The Mahalwari system was used in India to protect village-level-autonomy. It was introduced by Holt Mackenzie in 1822.[1] The word "Mahalwari" is derived from the Hindi word Mahal, which means a community made from one or more villages..[2] Mahalwari consisted of landlords or Lambardars (also called as Nambardars) assigned to represent villages or groups of villages. Along with the village communities, the landlords were jointly responsible for the payment of revenue . Revenue was determined on basis of the produce of Mahal. Individual responsibility was not assigned. The land included under this system consisted of all land in the villages, including forestland, pastures etc. This system was prevalent in parts of the Gangetic Valley, Uttar Pradesh, the North Western province, parts of Central India and Punjab.[3]
The other two systems were the Permanent Settlement in Bengal in 1793 and the Ryotwari system in 1820. It covered the states of Punjab, Awadh and Agra, parts of Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh.