Zaildar

Zaildar was the title of the grand jagirdars (landlords) of the area, who were in charge of a Zail which was an administrative unit of group of villages during the British Indian Empire. The Settlement Officer, with the advice of the Deputy Commissioner, was responsible for appointing Zaildars from amongst the men of the tribe or the area, thus reinforcing his preexisting social authority with the official sanction as the representative of the government.1930
Punjab Settlement Manual
Punjab Government publications, point 235 and 578-282 on page 115, 272-273.Tan Tai Yong, 2005
"The Garrison State: The military, government and society in Colonial Punjab, 1849 - 1947."
SAGE Publications, page 118-119, . Each Zail was an administrative unit, extending between 40 to 100 villages.The Indian Making of mewat, Ismail khan, Permanent Black Each village was headed by the Lambardar who was assisted by the Safedposh Zamindars (influential landlords or white collar gentry) of the village. Zaildars were the revenue-collecting officers and were also responsible for maintaining law and order. The Lambardar and Safedposh assisted the Zaildar. The Zaildar in turn assisted the Deputy Commissioner. The Zaildar was more influential than the Lambardar (village head) because a Zail included several villages.Rajit K. Mazumder, 2003
"The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab."
Permanent Black, page 97, .

Influence of Zaildari system

The position was important as it extended the influence of the colonial state into the villages.The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, Rajit K. Mazumder, Permanent Black It also reinforced the already dominant social status of the Zaildar with official government sanction. The Zaildar exercised authority and patronage over the villagers.

Appointment criteria

Zails were established and demarcated by the District collector (also called Deputy Commissioner) during the land revenue settlement exercise. Settlement officers, with advice from the District collector and subject to the final approval of the state's Financial Commissioner, appointed a Zaildar to each Zail either on a hereditary basis, for one person's life or for a fixed tenure. The Zailars were equivalent to the Chaudharis (feudal zamindars) of earlier times and were hand-picked by the higher authorities, who based their decision on issues such as caste or tribe, local influence, extent of landholding, services rendered to the state by him or his family, and personal character and ability.The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, Rajit K. Mazumder, Permanent BlackOm Prakash Aggarawala, 1936
"The Punjab Land Revenue Act: Act XVII of 1887 : with a Commentary"
Lahore Law Depot, page 155. A Zaildar once appointed could only be removed from office for misconduct or neglect; removal on account of old age or disability was a harsh punishment and in such cases he could continue to operate through a representative.Om Prakash Aggarawala, 1936
"The Punjab Land Revenue Act: Act XVII of 1887 : with a Commentary"
Lahore Law Depot, page 140.

Role and remuneration of Zaildars

Zaildars were essentially revenue ministers and representatives of the British Empire who received remuneration for their duties, life grants of either a fixed amountRevised Settlement of Hisar District, p. 37-40
/ref> or a grant equal to one per cent of the revenue of their zails from the assessment of any single village that they chose.''Final Report of Revised Settlement, Hoshiarpur District, 1879–84'' By J. A. L. Montgomery Some of the responsibilities of the Zaildar corresponded to the responsibilities that fell under the Deputy Commissioner, such as revenue collection, mutations, local governance issues, related dispute resolution, etc. Other duties corresponded with the responsibilities that fell under the Settlement officer, such as revenue settlement, reassessments, preparation of maps, etc.

Some of the notable zaildars were:

* Sardar Gurcharan Singh Zaildar of village Dangarh. He held an administration of 28 villages in Barnala district. He belonged to a Shergill family.
*Chaudhary Harbans Singh was appointed as Zaildar of 65 villages in Delhi Tehsil.
* Sardar Joginder Singh Zaildar of village Nahar Majra. He held the administration of 57 villages. His ancestors play an important to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Army. After second Sikh-Anglo war his ancestors was blacklisted by British authorities because his ancestors was loyal towards her queen Maharani Jind Kaur . So they Migrated from Majha area of Tarn Taran Sahib to Ambala District. Where his ancestors held the control of Zaildari in Shahabad Teshil villages.
* Choudhary Hansraj Gurjar Zaildar of 25 villages; his son is Krishan Pal Gurjar MoS (2020).
* Choudhary Bir Narayan Singh Zaildar of village Khanpur.
* Choudhary Tirkha Ram Gurjar Zaildar; his son was Chaudhary Narain Singh former DESU Chairman in Delhi Metropolitan Council. He was Zaildar for more than 25 villages in Delhi. He was from Madanpur Khadar Village.
* Khan Sahib Ghulam Ahmed Khan Zaildar of Village Soita, Jalandhar. He was the son of Khan Bahadur Alam Khan (owner of 12,000 acres) and grandson of Khan Bahadur Ghulam Haider Khan (chief of Sherwani tribe).
* Malik Amir Khan was Zaildar of Dholar zail, comprising nine villages of Talagang Distt Kamalpur.
* Ali Muhammad Malik (influential landlord), Zaildar of the present-day village Muradabad in Muzaffargarh District.
* Chaudhry Sultan Ahmed Zaildar of Zail 6-R Montgomery(Sahiwal) in the Punjab, Pakistan.
* Mirza Muhammad Hayat Zaildar of Phularwan, Tehsil Bhalwal, District Sargodha.
* Rana Rud Singh of Kalsana of Shahabad district, Kurukshetra. He held the administration of 24 villages.
* Pt. Janki Parshad (Baawan Hazari) of Radaur held 36 villages in Karnal, now in Haryana.
* Choudhary Ashfak was Zaildar of Sakras zail, comprising nine villages of Sakas Distt Nuh.
* Harnaryan Singh Tyagi Zaildar was Zaildar of Hastsal village in West Delhi.

Safedposh

In addition to these life , or grants, there were some ''Safedposhi'' grants of a semi-hereditary nature enjoyed by some of the leading agricultural families. They were semi-hereditary because one of the conditions of the grant was that on the death of an incumbent, his successor should, if possible, be a member of the same family.

Abolishment

Post the Indian independence in 1947, the system of Zails, Zaildars and Safedposh continued to exist till 1962. Then the system was abolished by CM of Punjab Partap Singh Kairon following demands from his ministers and Members of the Legislative Assemblys, because of conflicts between the elected MLAs and the Zaildars. Police and Tehsil officers had been giving more weight to the opinions of Zailars and this had undermined the MLAs.

In popular media

* Kapur Singh Ghuman wrote a book called ''Zaildar'' in 1972. Kapur Singh Ghuman, 1972
"Zaildar"

* Punjabi movies with Zialdar in the title include ''Zaildar'' (1972), ''Nikka Zaildar'' (2016) and ''Nikka Zaildar 2'' (2017).

See also

* "IMDB_Zaildar"

_See_also

*_List_of_Zaildars_by_Zail

*_Indian_feudalism.html" ;"title="List of Zaildars by Zail">"IMDB Zaildar"

See also

* List of Zaildars by Zail

* Indian feudalism">List of Zaildars by Zail">"IMDB Zaildar"

See also

* List of Zaildars by Zail

* Indian feudalism
* Indian honorifics
* Maratha titles
* Jagirdar
* Mankari
* Lambardar
* Patwari
* Sarpanch
* Zamindar
* Princely state

References

{{reflist, 20em

History of Punjab, India
History of Haryana