158 THE LATE REV. P. DEHON ON 



community. There is no doubt that formerly the authority of the punch was paramount 

 among the Uraons. In older times the punch consisted of the oldest members of a 

 certain group of villages who used to hold the pane hay at in the village in which a diffi- 

 culty had to be settled. To defray the expenses of these assemblies they had put aside 

 in every village a certain amount of land called punchuiti khct. This belonged to the 

 community, and was cultivated by anyone on condition that he fed the punch when there 

 was an assembly. Now, since the introduction of civilization into the country, the Uraons 

 have acquired the knowledge of the Courts of Justice, and the prestige of this institution 

 has somewhat suffered, though it is still held in the greatest reverence. There is a time- 

 honoured expression which shows their respect for the punch. In every important affair 

 before beginning their deliberations they say: "Above God, below the punch" — mean- 

 ing that after God, the punch is the highest authority. 



In villages where there are not two parties in continual opposition to each other, the 

 punch can be relied upon to settle questions in the best way possible, and, even where 

 frictions exist, there is no doubt that much light can be thrown upon village difficulties, 

 and much information can be gat/. : red on land and other affairs by assisting at a discus- 

 sion of the punch. Practically, in cases where the law does not interfere, the punchuyut 

 can decide all difficulties and disputes that can arise in an Uraon community. They 

 can settle land disputes, difficulties about inheritance, marriage questions, adultery 

 cases, and any infringement of the customs of the tribe. They can impose fines, 

 the penalty of default being treated as an outcast in the village. Of course the local 

 police, seeing excellent opportunities of taking bribes, slip away from them and try to 

 minimize the authority of the punch ; but thanks to the good sense and administrative 

 foresight of the higher authorities, the punch is allowed to do its work undisturbed as long 

 as it does not interfere directly with the law. 



The pahan, besides his religious duties and prerogatives, must be considered also as 

 as an authority in the temporal affairs of the village. He is looked on as the man who 

 knows best the boundaries of the different lands of the village, and specially the bounda- 

 ries of his own village. Whenever there is a dispute about them he is consulted. For- 

 merly when a dispute arose between two villages about their respective boundaries, there 

 was a ceremony a kind of ordeal resembling the jugement de Dieu. A hole was made 

 on the two different boundaries designated by the two different pahan s ; they had to stand 

 knee deep with their legs buried in the ground on the boundary that each maintained. 

 The one who stood the ordeal the longer was judged in the right. This ceremony is now 

 very seldom practised. It is called gor-gari or the burying of the leg. 



To understand the khunt system we have to go back in mind to the time when the 

 Uraons first settled in Chota Nagpur. The Mundaris were there before them. They 

 had cleared the jungle and made several villages, but there were still many more to be 

 made. As there was plenty of room for both, the Mundaris did not interfere with the 

 new-comers. These in their turn began to clear the jungle and make new paddy-fields. 

 At that time there was no raja in possession of the country, and the Uraons adopted the 

 same system as that prevailing among the Mundaris. The first son of the first settler 

 became the munda, namely the head or chief, and the second became the puhun. Later 



