Numbardar or Lambardar (Hindi: नम्बरदार, Punjabi: ਲੰਬੜਦਾਰ, لمبردار, Urdu: لمبردار or نمبردار, Bengali: লম্বরদার/নম্বরদার, romanized: Lombordar/Nombordar) was the village headman responsible for tax collection in the village during the British Raj. They were appointed under the Mahalwari system.

The compound word numberdar is composed of the English word number (such as a certain number or percentage of the land revenue) and dar (در from the Persian loan word into Bengali, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi languages, meaning the bearer, possessor, holder, keeper or owner), thus in this context it means the one who holds a certain percentage of the land revenue. The alternate term lambardar is a matter of dialect. In the Malwa region of Punjab and the states of Haryana, Himachal, Delhi, Uttra Khand, Uttar Pradesh, etc., the official term in the land revenue acts is numberdar. In Majha dialect of Punjabi language, the sound L become N, such as langhna (pass) and nambardar (percentage revenue holder) become naghna and lambardar respectively. The term lambardar is used in the land revenue acts of Jammu and Kashmir state of India and West Punjab (Pakistan) and Pakistan. Currently both terms, are easily substituted across India and Pakistan, including in the land revenue acts of Uttar Pradesh.

During early and medieval times, cultivators just broke the land and cultivated as much they needed. During drought and famine they frequently abandoned the land and moved to other places. Hence, the land ownership was not a permanent concept. They were taxed by the rulers of the day based on the number of the cattle and area of the land cultivated. After the famine of 1783, many cultivators abandoned the villages and migrated elsewhere, and some land was sold by the owners. Slowly prominent farmers came into the possession of large lands, and they acquired the status of proprietors of the village estate and were recorded as such during the settlement of 1840-41 by the British Raj. These estates came to be known as zamindari or pattidari tenures, most influential and the largest estate-holders among them in due time became zaildars and lambardars. The British even used them as a localised dispute ombudsman and gave these big zamindars some moral policing rights. During the settlement of 1840-41, the tenants were classified into three classes: (a) those who had held land continuously for many years at a fixed rent and were not liable to ejectment, (b) the tenants in bhaiachara (brotherhood) villages who paid rent at the same rate as the members of brotherhood and who so long as they paid this rate were never ejected, (c) and those who cultivated from year to year under fresh agreement. These tenancies were further classified during 1863 settlement and a definite status was fixed on different classes of tenants. The ordinary division into tenants with or without right of occupancy was adopted. Thus, the concept of the formal permanent ownership of the land came into being, and became a legalized and formally documented.

Each estate is represented by one or more lambardars in its dealings with the government. Estates are grouped into patwar circles under the charge of a Patwari, while 15 to 20 circles form the charge of a Kanungo, whose duty is to supervise the work of Patwaris. An estate is the unit of land revenue administration for the collection of tax. Each estate is usually equal to a village. Each estate is individually assessed by a Patwari and its record of rights and register of fiscal and agricultural statistics maintained separately. All the proprietors are by law jointly responsible for payment of land revenue.

After India's independence in 1947, government enacted several land reforms such as the assessment of permissible area in relation to a family instead of an individual, and reduced the permissible area to the set limit (e.g. to 7.25 hectares in Punjab) of land under assured irrigation capable of growing at least 1 crop in a year or 21.8 hectares in respect of any other land including banjar and land under orchards. In addition to legally capping the amount land holding by the government, the voluntary Bhoodan movement of 1950s and 60s also led to the donation of the land ownership from rich owners to the landless tenants. Government also undertook aggressive land consolidation and standardization of killa (agricultural plots of one acre each).

In India, each state has its own land acts governing the system of Nambardari. Following acts are applicable to the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Before the Land Holdings Tax Act, 1973, was enacted, the lambardar was paid pachhotra (commission) at the rate of 5 per cent of land revenue. In this act various levies were consolidated into land holdings tax and lambardars' share was fixed at 3 per cent of the new tax revenue.

Presently, remuneration varies from state to state, some states pay no wages or commission, some pay an honorarium and while others pay nothing.