[zuh-meen-dahr] 
| 1. | (in British India) a landlord required to pay a land tax to the government. |
| 2. | (in Mogul India) a collector of farm revenue, who paid a fixed sum on the district assigned to him. |
| zam·in·dar also zem·in·dar (zām'ən-där', zěm'-, zə-mēn-där') n.
[Hindi zamīndār, from Persian : zamīn, earth; see dhghem- in Indo-European roots + -dār, -holder; see dher- in Indo-European roots.] |
zamindar
in India, a holder or occupier (dar) of land (zamin). The root words were Persian, and the resulting name was widely used wherever Persian influence was spread by the Mughals or other Indian Muslim dynasties. The meanings attached to it were various. In Bengal the word denoted a hereditary tax collector who could retain 10 percent of the revenue he collected. In the late 18th century the British government made these zamindars landowners, thus creating a landed aristocracy in Bengal and Bihar that lasted until Indian independence (1947).
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