Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a

Subah A Subah was the term for a province (State) in the Mughal Empire. The word is derived from Arabic and Persian. The governor/ruler of a ''Subah'' was known as a '' subahdar'' (sometimes also referred to as a "''Subeh''"), which later became ''subed ...

(province) during the

Khalji dynasty of Bengal The Khalji dynasty ( bn, খলজী খান্দান, fa, ) was the first Muslim dynasty to rule Bengal. The dynasty, which hailed from the Garmsir region of present-day Afghanistan, was founded in 1204 by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, a M ...

Mamluk dynasty (Delhi) The Mamluk dynasty ( fa, سلطنت مملوک, Salṭanat Mamlūk) was founded in Northern India by Qutb ud-Din Aibak, a Turkic Mamluk slave-general of the Ghurid Empire from Central Asia. The Mamluk dynasty ruled from 1206 to 1290; it was th ...

Khalji dynasty The Khalji or Khilji (Pashto: ; Persian: ) dynasty was a Turco-Afghan dynasty which ruled the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who was alternately designated as Sahib-i-Subah or Nazim. The word, ''Subahdar'' is of Persian origin. According to sources, Subahdar Awlia Khan was a famous and trusted Subahdar of the

(1204-1231) whose title was Saheb-i-Subah could not be ascertained.He belonged to the

Oghuz Turks The Oghuz or Ghuzz Turks (Middle Turkic languages, Middle Turkic: ٱغُز, ''Oγuz'', ota, اوغوز, Oġuz) were a western Turkic people that spoke the Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages, Turkic language family. In th ...

Kayı (tribe) and his ancestors came to the region during the expansion of The Great Seljuk Empire to establish good governance and justice in

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. Subahdar Awlia Khan was a friend of

Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī, (Pashto :اختيار الدين محمد بختيار غلزۍ, fa, اختیارالدین محمد بختیار خلجی, bn, ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ � ...

Later, during the conquest of Bengal, Awlia Khan was his fellow warrior. Today the descendants of the great Subahdar Awlia Khan have been living in Fuldi village of Gazipur district of Bangladesh for almost 900 years and Mesbahuddin Ahmed Khan Abdu Mia, a descendant of Subahdar Awlia Khan was also the only great

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Zamindar of

Bhawal Estate Bhawal Estate was the second largest zamindari in Bengal (in modern-day Bangladesh) until it was abolished according to ''East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950''. History In the late 17th century, Daulat Ghazi was the zamind ...

. The Subahdar was the head of the Mughal provincial administration. He was assisted by the provincial ''Diwan'', ''Bakshi'', ''Faujdar'', ''Kotwal'', ''Qazi'', ''Sadr'', ''Waqa-i-Navis'', ''Qanungo'' and ''Patwari''. The Subahdars were normally appointed from the Mughal princes or the officers holding the highest ''mansabs'' (ranks).

Nazim

A ''nazim'' (, ur, ; from the Arabic word for "organizer" or "convenor"), similar to a mayor, was the coordinator of cities and towns in Pakistan. Nazim is the title in Urdu of the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council. Likewise, a deputy mayor is known as a ''Naib nazim'' (). The word

naib Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

in Urdu literally means "assistant" or "deputy" hence Naib nazim was similar in function to a deputy mayor. He was also custodian of the house. Pakistan originally had a system inherited from the time of British rule, in which a mayor was the head of a district. Under the Local Government Act, however, the role of the nazim became distinct from that of a mayor, with more power. The nazim system was introduced after the commissionerate system, imposed during British rule, was lifted by the government of Pakistan. This Local Government act was imposed in the country in 2001. One exception, however, is Islamabad, the federal capital, where the commissionerate system remained in effect. In 2009, the new government restored the commissionerate system. All the provinces introduced their own new local government systems. A ''Nazim'' was also empowered to decide criminal cases. The ''Nazim'' was the lowliest of elected officials in Pakistan. The district nazim, is elected by the nazims of Union Councils, Union Councillors, and Tehsil Nazims, who themselves are elected directly by the votes of the local public. The name which is used for the president of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, the Islamic Union of Students in Pakistan, is Nazim-e-ala (). The nazim-e-ala is elected for one year, and after completing that tenure, all the members of IJT who are called (Arkaan) elect a new one.

References

{{Reflist Government of the Mughal Empire Medieval India History of Pakistan History of India Local government in Pakistan Titles in India