BharatNotes Jagirdari
noun (also used attributively, as in "the jagirdari system")Usage in a UPSC answer
The colonial state's incremental dismantling of the jagirdari and zamindari systems through post-Independence land-reform legislation sought to sever the nexus between intermediary rent-seeking and political power, thereby converting cultivators from rent-burdened tenants into owners with a direct stake in the land.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
jagir (n), jagirdar (n), mansabdari (n, related Mughal system)
Root
Persian jāgīr = land holding; jāh = place; gīr = seizing; -dār = holder; -ī = system suffix
Etymology
From Persian jagir ("holding land"), itself from jah ("place") + gir ("seizing, holding"), combined with -dar ("holder") and -i (system suffix).
Memory Hook
Break it as JA (place) + GIR (grip/hold) + DAR (holder) + I (system): picture a noble who "grips a place" and holds its revenues — the jagirdari system.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The mechanism through which the Mughal state actually paid its ranked officers, assigning them the revenue of a territory instead of cash. The distinctions are examinable. Land whose revenue the state retained directly was khalisa; a tankhwah jagir was assigned in lieu of salary and was transferable, typically every few years, precisely so that no holder could strike roots; a watan jagir was hereditary and located in a chief's homeland, the concession that brought Rajput houses into the imperial fold. The system's fragility is the standard explanation for Mughal decline. As the nobility expanded faster than the assignable revenue, the pool of unassigned land called paibaqi shrank and officers waited without assignments, a condition known as be-jagiri, which set them competing for the more profitable jagirs and squeezing the peasantry within their short tenures. This is the jagirdari crisis around which much of the historiography of the decline turns.
Don’t Confuse It With
A jagir is the assignment and its holder a jagirdar, while jagirdari is the system as a whole. Khalisa is land whose revenue went directly to the imperial treasury rather than being assigned. A tankhwah jagir was given in place of salary and was transferable, whereas a watan jagir was hereditary and in the holder's home territory. Zamindari is different again, being a hereditary right to collect from cultivators that existed independently of imperial assignment. Paibaqi is unassigned reserve land, and be-jagiri the condition of holding rank without any assignment to draw on.
Hindi Meaning
जागीरदारी (jāgīrdārī); ख़ालिसा (khālisā) for crown land and वतन जागीर for the hereditary type.
Common Questions
- What is the difference between a jagir and khalisa land?
- A jagir was assigned to an officer who drew its revenue in place of salary, while khalisa land's revenue went directly to the imperial treasury.
- What was the jagirdari crisis?
- As the nobility grew faster than assignable revenue, unassigned reserve land shrank and officers waited without jagirs, intensifying competition for profitable assignments and pressure on the peasantry.
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