28o
THE INDIAN EMPIRE
[CHAP.
traders, and others. The waste land is allotted to the village,
and if wanted for cultivation is partitioned among the share-
holders. The village government was originally by thepancha-
'at ' or group of heads of superior families. In later times one
or more headmen have been added to the organization to
represent the village in its dealings with the local authorities;
but the artificial character of this appointment, as compared
with that which obtains in a ryotwari village, is evidenced by
the title of its holder, which is generally lambarddr, a vernacular
derivative from the English word 'number.' It is this type of
village to which the well-known description in Sir H. Maine's
i'llage Communiies is alone applicable, and here the co-
proprietors are in general a local oligarchy with the bulk of the
village population as tenants or labourers under them. Their
position is, as a rule, due to descent, with the equal rights
afforded-by the Hindu joint family system, (a) from an original
superior proprietor who obtained that position by grant from a
native ruler, or in later times as a revenue farmer or by pur-
chase; or (b) from a body of men connected by ties of blood
or association who originally colonized the village or super-
imposed themselves on the earlier inhabitants.
Village In whatever way the village organization arose, it incorporated
officersand the customary staff of functionaries, artisans, and traders, all of
whom, it must be remembered, exercise their vocations as a
matter of caste and heredity, and were originally remunerated
by lands or fixed fees for their services to the community and
to members.
' Under both forms [of village] the people require the
aid of certain functionaries, artisans, and traders. They
need a village messenger and night-watch, as well as some
one to guard the crops; if it is an irrigated village probably
some one will be required to distribute the water, to stop
this channel and open that, when, according to the village
custom of sharing the water, the different parties have had
their due share. A potter will be required to furnish the
simple household utensils, or to make waterpots where the
Persian wheel is used in wells. A seller of brass or copper pots
will also be found in larger villages. A cobbler will make the
village shoes and the plough harness or gear. A carpenter will
fashion the agricultural implements and help in the house-
building. A money broker will be needed. and some one to
Panchdyat comes from pncih, ' five,' but the bodv so called is not
limited to this number. Many castes in towns and villages have also their
own panclhyats, which deal with business, social, and religious matters
common to the caste,
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