Village Democracy: Panchayat System
Vedic and post-Vedic sources show the Indian villages as self-sufficient and autonomous miniature republics. While kingdoms and empires rose and fell, these villages survived. This essential sense of continuity in the village social organization can be understood by centering the conversation on the panchayat system.
Sir Charles Metcalfe described the autonomous village in 1830 as “little republics, having nearly everything they can want within themselves…They seem to last where nothing else la
Sir Charles Metcalfe described the autonomous village in 1830 as “little republics, having nearly everything they can want within themselves…They seem to last where nothing else la