daffadar

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{About|a military rank|the 2016 Indian film|Daffedar}}

File:Daffardar, 14th Lancers. (jat) Art.IWMART2344.jpg

Daffadar (Hindustani: दफ़ादार (Devanagari) ; {{Nastaliq|دفعدار}} (Nastaliq)) is the equivalent rank to sergeant in the Indian and Pakistani cavalry, as it was formerly in the British Indian Army.{{cite book |last1=Abler |first1=Thomas S. |title=Hinterland warriors and military dress: European empires and exotic uniforms |date=1999 |publisher=Berg |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-1-85973-201-4 |page=160 |chapter=Glossary}}{{cite web|url=https://www.empirefaithwar.com/tell-their-story/research-your-soldier/helpful-guides/indian-army-ranks|title=A Guide to Indian Army Ranks|access-date=2025-04-21}} The rank below is lance daffadar. The equivalent in infantry and other units is havildar.{{cite web|url=https://indianarmyranks.com/|title=Indian Army Ranks|access-date=2025-04-21}} Like a British sergeant, a daffadar wears three rank chevrons.{{cite web|url=https://ofwww.britishempire.co.uk/forces/27thltcav1901.htm|title=Subadar-Major c1901|access-date=2025-04-21}}

The etymology of the word is unclear. The -dar suffix, found in havildar and other words, means "holder". Thus the word means "holder of dafa' ". The intended meaning of dafa' is, however, unclear. In Arabic it means "pay" or "push", while in Persian, the more obvious source of the word, it means repulsion. It is unclear what role, if any, the word daffadar indicated in the Mughal Empire before it was used as a British Raj rank.