Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the
Sultanate
This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...
period,
Mughal times and
British Raj
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 ...
, is a former administrative unit of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
and each ''Parganas'' may or may not subdivided into some ''pirs''. Those revinue units are used primarily, but not exclusively, by the Muslim kingdoms. After independence the Parganas became equivalent to
Block
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Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting
* W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
/
Tahsil
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 Pirs became
Grampanchayat
Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bo ...
.
''Parganas'' were introduced by the
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). . As a revenue unit, a pargana consists of several ''
mouza
In Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of India a mouza or mauza (also mouja) is a type of administrative district, corresponding to a specific land area within which there may be one or more settlements. Before the 20th century, the term referred to a ...
s'', which are the smallest revenue units, consisting of one or more villages and the surrounding countryside.
Under the reign of
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری)
(1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان)
, was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...
, administration of parganas was strengthened by the addition of other officers, including a ''
shiqdar'' (police chief), an ''amin'' or ''munsif'' (an arbitrator who assessed and collected revenue) and a ''karkun'' (record keeper).
Mughal era
In the 16th century the
Mughal emperor
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
organised the empire into ''
subahs'' (roughly equivalent of state or province), which were further subdivided into
sarkars (roughly the equivalent of districts), which were themselves organised into ''parganas'' (roughly the equivalent of district subdivisions such as tehsil). In the Mughal system, ''parganas'' served as the local administrative units of a ''sarkar''. Individual parganas observed common customs regarding land rights and responsibilities, which were known as the ''pargana dastur'', and each pargana had its own customs regarding rent, fees, wages, and weights and measures, known as the ''pargana nirikh''.
Pargana consisted of several tarafs, which in their turn consisted of several villages plus some uninhabited mountain and forest land.
[ Ramsay Muir, ''The making of British India, 1756-1858'', University Press, 1915]
p. 289
/ref>
British Raj
As the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
expanded into former Mughal provinces, starting with Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, they at first retained the ''pargana'' administration, but, under the Governorship of Charles Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
, enacted the Permanent Settlement
The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural met ...
of 1793, which abolished the ''pargana'' system in favour of the ''zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
i'' system, in which ''zamindars'' were made the absolute owners of rural lands, and abolished the ''pargana dastur'' and ''pargana nirikh''. British administration consisted of districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
, which were divided into 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 ...
s or taluk
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 ...
s. ''Parganas'' remained important as a geographical term, persisting in land surveys, village identification and court decrees.
Post independence
The ''pargana'' system persisted in several princely states
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...
, including Tonk and Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
. Parganas disappeared almost completely after the independence of 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 ...
in 1947, although the term lives on in place names, like the districts of North 24 Parganas
North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...
and South 24 Parganas
South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore. It is the largest district of West Bengal by ...
in India's West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
state.
See also
* List of parganas of Uttarakhand
The article lists all the 86 parganas in the 13 districts of Uttarakhand.
District-wise details
See also
* Administrative divisions of Uttarakhand
* List of districts of Uttarakhand
* List of tehsils of Uttarakhand
* List of community d ...
Notes
References
* Hunter, William Wilson, Sir, et al. (1908). ''Imperial Gazetteer of India
''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...
'', Volume 12. 1908–1931; Clarendon Press, Oxford.
* Markovits, Claude (ed.) (2004). ''A History of Modern India: 1480-1950''. Anthem Press, London.
{{Types of administrative country subdivision
Medieval India
Economic history of India
Administrative divisions of India
Subdivisions of the Mughal Empire
Types of administrative division
Former subdivisions of Bangladesh
Former subdivisions of India
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...