This book presents an ethnography of dispute processing by non-state forums and actors in rural India. As such it sheds light on a much neglected and contested topic. Arising in the context of recent legal and political debates that question the legitimacy of non-state actors engaged in dispute processing, the book explores the nature, form, and functioning of such forums and actors in two locations in rural India. Focusing on a fishermen's community belonging to the caste of Hindu MachimÄr Koá¸-Ä«s in coastal Maharashtra and an agrarian community in Uttarakhand with members from the Pandit, Thakur, BhotiÄ, and Harijan caste groups, this study shows the manner in which non-state forums and actors engage with state law and its regulatory systems.