Feudal Landlords of Madras Presidency British India, 1920 Photo
A 1902 photo shows feudal landlords or zamindars somewhere in the Madras Presidency during the British India era. Accompanied likely by their kith and kin and attendants, notice their car on the right side. In Persian, the Zamindar means a landlord or landowner.
They hereditarily held vast stretches of provincial land and had the right to collect taxes under a sovereign ruler. The East India Company was the de facto ruler until 1857, they conferred aristocratic titles such as Raja, Rai, Nawabs, and so on to the Zamindars. This was mainly to gain their trust in collecting taxes on behalf of the East India Company.
This feudal system applied primarily to the British Presidency regions of Bengal and Madras. The Madras Presidency’s zamindari system ceased to function after 1852 for some reason. Nonetheless, they survived until 1947 thereafter, the zamindari system was abolished. However, many remnants of the Zamindari system still existed, one of which is shown in this photo, a Zamindar of the Madras Presidency.
Also read Step inside this 800-year-old palace in Coimbatore for a date with royalty.
Did you know- before colonial rule, famines in the country were almost unheard of, it was only after the arrival of the British that there were countless numbers of famines in the country.
From the collection- Old Postcard – Railway Station & Steam Locomotive, Belgaum., Antique Photo Calcutta’s Old Howrah Bridge 1900., 1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal Art Abstract (#15)., Antique Print Bombay The Monsoon Floods., Antique Plan – Taking of The City of Cochin 1744
