India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, a Tehsildar or Mamlatdar is a tax officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relevant tehsil. The immediate subordinate of a tehsildar is known as a ''naib tehsildar''. This is akin to an additional deputy commissioner.

Etymology

The term is assumed to be of Mughal origin and is perhaps a union of the words "tehsil" and "dar". "Tehsil" is presumably an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

word meaning "revenue collection", and "dar" is a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word meaning "holder of a position". Mamlatdar is a synonymous term used in some Indian states that comes from the Hindi word ''māmala'' (मामला), which is derived from the Arabic ''muʿāmala'' (مُعَامَلَة‎ – "conduct, dealing, handling").

India

British rule

During

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, a tehsildar was most likely a

stipendiary A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

officer of the government, employed to raise revenue. The position was called mamlatdar in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and some parts of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. It was subsequently used by Pakistan and India following their independence from the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Tehsildar is also known as Talukdar in some states of

. In Assam, Bengal, and parts of Jharkhand, a tehsildar is known as a

Mouzadar Mouzadar is a term referring to a person who takes tax of a mouza (revenue collection unit) during and after the British Raj in the modern-day Bangladesh and India. This term should not be confused with the gaonburha, used in addition in Assam. E ...

Independence

Tehsildar are Class 1 gazetted officers in most states of India. In Uttar Pradesh, tehsildar are given powers of assistant collector Grade I. They also are given judicial power. They implement the various policies of the

taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

and are subject to the

district collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

. Officers holding the post of tehsildar preside over matters related to land, tax, and revenue. Tehsildar were first appointed as Naib Tehsildars after successful completion of a State Service Exam (i.e. UP-PSC in Uttar Pradesh, HP-PSC in Himachal Pradesh,

RPSC The Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) is a body with authority under the Constitution of India to select applicants for appointment to civil service jobs in the Indian state of Rajasthan according to the merits of the applicants and th ...

in Rajasthan, MP-PSC in Madhya Pradesh, BPSC in Bihar, AP-PSC in Andhra Pradesh, TSPSC in Telangana, or other equivalent exams in other states of India), or promoted from a subordinate post like Kanoongo (also known as Revenue Inspectors). In Uttar Pradesh, tehsildar are promoted from Naib Tehsildar. Later on, they get promoted to the post of sub-divisional magistrate. In

, the mamlatdar heads the

revenue office. While each taluka has a mamlatdar, there are also several joint mamlatdars and the work is distributed among them. Each state is divided into districts. The district's senior civil servant is the district collector/district magistrate, who is an officer from the

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

cadre. These districts are further subdivided into

revenue subdivisions A Revenue division is an administrative division of some of the Indian states. It is a geographic area covering many tehsils, which in turn comprises villages. A revenue division is headed by a Revenue Divisional Officer, who exercises certain fisc ...

or prants (West India). Each subdivision is under the charge of an officer designated as a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), or deputy collector, who is a member of the State Civil Service cadre. In the revenue department, the deputy collector reports to the district revenue officer (DRO), who is also called the additional district magistrate (ADM Revenue) and is the overall in-charge of the revenue department for the district. The DRO in turn reports to the district collector (also called district magistrate, or DM), who is in charge of overall management of the district across all departments. Deputy collectors are hired through State Service Selection Commissions, whereas DROs and district collectors are usually Centre Civil Services employees appointed to the state cadre.

References

{{reflist Tax collectors Taxation in Pakistan * Taxation in India Tehsils of India Titles in Bangladesh Titles in Pakistan