Introduction

In the years after Indian independence, the concept of Panchayati Raj seemed to have disappeared permanently into the mists of India's romantic past. In the late twentieth century, however, the notion has returned once more to the political agenda, for a variety of reasons: strategic, practical, economic and ideological. This essay briefly traces the origins of the concept of Panchayati, offers some historical examples of the panchayat in use, and attempts an explanation as to why it should once again have assumed importance in the minds of politicians, NGOs and administrators.

To begin with, we need to ask about the etymology of ‘panchayat’. On doing so, one discovers that despite its apparent place in Indian tradition, the meanings of the term have their origin in orientalist thinking. Using inscriptions and other sources, historians have identified patterns of association and resistance among peasant communities in both north and south India. The terms used to describe such communities include the bhaiband or ‘brotherhoods’ in the villages of the Bombay Deccan, and the nurwa and patidar in Gujarat. Further back in time, the gana, sabha, samiti and parisad in the north, and the nadu, brahmadeya and periyanadu in southern India, refer to equivalent political or social communities, while anthropologists have observed the functioning of caste panchayats in the present day.