[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sarkar-1922) › c12.4 # The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c12.4 The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c12.4 - **Language:** English ### [c12.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sarkar-1922.c12.4) India’s institutional experience was not, however, confined to the monarchical sphere. The Hindu constitution grew along republican or non-monarchical lines also.¹ Let us exclude from our present consideration the patriarchal-democratic "crowned republics" of Vedic India,² the \*kula-saṁghas\* (family-soviets or communal republics) referred to in the \*Artha-śâstra\*³ as "invincible", or the \*gaṇas\*, described in the \*Mahâbhârata\*⁴ as nationalities constituted on the principle of "equality". Epigraphy and numismatics are now in a position to safely declare that there were at least three periods in the early history of India during which Hindus developed the \*gaṇa\* or \*saṁgha\* polity of the Hellenic and pre-Imperial Roman type. - [Previous: c12.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sarkar-1922.c12.3) - [Next: c12.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sarkar-1922.c12.5) - [Up: c12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sarkar-1922.c12) ## Cites (2) - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sarkar-1922.c12.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sarkar-1922.c12.4) · Pramāṇa