Under native rule, the area under a Faujdar, or subordinate governor; now used generally of Magistrates criminal courts.

Faujdar was a title awarded by Muslim rulers to people who had responsibility of protecting some territory. In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but did not refer to a specific rank. With the administrative reforms performed by Mughal Empire emperor Akbar this rank was systemised. The empire as a whole was divided into provinces known as subah which were further divided into sarkar, and then pargana. One of the names used to describe the officer posted to act as the administrator of the sarkar was faujdar.