Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c16.5

c16.5

There is no evidence for the suggestion that the word *gaṇa* in the Vedic texts denoted a republic, nor is there any weight in the argument that the *vidatha* was the "earliest folk-assembly" of the Indo-Aryans. On the other hand, there is some evidence to show that *gaṇa* meant a collection or troop, and that the *vidatha* was a local synod responsible mainly for the performance of the religious rites and ceremonies of the settlement.