Zamindars of Madras Presidency British India, 2 Photos 1920
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 sovereign ruler of colonial India 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 primarily applied to the British Colonial regions. 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, some of the zamindari families can be seen in these two photos. Both were believed to be Zamindars of the Madras Presidency.
Also read Step inside this 800-year-old palace in Coimbatore for a date with royalty.
Did you know that, before colonial rule, famines in the country were almost unheard of? It was only after the arrival of the British that the country experienced numerous famines.
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
