancient sarkar now part of Hazara, Pakistan
* Pakhal Sarkar
Hazara (Hindko: هزاره; Urdu: ), historically known as Pakhli, is a region in northern Pakistan, falling administratively within the Hazara Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It forms the northernmost portion of Sindh Sagar Doab, an ...
, an area of Mansehra district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
See also
* Administrative divisions of India
The administrative divisions of India are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of administrative divisions.
Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level ...
* Subah or Taraf, Pargana or Mahal, Mauza or Pir
References
Subdivisions of the Mughal Empire
Former subdivisions of Bangladesh
{{Bangladesh-hist-stub