[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924) › c18.40 # Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c18.40 Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c18.40 - **Language:** English ### [c18.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c18.40) According to the implication of the commentary, the \*Rāshtrika-Sāpatya\* (\*Sāpateyyam\*) or 'board of leaders' were not hereditary.⁵ They were therefore elected. The mention in the Pāli authority goes to indicate that the \*Rāshtrika\* constitution was also very probably known to Eastern India. Like the \*Bhaujya\* this too gave a national name to the \*Rāshtrikas\* of the West. The country named Su-rāshtra of Western India probably owed its origin to a \*Rāshtrika\* constitution. In the Artha-Śāstra, the Su-rāshtras are a republic where no king-consul was allowed.⁶ The territorial appellations Rāshtrika and Su-rāshtra seem to have been derived from this republican constitution. - [Previous: c18.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c18.39) - [Next: c18.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c18.41) - [Up: c18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c18) ## Cites (1) - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c18.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c18.40) · Pramāṇa