Zails were a revenue and administrative unit, extending between two to hundred villages, under an officer in charge Zaildar in the colonial, rural administration of Punjab in British India. The system was abolished in 1952.
Demarcation of Zail Each Tehsil was subdivided in to several Zails.C.A.H. Townsend, Final report of thirds revised revenue settlement of Hisar district from 1905-1910, Gazetteer of Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, Haryana.Culture and heritage of Hisar A Zail was a grouping of villages. Tehsils, zails and villages were headed by the tehsildar, zaildar, muqaddam,lambardar, or numberdars. Muqaddam was usually a prominent chowdhury who was appointed as numbardar of the village, villages with large revenue land had more than one numberdar. Zail were established and demarcated by the District collector during the land revenue settlement exercise. A 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,1930, Punjab Settlement Manual, 4th Edition, Punjab Government publications, point 235 and 578-282 on page 115, 272-273. who were equivalent to the Chaudharis (feudal zamindars) of earlier times and were hand-picked by the deputy-commissioner, who based his 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.The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, Rajit K. Mazumder, Permanent BlackTan Tai Yong, 2005, "The Garrison State: The military, government and society in Colonial Punjab, 1849 - 1947.", SAGE Publications, page 118-119, .
Revenue Zaildar collected the revenue from the cluster of villages under him and passed it to the British Raj district collectors, Zaildars were remunerated for their duties with life grants of either fixed amountRevised Settlement of Hisar District, p37-40 or grant equal to one per cent of the revenue of their zails from the assessment of any single village that they chose.Final Report of Revised Settlement, Hoshiarpur District, 1879-84 By J. A. L. Montgomery
Impact and Legacy of Zaildari System Zails and Zaildari system extended the influence of the colonial state right into the villages.
Abolition Post Indian independence in 1947, the system of Zails, Zaildars and Safedposh continued to exist till 1948 but were finally abolished in 1952 by the Government of India.
See also
List of Zaildars by Zail Indian feudalism Indian honorifics Gram panchayat Jagirdar Mankari Lambardar Sarpanch Zaildar Zamindar Jat
References