zamindari

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in British India, a system of landholding and revenue collection in which zamindars collected payments from cultivators for the state

   Under the zamindari system, cultivators paid revenue through a local zamindar rather than directly to the government.

2. 2
   noun

   the office or jurisdiction of a zamindar

   The official inherited responsibility for administering the family's zamindari.

3. 3
   noun

   land held or administered by a zamindar

   Several villages formed part of the zamindari and supplied its land revenue.

Borrowed from Hindi and Urdu zamindari, from Persian zamindar, literally 'landholder' (zamin, 'land,' plus -dar, 'holder'), with the abstract suffix -i. The word came into English during British rule in India. Zemindary is a historical spelling variant used by Adam Smith.

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