Local Government in Ancient India c16.9

c16.9

But the Sabhā was not the only type of the governing body of a village. There were villages governed by assemblies called Ūrār, of which, as we have already seen, the structure and functions were determined by the territorial principle. They were not constituted by a single caste, but by all castes. They were thus strictly territorial, political assemblies or democracies. No doubt the extant evidence regarding these general assemblies of the people is extremely meagre, but this may be explained by the fact that the circumstances which usually furnish such evidence were themselves rare in their case. Most of the benefactions, from diverse sources, royal or private, Brahmanical or other castes, as recorded in the published inscriptions, are generally connected with temples and Brāhmans.