Jagir in the context of "Bajirao I"

Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, KB, FRS (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British East India Company (EIC) rule in Bengal. He began as a "writer" (the term used then in India for an office clerk) for the EIC in 1744, however after being caught up in military action during the fall of Madras, Clive joined the EIC's private army. Clive rapidly rose through the military ranks of the EIC and was eventually credited with establishing Company rule in Bengal by winning the Battle of Plassey in 1757. In return for supporting the Nawab Mir Jafar as ruler of Bengal, Clive was guaranteed a jagir of £90,000 (equivalent to £10,200,000 in 2023) per year, which was the rent the EIC would otherwise pay to the Nawab for their tax-farming concession. When Clive left India in January 1767 he had a fortune of £401,102 (equivalent to £67,900,000 in 2023) which he remitted through the Dutch East India Company.

Blocking impending French mastery of India, Clive improvised a 1751 military expedition that ultimately enabled the EIC to adopt the French strategy of indirect rule via puppet government. In 1755 he was hired by the EIC to return to India, where he secured the company's trade interests by overthrowing the ruler of Bengal, the richest state in India. Back in England from 1760 to 1765, he used the wealth accumulated from India to obtain an Irish barony from the Prime Minister, Thomas Pelham-Holles, and a seat in Parliament via Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis, representing the Whig party in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (1761–1774), as he had previously done in Mitchell, Cornwall (1754–1755).

A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a zamindari (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; zamindar is the Persian for landowner. During the British Raj, the British began using it as a local synonym for "estate". Subsequently, it was widely and loosely used for any substantial landed magnates in the British India. Zamindars as a class were equivalent to lords and barons; in some cases, they were independent sovereign princes. Similarly, their holdings were typically hereditary and came with the right to collect taxes on behalf of imperial courts or for military purposes. This continued in states like Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal even after independence until the abolition of zamindari in 1950.

During the Mughal Empire, as well as the British rule, zamindars were the land-owning nobility of the Indian subcontinent and formed the ruling class. Emperor Akbar granted them mansabs and their ancestral domains were treated as jagirs. Most of the big zamindars belonged to the Hindu high-caste, usually Brahmin, Rajput, Bhumihar or Kayastha. During the colonial era, the Permanent Settlement consolidated what became known as the zamindari system. The British rewarded supportive zamindars by recognising them as princes. Many of the region's princely states were pre-colonial zamindar holdings elevated to a greater protocol. The British also reduced the land holdings of many pre-colonial princely states and chieftaincies, demoting their status to noble zamindars from previously higher ranks of royalty. During the period of British colonial rule in India, many wealthy and influential zamindars were bestowed with noble and royal titles such as Maharaja, Raja/Rai, Babu, Rai sahib, Rai Bahadur, Nawab and Khan.

Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (its official name until 1 November 2014), is the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. As per the 2011 census, the city had a population of 8.4 million, making it the third most populous city in India and the most populous in South India. The Bengaluru metropolitan area had a population of around 8.5 million, making it the fifth most populous urban agglomeration in the country. It is located towards the southern end of the Deccan Plateau, at an altitude of 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level. The city is known as India's "Garden City", due to its parks and greenery.

Archaeological artefacts indicate that the human settlement in the region happened as early as 4000 BCE. The first mention of the name "Bengaluru" is from an old Kannada stone inscription from 890 CE found at the Nageshwara Temple in Begur. The region was ruled by the Western Ganga dynasty since 350 CE, and became part of the Chola empire in the early eleventh century CE. In the late Middle Ages, it formed a part of the Hoysala kingdom and then the Vijayanagara empire. In 1537 CE, Kempe Gowda I, a feudal ruler under the Vijayanagara empire, established a mud fort which is considered the foundation of the modern city of Bengaluru with the earlier established areas (petes) still in existence. After the fall of the Vijayanagara empire, Kempe Gowda declared independence, and the city was expanded by his successors. In 1638 CE, an Adil Shahi army defeated Kempe Gowda III, and the city became a jagir (feudal estate) of Shahaji. The Mughals later captured the city and sold it to Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore. After the death of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II in 1759 CE, Hyder Ali seized control of the kingdom and with it, the administration of Bengaluru, which passed subsequently to his son, Tipu Sultan.

The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave the seat of Peshwa to Bajirao Ballal. During the reign of Shahu, the office of Peshwas were handed more responsibilities to keep the Jagirdars and Vatandars of the Maratha Empire from rebelling. After the passing of Shahu I the empire had no male heir apparent; hence the duty of maintaining peace lay with the Peshwas till the heir apparent (Rajaram II) was of age. The Peshwas from the time of Balaji Rao became the supreme authority in Maratha empire and the Chhatrapati's position became nominal.

All Peshwas during the rule of Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram belonged to Marathi Deshastha Brahmin community. The first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle, who was appointed as the head of the Ashta Pradhan (council of eight ministers) by Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Kingdom. The initial Peshwas were all ministers who served as the chief executives to the king. The later Peshwas held the highest administrative office and also controlled the Maratha confederacy. Under the Bhat family, the Peshwas became the de facto hereditary administrators of the Confederacy. The Peshwa's office was most powerful under Baji Rao I (r. 1720–1740).

Samanta (Sanskrit: सामंत, IAST: Sāmanta) was a title or position used in the Indian subcontinent primarily from the 4th to the 12th century CE to denote a feudal lord, vassal, or tributary chief. The Sankrit root roughly translates to "neighbor". The institution is considered to be closely associated with the origin and growth of feudalism in ancient and medieval India. Such offices as zamindar, jagirdar, and mansabdar, among others, may be considered rough equivalents to the Samanta in the latter history of India.

The institution is known to have existed prior to the Gupta period, though details are vague. A Pallava inscription dating to the time of Santivarman (455–470 CE) uses the term Sāmanta-Chudamanayaha ("best among feudatories"). The term "Samanta" in South India usually referred to a vassal to a king or emperor. In North India, the earliest use of the term in a similar sense was in Bengal in the Barabar Hill Cave Inscription of the Maukhari Chief, Anantavarman (dated 6th century CE).

Nayak, Nayaka or Nayakar, was historically a honorific title conferred on a military captain in various feudal states of the Indian subcontinent, as a derivative of the ancient Sanskrit word Nāyaka. The title often came with a prize in the form of a palayam, jagir, zamindari, or similar grant of a fief carved out of the newly annexed territory. Today, they are also used as surnames by the descendants of the original recipients and as the modern military rank of Naik, while the film industry has co-opted the term with Katha Nayagan and Kathanayakudu. The title is closely related to the Telugu Nayakudu, Nayudu, or Naidu, the Malayali Nair, and the Tamil Nayakar, Nayakan, Naicken and Naicker. Nayaks are mostly Hindu with a few Sikhs.

Poonch jagir, or Poonch district, was a former semi-autonomous region in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The territory was divided between India and Pakistan in 1947, represented by the present-day Poonch Division of Azad Kashmir and Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Sikh monarch, Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured the Poonch region in 1819 and gave it to the Dogra noble, Raja Dhyan Singh, as a jagir (fief). After the death of Ranjit Singh, Dhyan Singh was murdered in Sikh intrigues, and the region was transferred to Gulab Singh as part of the Treaty of Amritsar, which established Jammu and Kashmir as a princely state under British suzerainty. The jagir of Poonch continued among Dhyan Singh's descendants as a subsidiary fief of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1928, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir started encroaching into the internal administration of the Poonch Jagir and, by 1947, the status of Poonch was like a regular district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Shahaji Bhonsale (Marathi pronunciation: [ʃəˈɦaːdʑiː ˈbʱos(ə)le]; 15 March 1594 – 23 January 1664) was a 17th-century Indian military leader who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a member of the Bhonsle dynasty, Shahaji inherited the Pune and Supe jagirs (fiefs) from his father Maloji, who previously served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. During the Mughal invasion of the Deccan, Shahaji joined the Mughal forces and served under Emperor Shah Jahan for a short period. After being deprived of his jagirs, he defected to the Bijapur Sultanate in 1632 and regained control over Pune and Supe. In 1638, he received the jagir of Bangalore after Bijapur's invasion of Kempe Gowda III's territories. Afterwards, he became the chief general of Bijapur and oversaw its expansion. He was the father of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Kingdom.

Charan (IAST: Cāraṇ; Sanskrit: चारण; Gujarati: ચારણ; Sindhi: چارڻ; IPA: cɑːrəɳə) is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. Historically, Charans have been engaged in diverse occupations like bards, poets, historians, pastoralists, agriculturalists and also administrators, jagirdars and warriors and some even as traders.

Banaras State, earlier Benares Estate, was an estate, or hereditary jagir, comprising the family domains of the Maharaja of Benares under the Nawabs of Oudh, East India Company rule, and the British Raj that from 1911 to 1948 was recognized as a princely state.

The estate was founded by the zamindar, Balwant Singh, who assumed the title of "Raja of Benares" in the mid 18th century, taking advantage of the Mughal Empire's disintegration. His descendants had zamindari privileges in an area around Benares city, but not in the city, which the East India Company had annexed under the Treaty of Faizabad in the later 1760s. Benares became a princely state of British Raj in 1911. On October 15, 1949, the State of Benares was merged with Uttar Pradesh.

Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (lit. 'the Just King'), was the Sultan of Hindustan, as the first Sur Emperor, from 1540 until his death in 1545. Prior to his ascension, he also served as the ruler of Bihar (1530–1540) and Bengal (1538–1540). He established the Sur Empire after defeating the Mughal Empire and declaring Delhi his seat of power. The influence of his innovations and reforms extended far beyond his brief reign, being recognized as one of the greatest administrative rulers in India. Sher Shah is renowned as one of the most skillful Afghan generals in history, and by the end of his reign, his empire covered nearly all of Northern India.

Born between 1472 and 1486 and given the name Farid Khan, his early childhood saw him flee from home due to internal family strife. He pursued an education in Jaunpur, where his rise to power began after his father offered him a managerial position over his jagirs. Sher Shah effectively governed these territories, gaining a reputation for his reforms that brought prosperity to the region. However, due to family intrigues, he eventually relinquished his position over the jagirs. Sher Shah then moved to Agra, where he stayed until his father's death. This event allowed him to return to his family's jagirs and take control, thereby solidifying his leadership and furthering his rise to power.

The Vatandar or Watandar (Hindi/Marathi : वतनदार) is an Indian term meaning "landholder". The title was given to landowners, particularly in Maharashtra.

The Vatandar generally owned a plot of land or Vatan/Watan worked by the local people, who were dependent on the vatandar for their subsistence. In some cases, "Vatan" land and the title vatandar were awarded to an individual by a higher ruler as reward for meritorious military service.

The Patwardhan Maratha princely state was established by the Patwardhan family, ruling several parts of the Maratha Empire from 1733 till 1948, when it acceded to the Dominion of India. At its peak, various branches of the dynasty controlled several Jagirs within the Maratha Empire, and later became protectorate Princely states in British India.

The branches of the dynasty, in order of creation: Kurundvad Senior (est. 1733), Miraj Senior (est. 1750), Sangli (est. 1782), Tasgaon (est. 1808), Jamkhandi (est. 1811), Miraj Junior (est. 1820), and Kurundvad Junior (est. 1854).