State and Government in Ancient India c22.s1.5

c22.s1.5

The *Ṛigveda* does not associate any divinity with the king. Nor is the king seen performing any public sacrifices for the state as a whole. The kingship in ancient India had no connection with the priesthood, as far as its origin is concerned. Nor is the king described anywhere as having any magical or medical powers. The Vedic king seems to have been the hereditary head of a council of *viśpatis*, and originally he owed his position to his qualities as a military leader. There were frequent wars with the non-Aryans; nor were the Aryan states at peace with one another for a long time. The military leadership would single out a Viśpati for the leadership of the tribe and the post would tend to become hereditary in course of time. It is quite likely that when the heir was a child or incapable of military leadership, the choice might have fallen upon a senior relation or even a different person. These cases however must have been rare.