Sarkar (surname)

Sarkar is a surname among the people of the Indian subcontinent. It was an honorific title given to landlords/zamindars of East India, irrespective of their religious affiliation, under the Mughal Empire and even in Sher Shah's reign, as part of the erstwhile Persian nobility.[1][2][3] At present there are Sarkar families in different parts of West Bengal, India as well as in Bangladesh. The term is used in both Bengali Hindu and Muslim communities.

The Persian connotation of the word refers to 'chieftain', 'lord', or 'superintendent'.[1] In modern Bengali and Hindi, however, Sarkar refers to government/governance.[4]

  1. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick (8 May 2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. ISBN 0-19-977169-3.
  2. ^ Melville, Charles (25 February 2021). Safavid Persia in the Age of Empires: The Idea of Iran Vol. 10. ISBN 978-0-7556-3379-1.
  3. ^ Lorea, Carola (August 2016). Folklore, Religion and the Songs of a Bengali Madman: A Journey between Performance and the Politics of Cultural Representation. ISBN 978-90-04-32471-8.
  4. ^ "সরকার". English & Bengali Online Dictionary & Grammar. Retrieved 20 March 2022.