mahalwari system,one of the three main revenue systems ofland tenurein British India, the other two being thezamindar(landlord) and theryotwari(individual cultivator). The wordmahalwariis derived from the Hindimahal, meaning a house or, by extension, a district.
For revenue purposes the name was applied to any compact area containing one or more villages, which were called estates. The revenue settlement was made with the estate—hence the termmahalwari—and there were distinct types ofassessment. If azamindarheld the whole estate, the settlement was with him; otherwise, payment was exacted from individual cultivators
