R.E.M. Wheeler was mainly a British archaeologist. He was the Director General of Indian Archaeology from 1944-48. He did a lot for Harappa excavations. His main contribution involves the use of scientific methods in archaeology and the cartesian coordinate system.
The objects found in the excavation in Harappa seem like Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Archaeologists used the concept of known to unknown that is present to past to relate the things with Hindu deities. Some examples are : 1. Terracotta figurines of women, heavy jeweled with elaborate headdresses. 2. Stone statues of men which are seated with one hand on the knee—such as priest king. 3. Great Bath and fire altars found in the Kalibangan and Lothal. 4. Some animals depicted on seals such as unicorn—one-horned animals seem to be mythical, composite creatures. 5. Some seales showing the figure cross-legged in a logical posture surrounded by animals regarded as depictions of proto Shiva. 6. Rudra in the Rigveda is neither depicted as Pashupati nor as a yogi. This Depiction does not match with Shiva. So, these statutory bodies were not the men or women, some scholars suggest that they were possibly Shaman.
1. The village Panchayat was an assembly of elders of important people of the village. They had hereditary landed properties. 2. The panchayat represented various castes and communities in the village but it was dominated by the Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas. 3. The menial-cum-agricultural worker was unlikely to be represented. 4. The Panchayat was headed by a headman known as muqaddam or mandal. 5. The headman was chosen by consensus by the village elders. This was ratified by the zamindar. 6. The headmen held office as long as they t enjoyed the confidence of the village elders, failing which could be dismissed by them 7. The chief function of the headman was to ‘ supervise the preparation of village accounts, assisted by the accountant or patwari. 8. The mandals often misused their positions, for under assessing the revenue from their own lands and passing the burden to the smaller cultivator. 9. The funds came from contributions made by the individuals to a common pool. 10. This money was used for looking after the state revenue officials who visited the village, community welfare activities during natural calamities like floods, construction of a bund or digging a canal etc. 11. The panchayat ensured that caste boundaries among the various communities of the village were upheld to prevent any offense against their caste. In eastern India, all marriages were held in the presence of the mandal. 12. Panchayats also had the authority to impose fines. They could give severe punishment like expulsion from the community, thus forcing a person forced to leave the village and losing his right to practice his profession. 13. Each caste or jati in the village had its own jati panchayat with considerable power. 14. InRajasthan jati, panchayats took care of civil disputes, land marriages, ritual precedence in village functions regarding members of different castes. N