A system of local policing or watchmen in South Asian countries, especially in India; the office or responsibility of a chaukidar (guard).
From Hindi/Urdu 'चौकीदारी' (chaukidari), derived from 'चौकीदार' (chaukidar), from 'चौक' (chauk, marketplace/station) plus 'दार' (dar, holder/keeper). The system emerged in colonial India.
The 'chaukidar' is a fixture of South Asian life—originally the watchman of a marketplace or village, now often a security guard. The system shows how communities organized their own local security before formal police forces existed everywhere.
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