ABSTRACT
To understand the social structure of an Indian village it is necessary to examine the various units through which the village community is organized. This chapter examines the division of the community into castes and analyse the internal organization of the village with special reference to authority and the machinery regulating the administration of justice in the village. In the internal organization of Shamirpet two different units can be clearly delineated. The socio-religious organization of the village with its independent set of office-bearers and functionaries is quite distinct from the administrative organization of government and semi-government officials. Two types of inter-village organizations deserve to be noted and they are councils of the different castes and inter-village councils. When a person is excommunicated or out-casted he is not down-graded and pushed into a lower caste; he is merely denied the privileges of equal participation in the socio-religious life of the community.
