subadar

or su·bah·dar

[ soo-buh-dahr ]

noun

1. a provincial governor of the Mogul empire.
2. the chief Indian officer of a company of troops in the British Indian Army.

subadar

/ ˈsuːbəˌdɑː /

noun

1. (formerly) the chief native officer of a company of Indian soldiers in the British service Also calledsubah

Word History and Origins

Origin of subadar¹

First recorded in 1665–75; from Urdu, from Persian, equivalent to ṣūba “province” + dār “holding, holder”

Word History and Origins

Origin of subadar¹

C17: via Urdu from Persian, from sūba province + -dār holding

Example Sentences

The presence of a universally lauded Pakistani liaison officer Subadar Major Mohammed Saleem Khan helped immeasurably.

From Seattle Times

Lowremba Subadar, an excellent old fellow, formerly in the service of Colonel McCulloch, was sent to Shillong to be in attendance on me, and of course to find out all he could about me and report the result.

From Project Gutenberg

With these, and fifty men of my escort of the 4th Bengal Infantry, under Subadar Baluk Ram Chowby, I marched off on December 19th.

From Project Gutenberg

General Prendergast forwarded my recommendation to the Commander-in-Chief, and it was a great satisfaction to me when I heard afterwards that Baluk Ram Chowby, then Subadar Major of his Regiment, had received the Order of British India, with the title of “Bahadur,” and that other decorations and promotions had been bestowed.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the Subadar Baluk Ram Chowby insisted on their accompanying me for some distance.

From Project Gutenberg