Pargana#Mughal era

{{short description|Former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent}}

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{{use Indian English|date=June 2016}}

Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah{{cite book |last=Akhter |first=Nasrin |year=2012 |chapter=Sarkar |chapter-url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sarkar |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh}} as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empires.[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924007471935/cu31924007471935_djvu.txt "A Catalogue of Manuscript and Printed Reports, Field Books, Memoirs, Maps ..." Vol. iv, "Containing the treaties, etc., relating to the states within the Bombay presidency"] Mughal Empire was divided into Subah (Suba) or province headed by a Subahdar, which were further subdivided into sarkars or tarafs, which in turn were further subdivided into groups of villages known as parganas or Mahallas (Mahal). Depending on the size, the parganas may or may not be further subdivided into pirs{{Cite book |last= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EiYLAQAAIAAJ |title=Orissa District Gazetteers: Mayurbhanj |date=1967 |publisher=Superintendent, Orissa Government Press |location=Orissa (India) |pages=347 |language=en}} or mouzas which were the smallest revenue units, consisting of one or more villages and the surrounding countryside. In Bengal, the Sarkar system was replaced in the early 18th century by the Chakla system.{{cite book |last=Akhtar |first=Shirin |year=2012 |chapter=Chakla System |chapter-url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Chakla_System |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh}} In the Punjab region, the British established new Punjab Canal Colonies in which the smallest unit [equivalent to village or Mauza or pir] were termed Chak. Above-mentioned revenue units were used primarily, but not exclusively, by Muslim kingdoms. After Independence of India in 1947, the parganas became equivalent to Block/Tahsil, and pirs or mahals became Grampanchayat.

The Mughal government in the pargana consisted of a Muslim judge and local tax collector.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Mughal Empire |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online |year=2015 |last=Conermann |first=Stephan |publisher=Brill |url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EMHO/COM-024206.xml?rskey=YrXHKP |access-date=2022-03-28 |doi=10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_024206|url-access=subscription }}{{Citation |last=Robinson |first=Francis |title=Mughal Empire |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0549 |year=2009 |access-date=2022-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329002419/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0549 |url-status=live |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-530513-5 |archive-date=29 March 2022 |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|url-access=subscription }} Under the reign of Sher Shah Suri, administration of parganas was strengthened by the addition of other officers, including a shiqdar (police chief), an amin or munsif (an arbitrator who assessed and collected revenue) and a karkun (record keeper).