zamindar
/zəˈmiːndɑː
/(also zemindar)
noun Indian historical
A landowner, especially one who leases his land to tenant farmers.Atman's ancestors left their homeland due to the cruel exploitation by the zamindars, besides excruciating poverty and disease....
- Land ownership was redistributed to British-selected zamindars, by using excuses of human rights abuses of the prior owners or rulers.
- The zamindars were not really ‘masters of the land’ but tax farmers subservient to imperial officials.
Origin
Via Urdu from Persian zamīndār, from zamīn 'land' + -dār 'holder'.