Mouza

In Bangladesh and Eastern India a mouza or mauza is a type of administrative district, corresponding to a specific land area within which there may be one or more settlements. Before the 20th century, the term referred to a revenue collection unit in a pargana or revenue district. As populations increased and villages became more common and developed, the concept of the mouza declined in importance. Today it has become mostly synonymous with the gram or village. Most censuses and voter lists, for example, now use the names of villages rather than mouzas.[1]

The term has a similar meaning in the Assam region of India, where a mouza is a locality in a district or within a large Assamese city. This term should not be confused with the term Gaon (meaning village in Assamese, Hindi and Urdu). In Assam, several villages typically form a single mouza. The head of the mouza is known as a mouzadar or mazumdar.

In Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand, the head of a mouza is called a Mulraiyat or a Pradhan. The office of Mulraiyat or Pradhan is held hereditary and the eldest son gets the office of a deceased Mulraiyat or Pradhan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Islam, Sirajul (2012). "Mouza". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
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