Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.162

c7.162

The restoration hymns reveal another factor which appears primary from the actual administrative point of view. We have noticed that at least in some cases the chosen kings could be banished from their territories. However, it seems doubtful if any real territorial sense was possessed by these Vedic peoples, although Schapera, on the basis of his anthropological studies, "has shown that the smallest and simplest 'political communities' have their recognized territory."¹ Though the term *viś* does not appear to have had a territorial connotation during the Vedic period, these political communities no doubt had their specific territory, the boundaries of which must have been constantly shifting. It was most probably to beyond the recognized tribal lands that a king was banished.