Evaluation of local self-government in India upto British rule

Abstract

There is sufficient evidence to establish the institution of local self-government is almost prehistoric, and the conception is indigenous to the Indian soil. It has originated since the Vedic Period. Municipal governments have flourished in India since time immemorial. While kings rose and fell, Village Panchayats which formed an essential part of the local as well as the national life, helped to preserve democratic traditions in social, economic, political and cultural life. We get numerous references about local self-government Manuscript, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Kautillya's Arthashastra.Sabha and Samiti in the ancient Hindu period and Village panchayats in the Mughal periods, flourished as an autonomous bodies like panchayats.But during the British rule, the autonomy of village panchayats gradually declined with the establishment of local civil and criminal courts; revenue system and police organizations, increase of communications, and the spread of western education and culture etc.