jagirdar system

jagirdar system, form of land tenancy developed in India during the time of Muslim rule (beginning in the early 13th century) in which the collection of the revenues of an estate and the power of governing it were bestowed on an official of the state. The term was derived by combining two Persian words: jagir (“holding land”) and dar (“official”). The bestowal of a jagir on a jagirdar could be either conditional or unconditional. A conditional jagir required in reciprocity from the beneficiary some form of public service, such as the levying and maintaining of troops for the benefit of the realm. An iqta (assignment of land) was usually made for life, and the jagir would revert to the state on the death of the holder, though it was possible for the heir to renew it on payment of a fee.

The system was an adaptation of an existing agrarian system by the early sultans of Delhi. Being feudalistic in character, it tended to enfeeble the central government by setting up quasi-independent baronies. The practice was slowed by Sultan Ghiyas̄ al-Din Balban (reigned 1266–87) and abolished by Sultan Ala al-Din Khalji (1296–1316), only to be revived again by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351–88), from which time it continued. The early Mughal emperors (16th century) wished to abolish it, preferring to reward their officials with cash salaries, but it was reintroduced by the later emperors and contributed greatly to the weakening of the Mughal state. The British East India Company was given a jagir by the nawab Muhammad Ali of Arcot in present-day Tamil Nadu state 120 miles (190 km) in length along the Bay of Bengal and 47 miles (76 km) in width inland; it became the nucleus of the Madras Presidency. Under the British the old jagirdar holdings were largely considered the properties of individual families, particularly in the area of Maharashtra. With Indian independence, legislative measures were taken to abolish the system of absentee landownership.