Zaildar was an officer in charge of a Zail which was an administrative unit of group of villages during the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

British Indian Empire 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 ...

in Punjab and

Dogra dynasty The Dogra dynasty of Dogra Rajputs from the Shivalik hills created Jammu and Kashmir through the treaties with the East India Company following the First Anglo-Sikh war. Events led the Sikh Empire to recognise Jammu as a vassal state in 1820, ...

rule in

Jammu and Kashmir (princely state) Jammu and Kashmir, also known as Kashmir and Jammu, was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with the Company rule in India, British East India Company from 1846 to 1858 and under the ''Suzerainty#British_paramountcy, paramountcy'' (or t ...

. The Settlement Officer, with the advice of the

Deputy Commissioner A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Aust ...

, was responsible for appointing Zaildars from amongst the men of the tribe or the area, thus reinforcing his preexisting social authority with the official sanction as the representative of the government.1930
Punjab Settlement Manual
Punjab Government publications, point 235 and 578-282 on page 115, 272-273. Tan Tai Yong, 2005
"The Garrison State: The military, government and society in Colonial Punjab, 1849 - 1947."

SAGE Publications Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park neighborhood of Thousand Oaks, California. Sage ...

, page 118-119, . Zaildars were the revenue-collecting officers also responsible for maintaining law and order. The Lambardar and Safedposh assisted the Zaildar. The Zaildar in turn assisted the Deputy Commissioner. The Zaildar was more influential than the Lambardar (village head) because a Zail included several villages.Rajit K. Mazumder, 2003
"The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab."
Permanent Black, page 97, .

Influence of Zaildari system

The position was important as it extended the influence of the colonial state into the villages.The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, Rajit K. Mazumder, Permanent Black It also reinforced the already dominant social status of the Zaildar with official government sanction. The Zaildar exercised authority and patronage over the villagers.

Appointment criteria

Zails were established and demarcated by the

District collector The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

(also called Deputy Commissioner) during the land revenue settlement exercise. Settlement officers, with advice from the District collector and subject to the final approval of the state's Financial Commissioner, appointed a Zaildar to each Zail either on a hereditary basis, for one person's life or for a fixed tenure. The Zaildars were equivalent to the Chaudharis of earlier times and were hand-picked by the higher authorities, who based their decision on issues such as caste or tribe, local influence, extent of landholding, services rendered to the state by him or his family, and personal character and ability.Om Prakash Aggarawala, 1936
"The Punjab Land Revenue Act: Act XVII of 1887 : with a Commentary"
Lahore Law Depot, page 155. A Zaildar once appointed could only be removed from office for misconduct or neglect; removal on account of old age or disability was a harsh punishment and in such cases he could continue to operate through a representative.Om Prakash Aggarawala, 1936
"The Punjab Land Revenue Act: Act XVII of 1887 : with a Commentary"
Lahore Law Depot, page 140.

Role and remuneration of Zaildars

Zaildars were essentially revenue ministers and representatives of the British Empire who received remuneration for their duties, life grants of either a fixed amountRevised Settlement of Hisar District, p. 37-40
/ref> or a grant equal to one per cent of the revenue of their zails from the assessment of any single village that they chose.''Final Report of Revised Settlement, Hoshiarpur District, 1879–84'' By J. A. L. Montgomery Some of the responsibilities of the Zaildar corresponded to the responsibilities that fell under the Deputy Commissioner, such as revenue collection, mutations, local governance issues, related dispute resolution, etc. Other duties corresponded with the responsibilities that fell under the Settlement officer, such as revenue settlement, reassessments, preparation of maps, etc.

Safedposh

In addition to these life , or grants, there were some ''Safedposhi'' grants of a semi-hereditary nature enjoyed by some of the leading agricultural families. They were semi-hereditary because one of the conditions of the grant was that on the death of an incumbent, his successor should, if possible, be a member of the same family.

Abolition

Kashmir

Kashmir took lead in abolition of the Zaildari system where it was abolished in 1950.

India

Post the Indian independence in 1947, the system of Zails, Zaildars and Safedposh continued to exist till 1964. Then the system was abolished by CM of Punjab

Partap Singh Kairon Partap Singh Kairon (1 October 1901 – 6 February 1965) was the 3rd Chief Minister of the Punjab province (then comprising Punjab, Haryana and part of Himachal Pradesh), and is widely acknowledged as the architect of post-Independence Punjab P ...

following demands from his ministers and

Members of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nationa ...

, because of conflicts between the elected MLAs and the Zaildars. Police and Tehsil officers had been giving more weight to the opinions of Zaildars and this had undermined the MLAs. For the purpose, an amendment was carried out in Section 28 of The Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 through Section 3 of Punjab Act 27 of 1964. https://www.google.com/search?q=the+punjab+land+revenue+act%2C+1887+(act+no.+17+of+1887)&oq=t&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBggAEEUYOzIGCAAQRRg7MgYIARBFGDsyBggCEEUYPDIGCAMQRRg8MgYIBBBFGDwyBggFEEUYPDIGCAYQRRg5MgYIBxBFGDsyDQgIEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgJEAAYgwEYsQMYgATSAQgyMTI4ajBqNKgCALACAA&client=ms-android-huawei-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Pakistan

After Kashmir and India, Pakistan abolished Zaildari system in 1967.

In popular media

* Kapur Singh Ghuman wrote a book called ''Zaildar'' in 1972. Kapur Singh Ghuman, 1972
"Zaildar"
* Punjabi movies with Zaildar in the title include ''Zaildar'' (1972), '' Nikka Zaildar'' (2016) and ''Nikka Zaildar 2'' (2017)."IMDB Zaildar"
/ref>

References

{{reflist, 20em Sikh Empire History of Haryana Punjab Province (British India)