British Era
Zamindars were landlords in colonial India. The zamindari system was a way of ensuring taxes were collected from peasants. The zamindar was considered a lord, and would collect all taxes on his lands and then hand over the collected taxes to the British authorities (keeping a portion for himself). The similarities to medieval feudalism are evident (see Indian feudalism).
In the 18th century, when English and Scots merchants and adventurers began to settle in Mughal India in significant numbers, they noticed a superficial resemblance between the role and status of the zamindari and the landed gentry the squires or lairds that were once typical of the British Isles. Like the zamindari, the English squires and Scots lairds were the leading proprietors in their villages. In addition, they were often entrusted with important judicial and governmental functions, by the Crown in their capacities as Justices of the Peace. It was natural for the British incomers to assume that the zamindari of northern India were a kind of local squirearchy, although there were important differences.
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