[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [State and Government in Ancient India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.altekar-1949) › c14.4 # State and Government in Ancient India c14.4 State and Government in Ancient India c14.4 - **Language:** English ### [c14.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.altekar-1949.c14.4) A perusal of the Vedic literature makes it quite evident that Popular Assemblies controlling the kings of the numerous small states with which Afghanistan and the Punjab were then studded, were a prominent feature of the Vedic polity. The average state of the Ṛigvedic period consisted of only a few square miles like the city state of ancient Greece. It had a capital, not much larger than the few dozen villages comprised in it. Villages had their own popular asemblies known as \*sabhās\* and the capital had the Central Assembly for the whole state, which was called a \*samiti\*. - [Previous: c14.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.altekar-1949.c14.3) - [Next: c14.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.altekar-1949.c14.5) - [Up: c14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.altekar-1949.c14) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.altekar-1949.c14.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.altekar-1949.c14.4) · Pramāṇa