War in Ancient India c8.s1.2

c8.s1.2

From the epoch of the *Ṛg Veda Saṃhitā* the Commander-in-Chief occupied a place very nearly equal to that of the king. Under a confederacy of tribes, the office of the General, the ‘Great War Soldier’ makes its first appearance. The office sprang from the military necessities of society and had a logical development... from the great War Soldier of the Iroquois through the Teactli of the Aztecs, to the Basileus of the Grecian and the Rex of the Roman tribes, among all of whom, the office was the same, namely that of a general in a military democracy.⁴⁸ In Vedic literature he is known as *senāni*. He often assisted the Vedic king who led the host in person to the battle-field. There was another military official, the *grāmaṇi*, who was probably in charge of a minor portion of the host.⁴⁹ The Senāni tops the list of the Rājakṛts or king-makers, who came to be known in later Vedic times as Ratnins or recipients of Ratnahavis.⁵⁰ It is not possible to accept fully the view that the *grāmaṇi* was the leader of a troop. He was probably more a civil than a military officer. In the Buddhist literature the Senāni is a member of the Aṣṭakula.