Note 46 — D.

Tribal council. 2. The tribal council (panchâyat) with a permanent president (mahto) and an assistant (dîwân) is very powerful. The council hears the evidence and gives its opinion, which may or not be accepted by the Mahto, who gives the final order. The usual punishment is an order to feed the clansmen for two days on goat’s flesh and rice. For a second offence excommunication for twelve years is the sentence, and during this time, unless he make humble submission and receive pardon from the council, all marriages in his family are stopped, he is not allowed to eat or smoke with his clansmen, and cannot sit on the tribal mat (tât) at meetings of the council. In Oudh, however, it would appear that they have no regularly constituted council. Whenever a case affecting caste discipline occurs, a meeting of the adult householders of the neighbourhood is convened: they appoint a Chairman for the meeting and decide the case. They have a sort of local organization (eka) for marriages, which generally take place within an assigned local area. They seldom go any considerable distance to find wives.46