The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c19.s9.122

v1.c19.s9.122

Instances of collectivist initiative reveal a relatively advanced sense of citizenship in the *gāmas*. The peasant proprietors had a nominal head in the *bhojaka* or headman, who, as their representative at political headquarters and municipal head, was paid by certain dues and fines⁴. But all the village residents met to confer with him and each other on civic and political matters. And carrying the upshot of their counsels into effect, they built new mote-halls and rest-houses, constructed reservoirs and parks, and took turns at a voluntary *corvée* in keeping their roads in repair⁵, herein again followed by Alpine peasants of to-day. Women too considered it a civic honour to bear their own part in municipal building⁶. A further glimpse into the sturdy spirit in *gāma*-life is caught in the Jātaka sentiment, that for peasants to leave their tillage and work for impoverished kings was a mark of social decay⁷. Relevant to this is the low social rank assigned to the hired labourer, who is apparently classed beneath the domestic slave⁸.