Sarkar

Sarkar is a surname among the people of the Indian subcontinent. It was an honorific title given to landlords/zamindars of East India, irrespective of their religious affiliation, under the Mughal Empire and even in Sher Shah's reign, as part of the erstwhile Persian nobility. At present there are Sarkar families in different parts of West Bengal, India as well as in Bangladesh. The term is used in both Bengali Hindu and Muslim communities. The Persian connotation of the word refers to 'chieftain', 'lord', or 'superintendent'. In modern Bengali and Hindi, however, Sarkar refers to government/governance. The developed form of the word Sharkar is Sarkar and the developed form of the same Sarkar word is Sargar or "Sargara" in Rajasthani dialect. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 79.0% of all known bearers of the surname Sarkar were residents of West Bengal, India and 19.8% were residents of Bangladesh. In India, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following states and union territories: Tripura (1:29) West Bengal (1:55) Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1:99) Assam (1:207)