The Zaildars of Madanpur Khadar

Tracing the soul of a city through its homes, this column looks at houses as living archives of the millions of people who make Delhi

- Anica Mann

Not far from Sarita Vihar in southeast Delhi, the road takes you in the direction of the Yamuna.

Most of it feels like New Delhi, till the road gets narrower and crowded: a clear sign of an older settlement still transitioning out of village vocabulary into the newness of the city.

This village, in the vicinity of the Yamuna, is Madanpur Khadar. Khadar translates to the fertile new alluvial belt by the river that is below the flood line. it is highly cultivable land and mostly surrounded by villages that work on this land.

When the British began making administrative strides in Delhi, this area came under their consideration. The British, around the 1850s, based their decision on issues such as caste or tribe, local influence, extent of landholding, services rendered to the state by a person or their family, and personal character and ability. So, they appointed a Zaildar from the Madanpur Khadar. The position was created so that local issues could be settled at the village-level, where the elderly headmen already had a hegemony over the people and was later also absorbed as member of the British jury.

The Zaildars, who were like Chaudharis of the village, then took on this hereditary position to become the administration’s revenue officers, thus extending the influence of the colonial state into the villages.

This was an important decision for the British as this Zaildar would control a very large tract of land with several villages under them from the Yamuna to Mehrauli, which comprised over 28 villages. This position had such influence and power that the first Zaildar, this title was included in the official communication.