Definition of: zemindar

(zə·mēn′där′) noun
In India, a tax farmer, required, under the Mogul rule, to pay a fixed sum for the tract of land assigned him; hence, later, especially in Bengal, a native landlord required to pay a certain land tax to the English government; an owner of the soil: also spelled zamindar. [<Hind. <Persian zamīndār <zamīn earth + dār a holder]