In return, during the Mutiny of 1857, the Zaildars of Punjab kept their men loyal. They did not join the rebels. They sent their sons to the British Indian Army. This bargain—loyalty for local tyranny—defined the Raj.
Today, the sons of the Zaildars are the Waderas (feudal lords) who contest elections. The Zail has become a Union Council . The silver staff has become a political ticket. When a local politician holds a jirga (council) to settle a murder dispute in defiance of the police, that is the ghost of the Zaildar. When a family of 500 votes en bloc for a candidate because the Sardar told them to, that is the Zaildar. zaildar