spatial compactness, since land cannot be sold outside the _thok_ . The nexus between the ties of kinship and local contiguity enables the various headmen to exercise social control with the respective kinship segments. This is done through the political councils of these segments. The greatest part of a person’s life is lived within his own _thok_ .” (Pradhan 1966:60, parentheses mine) “ In the village and in the wider area of the clan, a person derives his political status by virtue of his _thok_ affiliation....Politically a person is of no consequence unless he has the support of his _thok_ . The power and political prestige of a _thok_ depend upon its depth span, numerical strength and economic resources.” (Pradhan 1966:69) Ancestor worship rituals boosted kinship ties, though as Pradhan notes this practice runs counter to the mainstream Hindu ideology of reincarnation.<sup>21</sup> “The worship of ancestors constitutes a religious charter for the lineage and clan organization of the Jats” (Pradhan 1966:70) “The spirits of all ancestors are believed to look after the welfare of their descendants....The spirits are the guardians and must be propitiated so that their benevolence may be ensured. Failure to propitiate may enrage the spirits, who may become malevolent and bring down misfortune in the shape of illness, economic or other kinds of loss, or physical harm. But they are also propitiated because of the sentiment of filial piety and to ensure their peace in another world. (Pradhan 1966:70) Jat clans and lineages were more formally organized for administrative and military purposes than indicated by the descriptions of the Chinese and Korean systems. Clans and lineages are organized into a formal hierarchy, and each level had its headman and formal representative. The levels of aggregation were clearly specified: for example, the village of Rampur was the head of a group of four villages, and that in turn belonged to a cluster of twenty villages, and so on.<sup>22</sup> Pradhan (1966:102-110) gives a rich description of the administrative, judicial, and military functioning of this system over centuries, based on extensive records. This was done at various levels, depending on the nature of the issue. At the lowest level was the village, which resolved most of its internal affairs through lineage and village councils. Above that were the successively higher levels of aggregration of villages, each able to exert more social and political pressure than the lower level ― the _thamba_ , the _khap_ , and the _sarv-khap_ councils. The council meetings had rules and procedures, and the ability to impose sanctions on offenders.

The functions of _khap_ leaders included administration of the _khap_ area, assembling councils for defense of the area, organizing military campaigns, collecting land revenue, managing and running the _khap_ army, and holding council meetings for adjudicative purposes.

“The _thamba_ council... had administrative, adjudicative and executive powers. It was responsible for the defence and political stability of the villages under its jurisdiction, it decided inter-caste and inter-village disputes, and in certain cases it had police powers to arrest the culprits and bring them before 12