Studies in Cola History and Administration c8.2

c8.2

Throughout India the village was the unit of local administration before the advent of British rule. As is seen from numerous reports of the earlier administrators of British India, the vitality of village institutions struck their observers as something very remarkable in the period of the establishment of British rule. Of the village organisation in the Deccan, for instance, this is what Elphinstone wrote: "Though probably not compatible with a very good form of government, they are an excellent remedy for the imperfections of a bad one. They prevent the bad effects of negligence and weakness, and even present some barrier against its tyranny and rapacity. Again, these communities contain in miniature all the materials of a state within themselves, and are almost sufficient to protect their members if all other government were withdrawn. In the stability and continuity of Indian village life and organisation is to be sought the secret of the good things achieved by India in the past in spite of an apparent incapacity to develop political institutions of an advanced character." The study of village institutions constitutes therefore an important part of the task of anyone who seeks to understand at their source the main currents of national life in ancient India.