Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c16.11

c16.11

The emphasis on the person of the king and the divinity attributed to him in the *Brāhmaṇa* texts manifest the preference of the age for strong individual rulers. The concept of *varṇāśrama* and the king's supreme duty to preserve this *dharma* was gaining ground, and reveals the spirit of the times. In fact the entire Vedic literature is so full of respect for the *rājās* that a non-specialist would hardly believe that there were any republics in the Vedic period. The *ṛṣi*-composers of the texts designated the gods as *rājās* and *samrāṭs*, perhaps with the view to enhancing the peoples' reverence for their earthly rulers. The Brāhmaṇic writers are unanimously ill-disposed towards the republicans, and the Licchavis, Sakyas, Mallas, etc., are never even mentioned in their voluminous texts. This would tend to show that at least during the Brāhmaṇic period republican institutions failed because there was "too much monarchy".