A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c7.46.1

c7.46.1

The Indian evidence fits in, on the whole, with a similar line of development of the Indo-Aryan tribal institutions. The Vedic king, indeed, figures from the first as the captain in war. Of the many allusions to the wars of the tribal king that occur in the Rigveda, it is enough to refer at this place to the celebrated fight of the ten kings against Sudās, king of the Tritsus.† It is significant that the king is described in the Rājasūya as the sacker of towns (purām bhettā).‡ It is, moreover, remarkable that Indra, the divine prototype of the earthly ruler, is pre-eminently distinguished as the fighter against the demon of drought, Vritra.§ While it is difficult to trace any changes in the position of the Vedic king, it is possible to discover a gradual transformation of the order of nobles. The Rājanyas (afterwards called the Kṣatriyas) appear to have at first formed a hereditary ruling and fighting class. But this primitive nobility of blood was thrown into the shade by the rise of a band of officials, many of whom were especially connected with the royal household.