[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968) › c16.3 # Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c16.3 Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c16.3 - **Language:** English ### [c16.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c16.3) During the early Vedic period there existed, apart from the limited monarchies, at least four different forms of aristocratic government, and there was a more or less gradual development in these constitutions. The \*viś\*, or the archaic assembly, was the earliest democratic institution of Vedic times, and it was responsible for the “choice”, rather than the “election”, of the head of its political community. The \*sabhā\*-ruled states were governed by the most influential men of the tribe who possessed supreme authority within their territory. In this type of aristocracy the \*sabhā\* was the only political institution. The \*sabhā-samiti\* political communities were more developed and were the most democratic of the Vedic aristocracies. The political communities in which the nobles ruled in conjunction with the \*samiti\* appear, in point of time, later than the other three varieties. The nobles seem to have developed from the councillors of the \*sabhā\*-ruled communities, and the \*samiti\* was primarily a refined and crystallized \*viś\*. The nobles-\*samiti\* government marked the last stage in the constitutional development of the Vedic aristocracies, and it provided the transitional phase from which developed the Brāhmaṇic monarchies, thus falling into the pattern of already existing monarchies. Monarchies held the stage during the entire later Vedic or Brāhmaṇic period. - [Previous: c16.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c16.2) - [Next: c16.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c16.4) - [Up: c16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c16) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c16.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c16.3) · Pramāṇa