Taluqdar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A taluqdar, also spelt talukdar (from Hindi taluk "district" + dor "holding"), is a Sanskrit and Hindi word, (ta'al-luk in Arabic), meaning to hang or depend. The term has different idiomatic meanings in different parts of India. Talukdar was

(1) A great land holder with administrative power over a district of 84 villages in Punjab, Rajastan and rest of northern India.

(2) An official in Hyderabad State during British era, equivalent to a magistrate and a collector.

(3) A landholder with peculiar tenures in various parts of British India.

According to the Punjab settlement report of 1862, great land holders were appointed Taluadars over a number of villages during the Mughal era . That Taluqa or district usually comprised over 84 villages and a central town. The Taluqdar was required to collect taxes, maintain law & order, and provide milatary supplies/manpower to the provincial government. In most cases the Talqdars were entitiled to keep 1/10th of the collected revenue. However, some privillaged Taluqdars were entitled to 1/4th and hence were called Chaudhrys, which literally means owner of the fourth part.

In Rajastan and Bengal, a taluqdar was next only to a Raja in extent of land control and social status; but in Punjab and U.P taluqdars were much more powerful and were directly under the provincial governor. Later Mughal era saw the rise of powerful taluqdars in Oudh, northern India who seldom paid any collected revenue to the central government and became virtual rulers of their districts. Similarly, in northern Punjab the taluqdars of Dhani, Gheb and Kot Fateh Khan were exteremely authoritative.

Eighteenth century Bengal witnessed the rise of great territorial Land Holders at the expense of smaller landholders who were reduced to the status of dependent taluqdars, because they were required to pay their revenue to government through the intermediary of the great land lords called rajas and maharajas, yet many old taluqdars paid revenues to government directly and were as powerful as the Rajas.