Hindu Administrative Institutions c7.s2.t2.12

c7.s2.t2.12

Whatever may be the origin from which the institution of monarchy took its rise in ancient India, one fact is obvious: the elective principle plays an important part. Even where the character of monarchy is hereditary, the principle of election appears in one form or other. In the very ceremony of consecration we notice how the principle of election is an underlying factor. As a general rule monarchies were hereditary in India though the physical fitness of the succeeding monarch was an essential condition. Ancient India had two important lines of kings: the one of the solar race (सूर्यवंश) and the other of the lunar race (चंद्रवंश). The genealogy of these kings is found in all the Purāṇic texts which F. E. Pargiter has made an attempt to collate in his works *Ancient Indian Historical Tradition* and *Purāṇic Dynasties of the Kali Age*. Kālidāsa's *Raghuvamśa* shows how the principle of hereditary right was recognized and enforced. But still before the coronation, acquiescence of the *Prakṛti* (people) was a necessary factor of the utmost importance. That the notion of election is as old as the Vedic period is however clear. People assembled in what was known as the *samiti* to elect the king. There was to be no dissenting voice. The Vedic hymn of election is found in our oldest literature, the *Rig Veda Saṃhita*: