The Sardari system () refers to the

panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...

system used in the city of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

(present-day

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 ...

) from the second half of the nineteenth century. The system developed during under the

Nawabs of Dhaka The Nawab of Dhaka (Bengali: "ঢাকার নবাব"), originally spelt in English Nawab of Dacca, was the title of the head of largest Muslim zamindar in British Bengal and Assam, based in present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh. The title of ''na ...

. In this state-recognised practice, a five-member committee was formed in each

mahalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social ins ...

of the city, consisting of local influential

Muslims 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 Abraha ...

who would take care of the minor issues of the mahalla. The chief of the mahalla committee was referred to as the

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

. The Sardar was appointed for life, and after his death, his son was usually the next Sardar. The Nawab of Dhaka used to give approval and formal recognition to the family panchayat committee.

History

Although the exact date of the introduction of the Sardari system is not known, many believe that it started during the

Mughal rule The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and then developed during the

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 ...

. The British government recognised the Sardari system after the introduction of the Nawab of Dhaka, in order to maintain the social order of the Dhaka metropolis and to maintain the Nawab's allegiance to the government. In 1876, under Nawab

Khwaja Abdul Ghani Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Abdul Ghani (30 July 1813 – 24 August 1896) was the second Nawab of Dhaka and the first to assume the title of Nawab as hereditary, recognized by the British Raj. He introduced the panchayat system, gaslights, wat ...

, the importance of this panchayat system increased and at that time there were a total of 12 panchayat committees in Dhaka. During the time of Nawab

Khwaja Salimullah Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur (7 June 1871 – 16 January 1915) was the fourth Nawab of Dhaka and one of the leading Muslim politicians during the British rule in India. In 1906, the Muslim League was officially founded at the educationa ...

, a further 22 committees were attached to it and the system was restructured. In 1907, Salimullah appointed his brother-in-law Khwaja Muhammad Azam as the Supervisor of all the Panchayat Committees of Dhaka. Under Azam, there were 133 sardars leading 133 committees. He wrote a book in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

zamindari system A zamindar (Hindustani language, Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian language, Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous Raja, ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughal Em ...

, this Sardari system was also abolished as part of the

East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 The East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 (also known as the East Pakistan Estate Acquisition Act 1950) was a law passed by the newly formed democratic Government of East Bengal in the Dominion of Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) ...

. Among the notable Sardars of Dhaka were Jumman Sardar,

Pearu Sardar Pearu Sardar (1893–1961) was an area leader of Dhaka, Pakistan. At the beginning of the 20th century, the area leader of Dhaka was known as ''Sardar''; he was known for his involvement in the Language Movement of 1952. The first Shaheed Minar t ...

, Moti Sardar, Mirza Qadir Sardar, Mawla Bakhsh Sardar, Majid Sardar and Latif Khan Sardar. 2016 marked the death of the last living Sardar of Dhaka,

Akhtar Sardar Akhtar ( fa, links=no, ) means "star" in Persian. It is a unisex name. It is also a common surname. A variant spelling is Akhter. Notable people with the given name or surname include: Given name Akhtar * Akhtar Aly Kureshy Pakistani lawyer ...

Activities

Panchayat committees usually played a role in resolving various family, social, property inheritance and personal disputes through arbitration meetings. Different types of social ceremonies were also celebrated in this manner. Generally, any decision was followed by all parties and if anyone disobeyed, there was a system of local punishment.

References

{{Bengal Zamindars History of Dhaka Society of Bangladesh

History

Activities

See also

References