Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.105

c7.105

Another weak point of the election theory lies in the two hymns of the *Atharva Veda* which refer to the restoration and reinstallation of banished kings.⁵ If this political community had the practice of electing their king, they would have found some other candidates worthy of the post if the former king was deposed. The fact that they recalled the banished king unmistakably supports his selection, and rejects his election. The traditions preserved in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*,⁶ the *Arthaśāstra*⁷ and the *Mahābhārata*⁸ and the legend of the first king Mahāsammata, "consented to by all," of the Buddhist texts⁹, refer to this kind of selection or choice as we have indicated, and not to election as such. Almost all the dynasties subsequent to 600 B.C. passed on the crown on the hereditary principle.¹