State and Government in Ancient India c14.30

c14.30

We are also completely in the dark as to the constitution of this important body. The modern reader may well ask, was the *samiti* an official or a popular body ? If the latter, was it elective ? If so, who enjoyed the privilege of electing its members, the whole population or a select class ? How long did the members, once elected, function in the *samiti*,—for a certain number of years or for life ? Were their rules of procedure similar to those in the republican Assemblies of later times ? Was quorum insisted upon ? Did the majority carry the day ? We have at present no data to answer these and similar questions in an authoritative manner. Since, however, the Central Assemblies of the republican states were aristocratic bodies, it may be permissible to suggest that the same was probably the case with the *samitis* functioning under the monarchies. The Vedic state was a small one like the city state of ancient Greece ; and the *samitis* probably consisted of the heads of the few military and aristocratic families which occupied a prominent position in the the political and social life of the community. Priests in these days played an important part even on the battle-field and, therefore, it is not unlikely that they also may have been represented in the *samiti* at least by the king's chaplain, if not by others as well.