The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c9.s1.t1.1

c9.s1.t1.1

One Hindu institution at least is known to orientalists. This is the *samgha* or church of Buddhist Asia. Necessarily it is as old as Śâkya the Buddha (B. C. 623—543). It has really had a longer history, since in Pâṇini³ the philologist's time (B. C. 650) *samgha* was the "generic" term for any public body, incorporated association or corporation. Its social significance was equivalent to that of the Greek *polis* (lit. city)