Kunduana

During the reign of Mughal emperors, when the modern day Gujrat District was part of Subah of Lahore, the Ilaqa of Gujrat had three Parganas. Out of these, the Pargana of Gujrat had eight Tappas. One of these Tappas was named after the ancestor of Kunduanas and called Tappa of Kandu.[2] This Tappa had six Topes[3] and 320 villages out of which 209 were Uslee (original) and 111 Dakhlee (internal).[4] Alamgir II was the last Mughal emperor having sway over Gujrat District.[5] The following were the district administration subdivisions under the Mughal emperors:

• Ilaqa (علاقہ)[6] -- headed by Fauzdar (administrative head), Amalguzar (revenue collector) and Kotwal (responsible for maintenance of law and order, the trial of criminal cases, and price regulation).
• Pargana (پرگنہ) or Taraf (طرف) [7][8] -- headed by Shiqdar (police chief at the Pargana level who also had to perform duties of Kotwal) and Amin (revenue collector).
• Tappa (تپہ) -- manned by Patadar (treasurer), Qanungo (keeper of land record) and Bitikchis (clerks). Its head might have the same powers as the modern day Tapedar in Sindh. A Tappa during the Mughal rule corresponded to a Zail under the Sikh Empire and British Raj.[9]
• Tope (توپ) -- headed by a Chaudhry.[10]
• Mauza (موضع) -- manned by Muqaddam (head of the village), Patwari (performing the duties of an accountant) and Chowkidar (watchman).

The Tappa of Kandu (Mughal India) had six Topes,[11] detail of which is as follows:

After the Mughal Empire, Gujrat District went under the Durrani Empire.

After the Durrani Empire, Gujrat District went under the Sikh Confederacy.

During the Sikh Empire, administrative unit Pargana was replaced with Ilaqa while Tappa was renamed as Zail and number of Ilaqas and Zails was increased as compared to their previous counterparts. The Zails were made when Ranjit Singh assumed direct government, by his astute ministers Fakir Nuruddin and Fakir Azizuddin.[12] The name of Kandu was not carried forward in the newly formed Zails. The only available list of the Zails during the Sikh Empire is the one which stood immediately before the advent of the British Raj. This list does not show any Zail with the name of Kandu. However, many Kunduanas were appointed as Zaildars during the Sikh Empire.[13] The district administration units under the Sikh Empire were as follows:

• Pargana (پرگنہ) -- was under an official known as Kardar.
• Taluka (تعلقہ)
• Ilaqa (علاقہ)
• Zail (ذیل),[14] was headed by a Zaildar.
• Mauza (موضع), was headed by a Chaudhry or Muqaddam.

The British Raj adopted the administrative unit Zail introduced by the Sikh Empire.[15]

In Pakistan, Kunduana offshoot is found in Gujrat, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Chakwal, Sialkot, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Hafizabad, Narowal, Bahawalpur, Multan, Bahawalnagar and Sheikhupura districts of Punjab.

In India, Kunduanas reside mainly in the Punjab and the Indian-administered Kashmir. In Punjab, five villages have only Kunduanas. In Kashmir, they are found in the tehsil of Srinagar.[16]