mirasdarn.

1796 Minutes Consultation, Board of Revenue, Madras 16 Apr. in M. Wilks Hist. Mysore (1869) I. v. 105 This definition..of the original right of a Meerassdar,..involves a contradiction in terms; for it defines it to be an indefeasible proprietary right in the cultivation of the soil, the proprietary right of which soil is, a priori, vested in the Circar alone.

1823 Proc. Board of Revenue 16 Jan. in Tinnevelly District Rec. 3576 31, in D. Ludden Peasant Hist. S. India vi. 180 If Meerasidars possess the right of occupancy and either cultivate the land themselves or by means of the Ryots, the settlement should be made with them.

1918 V. Venkataraman in G. Slater Some S. Indian Villages 208 Very few of the labourers own the sites on which they have built their huts. These are owned by the ‘mirasdars’ of the village, mostly Brahmins, and the labourers pay a nominal rent.

1944 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 9 656/2 They [sc. the ‘Outcastes’] must sell away their own lands to the Mirasidars at very cheap rates.

1969 Hindu 28 July 9/8 Mr. Rajagopal Naidu and Mr. Kaliamoorthy, mirasdars of Verkudy village, are alleged to have been attacked to-day by some kisans.

1985 D. Ludden Peasant Hist. S. India v. 146 The development of private property rights and the dissolution of landowning collectivities..destroyed the investment capacity of mirasidar assemblies altogether.