The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c6.99

c6.99

Leaving the doubtful Vidatha out of account, the fact remains that there was a popular element in the polity of the Ṛigveda. There are, however, also some indications of a tendency which can only be called feudal. There are passages in which the term Râjan which usually denotes a king is employed in the sense of a noble. Thus we read, “He amplifies his lordly might, with Râjans he slays, even mid alarms he dwells secure. In greater or less fight none checks him, none subdues,—the wielder of the thunderbolt ”² In the Ṛigveda the term Râjanya denotes both the royal and noble families. It will appear that a king was often surrounded by a number of nobles perhaps drawn from the same class, perhaps only claiming a similar social status. At the same time there occurs the expression Samrâj several times in the Ṛigveda.³ It means great or supreme king and implies some difference from the ordinary