Historically, an Indian official responsible for guarding a ghat (a riverside landing place or steps) or collecting taxes from river traffic.
From Hindi 'ghat' (landing, steps) plus 'wal' (keeper/guardian). British records of India preserved this administrative term. The role disappeared with colonial restructuring of Indian governance.
Ancient Indian river management had specialized officials for everything—the ghatwal reminds us that cities like Varanasi had complex tax systems based on river commerce centuries before modern ports!
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