India has 28 states and eight union territories, which are divided into divisions comprising several districts. Subdistricts are most commonly referred to as tehsils, which comes under a sub-division of a district. The current terms have replaced earlier geographical terms, such as pargana and thana.^[1]

Most subdistricts in India correspond to an area within a district including the designated city, town, hamlet, or other populated place that serves as its administrative centre, with possible additional towns, and usually a number of villages.^[2]

In the Indian administrative context, states adopt various nomenclatures for their sub-district divisions, including Tehsil, Taluk, Circle, Subdivision, and Mandal. Notably, Tehsil predominates in North Indian states, whereas Taluk is prevalent in South Indian states. These delineations exist beneath the level of revenue division/sub-division within the administrative framework of a district. Each sub-district is headed by a tehsildar/mamlatdar/mandal revenue officer.

States use varying names for their sub-districts. Detailed information is as follows (as of 2018):^[3]

• List of community development blocks in India