A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a zamindari. The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; zamindar is the Persian for landowner. During the British Raj, the British began using it as a local synonym for "estate". Subsequently, it was widely and loosely used for any substantial landed magnates in the British India. Zamindars as a class were equivalent to lords and barons; in some cases, they were independent sovereign princes. Similarly, their holdings were typically hereditary and came with the right to collect taxes on behalf of imperial courts or for military purposes. This continued in states like Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal even after independence until the abolition of zamindari in 1950. Zamindari was continued even after 1950 due exploitation of caste domination by castes like Bhumihars of Bihar, Thakurs of Uttar Pradesh, Tyagis of Haryana, to name a few.