those who were driven out when the village was depopulated; and it is not a trifling matter that will drive them out for they will often maintain their post throug1imes of disturbance and convulsion, and acquire strength sufficient to resist pillage and oppression with success. This union of the village communities, each one forming a separate little state in itself, has, I conceive, contributed more than any other cause to the preservation of the people of India through all the revolutions and changes which they have suffered, and is in a high degree conducive to their happiness, and to the enjoyment of a great portion of freedom and independence.” * CHAP. II. ment of a by one A township in its simplest form is under a GovernHeadman (B), who is only spoken of in Menu township as an agent of the King, and may have been head. removable at his pleasure. His office has now become hereditary; and though he is still regarded as an officer of the King, he is really more the representative of the people. The selection of an individual from the proper family rests sometimes with the village community, and oftener with the government; but to be useful to either he must possess the confidence of both. He holds a portion of land, and receives an annual allowance from the government; but the greater part of his income is derived from fees paid by the villagers. So far is he identified with the village, that he is held per * Sir C. T. Metcalfe, Report of Select Committee of House of Commons, 1832, vol. iii. Appendix 84. p. 331. II. BOOK Sonally responsible for its engagements, and thrown into prison in all cases of resistance or failure of the revenue. Duties of the head man. Village establish The headman settles with the government the sum to be paid to it for the year; and apportions the payment among the villagers according to the extent and tenures of their lands. He also lets such lands as have no fixed occupants, partitions the water for irrigation, settles disputes, apprehends offenders, and sends them to the government officer of the district; and, in short, does all the duties of municipal government. All this is done in public, at a place appropriated for the purpose; and, on all points affecting the public interest, in free consultation with the villagers. In civil disputes the headman is assisted by arbitrators named by the parties, or by assessors of his own choice. His office confers a great deal of respectability with all the country people, as well as influence in his own village. It is saleable; but the owner seldom parts with it entirely, reserving the right of presiding at certain ceremonies and other honorary privileges, when compelled to dispose of all the solid advantages. The headman is assisted by different officers, of ment; the whom the accountant and the watchman are the watchman, most important. accountant, &c. The accountant (C) keeps the village records, which contain a full description of the nature of the lands of the village, with the names of the former and present holders, the rent, and other II. terms of occupancy. He also keeps the accounts CHAP. of the village community and those of the villagers individually, both with the government and with each other. He acts as notary in drawing up deeds for them, and writes private letters for those who require such a service. He is paid by fees on the inhabitants, and sometimes has an allowance or an assignment of land from the government. The watchman (D) is the guardian of boundaries, public and private. He watches the crops, is the public guide and messenger, and is, next to the headman, the principal officer of police. In this capacity he keeps watch at night, observes all arrivals and departures, makes himself acquainted with the character of every individual in the village, and is bound to find out the possessor of any stolen property within the township, or to trace him till he has passed the boundary, when the responsibility is transferred to the next neighbour. These duties may seem beyond the powers of one man; but the remuneration is hereditary in a particular family, all the members of which contribute to perform the service.* They are always men of a low cast. *This is the only office in which the sort of joint tenancy described is beneficial. In most others the sharers act in turn: in that of the accountant the evil is most conspicuous, as the records are lost or thrown into confusion by frequently changing hands, and none of the coparceners is long enough in office to be perfect in his business. BOOK II. Government by a commu nity. The money-changer may also be considered an assistant of the headman, as one of his duties is to assay all money paid. He is also the silversmith of the village. Besides these, there are other village officers, the number of which is fixed by the native name and by common opinion at twelve; but, in fact, it varies in different villages, and the officers included are not always the same. The priest and the astrologer (one of whom is often the schoolmaster), the smith, carpenter, barber, potter, and worker in leather, are seldom wanting. The tailor, washerman, physician, musician, minstrel, and some others, are not so general: the dancing girl seems only to be in the south of India. The minstrel recites poems and composes verses. His most important character (in some places at least) is that of genealogist.* Each of these village officers and artisans has a fee, sometimes in money, more frequently a portion of produce, as a handful or two out of each measure of grain. This is the mode of village government, when village there is nobody between the tenant and the prince; but in one half of India, especially in the north and the extreme south, there is in each village a community which represents, or rather which con. stitutes, the township; the other inhabitants being * The widely extended entail of all property in India, and the complicated restrictions on the intermarriage of families, make the business of a genealogist of much more serious concern in that country than it is with us. II. their tenants. (E) These people are generally re- CHAP. garded as absolute proprietors of the soil, and are admitted, wherever they exist, to have a hereditable and transferable interest in it; but, as the completeness of their proprietary right is doubtful, it will be convenient to preserve the ambiguity of their native name, and call them "village landholders." (F) Where they exist, the village is sometimes governed by one head, as above described; but more frequently each branch of the family composing the community (or each family, if there be more than one,) has its own head, who manages its internal affairs, and unites with the heads of the other divisions to conduct the general business of the village. The council thus composed fills precisely the place occupied in other cases by the single headman, and its members share among them the official remuneration allowed to that officer by the government and the villagers. Their number depends on that of the divisions, but seldom exceeds eight or ten. Each of these heads is generally chosen from the oldest branch of his division, but is neither richer nor otherwise distinguished from the rest of the landholders. - inhabit Where there are village landholders, they form Classes of the first class of the inhabitants of villages; but ants. there are four other classes of inferior degree : 2. Permanent tenants. 3. Temporary tenants. 4. Labourers. 5. Shopkeepers, who take up their abode in a village for the convenience of a market. |