mustajir
A historical term from colonial India for a farmer or cultivator who holds land in exchange for paying rent.
Definitions
A historical term from colonial India for a farmer or cultivator who holds land in exchange for paying rent. The mustajir occupied a specific legal and economic position in the landowning hierarchy of the subcontinent, distinct from both the landowner above and the sharecropper below. The term is now primarily of historical interest.
The mustajir paid his seasonal dues to the zamindar and continued working the same fields his father had.
Comments
(India, historical) A farmer who pays rent.
Comments
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "mustajir".
🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "mustajir" (M)
Browse all slang words starting with M.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- mirasidari61%
A historical South Indian term referring to a hereditary land tenure system in which rights to cultivate particular land were passed down through generations within a family. The mirasi system was significant in the social and agricultural organisation of parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh during the colonial period.
- mustanger61%
(US, historical) A person who captures wild horses.
- malguzar59%
From Urdu 'mal' (goods, revenue) + 'guzar' (one who pays or passes), an Anglo-Indian colonial term for a village landlord responsible for paying land revenue to the British administration. The malguzar system was prominent in Central Provinces (now Madhya Pradesh); the role was abolished after Indian independence.
- mirasidar59%
(India, historical) A village landholder who paid rent directly to the sovereign; an aristocratic landowner in India.