Zaildar

Zaildar (Hindustani: ज़ैलदार, Punjabi: ذَیلدار) was the position based title of the grand jagirdar (landlord) of the area, who were in charge of a Zail which was an administrative unit of group of villages during the British Indian Empire. Settlement Officer, with the advice of Deputy Commissioner, was responsible for appointing Zaildar from amongst the leading men of the tribe or the area, thus reinforcing his preexisting social authority with the official sanction as the representative of the government. Each Zail was an administrative unit, extending between 40to 100 villages. Each village was headed by the Lambardar who was assisted by the "Safedposh Zamindars" (influential landlords) of the village. Zaildars were the revenue collecting officers and were also responsible for maintaining law&order in his zail. The Lambardar and safedposh assist  the Zaildar in his functioning , Zaildar in turn assisted the Deputy Commissioner. The Zaildar was more influential than the Lambardar (village head) because a Zail included several villages in it. Sometimes Inamdars (prize seekers), also called Safedposh (white collar gentry), were also appointed to assist Zaildar.

Influence of Zaildari System
The position was quite important as it extended the influence of the colonial state right into the villages. It also reinforced the already dominant social status of the Zaildar with the official government sanction. The Zaildar exercised tremendous authority among the villagers, many of whom looked to him for patronage and assistance, and he alone possessed the power of threats and blandishment within his Zail.

Appointment criteria
Zails were established and demarcated by the District collector or (also called Deputy Commissioner) during the land revenue settlement exercise. Settlement officer, with advice from the District collector and by the final approval of the state's Financial Commissioner, appointed a Zaildar to each Zail on either (a) hereditary basis, (b) for one life or (c) a fixed tenure, who were equivalent to the Chaudharis (feudal zamindars) of earlier times and were hand-picked by the higher authorities, who based their decision on issues such as caste or tribe, local influence, extent of landholding, services rendered to the state by him or his family, and personal character and ability. A Zaildar when once appointed should only be removed from office for misconduct or neglect, removal on account of old age or disability caused by an accident is a harsh punishment, in such cases he can continue to operate through a representative.

Role and Remuneration of Zaildar
Zaildars were essentially revenue  minister and  representatives of the British Empire who enjoyed remuneration for their duties, life grants of either fixed amount or grant equal to one per cent of the revenue of their zails from the assessment of any single village that they chose. Some of the responsibilities of the Zaildar corresponded to the responsibilities that fell under the Deputy Commissioner [such as the revenue collection, mutations, local governance issues, related dispute resolution, etc] and other duties corresponded with the responsibilities that fell under the Settlement officer [such as the revenue settlement, reassessments, preparation of maps, etc].

Some of dignified zaildars were 
 Sardar.Joginder Singh Batth Zaildar of village Nahar majra of Karnal district (Nowadays currently in kurukshetra district )

 Ch.Pritam Singh Zaildar of village Thol of Karnal district(at present Kurushetra) 
 CHAUDHARY NAND RAM SAINI zaildar of PUNJAB (present haryana)

 Ch.BARU SINGH ZAILDAR zaildar from village pattikalyana panipat district.

 Nawab Abdullah Virk Zaildar from Poul Bagh, Gurdaspur and His Eldest Son Ch.Qadir Baksh Virk zaildar in Mandi Dhaban Singh (Safdarabad now), Sheikhupura.

 Abdul Aziz Tarar. He belongs to Vanike Tarar, district Hafizbad, Punjab, Pakistan.

  Khan Sahib Ghulam Ahmed Khan Zaildar of Village Soita, Jalandhar. He was son of Khan Bahadur Alam Khan (owner of 12,000 acres) and grandson of Khan Bahadur Ghulam Haider Khan (Chief of Sherwani Tribe) 

 Ch. Sohrab Khan was Zaildar of Mewat Area in Haryana Badgujar Pall (Singaria)

 S.Hari Singh Zaildar of village Kardhan of Ambala
S.Attar Singh Zaildar of muktsar zail zaildar of muktsar faridkot distt
 Malik Amir Khan was Zaildar of Dholar zail based on 09 villages of Talagang Distt Kamalpur
 Sansar Chand was Zaildar of Rahon and Nawanshahar region in Punjab
 Mian Hussain Muhammad Pirzada of district Vehari.
Khan Bahadur Khan Mohammad Azeem Khan, zaildar of present day Hazro, Attock District
 Mian Mangal Singh Chandel was Zaildar of Naina Devi Dhar in present day Bilaspur Himachal.

Safedposh
In addition to these life inams, or grants, there were some Safedposhi grants of a semi-hereditary nature enjoyed by some of the leading agricultural families. They were semi-hereditary because one of the conditions of the grant was that on the death of an incumbent, his successor should, if possible, be a member of the same family. If, however, there was no fit member of the same family, the grant could be awarded to some deserving Zamindar of the same tribe, who was not already in the enjoyment of such a grant.

Abolishment
Post Indian independence in 1947, the system of Zails, Zaildars and Safedposh continued to exist till 1962 by CM P.S Kairon on the demand of his minister and MLAs because Police and Tehsil officers give more weight to their opinion so this created a awkward situation of undermining the elected MLAs over hereditary post of Zaildars.

In popular media
Zaildar, a book was written by the Kapur Singh Ghuman in 1972. Punjabi movies with Zialdar title include Zaildar (1972), Nikka Zaildar (2016), "Nikka Zaildar 2" (2017). Popular Punjabi singer Geeta Zaildar uses it as his surname.

See also

 List of Zaildars by Zail
 Indian feudalism
 Indian honorifics
 Maratha titles
 Jagirdar
 Mankari
 Lambardar
 Patwari
 Sarpanch
 Zamindar
 Princely state

References

Category:History of Punjab, India
Category:History of Haryana