Pargana orparganah, also speltpergunnah, equivalent toMohallah[1] as a subunit ofSubah (Suba),[2][3] was a type of formeradministrative division in theIndian subcontinent during the time of theDelhi Sultanate,Mughal andBritish Colonial empires.[4][5] Mughal Empire was divided intoSubah (Suba) or province headed by aSubahdar, which were further subdivided intosarkars ortarafs,[6] which in turn were further subdivided into groups of villages known asparganas orMahallas (Mahal).[2][3] Depending on the size, theparganas may or may not be further subdivided intopirs[5] ormouzas which were the smallest revenue units, consisting of one or more villages and the surrounding countryside. InBengal, the Sarkar system was replaced in the early 18th century by theChakla system.[7] In thePunjab region, the British established newPunjab Canal Colonies in which the smallest unit [equivalent to village or Mauza or pir] were termedChak. Above-mentioned revenue units were used primarily, but not exclusively, by Muslim kingdoms. AfterIndependence of India in 1947, the parganas became equivalent toBlock/Tahsil, and pirs or mahals becameGrampanchayat.
The Mughal government in thepargana consisted of a Muslim judge and local tax collector.[2][3] Under the reign ofSher Shah Suri, administration of parganas was strengthened by the addition of other officers, including ashiqdar (police chief), anamin ormunsif (an arbitrator who assessed and collected revenue) and akarkun (record keeper).
In the 16th century theMughal emperorAkbar organised the empire intosubahs (roughly equivalent of state or province), which were further subdivided intosarkars (roughly the equivalent of districts), which were themselves organised intoparganas (roughly the equivalent of district subdivisions such as tehsil). In the Mughal system,parganas served as the local administrative units of asarkar. Individual parganas observed common customs regarding land rights and responsibilities, which were known as thepargana dastur, and each pargana had its own customs regarding rent, fees, wages, and weights and measures, known as thepargana nirikh.[1]
Pargana consisted of severaltarafs, which in their turn consisted of several villages plus some uninhabited mountain and forest land.[6] During the reign of theBahmani Sultanate in theDeccan,tarafs represented the provinces of the sultanate and its main territorial division. Tarafs were ruled by atarafdar, the provincial governor, who held a significant amount of autonomy.[8][9][10]
As theBritish expanded into former Mughal provinces, starting withBengal, they at first retained thepargana administration, but, under the Governorship ofCharles Cornwallis, enacted thePermanent Settlement of 1793, which abolished the pargana system in favour of thezamindari system, in whichzamindars were made the absolute owners of rural lands, and abolished thepargana dastur andpargana nirikh. British administration consisted ofdistricts, which were divided intotehsils ortaluks. Parganas remained important as a geographical term, persisting in land surveys, village identification and court decrees.
Thepargana system persisted in severalprincely states, includingTonk andGwalior. Parganas disappeared almost completely after the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, although the term lives on in place names, like the districts ofNorth 24 Parganas andSouth 24 Parganas in India'sWest Bengal state.