Mone Hor: The Council of Five in Santal Society – A Pillar of Tribal Governance

Among India’s largest indigenous communities, the Santals have long maintained a sophisticated system of self-governance rooted not in written codes or centralized authority, but in collective wisdom, oral tradition, and community trust. At the heart of this system sits the Mone Hor – popularly translated as the “Council of Five” – a village-level governing body that has shaped Santal social life for centuries. Despite its name, the council rarely has just five members. It is, in practice, a living institution of participatory democracy that settles disputes, upholds customs, and holds the moral fabric of Santal society together.

What is the Mone Hor? 🔗

The term Mone Hor (also rendered as More Hor or Ato More) literally means “five men of the village.” But the name is more symbolic than literal. In Santal villages, the Ato More is understood to represent the guardians and community representatives, typically numbering seven officials rather than five. These include the Manjhi (village headman), Paranik (deputy headman), Jog Manjhi (overseer of village morals), Jog Paranik (deputy overseer), Godet (messenger), Naike (village priest), and Kudam Naike (assistant priest). Together, these officials form the inner circle of village governance.

The village council, or more hor, is headed by a Manjhi, who is assisted by other council members in looking after village affairs. The council functions as both a legislative and judicial body – making communal decisions, resolving personal disputes, and ensuring that tribal customs are observed in daily life. Its authority does not come from any external law or government charter. It comes from the deep respect the community places in its collective wisdom and ancestral knowledge.

The key members and their roles 🔗

Understanding the Mone Hor requires understanding each official’s distinct responsibility. The council is not a body of interchangeable elders – each member carries a specific function.

The Manjhi: headman and anchor of the council 🔗

The Manjhi (also called Manjhi Haddam) is the most important figure in the Santal governance structure. His presence and permission is necessary in every social and religious activity – including negotiation, marriage, divorce, and initiation. He presides over all council meetings, manages the village’s collective resources, and acts as the primary link between the village and the outside world. Though the position is hereditary, it carries genuine accountability – if a Manjhi is found negligent, the community retains the right to replace him.

The Paranik: the deputy who ensures justice 🔗

The Paranik assists the Manjhi, excels in judgment, and determines the source of wrongdoing, ensuring justice and equality in the village. In the Manjhi’s absence, the Paranik assumes full leadership authority. He also communicates council decisions to villagers and actively works to maintain social order and unity.

The Jog Manjhi: guardian of morals and youth 🔗

Perhaps the most unique role in the council belongs to the Jog Manjhi. The Jog Manjhi’s main responsibility is to look after the youth of the village, ensuring that no misconduct occurs, and handing over those who misbehave to the village council. He also plays a central ceremonial role – particularly in marriage rituals, where he guides the bride and groom through various customary rites. O’Malley and Culshaw described him simply as the guardian of morals. His wife often shares this responsibility, making it one of the few roles in the council with a built-in gender dimension.

The Naike: the spiritual pillar 🔗

The Naike is the village priest, responsible for conducting religious ceremonies and maintaining the community’s spiritual well-being. The Naike acts as the village priest, while the Godet serves as the village convener. The Naike’s selection is considered divinely guided – tradition holds that the Naike is chosen through spiritual possession rather than purely by the community’s discretion. His assistant, the Kudam Naike, assists in religious duties and is also responsible for propitiating spirits of the forest and natural world.

The Godet: voice of the council 🔗

The Godet may appear to be a minor functionary, but his role is operationally essential. The Godet works as a messenger – informing people about meetings, festivals, and instructions issued by the Manjhi. Without the Godet, the council’s decisions could not reach the wider village community. He also plays a logistical role in gathering materials needed for communal offerings and ceremonies.

How the council governs: process and principles 🔗

The Mone Hor meets under a tree at the center of the village – a deeply symbolic setting that reinforces the council’s rootedness in nature and community life. The Santal village councils function as the primary adjudicators of internal disputes, typically requiring a quorum of five elders, and their operations emphasize communal discussion and consensus, striving for harmony rather than punitive measures.

The range of issues the Mone Hor handles is broad: land disputes, marriage and divorce matters, inheritance questions, breaches of social etiquette, and violations of customary law all come before the council. These officials are expected to be well acquainted with Santal traditions, customs, religious beliefs, and practices – knowledge that is entirely oral and passed down through generations. There are no written codes. The council’s authority rests on its collective memory of customary law and its moral standing in the community.

Crucially, decisions are not made unilaterally by the Manjhi. The entire council deliberates, and in practice, respected elders from the broader village – sometimes called Bhagod Praja – are also consulted. Decisions are taken collectively by the village council, not by any particular person – not even the headman. This principle of collective decision-making is central to how the Mone Hor functions.

The democratic ethos embedded in the Mone Hor 🔗

What makes the Mone Hor philosophically significant is how it embodies a genuinely participatory model of governance. Unlike the British system, which valued individual competition and a rigid system of laws, the Santal village council relied on the relatively flexible norms of communal consensus – a system the community understood as their highest form of government.

Unlike many traditional societies where power is passed down through kingships or patriarchal lineages, the Santals practice a form of direct democracy where leaders are chosen based on merit and respect rather than birthright. Even hereditary positions come with accountability built in: all panchayat officials are elected at the time of the foundation of a village, but when people think some officials are not suitable to the post, they have every right to change the official and elect a new one – a clear reflection of democratic principles.

The Mone Hor also fits within a broader, three-tier governance structure. When a village council cannot resolve a matter, it is escalated to the Pargana – a council overseeing ten to fifteen or more villages. Beyond the Pargana lies the Lo Bir (or Disom Hor), the highest collective authority in Santal society. Santals have their own three-tier community council: the village council headed by a Manjhi, the Pargana overseeing inter-village affairs, and the highest political authority – the khunt council. The Mone Hor is the base of this entire pyramid.

Challenges in the modern context 🔗

The Mone Hor faces real pressures in contemporary India. The formal Panchayati Raj system and the PESA Act of 1996 were intended to recognize and protect tribal self-governance in scheduled areas, but implementation has been uneven. The traditional Manjhi-Pradhan system has been disrupted in several regions, giving rise to the dominance of the Mukhiya and Thekedaar – the heads of formal Gram Panchayats and local moneylenders. This shift has had measurable socio-economic consequences, including increased migration from tribal areas.

Yet the Mone Hor has shown remarkable resilience. Even today, the Santal community prefers their own system over the statutory panchayat and the local judicial system – a Santal individual recognizes and seeks justice through their Manjhi, Pargana, and Dehari. Organizations such as WeSantal continue working to coordinate traditional self-governance and cultural preservation across Santal communities, demonstrating that the values embedded in the Mone Hor remain very much alive.

Why the Mone Hor still matters 🔗

The Mone Hor is not simply an archaic institution preserved out of nostalgia. It represents a fully developed philosophy of governance – one built on oral knowledge, distributed authority, and restorative justice. Rather than punishing wrongdoers and moving on, the council’s emphasis is always on restoring harmony within the community. It treats social rupture as something to be healed, not merely adjudicated. In this sense, the Mone Hor anticipates many principles that modern governance scholars advocate for today: deliberative democracy, community-based conflict resolution, and decentralized power.

The council’s name – “five people” – may no longer reflect its actual composition, but its spirit endures. Whether it has five members or seven, what defines the Mone Hor is its unwavering commitment to the idea that no single person holds absolute authority, that every voice deserves to be heard, and that community welfare is always the final arbiter of justice.

What do you think? In an era when formal legal systems often feel distant and inaccessible to ordinary people, what might modern democracies learn from the Mone Hor’s emphasis on consensus, local knowledge, and restorative justice? And as Santal communities navigate increasing contact with state governance structures, is it possible – or even desirable – to fully integrate traditional systems like the Mone Hor with the modern Panchayati Raj?

References

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