One of the great enigmas of Indian society, the panchayat has been hailed by Gandhi as an authentic institution of Indian democracy, and decried by Ambedkar as a remnant of a primeval past and an organised conspiracy to oppress Dalits. It serves today as the foundation of Indian local governance as well as a ‘kangaroo court’ that orders honour killings. Thus, paradoxically, it is at once ancient and modern, democratic and despotic, judicial and legislative, idealised and demonised. This volume presents a collection of historically relevant documents and legal cases illustrating the history of the panchayat, especially its evolution and adaptation as it functioned as a judicial institution and arena for dispute resolution—its earliest and original purpose—through the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.