PUNCHAYET, s. Hind. panchāyat, from pānch, 'five.' A council (properly of 5 persons) assembled as a Court of Arbiters or Jury; or as a committee of the people of a village, of the members of a Caste, or whatnot, to decide on questions interesting the body generally.
1778.—"The Honourable William Hornby, Esq., President and Governor of His Majesty's Castle and Island of Bombay, &c.
"The humble Petition of the Managers of the Panchayet of Parsis at Bombay...."—Dosambhai Framji, H. of the Parsis, 1884, ii. 219.
1810.—"The Parsees ... are governed by their own panchaït or village Council. The word panchaït literally means a Council of five, but that of the Guebres in Bombay consists of thirteen of the principal merchants of the sect."—Maria Graham, 41.
1813.—"The carpet of justice was spread in the large open hall of the durbar, where the arbitrators assembled: there I always attended, and agreeably to ancient custom, referred the decision to a panchaeet or jury of five persons."—Forbes, Or. Mem., ii. 359; [in 2nd ed. (ii. 2) Panchaut].
1819.—"The punchayet itself, although in all but village causes it has the defects before ascribed to it, possesses many advantages. The intimate acquaintance of the members with the subject in dispute, and in many cases with the characters of the parties, must have made their decisions frequently correct, and ... the judges being drawn from the body of the people, could act on no principles that were not generally understood."—Elphinstone, in Life, ii. 89.
1821.—"I kept up punchayets because I found them ... I still think that the punchayet should on no account be dropped, that it is an excellent institution for dispensing justice, and in keeping up the principles of justice, which are less likely to be observed among a people to whom the administration of it is not at all intrusted."—Ibid. 124.
1826.—"... when he returns assemble a punchayet, and give this cause patient attention, seeing that Hybatty has justice."—Pandurang Hari, 31; [ed. 1873, i. 42].
1832.—Bengal Regn. VI. of this year allows the judge of the Sessions Court to call in the alternative aid of a punchayet, in lieu of assessors, and so to dispense with the [futwa]. See [LAW-OFFICER].
1853.—"From the death of Runjeet Singh to the battle of Sobraon, the Sikh Army was governed by 'Punchayets' or 'Punches'—committees of the soldiery. These bodies sold the Government to the Sikh chief who paid the highest, letting him command until murdered by some one who paid higher."—Sir C. Napier, Defects of Indian Government, 69.