one of the three main revenue systems of land tenure in British India, the other two being the zamindar (landlord) and the ryotwari (individual cultivator). The word maḥalwārī is derived from the Hindi maḥal, 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 term maḥalwārī—and there were distinct types of assessment. If a landlord, or zamindar, held the whole estate, the settlement was with him; otherwise, payment was exacted from individual cultivators.