State and Government in Ancient India c9.s1.2

c9.s1.2

Our writers again and again revolve round the same type of state, viz., monarchy; only a few of them passingly refer to the *Saṅgha* (republican) state. We have shown already how for a long time the state was tribal. Apart from the frequent references to *viśpatis* and *janapatis* the *Ṛigveda* (*c.* 2500 B. C.) frequently refers to specific tribes like the Yadus, the Purus, the Anus, the Turvaśas, etc. Viśvāmitra's prayers are said to have protected the Bharata people;¹ in the Rājasūya sacrifice, the king is announced as the ruler of the Bharatas or the Kuru-Pañchālas and not as the sovereign of a particular province or kingdom. The notion of a *rāshṭra* or a territorial state, however, was being gradually evolved in the later Vedic period; we find it clearly referred to in the *Atharvaveda*.² The *Taittīriya Saṁhitā*³ refers to a ritual, a partial performance of which could secure a king the over-lordship over his tribe (*viś*), but not over the country (*rāshṭra*). The Brāhmaṇa literature frequently refers to the emperors as the rulers not over all the tribes but over the whole earth bounded by the sea. It is clear that the notion of the territorial state was fully established at this time (*c.* 1000 B. C.)