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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 4, p. 385.

POLICE AND JAILS 3E5 him to track a thief by his footsteps; and if he does this to another village, so as to satisfy the watchman there, or if he otherwise traces the property to an adjoining village, his respon- sibility ends, and it is the duty of the watchman of the new village to take up the pursuit. The last village to which the thief has been clearly traced becomes answerable for the property stolen, which would otherwise fall on the village where the robbery was com- mitted. The watchman is obliged to make up this amount as far as his means go, and the remainder is levied on the whole village'.' Sir Thomas Munro, who was an ardent supporter of the indigenous police, thus described that institution as it existed in the Madras Presidency: ' There is already an ancient system of police in India which answers every useful purpose. In every village there are hereditary watchmen whose business it is to guard the property of the inhabitants and travellers from depredation, and to exert themselves in recovering it when lost or stolen; and there is, perhaps, no race of men in the world equally dexterous in discovering the thieves. They are main- tained by the produce of an inim [free grant] land, by a trifling tax on each house, and by a small allowance from travellers when they watch their property at night. No war or calamity can make them abandon their heritage. If driven from it, they always return again; and often live in the village when every other person has forsaken it. This long and constant residence, together with their habits of life, make them perfectly acquainted with the character and the means of livelihood of every person in it. When, therefore, a robber is to be apprehended the new police officers apply to them, and seldom give themselves any further trouble than merely to carry the criminal, when the village watchmen have secured him, to the judge.' In the Tamil country the village police were supervised by an official styled the men kavalgdr; and it is probable that this was originally the practice everywhere, the office being eventually appropriated by the petty local chieftain or superior landlord. In Northern India the village system was less complete. There was no headman, and though every village had its watch- man, he was the servant of the landowners rather than of the whole community, and the landowners were held responsible for losses occasioned by crime committed on their land. The Mughals made no change in the system of village police, Its decay but the duty of supervising them was entrusted to the revenue with the break-up officers, who were also magistrates. In the South this involved of the I G. W. Forrest's Selections from the Minutes of Jfountstuart 'Elhin- stone (1884), pp. 303-4. VOL. IV. C C