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Discuss, the ways in which panchayat and village headmen regulate rural society .

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Solution :Regulation of rural society by panchayats and headmen:
(i) Meaning of panchayat: The village panchayatconsisted of an assembly of elders, theyrepresenteddifferent castesand communities except the menialclass.
(ii) General composition and function. : In the mixed village the panchayat wasusually a heterogeneous body . The Panchayat represented different castes and communities inthe village
The village panchayat was headed by Muqaddam also known as mandal. Hewas elected withconsensus of htevillage elders and remained in the office tillhe enjoyedtheconfidence of village elders. Functions of Muqadam:
(i)The main function of panchayat was to ENSURE thatcasteboundariesamong the various communitiesinhabiting the village were upheld.
(ii) It had also the authorityto levy fines and taxes.
(iii)It can also the authority the levy finesand taxes.
(iv)EachJati in the villagehad its own Jatipanchayat. Jati Panchayat wielded considerable power in thesociety. In Rajasthan, the Jatipanchayats arbitrated civildisputes between members of the different castes.
(v)It also MEDIATED in disputes and claims on LAND,decided whethermarriages had beenperformedaccordingto that caste.snorm, etc. In mostcases, the state respected the decisions takenby the Jati Panchayat.
(vi)Thepanchayatswere alsoregarded as the court of appeal, that wouldensure that thestate carried outitsmoral responsibilities.
(vii)For justice, petitions wereoftenmade to themanchayat collectivelyby a group of caste or a community protestingagainst what they cosnidered to be morallyillegitimatedemands on the partof elites
(viii)INCASES of excessive revenue demands, THEPANCHAYAT often suggested acompromis, Ifthisfailed, the peasants took recourse to more drasticforms of punishment suchas desertingthe villge
(ix)An accountantof Patwari helped in themaintenance of accountsof the Panchayat.
(x) Thepanchayats gottheirfunds from contributionmade by individualsto common financial pool .
(xi)Thesefunds wereused fordefraying thecostsof entertaining revenue officials who usually visited the village.


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