ABSTRACT
The villages have benefited from government-directed famine relief, public health, education, and rural development programs, there has been a substantial loss of autonomy. The Headman is responsible for keeping order and for receiving and assisting visiting government officials of all kinds. The influence of the government on any particular village depends on characteristics as its population, size, accessibility, politically influential individuals, and level of education. During the twentieth century, as government officials tended increasingly to be urban and educated bureaucrats, the burden of paperwork and the decline of horsemanship combined to isolate Elephant and its neighboring villages from any direct contact with middle-class government officials. Except for a handful of progressive villages, then, government in the Gopalpur region follows the traditional pattern of collecting taxes and keeping order. In sharp contrast to Elephant and Gopalpur, where pre-British relationships to government retain considerable importance, Namhalli’s traditional government is essentially the British-influenced colonial system.
