A striking contrast between historical northern and southern India is the absence of Kshatriya institutions in the south. “The normal political condition in Northern India during ancient and medieval times was its division into a great number of small territories under kin-linked warrior families of high status. Such was the nature of Kshatriya raj” (Stein 1980:48). Morris E. Opler and others have found that the organization of this old order is still apparent in the social geography of north Indian villages. For example, the village of Senapur in Uttar Pradesh is part of a larger territory that was divided into village areas by the descendants of the original Kshatriya chief who conquered and settled the region. Most of the village's panchayat (village council) and jajmani (traditional intercaste redistributive system) ties are confined to this territory, known as the “Dhobi Area.”