Pargana
Topic: The Mughal Empire: Babur to Aurangzeb · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Peasants, Zamindars and the State"
Meaning
A pargana was a small administrative and revenue unit in Mughal India. Each subah (province) was divided into sarkars (districts). Each sarkar was divided into parganas, and each pargana covered a group of villages. The pargana was where the state's revenue system met village life. It mattered because land was measured and revenue was collected at this level.
Example
Aurangzeb ordered the revenue officials (amins) of the parganas to survey cultivation village by village and peasant by peasant. In this way the state knew how much land was farmed before fixing the revenue.
Don't confuse with
- Sarkar: a sarkar was the bigger district unit. A pargana was a smaller part of it.