State and Government in Ancient India c12.s2.1

c12.s2.1

There is considerable difference of opinion as to whether the kingship was elective in ancient India. There is no doubt that it was so *in some cases* in the early Vedic period. A passage in the *Ṛigveda* seems to refer to the people (*viśas*) electing a king¹; another passage in the *Arthaśāstra* expresses the hope that the king to be coronated may be elected by the people.² But very probably not the whole population voted on these occasions. A passage in the later Vedic literature tells us that he alone becomes a ruler whose leadership is accepted by other kings³; a prayer at the coronation prays that the king should become preeminent amongst his peers.⁴ It is, therefore, very likely that not the whole population but its leaders like the *kulapatis* and the *viśpatis* had a voice in the election of the king; people in general, like the curiae in Rome, may at the utmost, have ratified the choice of *viśpatis*. The cases of election were, however, the exception rather than the rule; the usual tendency was to accept the leadership of the seniormost member of the seniormost family and formally elect him as the king.