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A zamindar on the Indian subcontinent was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and held control over the peasants, from whom the zamindars reserved the right to collect tax (often for military purposes). Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as ''Maharaja'' (Great King), ''Rana'' (King), ''Rai'' (King), ''Raja'' (King), ''Deshmukh'' (Chief), ''Sardar'', ''Mankari'', ''Nawab'' (Lord), ''Mirza'' (Prince), ''Taluqdar'' (District Holder), ''Chaudhary'' (Lord), ''Reddy'' (Headman), ''Naidu'', ''Gounder'', and many others. Although zamindars were considered to be equivalent to lords and barons〔(Time Magazine 1963 )〕 in some cases they were seen as independent, sovereign princes.〔(''Nathanial William Wraxall'' (1836): Posthumous memoirs of his own time (Volume 2) pg 135 )〕 Often zamindars were Indian princes who lost their sovereignty due to British Rule (see: Madras Zamindari). For example, the Sivaganga Zamindari and Ramnad Zamindari were the lesser and greater Kingdom of Marava ruled by the royal family till 1803; ever since then they were the Zamindars of Marava. There is no clear distinction between royal zamindars, such as Raja Venkata Ranga Rao, or merely aristocratic zamindars. Many kings were former zamindars, such as the Royal House of Benares; conversely many new zamindars were old kings. As a result, there is some confusion about the Indian kingdoms about who is a king and who is a zamindar, as there were as many as 568 kingdoms and, according to some other sources, 572 princely states in India before independence. During the Mughal Empire, zamindars belonged to the nobility〔Barbara Daly Metcalf, Joint Committee on South Asia (Moral conduct and authority: the place of adab in South Asian Islam ) pp 269〕 and formed the ruling class. Emperor Akbar granted them mansabs and their ancestral domains were treated as jagirs.〔(An account of the Ruling Classes of Mughal Empire )〕 The practice took structural footholds before the Mughal Era and was solidified by the indirect system of taxation in the Mughal Empire and British Raj. After the British withdrew, the system was legally abolished with the creation of India, Pakistan and (after independence in 1971) Bangladesh; however, it is current in some areas of modern Pakistan. Zamindars built lavish palaces, lush gardens, schools, temples and other venues of philanthropy. Several families were of ancient lineage and had been independent rulers in earlier periods. In most cases, zamindar families were descendants of cadet branches of earlier royal families. Zamindars held considerable powers in their territories: magisterial, army recruitment (as lathials), revenue collection and taxation, among others. Other terms for ''zamindar'' were and are used. For example, a zamindar is known as a ''Wadera'' or ''Wadero'' in Sindh and as a ''thakur'' in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. In the Punjab and Haryana, there are multiple variations, such as ''chaudhary'' - ancient land holders from pre Muslim era and (which often became ''lambardar'' or ''zaildaar'' during the British Empire's occupation of North India), ''Sardar'' and ''Malik'' (an Arabic term which literally means "King"). The word zamindar is derived ultimately from the Persian زمین ''Zamīn'', "earth/land", and the common suffix دار ''-dār'', "-holder" (also found in many of the terms above).〔("zamindar" in the American Heritage Dictionary )〕 The term means, in Persian, 'land owner.' ==Mughal era== Before Mughal rule in India, the aristocracy collected and retained revenue from land and production. The Mughals appointed people to act as tax officers, sending them around the country to oversee collection of revenue and remit it to the capital city of Delhi. These people were known as the zamindari (intermediaries)〔 〕 and they collected revenue primarily from the Ryots (peasants)〔 For the meanings of ''zamindar'' see pp. 140ff.〕 The zamindari system was more prevalent in the north of India because Mughal influence in the south was less apparent.〔 The zamindari system ensured proper collection of taxes in a period when the power and influence of the Mughal emperors were in decline. With the Mughal conquest of Bengal, "zamindar" became a generic title embracing people with different kinds of landholdings, rights and responsibilities ranging from the autonomous or semi-independent chieftains to the peasant-proprietors. All categories of zamindars under the Mughals were required to perform certain police, judicial and military duties. Zamindars under the Mughals were, in fact, more the public functionaries than revenue collecting agents. Although zamindaris were allowed to be held hereditarily, the holders were not considered to be the proprietors of their estates.〔(Mughal Zamindars ) 〕 The territorial zamindars had judicial powers. Naturally, judge-magistracy, as an element of state authority conferred status with attendant power, which really made them the lords of their domains. They held regular courts, called zamindari adalat. The courts gave them not only power and status but some income as well by way of fines, presents and perquisites. The petty zamindars had some share in the dispensation of civil and criminal justice. The Chowdhurys, who were zamindars in most cases, had authority to deal with the complaints of debts, thefts and petty quarrels and to impose paltry fines. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zamindar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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