Question

Examine the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated Mughal rural society.

Answer 1

1. The village panchayat was an assembly of elders with hereditary rights over their property.
2. the panchayat was usually a heterogeneous body.
3. An oligarchy, the panchayat represented various castes and communities.
4. The decisions made by panchayats were binding on the members.
5. The panchayat was headed by a headman known as muqaddam or Mandal.
6. The headman was chosen through the consensus of the village elders, and this choice had to be ratified by the zamindar.
7. Headmen held office as long as they enjoyed the confidence of the village elders, failing which they could be dismissed by them.
8. The chief function of the headman was to supervise the preparation of village accounts, assisted by the accountant or patwari of the panchayat.
9. The panchayat derived its funds from contributions made by individuals to a common financial pool.
10. Panchayat ensured that caste boundaries among the various communities inhabiting the village were upheld.
11. Panchayats also had the authority to levy fines and inflict more serious forms of punishment like expulsion from the community.