In medieval India, the system of assigning the revenue of a particular territory to nobles and state officials continued during the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal period.

Under the Mughals, the areas assigned were generally called jagirs and their holders were called jagirdars. There were many types of jagirs—Tankha, Mashrut, Watan, and Altamgha. Watan Jagirs were hereditary and non-transferable land grants given to the local rulers (like Rajput chiefs), in their own ancestral lands (watan) in return for acknowledging Mughal sovereignty, paying tribute, and providing military service, allowing them to retain local rule while integrating into the imperial structure. Unlike other jagirs, these lands were not transferable and stayed in the family, thereby solidifying loyalty and incorporating regional power into the empire. When a Rajput chief became a mansabdar (a Mughal military rank), he kept his ancestral land as a Watan Jagir but might receive a Tankha Jagir (a transferable salary grant) elsewhere if the income from his homeland was insufficient to meet the salary attached to his rank.