FILE G · GLOSSARY · Posts & offices
Patel
Also: Mali Patel, Police Patel
MEANING
The hereditary village headman of the Hyderabad system — mali patel for revenue, police patel for watch and ward.
The patel collected revenue and kept order while the patwari kept the books. Hereditary village offices were abolished in the mid-1980s, but patel families, patel lands and patel feuds still walk into the office. Historical.