Hindu Administrative Institutions c12.s3.58

c12.s3.58

Mention is made in the *Mānava Dharma Śāstra* of the corporate bodies of *jāti* (castes), country (*janapada*), of merchant guilds (*śreṇi*), of family (*kula*), village (*grāma*) or township. There is further mention of the *deśa* *saṃgha* equivalent to *jānapada saṃgha*. The commentator Kullūkabhaṭṭa takes the word *saṃgha* to mean *samūha* or an association of merchants and others (बणिगादिसमूहः). More or less the same institutions are mentioned in the *Yājñavalkya Smṛti*.¹ In his commentary Vijñāneśvara explains *gaṇa* as the assembly of village people (ग्रामादिजनसमूहः)² and in the second as the body of men pursuing one and the same profession like that of soldiers (गणो व्रातः आयुधोयादीनां एककर्मोपजीविनोः).