Ajagir (Persian:جاگیر,romanized: Jāgir,Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر,Jāgīr,Marathi: जहागीर,Jahāgīrá) also spelled asjageer,[1] was a type offeudalland grant in theIndian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system.[2][3]: 57–59 It developed during the Islamic era of theIndian subcontinent, starting in the early 13th century, wherein the powers to govern and collect tax from an estate was granted to an appointee of the state.[2] The tenants were considered to be in the servitude of the jagirdar.[4] There were two forms of jagir, one conditional, the other unconditional. The conditional jagir required the governing family to maintain troops and provide their service to the state when asked.[2][3]: 61–62 The land grant, callediqta'a, was usually for a holder's lifetime; the land reverted to the state upon the death of the jagirdar.[2][5]
The jagirdar system was introduced by theDelhi Sultanate,[2] and continued during theMughal Empire,[6] but with a difference. In theMughal times, the jagirdar collected taxes which paid his salary and the rest to the Mughal treasury, while the administration and military authority was given to a separate Mughal appointee.[7] After the collapse and takeover of Mughals, the system of jagirs was retained byMarathas,Charans,Rajputs,Rajpurohits,Jats, andSikh jat kingdoms, and later in a form by theBritish East India Company.[2][3]: 61–62 [8]
Jagir (Persian:جاگیر,Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیردار,Marathi: जहागीर,Bengali:জায়গীর) is a Persian word meaning 'place holder'.[2]
In its 1955 judgment of the caseThakur Amar Singhji v. State Of Rajasthan, theSupreme Court of India used the following definition ofjagir in interpreting theRajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of Jagirs Act (Rajasthan Act VI of 1952):[9]
The word 'jagir' connoted originally grants made byRajput Rulers to their clansmen for military services rendered or to be rendered. Later on grants made for religious and charitable purposes and even to non-Rajputs were called jagirs, and both in its popular sense and legislative practice, the word jagir came to be used as connoting all grants which conferred on the grantees rights in respect of land revenue, and that is the sense in which the word jagir should be construed ...
— Singhji v. Rajasthan, (15 April 1955;SCR 1955 2 303; AIR 1955 SC 504)
A jagir was technically a feudallife estate, as the grant reverted to the state upon the jagirdar's death. However, in practice, jagirs became a hereditary position.[10][11] The family was thus thede facto ruler of the territory, earned income from part of the tax revenues and delivered the rest to the treasury of the state during the Islamic rule period, and later in parts of India that came under Afghan,Sikh and Rajput rulers. Thejagirdar did not act alone but appointed administrative layers for revenue collection. These positions, according to Shakti Kak, were called, among other titles,patwari,tahsildar,amil,fotedar,munsif,qanungo,chaudhri, anddewan.[12]
Thisfeudal system of land ownership is referred to as thejagirdar system. The system was introduced by theSultans ofDelhi from the 13th century onwards, was later adopted by theMughal Empire, theMaratha Empire and continued under theBritish East India Company.[2]
Some Hindu jagirdars were converted into Muslim vassal states underMughal imperial sway, such as thenawabs ofKurnool. Mostprincely states of India during the colonialBritish Raj era were jagirdars such as Mohrampur Jagir. Shortly following independence from theBritish Crown in 1947, thejagirdar system was abolished by theIndian government in 1951.[13][14]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)After independence, measures were taken to abolish absentee landownership.