I recently came across a reference to a “punchaid,” which appears to be a sort of traditional village council in Pakistan. Google only turns up a few passing mentions, which make me think that the English spelling “punchaid” of the Urdu (?) word is not the most common one.
Where can I learn more about this? Is there an English orthography of this word that is more common and therefore more searchable?
Interestingly, the root of the words "punch (English) " and “panchayat” is the same. “Panch” means five in Sanskrit. A panchayat usually had five members and a punch (as in a drink) had five ingredients.
I would be surprised to learn that the word is widely used in Pakistan today, because they have tried their best to prescribe Urdu as a national language, and Panchayat is not an Urdu word. What was the reference you came across, OP?
It was mentioned in the federal honor-killing trial (in US court) of Mohammad Choudhry. The “punchaid” in Pakistan (also later spelled as “panchayat,” but I hadn’t gotten to that part of the transcript when I posted) is repeatedly referred to. Under whatever spelling it is apparently a part of local governance to this day in Pakistan.