Vatandar

Vatandar (or Watandar) is an Indian term meaning "landholder". The title was given to landowners, particularly with the Maratha community in Maharashtra, who were a ruling caste in Ancient India.

The vatandar generally owned a plot of land or vatan/watan worked by the local people, who were dependent on the vatandar for their subsistence. In some cases, vatan land and the title vatandar were awarded to an individual by a higher ruler as reward for meritorious service.

Sources

• The State and the Village Community in Medieval Maharashtra (Seventeenth-Eighteenth Century AD)/Mily Roy Anand. New Delhi, Rajat, 2005, vii, 119 p., ISBN 81-7880-156-6.
• http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/Ahmadnagar/gen_admin_collector.html
• Medieval Indian History. Krishnaji Nageshrao Chitnis. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2003 ISBN 81-7156-062-8, 978-81-7156-062-2.
• Administrative System of the Marathas. Surendra Nath Sen, Published by K. P. Bagchi, 1976 Pg. 18,21,141