Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.11

c7.11

The Vedic people were primarily a cattle-raising, farming and hunting community, and according to a great classical scholar “an agricultural population” is “the best material for democracy.”¹ Glover continues his thesis: “. . . there is no difficulty in forming a democracy where the mass of the people live by agriculture or tending cattle. Being poor they have no leisure, and therefore do not often attend the assembly; and not having the necessaries of life, they are always at work and do not covet the prosperity of others. Indeed, they find their employment pleasanter than the cares of government, or office where no great gains can be made out of them.”² The implication of this statement is that, while the mass of the people might be technically free citizens, with full rights, the actual government would be in the hands of a small, comparatively leisured elite.³